An Interview with Sarah Brightwood, President of Rancho La Puerta

Apr 6, 2021

Sarah L. Brightwood is the president of Rancho La Puerta, a world-renowned wellness resort and spa. She reflects on her upbringing and the privilege of being raised by a village in a nurturing and joyful pace of life. Sarah has the role of a dedicated healer with a profound connection to the land of the ranch, stewarding both the people and the flora/fauna with a spiritual touch. Her desire to ensure fairness and equity ripples outward from the Ranch and touches everyone-the Staff, guests, and community. She believes that taking care of the Staff , empowering them, and allowing them to grow within the Ranch will allow them to embody the Ranch’s culture, making the guests feel connected to the Ranch and nature. 

In This Episode:

• [01:43] Meet Sarah as she opens up about how her childhood and growing up in a mixed cultural heritage contributed to her being a conscious leader.
• [10:38] Choosing the leadership that continues the culture, language, and DNA of the Ranch..
• [17:57] It is important that leaders, especially during these vulnerable times, support, help, and lift each other up.
• [23:08] The values of self that we learned going through COVID.
• [27:45] The actions Sarah took with her Staff when COVID forced the Ranch to close.
• [33:07] Having a holistic approach to running Rancho La Puerta

Key Takeaways:

• There is no one right way to do things.
• To start living in a culture of conscious awareness, you need to stop and look at the unhealthy patterns that are repeating themselves.
• We need to strengthen our microbiomes and our digestive fire. We can only do that if we have some downtime, a place where we can hum to our Vagus nerve, and do all of those practices that bring us back to the center.
• Having the ability to return to the center when you get thrown off, to respond, to change, adapt, and to listen to non-human instructions is much greater than any individual.
• COVID has taught us that the illusion that we live in these separate boxes, in separate houses or separate bodies or separate countries, no longer holds.

Resources:

Website: https://rancholapuerta.com/
Rancho La Puerta LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rancho-la-puerta/

Meet Sarah Brightwood

Sarah L. Brightwood is the president of Rancho La Puerta, a world-renowned wellness resort and spa located in Baja, California, Mexico. She is the daughter of the founders of the Ranch, Deborah Szekely and Edmond Szekely. Sarah spoke Spanish before English and was lovingly cared for by the Mexican families working at the Ranch. She continues the family legacy of tending to the same land for almost 90 years and continues to oversee major upgrades at the Ranch that have kept up with changing times. During the COVID lockdown, they worked on a huge project called The Residence, which is an eco-village that’s designed to support health and wellbeing.