How do you give a title to something like this
April 21, 2021My brother died two weeks ago. I keep looking at that sentence, thinking, “That’s a shocking thing to say; it feels sensationalist. Do I…
Writing nook
How to build a fractal, nourishing system of practice, in business & in life
April 01, 2021Part one: A story about productivity systems, personal growth, and discovering alternatives to both
The question we’re afraid to ask
January 19, 2021During the pandemic, David Whyte (one of my favorite poets and thinkers) has been offering online seminars. I highly recommend them; they’ve…
Weird is practical
December 08, 2020Focusing your business on weirdos can seem like a risk, but is it?
Adventures in people-first growth 🌿
December 01, 2020This is the issue where I decide to focus all other issues on people-first growth. We’ll see how that goes. 🌿
Guinea pigs wanted 🐹 (for fun and adventure 🎡!)
October 22, 2020This is the issue announcing a very short-lived guinea pig project.
More snails! 🐌
October 07, 2020This is the issue where I start yet another public writing project, this one for essays and the like. ❤️
Where the weirdos roam
October 02, 2020Why weirdos are easier to find and understand than any other breed of human
Entering a new season 🍁
September 25, 2020This is the issue where I announce another weird web project, this one from our team at &yet.
Diving deep into weird public projects
September 04, 2020This is the issue where I started writing my next book on People-First Growth in public. I also answer the question, “Was there any…
What we learned from hosting a class on Instagram
August 22, 2020We did a weird thing and hosted a Gather the People class on Instagram. It was fun (and the illustrations, by my teammate Amy Lynn Taylor…
Breaking the ice on roam.sarahavenir.com 🌱
August 20, 2020I re-ignited my personal newsletter! This is the first in a series debuting my public Roam project. Hear hear! (Or is it here! here! Either…
How we're using Instagram as an educational tool
July 29, 2020Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how we conducted our Instagram experiment I wrote for &yet. Come look!
Gather the People class announcement
July 24, 2020Here’s a little announcement post I wrote for our August Gather the People class. (The materials are still up on Instagram for your…
This is how we grow
July 18, 2020“Only a few achieve the colossal task of holding together, without being split asunder, the clarity of their vision alongside an ability to…
Black Lives Matter 🖤🖤🖤
June 19, 2020This is a newsletter I wrote for &yet about how we’re standing in solidarity with the Black community against systemic oppression, white…
Create Latitude Podcast, Ep. 19: Creative strategy and strategic creativity
April 01, 2020In this podcast, designer/developer Bryan Zavestoski and I chat about when to take risks, how to be strategically creative, and how to…
The salmon of wisdom, systems theory, and singing
March 31, 2020In this episode of To Build a Swing, Adam and I are talking about the the soul vs. the personality and the importance of integrating the two…
Gather the Courage
March 24, 2020Gather the Courage is a guided journaling project we made to help creative leaders to reflect, be encouraged, and make courageous decisions…
Three things for you
March 23, 2020Image by @drawnbyjaime, for &yet In this week’s newsletter, I’m sharing a couple of things we made to help during pandemic-time.
Charlotte’s happy-makers
March 22, 2020My sweet Charlotte wanted to talk about how to deal with sad feelings on our walk today. I ❤️ this list of happy makers she came up with.
“Please ring the bell and leave it at the door.”
March 21, 2020Adam and I have a new podcast! In our first episode, we talk about Covid-19 and its effects on our mental health, clarity, and ability to…
👀 The Great Distraction
February 04, 2020_“While we weren’t watching, a next generation threat to human freedom materialized right in front of our noses. We didn’t notice it because…
Hello from &yet ♥️
December 13, 2019The past two months have been a surreal experience. We added several folks to our team on the growth side (Hi, Jessica! Hi, Lauren!), which…
How do we stay curious?
September 24, 2019I love the feeling of starting something new. Even though it takes a while to get your footing, everything in front of you feels like pure…
About nets and leaping
September 05, 2019I’ve been thinking about the phrase “leap and the net will appear” this week. I’ve never felt so strongly that this is terrible advice…
The Impact of Presence
August 22, 2019I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the type of presence Amy Cuddy refers to in her book. I’m solidly an introvert. If I had my way, I…
Goal-Setting and Stewardship
August 01, 2019Remember when we talked about OKRs that one time? As we’re going into our third planning quarter, I’ve come to really appreciate the clarity…
Remember that the sun rose clear
July 23, 2019We publicly released our cold read assessment last week. It’s been making me think a lot about the biases we bring when we create products…
Risk and Responsibility
July 16, 2019Adam took me on my first backpacking trip a month ago, and my second last weekend. Since then, I keep thinking about how grounding it is to…
Looking for that first tiny sign
July 10, 2019I’m feeling really encouraged as I write this today. It’s been 91 days since we publicly committed to our new direction and started setting…
My first week as CEO of &yet
July 04, 2019Last week was my first week as CEO of &yet. (Adam wrote a post about it, if you havent heard yet.) It was a pretty natural transition, but…
We are Sarah and Adam Avenir now <3
April 04, 2019Dear friends, family, and folks we know from the Internet who have squirreled their way into our hearts, We have a new name! We were going…
Courageous Positioning (and why it’s hard)
February 19, 2019I wrote a newsletter a few weeks ago from Nashville, TN, host of my angsty teen years. We were there to attend a seminar David Baker was…
Being a Highly Sensitive Entrepreneur (Part three)
February 07, 2019When I was in the eighth grade, one of my teachers (who was also a self-proclaimed prophet) told me that the lesson I would need to learn in…
Being a Highly Sensitive Entrepreneur (Part two)
February 01, 2019I’ve always valued the privilege to deeply focus on whatever I’m working on, but I’ve strived to do this while still having multiple big…
Being a Highly Sensitive Entrepreneur (Part one)
January 25, 2019You know how you hear about a book so many times that you feel like you’ve read it, but you actually haven’t? That’s the case for me with…
A collaborative process for defining the purpose of any project
January 18, 2019This fall, my partner and I bought Tumbleweird, a local free alternative paper started a few years ago by some great people who wanted to…
A handful of gentle, potent strategies for the next phase of your growth
January 16, 2019For the past year and a half, my counselor has been working with me through some hard personal stuff. I’ve experienced tremendous growth…
A systematic approach to marketing with empathy
June 20, 2018Last month, I wrote that I’m doing a complete re-write of Gather the People (rather than a heavy edit). Since then, as I’ve worked with the…
Gather the People Update
May 24, 2018So…fun update for you. But first I need to put on my confident zombie goddess face. This is probably the most off-brand I will ever be…
Wide Awake: A heavy sleeper’s guide to getting up in the morning
July 09, 2015My problem with waking up started 17 years ago. I wish I could explain it to you in a way that doesn’t make me sound insecure and sensitive…
How to write your first draft in six days (a play in eleven acts)
January 15, 2015Act one: Get laid off If that’s not possible, make some other kind of drastic/heroic/insane move that will make step number two possible…
Digitizing my brain: How I manage my energy, my creativity, and my time
December 31, 2014It’s almost New Years! And even though I say I won’t make a big deal out of New Years and its promise to make me into a brighter, shinier…
Why I’ve stopped trying to build good habits
November 19, 2014I love to work on the areas of my life that are not quite what I know they could be. If I had to pick a hobby, personal growth would be it…
The soul-grasping magic of life
April 11, 2014When I was a kid, I loved playing role-playing games. (Still do.) I love that you can be whoever you want to be…that you can explore the…
The difference between rocks and pearls
January 26, 2014Last week, I started doing The Artist’s Way for maybe the second or third time (I say “doing” rather than “reading” because although it’s a…
The paradox of joy
January 04, 2014Last night in the pitch dark, I trekked to the beach in below-freezing temperatures in order to see the “big waves” with my family. (The…
What to do when you’re stuck with a blank page
March 06, 2013“Sometimes when I was starting a new story and I could not get it going…I would stand and look out over the roofs of Paris and think, ‘Do…
My 90-minute workday
December 20, 2011They say that when you’re your own boss, you’ve got the worst boss in the world. It’s true. To myself, I am like the Attila the Hun of…