Meet Sarah Duran | Business strategist and solopreneur coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sarah Duran and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Sarah, how do you define success?
One of the reasons I decided to work for myself was because I was sick of people telling me how much to work, when to work, where to work, and what I was worth. I wanted to be in charge of my time and pay myself what I wanted and needed every month. That meant I needed to earn what I needed in order to make those payments.
What that taught me is that success wasn’t something I could define for myself when I was letting other people control my time and worth. I had to meet my basic financial needs in order to have the space and freedom to think outside of the box about what I wanted my time, work, and life to look like. When you’re 100% in charge of the money that facilitates your life you start to think about it in different ways.
When my daughter was born three years ago, that became even more important. I needed more money AND I needed to have devoted, uninterrupted time in order to give her the life she deserves. This has been a bit of trial and error. I’ve made the mistake of taking on projects that aren’t a great fit in exchange for a period of financial certainty. What I learned was, while I need to maintain a base level of financial sustainability for my family, making concessions around the work I take on to achieve anything above that base level actually diminishes my ability to be a good parent and partner. This is both because I have less available time AND because I am not my best self when I’m working 40+ hours a week, doing work I hate, or working with crappy people.
I definitely make more money working for myself than I did working for someone else. And that money helped me see past the struggle. Once that happened, I understood that success is a feeling, not a dollar amount. Having a six-figure business or a 30-hour week isn’t how I measure my success. I measure my success by fulfillment, freedom, and the knowledge that I’m teaching my daughter to define and create those things on her own terms.
What should our readers know about your business?
I started my company, Fruition Initiatives, four years ago. I help people and organizations turn their ideas into action. I operate in two main areas – business consulting and coaching. On the business consulting side I help small- to medium-size business and entrepreneurs develop and execute organizational strategy and manage projects that they may not have in-house capacity to manage otherwise. I’ve managed all kinds of projects including podcasts, research projects, online course development and management, membership groups, surveys, collaborative networks, and many more. I’ve also helped companies establish the right systems to go from solopreneur to scale.
I also engage in individual coaching sessions and group workshops where I combine my expertise in organization, strategy, and planning with best practices in coaching, and work with solopreneurs to design and implement better systems for their businesses. I also have a course for solopreneurs to implement project management strategies in their work.
What sets Fruition Initiatives apart from others is the ability to be nimble. I partner with some of the most amazing contractors, experts, and consultants from across the country to provide the best results to my clients. This allows me to offer boutique service and cultivate personal relationships with all of my clients, which is the thing I am most proud of.
Since starting my business, I have been extremely lucky to work for the most amazing people, set my own schedule, and do work that I find incredibly meaningful. I’ve also had moments where I wasn’t sure I would have enough money to pay my mortgage the next month. Working for yourself isn’t for everyone and I know that I could have never done it without the support of my amazing family.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We’d definitely go to the mountains. We spend a lot of time outside. In the winter we’d do ice fishing or sledding, in the summer we’d go camping.
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Shout out to my husband who has unwavering faith in my abilities and always pushes me to believe in myself.
Website: https://www.fruitioninitiatives.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fru_ition/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-duran-72246817/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fruitioninitiatives