With apologies to country musician Jamie O’Neal, there is, in fact, an Arizona.
Sarah Rose found it and, in the midst of one transformative journey, she also found herself.
Rose wasn’t built to work an office job. But that’s where she found herself in September of 2014.
A graduate of the Linsly School and Ohio University, she took a position with Williams Lea handling document processing duties for a global law firm.
Not bad starting pay so soon after graduation, but in her heart, she longed for something else. Something more.
She began studying integrative therapy techniques, including Reiki. Once her final certifications were complete, she set off westward toward Arizona.
They made their way to Sedona, a city surrounded by red limestone rock and steeped in spiritual and personal enlightenment for all who visit.
It’s here Rose found her true calling. It’s here she found the best version of herself.
She had to overcome some monumental difficulties in her own personal life first, but it’s that part of the journey that made her stronger.
And it’s that part of her journey that lends credence to her voice in helping others.
That is Sarah Rose’s true calling.
She shares her Ascension Story and helps others find the courage and strength to experience theirs.
You left an office job and traveled to Sedona, Arizona. What sparked the move and how did that transform your life, not only on a personal and emotional level but also professional?
There are two things about Sedona that everyone who visits or moves there quickly realizes. One is that it attracts people who love everything from outdoor adventures to spiritual exploration with the hope to fulfill their passions. The other is that they felt “called” to go there. My experience fits right in. Before the move, I spent my days working in a cubicle using my evenings and weekends for studying integrative therapy. As weird as it might sound to some people, the move was sparked by a local, intuitive woman who said that was the place for me to start my professional work. Something clicked inside me and I knew she was right, so I moved there right after gaining my last necessary certification. It was certainly a leap of faith to leave behind stable income and housing to move to the other side of the country without knowing where I’d work or live, but the Universe must’ve had my back. I landed a dream job at the most popular place in town after just a ten-minute conversation with the owner. That leap of faith made me grow in every way possible. I learned to believe in myself more. I realized that sometimes the scary, far out decisions are the ones that lead us to the most daringly great places to learn from in life. It solidified the idea if something is meant to happen, it will happen – with the right amount of effort and surrender. But most importantly, that professional experience was the catalyst for what I do now. I figured if I could achieve this one level then I could grow higher, so I decided to go to school and become a certified life and spiritual coach. I’ve only continued expanding from there.
What first interested you about helping others through self-transformation coaching and empowering others, women in particular?
What initially interested me was how my own experiences became mirrored by my clients and how the efficacy in our sessions was sourced more in offering recommendations that had personally helped me than just the therapy itself. I would experience some major personal shift in my life and a week later, a client would come to me needing guidance with a very similar circumstance. After assigning them some “homework,” the following week they’d tell me about how helpful the newly adopted practices were and then the real transformation in their life would become obvious. Eventually, my integrative therapy practice opened my eyes to see that my clients, mostly women, were really just lacking the effective understanding and tools that could help them make lasting change. They wanted to make a powerful shift, but it’s like they didn’t actually see themselves repeating the same behaviors, habits, and patterns over and over while expecting different results. What was missing was the practical awareness, knowledge, and tools to truly work on and transform themselves. The real shift happened when I took some time off from working with clients so I could work on myself while I went through a divorce. It was the ultimate test for me to walk my walk and I pulled every trick out of my book and then some to get me through it. During that process, I tried every self-healing technique I could get my hands on from meditation and mountain climbing to starting fresh and moving to a couple different states. Through those explorations, I met a lot of amazing people who not only helped me, but who I could help just by opening up, telling my story, and sharing the ways I got through it. I earned a whole new way of helping others.
On your website, you are quite candid with some of the more difficult and traumatic experiences you’ve had to overcome in your life. Do you feel it’s important to be able to openly share, not only from a professional standpoint but for personal growth as well? Kind of owning your past, the good and the bad?
It’s my theory that the more authentic I am with my clients, the more authentic they can be with me so we can dive into the depths where real healing and transformation can happen. But I am also a firm believer that the more courageously vulnerable we are with ourselves and others, the more we as humanity can feel connected and empowered. In that incredibly powerful space, we’re able to grow in limitless ways together as a world. It’s always confused me why so many of us pretend like life is a masquerade ball where we have to put our masks on and dance arms-length away from each other and yet so ironically, desperately crave to be seen, heard, and valued for who we really are. One of my idols, Dr. Brené Brown, has found through her vulnerability research studies that the most basic human need is to feel connected. But judgment, shame, and everything else keep us from inviting that into our lives for no reason other than to flatter our egos and keep us “safe.” I mean, how sad is it that so many of us habitually pass up sharing the realest parts of ourselves just so we can have a counterfeit connection? I have a podcast called Her Ascension Story based on all this and listening to my guests’ stories and to my audience’s responses has really illuminated that our truest nature, which embraces both our good and bad, is usually what ends up inspiring the most hope, healing, passion, and impact in those around us and in the world. Real growth only happens if we are real to begin with. Radically owning our past and present for exactly what they are is the only true way to begin transforming ourselves and our lives.
Without naming names, what are some of the positive transformative experiences you’ve had working with your clients? How does it make you feel helping another to achieve such personal growth?
We aren’t born with a purpose; we’re born as our purpose. It’s our birthright and responsibility to discover that within ourselves so we can do our inimitable work in life. But we’re not always entirely encouraged as women to freely be the “too much,” emotional, excited, passionate beings we naturally are. And sometimes we can’t fully unleash our purpose into the world just because we haven’t been able to fully unleash our most authentic selves in all aspects of life because of this. One of my favorite stories is of a client who suffered from daily physical pain and lack of direction while married to a man she wanted to leave but couldn’t muster up the courage to since they had a very young child together and she wasn’t quite sure where she would live or how she’d support her child outside of the marriage. I had the amazing opportunity to witness her transformation into such an empowered space where she learned healing modalities that eased her pain and gave her direction on how she wanted to fulfill her purpose in life of helping others, plus helped her embody so much of her authentic self that she courageously started making the changes she desired in more aspects of her life, marriage included. She is truly thriving now! It humbles and inspires me when I see women rising up to meet themselves in all their power. There’s always a specific moment when we realize what all the trials and tribulations were preparing us for and how much we truly value our resilience required to make it to that point in our lives. I don’t think it’ll ever not brings me to tears to see someone finally and fully accept themselves to then expand and inspire others to do the same.
You have an online course debuting on July 2. Is this the natural progression of Her Ascension Story, hitting on multiple platforms to reach your clients? What will make it unique?
I want to do everything I can to help others. The Art of Women’s Healing and Transformation course is unique because it’s a 100% B.S.-free zone. I’m not here to compliment my clients, but instead get real and raw with them so they can see and unlock the priceless power and potential they have inside to become their own healers, teachers, guides, and anything else they may be seeking outside of themselves. The process guarantees growth and change because it’s formulated with methods that are proven to work. It’s not just a generic, spoon-fed self-help course, but a lifestyle shift to integrate from day one that, if taken seriously, will create inspiration and impact for years to come. To put it simply, each student who shows up wants real, lasting change and it’s the perfect place to be because once they start, no result other than growth is possible. The four-week course gives women back their power to discover authentic healing and transformation in their lives through a multi-faceted approach that includes self-study modules, live group sessions, weekly classes, individual assessments, and free bonuses such as an additional month of private coaching all intended to lead them step-by-step through deeper, meaningful pieces of who they are as fully empowered women. They begin willing to grow but not really knowing how and they end the course fully equipped with the self-knowledge, direction, and tools to expand their impact moving forward. It’s really something beautiful and I’m so looking forward to seeing how it can make its ripple in the world, especially right now as we navigate intense change, growth, and transformation as a global society. Now more than ever is the time to rise into who we really are and I’m so excited to help other women in doing so!
