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Passionate about fostering safe, inclusive communities, she runs her听 own consultancy - oh, and she also speaks Arabic and has volunteered as a zookeeper.听 Here, Sarah shares her version of 'success'.

1. Find out who you are, and do that on purpose

Sarah grew up reading Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes detective stories, and was drawn to studying law. When she didn鈥檛 get the marks, she took a detour which led to a job investigating serious and organised crime. She says knowing her purpose keeps her on track.

鈥淚 had a fairly poor childhood and moved to university in the city, to set myself up,鈥� Sarah says. 鈥淚 did an Arts degree, studied Middle East issues and humanitarian subjects 鈥� I was interested in how humans think and behave.鈥� When she returned to study criminology, a fellow student (now a lifelong friend) suggested she join them at the NSW Crime Commission.

鈥淎nd it was the first time I contributed to something with a significant purpose for the community,鈥� Sarah says. 鈥淚f you can find work that aligns with your values, it helps you to live your purpose. Online personality tests are useful for understanding what drives you. In the immortal words of Dolly Parton, 鈥楩ind out who you are, and do that on purpose.鈥欌��

2. Grow to your full potential

Key moments of growth for Sarah have come from roles that initially seemed outside her comfort zone 鈥� such as听 investigating Islamic State crimes in Iraq and working for the United Nations Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the Hague.

鈥淚t was the first tribunal to investigate a post鈥憈errorist incident 鈥� so it was unique, but fairly dangerous,鈥� Sarah says. 鈥淭hen when I worked with the NSW Department of Justice, it was the first time that young Australians had been involved in terrorism, travelling to Iraq and Syria. I had to apply my practitioner鈥檚 experience to government policy, and assess young people to explore how to intervene to help the.

鈥淔or me, a growth mindset is important. It鈥檚 good to understand your strengths, and where you need to grow 鈥� then grow to your full potential.

鈥滻n a highly challenging moment, Sarah led a team during the 2014 Lindt Caf茅 siege (for which she later received a NSW听 Police Commissioner鈥檚 Unit Citation). 鈥淲e wanted to resolve the situation peacefully, but it wasn鈥檛 going to happen in that case, and that was hard.

鈥淗onestly, I feel like I鈥檓 living outside my comfort zone. But the secret is that nobody really knows what they鈥檙e doing, and it鈥檚 really all about us just trying to do this together.鈥�

3. Sow seeds that help others

鈥淭o keep your 鈥榮tress bucket鈥� from overflowing, it鈥檚 important to learn what fills it up and what empties it,鈥� Sarah says.

鈥淚 prioritise doing at least one thing a week that I enjoy. That鈥檚 how I chose to volunteer at Taronga Zoo 鈥� to give back and spend time in nature.

鈥淚t鈥檚 about making sure I put time in my diary for the important things first 鈥� everything else will work itself out. 鈥淚f I can get these three things aligned, I can wake up happy about the job I鈥檓 doing 鈥� which is important because it makes up such a large part of our life.鈥澨�

Written by Cassandra Hill for听Sydney Alumni Magazine. Photography supplied.

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