There's a belief many accomplished women carry that we rarely say out loud: if it didn't cost you everything, it doesn't count.

In this episode, I trace a pattern that followed me from late-night finals in college to leading week-long retreats around the world. The belief that success and depletion are two sides of the same coin. And I share the moment a therapist asked me a question that changed everything.

We explore what happens when accomplished, high-functioning women stop performing leadership and start participating in it, and what becomes possible when you let go of the belief that it all has to cost you everything. If you've ever worn your exhaustion as a badge of honor, this is your invitation to set it down.

Resources:

1. Join the free workshop: Open Channel
2. Subscribe to Sara’s Substack
3. Connect with Sara on Instagram
4. Connect with Sara on LinkedIn

Living in France has a way of making me get really honest about what matters most to me. During my first several months here, what’s kept rising to the surface is writing — real writing. Personal essays. Intimate reflections.

So I created a more curated space to do just that. It's called elle-même (French for "herself"), and I made it for you– and for every woman who values belonging to herself. Today I’m sharing what it is, what you'll find there, and how to join us. The first three issues are free, and the first one drops tomorrow! Bienvenue.

Subscribe to elle-même.

What if your business isn’t an object you manage… but a living entity in relationship with you?

In this episode, I share a perspective that changed everything for me: your business has its own highest self, its own intelligence, and its own evolutionary path. And it chose you as much as you chose it.

We explore how fear, resistance, and recurring patterns in your work are not obstacles but spiritual trailheads, pointing toward the parts of you ready to be healed and reclaimed. If you’ve been feeling friction in your business, this conversation invites you to listen differently. To your inner world, and to your business itself.

In this Episode We Explore:

00:00 – A recurring pattern you can’t seem to outgrow

03:19 – When business becomes more than strategy

06:44 – A different definition of spiritual practice

10:12 – The “trailhead” hidden inside resistance

12:38 – Why external success can quietly deplete you

15:10 – Relating to your business as something alive

Resources:

1. Join the waitlist for her Self CEO.
2. Take the introductory workshop: Create a Simple, Sacred, Self-Led Business
3. Subscribe to Sara’s Sunday Journal
4. Connect with Sara on Instagram
5. Connect with Sara on LinkedIn

What if I told you that you could attract more of your right-fit clients…without posting on Instagram every day?

If you're a highly sensitive woman running a business, you know this exhaustion intimately: The constant pressure to show up on social media. The dread of creating content that feels performative. The loneliness of figuring it out all by yourself. And now—AI everywhere, making you feel like you're falling even further behind.

Here's what I'm seeing: Some prominent voices are shaming women for using AI. Others are just copy-pasting, leaving no authentic voice. And studies show women are already falling behind men in adopting this technology. Meanwhile, you're stuck in the middle—exhausted, overwhelmed, and wondering if there's another way.

There is (and it doesn't require you to dance on TikTok or master complicated tech).

In this episode, you'll discover:

1. The real reason you need AI (it's not about being "tech-savvy"—it's about whether your ideal clients can actually find you when they're searching for help)
2. How AI can end your lonely workdays (and make the parts of business you dread—like writing sales copy—actually enjoyable)
3. The paradigm shift that changes everything: from visibility marketing (exhausting daily posts) to discoverability marketing (being found when people need you)
4. My exact process for partnering with AI (the back-and-forth that keeps your authentic voice while reducing your workload)
5. Why your beautiful Instagram posts disappear within hours—and what to create instead so your work can be discovered months or even years from now
6. The one diagnostic question
7. How to position yourself so AI recommends you to ideal clients—while you're sleeping, walking your dog, or taking your sabbatical

Ready to stop exhausting yourself and start building a business that honors how you're actually wired?

Early registration for her Self CEO is open until February 4th (where you can save $200 off the April cohort).

This is my newly refined 12-week mentorship for sensitive, spiritually-oriented solopreneurs who want to create simple, sacred, Self-led businesses—without exhaustion or urgency.

Save $200 when you register early: herselfceo.com

Resources:

1. Join her Self CEO (save $200 until February 4)
2. Subscribe to Sara's Sunday Journal
3. Connect with Sara on Instagram
4. Connect with Sara on LinkedIn

What if the real path to a thriving business isn't about doing more, but about doing less with more intention?

In this first episode of the year, I'm reflecting on what's shifted since moving to France and taking an unexpected two-month break from the podcast. What's become clear is this: I'm committed to a business that feeds my soul as much as it serves the world. A slower, more sacred way. And I want to invite you into this with me.

This isn't about checking out or playing small. It's about building a business that's deeply authentic, sustainably creative, and grounded in presence, not pressure.

In this episode, I share:

1. Why slow business is about doing what matters from a grounded place
2. Five tangible benefits of leading a slow business (and how to know which one you need most right now)
3. What sustainable creativity actually looks like when you stop forcing it
4. How I'm dismantling lifelong patterns of hyper-responsibility and over-functioning
5. Why feeling calm and steady in your body matters more than any strategy or system
6. The difference between a business that runs your life and one that serves it

If you're ready to create from overflow, lead with more presence, and build a business that feels like an extension of your spiritual practice, this episode offers a map toward a business that feels like home, not another obligation.

Join me live on January 28:

If this conversation resonates, I'd love to invite you to a live workshop, “How to Create a Simple, Sacred, Self-Led Business.”

This is for sensitive, spiritually-attuned women (coaches, therapists, healers, service providers) who want their business to feel enjoyable, grounded, and true.

Save your seat: www.saraavantstover.com/workshop

Resources:

1. Join the workshop “How to Create a Simple, Sacred, Self-Led Business”
2. Subscribe to Sara’s Sunday Journal
3. Connect with Sara on Instagram
4. Connect with Sara on LinkedIn

Have you ever built something successful—only to realize it wasn't sustainable?

In this episode, I'm sharing why I walked away from my membership model after two years. Not because it was failing financially—but because it wasn't aligned with my constitution, season of life, or the depth of transformation I wanted to facilitate.

This isn't about memberships being "wrong." It's about discovering what's right for you.

Together, we'll explore:

• Why monthly recurring revenue isn't the holy grail for everyone (and what matters more)
• The hidden energetic costs of always-on business models—and how to recognize them
• What I learned about myself after running two different membership experiments
• How cohort-based programs can still offer recurring income (it's not all or nothing)
• The palpable difference in depth and transformation when everyone walks the journey together
• 10 essential questions to help you determine YOUR right business model
• Why trusting what you already know about yourself matters more than following trends

Whether you’re currently running a membership, considering launching one, or simply sensing that something in your business model feels off, your business model should honor your unique wiring. Your creative process. Your season of life.

And yes—it can still be profitable. Maybe even more so.

Ready to design a business that truly fits you?

Join me December 5–6 for Design Your Dream Business—a 2-day, IFS-based virtual planning retreat to create your 12-month business map, aligned with your deepest Self.

✨ Learn more & save your seat: www.saraavantstover.com/dream

Resources:

• Join the “Design Your Dream Business in 2026” Retreat 
• Episode 232: What a Cease and Desist Letter Taught Me About Soul-Powered Leadership 
• Subscribe to Sara’s Sunday Journal
• Connect with Sara on Instagram
• Connect with Sara on LinkedIn

Do you ever create a business plan in January—only to abandon it by February?

If so, you’re in good company. (And no, it’s not a discipline problem.)

Welcome to Episode 2 of “The Season of Slow Business,” a five-part series exploring what it means to lead and grow from rhythm, rest, and feminine wisdom—instead of push and urgency.

In this episode, I share how one mentor’s radical advice completely transformed my approach to business (and life). And I’ll show you why understanding your natural rhythms is only half the equation for  stewarding your sacred business.

Together, we’ll explore:

• Why spaciousness is a strategy, not a luxury—especially for sensitive women
• The signs your business is draining your energy (and how to shift that)
• Nature’s blueprint for sustainable business growth through the seasons
• How to discover your personal energy map—and why it matters more than any “expert” formula
• Why most business plans fail (and a more holistic approach that makes a plan actually work)
• How to design your year around your rhythms—not someone else’s 

If you’ve been trying to force yourself into more masculine business models—or you’re tired of creating plans that only one part of you wants to follow—this episode offers a saner, more soulful alternative.

Your business can honor your sensitivity. Your need for spaciousness. Your unique energy.

And yes—it can still be successful. Maybe even more so.

Ready to design your 2026 in this way?

Join me December 5–6 for Design Your Dream Business—a 2-day, IFS-based virtual planning retreat to create your 12-month business map, aligned with your deepest Self.

✨ Learn more & save your seat: www.saraavantstover.com/dream

Resources:

• Join our “Design Your Dream Business in 2026” Virtual Retreat 
• Subscribe to Sara’s Sunday Journal
• Connect with Sara on Instagram
• Connect with Sara on LinkedIn

After two years of publishing weekly content, I arrived in France this autumn and felt a deep truth drop in—what once felt aligned had turned into pressure. My body, my spirit, and my nervous system were asking me to slow down.

This episode marks the beginning of 'The Season of Slow Business,' a five-part series exploring what it means to lead, create, and grow from rhythm, rest, and feminine wisdom—instead of urgency and overfunctioning.

In this opening episode, I share a story I’ve never told publicly—and how that experience is speaking to me again now, as I turn 48, navigate perimenopause, and begin a new chapter in France.

Together, we’ll explore:

• What the Slow Business Movement really is (and what it’s not)
• How autumn invites us to release what's no longer sustainable in our businesses
• Why slowing down might be the most radical and strategic move you can make right now
• How to begin creating a business that honors your body, your nervous system, and your season of life

If you’re moving through a transition, craving more space, or simply tired of pushing through, this episode will meet you where you are—and offer you a new path forward.

Because your business doesn’t need more pressure. It needs more presence. And so do you.

⭐ And, as a special gift, I want to offer you free access to one of my most popular programs, “The IFS Kickstarter Kit.” This will teach you the foundational concepts of the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model—a proven framework that has helped me and countless others navigate challenges, build inner clarity, and create thriving, soul-aligned businesses.

Through this 7-part video series, you’ll gain a deep understanding of how IFS works and how to apply it to your own life and business. These are the same principles I teach in my advanced programs, now made accessible in an introductory format.

To receive your complimentary “IFS Kickstarter Kit,” all you have to do is:

1) Leave a review of this podcast. 

2) Email a screenshot of your review to [email protected]

It’s as simple as that!

Resources:

• Order Sara’s books 
• Subscribe to Sara’s Sunday Journal
• Connect with Sara on Instagram
• Connect with Sara on LinkedIn

What if the exhaustion you're feeling isn't just about being busy—it's about where your attention is actually going?

In this episode, I sit down with Amelia Hruby, author of Your Attention is Sacred, to explore what happens when we reclaim our attention from the platforms designed to fragment it. Amelia left social media over four years ago, and her journey from creator to someone who gardens their attention with intention offers both wisdom and hope for anyone feeling trapped in the endless scroll.

We talk about:

• The difference between paying attention and giving attention—and why this shift matters
• How social media creates "loops of similarity" that trap us in algorithmic bubbles
• The grief of leaving social media and the unexpected loneliness that follows
• Simple noticing practices to understand what needs social media is meeting in your life
• Why breaking free from convenience reveals what we're actually avoiding
• How attention becomes more textured and alive when we unplug
• The connection between our household relationship with money and scarcity economics
• Simple exercises to help you get out of your algorithm

Amelia gets beautifully honest about the full arc of leaving—the creative surge, the return to human pace, the work of rebuilding genuine connection, and ultimately, the gift of presence that comes from no longer performing your life online.

Whether you're considering leaving social media or simply want to cultivate a more conscious relationship with your attention, this conversation offers a roadmap back to yourself.

Resources:

• Get Amelia Hruby’s new book: Your Attention is Sacred 
• Subscribe to Sara’s Sunday Journal
• Connect with Sara on Instagram

Here we are, almost two months after our wedding, recording from the floor of a bedroom in our Bordeaux Airbnb, surrounded by eight duffel bags—everything we own after selling most of our belongings and moving to France.

This episode is about what happens when major life transitions collide with running a business, and how to navigate massive change while staying true to your soul's calling. 

It's also the first time my husband Chris joins me on the podcast, turning the tables to ask me the questions.

Also: her Self CEO enrollment is open now through October 2nd. This 20-week cohort program blends Internal Family Systems with practical business strategy to help spiritual women create profitable, sustainable businesses from their wholeness.

Learn more at herselfceo.com

Resources:

• Join us in her Self CEO 
• Visit Chris’s website
• The Art of We "Relationship Agreements"
• Subscribe to Sara’s Sunday Journal
• Connect with Sara on Instagram