Mompreneur Spotlight: Aransas Savas
Highlighting the journeys of amazing entrepreneurs in our Blue Balloon community!
Aransas Savas is a Wellbeing and Leadership Coach who has created an amazing community of Uplifters—women who help other women rise. Through workshops, retreats, events, private coaching, and the award-winning The Uplifters Podcast, she uses proven mindset and coaching techniques to help Uplifters navigate life transitions and consciously align their work, lives, and values—leading to more clarity, energy, impact, and purpose.
Aransas lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two daughters. Her family has been a part of our Blue Balloon community for many years—her daughter, Savannah, started lessons back in 2015! We were so excited to interview her for our Mompreneur Spotlight series, where we highlight the journeys of inspiring moms and entrepreneurs in our community!
1. You've created this beautiful community of Uplifters, guiding so many women to find clarity, impact, and joy in their work and lives. What inspired you to take that leap from corporate life to start something so personal and empowering?
I've been incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by inspiring women at every stage of my life. During my late 30s, I became friends with a group of extraordinary women in their 50s who completely transformed my perspective. Their example showed me there were other ways to be a high-impact professional outside of the corporate archetype I was familiar with. These women were pushing boundaries, being unapologetically themselves, and making a significant difference in the world while creating the lives they wanted.
I began to realize how much of myself and my gifts I was hiding within my corporate career. I knew exactly what I'd be doing if I could spend every minute of each workday exactly as I wanted, but I was afraid of leaving the safety net of my corporate career. Two days after my self-imposed deadline to quit my job, I was laid off. While it was incredibly scary and I felt lost initially, wise women once again came to my aid. They helped me discover different paths forward and gave me the reassurance I needed to chart a new course.
2. Looking back, what were some of the most defining or unexpected challenges you faced along the way?
I'm fortunate that despite being a bit of a perfectionist, I'm comfortable moving forward even without all the answers. The downside is that I've had to walk things backward at times. From mission to pricing strategy, I've chosen to experiment my way through entrepreneurship. This approach allows me to move faster, though it sometimes means taking longer to find what truly feels right. However, I wouldn't change this approach because I've learned so much from this experiential journey.
3. Who were some of the most influential people in your journey, and what role did they play in shaping your path?
This is almost impossible to answer given the nature of my work—I spend time with inspiring women every day who challenge my courage and make me better. Perhaps most significantly, I have a dear friend who lives and works with incredible courage. Though she's younger than I am and we work in different fields, our minds operate similarly. Every week we meet for VFTR (Virtual Friday Therapy Run). Over the phone, we take long runs wherever we are in the world and process through the week's wins and challenges. We've maintained this practice for years, and this ongoing reflection has helped us both grow immensely. It's truly one of the most valuable hours of my week.
4. In the years Savannah has been learning music with us, how have you seen her grow as a person and musician?
I sometimes joke that Savannah was born rhyming. I'm deeply grateful that Rachel started Blue Balloon when she did because it provided the perfect outlet for Savannah's unique gifts. She has a remarkably sweet and uplifting lens on the world, and her teachers have helped reinforce her warmth in a world where "cool" is so often queen.
5. How have the showcase performances impacted her confidence and passion?
Having grown up in theater, I deeply believe that learning to present our ideas to others is as essential a life skill as math. The Blue Balloon showcases are consciously designed to create brave spaces for kids to practice these skills without fear of judgment or failure. They also help children learn to develop ideas for presentation. There's something powerful about small creative commitments that week after week grow into a completed piece of work.
6. Has there been a particular moment during Savannah's musical journey that felt especially meaningful?
I've loved watching Savannah's activism through song. The teachers have been skilled at helping students identify and validate the problems they see in the world and engage in changemaking through their writing. One of the most memorable moments was when Savannah learned about child marriage laws in many U.S. states and worked with her teacher to write an a cappella song that was remarkably powerful in capturing the starkness of these laws.
7. What are some personal or professional milestones you're most proud of?
About a year and a half ago, I led a retreat in the Catskills where I set two strong intentions for myself. The personal goal was to move full-time to the beach, and the professional goal was to bring 100 members of our Uplifters community, including Rachel, together for a day of renewal, collective support, and celebration. Both of these dreams have become reality this year. It feels incredibly affirming to know that when we get clear about our goals and commit ourselves to the work, we are truly limitless and so much more powerful than we realize.
8. What's a piece of advice or wisdom you've gained from your clients?
My clients make me better every single day. One of the most important lessons I've learned, both from guests on The Uplifters podcast and my clients, is that neglecting our own well-being does more harm than good. As women, we're often told to keep showing up, being of service, and remaining accountable at all costs. But time after time, I've seen the great cost of that in my own life and others. At 49, I think I finally believe it enough to practice it consistently: When I'm tired, I deserve rest. When I want to be alone, I can cancel plans. We aren't machines. We have to reclaim our energy and time to thrive and have a positive long-term impact on our community. I'm actually writing a whole book on this!
9. How do you handle moments of self-doubt?
It comes back to community. I rarely have breakthroughs sitting in front of my computer. When things feel murky or messy, I either go for a run without my phone and let my brain wander on the question, or I talk to a friend or mentor to find new paths forward.
10. What advice would you give to other moms who are dreaming of launching their own businesses?
For me, the most valuable thing has been proactively designing my time to match my personal needs and values. I know I'm better for everyone else when I take care of myself. Like so many women, I like to be useful, and I can try to be everything to everyone. But, I've really tried to teach my children to self-manage many of their needs, so I don't feel like I need to be "on" for them all the time, and they get to learn their own strength and confidence.
11. What are the most important qualities to cultivate when stepping into a new chapter?
So often, we invest our energy in imagining what things will look like and designing action plans around those visions. But I find that the most successful people design for feelings. So if you're looking to change your career, relationship, or anything else, I challenge you to think about how you want to feel in that future state and steer in that direction with your choices. It's likely to look different than you expected, but the feeling is something you can build toward.
12. What keeps you energized, inspired and driven?
Honestly, I love to be a little bit scared. Knowing I am going to be challenged or pushed personally and professionally to grow in some way makes me feel incredibly alive.
