Brainz Magazine Exclusive Interview
Sarah Harkness is the CEO of a highly successful revenue optimization agency that has been helping businesses around the world reach their full potential for many years. Despite facing significant adversity in her life, Sarah has emerged as a shining example of resilience and strength, determined to make a positive impact on the world. As the Lotus flower blooms beautifully from the mud, Sarah has blossomed into a remarkable woman who inspires others with her incredible energy, her unwavering determination, and her unrelenting passion for making the world a better place. Throughout her career, Sarah has been known for her sharp business acumen, her unwavering commitment to excellence, and her ability to motivate and inspire others.
She has led her agency to great success, earning a reputation as a trusted partner for companies looking to improve their bottom line. But Sarah's contributions to the world go beyond just her professional accomplishments. She is also a beacon of love and compassion, always striving to make the world a better place through her actions and her words. She has dedicated her life to helping others, and her infectious spirit of positivity and kindness has touched the lives of countless people. Sarah Harkness is truly a remarkable woman, and her story is a testament to the power of perseverance and the limitless potential of the human spirit.
Sarah knows a bit about adversity. Having recovered from 26 surgeries in the past 3 years, including three brain surgeries she knows a little bit about the grit required for turning adversity into opportunity. Whilst in hospital for her last surgery, she got fed up feeling isolated and alone and went to find her people. She joined communities like the Abundance360 community (Peter Diamandis), RevGenius and Women in Revenue and set about looking to contribute.
What is your business name and how do you help your clients?
I am the CEO of Cattle Dog Digital (Revenue optimisation agency) and the founder of an organisation named Project Lotus. Project Lotus aims to bring together the best minds in revops, AI and abundance to support organisations doing exponential good in the world. Project Lotus certified organisations become a noticeable stamp of a safe place to work, and those that are committed to the benefit of our collective future.
What kind of audience do you target your business towards?
In both businesses, we work with organisations that have strong and committed missions for change. Champions for Change coalition for example, out of Australia where Project Lotus is collaborating to bring gender equality to Australia by 2030.
Is there something special that keeps you motivated?
Always, no matter what adversity I am facing (say being on TPN to feed myself through a tube) or being in a coma, choosing to remain of strong mind and determined not to let it snuff out my light. That’s my superpower….
Can you tell us more about The RevOps Academy?
The revops academy is teaching new graduates or people who are looking to contribute to their organisations in a positive way, how to actually be an internal consultant for their companies. In a way, we’re empowering them to be the change agent within their orgs instead of just engaging outside services.
Who inspires you to be the best that you can be?
I am on a mission to impact a billion people with my abundance theory. This was inspired by Steven Hawkins and Peter Diamandis. If Steven can fly multiple times in 0 gravity, and write books despite his disability, then why the heck can’t I? I figure he is one of the giants I followed to get here. His story inspired mine and Peter galvanises it all into a consumable way through his community and connects us all. I came up with a mathematical equation to explain abundance theory and why when we connect with others on the same frequency we usually get an exponential outcome (connection, or new ventures for example) so I am incredibly inspired by both of them. Another is Richard Branson whom I am meeting shortly in May and many others. I’d love to share all the incredible women that inspire me as well, but that’s likely a whole chapter in my book: guided by giants, inspired by Peter Diamandis and Steven Hawkins.
Tell us about your greatest career achievement so far!
I got to meet Obama recently which was a life highlight more than anything. I was curious to see what he was like in person, what frequency he was on and when I met him I walked straight up with my best ‘sharky’ (Sarah’s nickname) grin and said “Hi, I’m sharky”. I was met with the biggest smile a human could have (see attached photo) and as a result of the photo opp, I subsequently got a warm embrace and happily left the room for the next person. It was literally 20 seconds of achievement. And only 12 months prior, I had been in hospital nearly dead. That is nothing to sneeze at, and frankly that inspires me to keep going to what’s next. It’s now my bar, so what possibilities might come if that is the bar? I am definitely activated and on a mission now to share my story, even the hardest parts of it, with the world and see if I can’t spread some of that goodness whilst I still can. My condition is called Autonomic dysreflexia which is life-threatening and has bought me to my knees three times (near death). Otherwise, even with that diagnosis hanging over me, I pretend like it’s my rocket fuel and just live every day knowing that it is literally possibly my last. I think that everyone actually could do with a bit of that reality, we’re so incredibly lucky to have the time we have on the earth, I can only hope that my time has an impact on whoever is suffering and that they too can use it as rocket fuel to transform their lives.
What is the Revenue Optimisation Health Check?
We partner with companies and non-profits, doing incredible humanitarian work to optimise their revenue. This is done by looking deeply at the people, process and technology underpinning their mission and we remove the dysfunction. We’re the plumbers and mechanics for the organisational funnel and look to curate incredible donation and client experiences.
What’s the next big goal or project for your company and how can someone get in contact with you?
In the Project Lotus, we are looking for funding actively and always looking for partners to come with us on the journey or become activated in the process. At the same time, I am working to bring and refer more people and CEOs to my communities (like Abundance) so please reach out to sharky@cattledogdigital.com for more info.
