When Playing It Safe Isn’t Secure: Sarah Michelle Boes on Self-Trust, Fear, and Going All In

Read the full episode breakdown + show notes: https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/blog/moving-goalpost-identity-gapWhat if security doesn’t come from playing it safe — but from trusting yourself to handle what comes next?
In this Season 3 episode of The Self-Trust Solution Podcast, Dawn sits down with Sarah Michelle Boes, nurse practitioner, educator, and founder of a seven-figure healthcare education business that scaled rapidly once she trusted herself enough to go all in.
Sarah shares the honest before-and-after of self-trust — including the year she kept a full-time teaching job while building her business, not because it was aligned, but because it felt “responsible.” Exhausted and afraid to leap, she eventually realized she was holding onto security that was costing her more than it gave.
When she finally trusted herself enough to leave, everything shifted.
In this conversation, we explore:

• How fear can disguise itself as responsibility
• Why real security comes from self-trust, not safety
• What changed internally when Sarah went all in on herself
• Leading and deciding in high-stakes environments like healthcare
• The intersection of self-trust, mental health, motherhood, and meaning
• Why you don’t need everything figured out before you begin

This episode is for entrepreneurs, leaders, and professionals who feel stretched thin, stuck between fear and possibility, and quietly wondering if the way they’re holding their life and work is sustainable.
It’s a powerful reminder that self-trust doesn’t require certainty — it requires willingness.
⏱️ Episode Chapters
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro01:24 Origin Story During COVID03:11 Rapid Launch and Validation05:57 Fear, Safety, and Quitting09:24 Success Discomfort and Mindset10:45 Delegation and Team Trust14:24 Community and Self Care18:00 Selling the Business and Meadow22:20 Redefining Success and Self Trust24:50 Breadcrumbs, Books, and Impact27:47 Closing Takeaways and Links

🔗 Resources & Next Steps

✨Connect with Sarah Michelle Boes

Tune into her Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/real-deal-nurse-practitioner-club/id1552285929

Connect with her on IG: https://www.instagram.com/sarahmichellenp/?hl=en

Connect with her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-michelle-287616232/

✨ Explore the Self-Trust Identity Map:

https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/identity-map

✨ Learn more about Claimed:

https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/claimed

📩 Have a self-trust story to share?

https://www.theselftrustcoach.com/yourstory