Name: Sarah Bowden
Family: My husband, Ty Bowden, our baby boy on the way, and our rescue pup Bear
Hometown: Houston, TX
Age: 31
Company: The Net/The Worthy Co.
Position: Director of Operations/Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer
How do you choose to give back to the community? My dad always taught me to leave a place better than I found it. That’s how I feel about Fort Worth. I want it to be a better place because of my work here.
What advice would you give to yourself at age 15? You don’t have to have your life plan figured out! Just do the next right thing in front of you. Keep getting experience, learning, growing, meeting the right people, and everything will work out.
Where did your first paycheck come from? Other than babysitting, my parent’s car repair business, Adams Automotive in Houston. I started answering the phones there when I was probably 12. Looking back I realize small business was always in my blood!
What other profession would you like to try? I’m interesting in anything entrepreneurial that prioritizes creating jobs and empowering women.
Tell us about an influential person in your life. How did they influence you and why are they important? My dad! He’s such an inspiration to me. He’s an auto mechanic by trade without a college degree who became an entrepreneur and successful businessman. He started our family business in 1980, and the older I get and the more I learn about small business, the more respect I have for his grit, hard work, brilliance, and ultimately trust in God. He’s such an incredible visionary and has been willing to take risks to build a business that has created jobs and opened doors of opportunity to hundreds of people over the years that may not have had those type of opportunities. He cares so much about people and is always seeking to bless those who have fewer opportunities than others.
What did you want to be when you grew up? Early on I wanted to be a teacher, but once I was in high school I wanted to be a missionary and help folks in poverty.
What is your ideal vacation? Every summer my husband and I pack up our dog and head to the mountains in Colorado. I love being “off the grid” surrounded by nature, eating good food, drinking good drinks, reading, playing games, and relaxing.
Favorite food or restaurant? My favorite Fort Worth restaurant is Pacific Table – their Ahi Tuna Salad and Miso Salmon is hard to beat. Oh and that one sushi roll with the peanut sauce.
Favorite drink? Well when I’m not pregnant, I love a good margarita (Tinies is the best in town, in my opinion) but while pregnant we’ll go with a grapefruit Spindrift.
Favorite movie: Goodwill Hunting
Favorite sports team: TCU
Favorite song: Count On Me by the Lone Bellow
Tell us about your prop? For my props I brought candles from The Worthy Co, the social enterprise I co-founded. The Worthy Co was born out of our frustrations that many of the survivors of trafficking we serve through The Net have SUCH a hard time finding good jobs and gaining economic independence. I wanted to come up with a way to create jobs for survivors, so I started making candles in my kitchen and we hired our first employee and the rest is history! My other prop is my baby bump 🙂 My husband and I are expecting our first child in October, it’s a boy and his name will be Shepherd.