Sarah Barnes-Humphrey: the conversation

Mornings in the Lab · Interview transcript

A lot of people are one phone call away from freefall. Job gone, plan gone, pride gone. You still have to act normal. You don't just lose money, you lose identity. You lose the part of you that knew what tomorrow was supposed to look like. If you've ever had to restart in silence, this is for you. Today's guest has lived that reset. And she rebuilt from the bottom. Sarah Barnes Humphrey grew up in her family freight forwarding business, Ice Corp Logistics. She spent years building a career in supply chain. She reached director level. Then the company closed in late 2017. The foundation cracked. The next chapter got rough. She spent a year struggling to land interviews. She took two part-time jobs. One of them was mopping floors at a tennis club. And that whole time she carried a secret. She had a lifelong terror of public speaking. But instead of joining Toast Masters to face that fear, she hired a talent agent for reps. She ended up on live TV twice. Then she built Let's Talk Supply Chain. It launched in 2016 and rebranded in 2018. It now reaches over 1.5 million professionals. She didn't build it from comfort. She built it from nights where self-worth was the real supply she couldn't afford to lose. So, if you're rebuilding right now, listen close. This isn't a highlight reel. It's a real blueprint for finding your voice again. Nation, please welcome Sarah to Mornings in the Lab. Sarah Barnes Humphrey, welcome to Mornings in the Lab with Keith, John, and friends. >> Morning. What did I get myself into? Thanks for having me. >> I was involved with inviting you to the show. True story. And I want to tell you why your resilience struck me. Because you know, we talk on the show to a lot of folks — and the reason we get out of bed is to help people achieve greatness and help people achieve goals that maybe they're stuck with. You had a great job, great career, and all of a sudden you lost it all. >> Gone. Boom. >> Yeah. But you didn't give up. >> It was 10 days before my 37th birthday. >> You didn't give up, though. And most people will. And I'm like, I got to go talk to Sarah because I got to find some inspiring words for her to help our community to learn from Sarah — as to why, what kept you going? >> I've had this question asked a couple of times because obviously the book came out in October and you know it goes through the story of where I started and what that looked like and everything that I had been through up until that point. And I had started this podcast back in 2016 and by the time that the company closed its doors, I had companies paying to come on the show. So, to be honest with you, I kept it going out of obligation just to keep myself busy. I had a couple of other side hustles, but I had obligation to those folks who had paid to come on the show. And so that's kind of what kept me up — or got me up in the morning. And you know, there would be periods through the day where I'd be on the couch crying, but then I'd get back to doing some work and trying to find a job. And, you know, it's just part of the human experience.