Living a life of working adventures.
I let curiosity lead me.
I find comfort in change.
I love to find something new to conquer.
For over 15 years I have been exploring, learning, growing.
Collecting experiences, creating an amazing life, and unknowingly building a brand.
In my early twenties, my sister was a live-in estate manager for her employers’ second home. I spent a lot of time with her there; I helped clean the house, accompanied the Principals’ teenage daughter to dinner when she was home from boarding school, helped with transportation logistics, assisted with parties. I liked what I saw, and instinctively knew, this is what I wanted to do. I started my career residential property management, learning how to care for properties, managing vendors and staff, tenant relations, all while the original dream quietly waited. For a decade I focused on my career as a property manager, never coming across any opportunities in estate management. I chalked it up to “little ole Rhode Island”, too small for my big dream.
Starting to feel restless and a bit burnt-out, I decided to take a sabbatical. I just felt the need to move, even though on paper, I had no right to be making such a decision. I leapt anyway. I outfitted an old SUV with a rooftop tent and spent a year of overland travel across 44 states and parts of Mexico. It was the kind of trip that just resets everything. It led me, completely accidentally, absolutely serendipitously, to a live-in caretaker position on an 11-acre equestrian estate in Las Vegas.
I dreamt it, prepared for it, gave up on it, and then stumbled right into it. Turns out the universe was still working for me even after I had let the dream go.
After eight years on the ranch I was ready for a new challenge. It was hard to leave what had become home, but I leapt again.
What followed was eighteen rocky months of trying to find my footing in the Bay Area of California. When the job I moved there for didn’t work out, I spent months turning down opportunities. I started to realize the red flag warnings weren’t solely for the waters in the Bay Area. I came up with the idea of offering my expertise to Principals who weren’t interested in hiring a full-time estate manager but needed help controlling the chaos of their homes. So I created my brand and started networking. I signed a 5-month contract with my first client and over the course of that time solidified that I love what I do, but I did not love doing it there. So I leapt again.
North Carolina this time, following a memory from all those years ago on the road, those Blue Ridge Mountains I had fallen for a decade earlier. I didn’t want to change careers, but I needed to change locations. I took a chance on a startup offering flexible apartment rentals, a role that sent me back to my rental management roots. It got me where I needed to go and taught me the ins and outs of the corporate world. I barely had time to sleep let alone look for a new estate opportunity, but as my life goes, the universe brought it to me. Six months after landing in Raleigh, I was packing up my car for a new opportunity in McLean, VA.
Every leap looked reckless from the outside, but every landing taught me something I couldn’t have learned any other way and I have been extremely grateful for every bump, every lesson, every person who crossed my path.
The next bump appeared shortly after my 1st anniversary, my employer let me know that the McLean estate was being put on the market. I had finally just found my place, and now it was in jeopardy. I thought hard about what my next move should be – and for once in my life, I decided to sit still. It has been 2 years since I got that news and I am still here. I am committed to seeing my employer through the sale, and when that chapter closes, I know exactly what comes next: It’s time for roots.
Sara Polaski 