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Ep 40: Beauty Born from Struggle: Sarah Faulkner's Journey from Near-Death to Purpose-Driven Business
40 Plays2 months ago
What happens when your greatest struggle becomes your greatest calling? Sarah Faulkner knows firsthand.
In 2019, Sarah survived what doctors called an "unsurvivable" brain aneurysm rupture—a miracle she credits entirely to the power of prayer. But her story of purpose began years earlier when she founded Milk Velvet Pearls, a faith-inspired jewelry brand built on the beautiful truth that God can turn our deepest pain into something precious.
In this powerful episode of Mommas Who Lead, host Laura Caroffino sits down with Sarah to explore:
• How a near-death experience clarified her divine purpose
• The inspiration behind Milk Velvet Pearls and why pearls symbolize transformation
• Practical strategies for integrating faith into business authentically
• Balancing entrepreneurship with motherhood and marriage
• The journey of writing her memoir "The Making of a Pearl"
• Wisdom for women who feel called to something greater
Sarah's story is a testament to God's faithfulness and a roadmap for any woman who believes her struggles have purpose. Whether you're building a business, walking through a difficult season, or simply seeking to understand how God can use your pain for His glory, this conversation will encourage and inspire you.
About Sarah Faulkner:
Sarah is the founder of Milk Velvet Pearls, author of "The Making of a Pearl," and a sought-after speaker who shares her testimony of beauty born from struggle. She's a wife, mother, and living proof that miracles still happen.
Connect with Sarah:
Website: milkvelvetpearls.com
Instagram: @mvpearlgirl
Email: sarah@milkvelvetpearls.com
About Mommas Who Lead:
The podcast for faith-driven moms, mompreneurs, and women leaders who know they're made for more. Hosted by Laura Caroffino, this show brings you conversations with powerhouse guests who are building legacies at home and in the world.
Subscribe to Mommas Who Lead and join thousands of women who are stepping fully into their calling with courage, faith, and purpose. www.lauracaroffino.com
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Transcript
Introduction to Sarah Faulkner and Her Story
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome back to Mamas Who Lead. I'm your host, Laura Carafino. And today I have a treat for you guys. Today I am sitting down with the amazing Sarah Faulkner. She is the founder of Milk Velvet Pearls, a faith-inspired jewelry brand and the author of the upcoming memoir, The Making of a Pearl. Sarah's story is one of miraculous survival and unwavering faith and just the beautiful truth that God can turn our deepest pain into our greatest purpose. And i will let Sarah tell you more about her remarkable story. Just welcome to Mama's lu Who Lead, Sarah. I'm just so honored to have you here. Thank you so much. I just, I feel like I'm going cry already. just i am so, so thankful to be here. I'm glad that you
The Unbelievable Survival and Spiritual Awakening
00:00:47
Speaker
reached out. I love the work that you're doing and just, I'm so happy to be here.
00:00:51
Speaker
Well, you know how I met Sarah guys, it was just random. I was scrolling on Tik TOK. Like we sometimes do. i even talk about not doing that as much, but I, you know, I did it this night, this night and God led me to you because I was just, I just happened to go across and she was sharing her story. And i was just like, Oh my goodness. So many people need to hear this because there's so many women that have gone through so traumatic illnesses and stuff when we'll dive into your story, but um it's just so important to hear it. And so I i want to start with that. Like what youre so what you went through can only be described as a miracle. So can you take us back to like the 2019 when you survived
00:01:38
Speaker
a brain aneurysm rupture and what the doctor said was unsurvivable. ah Yeah. So i would like to take you to the aneurysm rupture, but I actually want to take you a little bit before. Yeah, go right ahead. Because um through most of through most of my adult life up until my late thirty s I believed in God, but like I wasn't a surrender your life to God type of person. i just thought that was really kind of crazy. And then I i had a i had a ah dark season of pain and I surrendered and I really realized that God was real and that he was for me and that my struggles were opportunities to find beauty born in that struggle. And so I started my pearl jewelry company, Milk Velvet Pearls 2014. And then um I built i built this whole this whole beautiful business, creating jewelry for women of faith and telling a story of trusting his timing in Beauty Born from Struggle.
00:02:53
Speaker
And then on October 7th, 2019, I was writing in my journal, God, thank you.
Aneurysm Experience and Faith-Driven Recovery
00:03:01
Speaker
Use me for your glory and your purpose and your will. And I was envisioning a boom in jewelry sales or maybe like a famous podcast guest appearance and what happened instead was a brain aneurysm rupture.
00:03:19
Speaker
my the aneurysm in my brain ruptured with absolutely no warning at all. I hemorrhaged for five days before I got to the hospital.
00:03:30
Speaker
When I got to the hospital my brain tissue had gone into vasospasm which means the tissue was dying. I had emergency surgery. i spent 21 days in the CCICU and then I came home and spent months relearning my life, going through neurocognitive rehab, getting my life back.
00:03:54
Speaker
And then that's when COVID hit and I went back for a recheck and they found another aneurysm. And so I went through another surgery. But that was 2020 and it is now almost 2026. And I can tell you that I have rehabbed my brain and my life and it's far better than it ever was.
00:04:20
Speaker
And I attribute all of it to prayer. And God, and just going where he led me and trusting him through it all.
00:04:32
Speaker
And that is just the message that I want to share. Like your greatest pain can be your greatest gift. And no matter where you are, he can, he can use it.
Parallels to Biblical Figures and Misunderstandings
00:04:46
Speaker
You can have, you can have the greatest comeback story.
00:04:49
Speaker
Oh my goodness. Yes. I mean, there's just so many stories in the Bible too, about that those comeback stories. Yeah. Job, there's Esther. mean, there's just so many in there and yours is, you know, yours is just one of just and an amazing comeback story. So you said five days. So five days before you went to the hospital, you were sitting at home, like what sustained you during those five days well you know what i think as i've told this story over the years i think that people think because i waited five days to go to the hospital that maybe it wasn't that bad but the thing was it was so bad i could not do anything except try to endure the pain
00:05:35
Speaker
I couldn't think a thought like, oh, I need to go
Supernatural Experiences and Spiritual Growth
00:05:39
Speaker
to the hospital. Like I'm dying. When you're dying, you can't really think a thought, especially when it's something in your brain, like what had happened to me. I shared with my husband the moment that it happened when I was able to get myself to the phone and call him at work.
00:05:58
Speaker
i I was praying through the pain and I told him i had an aneurysm or something. You need to come home. But he had never heard of a brain aneurysm before. And he just saw me vomiting.
00:06:11
Speaker
And so he thought I had food poisoning. And he suggested that I just get into bed and rest. And so I did.
00:06:23
Speaker
I couldn't, I couldn't, I mean, I knew enough to look in the mirror and knew that I looked horrible and that I didn't want to go out into public, but I didn't really have any other thoughts besides that. And so I just got a bucket and I got into bed and I just prayed and fell in and out of sleep.
00:06:44
Speaker
But, um but every afternoon, cause I'm the stay at home mom and he is the, breadwinner, he would leave early in the morning and go to work. He'd take my daughter to school and go to work. And then I would rally in the afternoon and go pick her up at school.
00:07:03
Speaker
So I was driving around Clearwater, Florida every afternoon with an active brain hemorrhage going on. Oh my goodness. God just gave me supernatural power.
00:07:17
Speaker
Yes, he did. He just, he sustained me and he gave me supernatural power. Oh my gosh. You gave me chills. This is, not I can't, and I mean, i just can't fathom.
00:07:32
Speaker
ah Yeah. What, were there any signs that you were having? Like, don't know. No, No, that morning I had gotten up at five o'clock, like I normally do. i had prayed and journaled. i brought my daughter to school. i went and swam laps. And then I came home and I was, I was in the shower. I was like planning my whole day.
00:07:53
Speaker
i was in the shower when it hit. And then after my surgery, after about a week or so, when I have memory,
00:08:05
Speaker
I remember my neurosurgeon, he used to come in every day. he would like lean against the wall, cross his arms and look at me and shake his head and go, people don't live through what you live through. People don't live.
00:08:16
Speaker
And I knew it was because I prayed. Like,
00:08:23
Speaker
I survived the unsurvivable. I should have died. Most people die immediately. they don't die immediately. They die in the next phase. 14 to 30 days. And those who live very often have permanent disability, neurocognitive disability.
00:08:40
Speaker
I got it all back.
00:08:43
Speaker
I mean, just obviously definitely probably, um changed your understanding of God's purpose for your life.
Life Changes Post-Recovery
00:08:53
Speaker
Oh, it changed my understanding of everything. I felt like I felt like number one,
00:09:01
Speaker
Like my faith got proved true. Yes. Number one. um I had a vision of Jesus in the hospital when I wanted to die because there was a string of about 10 days where the therapy that they were doing on me to try to preserve my brain tissue from dying consisted of high salt,
00:09:25
Speaker
high fluids and high pressure. So they were giving me all this salt. They would not let me drink any water. I couldn't have a sip of water for 28 days. They were artificially raising my blood pressure And I just felt like I was going to die. I just I had no agency. i was laying in a bed. i had this massive headache, had constant nausea, constant thirst. I couldn't do anything. i felt i just wanted to die. And I just kept saying that I wanted to die. and then I had this vision of Jesus in the room with me.
00:10:00
Speaker
And it was like he was a general and can command of an army. i just knew that he was in control of everything. And ah kind of took me over after that.
00:10:13
Speaker
Like it didn't take the pain away, but it gave me this peace. And then when I got home from the hospital, i just, as soon as I was able to read again, I started going back to the Bible and I started journaling and I just started thinking about who I am to him and who he is to me.
00:10:35
Speaker
and I just kept focusing on that. over and over and over again. I made it like the things that I read in the Bible, i took literally and did like word for word.
00:10:54
Speaker
I could see I felt my brain changing and renewing in real time. It it it like I'm still struggling to find the words and to tell people how amazing It all turned out just when when i realized that I could renew my brain through God's word, it just unleashed this whole excitement inside of me. Like, what else can I do? If I can rewire my whole brain with God, like what else can I do? And so since then, i have just been kind of like,
00:11:33
Speaker
I don't know. I'm just, I'm really on fire. And so I am expanding my jewelry business. I am going to get into public speaking, publishing my memoir. I'm developing workshops. I've got workbooks and devotionals coming along. I'm just so excited about this very new, very old method that I have stumbled onto.
00:12:00
Speaker
You know, ah you I was going to say like you looking at you can just tell you're like you're lit up. You're in on on fire, like you're glowing. it It's so amazing.
00:12:12
Speaker
You can see it. So and I believe it wholeheartedly, like, you know, our bodies can do incredible things. We have to believe that God gave us the power to heal ourselves and believe wholeheartedly in that. And i think that's where a lot of people, you know, we don't fully believe and struggle with that belief sometimes.
00:12:38
Speaker
Yeah, it's um the verse that I held on to and still hold on to today is do not conform yourself to the world. ah But, you know, be renewed by the transforming of your mind.
00:12:52
Speaker
That's exactly what you have to do. Because if you listen to what the world tells you, like nobody would have blamed me if I had just shriveled up and let that experience take over my life. Like my good and dear friends told me just accept your new normal.
00:13:18
Speaker
You know, I was sitting in a diaper staring out of the window and I couldn't do anything. And they just told me just to accept my new normal. And I was like, no, I'm 48 years old. My life is not over.
00:13:31
Speaker
no I'm not going to do that. And then I had a moment with Jesus where I told him that I was going to trust him to heal me.
00:13:44
Speaker
I honestly didn't know if he would because I wasn't supposed to have survived. But I said, if if he does heal me, I'm going to tell everybody.
00:13:54
Speaker
And so this is me telling everybody. like I love it. I love it. He healed me. He healed you. healed me. You know, I have seen some other people's stories and they're not as um some mac remarkable, I can't say the word, remarkable recovery stories ah from aneurysms and So far your story is like, I'm just vote like, you don't have any issues at all. No, I don't.
00:14:25
Speaker
It took a long time. it took a long time. And most of that long time was me learning to think differently because I realized that what I think about is what I get.
00:14:44
Speaker
And so if I think, oh, I'm tired, oh i'm oh, I'm overwhelmed, oh, I'm disappointed, oh, I'm mad at this person or whatever, like you get more of that.
00:14:56
Speaker
It says it in the Bible, as a man thinks, so he is. And to the one who has more, more will be given. um i just really think that our life experience, actually, you know, I think our life experience is based on a couple of different things.
00:15:14
Speaker
I think how we treat ourselves is based on what we think about God.
00:15:25
Speaker
And think that I actually just lost that other thought that I was thinking about, but I realized that when I put God as the number one love of my life,
00:15:42
Speaker
and felt his love for me in return, I started treating myself differently. I started putting myself to bed. i started, you know, asking for help. I started eating really nutritious foods. I stopped with the whole self-sabotage thing. i just felt like if I was worthy to God, like I need to be taking better care of myself.
00:16:07
Speaker
I never
Family Dynamics and Lifestyle Shift
00:16:08
Speaker
did that before. i always treated myself like a machine. You know, i was working 24 hours because I was doing something important. And then you're a mom and you got a family and you got a house and you got extended family and you got like all of these things vying for your attention all the time.
00:16:26
Speaker
i just always felt like I didn't take care of myself or I was always like alternating between taking care of myself and not taking care of myself whereas now it's more steady and i think a lot of mothers do do that like we everyone above ourselves and we are last and there's usually not much left for us even you know we were not filling our cups but if we fill our cup of jesus
00:16:58
Speaker
so much changes so much changes And so how, you know, being a wife, a mom, how did you balance? Well, you're also building a business and then you're dealing with this illness and recovery. How, how are you managing all of that and those in those, those early days? Like right in the beginning, whenever you started um ah your business and then when the injury happened and then thereafter?
00:17:26
Speaker
Well, when I first started my business, I can't say that I had a good life balance because I was working around the clock. I started working at like six in the morning. a lot of times I'd work until like two in the morning. i was working by myself. I was trying to learn everything and I just kept telling my family like, I got to get it off the ground. I got to get it off the ground. And I was cycling in and out of burnout. I was drinking a tremendous amount of coffee. i was taking Adderall.
00:18:00
Speaker
And just still, I just didn't have enough time. I was always anxious. I was always pushing.
00:18:07
Speaker
and then we had some struggles in our family. And I really realized that I needed to slow down, that I needed to put more time into my children that I needed to cut back on my work schedule. And that was, that was really good. And I felt like God was giving me confirmation that that was the right thing to do to dial back a little bit. So I stopped selling wholesale.
00:18:32
Speaker
i created a website and I just started selling retail from my home studio. um But then, and then after the aneurysm rupture happened,
00:18:45
Speaker
There was months I couldn't do anything at all. Like,
00:18:50
Speaker
out I went to the hospital in the clothes that I was wearing on October eleventh And then I came home on October 31st in the clothes that I was wearing.
00:19:03
Speaker
And I wasn't really able to change my clothes. And so I just stayed in those clothes for a while couple weeks maybe like I couldn't I couldn't really use my hands I couldn't really I couldn't really do much at all I was sleeping all of the time and so during that time my husband and my daughter they really stepped up and they took care of me and they took care of the house and they took care of themselves and I kind of watched this blooming happen
00:19:41
Speaker
with them, taking care of me, taking care of themselves. And I realized that I had taken on all of this pressure and responsibility that I really didn't need to take on.
00:19:57
Speaker
Like it was helpful for them and it was helpful for me to spread it out a little bit. And so as my strength came back and as I started working again,
00:20:12
Speaker
It was a much more healthy and balanced approach to life. Like me taking care of myself, me doing what was important for my business, but also giving time and love to my family and letting them participate in it.
00:20:35
Speaker
Yeah, I didn't. i never did that before. I always did everything. I always prepared every meal. i did every grocery shopping run. i did everything in the house and the yard, all the repairs.
00:20:47
Speaker
I did. I did everything as yeah. You know, it sounds so similar to me. I think we all that. not sure why we do that to ourselves. We think that we should or that we have to or that we need to or that is good to, but it's actually not sustainable.
00:21:05
Speaker
No, it burns us out. It's so detrimental. You know, so I was reading, oh goodness, I can't remember what it was, but um It had to do with the fact that we as women, if we take on everything and we keep it in or we're we're doing it all, we're going to wear ourselves out and create illnesses, injuries. um And I feel like it's it's kind of God's way of telling us to like, okay, you need to slow down.
00:21:41
Speaker
Yeah. ahead. sorry go ahead No, I was just going to say the reason that my husband didn't really think too much about me vomiting constantly was because through this work ethic that I had taken on and the burnouts that I had gone through, I'd also had all kinds of injuries. I'd had back injuries. i had been taking a lot of ibuprofen, which had messed up my whole liver and digestive system. And so there were a lot of days where he found me vomiting because of all of that that was going on.
00:22:18
Speaker
But at the time, what I should have looked at it like, oh, I should probably slow down. But I didn't. I just, I just kept going. i just kept pushing through the pain. I just kept, I just kept going.
00:22:33
Speaker
And those were warning signs, you know? Mm-hmm. they Yeah. Yes. um I don't know if you knew. I had a debilitating illness too at one point. I heard about that on the podcast that I just listened to, but you didn't get into it too much. So I wasn't sure.
00:22:51
Speaker
ah So it was kind of multitude of different things and I you know won't go too much into it, but um the biggest issue was, um,
00:23:02
Speaker
I had implants and I also had, um, the strep is really the lining strap triggered autoimmune rheumatic fever. It just would not, it was, um, resistant to, to antibiotics, the strain I had. so even though I was doing antibiotics, it didn't help. And so it triggered a slew of illnesses from it, like autoimmune responses. And, um,
00:23:32
Speaker
It was to a point where one doctor was like, you have maybe six months to live. it was so bad. And um I was like, no i I don't feel like it's my time. I think I have a purpose and I'm going to do everything in my power and pray to God and like, God, if you know, this is, this is my time, then, um, you know, obviously your will be done, but I just feel like you need, the thick there's more for me to do. And, um, he put the right people in my path and I started healing. So, um, multiple surgeries and all of that. So,
00:24:11
Speaker
Um, pretty, and and it was kind of like the similar thing. Like I was working nonstop doing everything has been deployed on and off. And I was with the kids and just were, you know, as women grinding because we want our message, our purpose,
00:24:30
Speaker
to be heard and seen and we just go until our bodies don't go anymore. think God's like, hold up, we need to put back what it needs to be a priority in your life. And right now it's not so I and i think it's like our big wake up call, honestly.
Faith, Resilience, and Neuroscience
00:24:51
Speaker
ah it's It's not fun going through it. No. When I came home from the hospital, i was just like, God, I don't understand. Like, I'm trying to do this work for you. And then you do this to me like you.
00:25:08
Speaker
how do you how do you go through? Not because some people can develop resentment. How do you not go there?
00:25:20
Speaker
and didn't have a choice.
00:25:24
Speaker
um
00:25:27
Speaker
I just didn't, I just didn't have a choice. I just either,
00:25:35
Speaker
ah just, I just thought if my life, if my life and my agency and everything that I thought I was that I wasn't anymore, because I couldn't, I couldn't be a wife. I couldn't be a mom. i couldn't,
00:25:50
Speaker
I couldn't read a text or like look at the TV or do anything really without it hurting me. And so I just thought if I'm gonna live this way, like I need to have God with me because there's just there's just no other way.
00:26:09
Speaker
And um
00:26:13
Speaker
I think resentment builds more things to feel resentful for. i think what you focus on, you get. And so if you focus on the things that are bothering you, it doesn't matter what that is. It could be, you know,
00:26:33
Speaker
your husband or your kids or your body or your work or traffic or whatever. If you focus on that, you're going to feel it more. You're going to feel it more and then it's just going to get deeper and harder to get out of.
00:26:48
Speaker
I have been fascinated by neuroscience since my whole brain got rewired. And that's all proven.
00:26:59
Speaker
Like what you think about develops neural pathways in your brain. And the more you think about them, the deeper those pathways become and the harder it is to stop that thinking.
00:27:11
Speaker
So, you know, got you got to go back. You got to focus on what is good. You got to be grateful because it changes the physiology in your body. You just...
00:27:23
Speaker
you have to you have to do what scripture tells you to do like attracts like yeah yeah um now i want to go back to The beginning of your business, Milk Velvet Pearls. Yes. Where, okay. Tell us about that journey and why pearls and like how you got started in this.
00:27:47
Speaker
Okay. So, um I think I mentioned that I had, had just come out of a dark time and I had realized that God was real.
00:27:58
Speaker
And, uh,
00:28:03
Speaker
in my childhood, My mother suffered from borderline personality disorder and alcoholism, and she was really abusive and violent, and I had a very troubled childhood, teenage life.
00:28:19
Speaker
um I never really thought too much about God.
Business Success and Faith Integration
00:28:24
Speaker
i kind of thought that he was there, but like, I don't know. I just, I kind of thought people who were religious were freaky, I guess.
00:28:36
Speaker
And I was always real confident in my own capabilities. And I was going along and I was succeeding and I was accomplishing this, that, and the other thing until i didn't.
00:28:51
Speaker
And I broke, I completely broke. And I surrendered to Jesus. I went to a Bible study, which led to another Bible study. And then after about nine months, I realized that I had a new hope, strength, and beauty that I had never had before. And that God was real.
00:29:09
Speaker
And so then I was like, oh my God, and like I was wrong. i was wrong. God is real. He can help you. Like, I wish I had known this earlier. If my mother had known this, like my life, my sister's life, all of our lives could be so much different. And so I started out really,
00:29:30
Speaker
on a mission to share this message of hope and that God was real. And I spent a couple of years at that time trying to write a book. i was trying to write a blog. I was trying to talk to people in person, but every time I tried to talk to them, i would break down in this ugly crying, like sobs. And I know I scared people sometimes by the way that I was crying. um and it was such a shame because I could never get to the good part.
00:29:57
Speaker
um I've done that before. like I'm sorry. so one day i was putting laundry away ah and my daughter, she was nine at the time. She was following me around the house, asking me all kinds of questions. And we went into my bedroom. She got into my jewelry box and started going through it. And she pulled out my great grandmother's pearls, the ones I never wore.
00:30:22
Speaker
And she started asking all kinds of questions about them. how they were formed and where they came from and it turned into this whole little science lesson and so i told her about the oyster and how the sand gets in it and the oyster covers it up until it forms a pearl and so she got quiet and then her face lit up and she's like mama pearls are like people bad things make them prettier on the inside so i was like that's it i'm gonna make pearl jewelry that's casual
00:30:54
Speaker
that women can wear every day as a strategic reminder to trust God's timing that beauty is born from struggle. And so that's when I decided to create a jewelry company.
00:31:06
Speaker
I had never made jewelry. I didn't even really wear jewelry, but my background was in civil engineering and construction. So I figured I could learn and i did.
00:31:19
Speaker
ah God opened up all kinds of doors for me. I started Tanya she. Turns out when it's the had injury at the the middle of on phone like talking China ordering and opened business on mother's 2014. Tanya Hertz, Tanya Hertz, Hertz, Tanya she. Hertz, she. Tanya Hertz, she. Tanya Tanya Hertz, she. Tanya Hertz, Tanya Tanya she. Hertz, she. Tanya she. Tanya Tanya Hertz, Tanya Tanya Hertz, Hertz,
00:31:38
Speaker
she. Tanya Hertz, she. she. Tanya Tanya Hertz, she. Tanya Tanya Hertz, Hertz, Tanya Hertz, Hertz, Hertz, she. Tanya Hertz, she. Tanya Hertz, she. Hertz, she. she. Hertz, she. Tanya Hertz, Tanya Hertz, Tanya she. Tanya she. Tanya Tanya Hertz, she. Hertz,
00:31:50
Speaker
um Hertz, Hertz, Hertz, she. Hertz, she. Tanya Hertz, Tanya Hertz, Hertz, she. Tanya is something that many women have experienced. And so I just got flooded with orders and my business took off.
00:32:04
Speaker
I love it. And I love the metaphor. i it's absolutely beautiful. And it's so true. and it's so sweet that your daughter part of that. And now she pretty involved in the business with you.
00:32:20
Speaker
Um, well, she was, she is off in college now. She is actually, she just married a guy in the military. So you did your military background really like stuck out to me. I'm like, Oh, military. Okay. So anyway, my daughter, she's in Colorado Springs now. She's in college.
00:32:38
Speaker
And so she just kind of sends me things like jewelry ideas from time to time. But she's not involved as much as she was when she was young and living at home because she used to help me out a lot at home.
00:32:52
Speaker
That's so sweet. And so what what branch did she marry into? Army. Army. Okay. She married a black car mechanic.
00:33:03
Speaker
ah Yeah, my dad was army and then my husband's a Marine active, still active duty to this day. So I've been in So if she needs anything, anything at all, I might because he just got deployed and she thought she was prepared and not as prepared as she thought.
00:33:24
Speaker
Oh, goodness. Yeah. When we get it, when we're, when we're done recording, yeah, we can ask me, um, we can talk about all of those things because it is, uh, it is not for the faint of heart. Yeah. I didn't know how tough it was until it came into my family. Like, I'm so thankful for all your service and sacrifice.
00:33:47
Speaker
Yeah. It's, um, it's, it's something, but the real deal. We do it glad gladly with joy and, um, you know, protecting the freedoms and whatnot that we have here. So it's a sacrifice worth it. I should say.
00:34:04
Speaker
Um, but what, when I, whenever you were starting your business, what was originally, like, what was your vision for it? Um, were you thinking of it, about it as a ministry from the beginning?
00:34:19
Speaker
Well, you know what, at the beginning, i was really uncomfortable talking about Jesus. And I think it was because of my background and what I always thought about people who talked about Jesus. I didn't want to be one of those like freaky weird people.
00:34:40
Speaker
um And I'm saying that lovingly, I am a freaky weird person now. But at the time, at the time I was really worried about that. And also, i i wanted to reach people that didn't know him. and I thought, I thought if I didn't say what I was really talking about, that maybe I could kind of like lure them in and reveal his grace through the jewelry.
00:35:09
Speaker
So that's what I thought. So it was, so it was kind of a ministry without words. I love that. And, you know, and I think a lot of my and listeners actually kind of struggle with the idea of integrating faith into their, in their business and some, and I know some feel like they need to keep it to entirely separate. So how do you approach that faith filled entrepreneurship role?
00:35:33
Speaker
Well, I started out being timid. And then after I came home from the hospital and realized that I had survived the unsurvivable and that my faith had proved true, i was like, I need to use words.
00:35:49
Speaker
And I need to tell people in words, I need to figure out how I'm going to do this. Um, I have found that the more truthful I am to myself and what I want to do, and the more I glorify God, the more he opens up doors for me and just, he's giving me, he's giving me tools and skills that I have never had before. Like I, am able to do more in a single day now than I probably did in a whole month before. Like I, i've just, I just have new abilities. He's just, he's giving me new, but new abilities. And so I feel like if you can go forward in your truth,
00:36:40
Speaker
of who you are and who you believe God is, i think he rewards it. I think he rewards our faith.
Faith in Business Climate and Setting Goals
00:36:46
Speaker
And so I know that the climate out there is a little hostile to Christians, but I think that God will protect us. And I think that he will bring the people to us that he wants us to touch.
00:37:02
Speaker
And I think he'll protect us from the ones that wish us harm. At least that's what I'm going on right now. I believe so too. And it is very hostile out there right now. And, um,
00:37:18
Speaker
I just you know pray you know God's will be done and I'm going to continue to spread his message the best of my capabilities and do his will and just pray everything will work out the way it's supposed to. Yeah, it will.
00:37:37
Speaker
It will. um So you've you've grown this brand, this personal brand, passion project in the beginning from your bedroom, with you know, playing with your jewelry box with your daughter to you know, this global brand now. So what have been some of your biggest business lessons?
00:38:02
Speaker
Oh, my biggest business lessons?
00:38:09
Speaker
Set a big goal and a deadline.
00:38:14
Speaker
That's one of my, well, well, no, first is give your plans to God and let him establish your plans. And then set a big goal and believe that you can do it.
00:38:29
Speaker
Really the big goals and the deadlines are what have moved me forward. um
00:38:40
Speaker
And just, I just keep practicing gratitude. I just give my plans to him. i set big goals and I keep practicing gratitude. And i I had this revelation the other day, like maybe up until just recently, like just this year, maybe just this month, I've always felt like I was trying to get somewhere and like achieve something and kind of be done.
00:39:08
Speaker
Like I just wanted to achieve it. But I realized the joy, and this is so cliche, but the joy is not in the destination, the joy is in the journey. And so when I am just pursuing what I think is my purpose, which is sharing God's grace,
00:39:30
Speaker
it is satisfying me now. It is satisfying me. It's nourishing me. It's just giving me the most beautiful experience of life. I have courage and I have confidence and I just have like, I have an energy that keeps keep getting renewed each day. And so, yeah, those are that's what I would say.
00:39:57
Speaker
i love that. Now, has there been any Any challenges that you've came across whenever you were starting your business? Challenges?
00:40:08
Speaker
As like whenever you were first starting, what was your, um any biggest challenge for you when you were starting out? Like say someone who's wanting to start a jewelry business, like how would they go about that? Like at first?
00:40:22
Speaker
Well, I started out on Etsy. I think I think Etsy is a really, really good place to start because it's ah it's a platform that has all of the mechanics already built into it. So you have a place to put your product, you have a way to collect payment, you have a site that will promote you.
00:40:43
Speaker
and push you to customers so I think that's a really really good place to start but also I think the bulk of business is marketing yourself and so you've you've got to learn marketing yes getting you need a website you need social media And then this is what I'm struggling with the most. Like you have to keep putting yourself out there.
00:41:12
Speaker
You can't just do it once and then expect that people are going to find you or keep coming back to you. the The world is so noisy and there's so much competition out there for people's time and attention. Like you have to keep putting yourself out there and you have to keep reinventing yourself too. You have to keep reinventing yourself. You have to keep You just have to keep up with what's happening.
00:41:37
Speaker
And how do you market when you're speaking about marketing? um How do you market your faith-based business authentically without being preachy, if you will, or to be in the scary, the scary.
00:41:54
Speaker
You know, ah that is something I'm still trying to figure out, but, um, i i don't know what I, what what's true for me right now and the playbook that I'm going by right now is that i I try to use pictures to communicate as much as I possibly can through imagery, because I think that allows people to interpret their own story in the pictures.
00:42:28
Speaker
And then also i try to use language that people can apply to their own lives. Actually, I don't know if I'm answering this question or not. You are, you're doing great.
00:42:40
Speaker
It's just a hard, it's a really hard, area, you know, because,
00:42:50
Speaker
but, you know, and this, this again goes back to mindset, because if we think the world's going to be hostile to us, it will. And if we think we're doing what God wants us to do and that he's going to protect us, he will.
00:43:08
Speaker
This is something that I have gone around and around and around in my own mind with especially during COVID and during all of like the political chaos, then I was like, Oh God, I can't talk about God right now because you know, people don't want to hear it or I'm going to get judged and criticized for it or canceled.
00:43:32
Speaker
um And so I did step back during that time, but I'm feeling like that wasn't the right thing to do. That wasn't the right thing to do then it's not the right thing to do now.
00:43:43
Speaker
I think we just have to trust and we have to move forward and we have to keep going. We do, Even it's to stop. it's nice you stop They want us to a to stop and not share or you know um the message that needs to be shared.
Community Support and Spiritual Encouragement
00:44:01
Speaker
And they want to silence us and um keep us small. And I've been guilty of that being you know hidden, afraid of what others would think.
00:44:11
Speaker
But why do I care what others think whenever the only opinion that matters is heaven our Heavenly Father? that That's it. And he will provide a way, you know, if this is what I'm supposed to do, he will provide a way.
00:44:26
Speaker
Yeah. um as far m i' I'm right there with you. And it's, I mean, it is scary right now. Like it is very scary, you know, we've seen things play out on national, um,
00:44:41
Speaker
TV that are, you know, against, you know, Christians and whatnot and what's happening in Nigeria to Christians. And it is scary. It's sad. And, but um I think if we have a message to share, we can do and be consistent and learn all the things we can about marketing.
00:45:02
Speaker
And it'll get to the right people. Right. And I think that we also have to encourage each other and lift each other up. And I think iron sharpens iron. So yeah, we can encourage each other. We can help each other. We can pray for each other and we can, we can be strong in each other.
00:45:20
Speaker
I think especially women, entrepreneurs, women of faith and moms, we can do it. We can, we can. um now I wanted to ask you, ah how does, do you have a good community and has that community helped you in your journey with recovery and building your business?
00:45:42
Speaker
Yes. Yes. I found my community when i well, I've been building my community since I moved to Florida 28 years ago, i was led to Christ here.
00:45:56
Speaker
And um I have been not only building my community, but also propelling some people so that I have like a really nice circle of God loving women.
00:46:14
Speaker
And when, when I was in the hospital, they were like an army. They were leaving coolers of food at my front door for my husband and my daughter. They fed them all while I was in the hospital and even me afterwards. Like i got, I was on a prayer chain through our hospital and I had Doctors who weren't even assigned to my care that go to our church who are coming in and praying with me. i just, i I feel like God's army just really encircled me during that whole time.
00:46:55
Speaker
And then through my business, My customers, they've all become, ah not not every single one, but most of them have become my friends. And so we're just, we're just all tight. We're all tight and we're all supporting each other and we're just doing life together. It's just, it's great.
00:47:16
Speaker
I love that. Having a good community is is key and helps quite a lot. um I know in the military, and your daughter will know this we'll get to know this too, we have a tight-knit community, especially whenever you're starting out, they get them involved and get the spouses. They have a really close-knit spouses network. And then, of course, if she could find a good church, that always helps as well. Yeah. But what would you say to the mom who feels like she's maybe made for more, but doesn't really know how to step into that?
00:47:57
Speaker
You know what I like? I think it's. Isaiah 54, enlarge the place of your tent, that whole scripture. I like to pray.
00:48:09
Speaker
i like to pray scripture over my life. I like to pray. Like there was a time I prayed the prayer jape of Jabez. yeah and I love the enlarge the place of your tent, you know,
00:48:24
Speaker
lengthen your stakes and I can't remember it all now this is bummer but I just I really like to find scripture that's about expanding and I like to keep focusing on that scripture and I keep telling myself of who I am in Christ and I find that sort of like organically you believe it and your brain goes looking for it and then you're doing it and so it's just, it's a matter of trusting. It's a matter of trust and obedience and love and not being afraid to go forward.
00:49:06
Speaker
I love that. Now, if someone, let's say they want to start a faith based business, but what advice would you give them?
00:49:17
Speaker
Go for it. i love it. Go for it. Go for it. Yeah. Like God's going to be there. He's going to help you. You're going to be so glad that you did it.
00:49:29
Speaker
It's just, it's the most rewarding thing ever. it is. It truly is. And, you know, how do you handle like spiritual warfare as a faith-based entrepreneur? And there's a lot of it.
00:49:41
Speaker
Oh yeah. can we and so that's why it's taken me so long to write this book. ah because I would get going. And as soon as like, I was like, really making a lot, a lot of progress, something would happen to me or happened in my family. And I would think like, who am I, who am I to do this? Like, this isn't going to work. This is taking too long. Like, I don't I don't like this.
00:50:07
Speaker
But I was actually, I was in a Bible study last spring and a woman in our Bible study was sharing about her dad, who was a pastor. And he said, whenever he felt attacked by the enemy, he realized it was because he was on the right path.
00:50:24
Speaker
And so then I thought, oh yeah. Yeah. Whenever I'm in like a hot streak, that's when something happens to me, that must mean that's because I'm on the right path.
00:50:36
Speaker
And so now, since then, every time something happens to me, I'm like, haha, I'm on the right path, I'm going to keep on going. And so it's just mindset.
00:50:48
Speaker
Mindset. It's mindset everything. Plow on through it just and then I also love submit yourself to God resist the devil and the devil will flee. That is a verse from James seven that i repeated right when my aneurysm happened because it felt like something was trying to kill me. And so I just kept saying that verse.
00:51:13
Speaker
And I kind of love that verse. So that's my, that's my sword.
Writing, Legacy, and Sharing the Story
00:51:17
Speaker
It's my sword verse. I love that. I was about to ask you what your favorite verse was. If you had, or maybe do you have certain verses for different phases of your life?
00:51:28
Speaker
Well, this, this verse I know is in Mark and it's in Luke.
00:51:38
Speaker
But it's the story of Jesus telling the woman that she is healed because of her faith. Which one is it?
00:51:50
Speaker
But anyway, he said to the woman, go now you are healed because of your faith. And then she just got up and walked away, like totally healed. And so I focus on that one all the time. Your faith made you well.
00:52:04
Speaker
I believe that wholeheartedly. Yeah. Yeah. Whenever you they tell you you're, you weren't supposed to survive it. Yeah. I shouldn't like 0%. Yeah.
00:52:17
Speaker
Definitely. Your faith healed that. Definitely. Definitely. Um, so when you, you're, you're writing this book, right? who And what's the process been like so far?
00:52:31
Speaker
Oh my gosh. Well, um, I really wanted to start writing it 15 years ago when I realized that God was real. Cause I felt like I was a million miles from where I started and I felt like I had found the way. Mm-hmm. And I thought I had gone through, i thought I would go through nothing harder in my life than I had already gone through.
00:52:55
Speaker
Big surprise. Okay. So I felt like when we say that, we're like, let's just wait. Yeah. Now I know that, but at the time i didn't know that. And so, so the jewelry business that I started to help other people was actually to help me because there was like,
00:53:15
Speaker
So many storms that I have weathered since then. And there's not going to be an end to the storms until I'm no longer on this earth. I've just finally come to that conclusion. Because life's hard and people get sick and accidents happen and things happen and we just...
00:53:41
Speaker
We're never going to be done with it, but we always have the power of God with us and the love of God with us to help us get through it. And so that's, that's, it that's my MO now.
00:53:56
Speaker
I love it. You know, I keep always thinking, you know, the story of the talents, um, you know, when it goes to like sharing the gospel and whatnot, I'm like, am I going to be, am I going to get to heaven? And and God's going to ask me, did I hide them or did I share them? You know?
00:54:14
Speaker
And I want to be the one to be like, i shared them, you know, I don't want to be like the one that hid them away and thought that was the right thing to do. And, you know, and I think you're doing a wonderful job of sharing your talents.
00:54:31
Speaker
Thank you. So what is next for you? What, what are you excited about in this next season? ah well, let's see. So,
00:54:43
Speaker
I'm pushing hard now to finish my manuscript and get it into the hands of an editor and then get it to my publisher and then get it in the hands of my faithful followers who have been supporting me all along on this journey.
00:54:59
Speaker
um I have been working with like a TEDx speaking coach to help me consolidate so that I can share this message nationally i really want to travel nationally and share and share on on church stages and small groups and any women of faith gatherings uh what else i'm working on a workshop and a workbook and a devotional i've just got all kinds of things in the fire right now
00:55:33
Speaker
I have a few connections that I want to introduce you to. Okay. You're going to, yeah, you're, yeah. I just can't wait to introduce you to some of these people. um And I'll share it too. But but um how can our listeners connect with you and work and your work?
00:55:53
Speaker
Okay, so the easiest thing to remember is i am Milk Velvet Pearls. So my website is MilkVelvetPearls.com. And then from there, you can get me on all my social media. I'm MVPearlGirl on Instagram. I'm Milk Velvet Pearls on Facebook. You can get my email address through my website, Sarah at MilkVelvetPearls.com.
00:56:21
Speaker
I think that's about it. Okay, perfect. And I'll also um have that in the show notes too. So if you're listening, you didn't write that down. Don't worry, just go to the show notes and you can find it there.
00:56:33
Speaker
and what would you, if you could go back and tell your pre-aneurysm self one thing, what would that be?
00:56:51
Speaker
There's a line in Ecclesiastes that says, fear God and do what he tells you to do. let's say that
00:57:00
Speaker
Yeah, I love that. That means love him. That means obey him. That means take care of yourself. That means Believe that what you've asked for will be granted to you. That means believe with no doubt. That means have a positive mindset. That means, that means all of those things do what he tells you to do.
00:57:24
Speaker
Well, you're doing a good job of it. Thank you. Now, um, before we go, i have a, want a couple more questions, but, um, what do you want your legacy to be?
00:57:39
Speaker
And now I'm coming at you with the hard ones. No, no.
00:57:45
Speaker
I just want people to know that they can overcome anything. they can overcome the trauma from childhood. They can stop generational trauma. They can overcome addiction.
00:58:05
Speaker
They can experience the love that they have always wanted. They can feel freedom. they can feel purpose. They can, they can just,
00:58:18
Speaker
There's hope, there's just there's just impossible glorious hope that that I didn't know was out there and that I think a lot of other people don't know was out is out there and I just want people to know that it's available like what God did for me he wants to do for you he wants to do for everyone that's that's why Jesus was sent here like this this is his plan that's what he wants he just wants us to surrender to him and believe in him
00:58:54
Speaker
Even when our circumstances look impossible. would you What would you say to that woman? She's listening right now who feels like maybe her struggles are are too big. Like her dreams are too big.
Episode Conclusion and Call to Action
00:59:09
Speaker
There's nothing too big.
00:59:10
Speaker
Love it. Nothing too big.
00:59:14
Speaker
you're You're amazing. Sarah, thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. What a treat. I mean, your story, your wisdom, wisdom,
00:59:25
Speaker
It has been amazing. i know our listeners are going so encouraged and so and inspired by everything you have shared. And, um you know, I just hope that if you're listening today, Sarah's stories reminded you that God wastes nothing in your life.
00:59:42
Speaker
Every struggle, every hard season, every moment of pain, he can use it all for his glory. and for your good. You are made for more and your story isn't over. And if you've been blessed by this episode, please, please, please share it with another mama who needs to hear it.
00:59:58
Speaker
And don't forget to subscribe to Mamas Who Lead so you never miss an episode. So until next time, keep leading, keep growing, and keep believing in what is possible. You've been listening to Mamas Who Lead with Laura Carafino.
01:00:12
Speaker
Thank you for joining us on this journey today. Each episode, each story, and every piece of advice we share is a step towards building a community of empowered, resilient, and inspiring families.
01:00:24
Speaker
Mama leaders, just like you. Remember leadership isn't just about the title or the workplace. It's about how we navigate our lives, uplift those around us and pave the way for future generations.
01:00:37
Speaker
As we close today's episode, I encourage you to carry forward the insights and inspiration you've gained, apply them to your life, share them with your tribe and continue to lead with heart and purpose.
01:00:48
Speaker
For more empowering stories, strategies, and support, make sure you subscribe to Mamas Who Lead on your favorite podcast platform. And don't forget to follow us on social media for behind the scenes content, community discussions, and much more.
01:01:03
Speaker
Until we meet again, keep embracing your unique journey of leadership and motherhood. You are capable, you are powerful, and you are exactly where you're meant to be.
01:01:13
Speaker
Lead on Mamas.