A thoughtful exploration of how integrity functions as a daily practice in organizations and relationships, revealing character through aligned words, commitments, and actions rather than mere slogans.
Her Story
About Sarah
Sarah Sullivan brings nearly two decades of experience in finance and nonprofits to her current work in mental health counseling. She primarily counsels adolescents and children through contracted clinics, using play therapy with younger clients and traditional talk therapy with others, while continuing to advise local businesses on financial strategies and serving as treasurer for a nonprofit board to develop budgets and policies. Her path began with leadership roles including business manager at a private school and controller and human resources director in transportation and logistics, experiences that sparked her passion for supporting people through challenges. Sarah earned an associate's degree in accounting and a bachelor's in finance and economics from Southern New Hampshire University over 20 years of flexible study and will complete her master's degree in November. She is a member of the American Counseling Association and a former Rotarian. Sarah attributes her success to persistence and a focus on supporting children and adolescents, values integrity, compassion, and empathy in her work, and advises others to stay focused while giving themselves grace through career ups and downs. She notes significant challenges in northern Michigan including a scarcity of mental health services and rigorous licensure requirements that include a six-month unpaid internship.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Sarah
01What do you attribute your success to?
Persistence. I think just waking up every day and keep engaging in what feels good to me. At this stage of my life, it is supporting children and adolescents.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
What anyone else thinks or says about you when you're not in the room, it does not matter. Just keep going on the path that you see forward. Don't get clouded by the judgment and opinions of others. Follow your path and stick to it.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Keep your eye on the prize. Stay focused. But also give yourself grace. It's gonna be a journey of ups and downs. And it's okay to fail, and then rebuild, and carry on.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
In the mental health field, we actually have a mental health scarcity in northern Michigan, so we have a severe lack of services available for clients, but there's also quite a rigorous path to licensure. So like, I have been going through a 6-month unpaid internship to complete my program, and then I have to go through the licensure path. So it's there are systematic barriers to becoming a mental health professional. And then on the other side of that, we have residents here in Northern Michigan that need the services desperately, and it's not available.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Integrity is number one. Doing the right things for the right reasons. I would also say compassion. Which, it does even have a place in the business world. Sometimes we forget that. And then empathy as well.
Her Content Hub
Articles by Sarah
Integrity: Walking the Talk
Why integrity matters more when no one is watching—and how it shapes organizations and relationships.
Integrity Is Not a Slogan. It Is a Practice.
Integrity is one of those words that sounds polished in reference to a mission and practical in conversation.
In reality, it is neither. It is costly, inconvenient, and often disruptive. I have seen firsthand how the presence of integrity can strain a system or relationship, and how its absence can quietly collapse one.
We tend to think of integrity as a personal value. C.S. Lewis is often attributed with the famous quote, “Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching,” and it begs the question: What will you do when no one is watching?
Like most character traits, integrity is something most of us are still learning to practice.
In Organized Systems, Integrity Shows Up in Concrete Ways
It appears in signed shareholder agreements that are honored even when market conditions shift or management disagreements occur. It appears in contracts that are upheld even when working relationships cool. It appears in bylaws that are followed even when a vote does not go the way leadership hoped.
Agreements are not written for easy seasons. They exist for moments of tension.
Most people operate ethically when circumstances are favorable. Integrity is revealed when an agreement constrains you—and you honor it anyway.
When leaders begin to reinterpret commitments because they are inconvenient, trust erodes, and the system itself becomes unstable. Short-term flexibility may feel strategic, but the long-term cost is credibility and, sometimes, legal consequences.
Integrity Also Shows Up in Whether Behavior Matches an Organization's Stated Mission
If transparency is named as a value, information cannot be selectively shared.
If empowerment is celebrated publicly, dissent cannot be punished privately.
Mission statements are meant to be more than branding exercises. They are behavioral commitments.
When actions consistently align with those commitments, the system strengthens. When they do not, the mission becomes a performance for its audience—and people recognize the difference.
But Integrity Does Not Stop at the Office Door
It shows up just as clearly in our personal relationships.
It asks whether we are the same person privately that we present publicly. In families and friendships, integrity often looks like honesty—not the careless honesty that wounds for the sake of being right, but the kind that builds trust.
It means refusing to gossip behind someone's back while smiling to their face.
It means telling a friend the truth when something is wrong and being willing to hear hard truths in return.
Healthy relationships are not built on constant agreement. They are built on trust, and trust grows when people know that what is said in private matches what is said in public.
I have seen integrity challenge systems and relationships. Sometimes it creates friction because it asks people to slow down, revisit assumptions, or correct course. In those moments, integrity can feel like resistance.
But more often, it is accountability.
There have been times when I have fought to honor integrity within my sphere of influence—when agreements needed to be clarified, policies needed to be followed, behavior needed to match stated values, or a legal process needed to play out.
And there have been times when I have stepped away because the other party did not demonstrate awareness of or commitment to doing the right thing.
Walking away is sometimes the most disciplined choice.
It conveys a quiet, simple acknowledgment that integrity cannot be carried by one person alone.
Integrity Is Not About Being Right. It Is About Being Aligned.
It is about ensuring that our words, commitments, and behavior tell the same story.
When they do, organizations become stable and trustworthy, and relationships become stronger and more resilient.
At its core, integrity is a matter of character. It shapes whether our actions are authentic or performative, whether our values guide our behavior or simply decorate our language.
When integrity and authenticity come together, people begin to trust not just what we say, but who we are.
And in a world that often rewards noise and reaction, that kind of character becomes the quiet foundation for something even more powerful:
The ability to remain steady when pressure inevitably arrives.
Author Bio
Sarah Lee Sullivan resides in Traverse City. She is a master's-level counseling student, entrepreneur, and nonprofit executive. This is the fourth published piece in her series, From Survival to Sovereignty.
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