The Courage to Start Over

Sarah Nicole Edwards, Class of 2004

“Joy comes when you follow your instincts, both personally and professionally.”

For Sarah Nicole Edwards, success has never been about following a conventional career path. After more than a decade working in the international development sector, she made the courageous decision to start again, building a business centred on wellbeing, nutrition and sustainability.

Today, as founder and Creative Director of Copper + Cloves, Sarah works across holistic wellness, positive sobriety and nutrition, creating spaces and communities that help people nourish both body and mind. Her journey is proof that sometimes the boldest career move is trusting your intuition.

Smiling woman in a white blouse serving salad onto plates at a table.

Following instinct over expectation

After leaving LEH, Sarah studied International Development at the London School of Economics before pursuing a career with organisations including Save the Children and Frontline. The work was meaningful, but over time she realised she was following a path shaped as much by expectation as by passion.

“I had an internal narrative about what I should be doing. The only person putting that pressure on was myself.”

Everything changed when she moved to India in her early thirties. Drawn by its energy, warmth and strong sense of community, Sarah began to reconnect with a long-standing love of cooking, nutrition and helping people live healthier lives. Rather than waiting for the perfect business plan, she simply started.

Cafe interior with shelves of jars, hanging lamps, and a large plant; the wall reads 'COPPER + LOVES'.

From LEH classroom to her dream career

Sarah began by running cooking workshops, hosting market stalls and collaborating with local cafés, testing ideas as they emerged rather than waiting until everything felt perfect. Each small step created the momentum for the next, “I kept taking the next step, which led to a small café of my own, and eventually a larger café and yoga studio.”

That willingness to embrace uncertainty became the foundation of Copper + Cloves, a business rooted in holistic wellbeing, sustainability and joyful living.

Today, Sarah’s work extends beyond food. Through wellness coaching, nutrition and her positive sobriety community, she encourages people to build healthier relationships with themselves and to find fulfilment by living in alignment with their values.

An LEH education goes beyond the syllabus

Sarah believes one of the greatest gifts LEH gave her was confidence. Not the confidence that removes self-doubt, but the confidence to keep moving forward despite it. When she changed careers in her thirties, she often questioned whether she was behind her peers. Starting again required humility, resilience and a willingness to learn from scratch.

“When I decided to completely start a new career after I turned 30, I had the confidence that eventually I could make it a success.”

Equally important were the friendships she formed at school, particularly the lifelong connection she has maintained. For Sarah, those friendships represent something uniquely valuable: women championing one another through every stage of life and career, “The joy and importance of female friendship… has been a huge part of what enabled me to have the courage to forge my own path.”

Two women sit and chat on a sunlit outdoor patio of a cafe named Copper & Cloves, with wicker pendant lights and leafy plants nearby.

Redefining success through joy

Sarah believes that joy isn’t something to be found after success, it should be at the heart of every decision we make. Whether choosing a career, building relationships or caring for our wellbeing, she encourages people to ask whether they’re living according to their own values rather than someone else’s expectations.

That philosophy also underpins her work promoting positive sobriety, reframing an alcohol-free lifestyle not as giving something up, but as creating more space for freedom, connection and fulfilment.

Her story is a reminder that careers don’t have to follow a straight line. Sometimes the most rewarding opportunities appear when we have the courage to trust our instincts and take the next small step.

Fearless Futures

What would Sarah’s advice be to current LEH students?

Don’t wait until everything feels perfectly planned before you begin.

Trust your instincts, stay open to unexpected opportunities and remember that meaningful careers are often built one step at a time. The path you imagined at 18 doesn’t have to be the path you follow forever, and changing direction can lead to your greatest fulfilment.

“It was all about doing small things and getting myself out there… rather than writing long business plans before launching anything.”

This story has a particularly distinctive angle because it speaks to purpose over prestige. Rather than focusing solely on entrepreneurial success, it explores how courage, intuition and wellbeing can shape a career that’s both impactful and personally fulfilling, an inspiring message for students who may feel pressure to follow a conventional route.