Sarah Hopkins

FERTILITY EXPERT | NUTRITION & LIFESTYLE COACH | MUM | FIANCE | PODCAST HOST | SPEAKER | WELLNESS WRITER & COLUMNIST | ADVENTURE SEEKER

How many identities do you have?

1. Loving Mother to Rafael 

2. Fiancé to my hot Italian, Iggy

3. Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach

4. Holistic Fertility Expert 

5. Keynote Speaker 

6. Passionate Podcaster 

7. Corporate Wellness Advisor 

Tell us a bit about your story and how you’ve got to where you are now?

I've always been a little bit obsessed with all things health and wellbeing, I remember stinking out my family laundry attempting to brew Kombucha when I was as young as 10 years old!  Despite these early inklings as to my passion, I was a pretty unhealthy adolescent and young adult.  My body was far from my temple for most of my life and certainly during this time I treated it mostly with contempt doing things such as binge drinking, taking drugs, extreme dieting, bingeing and purging, punishing exercise and more.  My body was suffering with all sorts of symptoms from hormonal imbalances to chronic digestive issues but it wasn't until I was in my mid 20s and came off the contraceptive pill that I realised how serious all these issues were when year after I year I failed to menstruate.  This went on for over 10 years and was really the catalyst for my healing journey. I slowly started to make changes to my diet and lifestyle and completely transformed and reversed all of the chronic issues I was suffering with.  During this time I was working in the Corporate sector and studying Holistic Lifestyle Coaching through the CHEK Institute. As I evolved through this process I realized I wanted to channel my coaching skills away from my sales staff and towards individuals and organisations and their well-being.  I have been running my business for over 6 years now and I absolutely love it.

What has been your most challenging moment in life thus far?

While running a small business often comes with it's challenges, most of the most challenging and pivotal moments in my life are more personal.  One of my biggest personal challenges was my health crisis in my 20s and I'm grateful that my passion and business evolved out of that experience. A few years back, I fell into quite a deep depression.  I had ended an engagement and it felt right to do so but I felt my time was running out from a fertility perspective. It was certainly a "dark night of the soul" experience. Thankfully I had a wonderful network of family and friends around me (as well as a therapist) and I believe that that process led me to my current partner and ultimately my beautiful son.  This might sound a bit clichéd but in my experience, if we can grow through the challenging times there is usually a wonderful gift on the other side. 

How do you feel stereotypes have affected women in society so far?

I feel women have transcended many of the stereotypes now, particularly here in Australia, although the pay gap doesn't reflect this so there is still work to be done.  I feel so fortunate to have had an amazing role model as a mother.  My mother was and is an entrepreneur, showing me from a young age that I can work and have a family.  To this day, she continues to run her own business and also takes an active role as a Mum and Nanna to her growing family. I believe the more we can model this for other women, the more it will manifest for future generations. 

How have you grown as a person, mentally, emotionally and spiritually in the last 5 years?

When I started as a health coach a lot of the "work" I focused on was tangible - food, water, exercise.  As I developed a deeper spiritual practice, I started to understand the role mindset, spirituality, emotions and belief systems play in our overall well-being.  I couldn't integrate these things in to my practice until I had started to embody them myself so I feel I have grown significantly in these areas over the last five years.  Having said that, I feel "doing the work" might be a lifetime practice.  I still find people and situations challenging just like any other person but I genuinely hope that all experiences help me to grow and that that growth can also be used to help others. 

How do you plan to leave your mark in the world?

The best thing about working with people around their holistic well-being is that it can have an impact on the world around them.  I'm often told by my clients that changes that they have made have had a knock-on effect to their family and even community.  One area of wellness that I am so passionate about is helping women conceive, grow and birth healthy babies and I feel this is the most powerful way to impact the health of the whole planet.  The more healthy and vital babies we can bring onto planet earth now, the better hope we have for restoring a healthy planet and community. 

What would you say to all the women out there who want to start their journey in Health & Wellbeing but don’t know where to start?

The most important thing is to start.  I speak to so many women wanting to start their career in the wellness sector but they are waiting to get more qualifications or more experience or get their website completed.  Whilst there is obviously validity in doing some of those things, it can often lead to procrastination.  My business has evolved and changed so much since I first started and most of what I do now, I learnt by working with my clients and following my passions.  Be diligent but don't let perfectionism get in the way of starting.