Listen to the interview here!
Sarah Reese: Hi, Toni. Thank you so much.
Toni: You’re welcome. Sarah, take a moment and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Sarah: Thank you. I’m married, the mother of twins who have just finished college, and the President of Informed Educational Solutions. You can find us online at www.myiesolutions.com – educational counseling at a personal, individual level for every age and stage of life.
Toni: Thank you very much for being part of the Get Inspired! Project. Let’s go into the first question. What does inspiration mean to you?
Sarah: Inspiration is that thing that launches you out of bed in the morning, that wakes you up in the middle of the night and has you jotting on a piece of paper on the side of your bed things you have to remember to do tomorrow, and things you want to think about, or things you want to look up. Inspiration is what makes the day fly by for me, because I’m so connected always with what’s going on with my students and thinking about them as I have my errands, have appointments, and see clients through the day.
Toni: So inspiration is really about motivation for you.
Sarah: I think that’s right. It’s energizing to me. I see inspiration as that spark that gets you from A to B.
Toni: How do you put that into practice here in Berks County?
Sarah: I get so energized by the people I meet here. I think so many people in this area have extraordinary stories. You have a county that’s primary business is agriculture, even though it might not seem so when you’re in Wyomissing or in Reading, and you have people on farms, in offices, in homes around this county, many of whom are doing amazing things. You have Olympic athletes coming out of Wilson High School, performing artists, writers – there’s so much going on here.
Toni: There certainly are, that’s for sure, and everybody does have a story to tell, don’t they? But when you’re inspired and you are energized and it motivates you, what do you find yourself doing? Give me an example of what happens when you get that spark?
Sarah: Such a great question. For me, that translates always into action, and that action is often writing, picking up the phone, or doing some research online that helps me see the exact program or a university or a major that might fit a particular student I’m working with. I try to translate inspiration right away into action.
Toni: And this is on someone else’s behalf though, correct?
Sarah: Yes; and of course on my own, too. We live on a farm in Sinking Spring, so walking, being outside, all of that means a lot to me.
Toni: Sarah, that’s a good point. You’ve spoken a little bit about how you’re inspired work-wise and how it motivates you and the day seems to go so quickly for you when you’re working on behalf of your students. Can you remember the last time when you were inspired personally?
Sarah: Probably yesterday.
Toni: What happened?
Sarah: I like to do a lot physically, athletically. I’ve been involved with riding horses for many, many, many years and still keep horses of my own on the farm. Looking at those horses is inspiring to me. You see that tremendous power that they have and ability, and yet their willingness to kind of work with you on a goal and training towards a purpose. That’s very exciting to me.
Toni: It sounds it. That sounds very cool, actually. Who in Berks County inspires you?
Sarah: I have to go back to the individual people. I certainly am seeing some specific faces in front of me. People involved in nonprofit who wouldn’t really have to be, who don’t have to give back, but choose to give back. Those are probably the most inspirational people to me. People who stay involved all the way through their life span into their 80s, again, active with nonprofits, involved with their families, not just choosing to stay at home and decide to be a shut-in.
Toni: It’s that energy moving forward.
Sarah: Yes.
Toni: And when you witness that in a person, that inspires you.
Sarah: It really does.
Toni: Are there certain individuals you want to give a shout out to that inspire you the most?
Sarah: Sure. I’ve got a couple right here in mind, and neither is expecting it. One would be Susan Fromm, who is so involved with the Caron Foundation, and just a wonderful person, gives a lot to the community and has had great influence on one of my children, too, as a role model.
Toni: Anybody else?
Sarah: The other is Boots Fehr, first and former female President of the Berks History Center. She recently finished with that role at age 83, living alone on her farm, taking care of her animals, reading, involved in nonprofits, involved with her family, writing, researching every day.
Toni: Wow! Those are some great people, and great examples. Again, the common theme for you is that energy, and both people that you’re talking about have a definite energy around them, don’t they?
Sarah: Yes, they do.
Toni: How about some of the students? Do you find yourself, with the work that you do, that the students inspire you? You might inspire them with information and helping them, but then do they reciprocate that for you?
Sarah: They really do. I work with some amazing, amazing kids, some of whom don’t really fully understand how amazing they are. I can think of one young woman specifically who is applying to college now for next year. She’s done an amazing amount of work with Voices in the Reading Eagle, writing almost in every edition for the last three years. She’s involved with WEEU radio. She does this on top of an A record and terrifically difficult courses. I’m just amazed by someone like that.
Toni: What energy it takes to stay focused on all that, right?
Sarah: Yes; and how lucky she is at her age to know what she loves.
Toni: That’s true, because a lot of people do not realize how important that is.
Sarah: Right.
Toni: Sarah, what would you like legacy to be?
Sarah: Certainly I see something in my own children I’d love to pass on, but again with these individual students, that belief that when they dig in, care, and have an informed direction, they really can go almost anywhere. They don’t have to accept limits. I see in my own children, our son is living in Arizona, our daughter is trying to launch a country/folk music career, just graduating from college. She performs a lot around here, and I just love that she’s going out on something so very, very different.
Toni: Fantastic. Sarah, what a great interview this was. Thank you so much for showing up for the Get Inspired! Project.
Sarah: It’s really an exciting one, Toni. Thank you for doing it.
