Episode 29

Leading with Heart: Sarah Dusek's Unconventionally Uplifting Path to Success

Sarah Dusek’s first company flopped. She grew her next company, Under Canvas, the US' largest glamping company, from infancy to be valued at over $100 million. Along the way, Sarah learned invaluable lessons about leadership and integrity. She then created Enygma Ventures, a venture capital fund investing in female entrepreneurs in Africa, that allows her to mentor and champion future leaders.

In this episode you’ll hear:

  • Why Sarah once said no to $7 million 

  • Why she embraces crying in meetings as part of a successful leadership strategy

  • Why she believes that women sometimes opt out of leadership and entrepreneurship and how she helps herself stay opted in

  • Why empowering female entrepreneurs is a key to global economic growth and innovation.

  • How she learned to start listening to her inner voice and trust emotional data as much as “hard facts”.

Visit us at www.theuplifterspodcast.com for more inspiring stories, resources, and research specifically for Uplifters like you!

 

Episode Summary

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Segment 1. **Failing Forward:**

   - Sarah's first company's flop and the pivotal lessons it taught her.

   - The importance of giving your all to achieve something extraordinary.

Segment 2. **Leading with Emotion:**

   - Sarah's unique leadership strategy, including embracing emotions and even crying in meetings.

   - The power of emotional data alongside "hard facts" in decision-making.

Segment 3. **Empowering Female Entrepreneurs:**

   - The genesis of Enygma Ventures, Sarah's venture capital fund dedicated to supporting female entrepreneurs in Africa.

   - Mentorship, championing, and her role in helping other female leaders succeed.

Segment 4. **Resilience and Opting In:**

   - Why some women opt out of leadership and entrepreneurship and Sarah's strategies to stay "opted in."

   - The role of resilience in overcoming challenges and setbacks.

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The Uplifters
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About your host

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Aransas Savas

Aransas Savas CPC, ELI-MP, is a veteran Wellbeing and Leadership Coach, certified by the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching and The International Coaching Federation.
She has spent her career at the intersection of research, behavior change, coaching, and experience strategy. She has created a uniquely holistic and proven approach to coaching that blends practical, science-backed techniques with energy coaching.

She has partnered with customer experience strategists, at companies like Weight Watchers, Best Buy, Truist, Edward Jones, US Bank, and many more, to apply the power of coaching and behavior change science to guide customers on meaningful, and often, transformative, journeys.
As a facilitator on a mission to democratize wellbeing, she has coached thousands of group sessions teaching participants across socio-economic levels to leverage the wellbeing techniques once reserved for the wellness elite.

Aransas is the founder of LiveUp Daily, a coaching community for uplifting women who grow and thrive by building their dreams together.
Based in Brooklyn, Aransas is a 20-time marathoner, a news wife, and mother to a 200-year old sourdough culture, a fluffy pup and two spirited, creative girls.