Hi! I’m Sara Heermann, founder and CEO of Heermann Company. Getting to this place was no easy task–it’s been a long and winding journey. The same journey that many of you are probably on in your lives as well.

A few years ago, I was a woman who felt like she needed to do it all to have it all. I loved my work as a CFO, helping companies organize their finances and keep themselves on track, but I was trying to juggle a career, three kids, a husband, social life, my health, and truthfully, I was dropping more balls than I was able to juggle, which led me to feel unsatisfied, undeserving, and was destroying my confidence and self-worth. I was constantly saying yes to things when I should have been saying hell no! I began to see that I loved helping people manage their lives as much as I loved helping them manage their money, but also that I was spending so much time and energy working to provide things for my family, I was costing all of us real peace and happiness.

Realizing that I needed to reprioritize and refocus was a long and sometimes painful process, but by beginning to take care of myself, I was able to better start taking care of my family, my work, and my life in more meaningful ways. Learning to balance the scales of my life allowed me to be a whole person again, which helped me become a better mother, a better wife, and a better adviser to my clients at work. Suddenly, I found my marriage thriving again, found joy in my professional life, and started noticing all those little things that truly make life worth living.

Part of this involved a big transition in my life–my family moved to rural Nebraska, and while this was difficult at first, it allowed me to grow in myself and my confidence which in turn helped my family dynamic become healthier. I learned how to budget my time and energy in a way that serves my own health, but also provides for the health of the people I love. I now have the chance to give my kids all the things I loved about growing up in the country and to give myself the rediscovery of some of the things I love most in life: hiking, skiing, vacations at the beach (where I can enjoy the sound of the surf from the safe, transparent water of a crystal clear pool), or even the simple pleasure of watching our chickens march their way into the coop at night. I’m able to laugh at silly jokes, enjoy my nightly glass of wine (or two!) and spend true quality time with family and friends. I am saying yes to things and really meaning it.