Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Carter

Sarah, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?

I didn’t set out to become an Executive Leadership Coach; I set out to become a US Navy pilot. Yes, it was as fun and as exciting as the movies makes it seem. It was also weird hours, long deployments, countless hours of classroom, simulator, and in aircraft training all on top of your other responsibilities like leading a group of enlisted personnel and trying to maintain some kind of off-the-job life. It was a lot. At the eight year mark, after five moves and learning five different airplanes, I was worn out.

My sixth move took me to Washington, DC to spend hard earned time out of the cockpit with a more normal rhythm to life. It was there that I began to realize I didn’t want to go back to burning the candle at both ends and I started to try to figure out what it was I wanted to do next. A woman came to our church as a guest speaker. Within moments of her beginning her talk I was captivated. She wasn’t talking about what she did for a living, but somehow I knew that I had to find out. I waited around after the talk to spend some time speaking with her having no idea what about. I asked her what she did when she wasn’t traveling around presenting at churches and she said she was a professional coach. I’m pretty sure I just stared at her. I had no idea what that meant.

Her name was Valorie Burton and she planted the seed of coaching in my mind that day. As she described what it was I began to realize that it was what I loved most about my job in the Navy. Coaching is all about partnering with others along their journey to becoming the best version of themselves that they can be. I did that! I partnered with my young, fresh out of boot camp sailors to see how they could be their best selves not just in the Navy but in life as well. Boom! I now had direction for my next role.

The chance encounter with Valorie was in 2016. I left active duty military service in 2018, opened my own LLC that same year, and the rest as they say, is history! I deeply love what I do and the people that I serve.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?

Is there ever such thing as a smooth ride??? It certainly hasn’t been a smooth ride. The first hiccup came when we moved to Japan right after I separated from the Navy. My husband is in the Marine Corps and his orders took us to the other side of the world where there are service related laws in place that make it particularly difficult for military spouses to work in foreign countries. No matter! I thought I’d work with a US company but do it remotely…this was pre-COVID. Anytime I brought up that idea to a recruiter, they looked at me a bit sideways. Coaching was still a bit new then and doing it remotely was unheard of. Ahhhh look how far we have come.

Another significant struggle was that I hadn’t even considered opening my own business so I had no idea how to go about it. I networked with anyone I could think of in my existing network and cold called people that I found interesting but weren’t directly connected to so I could ask them “Hey, how did you open your business?” This was eye opening! There are so many intricate details to consider and varied options to fit each case differently. I got overwhelmed and almost didn’t go through with it. With a lot of encouragement from my inner circle, I finally did and I was able to begin working with the US military population while we were in Japan with little issue after that.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?

I am an Executive Leadership Coach who specializes in career transitions. I work with people from C-Suite level to college graduates taking on their very first roles. Each of these transitions involves developing new skills, honing others, reimagining themselves and how they interact with those around them, and an evaluation of self beyond work. I’m known for guiding my clients to becoming more self-aware. I like to take our time to examine their values so they know what it is that connects them to their work in the first place and where they might further deepen that connection. This line of exploration resonates even with people leaving the traditional workforce for retirement or to strike out on their own. Knowing who you are at a core values level is critical with any level of career transition.

My clients have been promoted, rewarded, honored by peers, thanked by high ranking US officials, found peace in retirement, served on boards of non-profits which they have founded, and so many other truly outstanding praise worthy milestones that to list them all would take up this entire article. That is what I’m most proud of. Partnering with each of them through their success is the joy in my work.

I’m different because of my pilot background. People read that bit of my bio and, at first, don’t see the connection. Once they think about it they realize that I have validated leadership skills along with first class organization skills, communication capabilities, problem solving thinking off the charts, and that I will hold them accountable to what they say they are going to do. It’s that expectation, and the reality, that makes me different.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?

Spending time with my pawpaw (grandpa for those not from the south). Anytime I was with him, I felt so special. He was my biggest fan, my strongest supporter, and my confidant. We did just about everything together from working on the family cars to going to the beach to watching football. He would tell anyone who would listen that his baby was going to be an architect or an astronaut or whatever happened to be my dream of the week. He was fully on board with whatever I was aiming for. It made him swell with pride the day I became a Navy pilot. He had been in the Navy in WWII. His laugh and smile are in most of my favorite childhood memories.

Pricing:

• $5000 for three month coaching package
• $20 signed paperback copy of my book

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.inwiththenewyou.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarah_carter_coach

Image Credits

Virginia Photos and Film for the picture with the striped dress.