At the End of Her Rope, Entrepreneur Changes Trajectory After the GLS

For many leaders attending The Global Leadership Summit (GLS), this event often finds them in the middle of some of their deepest struggles both personally and professionally. Yet, through their experience, they often encounter a fresh perspective or new idea about who they are and where they are going as a leader. It is through this experience where the GLS becomes more than an event—it becomes a catalyst that can change the trajectory of their lives.

This was the case for Dr. Kris Sargent, who attended the GLS for the first time in 2019. At the time, she was at the end of her rope with her business. “The very thing I was trying to promote in my practice—health—got buried under my fear and ego,” said Kris. “It nearly destroyed me and my business. But the God I grew up with and left behind did not forget about me. At the end of my rope, God met me again at the GLS. During those two days, I found my faith and my fire for Him again.”

At the end of my rope, God met me again at the GLS.

Since her experience at the GLS in 2019, Kris started picking up the pieces of her life and facing the challenges in front of her. Two years later, she has completely turned around her business and personal life. “I think about the impact GLS had on my life almost every day!” exclaimed Kris. “My passion was reignited, my vision was refocused, and most importantly, I found my faith again. I have transformed all parts of my life over the last two years, and really must express my gratitude for the GLS. Allowing God back in my life has been miraculous!”

As we caught up with Kris again since the last time we connected with her in 2019, we learned that her turnaround includes moving, getting out of debt, turning her business around, connecting more deeply with her family and local community, starting a podcast, and writing her second book.

Discover the biggest lessons she’s learned along the way over the last two years.

Letting Go of the “How”

Facing financial debt, Kris wondered how she was ever going to work through it. “My debt was keeping me from moving forward,” she said.

However, the in early 2020, the pandemic presented her with an opportunity to move to Tennessee. “This was ALL God’s doing, it was such a blessing! I had been in Chicago for over 30 years and had been wanting to move south. God’s timing was perfect. The sale of my house not only paid off my debt, it allowed me to take part of the summer off and spend time with my son during his travel baseball season.” Kris learned to stop forcing certain outcomes and leave the “How” to God. Instead, she allowed herself to be led by the flow of the Holy Spirit.

Slowing Down

…did I want to be a ‘human doing’ or a ‘human being’?

In the process of “letting go and letting God”, Kris was able to slow down and pay closer attention to what God had in store for her life. “If I was running at 100 miles an hour before, I went down to zero or maybe 10 miles an hour,” said Kris. “I started to realize how I was showing up—did I want to be a ‘human doing’ or a ‘human being’? I had to decelerate some things in my life. I learned that I needed to be very careful about what I consume, especially on social media. I had to back up and decide to love people where they are—I didn’t have to be right all the time. And as I slowed down, the things I valued most became more of my focus—my faith and my kids.

“Trust is my big word this year for 2022. It’s about continuing to rest and trust that God is there holding you the whole time. In self-reliance, there is little faith. If you don’t trust God, you become self-reliant and you don’t trust God to do the hard things. But we all know He does the harder things when we get out of the way. I used to think He couldn’t help me get out of thousands of dollars in debt, or he couldn’t find me the love of my life…but He can, and He did!”

Learning, Failing, Growing

Slowing down and changing locations gave Kris an opportunity to reevaluate her business in new ways that she otherwise wouldn’t have considered. Starting in 2021, she launched her new business model which included group coaching, an update on her pricing plan, and greater incorporation of her faith. “I really changed a lot around my business model,” said Kris. “Some of it worked and some if it didn’t, but as I trusted God in the process, I learned a lot along the way.”

It’s out of love, not out of guilt or shame or any other thing, that you begin to see change.

One of the biggest changes was bringing faith more into her practice. “For a long time, I felt like God has been leading me to bring faith and health together in my practice,” said Kris. “Perhaps I could teach people in the same way financial planners teach about being good stewards of our finances. If we’re not treating our bodies well or being good stewards of our body, then how is the Holy Spirit going to live, breathe, and move in us? This was clearly a Holy Spirit moment for me.

“One of the things that became apparent to me was how the fitness industry has a lot of shame and guilt around it. People say things like, ‘I feel bad because I didn’t walk today’ or ‘I feel bad because I ate this brownie’ and on and on. They go on what I call ‘the vicious cookie cycle’ where they eat a cookie out of frustration, feel good for a minute, then are consumed by guilt and frustration, and eat another cookie.

“However, the use of guilt and shame to motivate people is what Jesus came to get rid of. I learned, you can pin all that guilt and shame to the cross. So, I want to approach health from a position of stewardship, obedience, and love. It’s out of love for God, and what He did for us, then love for yourself and others that can help you make better decisions. It’s out of love, not out of guilt or shame or any other thing, that you begin to see change. And not temporary change of a fad diet, true transformation can take place in those moments.”

Designed for Community

In the process of moving and changing her business model, Kris realized the importance and value of community. “Having so much time with the pandemic and the move gave me the time to look at the failures that had happened from about 2012 to 2019, before I came to the GLS,” said Kris. “I realized almost all those decisions were made on my own and culminated in the debt I had and the negativity that was around me. It was that reliance on myself that created the mess I was in. But out of the ashes, flowers are starting to pop up, creating a new garden.

It was that reliance on myself that created the mess I was in.

“I’ve met so many new friends and I have a great neighborhood of people around me now that I didn’t have and wouldn’t let happen before, because of my own guilt and shame. To be surrounded by a group of people who support me and love me is incredible. I used to be in the self-reliant position saying, ‘I can do it all.’ But I realized that’s not how God designed us to live. It was a hard transition to go from being so self-reliant to being in community. It’s something I have to be aware of every day.”

Investing in Yourself

Kris realized the value of investing in herself in things like the GLS to help her evaluate where she’s at and where she’s going. “Events like the GLS, give you a moment to disrupt your normal routine, and help you pay attention to important questions like: What’s going on in your life? Where is God on the priority list? What things are happening in your world that are distracting you from your relationship to God? What are your relationships like? How is your business really doing? What do your finances look like? What does your spiritual life look like? Does your health look like? Who are you? Where are you? Where are your blind spots?

The GLS is time to pause, to rest, and trust what God has in store.

“The GLS is time to pause, to rest, and trust what God has in store. That’s what I’ve learned out of the investment I put in myself. When you surround yourself with people like that and you learn from others at GLS, you experience moments where you can step back, slow down, take inventory, and grow.”

What might happen in your life through The Global Leadership Summit?

Find out! Get your tickets to join us at The Global Leadership Summit on August 4-5, 2022 at GlobalLeadership.org/Summit.