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About Sarah

SarahVanAken-63For nearly twenty years, Sarah has been developing methods and practices focused on harnessing human potential to create transformational growth for individuals and organizations. Understanding that our human capacity is our greatest asset, Sarah inspires and supports people in reaching their highest individual and collective potential through finding their purpose. She believes that success grows from understanding who you are and what’s possible for you and others in an environment of trust and belonging.

She brings that same sensibility to her work with organizations, as an enterprise growth advisor. Enlisting her proprietary brand positioning methodology, she helps transform organizations to set them up for success. She inspires them to see the vision of what is possible and create a thoughtful road map to help them reach those possibilities. Her proven success in leading transformational growth for organizations is through brand authenticity. This is achieved by How and What you do working in harmony from one clear, shared belief – your Why. Sarah helps companies find their Why and build that shared value through every touch-point of the organization.

Core Competencies in Business
  • Entrepreneurial Innovation

  • Organizational Transformation

  • Business & Organizational Design

  • Stakeholder Engagement & Cultural Leadership

  • Strategic Planning & Execution

  • Exit Planning & Implementation

  • Building Sustainable Brand Equity

  • Partnership Cultivation & Management

  • Direct-to-Consumer Branding & Marketing

Sarah's Background & Recognition

Professional Background: Sarah’s career spans across industry sectors including fashion, lifestyle and social expression consumer industries; consumer technology; social entrepreneurship; real estate and hospitality. Her experience extends across the entire business lifecycle: from design, development and sourcing, through operations, multiple sales channels, brand and marketing to finance and transaction. 

Sarah is a serial entrepreneur, and has served as a C-Suite executive for nationally recognized brands and partnered with Fortune 500 organizations throughout her career. Sarah has a fierce creative streak with a strong background in fashion design and fine art. She has designed and art directed national product lines across product categories. Sarah has built and shaped national brands and innovative business models. She brings that creativity to business methodologies and growth as well. Recognized globally for her innovation and work in socially-driven business, she pioneered a vertical apparel business model that has been simulated throughout the fashion industry. Sarah has extensive experience in capital investment strategies and fundraising as well as exit planning and implementation.

LinkedIn: You can see more about Sarah’s career history here.

 

Coaching & Eastern Wisdom Practices: For more than twenty years, she has been a passionate practitioner of yoga for the mind, body and spiritual benefits of practice. She has also explored numerous Eastern and Western personal growth and development methodologies as a student and teacher.

While her success in business seems conventional from the outside, it has been her integration of insights and teachings from Eastern and Western wisdom practices that has enabled her to achieve measurable business goals while nurturing relationships. Now, as a yoga teacher and coach, Sarah is committed to creating space for students and teams to connect with themselves in new and unique ways that nourish the mind, body and spirit to enable a deeper connection to themselves and to the world around them. This unconventional and holistic approach to business is what has made her work so impactful.

 

Highlighted training & certifications:

  • Leap – Cultural Leadership, T12N – 2019

  • Art of Multi-Dimensional Living – Ancient Ayurvedic Yoga & Spiritual Science Counselor – Blue Banyan Yoga – 2018, 2019

  • Japa Meditation, Royal Yoga – 2019

  • Coaching Mastery, T12N – 2018

  • Harmonium & Satsang 2018

  • RYT200, Blue Banyan Yoga – 2016

  • Intuitive Healing & Counseling, High Heart Healing 2016

  • Gyana Spiritual Study, Private Teacher, Ongoing

Recognition & Speaking: A great communicator, Sarah has been an invited speaker across the United States and abroad on sustainable fashion, entrepreneurship, women leaders in business and socially-driven business. Her motivational style of speaking has inspired women, entrepreneurs and companies internationally to change their worlds.

Sarah’s leadership and expertise has earned her numerous awards and honors including “Top 150 Global Licenses” designation in 2017 by License Global; Apparel Magazine’s “Top Innovator” in 2011; “Philadelphia’s Smartest People” by Philadelphia Magazine in 2012; and Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce 2011’s “Young Entrepreneur of the Year.”

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Testimonials: Hear what clients and colleagues say about Sarah’s work.

“In the five years that Sarah was President and COO for Kathy Davis Studios, she helped to guide our company to excellence and eventual acquisition. As founder and CVO, I was not only impressed with Sarah’s business and management skills, but I found her to be open minded, thoughtful and collegial.  I came to depend a great deal on her to not only run the day-to-day business, but to help transform our organization for the future.  

Sarah is a perceptive and empathetic executive with emotional intelligence. An inclusionary leader, she guided her team with a strong value system. Bright, articulate, and extremely hard working, Sarah’s enthusiasm helped to inspire those around her. Sarah has star power that she generously invests in her every endeavor. ”  – Founder & CVO Kathy Davis Studio

 

I have known Sarah for eight years and have observed her growth into a truly inspirational leader. Sarah is a complete package as an executive, she is extremely well balanced between left and right brain. As a leader she always sets an incredible example to her team thru her dedication to hard work and her tenacity towards getting results. Overall, I would say Sarah’s greatest strength is her ability to communicate effectively with everyone, no matter the circumstances. – Jay Levitt, President & CEO, Jay H. Levitt International (formerly President & CEO,  Fashion Bug, May Company) 

 

“Sarah is a premier entrepreneur whose dynamic energy drives change within an organization. In the four years I’ve worked with Sarah, I experienced how she first architected a vision for organizational redesign, and then diligently lead her team through execution. Sarah demonstrates excellent communication skills. She clearly articulates the ‘why change is needed and how we are going to move forward.’ She is highly engaged, drives for results and fosters relationships.  Her unique traits and broad background make Sarah a stand-out among entrepreneurs and enable her to deliver value as an advisor.  It’s a pleasure to work with her.” – Marybeth Sibert, Director, Creative & Artist Relations at American Greetings

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

“I had the great pleasure of working with Sarah at Kathy Davis Studios (KDS). She was an inspirational leader and an agent of change for the organization. Sarah’s intellectual genius and ability to formulate a plan, onboard key players and ensure activation throughout the organization to achieve success was nothing short of awe inspiring.  Sarah came into KDS and established brand guidelines, marketing campaigns and brought consistency to how we could elevate the brand and win key business.  Sarah also helped build efficiencies throughout the organization to ensure we were operating at full capacity all while building a stronger company culture.  With each improvement she helped to build a dynamic team environment where we were achieving every strategic goal was set. Ultimately, Sarah transformed the business into a professional and polished corporation that had a viable brand with vision and longevity.  Sarah poised the company for a successful transition to American Greetings to actualize Kathy’s dream of finding a home for her lifelong business so she could retire.  Sarah is an incredible person and has been one of the most influential people I’ve ever met. She was a great boss and she knows how to inspire teams to operate at their full potential.”  – Kimberly Seslar, Executive Creative Director

 

 

“For Sarah values run deep.  Not only is she a talented designer and dynamic leader, but she cares about people and a healthy environment. In her own business she was mindful of her whole supply chain – from the well-being of those who produced her fabrics and the impact of production on our natural environment to the well-being of her own employees, community, and customers. Sarah has much to offer other entrepreneurs who seek to prosper while helping to build a more fair, compassionate and green economy.”  – Judy Wicks, Author of “Good Morning, Beautiful Business,” founder of White Dog Cafe, Fair Food and Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia.

 
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Sarah helped me to rediscover my foundation of self, and weekly during our work together I practiced being a more loving version of myself in a world that challenges us to do just that. In the end, it was a journey from the analytical brain to the loving heart. I recognized the power of love and how to practice living a life that is heart-forward. Sarah helped me to see that my life was more than my work and that should not have been a surprise – she is a life coach – and an outstanding one at that!”  – Roseanne Liberti