Hi, I'm Sarah.
I'm a coach, spiritual director, writer, and mother — and the founder of Compass Rose Direction. I help thoughtful, high-achieving mothers find their way through one of life's most disorienting transitions.
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The Story
Motherhood changed more than my schedule. It changed me.
After more than a decade in leadership, diplomacy, and public service, I became a mother — and found myself wrestling with questions I didn't have language for yet. Who am I now? What does ambition look like in this season? How do I honor the woman I was, while becoming the one I'm meant to be?
I'm a certified professional life coach, a Foreign Service Officer, a writer, an editor, a preacher, and an aspiring spiritual director. But more than any title, I'm a fellow traveler — someone who has sat with the same hard, beautiful questions you're sitting with right now.
Compass Rose Direction was born out of that personal journey. It's the work I needed, the conversation I longed for, and the steady companion I wish I'd had when everything I thought I knew about myself started to shift.
What I Believe
You are not broken. You are becoming.
The disorientation you feel isn't a problem to solve. It's matrescence — the profound identity shift of becoming a mother. And it deserves a guide as thoughtful as you are.
Curious, not prescriptive
No productivity hacks. No five-step formulas. Just thoughtful questions and the space to actually answer them.
Rooted in story
Your life is not a case study. It's a story still being written — and you get to be the author.
Whole-person work
Ambition and faith. Career and calling. Mothering and becoming. We don't leave any of it at the door.
The Framework
The Compass Rose Method
A guided journey designed for thoughtful mothers who don't want a shortcut — they want a path that actually leads somewhere true.
Understand
Name the identity shift of matrescence and what it's asking of you.
Clarify
Get honest about your values, your longings, and what success actually means now.
Integrate
Reconcile the many parts of yourself — mother, leader, believer, dreamer.
Discern & Act
Make the decisions you've been avoiding — with steadiness, courage, and clarity.
Words & Writing
The Inkstand Agency
For more than a decade, I've made my living with words — as a diplomat, preacher, editor, and writer. The Inkstand Agency is where that work continues: thoughtful writing, careful editing, and strategic communications for leaders and organizations who want their words to mean something.
A separate offering. The same care, craft, and commitment to story.
Learn MoreWhat I write & edit
- Books, essays & long-form writing
- Sermons, talks & keynotes
- Brand voice & messaging strategy
- Executive ghostwriting & editing
Let's find your way forward — together.
If something in you is shifting and you're not sure where it's leading, I'd love to talk. A Discovery Call is a warm, no-pressure conversation about where you are and what might be next.
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