Your Stories Don't Define You, How You Tell Them Will

363 Taking Inventory As the New Year begins it's time for us to take a step back and reflect on the stories, messages, and values we want to bring into 2025. Just like tending to a garden by removing weeds and adding nutrients, we must also tend to the garden of our lives.  In this episode Sarah Elkins, Emily McVey, and Chris Wang discuss the stories that shaped them into who they are as well as h...

362 Stories Influence Our Identity and Personal Narrative    As we close the chapter on 2024 and begin to start anew in 2025, it's time that we take a step back to reflect on the narratives and stories that we have been harboring. We must take it upon ourselves to determine if these stories still serve us or if it is time to let those stories stay a product of their time and remain in the past so...

361 Tools For Change Change is an unstoppable force of nature. From the great Rocky Mountains to the spring flowers, all of us are subject to change, whether it be for positive or negative is entirely up to you and the choices you make in utilizing your skills and natural talents.  In today's episode Sarah Elkins and her guest Sally Magee discuss how change can be dealt with in a constructive and...

360 Taking Your Own Advice   Sometimes in life we are told by those who come to us for guidance how valuable and insightful our input can be, however it is often difficult for us to take our own words to heart. This can be for a myriad of reasons, but if our personal board of directors insist that we have a good head on our shoulders, certainly we must turn inward and offer advice to ourselves.  I...

359 What is Success?   Success and our paths to reaching it look different for every person, especially when it's to someone who isn't an achiever and doesn't care for titles. Our own personal success is often more meaningful than a trophy. In today's episode Sarah Elkins and Robin Hamilton discuss their own personal definitions of success as well as the trials and hurdles on their paths to self d...

358 Inner Leaders No matter how much of a master we think we are at the things we do, we can always learn more. Whether that be in the form of learning a new hiking path, learning a new crochet stitch, or how to best use your behavior in the workplace to encourage others to thrive. In this episode Tanya Bugbee and Sarah Elkins discuss the importance of having a coach, and using the skills that con...

357 The Objects That Matter To You   Connection, especially in today's day and age, is becoming a lost art. Today we are given the unique and groundbreaking idea from Lisa Weiss, to ask about the objects that are held onto by the people around us, connecting with them through the shared love of holding onto pieces of the past that have shaped us into who we are today.    Highlights What are you ke...

357 Sarah's Hike Many times in life it feels like we're in the plot of a movie franchise from 2003, hopelessly watching and waiting for the inevitable drop of the other shoe, the logs or cars to fly off of a semi-truck on a highway that we have to take. Often this stress and future-tense fear can become all-consuming, blinding us to the people we share the car and road with. However if we remember...

Labels and judgment are an unfortunate symptom of society, more often than not people will be framed in a particular light without any chance to defend themselves or for a full explanation to be given. Because of one person saying something, one bad interaction, or one misinterpretation a person can be frozen in time under whatever label was given to them. In today's episode Sarah Elkins ruminates...

354 Amy's Mess Hunger, for the lucky among us, is an inconvenience, the final straw during a bad day that fuels a bad temper, or an awkward moment in a silent room. But for many in our community hunger is painful, difficult, and inescapable making it near impossible to do anything let alone attend school. Approximately 2.5 million children are homeless in the United States, many of whom somehow st...

355 Create The Community You Need   Building a community can be a daunting yet very rewarding task, in order to find this community often you need to spread out and meet strangers, expanding both your world view and understanding of others.  In this episode Sarah Elkins and Emily Carlson discuss the importance of building community and making your very own personal board of directors to work toget...

353 Food Stories Revisited   Revisiting episode 292 "Food Stories" Sarah Elkins reminisces on the importance of love languages and how important it is to show those you love how much you care. Love languages come in many different forms; gift giving, words of affirmation, and for today's episode specifically, the act of cooking and giving a good meal to those you hold close. It is vital to the hea...

352 Human Curriculum   Human connection is imperative to our growth and success as people, however if we do not take time to work towards creating a community to feed our social needs we will end up stunted and spinning our tires unable to continue.  In this episode Sarah Elkins and Christopher Filipiak discuss the importance of community and growth, which often comes with the fact we must allow o...

351 Communication Is In Everything We Do   We are always communicating in everything we do, from overtly talking to or texting someone, to smiling and nodding to strangers you pass on the street, it's human nature to want to be seen and heard and to give that to others.  In this episode Sarah Elkins and Jim Collison discuss the importance of communication and how understanding your strengths leads...

350 Growing Through Failure   It is vital to our success to fail, we need to try things that are new and be comfortable in the fact failure is normal and expected. By letting ourselves be uncomfortable and fail at new things, we leave room for growth and success. In this episode Sarah Elkins and Paige Arnof-Fenn discuss the importance of trying new activities and accepting our failures as opportun...

349 Community Building   How we choose to spend our time directly impacts the way we live both in our careers and in our day to day lives, however if we are spending our precious time surrounding ourselves with negativity and naysayers we are very unlikely to succeed. Which is why it is so important to find a community that encourages and supports each other. In this episode Sarah Elkins ruminates...

348 Artistry in Community Art has always brought people together, even in the darkest times of human history there is always a creative trying to give the world just a little bit of light.  In today's episode Sarah Elkins and Al Swanson discuss how community and artistry often go hand in hand, as well as the importance of giving back to your community.   Highlights Community. Passion for the path...

347 Find The Hidden Prize In Failure   Everything you do, starts and ends with you. From habits we try to make consistent, to our careers, everything we do comes from ourselves, and sometimes we fail which is just as important as success. Often we must fail and learn from those mistakes in order to succeed.  In this episode Sarah Elkins and Charles Clark discuss the importance of the evolution of...

346 The Words You Use   You lead from wherever you sit, which is why it is so important to be intentional with your thoughts, words, and motives as you go through life.  In this episode Sarah Elkins and Erin Diehl discuss the importance of picking the right words for yourself and being intentional with the energy we bring to any situation.   Highlights Picking the right mantra for yourself. Nothin...

345 Staying Embodied As An Artist Like everything in existence, we change and grow and it can become difficult to stay involved in the things that make our lives fulfilling and enjoyable. Our passions can come and go which is normal, but it is always important to remember to take care of yourself and what makes you thrive in order to return to your passions. In this episode Mary Riitano and Sarah...

344 Evolving Stories Returning for his second episode, Tom Jackobs and Sarah Elkins discuss how storytelling has changed for both of them since their last conversation, how their tools and strategies have changed, as well as how important storytelling is as a medium for both of them.    Highlights It is okay to look for coaches, especially when you yourself are a coach. Find your own strategies an...

343 Incremental Improvements Our environments influence how we function and how we are able to deal with the things in our life mentally and emotionally so that we can choose to rearrange or shed the stories or things that no longer serve us.  In today's episode Sarah Elkins and Mark Ainley discuss the importance of giving everything our own style, facing the parts of ourselves we hold onto that n...

342 The Best Teacher Is Life   Throughout life we all have to learn some difficult lessons, some lessons are harder than others, but if you persist and remember your core values you will succeed with more knowledge of yourself and your capabilities than you started with.  In today's episode Sarah Elkins and Gail Harris discuss the importance of learning the harder lessons in life and coming out th...

341 Cycles of Relationships Growth, change, and accepting that sometimes we are just as much at fault as anyone else, are vital to the health and longevity of the relationships we build. It is only through growth, change, and acceptance that we become the best version of ourselves. In this episode Sarah Elkins and Hope Marshall discuss the natural courses of relationships and how they affect us ev...

340 Unity in Connectedness    How we present ourselves with our intentions and energy is as important as a freshly pressed suit when building community and connection in both our work and personal lives. In helping others and accepting help, by being positive and allowing positivity to thrive, in accepting ourselves and others we can build true connectedness. In this episode Sarah Elkins and Sophi...