370 Whatever Will Be, Will Be
We can often have expectations of how the world is supposed to work, like we are running out of time or that we have to hold on desperately to ideas and beliefs that no longer serve us. However, it is imperative to our growth as individuals, and in turn, our business ventures, to let go of the beliefs that no longer serve you and to learn to accept that whatever will come to you when you are ready, and in its own good time.
In this episode Sarah Elkins and Rashina Gajjar discuss the lessons they’ve learned on their own private journeys, as well as how their own knowledge has helped to serve clients and friends alike.
370 Whatever Will Be, Will Be
We can often have expectations of how the world is supposed to work, like we are running out of time or that we have to hold on desperately to ideas and beliefs that no longer serve us. However, it is imperative to our growth as individuals, and in turn, our business ventures, to let go of the beliefs that no longer serve you and to learn to accept that whatever will come to you when you are ready, and in its own good time.
In this episode Sarah Elkins and Rashina Gajjar discuss the lessons they’ve learned on their own private journeys, as well as how their own knowledge has helped to serve clients and friends alike.
Highlights
Acknowledging the reality of a situation regardless of if you are proud of that thing or not.
Sometimes we sabotage ourselves with change for the sake of change without it being intentional or meaningful change.
Things will happen when they are meant to.
Quotes
“I guess learning to let go and surrender that and to move into this path that I think is more aligned with my broader purpose that really required me to yield and to let go of something that I thought that I had really wanted, and at the time I did want, but was no longer in the forefront of my vision.”
“Everything has it’s own timing. The moments of preparation are important, the moments when you’re stumbling are important, because they also get you there. But don’t be frustrated if it doesn't happen in those moments, because it will happen in the right way. I think that’s something I’ve been constantly learning in my life, and this was an example of it. And I think also my friend it was an example for her as well, the divine timing of things.”
Dear Listeners it is now your turn,
What will you do to choose tomorrow? What is one thing you can do to decide that you have earned and that you deserve the life that you want? Everyday you have choices to make to remind yourself that you deserve the life that you want. That means choosing the labels that fit you rather than holding onto the ones that people gave you.
And, as always, thank you for listening.
About Rashina
Rashina Gajjar is a British entrepreneur, Brand Amplifier and Belief Coach.
Passionate about increasing diversity and accessibility within the creative industry through entrepreneurship, Rashina founded Amplify Studio in 2020, an creative storytelling and brand Amplification studio that has advised companies such as Wise, UCL, and Divinc on inclusive, multi-cultural marketing and brand storytelling.
A former United Nations consultant, she worked closely with the International Trade Centre in Geneva, supporting a community of 4,000 global entrepreneurs on business storytelling, creative marketing, and networking.
Rashina is also a belief coach, helping international entrepreneurs overcome their subconscious limitations and beliefs, clearing the path to increased fulfilment, business success and emotional awareness.
Be sure to check out Rashina’s Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn! As well as her website House of Rashina!
About Sarah
"Uncovering the right stories for the right audiences so executives, leaders, public speakers, and job seekers can clearly and actively demonstrate their character, values, and vision."
In my work with coaching clients, I guide people to improve their communication using storytelling as the foundation of our work together. What I’ve realized over years of coaching and podcasting is that the majority of people don’t realize the impact of the stories they share - on their internal messages, and on the people they’re sharing them with.
My work with leaders and people who aspire to be leaders follows a similar path to the interviews on my podcast, uncovering pivotal moments in their lives and learning how to share them to connect more authentically with others, to make their presentations and speaking more engaging, to reveal patterns that have kept them stuck or moved them forward, and to improve their relationships at work and at home.
The audiobook, Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will is now available!
Included with your purchase are two bonus tracks, songs recorded by Sarah's band, Spare Change, in her living room in Montana.
Be sure to check out the Storytelling For Professionals Course as well to make sure you nail that next interview!
369 Nurturing Community
We’re all human. We all have family, we all have struggles, we all have experienced some sort of adversity, which means we’re more alike than we are different. It can be easy to view the world with blinders on, to ignore it all and keep your nose to the ground, but then your community suffers for it. The people who rely on you, whether it be your friends and family, or a client or customer, by choosing to nurture only our corner of existence, the rest of our community suffers. Just like tending a garden, you must tend the whole garden, spread love and nutrients where you can, and remove what is harmful. It’s hard work, but all things worth doing require effort.
In today’s episode Sarah Elkins and Claudia Krevat discuss the importance of caring for your community as a whole, how vital it is to remove the blinders and to see things as they are and how you best can contribute to a healthy and happy community.
369 Nurturing Community
We’re all human. We all have family, we all have struggles, we all have experienced some sort of adversity, which means we’re more alike than we are different. It can be easy to view the world with blinders on, to ignore it all and keep your nose to the ground, but then your community suffers for it. The people who rely on you, whether it be your friends and family, or a client or customer, by choosing to nurture only our corner of existence, the rest of our community suffers. Just like tending a garden, you must tend the whole garden, spread love and nutrients where you can, and remove what is harmful. It’s hard work, but all things worth doing require effort.
In today’s episode Sarah Elkins and Claudia Krevat discuss the importance of caring for your community as a whole, how vital it is to remove the blinders and to see things as they are and how you best can contribute to a healthy and happy community.
Highlights
Lifting others up also lifts you up.
You never know the doors you’ll open when you just participate.
Have you tried to appeal to someone’s empathy? Their humanity? How did that go for you? What can you do to see people who disagree with you as human?
Connection through how we are similar and how we show our humanity.
Quotes
“You know that when people are asking for it and your participation is growing, you are creating a positive impact.”
“Strangers become friends around the dining table.”
“A lot of us have family in common.”
“There’s a story and we got to tell the story, because don’t we learn from stories?”
Dear Listeners it is now your turn,
I would love to see some comments or get an email from you about how sharing food, breaking bread together, changed your mind about something or someone. I would love to hear the story about the time you ate with people or surrounded a dining table with other people where you experience something unexpected or maybe something that changed your life or changed everything about how you perceived something that you were surprised by.
And, as always, thank you for listening.
About Claudia (from her Instagram page)
Community organizer through food. Recipe designer and alchemist. The Lentil Queen. Recipes and stories.
Be sure to check out Claudia’s Threads, and Instagram! As well as the article written about her on Yellowstone Public Radio!
About Sarah
"Uncovering the right stories for the right audiences so executives, leaders, public speakers, and job seekers can clearly and actively demonstrate their character, values, and vision."
In my work with coaching clients, I guide people to improve their communication using storytelling as the foundation of our work together. What I’ve realized over years of coaching and podcasting is that the majority of people don’t realize the impact of the stories they share - on their internal messages, and on the people they’re sharing them with.
My work with leaders and people who aspire to be leaders follows a similar path to the interviews on my podcast, uncovering pivotal moments in their lives and learning how to share them to connect more authentically with others, to make their presentations and speaking more engaging, to reveal patterns that have kept them stuck or moved them forward, and to improve their relationships at work and at home.
The audiobook, Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will is now available!
Included with your purchase are two bonus tracks, songs recorded by Sarah's band, Spare Change, in her living room in Montana.
Be sure to check out the Storytelling For Professionals Course as well to make sure you nail that next interview!
368 Choose To Step Up And Step In
It’s a strange and frightening world we are living in right now. With divisiveness and anger seeming rampant, it falls to us to maintain our community, to show up with a heart of love and understanding for each other and ourselves, to save our village from burning and refusing to let a lack of empathy and communication drive us to destruction.
In this episode Sarah Elkins and Erin Miller discuss the vital importance of community and taking care of one another, of building bridges and allowing our differences to strengthen us instead of divide us, as well as accepting when a bridge cannot be built and an olive branch is refused and trying to find peace with the results.
368 Choose To Step Up And Step In
It’s a strange and frightening world we are living in right now. With divisiveness and anger seeming rampant, it falls to us to maintain our community, to show up with a heart of love and understanding for each other and ourselves, to save our village from burning and refusing to let a lack of empathy and communication drive us to destruction.
In this episode Sarah Elkins and Erin Miller discuss the vital importance of community and taking care of one another, of building bridges and allowing our differences to strengthen us instead of divide us, as well as accepting when a bridge cannot be built and an olive branch is refused and trying to find peace with the results.
Highlights
What is your moment of satisfaction or awe in what you do?
Are you giving or just taking?
Sitting down and talking to someone who’s different in some way. Building bridges as opposed to burning them.
Celebrate our differences, do not let them drive us apart. But acknowledging when you cannot build a bridge, and seeking to find peace.
The Cause and Effect of what changes individuals.
It’s okay to sit down and let your community help you.
Quotes
“Yes we are individuals, but we are also a collective. If you don’t feed the collective, if you don’t nurture the collective, the collective won’t nurture you.”
“Give what you want to receive. If you want community, you have to give community. If you want patience you have to give patience, and if you want respect and so on and so on.”
“The problem is we’re not talking to each other, we’re not communicating, and we’re not willing to hear.”
“We need to be able to sit down. We’re adults, we can do this, I believe that we can, and we have the capability to sit down and have discussions.”
“Once I extend an olive branch, if the person burns it, I let the ashes fall where they may. I just let them fall.”
Dear Listeners it is now your turn,
What are you going to take from this conversation? Who will you reach out to, to go and have a cup of coffee without having the intention of changing their mind but with the intention of listening to their story? Find out what matters to them and have a conversation. I would love to hear what happens for you when you choose to step up and step in.
And, as always, thank you for listening.
About Erin (from her website)
Erin Patrice is the heart and creator behind The Breaking Bread Village, a space intentionally created for people to come together and have transparent conversations with no judgment so ideas and perspectives may be heard respectfully.
Erin is a conversationalist and a Midland, MI, resident and native to Cincinnati, Ohio. She is a mother and wife and has been a community advocate for twenty years.
Erin has an incredible gift of storytelling and connecting with others of all ages. She shares her story in a way that draws people closer rather than apart. She has a unique teaching style that resonates with all who experience it. Erin has years of life experience, training, and facilitating conversations through empathy, strategy, and storytelling.
Erin is dedicated to being a voice for those with no voice and helping the unseen to be seen.
She believes that everything we do within our small communities changes the world because every good deed causes a ripple effect that will eventually impact the world.
Erin shares her teachings as a community engagement ambassador by facilitating workshops, keynote speaking, panels, and conversations nationwide.
Be sure to check out Erin’s LinkedIn, and her website Breaking Bread Village! As well as the article about her from the Midland Daily News!
About Sarah
"Uncovering the right stories for the right audiences so executives, leaders, public speakers, and job seekers can clearly and actively demonstrate their character, values, and vision."
In my work with coaching clients, I guide people to improve their communication using storytelling as the foundation of our work together. What I’ve realized over years of coaching and podcasting is that the majority of people don’t realize the impact of the stories they share - on their internal messages, and on the people they’re sharing them with.
My work with leaders and people who aspire to be leaders follows a similar path to the interviews on my podcast, uncovering pivotal moments in their lives and learning how to share them to connect more authentically with others, to make their presentations and speaking more engaging, to reveal patterns that have kept them stuck or moved them forward, and to improve their relationships at work and at home.
The audiobook, Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will is now available!
Included with your purchase are two bonus tracks, songs recorded by Sarah's band, Spare Change, in her living room in Montana.
Be sure to check out the Storytelling For Professionals Course as well to make sure you nail that next interview!
367 Manifesting Humanity
It can be easy to forget that we’re human. When work is stressful and all consuming, when dealing with people stuck in the past and the past versions of you, it’s easy to forget we are a person with needs to lead a fulfilling life.
In this episode Sarah Elkins and Alison Miller discuss how the stories we carry with us alter the people we are, often making us revert to the person we used to be and not the person we are now or the person we want to be.
367 Manifesting Humanity
It can be easy to forget that we’re human. When work is stressful and all consuming, when dealing with people stuck in the past and the past versions of you, it’s easy to forget we are a person with needs to lead a fulfilling life.
In this episode Sarah Elkins and Alison Miller discuss how the stories we carry with us alter the people we are, often making us revert to the person we used to be and not the person we are now or the person we want to be.
Highlights
How do you manifest your humanity?
Practicing new ways of being in a community.
Are you being there for yourself?
It’s okay to fall sometimes.
Quotes
“This is a human being living in our society, how do we decide that we make life work for people.”
“We’re observing it, we're not judging it.”
“We always have choices but rarely are they apparent to us.”
Dear Listeners it is now your turn,
I would love to hear from you, what part of this conversation resonated with you? To be in community, to grow, to learn, to connect in an authentic way with people who have diverse backgrounds and have led different lives than you. And When are you going to decide who you’re going to bring to that next conversation to someone you want to have a relationship with.
And, as always, thank you for listening.
About Alison
Alison Miller, PhD, is a Los Angeles-based entrepreneur who is passionate about making personal and spiritual growth accessible and easy to incorporate into daily life. Educated in Clinical Psychology at Cornell University and The University of Illinois at Chicago, Alison has helped lead thousands of graduate students to earn their degrees over the last two decades. As a founder of Lead True, she helped foster and develop the professional leadership skills of countless women around the world. Having recently sold The Dissertation Coach, her expert dissertation coaching & consulting business, she’s now at the helm of her latest business endeavor, The Academic Writers’ Space (TAWS). TAWS is an online coworking community Alison designed for graduate students and academic writers to get real work done in a supportive and nurturing environment. Since its inception in 2020, TAWS has hosted thousands of coworking sessions with academic writers from across the globe. Alison’s living a full life as a public speaker at universities and private businesses, working on the 2nd edition of her book, Finish Your Dissertation Once and for All! How to Overcome Psychological Barriers, Get Results, and Move on With Your Life, and being a wife and mother to her two adult children and dogs Nacho and Koko. Be sure to check out Alison’s social medias at LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok! And be sure to check out The Academic Writers Space, The TAWS Instagram, and the TAWS Youtube!
About Sarah
"Uncovering the right stories for the right audiences so executives, leaders, public speakers, and job seekers can clearly and actively demonstrate their character, values, and vision."
In my work with coaching clients, I guide people to improve their communication using storytelling as the foundation of our work together. What I’ve realized over years of coaching and podcasting is that the majority of people don’t realize the impact of the stories they share - on their internal messages, and on the people they’re sharing them with.
My work with leaders and people who aspire to be leaders follows a similar path to the interviews on my podcast, uncovering pivotal moments in their lives and learning how to share them to connect more authentically with others, to make their presentations and speaking more engaging, to reveal patterns that have kept them stuck or moved them forward, and to improve their relationships at work and at home.
The audiobook, Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will is now available!
Included with your purchase are two bonus tracks, songs recorded by Sarah's band, Spare Change, in her living room in Montana.
Be sure to check out the Storytelling For Professionals Course as well to make sure you nail that next interview!
366 Fortunes For The Future
Throughout our lives we will have to wear many hats and perform many tasks on our paths toward success and personal fulfillment, sometimes these wayward paths lead us to doors that we would never expect to come across. We only need to have the courage to reach out and open the door.
In this episode Sarah Elkins and Russel Rowland discuss the many different paths life leads us down and the lessons we learn on our way to fulfillment and success.
366 Fortunes For The Future
Throughout our lives we will have to wear many hats and perform many tasks on our paths toward success and personal fulfillment, sometimes these wayward paths lead us to doors that we would never expect to come across. We only need to have the courage to reach out and open the door.
In this episode Sarah Elkins and Russel Rowland discuss the many different paths life leads us down and the lessons we learn on our way to fulfillment and success.
Highlights
The work we find between our desired career can open many doors you could never expect.
We need to have something or someone show us that what we’re doing matters.
We all have an edge of discomfort in putting ourselves out there, but we have to confront it in order to live a fulfilling life.
Quotes
“I’m not a big believer of hiding the skeletons. I think you have to look at your history honestly in order to keep growing and learning about how we become the people we are.”
“It’s really the main piece of advice that I think all writers need is to keep doing it. Because we all have an imposter syndrome, every single one of us.”
Dear Listeners it is now your turn,
I already gave you a really fun exercise, if you find that you’re blocked in the writing you need to do, whether that be business writing, or a blog, or journal, maybe you’re writing a book, if you’re feeling blocked in your creativity try writing a handful of fortunes that you would want to find or that you would want somebody you care about to find in their next fortune cookie.
And, as always, thank you for listening.
About Russel
Russell Rowland is the acclaimed author of seven books, as well as the host of a radio show, Fifty-Six Counties, on Yellowstone Public Radio. He has also hosted two podcasts, Breakfast in Montana and The State of Montana, and will soon launch a new podcast, THE SONG OF ROWLAND: American Culture at Full Volume, where he will be interviewing creative people from around the country about their process and the importance of culture in America today. Russell has an MA in Creative Writing from Boston University and lives in Billings, Montana.
Be sure to check out Russels’s Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram! As well as his Website, subscribe to his Newsletter, and his Bluesky account!
About Sarah
"Uncovering the right stories for the right audiences so executives, leaders, public speakers, and job seekers can clearly and actively demonstrate their character, values, and vision."
In my work with coaching clients, I guide people to improve their communication using storytelling as the foundation of our work together. What I’ve realized over years of coaching and podcasting is that the majority of people don’t realize the impact of the stories they share - on their internal messages, and on the people they’re sharing them with.
My work with leaders and people who aspire to be leaders follows a similar path to the interviews on my podcast, uncovering pivotal moments in their lives and learning how to share them to connect more authentically with others, to make their presentations and speaking more engaging, to reveal patterns that have kept them stuck or moved them forward, and to improve their relationships at work and at home.
The audiobook, Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will is now available!
Included with your purchase are two bonus tracks, songs recorded by Sarah's band, Spare Change, in her living room in Montana.
Be sure to check out the Storytelling For Professionals Course as well to make sure you nail that next interview!
365 Tools for Success
In the path to thriving and enjoying your life you must be able to identify and utilize the tools unique to your skills and values. Not everyone can use the same tool kit, just like plants require different soil to grow, we also require our own unique environment to grow.
In this episode Sarah Elkins and Gina Riley discuss the importance of the unique tools we acquire through life and the best way to utilize these tools.
365 Tools For Success
In the path to thriving and enjoying your life you must be able to identify and use your unique skills and values. Not everyone can use the same tool kit, just like plants require different soil to grow, we also require our own unique environment to grow.
In this episode Sarah Elkins and Gina Riley discuss the importance of the unique tools we acquire through life and the best way to utilize these tools.
Highlights
The influences that shape our lives, developing our clarity over time.
You can’t see your potential from the inside, you need people in your life to help you build the perfect future.
What unique and powerful tools do you have?
Quotes
“I think that understanding our own why, and I’m not going right to the Simon Sinek material which is great, but truly just getting anchored in the thing that motivates us deep down to push forward in life.”
“I’m not always right, and I try to check my assumptions, because with maturity we realize we aren’t always right.”
“I think that there’s so much power for all of us; men and women, to embrace the things that we naturally show up with. And if we’re working against it we’re just working against ourselves.”
Dear Listeners it is now your turn,
Regardless of the tool you use to self-reflect, to hold up that mirror, maybe it’s time now to really decide to look at that and choose how you want to show up, who you want to be And to identify the stories that demonstrate those qualities, those skills, those values. I really encourage you to look in that mirror, whatever tool you choose to use, whether that’s friends and family and asking them to honestly let you know how you appear to them, how you show up for them, or taking an assessment and talking to a coach to walk you through it.
And, as always, thank you for listening.
About Gina
Gina Riley is transforming how executives approach job search and career transitions. With nearly a decade in corporate Human Resources at Intel Corporation and later as an executive search consultant for Talence Group, she has led CEO, COO, and CFO searches across industries, trained hundreds in talent selection, and gained unique insight into what makes candidates stand out in competitive leadership searches. As a career coach, she developed the Career Velocity TM
framework—an action-oriented and proven system that has helped countless executives navigate successful transitions.
A two-time DisruptHR speaker and thought leader in career progression, Riley holds a master's degree and is a certified YouMap® coach and behavioral interview skills training expert. Her expertise spans networking strategy, leadership development, and executive presence, making her a trusted advisor for leaders preparing for strategic career moves. She has appeared on over 30 podcasts, including the popular Find Your Dream Job, downloaded over 18,000 times. Her popular series “How Your Next Executive Role Finds You” and extensive catalog of career-related articles, including contributions to the Forbes Coaches Council, have established her as an authority in executive career development.
In her first book, to be released with Advantage Forbes Books, Qualified Isn't Enough, Riley shares her comprehensive understanding of both sides of executive hiring—including what is discussed in the boardroom—to provide readers with insider knowledge and practical frameworks for advancement. Her unique perspective and systematic approach have helped leaders at all levels transform their careers. Find more of her insights and resources at
Be sure to check out Gina’s LinkedIn, Gina Riley Consulting, Her Masterclass Series, Her LinkedIn Newsletter, and Her Forbes Article!
About Sarah
"Uncovering the right stories for the right audiences so executives, leaders, public speakers, and job seekers can clearly and actively demonstrate their character, values, and vision."
In my work with coaching clients, I guide people to improve their communication using storytelling as the foundation of our work together. What I’ve realized over years of coaching and podcasting is that the majority of people don’t realize the impact of the stories they share - on their internal messages, and on the people they’re sharing them with.
My work with leaders and people who aspire to be leaders follows a similar path to the interviews on my podcast, uncovering pivotal moments in their lives and learning how to share them to connect more authentically with others, to make their presentations and speaking more engaging, to reveal patterns that have kept them stuck or moved them forward, and to improve their relationships at work and at home.
The audiobook, Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will is now available!
Included with your purchase are two bonus tracks, songs recorded by Sarah's band, Spare Change, in her living room in Montana.
Be sure to check out the Storytelling For Professionals Course as well to make sure you nail that next interview!
364 NLV 2025
This year in Austin Texas February 10th and 11th is the eighth annual NLV Summit hosted by Sarah Elkins. A meeting of great minds, incredible opportunities, and a sharing of impactful stories.
In today’s episode Sarah reminisces on many of these stories from the previous several NLV Summits and how they have helped her shape her path going forward.
364 NLV 2025
This year in Austin Texas February 10th and 11th is the eighth annual NLV Summit hosted by Sarah Elkins. A meeting of great minds, incredible opportunities, and a sharing of impactful stories.
In today’s episode Sarah reminisces on many of these stories from the previous several NLV Summits and how they have helped her shape her path going forward.
Highlights
Gaining perspective on life, especially when you feel hopeless.
Incorporating the lessons your friends and peers don’t even realize they’re teaching you.
Continuing to strive for the dream you want to build.
Quotes
“Something that continues to shape my work is something Melissa Hughes said when she hosted her session. She said; Sometimes you have to get up to the cheap seats. And she was using the metaphor for those high seats in the bleachers at a baseball game. So that we can gain perspective by getting to a higher view. To look at the bigger picture when we feel stuck.”
“What is it? What does it do? Why does it matter?”
About Sarah
"Uncovering the right stories for the right audiences so executives, leaders, public speakers, and job seekers can clearly and actively demonstrate their character, values, and vision."
In my work with coaching clients, I guide people to improve their communication using storytelling as the foundation of our work together. What I’ve realized over years of coaching and podcasting is that the majority of people don’t realize the impact of the stories they share - on their internal messages, and on the people they’re sharing them with.
My work with leaders and people who aspire to be leaders follows a similar path to the interviews on my podcast, uncovering pivotal moments in their lives and learning how to share them to connect more authentically with others, to make their presentations and speaking more engaging, to reveal patterns that have kept them stuck or moved them forward, and to improve their relationships at work and at home.
The audiobook, Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will is now available!
Included with your purchase are two bonus tracks, songs recorded by Sarah's band, Spare Change, in her living room in Montana.
Be sure to check out the Storytelling For Professionals Course as well to make sure you nail that next interview!