Ep #214: Creating Finish Lines for Women with Sarah Ratzlaff

Welcome to The Not Your Average Runner Podcast. If you’re a woman who has never felt athletic but you still dream about becoming a runner, you are in the right place. I’m Jill Angie, a certified running and life coach, and I teach women how to start running, feel confident, and change their lives. And now I want to help you.

Hey Rebels, so I am here this week with a really amazing person. Her name is Sarah Ratzlaff and she is the owner and chief inspiration officer of Zooma Races, and most recently Skirt Sports and Momentum Jewelry. And also very recently one of my new best friends.

So I am super excited to have Sarah on, this is going to be the first of many times that we chat because she’s got a lot of stuff to say to you Rebels that you are going to really love. But first things first, thank you so much, Sarah, for joining me today.

Sarah: Thanks for having me, Jill. What a great introduction, I love it. I’m so excited to be here.

Jill: We’ve been talking for a while about getting you on the show and we have so many things to talk about that we actually had to say like, “Okay, let’s narrow it down and pick one thing to discuss this week and then we’ll do other topics later.”

But I think before we dive into what we wanted to discuss today I’d love for you to sort of introduce yourself to everyone, tell your story a little bit, who you are, what you’ve done in your life, why you’re so passionate about empowering women.

Sarah: Yeah, well life has taken a little bit of a turn with the pandemic. You mentioned I’m now the owner of Skirt Sports and Momentum Jewelry in addition to Zooma, which was completely unexpected but totally in my wheelhouse because it’s all related to helping women achieve their dreams, be who they want to be, all those things.

So certainly if you had asked me five years ago when I left Disney if I would be– If you had told me I was going to be making skirts I would have told you you were absolutely nuts. And I would have said there’s absolutely no way that that’s going to happen.

So I have been in the running industry for quite some time. I’ve been an athlete for the majority of my life. But then really have enjoyed kind of organizing athletic events and then specifically running events. So I played rugby when I was in college, which was so much fun and I loved that. And there were some amazing women that I met there and they’re still some of my best friends.

But I would organize like all the rugby tournaments and everyone else would be in the gym lifting. I’d do that but then really, I’d be like sending emails like, “Okay, we’re going to book this hotel and we’re going to do this.” It was just very natural. I actually ended up with my master’s degree in event management and landed myself an internship at Disney.

Which at that time was– I don’t even think it was Disney’s Endurance Race, it was just like the Disney Marathon, and then there was like a race for the cure, and a half Ironman or something there, and an inline skating marathon. Yeah, right?

So totally random, we had a race for the cure, those kind of things. So I took an internship to finish up my sport management degree and then ended up connected to what is now Run Disney, and helped build Run Disney. So I spent about 10 to 12 years of my career doing that. So it was really fun, really, really fun.

Jill: That’s so cool. And we’re going to do a whole episode where we dig into that at some point.

Sarah: Yeah.

Jill: Because I’m super fascinated with that whole part of your history.

Sarah: Yes, and I feel like I’m a little all over the place in explaining my life or how I got here. But I had a couple of kids and they sort of threw a little wrench in my professional world, especially the second one. He really kind of made life a little different.

So I was sort of looking for something different. I was looking for my next step in my career and then also like how can I do what I love to do, which I love putting on events. You know what I love, Jill? I love creating finish lines for women, that’s what I love.

Jill: Awe, that’s amazing.

Sarah: I remember, I don’t know if you know John Bingham. You know John Bingham, right? The Penguin?

Jill: Yes.

Sarah: So when I was an intern I booked all the speakers that would come in and so I was sitting there talking to John and he was telling me all about his life and it was fascinating, you know, where he had come from and being a musician and out of shape, overweight, never feeling good about himself. I mean he just smoked and drank a lot. I don’t know if everybody knows that, am I supposed to share that?

Jill: I think it’s in his book.

Sarah: Well and at the time so did I, so we just kind of bonded. But I remember him telling me how many women– He said the number of women that get a divorce or do something amazing with their life after they cross the finish line of a half marathon, it was huge. He just said finish lines like that, they literally create change in your life. And I was fascinated by that.

Jill: I mean, I’m living proof. I did a half marathon, quit my job, started my own company.

Sarah: Right, and here I was, and I had always been a team sport kind of girl. So I played basketball, volleyball, track is kind of a team sport, rugby. I had never done these individual events. But when I went into my professional career, that’s really when I got introduced to half marathons and marathons.

And that was in what 2005, 2006? So the women’s running boom hadn’t even really started. It had just started, I remember showing up and I was like, “Well I would never run a half marathon. Why would anybody do that?” Here I’m an intern and I’m trying to figure out what the hell are these people doing? You’re running how far and you’re paying to do it on purpose?

Jill: What the fuck is wrong with you?

Sarah: And then I was also like– Well, because you get this idea of what a marathoner or a half marathoner looks like, right? So you got to be itty bitty, you got to be dude, and you’ve got to wear tiny shorts. That’s essentially what I thought. And there were a lot of those, there were a lot. But there were also women that looked like you, they look like me, they look like all the bodies, right?

So all the bodies were finishing the marathon and the half marathon and I thought, “Well, I can do that.” And so that’s kind of what I did, I started running just for research and then decided I kind of liked it and all of that.

But what I loved was standing at the finish line of the Disney marathons and watching these people cross the finish line. And after a while I would have to pull myself away because we’re all crying and it’s like, amazing. And so I just really, I wanted to keep doing that, Jill. But I wanted to do it on my own time and in my own way.

And I’ve always been passionate about helping women. And so that’s when I actually was looking for something different. And the owner of Zooma was looking to sell her race series. And so I thought, “Well, I mean, I’ll have so much flexibility and time on my hands when I run my own business. This will be great for flexibility with my children.” That’s what I thought.

Jill: That’s awesome.

Sarah: And it wasn’t. But here I am five years later. So that’s kind of where I guess I come from and where I am now. Was that like a solid squiggly line?

Jill: Well, it kind of speaks to the passion that you have in life, which is empowering women to do amazing things. And you’ve done it in a number of different ways and now your current way is through Zooma races and through Skirt Sports and through Momentum Jewelry. And I think when you have that kind of driving force, then it just means that everything that you work through makes an impact on someone’s life.

Sarah: Yeah.

Jill: I mean, you’ve certainly made an impact on my life, so thank you.

Sarah: You’re welcome. You’re welcome.

Jill: So, you use the term empowering women when you talk about the companies that you own. And we hear this term a lot, right? People are always like, “Oh, I want to feel empowered,” or “I want to empower people.” But what does that actually mean to you?

Sarah: That is a really loaded question. So you would like me to define–  Well, I think it means so many things. So we’re empowering women in a lot of ways. So when you look at Skirt Sports, one way–

And I knew Nicole, you know, the owner of Skirt, and I knew Amy, the owner of Momentum. I had worked with them and I have so much respect for them. And our visions aligned so it felt just natural to combine their businesses with mine.

Nothing that I do when it comes to Zooma, like we have challenges and we work out and things like that. But we don’t talk about weight loss. I’m not saying that that’s not some people’s journey, right? But we’re not focusing on, “Hey, Jill, how do you get to where society thinks you should look or be? And then once you’re there, then that’s okay, let’s help you get there.” It’s not that.

We empower women through community in so many ways, of connecting women with other like-minded women. So to me, it’s empowering when you can share your experience or a similar experience with someone else. Skirt, I feel like Nicole was always so careful to make sure that there were things that could fit everybody, right?

Jill: Yeah.

Sarah: Not just fit, but then also showing all the different bodies in the styles that she had. I mean, now you look at Lulu and Athleta and some of these different companies and they have every size of body. But Nicole in Skirt Sports was one of the first companies to actually do that and do it in a real way.

And so I think there’s something empowering about feeling good in what you’re wearing and how you look. And having on clothes that you can function in that you feel good in. And so that’s one way that we empower.

And on the Momentum Jewelry side, we have so many words of inspiration that you can actually wear. It’s such a cool idea that Amy had originally come up with. And I can’t tell you the number of times I’ll switch out– I don’t have my bracelet on now, but I’ll switch out what my saying is for however I’m feeling that day.

Jill: I love that.

Sarah: I mean, because some days you’re like, “I got this. I’m a badass. I’m on top of the world.” That’s how I felt last week. And then this week I was like, “Oh my God, this week is falling apart. I don’t know what I’m doing.” You know what I’m saying? So I think there’s empowerment in words and acknowledging where you are in your life and then having others to support you in that. So I don’t really feel like I’ve answered your question.

Jill: I think you have though, what I heard was community, and respecting where people are. And also, I don’t know what the succinct way to say this is, but you talked about how Skirt Sports has always been about showing the bodies in all the sizes. Which is something that we haven’t really seen from fitness gear too often, until very recently.  And Skirt has kind of been that way for many, many years.

And I think that’s a form of empowerment because you’re saying, without saying like, “You are included, you belong, we want you here. And there’s no better body or anything like that.” Right. It’s a very inclusive message and I think inclusion is part of empowerment.

Sarah: Yeah, I completely agree. It’s so funny because I’m sitting here trying to define it. But empowerment is so deeply rooted in what we do and what I’ve always believed in, it’s almost hard to say, “This is how we do it.”

I was even thinking about the finish line of a Zooma race. No one finishes on their own, we bring in every last person. Every woman is celebrated as she’s running because what I think people don’t understand is when you’re running a 12, 14, 15 minute mile, that shit is harder than the person– If you run six minutes, seven minutes, eight minutes, yes, I know that that’s not easy to do, either. But like you have to be on the course a lot less time.

Jill: Right.

Sarah: I’ve always been a back of the packer and so it’s hard, it’s a struggle for me to finish and I know it is for other people. But it’s always so important to me that you’re empowered where you are. That we meet you where you are, and either celebrate where you are or celebrate where you’re going, those kinds of things.

All of the brands that I’m able– And that’s what’s so amazing about having left Disney and being on my own, is I really was able to jump into the things that I care the most about. And really focusing on that and really helping women in their journeys to be who they are.

Jill: I love that. Because now it’s not a huge like 100,000 person corporation, it’s you. And somebody asked me recently like, if you were in charge of the world, or when you’re in charge, what would you do? And you’ve been able to answer that question, like, “Okay, if I’m in charge, this is what I’m going to do.” And it’s creating this amazing experience.

And as you were saying that I was kind of like how would I define empowerment in my own business? And I think what I do is I give women permission to start running in the body they have right now. And therefore, they can feel empowered and go and do that.

And I think that’s precisely what you’re doing with Zooma. You’re giving women permission to sign up for a half marathon and know that they’re going to be able to actually cross the finish line, and not just cross the figment of the finish line that used to exist two hours before, right?

Sarah: Yeah. And even in our online challenges, where we do a variety of workouts or whatever, there’s a finish line to cross. And that finish line can be crossed just by showing up and doing what makes sense to you. Because we’re all different. Some of us are injured, some of us are faster than others. There’s just a variety of natural athletic abilities and talents and things like that.

But so, in the same way that we’re giving permission as well and then celebrating you, because of the effort that you put in not because you won. I mean, you win just when you do a little better every day. It’s that kind of a thing. Yeah, giving women permission to be and then be seen for who they are.

Jill: Yeah, I love that. So do you think keeps women from feeling empowered? Because I know you’ve worked with women and I’ve had the same experience that there is this belief like, “Oh, that’s not for me. I can’t do that.” And that can that can really hold us back. Just that one thought, “Oh, that’s not for me. That’s too hard for me,” or “I don’t belong in that community” can really hold us back. So what do you think is behind that?

Sarah: Well, I think isn’t being born a woman simply like–  It’s interesting, my daughter is the oldest and my son is the youngest, they’re apart by two years. And there are inherent differences in how my daughter sees herself in the world than my son from an assured perspective. Like my daughter doubts herself on a daily basis, and my son does not.

And I’m not saying that it’s necessarily a boy, girl kind of thing. But it’s shocking to me, because I didn’t really believe that there was like a gender difference. But that’s why I say I think there’s a running script in our heads. I’m not 100% sure how it got there.

I was thinking about this question yesterday. And while I was thinking about how I wanted to answer empowerment and how we make women feel better about themselves, in the back was this script running that was telling me like, “Well, nobody wants to hear what you have to say. And why would anyone care?” I mean, does that script run for you? Because it does for me.

Jill: Not as much as it used to. Especially when I was in a corporate job, constantly. I wouldn’t speak up in meetings because I’d think, “Oh, nobody cares what I have to say.”

Sarah: Yeah.

Jill: But I think owning my own business and having a podcast and recognizing that, “Oh, wait, actually, people do care what I have to say because they listen every week,” that has been sort of a game changer. But it’s still there.

And it’s with certain people too. Like I’ve done some podcast interviews where I’ve felt super intimidated by the person I was interviewing, and I thought, “Oh gosh, I don’t want to say the wrong thing.” So yeah, that script is definitely still there.

Sarah: Yeah, it’s so funny you say that about the corporate because I really struggled and I’ve talked to other women, as well, because I think you’re always sort of coached to be more lady like, right? Like could you just sit down and shut up and not tell us your opinion?

Jill: Yeah. Yeah.

Sarah: I’m like, “I don’t know how to do that.” I’m not really good at being quiet.

Jill: Yeah, that’s good. That’s good. There’s that trope out there of the woman who is bossy and mouthy and opinionated. And I’m like, if it were a man, we would call those characteristics assertive and confident. Right?

Sarah: Yeah.

Jill: But with women we give them a very negative connotation. And I’m kind of like, “All right, so I’m bossy and mouthy and opinionated, deal with it.” If that’s what you want to call it, it’s not going to change my behavior for sure.

Sarah: Exactly. Yeah. And that’s the interesting thing, though. Jill, you and I are both in similar situations where we’ve been able to create an environment where it took me a long time to sort out. I was sort of told like, “Well, nobody wants to work with you. And you’re difficult.” And really that was an ongoing, kind of, like, “Sarah, could you just be less of you?” And I tried to stuff myself in a box for a long time.

But then being in, I mean, I guess I would consider where both of us are an empowered position, right? Where we’ve kind of come out on our own. And then what happened for me was I discovered people were like, “Oh my God, we love working with you. It’s so fun to talk to you.” And I was like, “Me? Like me? You want to hang out with me and talk to me?”

So over time, because of the environment I was in, it allowed me to really come into my own. And it sounds like the same has happened for you. And then my confidence has really grown.

So you asked me why don’t women often feel empowered or like they are enough or what stops them from from being them? And I do think there’s that inner script running in a lot of women’s heads. And then I also think when you’re not in a supportive environment, when maybe your family or friends aren’t supporting you, or people are telling you that you’re not enough, I think that does a lot to hold you back. Because it’s hard when you’re the only one that believes in yourself.

And I think the community that you’ve created it’s a similar feeling in some of the communities that I created is this idea that– And I hear it all the time, especially on a running perspective. It’s like when you look at what traditional running clubs are, it’s the people that ran cross country and track in high school or college or whatever and then they still want to do track workouts together. So you pay your dues, and then you’re running club, and everyone’s fast.

I mean, the number of times I’ve heard that it doesn’t feel like you belong, because it’s not always about getting faster. Running is not always about getting faster. In fact, for probably the majority of your listeners and mine, it has nothing to do with getting faster. Maybe you want to beat your time from the last race that you did, but mostly it’s like where are people who understand me? How can I feel better about myself?

When you exercise and run, you feel better. I mean, scientifically there’s endorphins that are released in your body, you got runner’s high and things like that. So I think when there’s a place that feels safe and like home, and you’re surrounded by a community that adores and respects and supports you, I think there’s so much more that you can do and be.

Jill: Yes.

Sarah: Than when you’re not.

Jill: Especially if you are, you know, because a lot of my community members have this experience that they’re in this group of women that believe in them so hard and support them, but there may be people outside of that community, their spouse, or siblings, family, co-workers that don’t believe in them and think they’re crazy.

And they need that community to kind of dip back in and be like, “Okay, yeah, no, I’m going to refresh my belief in myself, because I’ve got these people over here that are saying, No, no, no, you can do it. You’re not crazy. There’s nothing wrong with you. Don’t listen to those idiots over there.”

Sarah: Yes. And it’s so fascinating as we both share our stories coming from an environment that was toxic, unsupportive, and then the things– And I’m sure you had a journey as well of learning to believe in yourself and learning to believe in the things that you could do. It takes a while and sometimes it’s even hard to see.

And I guess I would suggest to anybody listening, take a look at who you’re surrounding yourself with. Do they believe what you believe? Are they helping you be the best version of yourself? And if they’re not, you don’t need to do anything more than just be aware of that for now and then keep taking one step forward. Because just because there’s a negative peace in your life, you don’t have to kick them out.

But as you get more powerful and more confident in who you are, it becomes easier to quiet those outside negative voices. That’s the hard part, right? Is when your own voice inside your head is very timid. And you’re like, “I think I can do it.” And then you’re like, “Well, I probably can’t.” And then when somebody else tells you you can’t, it’s like but when you like shout like, “I know, I can do it.” And someone’s like, Well, no, you can’t.” You’re like, “See ya, eff off, man. I believe in myself.”

But as you’re trying to grow that tiny voice and the strength within. That’s the part, maybe that’s what empowerment is. Right there.

Jill: Yeah.

Sarah: The big voice inside that’s like, “You can’t mess with me.”

Jill: I absolutely love that. I love that. I think we need that on a T-shirt, “You can’t mess with me, I’m empowered.”

I think you hit the nail on the head because you said that when you’ve got the tiny little voice and you have this little bit of belief. But then somebody from outside is saying, “No, no, no, you’re wrong,” if you haven’t grown that inner seed of belief, then the louder voice is going to be the one that you’re like, “Oh, well, I don’t know, he seems to know what he’s talking about.”

Sarah: Right.

Jill: Versus when you’ve grown that belief inside you, it doesn’t really matter what other people say. But I think the take home message is other people are always going to have opinions about you. And you’re going to want to pick and choose the ones that you take into yourself and decide to believe.

And you don’t have to cut people out of your life because they don’t believe you, right? They don’t think you can do it. If you’re training for big race or whatever, you don’t need to cut them out of your life. But you can say like, “Hey, your opinion is noted, but I’m choosing to believe something different” and then just move on.

Sarah: Exactly. Yeah, exactly.

Jill: What do you think would be the result in the world if we could somehow like do a Thanos, snap our fingers and every woman wakes up feeling empowered tomorrow morning?

Sarah: Oh shit. Well, that would be a really interesting world, wouldn’t it?

Jill: I think it would.

Sarah: I mean, I would love that. Wouldn’t that be amazing?

Jill: It would be fabulous, yeah. What do you think would change overnight?

Sarah: I think there would be a lot less like wearing of tight pants and bras maybe. We might all want to just be a lot more comfortable is what I’m thinking.

Jill: Yeah.

Sarah: Maybe less heels. It’s almost hard to imagine because we’ve sort of apologized for being here for so long. I think the world would be a kinder, more supportive place. I think you would see women apologizing a lot less for being for being who we are. And I don’t know, what do you think? That was a loaded question, what do you think? Tell me.

Jill: I mean, I think we’d see a lot less apologizing, like you said. But I think we’d start to see women taking up more space, both physically and metaphorically. You wouldn’t see women, you know, like you go on a subway and you see a dude sits down and like, boom, legs spread, taking up all the space. Not all dudes, but enough of them that it’s noticeable. And you see women just kind of like trying to make themselves smaller.

So I think there will be less of that, because women would be like, “No, no, I have just as much right to this space as you do.” I think that we would see more women starting their own businesses. Or for women who are in a relationship with a man, whether it’s their husband or their partner or whatever, I think we would see a much more equal division of the labor.

It wouldn’t be like, “Okay, I go to work all day to help make money, but then I come home and I still take care of the kids and I still make dinner and I still drive around.” I think we’d see a lot less of that, because women would be speaking up and speaking their mind and saying, “Hey, this isn’t working for me. I love you, but no.”

Sarah: Right.

Jill: So I think that, yeah, for me empowerment, you know, if everybody woke up feeling empowered tomorrow you’d hear women asking for what they want more often.

And here’s the thing that kind of bugs me about even saying, that asking for what they want. It’s still a very patriarchal way to look at it because it kind of implies that we need to ask permission. So I think what you’d actually see is women just taking what they want and not asking permission anymore. So let me refine how I said that.

Sarah: Well and I think even further, so you know I’ve had some pretty major life changes in my last five years. And when I first started exploring that question of like, “What do you want?” Or “You need to ask for what you want or take–”  I’m trying to remember what my therapy group, what that exact question was.

But essentially it was like, “I don’t actually even know what I want.” I honestly don’t even know, I’ve lived for so long, kind of serving the needs of others or putting their needs ahead of mine. I was like, “I don’t know, I’m going to have to think about that for a little.

So I think, yeah, it’s such a hard question to answer because I don’t even know what– I mean, I think the world might explode if all– I mean it would just be such a difference life if that happened. I think we’ve traded a number of things to try to be something in this world. And I don’t even know. I don’t even know what would happen.

Jill: I mean, it kind of speaks volumes that we’re sitting here going, “We can’t even imagine a world where every woman felt empowered, and what the outcome would be.” So I think we need to spend more time imagining it.

Sarah: I think we should too.

Jill: Yeah.

Sarah: Yeah, I’m going to have to research that question.

Jill: And I mean, for myself, I would call myself a raging feminist. I’m definitely all about the like, “Hey, hand that job to a woman because she’s probably going to do really well with it.” But I still have those thoughts in my head. It still happens.

Even in my relationship with my husband, who is an extremely enlightened dude, we’re very 50/50 with most things. And I have no problem saying to him like, “I’m not going to do that, that’s your responsibility,” or “We’re going to share that” or whatever. I have no problem. He knows what he signed up for.

But even so, I still find myself, you know, I’ll cook dinner. And we’ll sit down and we’ll watch a little bit of TV. And then I’ll get up afterwards and I’ll start cleaning up. And I’m thinking to myself like, “Why am I doing this? I cooked dinner.” But there’s this thing inside me that’s just like, “Oh, no, no, it’s your job.” Years and years and years of me deprogramming myself, and that thought, is still there.

And sometimes I’m like, “It’s not my job, but I’m going to do it anyways.” And other times I’m like, “Yeah, it’s not my job and I’m just going to leave the dishes, and he can clean them up later.” But it blows my mind that
as much work as I’ve done on myself, those seeds are still there from when I was a child and watched the relationship with my parents and my siblings and their relationships with their spouses.

So yeah, I just think it’s going to be a while before we can get to that point. But we’re making big steps.

Sarah: We are.

Jill: One of the things that I really want us to talk about today, because you’ve got like a whole campaign that you’re doing right now.

Sarah: We do.

Jill: Yeah, the Beyoutiful Campaign. So let’s dive into that because I want to make sure everybody understands that this is your mission in life.

Sarah:  And I wanted to say, maybe you should add on a class about asking for what you want. I mean, I’m just saying we can do a lot of I statements and even identifying what you want, I think that should be added to your list of Jill Angie classes.

But no, the Beyoutiful Campaign, so B-E-Y-O-U, beyoutiful. It’s actually something that Amy had started, the previous owner of Momentum Jewelry for a few different years. And it really is focused on how we talk to ourselves. Speaking kindly to ourselves, and taking a look at how we can become more empowered. And how we can really own our power and own who we are. That’s really what Beyoutiful Campaign is about.

Now, in the past it’s really been a social media campaign in a lot of ways where you get this sign that says I am, and then you fill out your word. So it could be I am determined, I am strong, I am angry, I am hungry. I mean, it could be whatever, but it’s this word and then you would take a picture and you would post that to social media.

And then we partner with a bunch of different groups, which I think you might be joining us.

Jill: Yeah, that is correct.

Sarah:  And then with Momentum we also have a few, you know, how I mentioned before kind of the empowerment on your wrist. And we have some new sayings that are coming out with the Beyoutiful Campaign that can be purchased as well.

So that’s a little bit of kind of what it’s been in the past, but just really a celebration and an acknowledgment of how powerful we are. How kind we should be to ourselves. And taking that community and spreading the love because we’re all in this together.

But we have some really fun, exciting things that are happening this year too. We are actually going to do a three week challenge. It’s a free challenge, open to anybody where a lot of challenges that we do are through Facebook groups. I think it’s similar to what you do. But three weeks focused on self-love, self-talk. Really surrounding yourself with a group of women who will help lift you up while you’re also lifting yourself up.

And there’s empowerment, I think, through lifting up others. So we’re going to create that space this year for about three weeks.

And then can I talk about the other part?

Jill: Yes.

Sarah: Okay. So this is like– Can I say this is like one of my lifelong dreams of all time, is we are creating a Beyoutiful Summit which is an online conference, if you will. So just about 36 hours of awesomeness.

So we have our very own Jill Angie who’s going to be speaking at the conference. We also have Kara Goucher, Mirna Valerio, myself, and Nicole DeBoom, plus a few other really awesome speakers just pumping you up, making you feel good.

I mean, this pandemic, it’s exhausting after a while. And I think we’re all missing the parts where we can be together. We don’t get to give hugs or high fives at the finish line. And this Beyoutiful Summit is going to be the finish line, if you will, of three weeks of empowerment and self-love and being you and all of that. We’re going to kick off October and then wrap it up with a bang. So that’s coming, what do you think about all that?

Jill: I love it, I cannot wait. I’m very, very excited about the whole thing. And I can’t wait to experience, especially the three weeks leading up to the summit to kind of experience that. And watching people kind of stepping into that new version of themselves and then like capping it all off with the summit. But I’m super excited for it. And I mean, I’m excited to be a speaker as well, but I’m also excited to experience all the other speakers.

So actually, I have a question for you, what is your word? Because one of the things that you’re going to do as part of this challenge is to ask people to pick their word, right? Is that part of it?

Sarah: Yeah.

Jill: What is your word? Can you reveal your word? Or is this like a secret?

Sarah: I have two.

Jill: You have two, okay.

Sarah: I have two and I’m not sure which one I want to let– Maybe I can embrace both of them. So one of my words is persistent. So I have made it through my life in so many ways by just persisting. I am a really persistent bitch at times. And that gets stuff done. So there’s this persistence-ness. But then my other word is unstoppable.

So to me that’s so much like, persistent is like a way. But there’s a power in showing up every single day and being there and even when you’re too tired or don’t want to, there’s that part. But unstoppable speaks to the future of all the things I could possibly do. Actually, unstoppable scares me a lot more than persistent, I have to be honest.

Jill: Really?

Sarah: Yeah, it does.

Jill: Why is that.

Sarah: I don’t know, because there’s so many more things. Persistent is like me showing up and clearing the table and doing the dishes, it’s that’s. I know how to be persistent, I don’t know how to be unstoppable. I mean, I do when I look at the last five years of my life. I mean, I bought a freaking skirt company for God’s sake and a jewelry company. I’m producing stuff, selling with so many skirts online.

So there’s that, but that unstoppable piece, it’s like what if the world really were our oyster? What if we really were empowered and we literally were unstoppable? What could we do? What could you, I mean, for those of you listening, what does that even look like for you? What does unstoppable look like on your end? And does it scare the shit out of you like it does me? Because it scares me.

Jill: Yeah. And I think that’s interesting because persistent is like, “I know I can take one more step. I know I can do one more thing.” Like in the context of running, I use that tool all the time. I’m like, “Oh yeah, I can go one more minute. I can go one more mile.” Whereas unstoppable, so persistence is looking at the micro and unstoppable is looking at the finish line. And that is scary because you have this thought like, “Oh my God, how am I going to get there?”

Sarah: Right.

Jill: But when you have persistence, you have unstoppable.

Sarah: Right? You can’t be unstoppable without persistence.

Jill: Yeah.

Sarah: But yeah, I mean, unstoppable is like when you’ve run a half marathon and now you suddenly want to do an Ironman or half Ironman. You know what I’m saying? That’s what it feels like to me. It’s like, “No, let me just say here. I know I can do this.”

Jill: Yeah.

Sarah: Unstoppable equals potential failure. And that is different. That’s just a whole different thing, does that make sense?

Jill: Well, because you have to be willing to fail to be unstoppable because that’s where unstoppable comes in. You fail, you’re like, “Nope, unstoppable. I’m going to keep going.” So yeah, you’re right, the word unstoppable is inextricably tied with failure, and failure is very scary.

Sarah: Yeah. And you have to let go of control. Persistent feels like, “Okay, I can control this. I know it’s happening, I keep showing up. And there’s a power in both of those.

Jill: Yeah, oh my God.

Sarah: Anyways, you asked, there’s mine.

Jill: I just think that’s amazing. Okay, so how can people sign up for all of the beautiful goodness that’s coming up?

Sarah: So they can go to momentumjewelry.com is where all the information will be. So while you’re there you can sign up for the challenge, if you want to join us for the challenge. And again, like I mentioned, it’s free, we have some of our coaches doing it. Maybe we’ll have you pop in there, share a few words of wisdom.

Jill: Maybe.

Sarah: So the challenge is free and then you can also sign up to have us send you a postcard. And the postcard is what will say that I am blank. And then that’s what you would fill out and you would post your selfie of that during Beyoutiful Campaign.

So you can sign up there, you can find the summit information there as well. And then, yeah, you can shop on there.

Jill: Yes, for sure. I have several, you probably don’t know this about me but when we met, I don’t think you had bought Momentum yet. But I’ve got a whole bunch of Momentum bracelets.

Sarah: You do?

Jill: Yeah, that I’ve had that I’ve collected over the years. So I should have worn them today so that I could show you. I have five or six of them.

Sarah: Aren’t they so great? Well, because they’re comfy too.

Jill: Yeah, they’re beautiful, they’re comfy, and they’re customizable. And you can wear them while you’re running.

Sarah; Yes, all those things. Thank you for that little commercial.

Jill: I know, I love them. So, okay, everybody who’s listening I want you to go to momentumjewelry.com, sign up for the challenge. Sign up to get your postcard, go shopping, and then sign up for the conference. Because if you want to see me speak, I’ll be there. If you want to see Sarah speak, she’ll be there. If you want to see Mirna fucking Valerio speak, and I know a lot of you do, she’s going to be there. It’s going to be pretty epic. So momentumjewelry.com is where you go to do all of it.

Sarah: That is right. Yes, I’m so excited. I really cannot wait to see the faces of your community being a part of this. And I’m guessing a lot of you, that’s what I loved about Momentum Jewelry, it was like so many of my girls are already using this. It’s like it’s all on the same niche, we’re all the same. So it’s amazing to be able to bring that all together.

Jill: It’s a perfect fit.

Sarah: Yeah.

Jill: So good. Well, thank you so much for joining me today. This was a beautiful conversation and I cannot wait to continue it again on another episode.

Sarah: I know, thank you so much for having me. And for those of you who are listening for listening to all of our fun chatter.

Jill: And then make sure you go to the show notes. We’re going to have links to momentumjewelry.com, to Skirt Sports, to Zooma. All the Instagrams, all the websites, we’re going to have all the links over there in the show notes. But check this shit out because it’s good. It’s good stuff.

Sarah: It is. Thanks so much, Jill.

Jill: Thank you.

Oh, and one last thing. If you enjoyed listening to this episode you have to check out the Rebel Runner Roadmap. It’s a 30 day online program that will teach you exactly how to start running, stick with it, and become the runner you’ve always wanted to be. Head on over to rebelrunnerroadmap.com to join. I’d love to be a part of your journey.