Transcript: Interview With Sarah Elliott, CPA

In our latest podcast episode, Maureen talks with Sarah Elliott, CPA, co-founder of Intend2Lead, about refocusing our mindset and creating habits that support our mental wellbeing. This uplifting conversation shows how daily habits and managing our energy can help us reach our peak performance. Listen to the full podcast here.

Maureen:
Welcome to the VSCPA podcast, where we focus on innovation, leadership and the CPA profession. I'm Maureen Dingus, and I invite thought leaders for short, casual conversations on topics and trends important to the success of the CPA profession.

Maureen:
All right. Hello, everyone. Welcome to leading forward today. On our episode, we are here with Sarah Elliot, CPA. She is the co-founder and executive leadership coach with Intend2Lead. And today, Sarah and I are going to talk about thinking about your peak performance coming up in busy season and thinking about your mental health and how you can make it through the next few months stronger than ever. So welcome, Sarah.

Sarah:
Thank you, Maureen. It's a pleasure to be here with you all.

Maureen:
Yeah, you are. You're such a great your organization, intensively, you and Brian have been such great supporters and resources of our members. So once again, we appreciate you giving us some time to talk to our members. So welcome.

Sarah:
Well, we really appreciate our partnership and all that you do at the VSCPA, so happy to be collaborators and contributors.

Maureen:
All right. So one of the things that I didn't mention is that you are a CPA. So I think that's always interesting when we have CPAs, who've taken different leadership paths and are actually then coming back and helping the profession. So could you just spend a minute or two talking about your leadership path? How did you come to be a co-founder of Intend2Lead?

Sarah:
Yeah. where to start? So you said one or two minutes. So I'll start with the high level story. I started out in public accounting in the audit practice. I worked at PWC. I spent 10 years there. The last two of which I was a senior manager at the national office there. So that experience was incredible. I learned a lot and, and talk about leadership challenges in that role. I really got to support many audit teams across the country and help them with their challenges. So that was really neat. And just at that time in my life I'm, I'm in Austin, Texas, by the way. And so I when I was at the national office, I lived in New York. And so I moved back to Austin for personal reasons. And at that time I chose to leave PWC and join us smaller regional firms.

Sarah:
So that firm had about 120 people, and I ended up making partner there. And I remember my first year as partner I was put in charge of the audit practice. I was named the national audit picks. So there I was a fairly young new partner and I had this responsibility and I will tell you Maureen, that at that time, I I doubted myself, I questioned myself and I was very privileged that I got to work with a coach with a leadership coach. And actually at the time that I worked with her, we were focused on business development, but through that work it opened up so many things for me, just working with a coach, helped me. She asked me questions that I had always been too busy to ask myself or just things that I hadn't really thought about. So who am I truly, why do I do what I do?

Sarah:
What do I really want for my life? Right? What does that vision of success? And so I went through this transformation and it was 2013. I'll always remember it. And what I discovered about myself was that I've always my gifts, my natural strengths, and just who I am and what I'm born to do. It's about believing in and supporting other people, really helping them grow into who they can be. And I love learning and growing myself, right? So I'm always on my leadership journey, learning, growing, expanding, and I get to share that with other people. So I started to connect these dots between the things that helped make me successful as an auditor in public accounting and as an executive leader at my firm. And I started connecting that with the needs that I saw in the accounting industry. And I think Maureen, you'll probably agree with me that we have a lot of leadership challenges in this industry and there's a lot of need.

Sarah:
So I thought, what, what if I could help? What if I could take the things, the natural gifts that I have and go all in on them, right. And actually support the profession that I do love. So I took that leap of faith in 2014 to start my own business. And at the same time, I went back to school to become an executive and professional coach. I had a baby. It was a crazy year. That was 2015 when all that was really falling into place. But once, once I went to school for coaching, I realized it was such a natural fit for me. And I started to really realize how powerful coaching is. And I wanted to bring the power of coaching to the profession because I saw quickly how it could help us overcome the challenges that we have and really create new possibilities for our future.

Sarah:
Because I think we were really at a place in this profession where we need change and coaching is all about bringing in change and we need more human connective leadership. So I wanted to create the leadership development that I wished I had always had. And then I got to meet Brian Kush my amazing business partner and co-founder of Intended2Lead. And we created this company to coach accountants to access what we call the dimension of possible through coaching group learning and consulting with organizations to create coaching cultures. So, yeah, so my leadership journey, right? That's what got me here. It's a ways ongoing. I'm always learning, growing and evolving. And, and as we evolve, we like to bring that to the professor as well.

Maureen:
It sounds like you're the firm that you were with may have been on the cutting edge of offering you coaching you, you're starting to hear about it more and more, but that was a few years back. So that's great. Why, why do you think that they, they did that?

Sarah:
That's a good question. You know, it was a few of us that they invested in with this external coach and we were connected to her through the community, through one of the partners and he believed in her. Right. And, and then she started working with us and, and business development was a really great place to start. Right. Because you can really connect the return on investment to that. And, and it worked right. And so once we saw it, it worked right. We could continue to expand that.

Maureen:
Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense that the business development angle w was the lead in, and now I think when you hear about coaching, it is much more expensive. It's developing other leaders. It's, it's being that, that, having that human element, that's maybe very deep in there that just needs a little nudging out. So I can see how that that, that coaching mindset maybe has evolved even in the last five years or so.

Sarah:
I absolutely agree with you. I think that business development, the money, right, the return is the easy entry point. And now I think firms are really beginning to understand the power of coaching, because it does unleash individual's potential, and that's good for the collective. Right. Everybody rises together. It is just a very, very powerful,

Maureen:
Well, you, you said that the profession has a lot of challenges. What, you know, tell me what you mean by that. I think I could rattle off a few, but when you think of some of the top level challenges that the profession is facing, that maybe your organization can make an impact on what would those be?

Sarah:
Yeah. I'm going to focus on the leadership challenges here. And I think what we're seeing Maureen, as the profession evolves, there's all this focus on technology and technology is great and we, we need it. And that is how we will evolve. And there's this other half that I think sometimes we don't talk about it as much, but it's just as important if not more important. And it's the human side of it, right? Because technology is a tool. Our business is still about who we are as human beings and how can we serve and support and partner with our clients as true partners, not just compliance providers, how can we actually look forward to the future with them and support them in that? And so that requires us to shift out of this kind of known space, where we're used to having the answers and looking at the past and actually getting comfortable, not having the answers and looking forward and there's ambiguity around that and uncertainty.

Sarah:
And so I think that's a really big challenge for accountants because we like to know we like to be experts and that can be scary when right. We don't have that security of kind of the, the solid numbers and past. I also think just this human element of supporting our people and what our people really want in their, in their jobs, in their careers. I think we're seeking more, meaning, more fulfillment. We want to connect with one another and engage and feel like we are living out our purpose as human beings and contributing to the collective evolution and good of humanity. And I know that sounds very idealistic, but I believe that it is true. I think humanity is evolving quickly. I think we're waking up and we just want more, we're finding that it's not just about the money or the title or the hours.

Sarah:
We weren't real meaning, and we want the things that make us, us human. And so I'll bring that back to leadership, which is, I think that requires a more evolved form of conscious leadership in this profession. So I think the profession is really good at managing, managing time managing projects, managing the technical stuff. And we tend to manage our people that way. And we can't, humans are different and humans are complicated and humans are beautiful and flawed. And so the human leader, right, it's about connecting and understanding and appreciating the uniqueness in each person that I work with, what do they want, where can they be at their best? How can I help them unleash their potential? How can we work together as a team and compliment, compliment one another so that we can all rise up and, and how can I let go of trying to manage people and lead them.

Sarah:
And that requires me as a leader to admit that that I don't have all the answers and that I'm not perfect. And then in fact, I need and want everybody's help. Right? We're all in this together. And that requires that vulnerability as a leader. And again, I think that's hard for accountants because we'd like to be right. We'd like to have the answers we like to be seen as the experts. So I could probably talk on and on and on, but I'm going to say one more thing. Which is the other, this is one of the biggest, biggest challenges that we see in this profession. We tie up our value and our worth to our hours and we burn ourselves out Maureen. And I know because I did it, I did it for so many years. I burned myself out and we're not performing at our peak. We're not even performing close to our peak and that inhibits our leadership. We're not able to lead. And the way that I just talked about when we're stressed out all the time and we're overworked and unfulfilled.

Maureen:
Yeah. So the peak performance is a concept that I know that you do focus on because if people are burned out, they can't be a leader. If they can't get to that, those dimensions that that you talk so eloquently about. So when, when you even think about peak performance and how individuals can can move towards that, what, what are some key areas that you would even think about?

Sarah:
Yeah, well maybe what I want to start out with is what it's not, so not giving everything we have to serve the people around us. Right. And, and that's so often what we do in the profession, we're serving our clients, our teams, our colleagues, and then our family and our friends at home. And we lay ourselves down and we sacrifice ourselves and our wellbeing. So that's definitely not peak performance, but yet it's what I see over and over and over again in the profession, it's like a Marine. It's like, we're, we're programmed to do this. And we see everyone around us doing it. And that reinforces that behavior, but it's not sustainable. So it, it actually negatively impacts our ability to help the people that we're saying we're trying to serve. And our brains don't function as well. And that robs us of our potential and our performance.

Sarah:
So, you know, you asked about what actually is peak performance, what are key areas? So I think it's an inside out job and we start with our mindset first, and this means we need to have the mind right, where we believe that we are worthy of taking care of ourselves. And that we actually understand and believe that when we take care of ourselves and when we put ourselves first, everyone around us benefits, so it's not selfish. Right. And when we put ourselves first, when we take care of ourselves in our wellbeing, we show up, we show up for one another and we can more fully engaged with the hard things that we have to tackle. So that mindset we've got to believe in it, and we have to be ready to make change. And we have to be okay with breaking the mold of what we see a lot of in the profession.

Sarah:
Even if that feels really uncomfortable and hard at first, we have to be willing to do the hard thing, right? We have to be willing to go outside the norm, right? If the people around us are doing something different, so that's the mind. And then we've got to incorporate new skills and practices into our lives that support us, that nourish us. So we've got to create those habits, routines that support our wellbeing. That's mentally, emotionally, physically, right? All those levels of wellbeing. We need to start thinking beyond just managing our time, which is a scarce resource and move beyond that to managing our energy because our energy is actually infinite. We can expand that over time and we've got to work on enhancing our focus. So I would say kind of all of those things that inside out job, that's really what we need to more fully engaged and unleash our peak performance.

Maureen:
Yeah. So that, that, that's a lot, that's the whole mindset is I guess the first step and then the, the daily habits. And what, how do you start to incorporate these into your daily living? If you are looking at a mold and looking at models that maybe don't fit, how do you start breaking breaking those habits, those bad habits and turning them into good habits? Yeah.

Sarah:
It's a good question. And I'll say that, you know, it intend to lead. We focus on mindset first because I really think that's 80% of the work because right. Our mindset is our thought habits and we are creatures of habits. So that means our thoughts are habits too. And the mindsets that we carry around these belief systems, we have, they defeat us. They kind of don't even let us start to make change. So we have these thoughts on repeat these feelings of guilt about putting myself first, you know, feeling like that's not okay, that's not allowed these concerns about we have judgment of ourselves for doing so. We worry about other people judging on us. And I think at a deep level, we tend to tie our value as a human being, to external measures outside of us. Right? So we, we look to tie our value, our worth to something outside of who we are what other people think how much money we make how many hours we put in the status, the title, all these things.

Sarah:
So that's a belief system. Then we have this belief system and especially those that are in client service, I have to take care of everyone else first, before I can earn the right to do the things I really want to do. So there's this I'm not allowed to do it. I have to do all these things before I can earn what I really want. And the interesting thing about this Maureen is right. Like when was the last we ever actually got to do the thing that we were waiting to do so often we procrastinate and we put off the things and the people who matter most to us. Right. And they get just whatever we have left at the bottom of the tank. So right, this, this scarcity, this fear-based thinking, it really drives our behaviors. And I think that's happening unconsciously. So the profession we have this work harder work harder.

Sarah:
That's, what's being perpetuated. We track our most, most people still in the profession track our time. Right? And it becomes about value is your hours, your output, your results. So more is better. And we get stuck in burnout. We're not able to move forward. We're not nearly as good as we could be or functioning in this survival mode, right. Where we're just trying to keep up, but we never quite can. And we're in stress. We shut down, we shut people out. Our brains don't perform. So anyway, so it's, it's a lot, right. But, but I think really where we, where we start is recognizing what are the belief, patterns, and systems that I have within me that are unconscious, that are driving my behaviors that are actually not allowing me to give myself permission, to take care of me because when we identify those thoughts and we notice them, we can bring that light of consciousness to them and actually choose thoughts that support us.

Sarah:
Right. We can choose something better and we can actually begin to logically connect that when we feel better, we perform better. Right. When I'm out of survival mode, I can get into human mode, my brain functions better. I can do more in less time. I can connect with the people around me. I can connect with myself. Right. I can engage with the hard things. I can engage with the people around me. We can collaborate, we can be kinder to one another and we can just create more meaning and fulfillment. So, yeah. So I know that was a long answer to your question, but I think it's a simple thing. So yeah, it's just that, that mindset, right. And really just waking up and opening up to ourselves and giving ourselves that opportunity to say, I'm worth this. I am worth this. And I don't have to wait to earn it just because I'm here and I'm a human I deserve to feel good.

Maureen:
Well, and I, I have to imagine that this, this has been a problem for a long time and now the world's turned upside down. So our thought patterns are what we value, what we're trying to prove. It's, it's all very confusing. So I can imagine that you're hearing that even more from the people that you work with.

Sarah:
Yeah. Yeah. The pandemic and just just 2020, there is a lot of stuff going on in 2020, that's right. At this moment, it's December. And probably people will be listening to this in 2021. It's still going to continue. I think the world we're really being kind of turned upside down, flipped inside out, and it's giving us an opportunity to really look at who we are and what we believe, and what's important to us and what we want. And yes, that gets very, very messy and very confusing. And that is hard. I mean, I've had a hard year and I know all of our listeners have right. And in different ways, but the thing is the hard things are the growth opportunity. And if we can lean into that and say, let's take this opportunity and be okay with it being hard and messy and confusing, but really just start to look at who am I and what do I want? I think we, we set ourselves up for something really amazing on the other side.

Maureen:
Yeah. I wonder maybe the messiness is it's already messed up, so you might as well work through it. Right.

Sarah:
I think good out of it. Right. I mean, I do. And that's what I, you know, work with people on in our coaching work is really what are we learning? These are the times that we learn the most when it's the hardest. And when things do not go the way that we want them to go.

Maureen:
Right. So I want to jump back just a little bit when you, I wonder if you could give us a few examples when, when you said and I'm not going to get this exactly right. But what are the, what are some thoughts that I want to, what are those positive thoughts that I want to start saying that will move me in the right direction? Like what, what are some things that, what, what might that look like?

Sarah:
Yeah. Well, I'll start with the really deep, simple thoughts, which is, I am worthy. You know, I am, I deserve to take care of myself. I am valuable as a human being just because I exist. Right. I, my value comes from me. It comes from within. I get to decide that I'm valuable and I am okay with being different than other people. I actually realized that my value is in the fact that I am different. I can let go of what other people think I'm okay. Straying outside of the norm, right? This is where growth happens. I deserve to feel good. I know that when I feel good, my performance is better. The people around me benefit, I benefit, right. It's really tapping into that other side. It's like, when we're in that stress mode and survival mode, these thoughts aren't accessible to us, we can't see them. But when we can shift out of that, we actually lean into who we are as human beings. And we realize, Oh my gosh, when I feel good and I take care of myself, everyone, and everything benefits, right. Not just me, it's actually not selfish at all. Right. This helps all of us.

Maureen:
So I don't know if are those things like mantras or are they just, do you have to remind yourself daily? It's not just a, I made a list and I put it away with, what do you do with those things?

Sarah:
I guess if it was just as easy as writing something down once and being good with it you know, yes, a mantra can be great. I know I practice daily meditation. I've done that. That was part of my transformation that I talked about in 2013. You can use it as a mantra. You can journal. I think journaling is such a powerful tool just to start uncovering, how do I feel today? What am I thinking today? Right. What are the thoughts I have on replay in my brain? When we put them on paper, it gets them out of the unconscious, into the conscious, and then you can start writing what is actually true? What are thoughts that serve me better? So writing journaling, I think making space to connect with ourselves regularly talking right, working with a coach or someone else talking to a friend about these things, right?

Sarah:
The more that we bring it out of the brain where it's unconscious and into the world, around us, whether we're writing it down, whether we're saying it to someone else over time, we truly do change the thinking patterns. And that's not just like woo stuff that is neuro science, right. We actually change the way that our brains are wired. And the other thing Marine is I think to change our thought pattern, we have to start doing things differently. So when we start trying small things and making real change to take care of ourselves, just one baby step at a time, and we start to see that that feels good and that no one got hurt. Right. And no one suffered. And in fact, wow, that worked like we also give ourselves the confidence and we that's a reinforcement for the programming we're trying to do with our belief systems.

Maureen:
So what are some of the a few other habits or actions that someone might want to think about when they're trying to enhance their peak performance?

Sarah:
Well, there are so many, there are infinite things that one could do but I'll tell you something that we did intend to lead Maureen. And I know that, you know, this cause you've done it, but for the listeners what we did earlier this year at I2L was we created something called the Peak Performance Challenge. And what we did was we combined the practical wisdom that we've gathered many years of coaching accountants our own experiences. And we put together the simple, powerful program, and it's designed to get you thinking differently and trying new things to create more supportive habits. So what we do in that program, it's a 20 day experience. There's one daily email on a weekday with a habit or an idea, right? And so it's five minutes or less watched the video, a simple coaching exercise that's designed to stretch your thinking and your doing so it's, it's based around these habits.

Sarah:
So, you know, they're examples of habits we have in this program week one is about mental wellbeing, right? So we're addressing those thought habits and stress and how we work with and manage and respond to stress. Week two is about physical wellbeing. So there are some real basics in there, but things that we often neglect, like our sleep, our nutrition, our exercise week three is about expanding our energy. And I touched on this very lightly earlier, but it's the idea of shifting beyond time management to really expanding our energy capacity. And there are habits we can incorporate around that as well. And then week four is about enhancing our focus. So what are habits that we can put in place to support us and help us really get that focus time where we can engage fully with those hard challenges. So, yeah, so there's a lot of habits. I know I just threw out a lot there. But yeah, the peak performance challenge, five minutes a day 20 days, it's only $39 right now. So it's less than $2 a day. And the idea is that everyone who participates takes away something different and unique to them. Right. So that you can walk away with some ideas and new habits that you can build on over time.

Maureen:
Yeah. And you mentioned that, that I, that I knew about it because I went through it and then I enjoyed it so much that I brought it to our team and offered all of our staff the opportunity to, to do it. And you know, it's one of those things where maybe some didn't make it through some really got into it, but the thing that was fun, we have a channel in teams that we would put kind of our status of how it's going for us or something that like, Oh my gosh, I could never do that. I can't holding drink that much, you know, anyway coffee or whatever was for the day. So it was lighthearted. And then honestly, some people had some pretty deep observations about themselves that would go in there. So it was a nice way to know that we're, we're all in it together. And kind of also recognize, you know, how easily easy it is to slip back into those habits. So it was good to have it almost documented so we can remind ourselves. So I thought it was a great, great team activity that made an impact. So I recommend it for, for all of our listeners out there that they, they check it out too. One of the,

Sarah:
Something about what, because I think it's worth highlighting the fact that you all did this as a team and had a method to support one another right. In that team's channel. And that's so great. And, and I know we've worked with other firms and organizations that have done the same thing, and that's so great because like you said, it it's it's easy to slip out of the habits and when we're doing it alone, it's even easier just slip back. So to support one another. And that's also helping shift that culture and shift the collective belief systems of it's not okay to do this right, when we're all doing this together. And we all believe that it's important and valuable and we're supporting one another in that it begins to help change those thinking patterns that we talked about earlier. So I just really appreciate that you all did that and you shared that with the audience, because I think that could really support them. Yeah,

Maureen:
Yeah. Yeah. one of the hottest topics that we hear from our members unfortunately is the, the concern for their team's mental health. It's just been so stressful tax season never seemed to end overlay pandemic and social unrest and an election. So there's, there's just so much that we talked about and we're getting ready to head into a tax season. So there's a lot of, a lot of concern about what leaders can do to, I mean, peak performance is, is great, but we're talking just at times, something very much, even more basic than that. What, you know, what, as we, as we kind of get to the end of our conversation, what, what things do you want leaders to think about as they're heading into tax season for their teams?

Sarah:
Yeah. So I just want all leaders to think about this, whether it's your busy season or not just always be start with you. Okay. First and foremost, take care of you first and let others see that because I think leadership is more about who we are and how we show up. Then even the things that we say, and we need to break the pattern and break this weird norm in the profession about feeling, shame about taking care of ourselves. We have to break that. And so the best way we do that is show others, talk about how you're taking care of yourself, tell them what you're doing, tell them the difference it's made, encourage them to do the same in a way that works for them, right? We're all different. We all need different things. But the point is when you're doing it, you're leading by example.

Sarah:
And then to connect with them, ask them how they're doing and not this perfunctory. How are you? Fine. Great. But no, really, you know, how are you feeling? It looks like you're struggling be on the lookout for those signs of exhaustion, stress, burnout, look for it and take those opportunities to connect, encourage them to take breaks. Yeah. They have work to do for you. Yes. Give them a break because when they take a break, the work they'll do after that will be so much better. And so connect with them, make a commitment that you're in this together, hold one, another accountable to taking care of each other and really put humanity first and trust that the work and the results will follow because they will. And, and so often I think we, we get, so, like I said earlier, when we're in survival mode, it's all about the work and getting things done. And we pushed the humans to the side. That is just what we do. And that, that is that's just how human beings work. And we've got to stop. We've got to just pause and notice and say, wow, I'm noticing that I'm doing that. That's okay. Humans do that. But let me take a breath, fill myself up for a moment and put the humanity first. And I trust that the work and the results will follow.

Maureen:
Yeah. Something that you said, I think is a little different. Not only you mentioned talking to people, how are you doing? And that's a perfunctory, but then you also added you look like you're struggling. And that is something that maybe we're afraid to, to say we don't maybe want to prod people too hard. We, we think, Oh, well, if they want to talk about it, they will. But what you're suggesting is actually being more specific or saying saying what you see, and I guess they can correct you if you're wrong.

Sarah:
Yeah. But, but what if by asking, right, we open up that opportunity to connect. And, and here's another thing I'm glad that you highlighted that Maureen cause something to build on that is, you know, also give them permission by sharing your own struggles, right? This is, this is real leadership. This is human leadership. We are not perfect as leaders. So you know what it looks like you may be struggling and I've really been struggling too. And this is how I've been struggling. Are you, are you okay? Right. Because that, that just, it connects and it creates this opportunity for them to say, Oh, so I'm not wrong. I'm not bad. I'm not doing something wrong. And you can say, what can I do to support you? What do you need from me? Right. That's such a different conversation than how are you? Fine. Okay, good. Let's get to business.

Maureen:
Right, right, right. It can't just be the beginning of the meeting. Hey, how's everybody doing? Okay.

Sarah:
Do you know what we do at the beginning of our meetings? And I'll do this in a group coaching sessions as well. Sometimes it's just a, check-in around the room up to three words. How are you feeling at this moment? And, and just honesty. Right? You don't have to explain, but, but it just gives everyone the opportunity to one check in with themselves. How am I feeling to be real about that? And it helps get us present and it helps the person leading the meeting. Just understand where everyone is at.

Maureen:
Yeah. I love that. I love the three words. So it keeps it succinct, but also people can maybe be a little more straightforward. I'm tired.

Sarah:
Yeah. Like let's just be real because when we're real, we're not expending all the energy, trying to predict and figure out where everybody's at and pretending, right. That wastes so much energy. If we could just be real and meet one another where we're at as human beings, it's actually more efficient. I mean, if we need to make it about efficiency, it really is.

In our latest podcast episode, Maureen talks with Sarah Elliott, CPA, cofounder of Intend2Lead, about refocusing our mindset and creating habits that support our mental wellbeing. This uplifting conversation shows how daily habits and managing our energy can help us reach our peak performance. Listen to the full podcast here.

Maureen:
Right. Right. Right. Well, you've, you've just given us so many great things to, to think about and to go inside and start doing some great work. But one of the things that I'm interested in knowing about is what you've been doing over the past year. If, if anything is different to help handle your inside your stress, your your wellbeing.

Sarah:
Yeah. Oh, good question. Putting the spotlight on me here. So my routines that I've always had, I've had a really strong morning routine with exercise, meditation, gratitude, prayer setting intentions for the day. It sounds like a lot. I do all that in about 30 well an hour. So 30 minutes of exercise in 30 minutes of everything else, kind of the mental get, right. So that has continued, but as you can imagine, the stresses have climbed this year. And especially when I did not have childcare for my five-year-old, I was losing it on the daily. I really was. And so one of the things that I have practiced a lot this year is compassion for myself, grace recognizing, yeah. I'm not proud of what just happened. It's okay. And you know, some of those honestly, Marine were blow ups at my child and I felt a lot of shame around that.

Sarah:
And so I did feel the shame and I acknowledged it and also work to myself and to immediately reconnect and repair and heal, right. What was damaged between my child and me. So always looking to reconnect with myself, with him, right. With others, maybe who didn't see me at my best and to repair that and to heal that. And I work with my own coach who has helped me with these things. And she helps me with this emotional you know, really processing that in giving space and compassion for myself, for others, grace, like we all need to give each other grace in tough times and that's not just right now, we should be doing this all the time. So again, I think this is an opportunity for us to take these things forward with us and to really elevate our leadership and bring that deeper sense of humanity and connection, you know, on the other side of it.

Maureen:
That's great. Thanks. Thank you for sharing the example with your child. I think that that's been huge. That's been really hard having so many people in households together all the time has been hard and we'll there, there were some highlights and lowlights, I guess.

Sarah:
Yeah. Yeah. It's been tough. So, you know, I think I'll share one more thought about that, which is, I think in an accounting we can get so busy and focused on the work it's that can be a coping mechanism to not really acknowledge and deal with how hard things really are. And I think we do ourselves a disservice when we do that, it's okay to feel hard things and to work through them because when we do that, we can work through them and let them go. But if we just focus all our energy on getting the work done and kind of surviving that stuff still stays with us. So it's gonna come out in counterproductive unhealthy ways if we don't acknowledge it and give it some space, you know, in the appropriate ways.

Maureen:
Right, right. Right. Well, Sarah, it's just been great talking to you and spending some time and learning more about what you do at intend to lead and the peak performance challenge and all of the great things that you have going on. So again, and even larger, thank you for what you're doing for the profession. It it's making a difference. Your, your commitment to the CPAs to accountants is, is being felt and definitely appreciated.