Hidden Gems: Meet Sarah Rose of Fresh Rise Group

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Rose

Hi Sarah, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Children of divorce have special skills. Everyone develops different ones but in my case, I developed an almost creepy level of intuition. I have hawk-like observation, chameleon-like social skill, mind-reading powers of people who need a hand, and a wellbeing radar that goes off for strangers in the grocery store. It’s like I have the secrets on what people and systems are struggling and how to bring help long before anyone realizes there is even an issue.

I’m not bragging – this wasn’t my choice after all – you see my parents weren’t happy and it resulted in tension that I could feel. From a young age while my body listened to the nuance of arguments and emotions, it seems that it was also busy programming an intuitive internal operating system that I now can’t turn off most days. I now know that this was my nervous system watching and attending to danger and stress, long before I had verbal language.

There are times it’s a curse. Not everyone wants to be seen. Not everyone wants to do the work of improvement.
Sometimes, it would just be nice to turn it off. And yet…lately, I have come to appreciate this powerful operating system as a tool that I can use for the greater good.

After graduating college as a Biology major, almost completely trying to ignore the gut voice saying – “you are in the wrong major”, it was when I realized that maybe this intuition could have been useful to pay attention to! I would have saved myself lots of biology and chemistry coursework on my way to working with people! The funny thing is – I may have known back then that I would need that biology foundation for neuroscience in the coaching work I do today. It was a short scenic route, I soon earned my Masters in Counseling and was on my way to use my human superpower of intuition.

After supporting over 15,000 adult students taking action to improve their careers and work situations, I see a need for changing how work looks at a system level. One where we find the right job fit, the right onboarding support is available, and the workplace is designed to support the flexibility that employees need for their real lives. We aren’t there yet and it’s my mission to get us to a place where work is co-created by employees and organizations in a way that creates a win-win.

I am currently tackling this from two different angles. One, I work with women who are feeling burned out and overwhelmed in the worry and stress of working and parenting. Secondly, I am beginning to consult with workplaces who are wanting to stop issues of turnover and quiet quitting that are so prevalent in our workplaces today.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Most of us tend to really love security, staying in lanes where we feel like experts, and the stability of a paycheck that pays our bills. We don’t like the idea of letting all of that go for the “what if” idea that lingers. But here is the thing – once these “what if” ideas take hold, they feel like they are like a boulder you are carrying and can’t let go. For me, I couldn’t keep watching as well trained employees didn’t get a chance at being hired, current colleagues burned out, left their roles, quietly quit, or got mean and cynical

However, it wasn’t that easy to jump – just like most professional women who have children and a home to maintain, they feel a strong obligation to their family, to security, and to bring in the income than they are doing now or more. About 5 years ago when I felt so dang stuck. I was the breadwinner of my household. I had a job with a pension, insurance, lots of vacation days, and sick days. There was every reason in the world to just keep sticking it out. And yet, I couldn’t. My soul was getting eaten. It was the culture for me. A place that rarely recognized, rarely was clear on expectations, recirculated problems and conversations. It was clear that no matter how much energy that I poured it, it wasn’t getting better. That is not a sustainable space to work in. So, it was in that time that I began to explore new paths. My training had pointed my all into one industry and it felt so narrow and a move would mean that I would literally take a 50% pay cut and still have the same levels of stress. So, I realized I was going to have to get creative. How would changing directions, changing industries, upskilling be possible while still working full time, raising kids, and keeping a marriage together?

I did it slowly. I started looking at me. What gave me energy, what took it away. What did I want more of, less of? Where did I want to be spending my time? What direction did I want to be pointing my career? I realized that the best thing that we can do for ourselves is to just get the compass pointed in the right direction! It was after that I started looking for options – professional development that pointed me in that direction. I said yes to the projects and the roles that aligned more. I dropped things that didn’t matter. I began to read more about the things that I didn’t need for work but needed for my future vision. Momentum was happening. It is through this process that I eventually realized that we can use this type of process for to change any exhausting parts of our life. This is all where the the 4 steps of ReEnergizeHer! Female Empowerment Program was born. I now call them: Release – ReEvaluate – Refuel – Reinvent.

And I finally jumped and frankly it’s scary and exciting and a fast track of learning how to actually create results for people. But it is exhilarating to be doing things of passion and finding others who are making amazing things happen in this world too. Life is short, we have to make it work for us.

Ideas are cheap, brave, imperfect, scary action is hard.

As you know, we’re big fans of Fresh Rise Group. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Fresh Rise Group has been created to support the wellbeing and career strategy and mid-leader leaders and their teams and help create healthy workplaces from the middle or our organizations.

We have a few different offers to help do this. One, we support individual mid-level professional women, many who are also caregivers, with our ReEnergizeHer 5 month Female Empowerment Program. These women are exhausted and trying to turn it around on their own but like anything, change is much easier when you have a path to follow and a guide to lead you!

And most importantly, we have begun to create options for more systemic change for our Corporate Partners by consulting on retention, engagement, and building upskilling paths for employees to stay in longer. All of our Corporate Support uses principles from the U.S. Surgeon General’s Mental Health and Wellbeing framework that was created in the response to the worker burnout that has occurred in this country post-Covid.

I truly believe that when we focus in on activating the levers that we know meet employee needs, we retain, engage, and inspire employees to stay longer and to better meet the goals of the organizations that they work for.

Imagine getting to do work left you or your organization excited, energized, and thriving. This is the goal of Fresh Rise.

Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
People can reach out to work with me by simply sending me an email to sarah@freshrisegroup.com or engage with me on LinkedIn by searching for Sarah Rose Fresh Rise or go ahead and set up a Calendar appointment at www.calendly.com/sarah-freshrise

I also am always looking to be a podcast or conference guest to inspire employees and employers to co-create cultures of wellbeing. Everyone benefits when we focus our retention and engagement efforts on new, energizing solutions!

Pricing:

• For organizations looking for ongoing consultation and support to improve retention and engagement, I do offer monthly support, however, the costs do depend on the scope of the work that is needed.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://freshrisecoaching.com/
• Instagram: Sarah.serene.rose
• Youtube: @SarahRoseYouRise
• Other: https://www.freshrisegroup.com