Sarah Davidson – How She Became Australia’s Favourite Funtrepreneur
SUMMARY
Where do we begin with this episode’s guest?! On top of being a super well-known entrepreneur, speaker and podcast host, she’s also a serial creative, influencer and now author.
What you see is what you get with Sarah Davidson. She’s incredibly kind, funny and wise and isn’t afraid to laugh at herself! Just head over to her Insta profile @spoonful_of_sarah and you’ll know what we mean!
Sarah is married to her bestie and biz partner Nic and together they have a fur-baby named Paul, a super adorable golden retriever who also regularly features on her socials.
So you’re in the know, Sarah is the Co-Founder of Matcha Maiden, a hugely-successful online store that sells premium matcha tea, with warehouses here in Australia, the US and Europe. She and her hubby Nic are also the Co-Founders of Matcha Mylkbar, a plant-based café in the heart of St. Kilda, Melbourne. According to Chris Hemsworth, it’s his fave café here in Australia!
Sarah is also the Founder of Seize The Yay, a podcast (and now book!), that has millions of downloads, featuring over 100 guests including the likes of Gary Vaynerchuck (AKA Gary Vee), Miranda Kerr and many more.
In this episode Sarah and Gianna chat about their love for dogs, socials and smashed avo and also:
- Her high school days whilst being a full-time ballerina, life in uni (which included hosting at nightclubs), to corporate law and how a life-changing moment whilst on a mission trip in Africa changed the course of her life forever!
- How she discovered her passions and embraced her inner creative nerd.
- A whole lot of lightbulb moments including her perspective on gratitude, productivity, goal-setting, coffee and more.
So let’s Power Up Life.
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CREDITS
Host: Co-Founder/CEO Happow, Gianna Lucas
Producers: Gianna Lucas, Marija Dukadinovska, Carissa Shale
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TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00
Speaker 1: Three. Two. One.
00:00:00
Speaker 2: I’m not just happy, I’m Happow.
00:00:11
Gianna Lucas: This is Power Up Life, the podcast. I’m your host Gianna Lucas, co- founder and CEO at Happow, the social enterprise that powers this podcast. We help you slay life in high school, uni and beyond. Each week on the show, you’ll learn epic life skills in a super chill way. Hear from well- known legends as they reveal their biggest setbacks and milestones to date, and you’ll find out what our Happow squad think about a whole stack of topics too. From epic challenges to super raw moments, this show has it all. So, let’s power up life!
Where do I begin with this episode’s guest? On top of being a super well- known entrepreneur, speaker and podcast host, she’s also a serial creative influencer and now, author. What you see is what you get when it comes to Sarah Davidson. She’s incredibly kind, funny and wise, and she isn’t afraid to laugh at herself. Just head over to her Insta profile and you’ll know what I mean. She’s married to her bestie and business partner Nick, and together they have a fur baby named Paul. Yes, I know. A super adorable golden retriever who also regularly features on her socials.
So you’re in the know, Sarah is the co- founder Matcha Maiden, a hugely successful online store that sells premium matcha tea with warehouses here in Australia, the U.S. and Europe. She and her hubby Nick are also co- founders of Matcha Mylkbar, a plant- based café in the heart of St Kilda, Melbourne. According to Chris Hemsworth, yes Chris Hemsworth, it’s his favorite café here in Australia. I know! Amazing. Sarah is also the founder of Seize the Yay, a podcast and now book, that has millions of downloads featuring over 100 guests, including Gary Vaynerchuk a.k. a Gary Vee, Miranda Kerr and many, many more.
In this episode, Sarah and I chat about our love for dogs, socials and smashed avo, and also she talks about her high school days whilst being a full- time ballerina. Yes, you heard correctly. Life in uni, which also included hosting at night clubs, to corporate law and how a life- changing moment whilst on a mission trip in Africa changed the course of her life forever. She also shares how she discovered her passions and embraced her inner creative nerd, and she also unveils a whole lot of light bulb moments, including her perspective on gratitude, productivity, goal- setting, coffee and more. So, let’s power up life.
Welcome to the show, Sarah.
00:03:06
Sarah Davidson: Thank you for having me. I’m so excited to be here.
00:03:08
Gianna Lucas: So Sarah, you are known for many amazing quotes. You’ve got your Seize the Yay calender, I think that’s like a little flip book that has inspiration every day, and of course, your podcast and all the bazillion other things that you have going on. You’re a bit like a wave of inspiration. Every time I go to your Instagram, I always feel better about myself, and you’re such an all around cool chick. So, we’re really, really thankful for you coming on the show. I guess one of the questions I’d love for you to answer is actually something that’s on you Instagram, and it says, ” Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” I think you’re a true testament of that. Can you tell us why you believe in this so much? I’m guessing it’s something you’ve lived through in your own life.
00:03:53
Sarah Davidson: Yeah, absolutely. I think one of the most common things that came up in my own story, but then in every other person I’d encountered who’d had any kind of journey, not necessarily corporate to business, but business to corporate or changes within their career. At any stage that there’s novelty or fear or discomfort of something new, self- doubt is always there. The more I do the podcast, the more I realize you don’t actually grow out of it. If anything, it’s a sign that you are continuing to grow and it plays a really important role, but if you don’t learn to channel it or you don’t learn that it’s role is more self- protection than truth because some of it can be quite negative and critical, it can really stop you from ever taking risks and ever taking the big, scary, unusual, unpredictable steps that might lead to what actually is your bigger purpose.
I went very much from something that was corporate, was very respectable, was objectively successful and I didn’t even dislike it, but I was just fine. I was just okay, and I shudder to think that most people only make a change if they actively unhappy. So many people just sit with okay, because it’s not uncomfortable enough for you to bother upheaval it, having any upheaval in your life. So, what I’ve become really passionate about is I… It was only by a complete accident that I was able to see a gap in the market with my husband, start a side project that was never actually meant to be a business. A huge life change was never on the cards. Was only an accident that lead to all that happening and then gave me the chance to see by contrast that I was blah.
I didn’t even know I was blah, and then all of a sudden, I’m like, “There’s this whole other world out there that’s not just blah, but actually invigorates everything I’m passionate about, everything I’m good at and everything I want to leave as a legacy on this planet,” but I think if I had been given the choice and left to my own devices, there are so many things that contributed to the sliding doors moment in my life. If I didn’t have the people around me, the support structures, if it wasn’t an accident.
I think if you’d made me do it myself, left to my own devices, self- doubt would have toppled it all. I would have gone down that path of believing my negative self talk that it’s too scary, it’s too risky, it’s not certain. You have no wage. You’re walking away from stability. You’re walking away from the should, but we get so caught up in this productivity hamster wheel and the glorification of busy that we forget to even ask those questions or let ourselves indulge in it, and then when we do, self- doubt shuts it down.
So, I think the quote just really encapsulates everything, the big transition and then the five years of continued transition since then from a life of blah to a life of yay. That quote just perfectly summarizes everything, and if I could choose one lesson to pass onto anyone else making any kind of step in their life, it would be that.
00:06:44
Gianna Lucas: And wise words right there. Yeah, you went from blah to yay. Now let’s rewind a little bit further, so before you even started your first with your husband. We’re going back to high school Sarah. Sarah is studying secondary with her backpack, going to school in her school uniform. What was life like for you back then?
00:07:04
Sarah Davidson: I had a wonderful, wonderful school life. I have always had really supportive parents and extended families who always supported us doing all kinds of extra curricular activities, but also really concentrating on academics and supporting us in whatever way they could to help us do well. So, we were really lucky. I have a younger brother that… we never had too much pressure in one direction or the other. School was just a wonderful, carefree time to explore all the different things that you love. I had a really, really great time. I went to a Catholic primary school, a private secondary school and then I moved to Mac Rob, which is a selective- entry government school. So, I kind of did a mix of all three different kinds of schools.
00:07:47
Gianna Lucas: Yeah, you did, but congrats on getting to Mac Rob because for those who don’t know, it is a school, as you said, that you can only get in by being selected. So, it is a government school. There’s also the guy’s version of Mac Rob. Is that Melbourne High School? Yeah. I mean, it’s a huge effort and an incredibly achievement for you just to get into that. Just side note. Anyway, proceed.
00:08:08
Sarah Davidson: Oh, thank you. I was definitely forced to be there. I didn’t think that I wanted to be in an academically rigorous school back then. In Year 9 that’s the last thing you want to do, but I definitely in hindsight really appreciate that theme of broad experience carrying through our whole school life, and the school’s being very open to that as well. I didn’t really ever wake up one day and know what I wanted to do. I don’t think I ever had that feeling. When I was much younger, I was a ballerina and I thought I wanted to do it full- time, but I still don’t think I really-
00:08:42
Gianna Lucas: Was this like a ballerina, like you’d perform on a once a year for all the kids’ families, or is this full on ballerina, like full- time…
00:08:54
Sarah Davidson: Yeah.
00:08:55
Gianna Lucas: As in the full- time one?
00:08:56
Sarah Davidson: Yeah. Yeah.
00:08:57
Gianna Lucas: That’s incredible. (crosstalk) you’re studying at high school, or?
00:09:00
Sarah Davidson: Yeah. Yeah, so right up until a time where you had to either go full- time or give up school. You had to do one or the other. I think I knew that that day would come. I think I’d always knew that eventually when I grew up, there’d be something else down the track, but not once would I say in my school years did I go, ” This particular thing is my thing.” In fact, I truly believe that having a broad range of interests and experiences is what helps you figure out who you are, but it also is a bit of a disadvantage sometimes because when you enjoy everything, you almost have too much choice and you don’t end up having any direction.
So, I just remember school being a lot of fun. Making the most of everything. Pushing that feeling of, ” I’m still not really choosing anything,” to the back of my head and not worrying about it too much. Just doing the best that I could with what I had at the time, and getting to sort of the later part of high school, I… As soon as I finished ballet, I obviously realized boys and partying and all this whole world of stuff outside of really strict training existed, and I had a bit of a swing back the other direction and went super rebellious, very uncharacteristically wild, lots of UDLs in a can and house parties at friends’ houses.
00:10:15
Gianna Lucas: I was going to say, you poor thing. UDL.
00:10:16
Sarah Davidson: At the time, I was so cool with my UDL, guava flavored or whatever they were, but yeah, I definitely had a bit of a rebellious phase in there, and then I finally ended calming down just before Year 12, realizing that that was the year that really would have an impact on what I could do later on. Still couldn’t say that I’d actually figured out what that was. My mom has always given me really good advice on the fact that if you don’t know what you want to do, you’ve got to do something. The time will pass anyway, so you might as well do something useful while you figure out what that is.
So I thought, ” Okay. I’ve got not even 12 months. 11 months of Year 12 to give it my best shot. Maybe by the end of it, I will have chosen what I want to do. Even if I haven’t, at least that will leave more doors open for later.” Ended up settling down in a big way. That inner nerd came right back out, and I ended up doing quite well.
I still didn’t know what I wanted to do. So, I did arts law because that would lead to the most doors open. Anything sciencey or medical was a bit of a door closer and narrowed your focus, whereas law was a bit the opposite.
00:11:26
Gianna Lucas: With arts, did you have a major with arts? So, what did you decide to do?
00:11:31
Sarah Davidson: I had studied languages all through school. I’ve always loved travel. I love the patterns. So, I knew that pure law would be a little bit dry, particularly if you didn’t go into it wanting to become a lawyer. So I kind of balanced it out with a arts degree and I majored in French and Japanese, and then did Chinese as well. I did five exchanges. So again, at uni was like… I’m just there to make the most of it.
00:11:55
Gianna Lucas: You go all in.
00:11:55
Sarah Davidson: Yeah. I’m sure you’ve realized, I can’t not go all in. I don’t actually know how to do that. I don’t even know what that looks like. I still think got to the end of uni and still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but was like, “I’ve got to do something. I’m getting close to graduating.” So I would just apply to whatever’s logical and then see what happens. I think I really from about Year 7 was like my attitude was to see what happens kind of attitude. I got no plan. I’ll just do whatever makes sense logically. Again, I had a really good balance of having a great time. I was all about the night clubs, hosting at night clubs on the weekends, partying like a crazy person, but then studying really hard at uni and doing all the internships-
00:12:42
Gianna Lucas: There’s like two sides of you, and that really works well in tandem for a lot of people. So you obviously found the balance so that you were able to enjoy and get the most out of your younger years, especially when you were in that studying phase. So, good on you to being able to pull that off because you clearly have.
00:13:04
Sarah Davidson: I’m just a person of extremes in all areas, and even now, they’re different extremes. There’s no night clubs involved at all obviously.
00:13:12
Gianna Lucas: That’s all Instagram now and TikTok.
00:13:14
Sarah Davidson: Well, it’s all Netflix and TV and being a sloth. I’ll go hardcore at sloth and then hardcore at productive. I can’t do moderate, it’s just not a thing.
00:13:24
Gianna Lucas: You’re not beige. There you go. You’re not beige.
00:13:27
Sarah Davidson: Well, no beige. At the start of Instagram, I was like, ” I’m going to go real minimal, and I’m going to try do (inaudible) neutrals,” and my life is not neutral. I just can’t do that.
00:13:40
Gianna Lucas: You’re just you, and that’s the best way to be, to be authentically you. Whatever that looks like. If it is an element of beige on the occasion because that’s what you’re vibing, then that’s okay too, Sarah.
00:13:49
Sarah Davidson: Yeah. It’s just not planned beige. It’s spontaneous beige.
00:13:54
Gianna Lucas: Spontaneous beige. Love it.
00:13:59
Sarah Davidson: So, I got to the end of it. I was at uni for about six and a half years. It was quite a long degree. I did an honors thesis. Again, I was just all over the place, trying lots of different experiences and I’ve always loved… And this is one of the things I always come back to in Seize the Yay now is that if you ever lose sight of what you’re passionate about or what you love or what you’re good at, just look at your natural tendencies when you were younger.
From the time I was a child I’ve loved just talking to people about their life path and everything about their life that is different to mine is fascinating to me. So, I just talked to as many people as I could about what they did with their law degree, where they went, where their friends went, if it was diplomacy or war crimes tribunals or criminal law. Whatever it was, I always knew that if I wanted to have a broader range of choices, I’d chosen the right degree, but I’d just spent seven years still not figuring out what the right choice was.
So, then I did the same thing as I did at the end of high school really, just gave myself the best chance to figure out the next step. Applied for a top- tier international law firm that I thought would give me the best chance at good networks, travel opportunities. Again, whatever would open the door to new things that might help me narrow down in the future, and that turns out to be exactly what happened. I got into the firm, started early 2013 and spent nearly 3 years as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer. Just getting into the workforce, figuring out what full- time work and adult life actually involves, and how to pay your tax and get health insurance-
00:15:37
Gianna Lucas: The fun stuff.
00:15:38
Sarah Davidson: Do your own laundry and all that other weird, uncomfortable stuff. I think at some point in there, and I can’t really pinpoint when, I got really caught up in that whole just conveyor belt or treadmill of just being busy, ticking the boxes, ticking certain goals without ever really stopping to think if I cared about those goals or if they were even my goals at all. I definitely wasn’t in a bad place. I was so grateful to have a good job. I got amazing opportunities, and I learnt so much from some seriously intelligent people. So, it wasn’t a bad place to be, but I think sometimes gratitude can almost be a disadvantage if you’re over- grateful to the point where you exclude the possibility of thinking about anything because you’re too worried it would seem ungrateful if you looked anywhere else.
00:16:30
Gianna Lucas: I love that. I love that. It’s like when you get too comfortable in something because you just appreciate it for what it is, and so then you wouldn’t be open to new opportunities because your brain isn’t wired to look at them. So, it’s so true what you’re saying. Yeah.
00:16:44
Sarah Davidson: And I also think I was really conscious of not wanting to be one of those typical millennials who has no attention span, gets bored really quickly and wants to move on to something else because it’s not instant gratuity based and doesn’t fulfill you every second of the day. I was overly conscious of not being that either which meant that for the first three years, I didn’t even consider that part of my personality was being seriously stifled, that the nerdy side got completely satisfied by the brain gymnastics of law, but the other side of me has always been stronger. It’s always shown itself to be stronger, and I just didn’t even notice that happening.
I think the power of that glorification and gratification of being busy and doing and ticking boxes would have actually carried me years and year into my career before I realized and had any kind of awareness that there was anything else. I’m just incredibly lucky that there was a bit of an episode that kind of came into my life where Nick and I went to Africa to work in a school that he’d been sponsoring through his creative agency. I ended up bringing back a parasite from that trip in such a way that…
It was in my gut, so it was very subtle. Didn’t really notice straightaway that anything was wrong. Was over the course of quite a few months that was small changes to appetite, digestion, fatigue, all those kinds of things that aren’t shocking, but three months later I’d lost 20 kilos.
00:18:11
Gianna Lucas: Wow. Geez. So, your body was just slowly over a three month period. Twelve weeks. I mean, that’s a lot amount of kilos, but if it was a little bit every single time, it wasn’t a drastic weight loss over a month. So you probably didn’t realize until you maybe saw… If you saw someone, they’re looking at you, they’re like, ” Sarah, you look different. Are you okay?” And you’re like, ” No. Something’s not right.” That’s a lot. It’s huge, huge thing to happen. How old were you when that happened actually?
00:18:40
Sarah Davidson: Was about five and a half, six years ago. So I was 25, mid 20s. At the time, the only people I saw were the same people I saw every day. I was very habitual. It was Nick, who I live with, and then all my colleagues who I also see every day all day. So, there weren’t many people who would have big gaps and then see me and go, ” Oh God.” So I actually didn’t realize until I actually collapsed at work because my body was just like, ” Dude, you’re not listening.” I’m pretty book smart, but very slow on the uptake when my body gives me signs. Just completely over my head.
00:19:16
Gianna Lucas: It’s because you’re so book smart. You’re focused and your body’s going, ” Hello! Hello! Sarah. Earth to Sarah.”
00:19:25
Sarah Davidson: I reckon it was doing that for years, and I just kept pushing through and defining my whole identity based on productivity and achievement and climbing a ladder I realize now I didn’t even care about. It took that experience and me being banned from coffee because I was so fragile to discover-
00:19:44
Gianna Lucas: So, you couldn’t have coffee because of the caffeine or something in coffee that’s-
00:19:50
Sarah Davidson: Caffeine.
00:19:51
Gianna Lucas: The caffeine? So, the caffeine affected you?
00:19:54
Sarah Davidson: Yeah. So when some people with caffeine sensitivity get really shaky. Most people if they have too much coffee will get shaky and jittery, but because I was 42 kilos-
00:20:04
Gianna Lucas: It was too much.
00:20:05
Sarah Davidson: Yeah, I’d have one coffee and my adrenal system would just go, ” Bah!” Exactly like that.
00:20:14
Gianna Lucas: And that’s a lot. Yep, okay. So, you knew straight away. So, what happened out of that?
00:20:19
Sarah Davidson: So, I knew that I was starting to have physiological panic attacks of symptoms of like really bad heart rate, my hands would go numb. Coffee would bring those on almost straight away and I was drinking 10 cups a day at the time. I was working 20 hour days. I was like, ” How am I going to do this without coffee?”
00:20:35
Gianna Lucas: Did you legit drink 10 cups of coffee a day? For real?
00:20:38
Sarah Davidson: Legitimately. For reals, yeah.
00:20:40
Gianna Lucas: I’m surprised you even need 10 cups of coffee. I thought you were a non- coffee drinker most of your life because…
00:20:45
Sarah Davidson: I am now.
00:20:50
Gianna Lucas: 10 cups of coffee! Wow!
00:20:52
Sarah Davidson: And I could sleep. Ain’t no thing. Yeah.
00:20:56
Gianna Lucas: If I did that. Legit, I would probably be a crazy Energizer bunny. I reckon I would be able to climb the Eureka building in Melbourne, or something.
00:21:09
Sarah Davidson: You think that, but then it lasts this long and then you’re just like…
00:21:14
Gianna Lucas: Crash? Yep. Yeah.
00:21:16
Sarah Davidson: And then you have to have another one, and then you’re like… And also because coffee at that time was our way to get up from the desk. It was like an excursion. So, I was like, ” Oh. I need 10 excursions. So, how will I get through this day?” It was clearly just a crutch that I was leaning on to get through my life. So then I got sent to Hong Kong with the (inaudible) deal when I eventually got well enough to go back to work, and over there, matcha is everywhere.
00:21:43
Gianna Lucas: Mm- hmm ( affirmative)
00:21:44
Sarah Davidson: And it’s a healthier form of caffeination that has unique amino acids in it that make it slow release into your bloodstream, so if you’re caffeine sensitive or unwell for any reason, you can still tolerate it. That is the happy accident that started Matcha Maiden, which is our first business, and it was only through accidentally discovering a different method of working and different types of work, that I was like, ” This is what I’m good at, and what I love,” and suddenly, paperwork went from being blah to actively brain- numbing. Which, not for everyone. Some people are so suited to that work, but for me, I realized I’m part that but mostly the other side.
The more I learn, the more I realize the best thing you can ever do for yourself is listen very, very carefully to what your mind and body tells you about what you like, what you don’t like, what works for you, what doesn’t work for you. It doesn’t really matter what anyone else is doing. Our bodies are weird, they just choose random things and they’re like, ” I like that. I don’t like that. That works. That doesn’t work,” but it tells you. It communicates with you very easily. We just learn not to listen.
00:22:51
Gianna Lucas: Yep. Which is what happened to you until you literally just fell over, and then you went, ” Oops. That’s the sign. That’s the sign…” And it was probably, if you think about it, was the siren that was literally going off that was probably subtle and very quiet in the beginning, but it wasn’t loud enough for you to hear it. I think through that obviously very devastating experience for you has ended up opening up so many more doors, and you’ve allowed your body to heal and you’ve probably in that have helped to heal many other peoples’ bodies as well by bringing in matcha and being the first people to do it sort of in Australia and making it a much more mainstream thing, because I think matcha’s awesome. To be honest, I’m not a caffeine drinker. My family’s Italian and still my grandparents say, ” Have a cup of coffee.” No, no, no, no, no. I don’t need the coffee.
Whereas for me, I’ve always been more a tea drinker anyway, and so… Look, is that tea? Are you drinking matcha right there, I’m guessing you are.
00:23:46
Sarah Davidson: I’ve actually had way too much matcha over the past year, so I’m a little bit in an off phase. I go through real phases. It’s a chai.
00:23:55
Gianna Lucas: Oh, nice. Okay, good. So, it’s still tea.
00:23:56
Sarah Davidson: I can’t show you without tipping it on the laptop.
00:23:59
Gianna Lucas: Oh. No, I’d rather your laptop to keep working. Otherwise, this would be all over and you wouldn’t have a laptop, that would be a real shame.
00:24:05
Sarah Davidson: Yeah. Actually, I didn’t go back to coffee for five years until six months ago when I smelled one-
00:24:12
Gianna Lucas: In Italy?
00:24:12
Sarah Davidson: And I thought for the first time… It was actually. Yeah.
00:24:17
Gianna Lucas: It was? That’s usually the best place.
00:24:19
Sarah Davidson: I think, or somewhere in Europe. It’s funny, having gone from ignoring everything about body to being so in tune with it that I honestly hadn’t even had any desire. I’d smell coffee and I think the first coffee I had after I was well enough was burnt and gross, so then I didn’t want another one for ages, but then five years later, I smelled it and I was like, ” I’m ready. I want one.” So now I probably have one once a week, or maybe-
00:24:46
Gianna Lucas: So, like a treat?
00:24:48
Sarah Davidson: Yeah, but it’s not that I am actively not having it when I… I’m not like, ” I should wait till my once a week.” I just only feel like it once a week, and then I have one, and then I talk really, really fast and Nick’s like, ” Oh my God. You should really not do that very often because then when you do a podcast when you talk coffee, everyone has to slow you down and…” So it’s better for everyone that I only drink it once a week.
00:25:07
Gianna Lucas: Yeah. I’ve absolutely loved this chat with you. One question I would love to ask is right now, if there’s a young person listening and they’re just so inspired by your story and your genuineness, and they’re like, ” Ah, she’s just so awesome. I love the fact she didn’t really know what she wanted to do for so long. That’s me, I absolutely have no idea.” What’s one piece of advice that you would give them? Say, a quotable or something like that to just help elevate them, to reassure them that even in this time of uncertainty… And man, this whole year’s been a year of uncertainty, but to help them feel reassured, it’s all going to be okay and to take on opportunities even if you don’t know where these opportunities might take you. What would you say?
00:25:50
Sarah Davidson: That’s such a good question because I think probably the biggest challenge that we all face is not necessarily the self- doubt, not necessarily all those feelings, it’s uncertainty. We are not really well attuned to cope with uncertainty, even though it’s probably the most certain condition in our lifetime. I think something that I love, which is a quote… I’ve just been finishing off the edits for the Seize the Yay book, and a quote that I love and every time I read it, it reassures me as well, is you don’t have to see the whole staircase to take the first step. That also involves kind of sub- quote of the fact that you don’t even have to know how it makes sense in your story. You don’t even have to know that it’s what you want to do.
When I started at the law firm, that was a step in a huge staircase of what was to come, but I didn’t know whether that was going to be in law, outside of law, in politics, in diplomacy, in business. It doesn’t have to make sense to you at the time. You don’t even have to enjoy it for it to be useful and for it to be the right step for you. Most people don’t stumble into their passion the first try. It takes most people a lot of steps to get there. So, if all you learn from one step is what you don’t like, that’s still a step. It might not be your final answer, but it’s one step closer to the next step, which is one step closer to the next one.
So, if you kind of start to see things as a staircase and accept and surrender to the fact that you’re not meant to know all the steps yet, then you can make sense of the one you’re in, and realize it doesn’t matter that it’s not the one I want to finish on. I’m not at the end yet, so I’m not supposed to be anywhere else. Every step will teach you something if you’re patient enough to find out what that is. The uncertainty kind of falls away a little bit. It’s still there, but I think it’s all about the frame that you put each phase of your life in and if you’ve put it in this uncertain, scared, pointless, I’m wasting time mentality, you’ll freak out. But if you put in the frame of nothing is a waste because I’m figuring out something, even if not the whole picture, then you realize actually it’s a step.
00:27:50
Gianna Lucas: I absolutely love it. It’s like you’re making it simpler. So, instead of looking at the bigger picture, you’re breaking it down into those smaller tangible steps and even if you can’t see, it’s all a bit smokey or gray in front of you and you can’t see, if you’re just looking down at that step, ” Okay, next step.” And you’re right, and as you look back like you have even in just this interview, and I know you do many times when you are interviewed or up on stage, you can go, ” Well actually, because I took these steps, even though I didn’t know where I was going necessarily, it’s lead me to where I am today,” and that is something to be grateful for.
I think for you, just hearing your story on the Power Up Life show, I think just hearing it, for me I’m like, ” Wow. Because you took those steps. Because you did become a lawyer and you worked in that law firm. Because you were over in Hong Kong for that business opportunity, once you were well enough at least to go, then you were introduced to matcha, which ended up being the most significant thing for you, and opened up a wave of new opportunities.” So, you’re a perfect example of what you just said and I think there’s so much value in it, even for me, and I know no doubt our listeners will be feeling the same way. So, thank you for that.
00:28:55
Sarah Davidson: You’re so welcome.
00:28:57
Gianna Lucas: We’ll be back right after this to ask Sarah all about gratitude.
00:29:04
Speaker 2: Love Power Up Life the podcast? Make sure you tap subscribe and share it with your mates.
00:29:12
Gianna Lucas: This week, we asked you what you do for yourself and your wellness each day, and here’s what you had to say.
00:29:18
Speaker 5: I love running and exercising. It releases stress that is holding a grudge in me, and leaves me feeling very relaxed. It’s almost like therapy to me. Something that drives me every morning to wake up. I have been also trying to implement some reading here and then, or fit in some time before bed to write in my diary about the things going on in my life or how I am feeling in the present moment.
00:29:38
Speaker 6: Something I do for myself and my wellness each day is priming, which is the powerful exercise Tony Robbins created that leaves me feeling more energized, focused and clear about my goals and intentions for not only the day ahead, but in the future. It’s about a 10 to 15 minute exercise that includes breathing and changing your state, gratitude, step into those moments and visualize, healing anything that needs to be healed and to think about your goals and putting yourself in the position of achievement and celebrating. After priming, I’m ready to conquer the day.
00:30:07
Speaker 7: Every day I make sure that I do a nice morning meditation and try and do a little bit of yoga as well because it’s something that really sets you up well for the day and you clear your head space.
00:30:19
Speaker 8: I try to start the day with a walk or a jog. I usually go and jog or walk to a café to get some coffee and breakfast.
00:30:29
Speaker 9: I try to do a bit of exercise, whether it be walking to work or exercising at home by doing some stretches or going on a run.
00:30:38
Carissa Shale: I’m Carissa Shale, and that’s this week’s talk topic. Got something to share? Drop us an email, yoursay@ happow. com.
00:30:47
Sarah Davidson: You’re listening to Power Up Life, a Happow podcast.
00:30:51
Gianna Lucas: Okay, Sarah. So, I want to ask you, like I do with all our interviewees, something big that you are grateful for. What would that be?
00:30:59
Sarah Davidson: Oh, my gosh. There are so many things. I think one of the huge points of appreciation that I stop and remind myself of all the time, and it’s something that we didn’t necessarily deserve or do anything in particular to warrant, but it’s the fact that we are alive now, we got born into an age where if we were going to have to isolate like we have been, we also have FaceTime and Skype and Zoom and the ability to connect with people like this. See each other, hear each other’s voices, not write letters or have to do something really archaic.
I think there are definitely risks and downsides that come with social media and an increasingly digital environment and connection, but I think the positives that it allows the human connection and the ability to meet new people and form new relationships outweighs that when we learn to use it properly.
So, I’m incredibly, incredibly grateful to be alive at this time where the world is our oyster. Just the possibilities are endless. There’s not the restrictions or limited thinking that other generations have faced, even if they thought exactly the same way as we do. There’s the women as well, where we have more resources and support than we ever have. There’s just so many more possibilities than nursing or teaching. I just feel very grateful to be alive in this generation.
00:32:22
Gianna Lucas: Yeah, I couldn’t have said it better myself. That was so true. I think when the Spanish Flu came out on, I think, World War 1. Yes, there was no technology. So, you’re right. It would have been sending letters and hoping it got to the person, especially in those days, it probably didn’t with the Spanish Flu. So, you’re right. I think it’s to have technology around us has allowed us to feel more connected and less disconnected, as you said, especially when used in the right way. I think if we all aim to empower when we use our socials just like you do, and your husband, and your dog… Is it Paul? Your dog’s Paul, isn’t it? Yeah, love his name, side note. He’s awesome, and will make this world a better place. So, we can all yay together.
All right. Something small that you’re grateful for, what would that be?
00:33:03
Sarah Davidson: Ah, man. So many things. How do I even-
00:33:05
Gianna Lucas: Maybe something true, maybe something that really matters to you, but you may think other people wouldn’t care as much.
00:33:13
Sarah Davidson: I mean, avocados.
00:33:16
Gianna Lucas: Well, everybody in Melbourne basically loves mashed avo. How do you like your avo? Is there (crosstalk) avo?
00:33:25
Sarah Davidson: Hass avocados for sure. Shepard’s are just bordering gross.
00:33:28
Gianna Lucas: Yeah, my husband’s the same. He hates Shepard’s as well. Yep.
00:33:31
Sarah Davidson: I mean, I can tolerate them if it’s that or nothing. I think, as well as avocados, I really appreciate so many… I mean, I have a really strong gratitude practice, and I think that that’s what’s helped my mental health a lot. So, it’s easy for me to pick a few things. It’s hard for me to pick just one. I really appreciate my dog, I really do appreciate Paul. I think animals, like children, but we don’t have children yet, remind you to think about in the now. His needs are so immediate, and he’s ability to be happy is so simple that it just reminds you that we over- complicate shit so much.
Humans are just totally in their brain, and if I ever need to just unwind or decompress for an hour or half an hour, I just go with outside and watch him sniff a leaf for 40 minutes, and realize life’s beautiful.
00:34:20
Gianna Lucas: Sniff a leak. That’s so good about the leaf. I love it.
00:34:20
Sarah Davidson: Do you know what I mean?
00:34:25
Gianna Lucas: Yeah, they enjoy life. It’s like when I take my dog, Pepper, for a walk and even if we take the same route every single time, it is like the best thing ever.
00:34:36
Sarah Davidson: Yeah, like loses his bananas, and if you give him a hug or a bikkie, it’s like, ” Holy shit! This bikkie is the best thing I’ve ever seen.” I feel like children are probably the same. They’re so excited about life that I’m so grateful… Particularly in isolation, I’m grateful to be in a household that has a very happy animal in it because he elevates your mood. If I’m having a panic attack or something, which is not that common anymore, but he will come from the other end of the house. They can tell when something’s not right in your emotions, in your physical sense, and yeah, he’s a very, very soft little soul and I’m very grateful for him.
00:35:14
Gianna Lucas: Yeah, and he makes a good Instagram too, and Instagram photo or TikTok.
00:35:18
Sarah Davidson: I mean, content. The content. Why else would I have him post otherwise?
00:35:26
Gianna Lucas: He’s very, very funny. No, I think dogs is a fantastic answer and avocados as well, so a win- win both ways. Awesome. Don’t go anywhere. Right after this, we’re going to do my favorite part of every interview and that is the challenge.
00:35:41
Carissa Shale: Want to power up life? Download your free power pack wallpapers at Happow. com.
00:35:48
Gianna Lucas: All right, Sarah. It’s time for the challenge. Do you want to know what you’re in for?
00:35:52
Sarah Davidson: Absolutely.
00:35:54
Gianna Lucas: All right. It’s called rapid fire, and it’s a game that’s played around the world, but we are going to do things a little bit differently. Well, maybe it’s the same as other places. We don’t know. We’re going to give it a go anyway. All right. 30 seconds. You’ve got 30 seconds, both yourself and me, to answer as many questions as you can in the 30 seconds you will be given.
I’ve got Brendan here. He’s got a whole lot of questions. I haven’t seen them. Your questions will be different to mine, so they’re not going to be the same. Yep, so don’t worry, I won’t be able to cheat, use your responses as my responses. It’s all legit, all above board. So, he’s going to ask a whole lot of normal questions. What do you call a normal question, but basically questions about you and your life, and you basically just be yourself, and whatever comes first out of your head, whether it be word vomit or something else, just go with it.
00:36:39
Sarah Davidson: Oh, no.
00:36:39
Gianna Lucas: So, the aim of the game get as many answers as you can, or questions you can answer in… I feel like I can’t describe this very well, but basically, the person who’s answered the most amount of questions within the 30 seconds wins the game. All right.
00:36:54
Sarah Davidson: Okay, got it.
00:36:55
Gianna Lucas: Okay, great. So Brendan’s here. Hang on. He’s just taking out some highlighters. You good?
00:37:00
Sarah Davidson: Well, that’s important.
00:37:01
Gianna Lucas: That is important. (crosstalk) All right, he’s gone for orange. He’s gone for orange. All right. Welcome, Brendan.
00:37:08
Sarah Davidson: Welcome.
00:37:09
Brendan: How you going, guys?
00:37:10
Gianna Lucas: Very good. We’re very good. Sarah’s pumped. Sarah, would you like to go first?
00:37:14
Sarah Davidson: Absolutely.
00:37:15
Gianna Lucas: Of course. Well, you do seize every yay that you get, so go.
00:37:17
Sarah Davidson: Else I’ll be too nervous if I go after you.
00:37:21
Gianna Lucas: I’m probably that good. Let’s do this.
00:37:27
Brendan: All right. Here we go. 30 seconds on the clock. Time starts now. Who has been the biggest influence in your life?
00:37:34
Sarah Davidson: My mom.
00:37:35
Brendan: What kind of things really make you laugh?
00:37:38
Sarah Davidson: Memes. Loves memes.
00:37:39
Brendan: What’s your favorite place in the entire world?
00:37:42
Sarah Davidson: Melbourne.
00:37:43
Brendan: Who’s your best friend?
00:37:45
Sarah Davidson: Nick. Paul. Nick.
00:37:47
Brendan: Favorite movie of all time?
00:37:49
Sarah Davidson: Oh my God. That’s a really good one. Ocean’s Eleven.
00:37:54
Brendan: What’s your biggest goal in life right now?
00:37:55
Sarah Davidson: It’s so not true, it’s the only one I could think of.
00:37:58
Brendan: What’s your biggest goal in life right now?
00:38:00
Sarah Davidson: Learn to go to sleep earlier.
00:38:02
Brendan: Done. Time’s up.
00:38:03
Gianna Lucas: Was that 30 seconds? Wow. That went quickly.
00:38:03
Sarah Davidson: It was so short. Also, it is not Ocean’s Eleven.
00:38:09
Gianna Lucas: Why would you say Ocean’s Eleven?
00:38:10
Sarah Davidson: I don’t know! It just came out. I don’t know. I mean, it’s good. It’s a great movie.
00:38:15
Gianna Lucas: It’s a great movie. Hang on. Ocean’s Eleven, that was the last of the Brad Pitt ones?
00:38:21
Sarah Davidson: It was the first of the Brad Pitt ones. It goes Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen.
00:38:26
Gianna Lucas: And then the one with the girls, was that Ocean’s 8?
00:38:29
Sarah Davidson: Yes.
00:38:30
Gianna Lucas: Okay, there we go.
00:38:32
Sarah Davidson: None of the Ocean’s are my favorite movie, so I don’t even know why I said that.
00:38:36
Brendan: We’ll still give it to you.
00:38:36
Sarah Davidson: Okay, thank you.
00:38:36
Gianna Lucas: What would be your favorite?
00:38:37
Sarah Davidson: Bridesmaids, for sure.
00:38:39
Gianna Lucas: Classic! Great movie. Good choice.
00:38:42
Sarah Davidson: I don’t know why that came out though. The Hangover, I also love.
00:38:45
Gianna Lucas: Yeah, nice. So you basically like movies that have big groups of people in them all acting at once as main characters.
00:38:50
Sarah Davidson: Yes, but also no. The other one that I love is Black Hawk Down. I’m all over the place.
00:38:58
Gianna Lucas: Yep. Love your choices. Lots of diversity. All right, my turn. Okay. All right.
00:39:07
Brendan: You have 30 seconds on the-
00:39:07
Gianna Lucas: So, how many questions did she answer?
00:39:09
Brendan: You can’t know that. That’s top secret. It’s to not help you along.
00:39:12
Gianna Lucas: All right.
00:39:14
Sarah Davidson: You don’t get any advantage, babe.
00:39:17
Gianna Lucas: Whatever.
00:39:19
Brendan: 30 seconds on the clock again. Here we go. What is your favorite way to spend a Saturday?
00:39:23
Gianna Lucas: With Pepper, my dog and you obviously.
00:39:25
Brendan: Do you have any pet peeves?
00:39:25
Gianna Lucas: What was that? She was freaking…
00:39:29
Brendan: Do you have any pet peeves?
00:39:32
Gianna Lucas: Yeah, when people don’t listen because communication is so important.
00:39:36
Brendan: What was your family like growing up?
00:39:38
Gianna Lucas: Very close together. Just family.
00:39:42
Brendan: What were you like as a kid?
00:39:45
Gianna Lucas: Little miss chatterbox.
00:39:46
Brendan: What should I know about you that I’d never think to ask?
00:39:48
Gianna Lucas: That you’d never think to ask. Oh my goodness.
00:39:53
Sarah Davidson: I have this image of your family sitting really close together.
00:39:58
Gianna Lucas: That was the worst answer. Man, this is hard. Now your Ocean’s Eleven answer was much better than my close together one. We were a close- knit family, and also but have to say, it’s partly correct what I said, Sarah, because when we get together as a family, like my extended family, we do sit on this massive long table. Often there’s so many of us that we do have to squish up to eat, and when we eat close together and our forks and knives are always in each other’s faces. So, it is legit.
00:40:27
Sarah Davidson: So accurate. So that I’ll pass. That passes.
00:40:31
Brendan: And do we want to know the winner?
00:40:32
Gianna Lucas: Yeah. I reckon Sarah won, I just (crosstalk)
00:40:35
Sarah Davidson: I reckon I lost.
00:40:35
Brendan: The winner is, with six points, Sarah!
00:40:38
Sarah Davidson: Yay!
00:40:38
Brendan: You only got four, sorry Gianna.
00:40:38
Gianna Lucas: It’s all right. Four’s still good. Four’s still good. That’s all right.
00:40:45
Sarah Davidson: You get a certificate of participation.
00:40:48
Gianna Lucas: That’s right, and that’s all that matter is that we show up and give it our best, whatever-
00:40:52
Sarah Davidson: And first runner- up, you get a trophy too.
00:40:55
Gianna Lucas: See? First runner up. (crosstalk) I be first runner- up, I love it.
00:40:59
Sarah Davidson: Miss Congeniality.
00:41:01
Gianna Lucas: Exactly! Another good movie or movie series.
00:41:03
Sarah Davidson: Also.
00:41:04
Gianna Lucas: Yeah, Sandra Bullock’s awesome. Also in Ocean’s 8 as well.
00:41:07
Sarah Davidson: I have not seen it yet.
00:41:10
Gianna Lucas: You haven’t seen Ocean’s 8? Okay, so you probably would have said Ocean’s 8 maybe instead of Ocean’s Eleven. You have to watch that, it’s a (inaudible) .
00:41:16
Sarah Davidson: Would I?
00:41:16
Gianna Lucas: Ah well look, the original was still good, but I think the women… It’s an all- star cast, and if you like Bridesmaids then you’ll probably like Ocean’s 8 even though they’re different. It’s the dynamics between the women that’s super cool. You got Rihanna, and I don’t know, it’s just a nice diverse bunch. I like it. Anyway, thank you so much for coming on the Power Up Life Show. You’re an absolute legend. For people to follow you on the socials, and of course listen to your own podcast, how can they do that?
00:41:47
Sarah Davidson: Oh, gosh. Man. There’s so many ways to reach me. I’ve pretty much just made it possible for everyone to reach me at all hours from all directions, but probably spoonful_of_sarah on Instagram is the easiest.
00:41:59
Gianna Lucas: Yeah, it’s a good place to start because I think you’ve got all the handles on there anyway to take people all around the world with you. So, fantastic. Thanks so much, Sarah. You’ve provided so much value, and we can’t wait to have you again one day soon on the podcast. Have a great week.
00:42:14
Sarah Davidson: You too. Thanks for having me.
00:42:16
Gianna Lucas: Isn’t Sarah amazing? Because she’s so awesome, we decided to invite her back on the Power Up life podcast. So, now that you’ve finished this episode, why not jump into our bonus one with Sarah because it went live the same day as this one, and we only just recorded it literally a couple of days ago. You will not regret it. Why? Because you’ll learn how to nail the ultimate power pose and even how to write a book. We chat about self- doubt, friendship and loads more. So, enjoy.
Loved this episode of Power Up Life? Tell us by leaving a rating and review on your fave podcast app. By doing so, it helps us to reach even more people just like you, and of course, don’t forget to subscribe. Want more Happow? Sign up to our free, yes free, life skills platform to get access to our on- demand expert led video masterclasses called Life Lessons, quizzes, blogs and more. Simply visit our website Happow, H- A- P- P- O- W. com. Don’t forget to follow us on socials. Simply look up @ happowau to follow us and stay in the know. This episode of Power Up Life was produced by me, Gianna Lucas, Marija Dukadinovska and Carissa Shale for the Happow Podcast Network.
Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of Power Up Life, a Happow podcast. If you loved this episode, be a legend and leave us a quick rating and review on your fave podcast app. Dive into the show notes for all episodes on our website. Catch you next time and remember to power up life!
