Digital Social Hour - Private Jets: The $100K Secret Most Entrepreneurs Miss | Sarah Naska DHS #977
Episode Date: December 13, 2024Discover how private jets could be your secret weapon in business - and why most entrepreneurs are missing out on this game-changing opportunity! 🛩️ Join Sarah Naska, a former private flight atte...ndant turned aviation broker, as she reveals the insider secrets of the private jet industry and how it can transform your business success. From starting as a flight attendant to building her own aviation empire, Sarah shares the unexpected ways private aviation can be more accessible and profitable than you think. Get ready for exclusive insights into the world of private aviation, entrepreneurship, and scaling businesses to new heights. Sarah breaks down how she turned a midlife crisis into a thriving aviation brokerage, serving elite clientele and creating incredible networking opportunities along the way. Learn why private jets aren't just about luxury - they're about buying back your time and creating game-changing connections. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur or seasoned business owner, this episode is packed with actionable insights about leveraging private aviation for business growth. Discover how Sarah transformed her career from serving on private jets to owning her own brokerage, and why this $100K secret could be the missing piece in your business strategy. Ready to take your business to new heights? Watch now to learn how private aviation could be your ticket to unprecedented success! 🚀 #cirrusvisionjet #gulfstream #dayinthelifeofanentrepreneur #entrepreneur #howtostartabusiness CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Sarah's Move to LA 01:05 - How Sarah Got Into Aviation 05:24 - Leaving the Church 09:38 - Growing Up in a Single Parent Household 11:00 - Leaving a Relationship Too Late 14:35 - Cryptocurrency Investment Insights 15:40 - Speaking at Mosaic Church 18:14 - Exploring Religion and Spirituality 22:47 - Cancer Journey and Awareness 26:18 - Your Relationship with Death and Grief 30:21 - Traveling to Costa Rica 31:27 - Personal Development Strategies 32:55 - Video Games and Emotional Control 34:34 - Starting a Podcast Journey 36:35 - Successful Female Entrepreneurs' Traits 37:56 - Overcoming Limiting Beliefs 40:48 - Sarah's Favorite Podcasts and Music 42:07 - Where to Find Sarah Online APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: jenna@digitalsocialhour.com GUEST: Sarah Naska https://www.instagram.com/thesarahmarie1 https://www.thesarahmarie.net/ LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ Digital Social Hour works with participants in sponsored media and stays compliant with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations regarding sponsored media. #ad Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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The church is very divided.
I wonder what causes there to be so much different separation.
And made rules, denominations, right?
Everybody kind of has their own spin.
Their expression of worship is gonna look very different,
but then it kind of breaks down to
what their fundamental beliefs are.
We don't believe in praying in tongues
or we don't believe in miracles for today.
And so they kind of pick and choose some things
out of the Bible, what they do and don't agree with
based on their personal experience.
All right, guys, got Sarah here from LA. You ready to do this thing?
Let's do it. What you been up to lately?
Several things. Thanks for having me on your podcast.
I'm super excited to be here. I just made the move out to LA.
So I'm coming from Savannah, Georgia. Oh, big change. Huge change.
White knuckled an RV across the US,
out West with my kids and the dog
to start a new brokerage out in Los Angeles.
Okay, real estate.
So I work in real estate finance investments.
I also have a brokerage, SMH Aviation,
for corporate aviation.
That sounds cool.
How'd you get into aviation?
Yeah, so that, I got into aviation about 10 years ago.
It was kind of like a midlife crisis.
In my mid 30s, I was like getting so crazy
and wanting to travel a lot more.
So I was like, what could I do?
I was already working in finance investments
in real estate and executive leadership development,
but I was like, what do I want to do?
So I looked into kind of like,
what's the best way to make the most money and travel?
So I looked into private aviation for flight attending,
and I started doing flight attending
for private owners and charter companies
and traveled across the country,
across the globe and internationally.
So I just started my foot there.
I worked myself up from management, from the bottom up to management and then Elite Clientel, and then I decided to just started my foot there. I worked myself up from management,
from the bottom up to management and then elite clientele.
And then I decided to start my own brokerage.
Wow.
Good for you.
Started from the bottom, now we here.
Start from the bottom, go to the top.
Yep.
That's cool.
Yeah, that's the cool thing about the aviation business.
You get to travel the world.
Yeah, it was a really amazing experience.
It's, you know, less than 1% get to experience
that kind of lifestyle and you get to see a lot, you get to experience a lot,
and it was just really cool.
A lot of cool stories, for sure.
I bet, yeah, we'll have to dive into some of those.
What caused that midlife crisis, though, you mentioned?
Well, I mean, I was just working a lot with paperwork,
and I was doing a lot of church work,
and I was just on my computer a lot, working with people,
and I just wanted to see the world.
I grew up traveling, so I just really wanted
to get out and do
more. I'm a curious mind so I kind of hit that stage. I was like let's tackle a new
project, let's get new challenges going and so yeah it started out doing flight
attending and then I hit my kind of stride there for about ten years.
Was it a specific airline you started up? So these were private owners and charter
companies so through aviation you can hire a jet as a charter
or a lease back, and you can work that as a contract.
So I did contract work, said yes or no to any flight
that I wanted to do, and kind of just built up
my clientele from there through aviation brokerages
across the country or private owners that had a jet that wanted a flight girl.
I like that, bro. I'd rather do that than work for commercial airline.
Yeah, I would not do commercial if my life depended on it.
Yeah, no offense to those employees, but they don't look happy sometimes.
I personally couldn't deal with the anxiety of being on a plane like that.
I don't even like traveling commercial, let alone wanting to work in it for my day job.
So yeah, that was the thought behind it
when I went private.
I was like, I don't want to deal with chaos and craziness,
but I want to make a lot of money so I can invest it
and then travel.
And then in that, I just fell in love with aviation
more and more and the client's hell kind of crossed over
because I was working in finance and assets.
So I just bring my computer,
I talk to the clients on the plane.
I would work on my investments when I got to
Hawaii, sit for a week, make some good money.
What a great life.
So it was a good run for a lot of years.
That's so cool.
Yeah, I'm big on energy. And when I'm in an airport or like a
public flight, it's like, yeah, really tough.
It's it's terrible to have all your energy sucked by other
people and your mood is dictated by that you're trying to work trying to keep a clear head. It's the to have all your energy sucked by other people and your mood is dictated by that.
You're trying to work, trying to keep a clear head.
It's the way to go.
Yeah, when I fly private or semi-private,
because I fly JSX a lot, it's like a way different vibe.
It feels amazing.
I actually look forward to the flight
instead of dreading it.
Yeah, JSX is a good, what, 30 people on there?
Yeah, it's super small, but it's like barely any more expensive than like a regular.
Yeah, that's the thing.
There's a lot of opportunity in aviation.
It's a lot more affordable than people think.
Absolutely.
And it's, you know, you're buying back your time.
Oh yeah.
And I'm sure you got to network with some amazing people
while you were doing that. Oh yeah.
Between the FBOs and on the flights itself
or the locations that you go because you're an elite,
you know, jet or elite clientele,
you get a lot of exposure, a lot of networking is involved
and yeah, a lot of great opportunities.
What's the FBO?
Private airport.
Oh.
Yeah, the private airports are called FBOs.
Got it, I didn't know that.
Yeah, there's a couple.
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When they get sadank, yeah, I remember
Yeah, f1 last year was completely full you couldn't even land. Yeah, I actually came to
Not the formula one, but I got to go to the Grand Prix or just I picked up some
Executives that were going down there taking clients down there
They had extra tickets. That was one of the job perks. Nice
Oh, that's about us in the box and watch the Grand Prix. Yeah, what a time
Yeah, that's so cool. You said you used to work at the church a little bit. Yeah, so I did executive leadership
Development and I worked in we had a church for
20 plus years we did ministry. So yeah.
You still doing that or no? No, I actually quit the church about a year ago, year and a half ago,
formally as a career and focused solely on corporate America. Got it. Dabbling into both
industries for 25 years. Was that a tough choice for you? It was, but it was,
there was a lot of tough choices around it,
but leaving the organization of Salary Church Life,
that I don't miss that at all.
That's my one qualm with churches actually.
Yeah.
With like the payouts and stuff.
Yeah.
So what is it that you, what is your?
Just I hear these stories of like these mega churches
and how they're using the money
and the owners are buying expensive things or whatever.
And it's like, I don't know,
I'd love to hear your perspective on that,
if that happens.
Yeah, so in my perspective,
I think that the church is very similar
to a business corporation.
You have to run it as such in the sense
that you have to have overhead to supply everything
that's gonna go on and what you're doing.
Most churches, if they're really functioning well, they're gonna be doing a lot of community outreach and events.
You need people that are willing to work 40, 50, 60 hours to do the grunt work of service,
going into people's houses, cleaning for them, doing yard work, whether it's, you know, events that you put on.
This takes hours of time like you would expect
for any other corporate vendor to go to an air show.
It takes hours and days and weeks to do a lot of this stuff,
planning for years.
So it turns into a business because you need people
to work it and people can't live off of 20, 30,
$40,000 a year anymore.
And so the church is a nonprofit, so the nonprofit doesn't really
bring in a lot of money. So then they're constantly trying to get donations. So there's obviously
an abuse of power in a lot of churches and a lot of mega churches. And I've seen stuff
too that makes me want to throw up. You know, I'm just like, thank God that I am not associating
God with that kind of church, because that's not who God is. That's an expression of ego, excessiveness,
maybe grandiose personalities or just gluttony,
whether it's money or food or whatever it is.
So I definitely can see why people would have a thought
about that in a negative way.
Because most people, when you see it, it's kind of gross.
But ultimately, the people that are really doing a lot
in the community, there's a lot of really good, the people that are really doing a lot in the community,
there's a lot of really good solid churches that need money to support communities and that can
sit with people that are going through hard seasons that need that pastoral care, the hospital
visits. So I'm a firm believer in the organization of the church. I think it should be an expression
of who you are as a person and everybody's gotta eat. So I think people should be fed and paid well
if they're in service, because I don't think,
just because they're doing stuff people don't want to do,
that it's not highly valuable.
I can see that.
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
Yeah, I could definitely get behind that.
I think the mega church is where it gets a little extreme.
Yeah, and I think it's just more people,
more money to manage and more opportunities
to kind of take you know, take advantage
of situations. But yeah, ultimately, it's just, it's just like anything else, you need
money to pursue something that your vision is to go forward.
Absolutely. So church has been a big part of your life growing up and everything too?
Yeah, I was raised in the church by a single mom. And she, she lived a radical life and she made a lot of radical choices.
She actually left my dad when I was two from an abusive relationship.
She had three kids under the age of eight and went to a women's house for abused women and children, troubled teens,
and left in the middle of the night, this was early 80s, when there was no laws to protect against domestic abuse for a partner. So she didn't have any support or help. So she went to a shelter,
she started to rebuild her life, she stayed with family and friends, extended friends,
and then decided to put herself through college. So I learned a lot about faith through my mom,
and through her life, and she raised me with my foundation of faith.
Hmm, humble beginnings. Yeah with my foundation of faith. Hmm. Humble beginnings.
Yeah, humble beginnings for sure.
Wow. Yeah, I grew up in a single parent household too.
I hear a lot of guys talk about it. I've never heard a female actually talk about
growing up in a single parent household.
Yeah, I mean, she's obviously, she was my hero, and she lived a beautiful life,
and I can't imagine the stuff she had to go through in the season of life, in the economic times
that she was in, in the governmental times she was in,
and all the experiences that women dealt with
prior to even today.
There's so many things that women have been held back on.
So I really highly respect her.
I found myself too in a single parent situation,
which is something I never expected.
I was married for 23 years.
And so now I'm kind of mirroring her life,
which in itself is super weird to think about,
but it's actually really beautiful and powerful
because I took a lot of her life lessons
and I don't look at it as like a hindrance
or like a handicapped.
I think I'm like, this is amazing.
I have my amazing kids.
I get to choose what I want to do and think how I want to think and lead my life
and lead my kids into a legacy that I feel
is lasting and powerful.
I don't feel like it's a handicap for me.
Clearly I would love a male support.
They're important.
I think men and women are better together 100%.
And I think a woman should not necessarily
be doing it on her own.
But if it comes down to it
I think there are choices that need to be made and I think if it comes to that then that's okay
And I feel I feel really good about it. Yeah, the other partners not stepping up
It could actually be doing more harm than good. So it depends on the situation
100% more damage can be done by staying
Than actually taking the leap of faith to leave and I think a lot of people stay too long.
Oh, yeah.
I think I stayed probably eight years too long.
Whoa, that's a long time.
Yep.
So you had the thought eight years prior.
I looked back through journals and I had been writing the same feelings for about 12 to
15 years.
When I packed up to move out west in LA, I thought, oh my gosh, this is 2009.
This is 2011. So yeah, I have endurance, this is 2009, this is 2011.
So yeah, I have endurance, so I'm pretty good at stuff.
Yeah, I could tell.
So I endured a little bit in that marriage
and I'm sure he did too,
because we were not compatible in the long run.
A lot of factors that play into that, but yeah.
Definitely.
You think you were growing faster than he was?
Oh yes, and that's actually a conversation
we had years earlier.
But yeah, I outgrew him for sure.
That's common in relationships.
One person's growing a little quicker
and the other one is comfortable at that stage, right?
Yeah, it's easy to do when you divide and conquer
and you try to build an empire together
and you're like, oh, you do this, I'll do that.
And let's come back in the middle.
And that was kind of what we had done in that season.
But yeah, personal development is super important to
relationships that are lasting.
And if you get together super young in a relationship,
like I was 20, he was 19, and now I'm 44,
I have a very different mindset on things at 44
than I did at 20 based on life experience.
So yeah, I'm a firm believer
in mental health and doing the inner work and doing the deep dive and so that you don't
sabotage your relationships and you can build on what you know, a lasting legacy, build
on love and life. And personal developments needed at every level. Some people think just
because they're super rich, they don't need it, but... No, I think the richer you are, the more you need it,
because you don't want to outgrow your wealth.
You don't want to be your own cap to your own ceiling.
And yeah.
I agree. I see a lot of people with big egos,
and it's like, dude, that's going to ruin you in the long run.
Pride comes before a fall, and the egomaniac or the ego that leads the way
is definitely gonna be the one that falls first.
Yeah, you gotta keep it under control,
and I feel it creeping up even to this day.
It's just something that's like an ongoing thing.
Oh, it is, and this is a silly reference,
but I was in the Louis Vuitton store with a girlfriend.
She was buying a gift for another friend,
and I could feel this materialism thing
just kinda jumping on me, and I was like, oh my gosh, like I want this, and I want that.
I want this.
And I started feeling this thing, and I'm in Vegas.
And I'm like, ah, ah, ah.
And I'm like, I step out of the store.
I'm like, holy cow, that was powerful.
Obviously didn't buy anything.
But I listened to my body of how I felt in the environment.
And I was like, dang, there's some materialism going on here.
This is crazy.
Oh, any major city. Yeah going on here. This is crazy. And to step out of that.
Yeah, not just Vegas, any city,
but the feeling of it knowing that
I don't usually want this stuff.
Now I'm in here, I'm like, I want it, I want it.
I mean, they got it down to the signs
with the lighting, the music, the smell,
the people in there and who you're with
can also influence you.
So they got it down.
Even gambling, they want you to gamble
and they'll get you on the tables. Yeah,
definitely pulling at that moral compass for sure. I don't
gamble. I don't either. I like to I like to invest my money. I
don't like to spend it on things. But if it's an
entertainment, you know, maybe you're at a slot machine, or
maybe you want to play blackjack or something, you have 50 100
bucks, whatever your entertainment budget, you can do
it. But as a whole, I'm not into that kind that kind of stuff. What have you been investing in lately?
So crypto obviously is taking a massive jump. Bitcoin's at 84,000. I am literally shocked
I was just texting my guy in Miami today. I just sold on my last week. I'm kind of upset. No
That's why I was texting him. I should I was like I should have just held on longer
I sold a lot over the last year and a half because it was crazy.
You know, you lost money.
I lost money.
And now that there's a new administration in there,
I think it's going to look very different back to 2020
type of times or before 2020 when we were trading a lot
better.
So I think that's going to be a good thing.
Yeah, if you could withhold that bear
market that lasted two, three years,
you're chilling right now.
I have a little bit still, but not what I had.
But let's see, I'll log in and see what it's at.
We'll see what happens.
This next bull run's gonna be crazy.
I think I'll hit 100k.
You think so?
Yeah, it's already at 84.
Yeah, it's the highest it's ever been, right?
Yeah, and Trump's not even in office yet, so.
I know, this administration's gonna do some wild things.
Based on the world leaders that have joined on so far,
it's pretty impressive to see the support
that he's received from across the world.
Maybe not so much in our home country,
but the average person I think some people like
and some people don't.
But living in LA, I get a little more of an earful.
Yeah, so I spoke at a church in LA a couple of weeks ago.
Spoke a mosaic.
Oh, yeah.
I was actually there.
Oh, you were there?
I was in the audience, yes.
Oh, that's hilarious.
I signed up because they asked me to go
to the leadership advance for the church
because I go to Mosaic.
Okay.
That's where I go to church.
Wow, small world.
I started going there, yeah, so I went because of you.
That's awesome.
And because of them.
But no, it's an interesting audience for me, obviously,
because that's a super liberal audience and, you know.
Yeah.
So just speaking there was interesting.
Yeah, how did you feel when you left?
Great, people were coming up to me saying
I was like really cool honestly.
Good response.
Yeah, so I was like all right.
Yeah, you did incredible, it was great.
It was my first time on stage that big.
Living the dream.
Yeah, Erwin's a great guy.
He's amazing, I love that family.
I know I don't really know them that well
but I followed them for like 30 years
back before online was a thing.
Wow.
We had cassette tapes back in the 80s and 90s.
Crazy.
He actually was like a part of my Bible college.
And so like he would speak at it
and come in and go out in Florida in 2000.
So I remember him for a lot of years.
Yeah, he just came on last week
and just hearing his story about how he was doing his work
for 15 years, making minimum wage.
Yeah.
It's like, wow.
He's the original hard worker.
Like you just see him just plowing
and they're also so relevant and they're so creative.
The family is so gifted in communication
and just what they bring to the world in general.
It's beautiful to see.
He's so knowledgeable.
And it's healthy.
He's a healthy leader.
I'm telling you, I've been a part of the church
for so many years.
He's changed my opinion on church.
Incredible.
And for what I come under, because I
had a lot of spiritual abuse and a lot of religious stuff
over the years, for me to sit under his leadership
has been extremely healing.
That's awesome.
Empowering.
Because some people would be so embittered at the church,
you know, for all the things that I've experienced
and just walk away completely from God.
But it's like, if you can find a healthy leader and learn and glean from them as a person and then spiritually
apply it to your life, you will, you'll have an experience and a life change for sure.
A lot of people tie their identity to their church that they attend.
Oh, yeah. And so if that crumbles or the person that you're following crumbles, and all of a
sudden there's hurt and people just fall off.
They fall through the cracks,
through hurt and disillusionment a lot of times,
especially in the religious circle.
So yeah.
Yeah, cause then you blame the whole religion.
Yeah, you turn your back on God and it's like,
hey, that was a person who was in their ego.
Yep.
Don't turn your back on God.
He still loves you.
You know what I mean?
Yeah, I do believe in something now.
I think I said at that talk, I was atheist before the show.
I heard you say that.
I didn't know.
I didn't know a ton about your spiritual history.
That's awesome.
Yeah, well, I went to church a little bit.
But as a kid, you're bouncing off the walls.
Church setting is not really conducive.
It depends on also the environment.
Like you saw mosaics, very different environment.
Oh, yeah.
If you go on a Sunday, kids's not, kids can bounce around.
Really?
So they just let them wander around?
I mean, not wander, but like they have their own kid space.
But like if they were brought into worship,
they would be allowed to bounce around.
It wouldn't be controlled.
Like, hey, don't do that.
Like it's a very free environment.
So depending on where you go, it might be a different experience.
Yeah.
Yeah, I really found my purpose through God.
I love that. I think it's just about a matter of time for you know
What you people gonna in argue with like theology all day long, but they cannot argue with the change life
Yeah, you know you can't argue with my experience. I had this experience you can't argue with that
I've seen so many miracles. Yeah, I'm certain point. It's like what was your miracle
That was like most eye-opening
or that you didn't think could be explained away?
I've had a couple near-death experiences.
I've witnessed people recover from stage four cancer.
I've just seen surgeries that the likelihood of you
surviving and they survive.
Just like so many stories like that.
It's like at a certain point, is that a miracle
or was that supposed to happen?
Yeah, I think God is a just God and I think he cares and I think he listens to people
when they pray. So that's amazing. You're experiencing miracles. I used to pray a lot. Hopefully you'll experience many more. Yeah, hopefully.
What did you use to pray? Like what do you mean? Just like silly stuff when I was a kid. If my
stomach hurt, I would pray. If I felt lonely, I would pray. But I used to pray a lot. That's amazing.
Almost every day. I mean, that's what it is.
It's just relationship, right?
It's not a place to go, an organization, or an experience.
It's literally just relationship.
It's you communicating how you communicate
to a living God that hears you and responds in His way.
Yeah, a lot of this stuff would come true, to be honest.
So I think it's a form of manifestation, too.
Yeah, I mean, manifestation, I think sometimes people,
it depends on the side of church you're on,
some of these words can get caught up in translation
with certain religions.
They think visualization and manifestation
and some of these things are all occultic.
Really?
Yeah, it depends on how extreme of the faith you're in.
I've been in a few circles that are pretty extreme.
But with that said, there is so much to it with scripture.
It says in scripture to call things that are not as though they are.
Well, what is that?
What is calling something that's not as if it is manifesting or calling a vision being a visionary and visualizing it forward
so there's so many scriptures that back up that stuff so i firmly believe it but it's one of those
things that depending on who you talk to they'll say is that demonic are you really worshiping god
are you you know are you new age yeah that's good to know so there's a lot of division within the
oh yeah the church is very divided. Huh. Yeah.
I wonder what causes there to be so much
different separation.
Well, man-made rules, denominations, right?
Everybody kind of has their own spin,
whether it's an assembly of God versus a Baptist
versus a Protestant or Presbyterian.
Their expression of worship is gonna look very different.
It's gonna be quieter if you're a Presbyterian. Now, if you're at Mosaic, it's going to be loud and all kind of music.
Right.
So they kind of divide on those little things, carpet colors, pews, children's ministry,
but then it kind of breaks down to what their fundamental beliefs are. We don't believe in
praying in tongues or we don't believe in miracles for today. And so they kind of pick and
choose some things out of the Bible,
what they do and don't agree with based on their personal experience.
And then they teach off of that. And there's a lot of pastors that do that.
I could see that because a lot of the Bible is subjective, right?
It's not like...
Very subjective.
Left for interpretation and based on how you're filtering it, you can see things.
That's super interesting. Yeah. So I guess you really got to do your research on where you go
to church and... Yeah. I think the big thing is, so I guess you really gotta do your research on where you go to church.
Yeah, I think the big thing is trust in your intuition,
trust in your gut.
If you feel like you're in the right spot, you'll know it.
Like I was gonna check out a bunch of churches
when I moved to LA and I realized, I was like,
oh my gosh, I forgot, Erwin lives here, oh my gosh.
I remember I went to Beverly Hills High School years ago
when he was here, oh, I'll go Sunday.
So I took my kids and we went and it was amazing.
I was like, I don't need to check out anybody else.
Like there's a lot of great pastors in LA,
but I'm like, I don't need to sit in any other leader.
Like he is healthy, he's sound, he's amazing.
We're good, we found home.
So yeah, you'll know when you find home.
That's cool.
You dealt with a major surgery?
Oh yeah, this last year I had cervical cancer.
So I dealt with that.
Whoa, sorry to hear that.
Yeah, it's okay.
It was just kind of like, hey, you gotta deal with this.
Irwin went through that too.
Yeah.
First time he came on the show, he talked about it.
Yeah, you don't expect to kind of go
through something like that.
You know, I've dealt with cancer a lot.
I actually lost my mom to breast cancer 12 years ago.
My ex partner, husband, had stage four cancer and I dealt with that during
COVID. So there's a lot of touch points with cancer in my life through extended family or friends.
And yeah, so I dealt with it and I was just like, well, I guess we're doing it. And it's just
basically they took out my female organs basically. Left my ovaries, but I'm still a lady. But yeah,
it was a surgery
I did they did a hernia and they had to fix a hernia and a bladder issue
But they found in there from a c-section from years ago. Mm-hmm. But yeah, so they fixed it all and then we're good
That's it. We're ready to rock. So was that the scariest moment of your life?
No, honestly, I didn't really care
I didn't I mean I was just like this this is something else I have to muscle through.
I had just walked through a divorce, which was terrible.
I had just left a church community, which was terrible.
I left all my friends and family, which was terrible.
I've lost my sister, I've lost my mom.
There's a lot of terrible things.
A lot of loss.
Yeah, so that wasn't terrible.
I was conditioned kind of more like, ah.
Wow, so you kind of got numb to the loss?
Not necessarily numb, but just like, this isn't that hard.
This is doable.
I can do this.
I'm not going to stress about this.
It's the surgery.
I'm going to keep my mental health clear
and we're ready to rock.
Let's heal, recover and move forward.
Wow.
That's kind of the approach I took with it.
Was that genetic you think, the cancer?
Yeah, I think there's some genetic stuff going on there.
I actually have a genetic doctor
that's trying to do all these tests in LA.
And I'm like, I don't want to know. Sometimes it's better. I promise you that genetic doctor that's trying to do all these tests in LA. And I'm like, I don't wanna know.
Sometimes it's better. I promise you that.
I'm not gonna live in fear.
So thank you, but let's call that test off.
But yeah, a lot of females in my family
have dealt with a lot of stuff like this.
Whether it's breast cancer or cervical cancer,
endometriosis, things like that.
Yeah, sometimes ignorance is bliss.
I like to live that world.
Ignorance is bliss.
I mean, I just got a Pranovo scan.
It's like a thing in LA.
Oh, yeah?
A preventative thing.
Oh, yeah.
I've heard about that.
Yeah.
But a couple of things came up.
And I'm like, damn, this whole week I've been thinking about it.
You know, I got to be careful because I don't want to actually
manifest this disease into me, you know?
Yeah, no.
I think, like, don't stress in that way
because fear obviously is false evidence appearing real, right?
So there's no reason to be in fear about something
of hypotheticals.
And that's the thing.
You gather the information, make educated decisions,
and move forward in faith.
Just make a clear thought and move forward.
But ultimately, everything has to be kind of just
compartmentalized.
Because if you let it rule your whole life, you can.
And some people do.
And they get stuck in that.
And that's okay, but that's not where I want to be.
And Google's a dangerous place sometimes.
When you're looking up these-
Don't Google.
I know, like, no, for real,
because I'm pretty holistic and natural,
but when you Google these curves for like disease and stuff,
none of that pops up.
It's all like pills.
No, it doesn't.
And even my doctors, I have hormone doctors,
and I was trying to do holistic even with this surgery.
And he gave me, he's like, I'll give you till June,
it has to be done by June.
So I started holistic from January till April.
I ended up doing it at the end of April
because I was moving, I decided to move.
But he was like, everything looking a lot better
than I thought.
So I think the holistic approach is the way to go
if you can do it.
But obviously if it's life threatening,
you need surgery, you need chemo, do what you gotta do.
Agreed, agreed.
Life is the end goal, quality of life.
So what's your relationship with death
after seeing it so many times?
You know what, it's funny because for a lot of years,
I had kind of like a death wish, if that makes sense.
Not that I wanted to die, but I was just not afraid to die
and I was like, life is good, but I'm good.
I can go whenever.
Like, I love- You felt like you did everything. I just like, life is good, but I'm good. I can go whenever. Like I love-
You felt like you did everything.
I just felt like it was good, but it's not that good.
You know, like life is good, but I've done it all.
I've had kids, it's good, you know?
But for me, like in the last few years
when I started doing a lot of really peeling back,
personal development, I really started to start
to feel differently about life, which is wild.
As the layers started to kind of peel off
through vulnerability and transparency
of just digging deep into these stuff that I've dealt with,
I started to love life.
And now I'm like, oh my gosh, I don't want to die.
That's terrible.
That's a terrible thought.
And so it's funny,
cause I have more of a healthy fear of death
than I've ever felt.
Cause I definitely don't want to die. And it scares me now to think about it.
It's like you found a second wind almost.
Yeah, I feel like I felt like I came back to life
and I rediscovered my purpose.
I felt like I was dead for a lot of years.
I think I went through a little mini phase of that.
I used to think about dying a lot and who would care?
Like who would be at my funeral type thing? But I really have that thought anymore. Now I'm just so in the moment. Well, you will definitely dying a lot and who would care? Like who would be at my funeral type thing.
But I really have that thought anymore.
Now I'm just so in the moment.
Well, you will definitely have a lot of people
at your funeral.
Not at the time when I was having these thoughts.
I would have like six people approach.
No, no, no, no.
But I honestly, it's funny because my cancer journey,
like the small little one that it was in April,
I had very little support and I had a church.
I mean, I did nonprofit for 25 years.
I did missions overseas.
I've done so much to serve people.
And after I quit the church and there was a lot of divide
with that social circle because of me being a pastor's wife
and things like that.
It was very lonely.
I had like two girlfriends reach out, bring me dinners.
I had two girlfriends from the church.
I had one girlfriend reach out to me from Canada.
She came down for the surgery and my sister and my cousin,
that was it.
Handful of people, which is something that, you know,
you're like, dang, if I did die, that was sad.
But I also just made a life, huge life change.
And I wouldn't have wanted the support
from all those other people.
Because they weren't authentic,
and they clearly, it wasn't a genuine relationship
where they would have been there, right?
It was just in active service to them, not to me.
100%.
Sometimes it's good not to have a lot of friends, I think.
Yeah, you know, I try to keep my circle small, like Jesus.
How small was his?
Well, he had 12, and then the 12 disciples,
and then he had three, Peter, James, James and John and then John was the closest
Okay
It was like one had the intimate connection with Jesus
So it was like the 12 and then the inner circle was three and then the closest one was
I like that little three tiered system 12 3 and then one
So we should model our lives like that and our businesses can function pretty well off that too
I would say I'm actually pretty close to that system.
I got one guy I can count on with everything,
three close friends, and maybe like 10 friends.
That's amazing.
I mean, I only have a handful that you call inner circle.
You got your family and your couple
that you would tell things to.
And it's important to keep it close
because you gotta trust people.
And you don't have enough margin or energy to give all of yourself to everybody.
No reserve it for where you need to put your emotions and your energy.
Yeah, family is a tricky one.
I tried to please all my family at one point, but now I realize I need to be a bit more
selective.
Yeah, I think something I've learned is boundaries.
And that's with people pleasing through service over the years is not being everything to
everyone. And that's okay. I know the, is not being everything to everyone. And that's okay.
I know the Bible says to be everything to everyone
and you can be that,
but you don't have to be giving everything that you are
to everybody that asks for it.
Yup.
I used to be a huge people pleaser
and I still am a little bit,
but it was so bad back in the day.
Your quality of life is so different.
Yeah.
When you're worried about what everyone else is thinking
and you're just like,
I'm just trying to make decisions for myself and lead.
Like I wouldn't do this if I didn't want to do this.
I don't want to do this.
So yeah, keeping your circle small and boundaries strong
are very important.
Absolutely.
For sure.
You just went to Costa Rica, right?
So I went to Costa Rica for, I was researching out
some property that I was looking at to purchase there.
There's a 20 acre homestead farm.
Wow.
That I want to purchase purchase and it has enough fruit
trees on it that's already planted to kind of fund the community and give back. But I
wanted to build like a retreat center or a burnout center for entrepreneurs that go through
extreme burnout or high elite celebrity clientele that needs somewhere to go. So I was there
researching out some land. I also went to a retreat there with some CEO
entrepreneur female women.
And it was good.
We were up in the jungle in Uvita.
You know, it got rainy and the air went out.
And you know, you got bugs in the jungle and the spiders.
But it was an amazing experience.
Costa Rica's on my bucket list.
Yeah, it's definitely worth exploring.
I've been several times.
But Uvita is a very cool area.
Is that in the rainforest?
It's definitely in the jungle.
It's the oceans right there.
So you get kind of a mix of everything.
And it's just got like a surfing community.
It's really cool people.
Yeah.
You're big on personal development, I noticed.
You've gone to these retreats and doing a lot of self work.
Yeah, so I've probably spent close to $100,000 in the last two
years on personal development.
Wow.
I had to hire a life coach to get a divorce.
Because I didn't know if I was making the right decision.
And I hired her for several months prior.
And she would help me teach me how to create boundaries.
And what does that mean?
And then when it doesn't work, what do I do next?
So I'm really big on personal development.
And I think people should be healthy in their relationships
and in their work environments with corporations.
And the industry that I work in, it's all customer service.
And you've got to be healthy.
Can't get triggered and pop off when somebody
doesn't like what you're doing.
You've got to just make adjustments
and keep moving forward.
Yeah.
So you've got good emotional control now?
Yeah.
I feel like I've had decent emotional control
throughout my life.
I think more compartmentalized than the average woman,
but I think you just rein it in and do better.
Yeah, I've always been the opposite.
I'm so logical that I don't have enough emotion,
but now I'm working on actually being better with that
because you can't have none.
Yeah, well, that's it.
The last couple of years since I started digging,
that's when I say I started feeling,
I started getting out of my logic brain
and more into my emotional brain. And that's like, oh wow, that's when I say I started feeling, I started getting out of my logic brain and more into my emotional brain.
And that's like, oh wow, it's different out here.
Yeah, because you can use emotions to kind of,
to your benefit actually.
Yeah, 100%, yeah.
Emotions are a good thing.
Yeah, but you can't let it like control you.
That's the problem.
No, yeah, you are who you are.
Your emotions don't tell you who you are.
Your feelings don't dictate who you are.
You are who you are, you know?
So you kind of have to rise above feelings and thoughts on a regular basis. Absolutely. don't tell you who you are, your feelings don't dictate who you are, you are who you are, you know? Yeah.
So you kind of have to rise above feelings and thoughts on a regular basis.
Absolutely.
Actually, video games have helped me control my emotions.
Really?
Yeah.
That's good to hear.
Because you can get really mad.
Yeah.
Well, I was going to say, I feel like that's the opposite because like my son plays and
he's throwing stuff and I'm just like, dude, like calm it down.
But I think it's great that it provokes emotion.
Yeah, it does provoke it.
So it's on the person to control it from there.
Yeah. So yeah I used to throw stuff and you know my friend broke a tv in my house.
Dang. Yeah it gets heated. You're making some money on that game.
Well now kids are making a living off video games growing up.
I know. It was like you got made fun of if you played them.
The beauty of social media, the beauty of the internet,
the beauty of all the things that's digital, you know.
It's cool to see you adapt to it too,
because it probably helps you ton of business, right?
Ton of connections.
Yeah, well, it's funny, I was only on it,
I got on Instagram last year for the first time.
That's late.
I was on it a little bit earlier, years earlier,
just kind of, I didn't know what it was.
I'm like, what do you do with this?
You just play with it?
I mean, social media was not a thing when I was growing up.
We had, we didn't have cell phones till after college.
Wow.
We didn't have, we had beepers, pagers.
Hmm.
I don't even know what that is.
So you literally get this little box
and you page your girlfriend, your boyfriend, your friend,
and you would text them your number, like call me.
And they, when they got it, they're like,
oh, I need to call her.
Oh, so just be...
Then they stopped to a pay phone and they call.
Wow.
Anybody over 40 knows this.
Crazy, I did have a house telephone, I remember that.
Yeah, so now that everything's just online,
it's been a learning curve for sure,
because just getting online last year,
I'm like, oh dang, it's not just for play,
this is for work.
Yeah.
And I've utilized it since then, and now I'm scaling it,
I do a lot more content for the aviation stuff.
I love it.
A lot more educational space is coming.
So yeah, it'll be fun.
Do you have a podcast on the plane?
No, but we are going to be doing.
I have another guy who's an investor,
and he is a private pilot as well.
And he does a ton in the brokerage space.
We're going to be doing a lot of content,
taking ferry flights from LA to Vegas,
and just filming on it for fun.
Or we're going to Van Nuys on Friday to film a G5
and just talk about the breakdown, the cost,
the price point, fuel hours.
Educate people so they know more about private aviation
and kind of what that space looks like
and how affordable it can be for an entrepreneur.
That's cool.
One of the best investments I ever made growing up
was in this company called JetSmarter.
Oh, yeah.
I bought a membership, and I met some amazing people.
Yeah, it is amazing.
And what, wasn't it, was that the $900 a month one?
Yeah, it was like 15K a year.
So yeah, you buy in and then it's like a decent price point.
Yeah, I would be on G4s from New Jersey to Miami.
Yeah.
And I did that like three times.
Yeah, those are amazing brokerages if you can get in.
That's one part of the aviation sector
that you can kind of, you know of just do some fractional ownership,
leasing the jet, charter it.
Obviously, sales looks very different
for a different entrepreneur,
different purchase price point and different need.
Some people are going on vacation,
but most people are buying back their time.
For me, it was great
because I couldn't afford the whole jet by myself.
I was like 20 years old.
That's amazing that you're buying a jet. I know right. Well done. Good job.
I wish. Goals. I'd be the youngest kid on the flight in sweatpants and like a hoodie and
just meet amazing entrepreneurs. I know it's inspirational. Yeah I met so many people when
I was flying like I met some really cool people along the way that challenged me and were
were constantly saying why are you still flying as a girl as the flight girl? I'm like, this is the service.
I know I work in finance investments,
but they're like, no, really.
I'm like, no.
They're like, get where the real money's at.
And I'm like, I know.
But it wasn't until I went through the divorce
that I was like, I can't fly and be away from my kids.
I got to make the big jump.
And so sometimes you have these things in your heart
and kind of life pushes you to go there.
And then you're forced to do it.
And then it becomes something you're successful at.
I love it.
And you're around a lot of successful female entrepreneurs.
So what do you think separates them from the rest?
I think women in general are really incredibly powerful.
I think if you look at any part of the world where women are
congregated, whether it's prison, whether it's hospitals,
whether it's in a work world or in a home,
they're very creative and resourceful with what they have.
And so there's a lot of women that just create businesses
out of nothing.
Oh, you need a script writer, Eichlin Hanscript.
And so I think women are very resourceful.
And so in the entrepreneur space,
I just think women that do the hard work
and keep showing up and keep doing the reps every day,
those are the ones that stand out.
It's the non-negotiables that you keep doing
what you're doing, not because you want to,
because you know you have your end goal in mind
and you're working your way backwards.
You know what I mean?
You have your vision for your life.
And so with the women that I'm around,
it's really inspiring because you get to sharpen each other and you get to be challenged and encouraged and
Inspired I think women are super inspiring
You can do a lot of things and create a lot of different difference in this world
Which a lot of women do that they give back whether it's nails
They're giving back to kind of help make another woman look beautiful or whether it's you know education or you know women
Seem to like to rally together.
Yeah, that's cool. Do you see them have limiting beliefs about their potential?
Oh yeah, there's a lot of limiting beliefs with women still today as a generalization
for sure. Women did not even have the ability to work their own company or run their own
finance till 1988.
Wow. their own company or run their own finance till 1988. Wow, that's original.
Without a co-signer of their husband or their father
or a male colleague, that's 36 years ago.
So they couldn't start a company 36 years ago?
They couldn't be their own female-led company
with their own female-led financing.
Wow.
And now I work in private equity and I'm lending money
to women that are in the entrepreneur space
that are helping people at a low percentage,
super, super low,
to give them a hand to kind of scale.
And that's just 36 years later.
Crazy.
Before you need a co-signer.
So it's just crazy where we've come from
in a short amount of time.
Now there can be a women president.
That was on the table this year.
36 years ago, women were just fighting for the right to work.
Nuts.
Yeah.
Yeah, there's going to be a woman president in our lifetime, I think.
Yeah, I think so.
I think Tulsi Gabbard could have a real shot at it.
There's some solid people out there.
Yeah, if not her, I could see, yeah, there's some awesome...
No, it does pose with like, I've always thought this.
Now, I might get some flack for this, but I'm not 100% sure if I think a woman president
is the best person.
Really?
Like, I think if the woman can lead with logic
and not emotion, and that's kind of where the emotions
comes in, because I think men do better leading in logic
a lot of times.
I'm not sure, I'm not sure if a woman would do the same job
as a man in that sense.
Now together, yes, this is why I love the power couples.
Yeah.
Because you can sharpen each other.
So maybe as a VP or even if she's present though.
It will be interesting to see.
Now I know there's other prime ministers
and people that have done it over the life of the years,
but it'll be interesting to see how it does
in an American culture, what that looks like.
I can see that.
Because women can be pretty, like,
we've seen it in the last campaign trail.
There's a lot of emotions.
A lot.
A lot of slip ups with their talks.
They pop off and say stuff.
Not that all women do that, but I think that
as a woman myself, I know I have to rein that in.
So that could be a potential downfall
for a female president, but.
Yeah, I mean, I don't think people should get mad
because that's just human nature.
That's biology, you can't argue that.
Women are wired differently.
Their hormonal cycle is a month long. Ours is 24 hours. I know you get new
testosterone every 24 hours lucky you. You guys it takes a month so I know certain
days of the month are gonna be harder than others you know. I got it in my
calendar. Yeah that's a good man right there. Okay take some notes people. You gotta track that stuff for real though.
Cuz you gotta know where they're at so you can act a little differently.
That's amazing I'm impressed. Maybe surprise them with. No, that's amazing. I'm impressed.
Maybe surprise them with boba or something that day.
I love it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You need to start a leadership program for men.
Yeah, I got to get like, Bradley's been giving a lot
of dating advice lately.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
That's hilarious.
He's got a funny show.
I've caught up a little bit with him.
I haven't watched it lately.
That's funny.
What have you been watching these days?
I'm really into murder crime stuff.
Oh, you're one of those girls.
It's terrible. I know. Those murder crime stuff. Oh, you're one of those girls. It's terrible.
I know.
Those podcasts do well.
Well, yeah.
No, as far as entrepreneur stuff,
that's what I watch on TV sometimes.
But entrepreneurs, I like, obviously,
the Mind Shift podcast.
I love that.
I like Huberman.
Yeah, that's cool.
Real Estate One's the bigger pocket podcast.
I follow certain missionaries that are doing some stuff
in the world, and I like listening to their stuff,
their stories in the community, what they're doing.
But yeah.
Wow, you didn't strike me as a murder mystery.
Yeah, I like the science.
I like the forensic science side of things.
Like I like just, I'm like,
I can solve their crimes well before they even,
there's like a cold case.
I'm like, dude, you missed it.
How did you miss this?
And it's so cold case.
I'm like, should I call somebody?
There's Reddit communities that solve murders. Did you know that? I seen it. Yeah, you miss this? And it's so cold case. I'm like, should I call somebody? There's Reddit communities that solve murders.
Did you know that?
I seen it. Yes. Tiktok is crazy.
You might have to join one of those.
With all my extra time.
That must be so fulfilling actually.
Like you provided this evidence and it led to a case.
Yeah. I mean, it probably would.
I can't imagine they sleep very well at night in general,
just because of their line of work.
Well, even the detectives, they're seeing all this stuff, you know, and they're like, I can't imagine they sleep very well at night in general, just because of their line of work. Well, even the detectives, they're seeing all this stuff,
you know, and they're like, I can't imagine it being a job
I would ever want to be a part of, but watching it secondhand
without the graphics stuff is good.
I don't want to see the dead body,
but I definitely want to kill the killer.
Yeah, I feel that.
I definitely feel that.
Sarah, where can people find you and keep up with you?
Yeah, so I'm passionate about women entrepreneurship.
So any entrepreneur that's looking to scale their business,
I have a goal setting worksheet that I want to share.
So DM me goals on Instagram, I'm thesarahmarie.net,
thesarahmarie on every social site.
And if you're interested in corporate aviation or jets
or anything with fractional ownership, charters,
or purchasing, thesarahmarie.net,
message me the word jet
and I'll make sure that I can get to you.
We've got off market stuff and on market stuff
and all kinds of connections across the globe.
So yeah, whatever I can do, get you started, we'll do it.
Awesome, we'll link below.
Thanks for coming on.
Thanks so much for the chat.
Appreciate you.
Thanks for watching guys.
If you wanna fly, hit her up.
Peace.