Sarra Dobry

I would say the key to any success I've seen is to be bold. Don't be afraid to ask questions. So often I see people whose careers are stunted by saying, 'Well, I either wasn't trained, or I didn't get that opportunity, I had different cards than they did.' At any moment, you can change your story. When I got my divorce, it was such a blessing because of what was happening in that marriage. I continued to be able to thrive as a solo parent, and it got a lot of obstacles out of the way for me to grow as a professional woman. I wasn't afraid to raise my hand and say, 'Yes, let's do this.' I was presented with opportunities that before I didn't feel bold enough to say yes to, because I was afraid of what my partner might have said or how he might have judged it. So I just said yes to a bunch of new opportunities, and here I am. I've been able to travel the nation and empower so many different groups of people, and that's been a huge honor.

It would definitely be take a mentor. Take a mentor, and just know that wherever you find yourself, that's not the end of your story. So often we put it up to young people - when you're 18 and you graduate high school, we say, 'Okay, well, what do you want to do for the rest of your life?' And you're asking a child, essentially, somebody who doesn't have a lot of world experience to identify what that's going to be. Our goal isn't to work, it's to do what we love in the way that serves others, and get paid to do it. If you go to college for this, that, or the other, and that's not where it lies after 10 years, you've been working it, and you go, 'Gosh, why am I not happy?' - raise your hand, take a partner, take a mentor, and it's okay to step out and do something new. Have courage. Be courageous to know that you steer your ship. That's one of the most liberating things when I tell people that, they kind of go, 'Oh my god, you're right.' That's right, you're not stuck.

I'm a woman that is 4'10" and very petite, so anytime I walk into a room, I've been told I have a very commanding presence, in a good way, and then it's always laughable because I'm so small. No matter what you look like, no matter how you feel you're perceived, it's all in how you present. It's all in your confidence and in your presence. You are enough. I hear women all the time say, 'Well, I didn't get a college degree,' or 'Well, I was a single parent and I was divorced,' or 'Well, I just don't have a lot of background, and I'm not really good enough, I don't have a lot of skills.' What I would say to that is you can flip that script any day you choose. It's not the end of your story again. You can say, 'You know what, I didn't get a degree, but this is what I did instead. This is where my focus was instead, and I'm fantastic at it.' Even if you're a stay-at-home mama, there's so much confidence in that, and you still are an influential woman that other mamas at home need to hear from you. I was a single mom for many years before my now-significant other. I'm raising three daughters, producing more influential women. I didn't call myself a single mom - I was a solo parent, but there's something that is bold about that. I wanted to make sure that my girls would never grow up and say something to the sense of, 'Well, I was raised by a single mom,' in any kind of derogatory tone. I wanted to change that stigma for them, starting in our own home. I continued to grow my career, I continued to be there for them. It was tough, but every milestone was tough for a reason. They were always my why - not just to provide for them in a way that they always had a nice home in a safe neighborhood to live in, but so they had just as much opportunity as anybody else, and that wasn't going to be a handicap. I modeled that for them, and they're gonna grow to be three strong women, and they already are. They're funny, they're clever, they're so smart, and they're driven, and I'd like to think that that which I modeled to them through their upbringing had maybe had something to do with that.

I always feel like challenges are exciting to me. They're like puzzles, because there's always a way. The biggest challenge is the economic landscape that we're in right now - the climate of where we are as the workforce. So many companies are folding, or they're having to downsize, they're having to do layoffs, and it's put everybody in this tailspin, questioning are they gonna be okay, are they gonna have the means to provide for their families. Companies are asking, are we gonna have to file bankruptcy? What are we going to do? I have worked so many years in both of those roles to be able to say, 'Hey, business owner, it's not over for you. Let's talk.' Let's talk about other creative ways - where are your pain points? Where are you spending a lot of money or missing out? And again, it always boils down to the people involved. There's so many different solutions. If you can't afford to hire a workforce, maybe you can afford to hire a company that can provide the workforce, and they take on all of the risks. It might cost you a little more up front, but having that workforce in place is what you have to have to be able to grow your business and to survive right now. There's going to be a little bit of investment in your growth, but I promise you, if you do these things, you're gonna be just fine. I'm able to provide opportunities for people that may have been part of those layoffs, anywhere from executives down to our entry-level workforce. That's the bread and butter of what I do - being able to help people identify where their strengths are, what their best fit is, bridge that with a lot of the clients that we work with, and we will find them a place or at least find them a path.

I would say kindness, and that means a lot of things. I teach kindness to my kids, we speak kindness in our home. Kindness can be a lot of things - it's not just how we speak to people or how we treat people, it goes beyond that. In our professional sphere, kindness can be giving tough feedback to people sometimes, and they probably wouldn't say that didn't feel very kind, but I would say it would be a disservice to you and those around us if I didn't give you that very crucial feedback that'll help you grow, or maybe help identify where your strengths are, or where they're not. So clear is kind. Feedback is kind, it's a gift. Kindness is where it is, even in a quote-unquote disciplinary situation, that's a kindness. I would say kindness is at the root of what I do.