Hi, I’m Sarah…
I seek to live with purpose and intentionality,
building deeply into relationships…
…forever learning as I go.
I am all in…
creative | authentic | grounded
MY ‘WORK’ IN THE WORLD IS TO BE A GUIDE AND COMPANION,
A SEER AND SEEKER OF BEAUTY,
A SOUL REVIVER, ACTIVATOR, AND COMMUNITY BUILDER.
At my core I am driven by deep and meaningful relationships and find my greatest joy in building intentional relational containers to facilitate learning and growth. I am known for my ability to get beyond what presents on the surface to the underlying beliefs or patterns that keep you stuck. I speak honestly and directly with gentleness and clarity. Whether in a group, or one-on-one, my ability to truly see people allows me to call them to their highest potential.
My experience working and coaching in complex organizational dynamics has equipped me to work with people to navigate nuanced relationships with authenticity and courage, empowering individuals and teams to get creative and create lasting change. I have a unique inclination to both emotional intuition and strategic thinking, which allows me to create spaciousness while still helping you to ‘get stuff done’.
With nearly a decade’s worth of intentional community living, I am particularly drawn to building rich gathering spaces. I have been a long-time space holder for leaders and community builders as they carry the responsibility of serving others. I have not pursued a status-quo approach to life, and feel uniquely suited to support visionaries in living into their callings.
“sarah is the real thing. her authenticity is refreshing, her presence is energizing. when i am around her, it is easier to be who i really am. i feel seen, heard, celebrated, trusted and appreciated. her strength and clarity are balanced with a depth of compassion and sweet tenderness that simultaneously make you feel safe, and calls you forward to become who you are called to be.”
— Rachel, Past client
Trust comes in many forms, and is most often built together over time.
I see myself first and foremost as a companion in growth and learning. Clients choose to work with me because of:
Who I am - My values and the integrity with which I live those out. I really am who I say I am.
Our relational fit - This is an essential element to partnership and can’t really be defined - it’s that feeling you get when you connect with someone! That’s why we always start with a free consult call. It’s so critical that we both feel excited about working together - this really is a form of partnership and collaboration.
My approach - I work with a range of tools and modalities, but when we’re looking to understand or to solve a challenge we will always take a ‘whole system’ approach looking at the entire ecosystem of yourself (mind/body/heart..), of your life (work, family, history..), or of your team (dynamics, systems, roles..). I bring an embodied approach to coaching, & use trauma informed, somatic tools to help ground learning in your body.
My experience & expertise - Both by background and my coaching experience - I am particularly known for helping individuals, partners, and teams navigate nuanced relationship dynamics, get clear and aligned on vision & values, and take action with integrity.
I hold it as an important responsibility to be continually developing as a professional to best serve and support those I have the honour of journeying with.
You can read more about my training and credentials below:
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I trained as a coach in 2014 through The Coaches Training Institute (CTI) in the Co-Active Model. CTI is a pioneer in the coaching profession and is known worldwide for the quality of coaches their program produces. The Co-Active approach to coaching is “a tried-and-true approach that provides a powerful process for engaging with others and is supported by current scientific research. [The CTI] program is built on the cornerstone that we are all naturally creative, resourceful and whole and that we all possess the capacity for knowing what is best for ourselves. From this place, the Co-Active Coach comes from a place of authentic being, listening and encouragement, to uncover the best in oneself and others.” (www.coactive.com)
I have complete further training in coaching with couples, partnerships, and teams through CRR Global (www.crrglobal.com) in the Organization & Relationship Systems Coaching (ORSC) model. This training is a foundation to my whole-system approach to coaching with partnerships, teams, and communities.
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I am a registered member and a certified coach (Professional Certified Coach or PCC) with the International Coaching Federation. As an ICF certified coach I follow a set of professional ethics & standard of conducts. You can find these and other guidelines on the website of the International Coach Federation: https://coachfederation.org/icf-ethics/.
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Coaching & Facilitation - I have:
Well over a thousand hours of professional one-on-one executive, leadership, and life coaching logged.
Hundred’s of hours of team coaching and facilitation logged - focus areas have included values clarification, relationship system design, strategic planning, and team dynamics.
Worked with clients from all walks of life and work - including CEO’s and senior leaders, doctors, counsellors, non-profit Executive Directors, farmers, entrepreneurs and faith leaders.
Worked as an Executive Coach and Organizational Facilitator with Advantage Management Consulting for 4 years.
Worked with teams in the corporate, government, non-profit, and community sectors.
Run over 25 immersive retreat experiences.
A decade’s worth of one-on-one mentoring with young adults in the areas of discerning life direction, unpacking personal belief systems, and relationships.
Teaching - I have:
Developed and taught dozens of workshops on topics including - relationship system dynamics, the Enneagram, and communication styles.
Developed and taught 4 college classes including topics such as: Ecological restoration, Environmental Urban planning, and the intersection of Spirituality and Environmental Ethics.
Developed and ran an adventure based leadership program which included community building, issues of justice and equity, sessions on philosophy and theology, environmental issues, and leadership development.
Ran an international internship program which involved teaching in the areas of community building, environmental ethics, world view, values based decision making, spiritual exploration, and personal development.
Community - I have:
Lived in intentional community for a decade - including living on shared land with other singles and families while sharing meals, work, and chores etc.
Helped a number of businesses and organizations develop a sense of community amongst their teams.
Developed and run a group coaching program on community building & re-villaging your life that has served over 40 households in it's first two rounds.
Initiated a number of local community initiatives including neighbourhood gatherings.
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As an ICF certified coach I am committed to ongoing professional development in my field - and actively participate in on-going courses and workshops annual to maintain my credential - workshops have included training in DISC, Emotional Intelligence, the Enneagram, Team Coaching, etc.
I bring my full self
to this work
I believe that people are people no matter how you dress them, or what their paycheck looks like. That means showing up and treating everyone with dignity, respect, and genuine curiosity. I bring my full self to my work, and encourage my clients to do the same. So often the learnings that clients have in the boardroom are exactly the insights they need to serve their personal lives, and vice versa. You are a whole person, and growth and discovery is available in all aspects of your life.
Feel free to snoop personal reflections & updates from my own life on my personal Instagram account (I’m a pretty open book). Or catch tools and themes I’m thinking about over on the Our Common Instagram account. Better yet, get your name on the email list below for my monthly reflections and updates on all the things!
My Story
Much of my love of community came from growing up in a household focused on hospitality, and belonging:
I was raised in a healthy church community that really embodied the best of what such spaces are meant to be:
a place of shared meaning, connection, mutual aid, and being accepted as we are.
I humbly acknowledge the very real trauma many have experienced inside organized religious contexts. Your story is valid and it matters. In fact, it’s a thing a lot of people seek me out to unpack, as they deconstruct the worldview they were handed, and reclaim their own spirituality, with or without the labels.
My childhood experience of community was one of ‘family’ - a place of belonging where I felt seen, loved, and encouraged in my strengths. We had a highly educated and very multicultural broader community and I was taught to live consciously and awake, asking any question, and thinking deeply and critically. I experienced the interweaving of lives, generations, & cultures in a way that taught me to see:
the beauty of interdependence,
there is always another way to see something, and
life is about grappling with uncertainty, leaning into trust, and continually growing and evolving.
This ‘work’ is a culmination of my lived experience.
This path felt circuitous at the time, but when I look back it was always leading me here…
I was born and raised in Vancouver, BC, on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish, səl̓ilwətaɁɬ təməxʷ, Skwxwú7mesh-ulh Temíx̱w, S’ólh Téméxw, Stz'uminus, šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmaɁɬ təməxʷ, and Hul'qumi'num peoples.
A love of the forest, and passion for the environment led me to a degree in Forest Sciences from UBC, and a stretch of years working in ecological research and environmental consulting, and teaching at a college level on sustainable development and ecological restoration.
Longing for adventure, my husband and I up-and-moved to the middle of nowhere in the Alberta Rockies to run an adventure-based leadership program for young adults. We explored life’s questions about faith, identity, philosophy, and community, while climbing mountains, caving, whitewater canoeing, mountain biking, rock and ice climbing, and backpacking. As I worked there as a guide, facilitator, and mentor, I discovered a gift and passion for personal and relational development that led me to coaching.
After the birth of our first child, we moved back to the coast where we lived and worked as a family for a faith-based environmental non-profit in Surrey, BC. There, I worked as a coach and mentor to the team and oversaw the residential internship program. We lived holistically: sharing meals over meaningful conversations, engaging in scientific research and conservation, farming the land, and welcoming others into a unique way of life. We journeyed with our community through life and loss and learned what it really means to care for each other meaningfully.
A change of winds led us to set down some deep roots in the BC Okanagan, where we have made an intentional choice to ‘live well in place’. Here, we love to adventure as a family, and to tend the earth on our little property, using permaculture principles to produce a bounty of food and beauty. In addition to spending four years working as an Executive Coach & Organizational Facilitator for a National boutique consulting firm called Advantage Management Consulting, it has been in these years that I grew my private coaching practice - building a wealth of experience coaching with leaders & teams. Through a desire to integrate the values and lessons from each season before, the vision for Our Common was born.
This calling allows me to bring all of who I am and what I value to my everyday life.
I am also 'Mom' to two strong, beautiful, passionate, creative daughters. Mothering them has been the greatest course there ever was in leadership and personal growth. Family is one of the ways I deeply experience and tend community in my life.