“I still have insightful things Sarah voiced back to me jotted down in my notebooks. I keep them close and continue to apply the wisdom I gleaned from working with her for a year, during a majorly challenging phase of a book project. She helped me look closely at my fears and assess what might be holding me back. I loved her approach and her total professionalism––rare for someone as creatively gifted as she is! I felt like I got the best of both worlds: a poet’s soul, and a professional’s precision, follow-through, and clarity. I can’t recommend Sarah more highly. I felt so blessed to have her voice in my creative life.”
“I originally came to Sarah for help with finding more satisfaction in my personal life. We did just three sessions (part of a nonprofit benefit’s auction offerings). At that time, she created an actionable plan for me. But I was not very effective at working on that without ongoing coaching. I came back to Sarah about a year later at a real crossroads in my life, dealing with a lot of resentment around a work situation. Sarah guided me to getting into a more productive, happy and contented place. I still utilize the practices she taught me to manage day-to-day stress and expectations. I highly encourage you to work with Sarah on coaching. The overall coaching experience continues to be enormously helpful and has far exceeded my expectations.”
Frauen im Gesprach by Elizabeth Springer, cement, ca. 1936
“I initially came to working with Sarah with the intention of making headway on goals around habits and creativity, but the work has actually been much deeper than I was expecting. From negotiating with my inner critic and practicing mindfulness to testing deeply held assumptions about the world, the effects of my work with her have reverberated through all aspects of my life. Her style is compassionate, creative, and grounded in the realities of everyday life. I appreciated her perspective as a dedicated working artist and her ability to personalize her life coaching methods to my particular goals and background. I would highly recommend working with Sarah on personal and professional goals. I found surprises and unexpected discoveries at every turn in our time together.”
“When I first heard about Sarah’s coaching group, “My One Big Thing,” I was looking for help in making a transition from full-time work to retirement. I knew I did not want to fully retire, but I wanted to figure out how to take what I enjoyed from my professional life and reuse it in other, perhaps more fulfilling, ways.
Once I spoke with Sarah on the phone, my decision to sign up for her coaching group was set. And, I found that the same qualities of deep listening and thoughtful responses that resonated with me over the phone carried through to the group sessions and my one-to-one meetings with Sarah.
At first, the group coaching process was different from what I had imagined. Yet I found that through Sarah’s skillful facilitation and feedback, and my own dedication, I realized greater outcomes than I had originally thought possible. Not only was I able to explore how to use my professional skills in other ways, I also explored and broke through long-held assumptions that were blocking my personal growth.”
“Sarah was on the ball right from the get-go. Being a new immigrant and a later-career professional meant that I had cultural blind spots, fears, and discomforts about how to proceed in the US. Sarah’s coaching plan and her deeply intuitive coaching style helped me crack the code of work and living in the US. With Sarah’s coaching I came to know myself more deeply. I was also able to adapt to the new environment and completely unfamiliar experiences with greater resilience and a renewed sense of adventure. Sarah offers the flexibility of both in-person and online coaching. Sarah is a gem!”
“Sarah Rosenthal is a former poetry teacher of mine who has an extraordinary gift for helping people discover and gain confidence in their own gifts. She is a gentle, compassionate, insightful, and powerful catalyst for personal growth and change - if you are looking for someone help you figure out your next big thing, give you the wind in your sails to reach what seems to be a far off goal, or help you get more deeply in touch with your innate creativity, she is the real deal. I couldn’t recommend her highly enough.”
“Sarah’s approach to coaching is both personable and professional. She brings a wealth of experience in teaching and writing to the process of “Sculpting Your Life” and is a clear headed facilitator for her clients. Sarah has good boundaries and the ability to relate without co-opting her clients’ experience. The act of peeling back the onion of assumptions that may thwart one’s personal and professional fulfillment is a vulnerable process — it was powerful to engage in such a process with a leader who has such a creative mind and compassionate heart. I also appreciate that Sarah is a positive voice in her clients’ process without resorting to memes or cliches. My work with Sarah has genuinely helped me return to “beginner’s mind,” or that place where all is possible . . . .”
“When I first met Sarah, I was unhappy with my job and wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to move in. I’ve always been someone who is impatient for change and am very hard on myself, but Sarah encouraged me to be thoughtful and patient about my process and to recognize and dismantle the persistence of my inner critic. Through the skills and practices she has helped me develop, including mindfulness and meditation, I am a happier and healthier person. I am grateful to have been able to work with her. Plus, I’ve found a great new job that has been a very positive change for me, and I credit her coaching with helping me find the right fit.”
“I worked with Sarah when I was in the process of making a major shift in my career. She helped me clarify my professional and personal goals. She was skilled at stripping down the excess noise so that I could hear my own voice. She was calm, present, and insightful. She has the unique ability to push you to the edge of your comfort level while helping you feel fully supported and motivated to challenge yourself. I continue to reflect back on our conversations to remind myself of what really matters to me.”
“Sarah works with intelligence, attunement, and artistry. She brought a depth of knowledge and compassion to her coaching, resurfacing parts of me that had been languishing or dormant. Our sessions included lots of laughter (thank God!). Sarah provided targeted homework that challenged me without taking too much time. At our final session she wrote me a letter summarizing my growth and selected the perfect poem as the final note in this round of our collaboration. I keep both at hand and read them often. I’m thinking of setting up another round of coaching sessions with her to address new goals that are now emerging for me. Working on my self-development with Sarah feels exciting, nurturing, and rewarding.”
“I have had two very successful extended coaching experiences with Sarah Rosenthal, first 10 sessions of one-on-one coaching and then a year later, 10 sessions of group coaching.
Sarah was the one-on-one life coach I *actually* needed, not the one I thought I needed! As part of a staff reduction, my organization offered me 10 individual sessions with Sarah. I expected to work aggressively on my 5-year and 10-year career plans and job-search strategies. However, Sarah took in the whole picture––recognizing that as a mother, wife, and primary wage earner for my family, I tend to lose track of my own needs. She helped me understand that to succeed in my job search and bring my best to my next job, it’s crucially important that I learn to include myself on my priority list. She gently and insightfully guided me in jumpstarting aspects of my life that had fallen away, such as exercise, good eating habits, and creating art, and had me practice self-grounding techniques. As a result of my work with Sarah, my sense of self is enhanced. I think I am better at representing and negotiating for myself, and I anticipate being more effective and fulfilled in my next position. Unexpectedly, I’m finding that I’m also more present for my family, while still carving out time for things that give me joy.
In addition to her individual coaching skills, Sarah is also a very effective, sensitive, and inclusive group coach and facilitator. She structured our sessions and tasks around each group member’s “One Big Thing.” Our work progressed from identifying what we wanted to work on and our assumptions about the topic, to testing and refining those assumptions in daily life in order to ultimately make real, lasting progress. I was amazed at how the weekly tests of my assumptions moved me past one area of concern that had hung me up for a long time, enabling me to move on and explore another area of growth. Sarah masterfully created a safe environment for everyone to work on their own and to share their insights and plans openly with partners and with the group. I’m not sure what I loved most — the guided meditations Sarah led us through, the weekly sharing with other participants, checking in individually with Sarah every few weeks, her suggestions, or her generosity, warmth, and caring!”
“I came to see Sarah at a time when I was going through some challenging transitions, including a separation from my husband. There was so much going on that my head was spinning. I was going in 5 different directions at once, which was draining my energy. Sarah was very thorough in gathering information and learning about my life and situation. Just this process alone was helpful for me to see my situation more clearly. After this step, she provided thoughtful and accurate feedback and created a plan to move forward. I was so relieved when she helped me find one guiding principle in my life in which I could center my efforts (a “north star”). I was impressed by how well she reflected back to me what I really wanted, so I could see it more clearly. This prioritizing helped me decide where to put my energy so I could move forward in a more focused way. I appreciate her help and highly recommend her!”
“Working with Sarah was a real game changer for me. As a graphic designer for hire (with many, many years of professional experience), I had all but forgotten what it’s like to be creative just for the sake of being creative. The work we did together really helped me feel like I’m gaining more control over my work/life balance. Not that you can totally control everything that happens, but you can control the boundaries you set. In particular the boundary work was really key for me. I’ve always had a terrible time saying “no” when it was necessary to preserve my personal time or my sanity. Sarah helped me realize that it’s okay to say “no” and that it’s not being mean, or punishing anyone. It’s respecting yourself the way you’d respect other people. All the time she spent with me through our sessions together has been a tremendous experience for me in bringing my Inner Artist back!”
“Sarah is an amazing woman and coach who practices what she teaches. With her support, I was able to get through one of the toughest periods of my life, and along the way, learn something about myself. She helped me identify and articulate my goals and the values they represent, and in doing so, help me to recognize how to achieve them as well as the hurdles that may prevent me from fulfillment. I’m eternally grateful.”
“Working with Sarah was a tremendously positive experience. She helped to point out steps in my career that I have needed to take for a while and introduced me to practical tools for helping me do so. I work as a graphic designer professionally, and on my own creative work, and Sarah had a lot of insight as to how those two parts of my life could be integrated. She was able to see the strengths that I tend to overlook in myself and to help develop techniques to cultivate them, and provided clarity around habits I’d like to change.”