She Had a Multi-Seven-Figure Year. Then She Shut Down Every Program. w/Sara Connell

Sara Connell’s company closed 2024 with a multi-seven-figure year. A few months into 2025, she shut down all her flagship programs. Nothing was broken. For almost 20 years, Sara and her team have helped more than 2,000 women write books, give TED talks, and build their voices. She planned to do it for the rest of her life. Then, in her words, the light changed. Clients who used to want the whole year-long container started saying it was too much. And something in Sara knew a change was coming that she didn’t want. She’s still in it. That’s exactly why I wanted to record this now, before there’s a clean ending to tell. We get into: \* What the business looked like on paper right before it stopped fitting \* Why you can’t reverse-engineer your way through this kind of change, when the old decision-making ran on KPIs and a model you could track against \* Pattern reenactment: the thing you didn’t resolve in the last version of your business shows up again in the next one. It shows up in who you hire, what you accept, and what you think is possible \* Why highly capable founders are the most exposed. They can spend a decade solving the wrong problem very well \* The walk where Sara listed six ways her business could change, and what happened when she got to option three If your business works on paper and something in you has stopped fitting it, APPLY TO WORK WITH MAKHOSI HERE. **About Sara**Bio: Sara Connell is a five-time bestselling author, Human Intelligence strategist and researcher, entrepreneur, and creator of The Download Method™. For more than two decades, she has helped leaders bring their most important ideas into the world as bestselling books, in-demand talks, and enduring, groundbreaking bodies of work. Through Thought Leader Academy, which she founded, Sara has helped more than 1,000 leaders become recognized voices in their fields. Her work with these leaders sparked a deeper exploration into where our most original ideas come from and how we can access them more intentionally. Trained in neuroscience-based coaching methodologies and neurofeedback, Sara turned her attention to the intersection of creativity, cognition, and human potential and to understanding how we protect and strengthen our Human Intelligence in the age of AI. Her work has been featured on Oprah, Good Morning America, TODAY, and in The New York Times and Forbes, and she has presented at organizations including Johnson & Johnson, General Electric, and Northwestern University. Her new book, *The Download: Train Your Brain, Unlock Your Genius, Create Miracles*, will be published on November 10, 2026. Links: PRE-ORDER The Download and get instant FREE bonus gifts including the Download Brain Science Based Method and Tracker : https://downloadbookexperience.com/ Substack: https://substack.com/@saraconnellthedownload IG: https://www.instagram.com/saraconnell/ You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThoughtLeaderMedia **Makhosi Nejeser** advises founders who’ve built the business, hit the numbers, and noticed that winning doesn’t feel the way it used to. Drawing on eight years advising founders and full initiation into a Southern African tradition rooted in advising leaders through transitions of power, she founded The House of Sovereign Legacy, where she hosts monthly House Briefings and the Architects of Sovereignty podcast. *Featured: CNBC, Business Insider, Entrepreneur, NBC, ABC, CBS* Your Level of Consciousness Quiz: theroyalshaman.com/quiz Instagram: instagram.com/theroyalshaman Linkedin: linkedin.com/theroyalshaman Podcast: theroyalshaman.substack.com/s/architects-of-sovereignty **Mentioned in this episode** \* Holy Hunger by Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, the book Sara picked up at Logan Airport \* The Download by Sara Connell **CHAPTERS** 00:00 That is not one of your choices00:18 Meet Sara Connell00:35 The book in the Logan Airport bookstore04:00 A business she planned to run forever05:51 The light changed09:12 What the business looked like on paper12:30 Shutting down every flagship16:02 Why you can’t plan your way through this18:22 Flying in the dark23:08 The thing you haven’t faced25:13 Pattern reenactment in business28:50 A client, a housekeeper, and the pattern underneath30:16 The cost you can’t see when it’s working31:42 The right solution to the wrong problem32:49 A new kind of counsel37:09 Making decisions without the old data39:38 Unbecoming44:56 When it looks fine on paper47:27 What’s on the other side of “what if”48:49 Closing This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theroyalshaman.substack.com