326: Sarah Andreas on How to Trust Yourself When Making a Big Decision

Sarah Andreas joins me for episode 326 of Gratitude Geek to chat about self-trust. Sarah is an artist, author, and transformational guide whose book Step Into the Ether grew out of her own journey from Harley-Davidson dealership employee to painter, PhD, and coach. We talked about fear, curiosity, community, creativity, and how to trust yourself when you can’t yet see what comes next.

Key Takeaways

In this episode, you’ll learn:​​

• Trusting yourself starts with small commitments — make a promise to yourself and keep it
• Fear is a feeling, not a fact — name it, mitigate what you can, then do it afraid anyway
• You don’t make mistakes; you have learning experiences — the relabel changes everything
• One community can’t hold all of you — build multiple villages that match different parts of who you are
• Curiosity and trust together are what move you forward when you can’t see what’s next

Trusting Yourself Starts with Small Commitments

Sarah makes the case that self-trust isn’t a personality trait — it’s something you build through follow-through. She points to something as simple as scheduling an hour for yourself and actually showing up for it. Every time you keep that promise, you’re adding to the evidence that you can rely on yourself when the stakes get higher.

Fear Is a Feeling, Not a Fact

Sarah draws a clear line between vague fear and specific fear, and she treats them differently. Vague fear gets named and challenged. Specific fear gets a practical plan — she saved up a full year’s worth of health insurance before leaving her job so that particular fear lost its grip. The goal isn’t to feel fearless. It’s to stop letting unnamed, unchallenged fear make your decisions for you.

You Don’t Make Mistakes — You Have Learning Experiences

This isn’t just a mindset reframe. Sarah argues that when you label something a mistake, you attach shame to it, and shame shuts down curiosity. When you call it a learning experience, you stay open to what it taught you and keep moving. She connects this directly to the labyrinth: you don’t need to see the whole path, you just need to trust that exploring the next turn is worth it.

One Community Can’t Hold All of You

Sarah talks about having multiple communities — one for her art, one for her PhD work — and notes that if those two groups were ever in the same room, they’d have nothing to say to each other. That’s not a problem. That’s just how we’re built. She encourages women to stop expecting one group to meet every need, and instead find specific people who will actively support the version of yourself you’re trying to become.

Curiosity and Trust Are What Move You Forward

This was one of the moments in the conversation that surprised even Sarah. She hadn’t put those two words together before, but once she heard it, she knew it was right. Curiosity keeps you asking questions and staying open. Trust keeps you moving even when the answers aren’t there yet. Together, they’re what allow you to take the next step into the ether.

Meet Sarah Andreas, PhD

Sarah Andreas is an artist, author, and transformational guide who helps women listen to themselves again. Before writing Step Into the Ether and creating the Reinvention Studio, Sarah spent decades in leadership and higher education, earning a PhD in Organizational Leadership.

During a season of personal change, she turned to painting and rediscovered her intuition and creative voice. Today she supports high-achieving women who are successful on paper but feel restless inside, guiding them through identity shifts with clarity, care, and honesty.

“I’m going to be afraid, but I’m going to do it anyway. And if it’s not the right answer, I will change course.” – Sarah Andreas

Connect with Sarah

• Website: sarahandreas.com
• Substack: sarahandreas.substack.com
• Instagram: @sarahandreasart
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sarahandreas
• Free resource: Reinvention Orientation — a gentle starting point for women who feel something shifting but don’t yet know what to do about it.
• Book: Step Into the Ether — A Manifesto for Becoming
  

Resources Mentioned

• 325: Karen Yankovich on How Visibility Changes Wealth for Women Solopreneurs
• 288: Lydia Knight Talks Turning Trauma into Transformation
• 317: Heather Vickery on Why Gratitude Is a Business Strategy, Not a Buzzword
• Ken Schmidt — key note speaker

Disclaimer: Some links may be affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you choose to purchase. No added cost to you.

Your Turn

What resonated with you in this conversation? Share your biggest takeaway on Instagram or LinkedIn. Prefer to keep it on the blog? Drop a comment below.

Final Thoughts

Trusting yourself isn’t a feeling that arrives one day when you’ve finally done enough work. It’s a practice. It’s created by keeping promises to yourself, staying curious when you feel stuck, and being willing to move forward even when you’re afraid. Sarah Andreas has lived this, studied it, painted it, and written it down. And you can do it, too.

If you’re ready to start practicing in a room full of women who get it, the Gratitude Geek Lab is where that happens. Every month we meet live, work on real business challenges, and show up for each other. Come experiment with us at kandasrodarte.com/lab.

Stay Groovy!

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