Becoming Beautifully Brave with Sarah Pendrick : Episode 279

Hi sister! Welcome back to another episode of a Taylored Adventure to Happiness. If you are new, welcome! If you are a regular, you know I love you! 

Sister, I have something special for you from today’s juicy scoop episode. This one’s for women who are doing the work, pioneering a new way of putting themselves out there, and tackling all the challenges that come along with that. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a thought leader, an author, or a woman taking the lead in your relationships and personal life, you’ll find lots of takeaways and nuggets of wisdom here.

Being a badass isn’t always easy. The fact that it’s not easy is what makes you a badass. If you’ve been listening to me for a while, you already know that. And if you’ve been tapping into divine feminine energy for a while, you also know that being a badass isn’t always about forcing, striving, or pushing.

The way forward — for those of us in touch with divine feminine energies — is to dance between striving and allowing, as well as between following others’ lead and making our own way. It’s a completely unique process that has everything to do with the individual light each person has to share. And it unfolds according to each person’s unique divine timing.

To support ourselves in this process, we must be beautifully brave. And I’m so excited that Sarah Pendrick, author of the book Beautifully Brave joined me on this episode. Sarah and I talk about her experience growing her brand in an inspired way, how she supports herself through fears of judgment, success, and failure, and how you can give yourself the love, care, and encouragement you need to shine the way your spirit intended it to. Let’s get started!

Who Is Sarah Pendrick?

Sarah Pendrick is an empowerment advocate, public speaker, and author who is passionate about creating deep, lasting support among women in the most magical ways. She is the founder of GirlTalk Network, one of the original women-supporting-women movements. She’s been named one of Forbes’ top inspiring female entrepreneurs and was recently awarded the “Iconic Woman of the Year” award from the Women Economic Forum, United Nations.

Sarah has spoken on over 100 stages, held events in 6 countries, and been a TV show host and expert guest in over 25 cities. But her life path did not come easily. Sarah has spoken about childhood trauma, adult loss, confusion, and lack of purpose at a young age. She rose from this past into becoming an entrepreneur and consultant for multi-million dollar brands before starting her own. Having done the inner work to manifest the life she has now, she shares the tools that worked for her, including manifestation, energy healing, and self-care. 

Sarah’s book Beautifully Brave is a must-read. It’s a roadmap to deeper self-love, self-care, and self-development peppered with practical techniques you can turn to again and again, no matter where you are on your path. It was such an honor to speak with this amazing author. 

Building a Business the Feminine Way

It’s natural to look to others for inspiration.  At the same time, much of the world has been built the masculine way. This is the way of striving, pushing, forcing, or controlling. As opposed to the feminine way, which is about magnetism — flowing, receiving, and allowing. This is the way of surrender.

We need both, and it’s most definitely a dance. Having a vision and being able to let go instead of forcing it to happen is a challenge. I asked Sarah where in her life she learned to surrender.

“I feel like that’s been my lesson this whole time. … Obviously, I have big visions. … I have so many things that I want to do and huge dreams and I’ve always been someone that’s like, yeah, anyone can do anything. … And society painted this picture of success, of pushing and knowing every answer and all those things. … Every time I get off track now I’m reminded that it’s really about relaxing and letting it come to you.” – Sarah Pendrick

It’s so true, right? Just like anyone else with ambitious goals and dreams, Sarah had to learn to put her ego aside in certain moments and trust that her manifestation was unfolding. And the thing is, we need that vision and that drive to achieve. So, when is it time to step aside and trust that your vision is unfolding? Because you’re magnetizing it and you’re supported by the Universe.

What are you manifesting and where are you at in terms of pushing vs. receiving? Is it the time for big, bold moves, or is it time to let go and trust? It’s so easy to forget that we are not doing everything on our own (our ego) and instead we are co-creating with spirit. And sometimes, when we’re following our role models or the way things have always been done, it can actually take us away from success. Sarah and I talked about how masterminds shifted for her over the years.

“I was in a ton of masterminds when I first started my business. … I absolutely love them, but I think there’s a difference between a more masculine-focused mastermind and a more feminine [one]. So I was just looking into all these masculine-focused masterminds, and [thinking], ‘What’s wrong with me? Why isn’t this working?’ So I had to go through that, which was so painful in the moment. I [thought], ‘I’m never going to succeed. People don’t like me, all the things.’ And I [realized], ‘Well, it’s not working for me because I’m not being in my feminine power.’” – Sarah Pendrick

Sister, have you ever felt this way? I invite you to take a step back the next time you’re hitting a wall and see if the problem really is you or the approach you’re taking. Now, you might have to make this a regular practice, where you come back to yourself again and again.

“That’s when I stepped away and gave myself that rest. … I was able to develop the practices that … bring me back to that present moment. [That was] so life-changing for me. And I talk about these things in the book, just like how to really … connect with yourself, have your own back, and then have the people around you or to deal with difficult conversations when you’re out in the world and everyone’s thinking totally different than you are. And you’re like, ‘Wait, I actually know these secrets. I know this magic, but I’m getting pulled back into that crap.’ … So I remember that feeling, and I just remember how powerful it is to come back to yourself and give yourself a little break.”-  Sarah Pendrick

Paving Your Own Path

As lightworkers, we didn’t come here to do things the way they’ve already been done. We came here to bring a new consciousness into the planet. And that means that sometimes our lives are going to look different from other people’s, even in very mundane and everyday ways. But it takes practice to learn when that is. Sarah shared how this played into marketing her business.

“When I launched my business GirlTalk, I was in the complete unknown. I just knew I had to get out of this job. Something bigger [was] calling me. And when you’re in that place, you’re not in attachment. You’re just like … I’m going to go for it. … And I launched my business with literally no followers and had a sold-out women’s event. And I look back on that, and that was the easiest ‘launch’ that I ever did in my life. So I might [think], ‘Can it always be like that?’ And yeah, it can.” – Sarah Pedrick

That really hits home for me. Why is it that when we don’t have a ton of expectations and we just go for it, things flow more easily? And when we start overthinking and overdoing, we come up against walls? Sarah shared that after her first launch, which came easily for her, she started emulating other people:

“[I thought], ‘I have to post every single day. … I need to have this funnel. I need to be in like 500 masterminds.’ … And I also created a membership before I even had a community. Cause it’s like, ‘Oh, everyone has a membership. That’s what you’re supposed to do.’ Little did I know, [you need to wait] until you have a community because memberships are a lot of work. But I just was doing what everyone else was doing because I didn’t know better. And I didn’t give myself that space and time to be like, well, what do I really want to do?” – Sarah Pendrick

I call this being in 1995 mode. Feeling the need to do things the way they were done in 1995, like having a marketing funnel or connecting to people in a certain way that worked then for people but does not work now. Remember — someone made that up a long time ago. 

When we fall prey to doing what someone else does, we don’t know what their life is behind the scenes. We don’t know how exhausted they are. How much they wish they could just stop doing what they’re doing, but the momentum’s already going, so they can’t go back. Wouldn’t it be so much easier if we were able to — from the very beginning — think, “Ok, I could do it this way. But is that the right choice for me?”

Self-Care to Support Being Beautifully Brave

I love how Sarah defined being brave. Again, it’s about trailblazing and moving forward in new ways at times — ways that we don’t necessarily have models for.

“It is beautifully brave. It’s not brave like masculine and like ‘Let’s do this. Just suck it up.’ It’s beautifully brave to decide …I  know that there’s … a better way for me. … We’re the changemakers right now.” – Sarah Pendrick

Being brave doesn’t mean not feeling fear. Being brave will literally guarantee that you’ll come up against fear, against limiting beliefs. Sarah spoke of the insecurities and fears that come up in any worthwhile endeavor.

“That’s what comes with it. Unfortunately, … those feelings are going to come with it. Just remember that they’re just thoughts and feelings that are in your body that you can work with. And you can learn so much from [them]. … To cultivate love and bravery within yourself … is when you have your own back. … And this is why I wrote the book, … and I wrote a whole chapter about personalized self-care. Like a girl loves herself a bubble bath, but that’s not necessarily self-care, that’s not necessarily self-care for everyone.” – Sarah Pendrick

As you shift and change, your needs will change. But the one fundamental, underlying principle to take with you is that of commitment to self. You can start there and you can end up there:

“Start saying ‘yes’ to yourself. Start literally treating yourself as you would treat the love of your life and having their back. Like sometimes when I’m really in it, I’ll put myself outside of myself and be like, ‘How am I going to show up for this woman? How I’m going to show up for this little girl? Well, I’m going to say no to that. Or I’m going to go on that vacation. I’m going to take whatever time I need for myself. I’m going to have that hard conversation.’” – Sarah Pendrick

It’s those little acts of bravery that are the meat of your self-care experience. It’s not putting things off. It’s being an adult for your inner child. It’s allowing yourself to play. Are any of these things regularly associated with success? Not always. But you’re so fucking worthy of them.

Navigating Online Judgment

Fear of judgment is one of the big struggles I think we all have to overcome, and Sarah had a lot to say on this.

“People are like, ‘Oh, but people and my friends from high school are going to think I’m weird that I’m posting about this stuff online.’ … I would make a list of the people that truly matter in your life, … like the people that really, really matter. The people that are in your everyday life, … but let them know. Have a hard conversation about [it]. You want to start expressing yourself, you’re going to start this new venture, or you’re going to start showing up for yourself differently. And you invite them to maybe join you.” – Sarah Pendrick

People usually judge us because they’re projecting their fears, unhealed stuff, and shadows onto us. And when something in us abruptly changes, they feel it, become suspicious, and then the shadows come out. But simply involving people from the start, in a calm and confident way, can signify to them what’s going on. At the same time, we shouldn’t tiptoe too much around other people:

“All of our souls have a unique voice. … Especially when we start doing work like this, it starts getting louder. And we’re like, ‘All right, well, what do we do with this?’ And I just got this message that the soul’s voice is coming to this planet to be heard. And it’s not that everyone’s going to love that voice because that’s not possible. And literally, before we got here, it was like, ‘Here’s your soul’s voice. This is how you sing. This is how you speak. This is how you express yourself.’” – Sarah Pendrick

What is your unique expression? And where does it need to shine? Maybe it’s for your children, your neighbors, or your 200 Instagram followers. See how you can activate your throat chakra. Try doing a little bit each day. Then the next day just a little bit more.

Why You Should Listen to This Episode with Sarah Pendrick Right Now… 

What big dream do you have that you’re thinking: How would I even get that started? That’s so big. How can you switch that and think: Wait, that’s so 1995 to even doubt a vision that I have!

I have to thank Sarah for being the mirror we all need right now. Thank you Sarah for showing us how to be brave. You can get a copy of her book wherever books are sold. Have it on your coffee table, on your nightstand, or gift it to someone you know who needs it. You can follow Sarah on Insta here and check out her Facebook page.  

If you loved this episode, let us know on Instagram! Take a screenshot of the episode and tag Sarah, @sarahpendrick, and me, @iamtaylorsimpson, and let us know what your biggest takeaways are! 

Remember, I love you. I see you. Cheers to being brave and to showing up for ourselves wherever we are right now. And remember — always choose happiness because, well, why the fuck not?