In this short solo episode, I’m reflecting on our recent Conversations for Change series — the fundraiser for my upcoming book Business Like We’re Human.

Together, we explored what it truly means to bring more humanity into the way we work. From letting go of outdated success myths to reimagining business through the lens of Indigenous wisdom, natural cycles, and compassion — this episode is an invitation for heart-centered entrepreneurs to do business differently… more spacious, more honest, more human.

Speaker 0: hello, friends. sarah here. today, i'm coming to you with a short solo episode about this beautiful journey that we've been walking together these past few weeks through the conversations for change series, the fundraiser event for my upcoming business like we're human book. it's really been one of these seasons where i'm reminded why i do this work, why i believe so deeply that business is a space for healing, for reflection, and for creating change that actually feels good in our bodies. over the past few weeks, i've been gathering with a group of change makers, people like you, to explore some of the themes from my new book, business like we're human. but more than that, we've been exploring how to live and work in a way that feels honest, kind, human. because let's be real. so much of what we've been taught about work, about success, about business, feels really outdated. it feels disconnected from who we are and from the world we want to build. these conversations for change were an invitation to imagine something different, not through hustle, not through forcing, but through slowing down, listening, and reconnecting to what matters. and it just really felt really good to put this book out there in that way, to do a completely different book launch than anything that i've ever seen out there before. so i just wanna give you a kind of a feedback or a tell the story of what happened in these conversations if you couldn't be there. so we started on june 10, and in our first conversation, we really opened the door gently. it was all about waking up because that's the first part of the business like we're human book. and we started with the big question. what does it even mean to be human today? it sounds so simple, but the more we explored the deeper it got. we talked about compassion, not as a fluffy add on, but as a way of being. and we also explored the idea of an infinite circle of care. how our humanness doesn't end at the borders of our business cards. it extends to each other, to our communities, and the planet. i also remember pamela sharing about the hidden world of trees, how they communicate through their roots and how they're all interconnected, a quiet interconnected network of care. and chris reminded us how rare compassion still is in business, how it's often overlooked, but deeply needed. and then we began to name the myths that we've inherited. the old stories that tell us our worth comes from how productive we are. that success is measured in constant growth. that busyness is a batch of honor. and then together we asked, what if that's not the only way? what if success looked softer, more connected, more meaningful. in our second session, the week after, we let ourselves dream bigger. we stepped fully into reimagining. that's the second part of the business like we're human book reimagine. we borrowed from indigenous wisdom, from the cycles of nature, from the quiet knowing that life and business don't have to be linear. we explored the fish tank analogy, how even when we try to innovate, we often stay trapped inside the same old system, just decorating the glass walls. but what if we stepped outside the tank altogether? like what i'm wanting to do with this business like we're human book, and i think what we're wanting to do as a collective right now in this paradigm shift is not just adjust and kind of fix all these broken systems, but really reimagine a completely different way of being as humans, but also of doing business. so we talked about seasonal work rhythms, governments guided by indigenous women, workplaces designed for rest, for creativity, for joy. chris shared his shift from logic to intuition, and jean spoke about exponential living and how life expands when we allow it. were you reminded each other that like trees in a forest, our businesses grow at their own pace with strong roots, with gentle stretches toward delight, and that maybe that's enough. by our third gathering, we then moved from dreaming to grounding. we explored how to recalibrate. so that's the third part of the book, recalibrate. how to actually live and work in alignment with our values. we talked about the ubuntu mindset. i am because we are. and what that means when it comes to business, to clients, to collaboration, to really sense that we are all one. we drew our ubuntu trees, weaving together family, ancestors, and the natural world, because all of it shapes how we show up. and then we explored this topic that i talk about in the business like we're human book, new business intimacy, which is this beautiful space between surface level superficial networking and deep personal friendship. so to find a new way of being in this new business intimacy. so it's not personal friendship, but it's way deeper than just superficial niceties and networking masks. and it's really where trust, alignment, and real connection can grow. that led us to reflect on authenticity, not the buzzword, but the real thing, the kind that asks us to look honestly at our own alignment, at where our business feels spacious and true. and through it all, there was this quiet, steady thread that small businesses, our businesses, really have the power to show what's possible. we don't have to wait for corporations or politicians to lead the way. we can model a more humane, more spacious, more honest way of doing business right here, right now. and that's really where i find hope. so where are we now? well, i'll be making the final edits to the business like we're human book over the summer months, and then publish it to the public in september, probably around the full moon, because, you know, natural cycles. because if there is anything this journey has reminded me, it's that business like life isn't about constant upward growth. it's about cycles, pauses, reflection, and allowing ourselves to show up again and again as fully human. and speaking of showing up, there's one more thing i've been quietly, but excitingly working on over the last few weeks. and it's not called business like we're human, but it's deeply connected. i'm creating a new program. and honestly, i never thought i'd be the person hosting a program about selling. if you've read selling like we're human, you probably remember me saying that. but here's the thing, i think sales have changed, and i have changed. i've grown into the person who now has the courage to share my point of view about selling. and as you can imagine, it's not the mainstream approach. so this new program is likely going to be called how to sell in 2026 and beyond. and it's going to be a mix of tangible, pragmatic business and sales advice, helping you clarify your offers so that people actually want to buy it, but also tapping into this new paradigm of selling. expanding on what i shared in selling like we're human. and yes, i'm really giving myself full permission to integrate the woo. we'll be weaving in human design, looking at your unique sales power through your hanging gates, and exploring who you're truly meant to sell to through the lens of your north nodes of the moon. so yes, it's gonna be different. it's gonna be soulful. it's practical. it's just very human. and if you're curious and you want a very unofficial sneak preview, you can message me either on linkedin or via email to sarah@humane.marketing. and i'll happily send you the inside scoop, which for now is just the first draft of the outline, but i'll make sure to keep you in the loop and conversation so that we really can cocreate this new paradigm of selling in 2026 and beyond. and then i have one last little celebration because together through the book fundraiser, we also raised 10% for the pond foundation. and i've purchased a carbon credit we're together, we're taking out one ton of co two out of the atmosphere, and it's a carbon credit for a bio carb project in ghana, a small but meaningful way to give back to the planet that holds us all. so truly from the heart, thank you for your contributions, for your trust and walking this path with me, for believing that business can be different. if you feel called, i would love for you to leave a book review when the time comes, or why not join us in the humane marketing circle? that's the kind of conversations we have there as well. or just simply keep holding these questions in your heart. because this work, my life's work, this remembering, this reimagining, it's not just mine, it's ours. until next time, keep being human and keep being brave. see you soon.