Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Centrella.
Hi Sarah, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My story really started at rock bottom.
In 2008, my husband left for another woman and I suddenly became a single mom of three very young kids. I had a five-year-old son, one-year-old twins, no real support system, and I was on food stamps trying to figure out how to survive.
At the time, I was working in corporate tech sales, but privately I was falling apart. I knew I had two choices: let that moment define me, or rebuild my life from the ground up. So I started doing the only thing I could control, which was training my mind to think differently. I began writing down a new vision for my life, creating what I now call Futureboards, using affirmations, visualization, and mindset tools to keep myself moving forward when nothing around me looked like it was working.
That work changed everything.
Over time, I rebuilt my confidence, my career, and my life. I started sharing my story online, which led to speaking opportunities, coaching clients, media features, and eventually my first bestselling book. Since then, I’ve written four bestselling books, built my company, coached executives, entrepreneurs, teams, and leaders for nearly 15 years, and taught this work inside companies like Nike, Pinterest, Sony, Verizon, and Microsoft.
Today, I’m a corporate keynote speaker, executive and team coach, bestselling author, and host of The Sarah Centrella Show. My work is centered around mental fitness, resilience, vision-setting, and helping people train their mindset so they can navigate pressure, change, burnout, setbacks, and uncertainty with more confidence and clarity.
What’s wild to me is that the tools I teach today are the same ones I used when my life had completely fallen apart. I didn’t learn them from a textbook. I lived them first. That’s what makes this work so personal to me. I know what it feels like to be at the bottom, and I also know what’s possible when you decide your story is not over.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Yes, this is the better angle. Here’s a cleaner version:
No, it has definitely not been a smooth road.
One of the hardest parts has been building a business completely on my own, without a support system, savings, investors, or consistent income, while also being the sole provider for a family of four as a single mom. There was no safety net. If I didn’t figure it out, no one was coming to save me.
Entrepreneurship has been a constant learning curve. Over the years, I’ve tried and failed at so many aspects of business. I’ve launched things that didn’t work, made mistakes, had to pivot, learn new skills, rebuild momentum, and keep going even when it felt impossible.
What people often don’t see is how much persistence it takes to build something from nothing. You have to want it with everything you’ve got. You have to believe in what you’re doing enough to keep showing up through the setbacks, the rejection, the slow seasons, the financial pressure, and the moments when quitting would be so much easier.
For me, the passion for this work has always been what carried me. I believe deeply in what I teach because I’ve lived it. That belief is what helped me keep going long enough to build the business, brand, and life I have today.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My work is about helping people create a life and career they will love, and giving them the mental fitness tools to keep going no matter what life throws their way.
I’m most known for my Futureboards and Think It work. Futureboards helps people get clear on what they really want, in all areas of their life, and shows them how to manifest it. Think It is the mindset training side of my work. It teaches practical tools for confidence, resilience, focus, success and managing the thoughts that can keep people stuck.
That’s what I teach through my books, keynotes, workshops, and coaching. With executives and teams, I bring these tools into real workplace challenges like burnout, pressure, change, confidence, communication, and staying motivated when demands are high.
What I’m most proud of is that the work is simple, practical, and real. I’ve seen these tools change lives for fifteen years and that feels really good, because they changed my life.
What sets me apart is that I teach from both lived experience and years of corporate experience. I understand ambition, pressure, performance, and what it takes to rebuild. My work gives people a way to reconnect with their vision and train the mindset needed to live it.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
The most important lesson I’ve learned is to never give up.
You have to be relentless in the pursuit of your dreams. There will always be setbacks, delays, rejection, and moments when it feels like nothing is working. But if the dream matters to you, you keep going. You find another way. You learn, you adjust, you get back up, and you keep moving forward.
Most people quit too soon. I’ve learned that so much of success comes down to staying in the game long enough to see what’s possible.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sarahcentrella.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahcentrella
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahcentrellafan
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahcentrella/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SarahCentrellablog
- Other: https://sarahcentrella.substack.com
