433: What Happens When Young Women Stop Counting Themselves Out?
Subscribe to the "Getting Unstuck – Cultivating Curiosity" podcast.
Summary
Sarah Jakle teaches high school girls practical civic and public-policy skills, along with neuroscience-based tools for confidence, resilience, and leadership. Her central point is that young women often “count themselves out” at critical moments because of imposter syndrome, anxiety, and social pressures. By learning to recognize their inner critic, engage their “inner best friend,” and regulate their nervous systems, they can move toward opportunity rather than away from it.
Guest
Sarah Jakle is the Founder and Executive Director of DemocraShe, a nonpartisan national nonprofit empowering historically underserved high school girls to be our future leaders, voters, civically engaged citizens, and elected officials.
Previously, Sarah served as the Get Out the Vote Director for the California National Organization for Women and as the National Outreach Director for Field Team 6, leading efforts to mobilize women and innovative voter registration.
Sarah has a Bachelor's from Yale (Phi Beta Kappa), a Master's in Social Work from USC, and a Master's in Public Policy from UCLA. She was a 2025 Movement Builder Fellow with How Women Lead and was a Fellow with Obama’s Organizing For Action.
Social Media & Referenced
https://www.facebook.com/sarah.jakle.3?mibextid=wwXIfr&mibextid=wwXIfr
https://www.instagram.com/sarahjakle?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
Learn more about the “Inner Best Friend,” which is one of the main DemocraShe skills.
https://www.instagram.com/innerbestfriend?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
The Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes.
About Jeff
Jeff Ikler is the Director of Quetico Leadership and Career Coaching. “Quetico” (KWEH-teh-co). He works with leaders in all aspects of life to identify and overcome obstacles in their desired future. He came to the field of coaching after a 35-year career in educational publishing. Prior to his career in educational publishing, Jeff taught high school U.S. history and government.
Jeff has hosted the “Getting Unstuck—Cultivating Curiosity” podcast for 5 years. The guests and topics he explores are designed to help listeners think differently about the familiar and welcome the new as something to consider. He is also the co-host of the Cultivating Resilience – A Whole Community Approach to Alleviating Trauma in Schools, which promotes mental health and overall wellness.
Jeff co-authored Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change. Shifting integrates leadership development and change mechanics in a three-part change framework to help guide school leaders and their teams toward productive change.
Show Credits
"Getting Unstuck" is commercial-free. It’s brought to you by Jeff Ikler, his amazing guests, and Neil Hughes, the best engineer a podcaster could ask for.
"Getting Unstuck" theme music: Original composition of "Allegro ben ritmato e deciso" by George Gershwin. Arrangement and recording courtesy of Bruno Lecoeur.