Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Milby.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Sarah. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Sounds good. To do so, let me begin with a quote and a story.
“Courage is grace under pressure” -Ernest Hemingway
I remember the first time my dad told me that quote. I was sitting in the passenger seat of our red Ford Explorer and putting on my cleats and shinguards before a soccer game. A few minutes prior, I had expressed some nerves given the Region I Olympic Development Coach would be watching the game.
What started as a few canned words of wisdom from my dad evolved into an obsession with fostering my mental game, or now what I call: performance mindset. As a soccer player, I quickly realized my size, speed and power were not going to be my competitive advantage when playing at a high level. Rather, it would be my preparation, work ethic and mindset that would prevail and set me up for success. I began reading books on sports psychology and the science of performance, and even began working with a performance coach, who taught me research-based tools, techniques and habits to develop my thinking patterns, adapt to change, “control the controllables,” handle distractions, withstand pressure, and recognize the beauty in challenge. My mental preparation became as important and as routine as my physical preparation.
When I finished playing soccer in college, I applied some of those same performance mindset practices to my career working in finance, government, and nonprofits. Then, after graduate school, I found my calling in mission-driven startups with bold and courageous goals to make the world a better place through innovation and technology.
As I worked my way up to more senior roles in my career, I realized the pressure to perform in the business world was no different from the pressure to perform in sports. Across all sectors in which I worked, my teams were managing internal and external expectations, adapting to change, struggling to “control the controllables”, and trying to find their own competitive advantage in an ever evolving and competitive environment.
It was then that I realized the gap in professional development, corporate training, and sales effectiveness. Companies do so much to train employees on products, processes and systems – and so little to foster a performance mindset, ensuring their employees have the tools, techniques and habits to be at their best and operate at peak performance even under pressure.
After hundreds of conversations with executives and corporate leaders, whereby they expressed a similar frustration, often citing factors contributing to the pressures to perform, rates of stress and burnout, and the necessity to retain top talent, I decided to do something about it. In January 2017, I started Valor Performance.
Valor is a digital learning and coaching company that leverages science, technology, best practices of professional athletes, and world-class performance coaches to foster performance mindset for sales professionals, managers and executives.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
There are challenges every day. Starting and running a fast-growing startup is not a smooth road at all, but the challenges are also what makes it the most rewarding and fulfilling thing I’ve ever done.
I view leadership as a privilege and I’d say the biggest challenge is ensuring I’m at my best to lead Valor, combat my fears and anxieties, and live out our values and mission every day. Just like many Valor clients, I set a high bar for myself, struggle with uncertainty, and experience pressures to perform. That pressure can catalyze action and be one of my strengths, and it can come with fear which can hold me back. As one of the Valor Master Coaches says, “We can all get in our own way sometimes.” I often try to remind myself to use the energy of fear to build the muscles for my own valor (courage).
Given that every day there are ups and downs in running a company, every day I work on focusing, being efficient with my thoughts and energy, priming my performance mindset, and becoming the best leader I can be. As a Valor team, we all try hard to practice what we preach at Valor, and hold one another accountable to living our best lives. It’s not always convenient, easy, or comfortable, but we believe strongly in what we do and believe leadership starts from within. We are all on the quest together.
Honestly, I’m so grateful to have Team Valor who believes in the same mission and vision, holds me accountable, and helps to carry the load – during the good times and the bad. They continue to inspire, motivate, and teach me, and I could not get through the challenges and obstacles without them. It is a privilege to work alongside the team at Valor.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Valor Performance, Inc. – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Valor Performance is a premier digital learning & coaching platform focused on igniting and sustaining peak performance for sales professionals, managers and executives.
We’ve seen a significant impact of Valor on our early clients across key business metrics (sales performance, productivity, team satisfaction, and retention), and are working with high-performers at fast-growing technology companies like LinkedIn, HubSpot, Wellframe, and Netsmart.
Valor recipients have the opportunity to:
1) Work 1:1 with an Olympic-level, world-class Valor Performance Coach
2) Learn how the best stay on top of their game & sustain performance
3) Gain a unique competitive advantage – for themselves, their team and employer
4) Complete simple yet proven exercises backed by the latest science in performance
5) Foster a peak performance mindset and avoid burnout
And, since it’s all through our software platform, it’s measurable, scalable, and can be done anytime, anywhere.
We work with high-performing companies who want to:
*Remain competitive in a fast-changing & global business market
*Attract, develop and retain the best talent, and avoid burnout
*Bring intentionality, focus and performance mindset to teams
*Measure and improve training impact and results
*Prepare teams for big goals, changes, and pressure to perform
What were you like growing up? Personality wise, interest wise, etc.
Growing up in Hockessin, Delaware, I was a curious, active and determined kid. Let me share a brief insight into each of these to give you a sense of what I mean…
Curious. I’ve always asked a lot of questions. I’m not shy and crave understand how things work – whether that be the human body, mind, people, businesses or systems. I credit my mom for this trait. As a PhD in Chemistry, she taught me how to experiment, think critically, and try things. If one of my experiments worked, great; and if it didn’t, she would encourage me to move on. That trait has been vital to me as an entrepreneur, and I have my mom to thank.
Active. I was (and still am) always on the go. As a child, I loved to play outside, make up games, and jam as much as possible into one day. For a while my dad called me an energizer bunny. From a young age, I began getting interested in health as I realized that taking care of myself meant having more energy to do all the activities I wanted to do. I still get comments on my energy level, and would credit exercise, eating healthy, meaningful relationships and sleep.
Determined. As a child, if I wanted to do something, I would find a way. One great example of this was wanting a dog when I was 10 years old, and my parents said I was too young for the responsibility. So, I implemented a multi-phased strategy, writing persuasive essays and notes about dogs, memorizing all breeds and checking out dozen of library books, and demonstrating I would follow through by graduating from gerbils to guinea pigs to eventually a dog. It was a 3 year process, but I eventually achieved my goal and got a Cocker Spaniel (“Cozzy”) whom I cared for until I went to college. Sharing this trait is kind of funny to me because not much has changed. Being determined is necessary in starting a company.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.valorperform.com/
- Email: sarah@valorperform.com
Image Credit:
Josh Hathaway & Sam Roach
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