[an] engaging, inspiring tale of self-discovery…” by New York Times best-selling author Kathleen Flinn and is such a juicy read, you’ll think it’s chick lit!

Sara’s story is not one to be missed! Sara worked for small companies and huge companies before she realized that she preferred yoga mats and bare feet to cubicles and high heels. Learn a little more about Sara in this interview where she talks about her experience writing her first book, what she wants readers to take away, and more!

 

What inspired you to write Where in the OM Am I?

At some indiscernible point I realized I had all of these too-crazy-to-make-up stories and I just had to share them. The heart of the matter is that I love storytelling—I love hearing stories, telling stories, and laughing so hard my face hurts. I’m really excited to share these bad-boss, crazy corporate, and loopy yoga people stories!

Is there a message in your memoir that you want readers to grasp?

First, I want to wildly entertain readers. But on a more serious note, there are several messages I hope to get across. I think that feeling stuck in a career that you don’t like is something a lot of us can relate to. We feel stuck but we don’t know what else to do. Or we do know what we’d like to do, but are afraid or feel it’s impossible to actually do for various and sundry (legitimate) reasons. The message of my book is that it IS possible to do something that you love, but it may not look exactly like what you thought it would.

The other messages that I hope come through is that women can be really awful to other women. I’m not sure why. But I do know that if we’re going to succeed and ever make more than $0.70 for every male dollar, we’re going to have to come together and support each other. No more back-stabbing, undermining, and feeling threatened by other women. We can and should be each other’s greatest allies.

Lastly, there’s the theme of exclusion in the book. We’ve all felt excluded at some point. I felt like I couldn’t be a “yoga person” for a long time because I didn’t dress in swirly clothes and wear Patchouli and talk about my inner essence. I spent most of my yoga training wondering what on earth my fellow trainees were talking about. I think a lot of people feel left out of various groups or cliques (yoga or whatever) because they think you have to dress or look or talk a certain way. I say to heck with that. I got to the place where I am what I am and I hope everyone else gets to that place too, and if reading about my path helps someone else in that way, then I am a happy writer.

Describe the experience writing your first book.

Long—it took me four years. Exciting. Tedious. Patience-testing. Frustrating. Exhiliarating. Hilarous. Enraging. Basically the full gamut of emotions.

What was the hardest part of writing for you?

The necessity of being patient…very, very patient. You have to be toe-curlingly patient and disciplined and downright gutsy to go over and over and over something. And just when you want to throw your hands up and say, “I cannot go over this one more time!” you will probably have to go over it one hundred more times. That was tough, but also necessary.

What questions have you always wanted to be asked in an interview? How would you answer those questions?

1. “If you hadn’t gone to yoga training, what else might you have done?”

Why I’m so glad you asked, I would’ve gone to culinary school! I LOVE to cook great food for people who love to eat.

 2. “What do you love about teaching yoga?”

Why I’m so glad you asked this too! I love helping people. I love to watch them overcome their own hurdles—mental or physical or both—and get to a better/calmer place on their mat. When that goes off the mat as well, it’s even cooler.

Thank you, Sara!