Our Why
Thriving in a Noisy World helps innovators, educators, and creatives cultivate practices and community for thriving in the digital age. Living with intention is an ongoing practice, and it’s hard to do it alone.
A world that is increasingly noisy, interconnected and complex calls for new ways of being, leading, and working. With the omnipresence of smartphones, the constant stream of emails, and noise within and without, we are more distracted and inundated with the thoughts, expectations, and demands of others than ever. Without intentionally creating space for tuning within, we can miss out on tapping into the intelligence of our own mind, heart and body to provide new creative insights and direction.
That’s where solitude comes in. Solitude can provide us with the space to cultivate inner clarity, creativity, moral courage, emotional balance, and connection to self and others. We define solitude as intentionally being with yourself for periods of time free from the input of other minds (instant messages, emails, news, etc.). This can help us act and respond more intentionally rather than being in reactive mode. Yet nowadays we can almost completely avoid solitude. To find true solitude today, we have to make a conscious effort.
Thriving in a Noisy World supports changemakers and leaders in developing practices and skills for navigating and thriving in the digital age. In an age of distraction and noise, our approach focuses on developing quiet competencies such as mindful communication, emotional intelligence, creativity, empathy and (self-)compassion, inner clarity and focus, deep work, digital wellness, discernment, and moral courage.
These competencies can help us make the following shifts:
reactive → intentional
external guidance → inner guidance
noise → signal
doing more → doing what’s essential
confusion → clarity
distraction → focus
agitation → calm
Thriving in a Noisy World explores questions such as:
How might we cultivate mindfulness, discernment, and wisdom in the digital age?
What is the role of silence and solitude in our lives?
How might we more deeply connect with ourselves and each other?
How might we better align who we are with what we do?
How might we create environments that enable quiet leadership to thrive?
How can we make space for and unlock our inner wisdom?
What if we listened more and talked less?
What’s the soundscape of our lives?
What if we designed our offices, public spaces, schools, and homes to ensure we all have access to quiet?
How might we create the conditions for sustained focus, flow, and deep work?
What if we intentionally designed our lives and work considering our temperament and strengths?
How can we show up as our full authentic self in the world?
This is a space for an ongoing exploration around what it takes to reach our fullest potential in the world and thrive in the digital age.
I’m Sarah-Marie Hopf, and I’m the founder behind Thriving in a Noisy World.
I envision a world in which everyone feels a deep sense of belonging, wellbeing, and meaningful contribution.
My goal through Thriving in a Noisy World is to support purpose-driven, growth-oriented leaders and changemakers in crafting a life of greatest contribution, integrity, and wellbeing. Through a highly customized and developmental approach, I support my clients in embodying new ways of being so they can consciously navigate their work and life with greater creativity, effectiveness, and resilience.
As a driven changemaker, I’ve personally experienced the many benefits of mindfulness and inner work for doing well and being well. To my work, I bring experience at the intersections of leadership development and coaching, institutional change, human-centered design, systems change, and social impact. I've been fortunate to work with individuals and organizations globally, including mission-driven startups, top universities, high impact nonprofits, and Fortune 500 companies.
I'm a Certified Integral Coach® through New Ventures West, an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) through the International Coach Federation (ICF), and a summa cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College. A long-time mindfulness practitioner, I’m a Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher through the two-year Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program with world-renowned mindfulness teachers Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. The program is certified by the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley and the Awareness Training Institute. I’m also a Certified Mindfulness Teacher, Professional Level (CMT-P) through the International Mindfulness Teachers Association. A proud introvert, I’m committed to creating space for authentic human connection and living the questions.
Living with intention is an ongoing practice, and it’s hard to do it alone. Let’s connect!
