Climb Your Everest

Every day we are dealing with different obstacles to reach our goals. Sometimes, these hurdles look like huge mountains to climb. Getting a promotion at work, achieving your educational goals, and maintaining good relationships with our loved ones are examples of challenges we deal with on a daily basis. We are all capable of overcoming our fears and climbing all these mountains if we believe “there is no limit to human potential, there is only limit in human belief!” This is a motivational talk to empower and inspire people to look at life differently and positively.

Break the Glass Cieling

Growing up in Iran, I experienced first-hand the oppressive and restrictive environment that makes gender discrimination possible. This gave me an incentive to climb Everest to raise funds and awareness for the girls who become victims of human trafficking or are forced to get married at an early age. Coming from a patriarchal culture myself, I experienced discrimination such as “women shouldn’t climb mountains.” In this talk, I share personal stories of breaking the glass ceiling and climbing some of the highest mountains in the world.

Leadership is Climbing Everest

Leading an organization is similar to climbing in extreme environments. As an electrical engineer who had never climbed any mountains, I had to learn quickly how to push myself out of my comfort zone and train for the highest mountain in the world. I learned many valuable leadership skills by climbing mountains and surviving a 7.8 earthquake at 20,000 feet on Everest. Using these new learned skills taught me how to be a better leader, professor, board member and daughter.

Youth Leadership

Would you like to leave a legacy? Would you like to make this world a better place for yourself and the next generations? I discuss leadership at both the individual and organizational levels, as a purposeful, collaborative, and values-based process which results in positive social change. Youth leadership, mentorship, and self-awareness are important aspects of strong societies, and we should foster those aspects by teaching them to young people from early age.

“Her story is captivating, and her presentation keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. It’s so inspirational that you are forced to quickly assess what you’re capable of and try to figure out, as Sara says, how to “Climb your Everest” in life.”
— PAUL MOEHRING, DM – FARMERS INSURANCE

“Our entire company was inspired by her commitment and passion to help those less fortunate and to push yourself beyond your limits. I heard several employees comment that she was our favorite speaker thus far.”
— SHAWN PLASTER, CEO – PLASTER GROUP

“Somehow she managed to play on the whole emotional scale, and I was empowered, inspired, sad, and proud. It is safe to say that not one single person in the room was left unmoved.”
— GUÐRÚN HARPA BJARNADÓTTIR, MANAGER – PWC

Thank you so much for the incredibly inspiring and motivational talk! I know it’s difficult to gauge engagement during virtual settings, but we’ve already received many positive remarks and survey responses about the talk. We are all in awe of your amazing story!

WISE Board at Samsung

“Sara’s story is compelling and inspiring.  It is enhanced by her ability as a storyteller to convey the joy and heartbreak of her journey. Sara is an exceptional speaker that makes her story come alive for her audience. I would recommend her highly to business leaders, schools, and community groups. Sara leaves the audience with the desire to become engaged in the world.”

Lori Hofmann, Executive and Transition Coach, Expedi

“The passion and the dedication that came from her story not only moved our salesforce, but we saw productivity go up by over 25% throughout the rest of the fiscal year. Her personal, moral, and spiritual journey can apply to any group of individuals and any organization looking to be inspired, motivated, or looking for a new direction in both their personal life and their professional life. To think that somebody went through this, and survived it, and now we are all able to benefit from her words is a tremendous opportunity to take advantage of.”

Alex Duquette, District Manager, Farmers Insurance Group