How to Build Something Meaningful From Your Worst Chapter (Sarah Jakes Roberts)

Aspire with Emma Grede

E13 Media

Entrepreneurship, Business, Society & Culture

4.6 • 874 Ratings

🗓️ 12 May 2026

⏱️ 68 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sarah Jakes Roberts is not a traditional entrepreneur. She’s the daughter of Bishop T.D. Jakes, one of the most prominent pastors in America. Sarah became a mother at 13—and in the years that followed, she carried the weight of that story in public, under a spotlight she never asked for. This conversation is about what happens when the thing you’re most ashamed of becomes the thing you build from. Today, Sarah co-leads a megachurch while raising a blended family of six. But she didn’t set out to lead a global movement, launch conferences that fill stadiums, host a top-ranked podcast, operate more than a dozen revenue streams, or become a bestselling author. She started a blog because she had something to say and an instinct that other women might see parts of themselves in her story. It turned out to be millions of women. In today’s conversation, Sarah sits down with Emma to talk about calling, responsibility, and a feeling she describes as being “willing to do what I’ve been trusted with.” Sarah shares: The relationship between anger and people-pleasing—and why suppressing one feeds the other What Old Thoughts look like when you've been carrying them since you were 13 How she went from a blog with a million views to a global conference and a publishing operation without a traditional business strategy What young motherhood taught her about shame and building something real from the chapter most people would want to erase Where ministry ends and business begins—and how she navigates making millions from a unique calling without losing what built it What’s something in your life that you need to move past? Drop it in the comments — we're reading. And subscribe to Aspire with Emma Grede so you don't miss what's next. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I am so excited to share my debut book with you or Start With Yourself, which is available now.
0:06.5	You might have seen the headlines, you might have seen the social, but this book is exactly
0:10.5	what I intended, a conversation that will make you think, and it's a blueprint for anyone
0:15.6	who wants success without the toxic positivity. Start with yourself is about self-leadership because wherever I go,
0:22.4	women ask me how I got to where I am. But what you really want to know is how you can get there.
0:28.2	So I'm doing what I do best, sharing and navigate keeping what's works for me in the hope that you
0:33.6	can borrow from a philosophy that has served me so well. The truth is, I'm not an expert.
0:39.0	I've just lived it. I've made the mistakes. I've had the failures and I've learned what actually
0:43.3	works. It takes a lot. It takes the most. And this book is for anyone who's tired of feeling
0:48.9	like a passenger in their own life. It's about taking responsibility for your thinking,
0:53.9	managing your emotions and getting
0:55.6	clear on your ideas and then knowing your next step. It's about picking yourself up after failure,
1:02.2	being accountable, but also forgiving yourself, pushing for wins and never ever apologising for
1:08.0	your ambition. It's also about challenging the rules that you've been told.
1:12.2	There is no perfect time. Balance isn't the goal. Alignment is and there's nothing wrong with
1:17.0	you wanting more. I'm precisely sure that the reason I've been so successful is so I can share
1:22.4	it with you. Start with yourself. My debut book is available now. Visit emmagre.com to purchase the book,
1:29.0	also available on Amazon, your favourite audio platforms and all good bookshops.
1:49.7	So today's episode is for anyone who's ever hit rock bottom and wondered if there was actually something on the other side of that. Whether it's a mistake that you can't get past or you're in the
1:55.3	middle of your worst chapter, it's a reframing of what to do with what's happened to you and how to
2:00.7	use it to your advantage as you move forward.
2:03.5	Sarah Jake's Roberts is a mother of six.
	...

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