Sarah Butler

If there's a deity, it's gonna be God. But if it's a person, it's gonna be my mom. My mom is a hard-working individual and a long-time educator who's now retired. She taught me work ethic. She's married to my father who's blind, my oldest sister is adopted and is also a little person, and I also had a sister with a learning disability. In our family, she made sure everybody was important and it never sacrificed the love and support that she gave. She did the best she could with what she had, and meeting people where they are is critical, because you can't compare bests. Your best might look different than my best, but as long as we're giving our best, then we're doing what we can do. So, my mom.

The best career advice is kind of unpopular, but it is: people are often told to do what you love because you'll never work a day in your life, but I challenge you to do what you like, protect what you love. I like my job, I like who I work with, but I protect what I love. I love, regardless of title, because the title can change and move. I stay rooted in my purpose, I stay rooted in my passion, and my passion and purpose is always to help people be a better version of themselves, draw out that potential. And I can do that with any title. So, as long as I'm doing that, then I'm doing it well. And I like doing that, but I love my children, I love my church. So I'm protective of that.

Entering the field, you have to learn what your voice sounds like. You can't fight everybody's battles, but I know my experience and what it was like as a young Black woman in the field. I may not be able to champion everything, but knowing your own voice and what rings true with you will take you much farther than trying to be a yes-man to everybody else. If you can eloquently touch on your experience and what you bring to the table, and be open to learning more about others, you'll be fine. But as long as you are always blowing the direction of the wind and not firmly rooted in something else, you'll pretty much fall all four ways. So know your own voice, because sometimes people's voices can get overshadowed. And that can be tough if you don't know who you are.

I think the biggest challenge and opportunity is dealing with the disappointment of others and learning that you can't always be responsible for their disappointment. You can only be responsible for the outcomes that you give and for what you provide, but it may not be your fault. You can only be responsible for how you respond to something, the courtesy that you give to other people, not necessarily how they react. So, that disappointment can be tough, because it leads to perfectionism.

What is most important is the underlying foundation of trust and integrity, but it is: do what you said you were gonna do. And if you don't do it, then just apologize. Just say you fell short, you made a mistake. Do those things.