179: The Politics of Legacy Sarah Nelson
Do you ever think about your life’s work, the sum of all parts and what that will stand for once you retire or finish your public life as such? Sarah Nelson joins us today as a Chief Legacy Officer an advisor to leaders and teams offering individual and group sessions to create your own legacy statement.
Building a legacy means creating something enduring that can be passed on. This might be a physical business or work toward affecting change through a cause. A business legacy is not simply the “thing,” such as a startup or a product, but also its ability to endure through generations.
My guest Sarah and I have had a few moments of intersecting work and life paths have crossed a few times – St Catherines is my alma mater and in past episodes of this show I interviewed former employee Daisy Turnbull, also founder of Lifeline Bondi and Sarah’s work colleague Carrie Kwan, Co-Founder of Mums & Co has also been on previous episodes of The Politics of Everything. Now Sarah is my guest!
A bit about her. Sarah has a passion for Australian entrepreneurship and bringing the community together. She’s an active member of the community through volunteering for Lifeline Australia, Centennial Parklands and the local P&F. Sarah found legacy through senior roles across government, tertiary and private sector as a way to link brand to operations, reduce risk, scale impact.
She has enjoyed 20 years in brand and project delivery include the retail – starting her career as a buying assistant with Polo Ralph Lauren, moving into marketing communications via a short stint in PR with government for Department of Planning and then the $10 billion redevelopment of Barangaroo, before picking up a operational role with the unprecedented collaboration between NSW University and TAFE NSW with Sydney School of Entrepreneurship.
More recently, she has begun consulting work as Chief Legacy Officer. Guided by her own legacy statement, since 2020 Sarah has been Chief of Staff with Mums & Co, an Australian Community and digital platform supporting business owning mothers. She’s lived in Mumbai, London, Melbourne and New York, and now Sydney is home.
In her words, Sarah says “you are the boss of your life however you are not alone. A good leader communicates. See yourself as the CEO or Prime Minister of your life and constantly share your legacy with your teams and direct reports to bring all aspects of your life into alignment, focus on priorities (such as saving time) identifying gaps (like reducing risk).
In this show, Sarah shares:
1. How do you work with clients in your Chief Legacy Officer consulting role and how does that process work from start to end?
2. Why do you think legacy starts now? Many of us see it almost a “latter life” focus?
- Your own legacy statement is “rebranding Australia through the divine feminine”. How did this legacy statement evolve and do you see it changing as your life does?
- Is philanthropy and giving or volunteering the main pillar of a standard legacy someone will create and shape?
- Take away: What is your final takeaway message for us on The Politics of Legacy?
CONTACT INFO:
LinkedIn (52) Sarah (Chief Legacy Officer) Nelson | LinkedIn
Instagram Sarah Nelson (@chieflegacyofficer) • Instagram photos and videos
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