Sarah Jakes Roberts is no stranger to expertly mastering career-and-life balance. The businesswoman, motivational speaker, pastor and bestselling author, who just penned her latest book, “Woman Evolve: Break Up with Your Fears and Revolutionize Your Life,” has been breaking boundaries her whole life, setting the path for women to face their fears and insecurities to live the life they’ve always wanted. Jakes Roberts brought her contagious energy and words of wisdom to our weekly interview over on TMRW x TODAY and shared the secrets — and challenges — she’s faced in her journey. Here’s what we learned!
1. She wasn’t always so confident
While Jakes Roberts is known for helping women bring out their inner confidence through her Woman Evolve movement, she admits that confidence hasn’t always come easy to her.
“I used to wear my insecurities on my sleeve and thought people were also judging me. I became a mom at an early age, at 14 years old, and I think what makes being a teen mom unique is you’re walking around with the evidence that you went through something. I looked for so many things to try to make me look better. No matter what people see, it’s what I see when I look at myself; I work on what I see when I look in the mirror.”
2. She believes “soul care” is the new self-care
It’s no secret that “self-care” has been thrown in our faces this past year more than ever. But Jakes Roberts encourages women to go beyond self-care activities — like going to the gym or getting your hair done — to reach a deeper level of introspection that focuses on how we’re actually doing inside in our hearts.
“When we practice soul care, it helps us create better boundaries for our life. A lot of times, we have boundaries based on how we used to be, but soul care allows us to have the opportunity to determine how we get to show up in the world. This has to be daily because we’re not the same people every day. This helps me feel more confident from the inside out.”
3. Her biggest fear was once public speaking
Shocking, right?!? Despite the fact that Jakes Roberts speaks to thousands of people during her motivational talks, it took her a long time to get over her fear of simply speaking to strangers. She admits she was always worried her words would “come out wrong” and she wouldn’t say what she exactly meant. But, she found a way to move past it.
“Overcoming my fear of public speaking has allowed me to help other people and help them see themselves and God in a different way. I got to the point where the importance of what I had to say overshadowed my fear. When I’m connecting with others, I want them to experience freedom and confidence and be the best version of themselves so much that I overcame myself in order to get it done.”
4. She’s a co-pastor with her husband
Jakes Roberts is the daughter of Bishop T.D. Jakes and pastors a dynamic community of artists and professionals in Hollywood alongside her husband, Touré Roberts. Together they have six beautiful children and reside in Los Angeles. While she admits working with your spouse is either a recipe for success or disaster, Sarah was excited to say that it works for them.
“I have so much respect for who my husband is, how he leads and how he interprets what’s happening in the world. He’s one of my mentors and working with him gives me direct access to one of the most brilliant men I’ve ever met and then apply them to my company and organizations. I feel like I steal his ideas, but we’re married so it’s fine! It’s all the same thing”
5. She says faith and fashion aren’t mutually exclusive
Jakes Roberts launched her own fashion line as part of Woman Evolve to present an alternative for women of faith who like to be stylish.
“Fashion is a big part of the faith community. Maybe not in the way we see on the runway or in street style, so I wanted to find a way that my faith didn’t have to change the way that I like to show up in the world. I like to look fly and pray and meditate — I wanted to make sure these could all live in the same place and Woman Evolve was the way to say you can slay and pray all at the same time.”
