In this Business Blast podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Sarah Howanski, owner of White Label Consulting, who specializes in business development for customer‑service industries. Sarah shares her most impactful personal story: transitioning from a celebrity hair‑and‑makeup artist to a top‑selling Mercedes‑Benz salesperson by relentlessly outworking everyone, studying 85 hours a week, and selling 18 cars in her first month, eventually becoming the #3 salesperson for three years. She emphasizes that change must start with the business owner for any organizational transformation to occur. Her broader business advice stresses continuous growth to keep staff engaged and the business healthy, likening it to any relationship that thrives on learning. When reflecting on her younger self, she advises saving more money and pursuing specialty classes aligned with personal interests. Sarah identifies balance as the core of happiness, cites Harry Potter as her favorite book for its lesson on mental toughness, and shares Walt Disney’s quote, “If you can dream it, you can do it,” as a guiding principle. The episode concludes with her Instagram handle, Ninja Sarah H‑O‑W, for listeners to connect with her online.
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Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode. All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Sarah Hawanski with us. She is the owner of White Label Consulting and she does business development for customer service related industries. So welcome to the show, Sarah.
Hi Tyler, thanks for having me.
Of course, pumped to have you on. Uh, we'll dive into the first one, Sarah. The first question I have for you is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Best story by far for me was when I left. I used to do celebrity hair and makeup for high-end celebrities. I left that industry and I wanted to go into sales. I started selling cars at Mercedes-Benz in Fort Washington. And when I started, I didn't know what horsepower was. They wouldn't hire me. I just, I knew I wanted to work for them. So I kept calling and calling and stalking my owner till he eventually hired me. And when I started, I mean, I think I got made fun of by every single sales rep there. Like, oh, she's not gonna last. She can't do it. I had people tell me to go home, and I sold 18 cars my first month in training. And as I, you know, people always like, how did you do that? I don't understand. I literally just like locked myself in a room that whole month and studied every free moment I had. I worked harder. I outworked everybody. I worked 85 hours a week every week, and I rose, you know, I was the number 3 salesperson for the 3 years I was there. Which is like unheard of in that kind of industry. And just, I think for me, that's my favorite story in business. It just kind of makes you really realize experience doesn't matter. It's really about the work you're putting in and like if you really want it and you're really going after it.
Yes. And what's the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
If you are not willing to change something about yourself, and that is every staff member and the owner, but it starts with the owner, then nothing in the business is going to change. And it's probably the hardest thing I have tried to relay to the owners. They want to stay exactly the same and have their business change, but it— they have to change for your business to change.
That's huge. That's very— I like that. And what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.
I would say overall would be growth in business is very healthy, but it also keeps your staff happy. People get very complacent, and I'm not saying if you reach the point of success where you're happy, that's fine, good for you, but you need to always be growing. It keeps things fresh, it keeps you fresh, and that's really what makes a successful business healthy. It makes it— it's like anything, any relationship, you want to feel like you're learning and becoming better.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
It definitely would be to save more money, for sure. And I would have taken a lot more specialty classes instead of focusing so much on just overall education. I would have taken more classes I was actually interested in.
And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
I would say it's definitely balance. I mean, I know all people say that, but it just, it just is. You have to have a balance in life.
And what's the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
So I find this question hilarious because it's a ridiculous answer, but I don't, I don't care. It's definitely Harry Potter. It's my favorite book. I know it's ridiculous. But the reason why I think the message is so important is because the mental toughness that comes with someone who's destined to be great is really like that. If you're destined to do something great, you go through the worst crap in the world. It's just the way it is. So when people are going through hard times, I mean, lots of times it's because they're destined for something great.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
It's definitely Walt Disney. If you can dream it, you can do it. And it's because, I mean, it's just true. If you can visualize something in your head, you can make it happen.
Yes. Thank you so much for coming on. The last question I have for you before we let you go is, where's the best place for people to find you online?
Probably the easiest place would be Instagram. Perfect. And that is Ninja Sarah H-O-W. So Sarah with no H, and then the last 3 letters is H-O-W.
Perfect. Thank you again for joining us. We appreciate it.
Thanks, Tyler. Appreciate it. The podcast you just heard was published with Anchor. Got something you want to say to the creator of this show? Send them a voice message using the Anchor app, free for iOS and Android.
