Sarah Pittendrigh is a veritable powerhouse of a lady, who is not afraid to share the trials and tribulations of being an entrepreneur and a busy equestrian Mum, motivating followers and calling out the bullsh*tters in the world, as she cheerfully terms it!

Holly and I went to see her at her gorgeous home in Northumberland and after a delicious lunch (thanks Sarah!) we had a tour around the stables and the fields. We chose to settle down beside a gorgeous pond area, that Sarah and her family have just created, for an in-depth chat – accompanied of course by the easy banter and laughter that has fast become a feature of many of our interviews.

So first off, we started with our usual question, who are you and what are you all about?

Sarah summed herself up by saying,

“I’m a Mum, my son, William, is an equestrian who competes all over the UK. I also have a wedding and event business, Simply Bows & Chair Covers styling weddings and events.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve started offering life and business mentoring to high-performing female entrepreneurs.  I’ve also written a book called the ‘I Can’ method and started a podcast.

I can honestly say that I love everything I do and you’ll often hear me quoting my mantra which is, ‘you’re never too old and it’s never too late to live a life you love”

I explained that the aim of our CWG interview is to get behind the skin of the countryside and really start to understand and share the stories of triumph over adversity that hide away down the lanes in the countryside.

Sarah has always been quite open about the bankruptcy and cancer diagnosis that nearly floored her along the way (All described in her best-selling book – well worth a read).

I asked Sarah what one part of her journey had really transformed her and was a real defining moment for her.

With her head on one side, Sarah looked thoughtful and said she was really struggling to choose between bankruptcy and cancer.

After a moment, she said, “Bankruptcy was the one that was like a phoenix that rose from the ashes with burnt and singed feathers, but those feathers grew back and gave me a direction to a sense of personal fulfilment that I may not have found without it.  I realised I had to live my life for me, not for other people.”

I asked her what made her see some light at the end of the tunnel, when the day was so dark and things had been going on so long.

“I felt like I had no control of my life at all, I’d been an employee but I always craved freedom, but I didn’t have the courage to do anything about it.  In 2008, my home was repossessed in bankruptcy and we were still living in it.

Then I realised I had to change, I was being presented with an opportunity that was unique and I needed to flip my mindset from ‘I can’t’ to ‘I can’”

It was a conscious opportunity to think about things as being half full, rather than half empty that turned things around for her.

“I was a Mum and my son is the most important thing in the world, I wanted to be accessible and available to him and I wanted to design a business that would fit around us.  It was time to be brave and change things”

I call this a gift of desperation moment, and Sarah most definitely made the most of it, her son was the most important thing in her life and she wanted to design a business that could fit around her and her son and she set about making it happen with grit and determination.

A journey which involves so many rollercoaster swings would knock many people but Sarah’s determination to bring triumph out of adversity propelled her forward into becoming a successful business woman and now mentor.  The very journey that shaped her is now something that she draws on to support her franchises and mentees, a calming voice of experience sounding to support others through things like the storm of covid.

With her roots very firmly in the countryside, it’s not surprising that Sarah advises her clients to take a momentary step back and look at the whole landscape, take a breath and then decide how to move forward.

It was refreshing to hear how, like us, Sarah looks to her 24 year old son for input and listened to tales from her elderly Aunt before she passed away, truly relishing experience shared across the ages.

I asked Sarah what one piece of advice she would really like to pass on, she smiled wryly and shared,

“There’s a lot of things along the way I didn’t do because of anxiety, but what I did do was push myself too hard to please other people, literally until I burnt myself out.  So I wish I had done the deep work I’ve done now and learnt earlier to live the life I want to live, not the life I thought I had to live to please others. Now, I truly believe that money helps you to exist but a happy heart helps you to live”

What a great piece of advice to end on and add to the insights that Sarah shared with us during our interview. Thank you Sarah, you really are a truly inspirational lady.

You can find Sarah and all her social links on her Website and here’s the link to her memoir, The ‘I Can’ Method on Amazon which is well worth a read.