We recently connected with Sarah Auda and have shared our conversation below.

Sarah, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you take vacations? Why or why not?

YES, I absolutely take vacations regularly throughout the year. Vacations are a necessary and nonnegotiable part of my life and work. My usual goal is to have one big trip where I spare no expense and really go large, and then several smaller trips (long weekends, etc) at minimum every quarter.

Almost every person I speak with and support tell me that they wish they could have more vacations. When I slow down and get deeper into where that comes from, we arrive at the conclusion that vacations are so much more than a trip…

Ideally, vacations are a time where people experience a break from work, a time of relaxation, recreation, experiences, and adventure. Vacations feel novel in many ways because we tend to assume that it’s different than normal, “regular” life.

However, in my work I challenge clients to consider this: “What if you could experience a sense of vacation every day? What if you created a whole lifestyle and workstyle that infuses the sense of vacation into ordinary days?”

Vacation isn’t just about the destination; it’s primarily about your state of mind. While picturesque locations and luxurious accommodations can enhance the experience, true relaxation and rejuvenation comes from how you approach your time and energy, period.

So, in that sense, a “vacation state of mind” is available to us every day. What would make today feel more like a vacation? A tropical cocktail while watching the sunset? Getting a bathrobe for home that feels luxurious? A candle from your favorite hotel that makes your space smell like the lobby?

And outside of the day-to-day, maybe your ideal vacation-state-of-mind is having a recreational experience once a week, or going to a new restaurant, or planning a monthly adventure experience.

For those of you reading, take a minute to consider this for yourself! Then try implementing ONE idea.

For business owners, hear me when I say that taking time off from work is vital to your health and wellness. The quality of your health AND the quality of your work will suffer if you do not prioritize ample time away from your business. The spaciousness that comes from pausing can give you deeper creativity, more ideas, greater attention, and more.

My suggestion is to plan your year in advance by charting out what is on the books every month for 2025. Then go through and add in your ideals, like what week(s) you would like to take off, or go on a trip, or attend a retreat, etc. The point is to intentionally put time off/away in advance. If you set the precedent in advance, there’s a greater likelihood the trip will happen and you’ll be able to budget for the time off as well as give your clients and teams ample awareness about your Out Of Office.

Sarah, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

In 2006 I got certified to be a coach. At that time, however, coaching was not the booming industry it is today and I didn’t have an understanding of how to run my own business. I went into corporate work instead and got all sorts of amazing leadership experiences over the course of 15 years. Within my corporate roles I was able to exercise the coaching training I had and I implemented all sorts of wonderful programs that are still in existence today.

When I was around 35 years old I had a life-altering event happen that led me to leave corporate work and go full time into entrepreneurship. A dear friend of mine was tragically killed unexpectedly and it changed the course of my life. I asked myself big questions about who I am and what the purpose of life is. What I was inspired to do from that reflection was to create a business that helped people live the lives they want most before it’s too late.

When I launched Three Beats Consulting, it was immediately successful. I started by offering 1:1 life and business coaching, workshops, and small groups. I started my practice entirely on my already-established relationships and professional network. From there, it grew to taking on more speaking and facilitation, leading master classes, creating a leadership accelerator program, and more.

Now my business has expanded to a whole team of amazing professionals who speak, teach, coach, consult, and support our clients. Our main bread and butter is our 6-month corporate training and coaching program called Leadership Lab. We currently hold 100% satisfaction and success rate with our clients, which is unprecedented. These results come through the intentional care and attention we hold for every person we work with.

Our clients range from small, local businesses to some of the top globally recognized brands, such as Google, Amazon, Disney, Netflix, Hulu, Adobe, YMCA, OrangeTheory, and more. Our dream clients are leadership teams that have a culture of optimism, enthusiasm, and growth.

As a female-owned business, I’m mindful of the unique mark I get to make. As such, we’re honored to be in the process of becoming a certified Women-Owned Business, as well as B-Corp Certified.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

My relationships are everything – personal and professional ones.

As a business owner starting out, leveraging your professional network to create new clients is one of the most effective ways to grow your business. Select people in your network who already know, trust, and respect you. Make intentional time to talk with them and share about what you’re offering, then make an ask to see if they know someone who would benefit from you. The key is to build and nurture genuine relationships, provide value, and strategically reach out to your network in ways that are mutually beneficial.

Consistency is key, whether that’s social media sharing, newsletters, or events. Part of what makes your business and your brand trustworthy is the consistency in which you share, produce, and make service offers. A best practice is to start with who you know already and then brand out from there.

My business is almost entirely referral-based and has been for 7 years. If you are feeling inspired and looking to bolster even stronger client referrals, you can also create an exclusive referral program to incentivize leads and introductions. But, again, this is best used when you have a thriving network of relationships.

Start with enthusiastically sharing with the people you trust and know best.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Building a team and developing them is such an amazing experience.

There must be clear vision that everyone can articulate and get behind. Then, there should be consistent ways the vision is touched on and assessed. There needs to be a high level of trust for everyone, so working with context AND content is key. You want to celebrate your members and incentivize them to create solutions and systems that make the whole better.

On a practical level, you want to have multiple times of visioning and check-ins throughout the year. You want to do an annual retreat for big picture visioning and strategy. Then break those visions and goals down into actionable meetings quarterly and monthly. Then ensure your staff have what they need on a weekly and daily basis to make those points happen.

Consistency, trust, and collaboration are what create and maintain a great team.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.threebeatsconsulting.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/threebeatsconsulting/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/three-beats-consulting/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@threebeatsconsulting
• Other: info@ThreeBeatsConsulting.com

Image Credits
Hazelnut Photography for the main photo.