Heartbreak, Hustle, Hope + Resiliency with Sarah Michelle Boes (part 2)

Send us Fan MailFire often looks like numbers on a dashboard—until life forces you to measure heat a different way. Sarah joins us to share how selling her exam-prep company collided with a late pregnancy diagnosis: her daughter Meadow’s tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia. The celebration turned into a sprint through cardiology consults, oxygen monitors, and an unforgettable ICU stretch that included an emergency re-opening of Meadow’s chest and a brain bleed. It’s a raw, unflinching account of what it means to make the right decision when every option is bad and time is a luxury.We talk candidly about identity under pressure. Sarah goes back to work six weeks postpartum, learning in real time which parts of leadership bend and which must break. She pushes back on being boxed in as “just a mom,” while discovering the power of a company designed to run without a single key person. Then the story pivots: advocacy becomes a throughline. With Conquering CHD, Sarah helps reauthorize the Congenital Heart Futures Act, championing long-term research and better outcomes as more children with CHD live into adulthood. We explore emerging innovations like transcatheter valve replacements that could reduce future open-heart surgeries and change the trajectory for thousands of families.There’s another turn—one too many founders will recognize. After 18 years of misdiagnosed symptoms, Sarah receives an OCD diagnosis and enters intensive treatment. She explains why exposure and response prevention works when talk therapy can backfire, and how her definition of success shifted from revenue milestones to sustainable presence: being a steady parent, a clear-eyed advocate, and a writer building language for hard things. She previews her memoir and children’s series, including Meadow and Her Four Leaf Clover Heart, a tender reframing of rarity and resilience for young readers.The Quiet Gift: A Journey of Self Worth and Resilience is now available for download as an audible.  Check it out!Support the showSubscribe to Our Weekly ThinkLetter FacebookInstagramCheck out our Book Series:The Quiet Gift: A Journey of Self Worth and ResilienceMagical Mornings JournalDisclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for general informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The co-hosts of this podcast are not medical professionals. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on this podcast. Reliance on any information provided by the podcast hosts or guests is solely at your own risk.Pamela Cass is a licensed broker with Kentwood Real EstateNatalie Davis is a licensed broker with Keller Williams Realty Downtown, LLC