“We did it, sister!” Brené Brown says, excitedly high-fiving me.

She comes over with her paddle, and we do a celebratory tap with our eternal nemesis— ahem, I mean, our friendly, recreational pickleball opponents.

This, my friend, is not the recounting of a fever dream.

It’s a story about how I met THE Brené Brown at pickleball last week.

​

I was in my fourth hour of playing when, post-match, a sunny-dispositioned woman comes up to me.

“You’re so fun to watch! Did you play tennis or racquetball before?”

I smile. “Yep, tennis.”

Then I do a double-take. I know that voice.

I’ve heard it on TED Talks. In conversations with Oprah.

Hell, I’ve seen a clip of her talking about pickleball and how all the haters need to fuck off (her words, I believe).

“Hey. Is your name Brené?” I ask.

She grins, with a slightly sheepish, “oh heck—I’ve been found out” look.

“Yes, but don’t tell anyone I’m here. Otherwise there’ll be 20 people waiting in the parking lot. Also, I go by BB.”

I try to steel myself and my fan-girling. Play it cool, Sarah. Play it cool.

Brené plays it even cooler. “Anyway, next round, let’s try and stack together.”

Fast forward to the second hour of our session.

Brené and I are on the same team. We’ve lost one game, shouted “shit!” and “damn!” at near misses, and given each other exactly five high-fives.

“C’mon, girlfriend, we’ve got this,” she says.

I hit a heavy spin ball serve to our male opponent, Abe.

He misses.

“Aw, I hate that serve. It’s so tricky,” Abe groans.

I look at Brené and shrug-grin. “It’s kind of an annoying serve.”

“I love it,” she says, picking up the ball and handing it to me for the next serve.
“Keep it going—and in fact, turn it up even more.”

We end up winning the game.

And did you know Brené is competitive? Because right after we finished, she told our conceding opponents, “Well, now we need to play another to see who the real winner is.”

If you know me, you know I’m going to turn this into a lesson. And muse super hard about it.

Lately, I’ve been in a rut.

All the new things about scaling my business don’t feel new anymore. They’ve lost their luster. And in a deluge of personal obligations, I’ve avoided my desk and laptop like they’re distant acquaintances.

It got to the point that I spent two sessions with my own coach whining about why I can’t just force myself to work harder. Why can’t I just push the “on” button and—voilà—productivity?

So this past week, I started experimenting with following my flow.

With what keeps me engaged in the moment.

Forget work. Forget money as the bottom line.

It’s about presence and attention, baby.

Which is how I ended up playing pickleball for five hours a day, four days a week.
Because just like when I played competitive tennis growing up, physical movement and working on a skill keep my attention.

And that’s how I ended up meeting Brené Brown who basically told me, “Turn it up, girlfriend.” On my serve. And also, on following where I feel most alive.

It’s funny, you know.

I’d been spending so much time trying to force myself back into productivity. Trying to earn my way back to creativity.

But what actually pulled me out of the fog wasn’t a plan or a hustle. It was letting myself follow what felt good.

And then Brené Brown—yes, that Brené—told me to “turn it up.”

Not in a performative, hustle-harder kind of way.
But in a “hey-that-thing-you-do-that-feels-too-weird, too-strong, too-much?” kind of way.

Do more of that.

She was talking about my serve.
But honestly? I think she was talking about my spark.

The parts of me I’ve been side-eyeing lately. The parts I’ve second-guessed.

Maybe it’s time I stop worrying if I’m being too much​
and start asking what would happen if I turned it up even more.

So this post? It’s me doing just that.

Turning up the volume on the stories I want to tell.
On the version of me who’s curious and playful and a little much—but also fully here.

Where have you been turning yourself down?
And what would it feel like to turn it up, just a little, girlfriend?

If you’ve been turning yourself down—shrinking the curious, creative, maybe-too-much parts of yourself—I want to invite you into something special.

​AuthenTech is my 12-week group coaching program for mid-senior women in tech who want to feel like energized again, in community with others who get it.

We do so with creativity and connection. Plus experimentation which feels playful + good.

Ready? We kick off the next cohort in mid-August and 2 spots are taken!
​
​Click here to learn more and apply →​

p.s. I saved the pickleball we played with because I knew the next day, I’d wonder if I’d dreamt the whole encounter!