The Power of the Ask

Courage, Campfires, and Confidence: Sarah Dale's Project 1490 Journey

• Season 2 • Episode 2

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Tired of the corporate climb and wondering, “Is this all there is?” Join Lisa Zeiderman and Precious Williams as they dive into the extraordinary journey of Sarah Dale, founder of Project 1490. Sarah’s story is one of audacious change, taking her from the fast-paced world of NYC ad tech to the rugged, transformative landscapes of Montana. Discover how a solo trip sparked a life-altering decision, leading her to build a community that empowers high-achieving women to embrace courage, self-reliance, and a healthy dose of badassery. Through unique, experiential challenges, Project 1490 helps women break free from their comfort zones and unlock their fullest potential. 

Hear how Sarah faced down mountain lions, built fires in the wilderness, and ultimately found her true purpose. This episode explores why it’s never too late to reinvent yourself, why building community is vital, and why asking for what you want is crucial for women's financial and personal empowerment. Tune in as we discuss: 

  • Courage & Audacity: Sarah’s courageous leap from corporate life to Montana illustrates the power of bold choices for personal fulfillment.
  • Badassery Through Experience: Building confidence and resilience occurs by pushing beyond comfort zones and embracing new challenges.
  • Self-Reliance & Empowerment: Discovering inner strength is a continuous journey best traveled with a supportive community.
  • From NYC to Montana: Environmental shifts can redefine value systems, shaping personal growth and perspectives.
  • The Power of the Ask: Women can accelerate progress by advocating for their needs and taking control of their destinies.
  • Reinvention & Potential: It’s always possible to unlock new potential through exploration and celebrating achievements.

Guest Bio:

After a 30-year career in advertising, Sarah Dale created Project 1490 by combining her years in leadership with her experiences living in Montana. She’s been fortunate to work at great brands like The Wall Street Journal, Fortune and Nativo, where she led big teams and drove hundreds of millions in revenue. She’s been awarded a CannesLions, two D&AD Pencils, Folio’s Top Women in Media and the Stevies’ Gold Maverick Award, et al. While she’s had an impressive career, Sarah’s love of nature and experiences in the wilds of Montana are what started her wish to get other corporate women to build their own badassery and confidence by learning outdoor skills. Project 1490 now provides the opportunity not only for women to have unique, outdoor experience that help them go beyond who they think they are, they build their corporate networks and confidence, and have a ton of fun in the process.

Important Links:

Lisa Zeiderman (00:06.207)

Hey, hey everyone. Welcome to the power of the Ask podcast, which helps you get what you need financially and personally. We are so glad you're here today. My name is Lisa Ziderman. I am managing partner at Miller's Ziderman and I am one of the co-hosts with my dear friend, Precious Williams.


Precious LaTonia Williams (00:25.143)

Queen Lizzie, you know I just love you. Yes, I am Precious Williams. I'm known as a killer pitch master and the CEO of the Perfect Pitch Group. So welcome back. And this week we're excited to introduce you to Sarah Dale. Now let me get your little, little, little tea on Sarah Dale. Sarah Dale is the founder of Project 1490, which helps high achieving women build confidence and resilience. I have to trade in New York City for Montana. I can't believe I just said those words. I can't wait to hear this story.

She discovered self-reliance through adventure. So following a successful media and ad tech career, she launched Project 1490 to empower women to push limits and reach to their fullest potential. Welcome, Sarah, and we're so happy to have you with us today.


Sarah Dale (01:10.522)

Thank you.


Lisa Zeiderman (01:12.565)

So Sarah, for me, your journey, and when we met, I probably said this, your journey from New Jersey to Montana and then back to New York is really fascinating and, of course, interesting. Can you take us back to that first solo trip to the big sky and tell our audience what big sky is, what about it sparked such a life-changing decision that you decided to stay there? Basically give up New York for a period of time.


Sarah Dale (01:43.674)

Yeah, so, you know, to put it in context, I started very, very young in my career. I was working in the city for Fortune magazine by the time I was 17. And so I was really trying to climb up the ladder as fast as I possibly could. And so by the time I was like in my mid 20s,

I was doing pretty well, but I realized that the people at the top of the ladder didn't look as happy as I was expecting them to. And I, you know, I'm gonna date myself here, but it was right around the time where all those great movies came out, like Legends of the Fall, River Runs Through It. I was such a Jersey girl. was like, how'd they get those backdrops to look so real?

And they were like, no, Montana really looks like that. So I had no idea. So I thought I need to go. So I went by myself. I was supposed to spend six days there. I read Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance while I was out there. And it was just a shocking experience because my identity had already been sort of attached to what I did for a living. It just disappeared when I was out there and I didn't know who I was.

And I just thought, I gotta find out. So I packed all my stuff and sold all my furniture and moved.


Precious LaTonia Williams (03:08.095)

it had to be like a culture shock in a lot of ways. What had to be the biggest culture shock? Because city life, New York City life, New Jersey City life, to Brandon Kettle and Bo Honey?


Sarah Dale (03:13.381)

Right.


Sarah Dale (03:22.67)

Yeah, yeah, there was a lot. There was a lot of culture shock. I think a couple of things that I remember that that were really vivid for me was one was that the hierarchy there there's sort of, you know, everywhere has their own sort of societal hierarchy. And in New York, it was really about, you know, what your title, your what your job, who you worked for, how big was your office? How much money do you make kind of thing?

And none of that was relevant when I went to Montana. It was really like, how big of a badass are you? How much do you ski? When people ask you there, what do you do? They don't mean for a living. They meant, do you ski or do you snowboard? And so that, you know, it was like rewiring myself to be in a different place. And I found it to be amazing.

Like, you know, was an incredible experience. I'm so, so grateful for it.


Lisa Zeiderman (04:25.333)

So you talk about building badassery through your Montana experiences. What are some of the pivotal moments that shaped your self-reliance, your confidence, and the 1490 Project? And I want you to explain to our listeners, what is the 1490 Project?


Sarah Dale (04:44.004)

Yeah, so well, first, I think there were a lot of pivotal moments because, and it makes sense because you don't sort of build your confidence or your well of badassery if I wanna, you know how I call it, overnight, right? It's through lots and lots of experiences that you go through this cycle of I did that, so now I can do this.

And that happens whether you're in Montana or New York City or anywhere else. it's, you know, we're building kind of a repertoire for us to be able to rely on something in ourselves. So I had a lot of those experiences because I had never done any of this stuff. I didn't even ski or snowboard when I moved there. So there were a lot of out of my comfort zone kind of experiences and really like, one of, think, the most pivotal book by the time I'd lived there for five or six years, I was bow hunting up a tree by myself. I had a whole face off with a mountain lion for, you know, what felt like two hours. That was probably 10 minutes. And and lived to tell the tale. And, you know, I I have relied on that moment in particular a number of times, you know, in in my career of hey, no one's gonna eat me in this audience. I can go out and talk to a thousand people and not, you know, and calm my nerves down and do all, you know, and get it done. So I'm grateful for that mountain lion.


Precious LaTonia Williams (06:26.175)

You have made, you made, just talking about the mountain lion thinking it's two hours and it might've been 10 minutes. When I tell you that it's so graphic, I'm like, I feel like I'm there with you. And so living in the Northeast, and I love what you were talking about, is what you do, like how much money you make, what clients do you have, all these sort of things. But were there early lessons?

What are early lessons in resilience that you learned in your corporate career? Because not every woman gets to be the first female C level executive at an ad tech company. And how were you able to take that to Montana?


Sarah Dale (07:07.684)

Yeah, you know, I think that one of the most pivotal moments in my career was sitting around a conference room table with a lot of other more senior people than I was. And I had this real epiphany that no one around the table knew what they were talking about. And it was so freeing. Everybody was just guessing. They were given their best guess. It's not a, it wasn't, you know. A bad thing necessarily, but I went from like everybody knows and I'm trying to find out to, no, we're all in this same boat. And if I am just as educated, I am just as informed, and I think about things critically, then my opinion matters just as much as anybody else around that table. And it changed a lot for me because I found my voice and found, you know, my way in to having more of those experiences and being around more of those tables.


Precious LaTonia Williams (08:13.207)

Mm.


Lisa Zeiderman (08:14.325)

So I'm gonna go back to something you didn't answer yet. I really want you to, I really wanted to have this answer because I did this with you, okay? I had a day, a bad assery. And as Precious knows, I came to the Savvy Ladies Board meeting and I was talking about it and talking it up. so I want you to, before I ask you the question, I want you to explain what it is that you do for other women.


Precious LaTonia Williams (08:20.949)

PLEASE!


Precious LaTonia Williams (08:30.743)

Yes you did.


Lisa Zeiderman (08:44.187)

in your in your business essentially and I know you have two parts to it so can you explain what they are and why you think that it helps women and really what it is that made you do this whether it was kind of big or small what what made you actually start this whole business that you're in now


Sarah Dale (09:06.502)

Yeah, so Project 1490 is a women's leadership community that's rooted in experiences and women supporting women. And the way that we do that is to get women outside of their comfort zones. So it's really for high achieving, ambitious, career oriented women. But it really brings some of the stuff that I learned when I was in Montana and you don't have to move there to get a sense of empowerment from, Lisa, when we did our day, did how to build a fire in the wild and archery and some tying knots. We do jumpstart in cars and we herd chickens, lassoing, do play poker. We do a lot of different stuff that really goes to building confidence through new experiences.

Because that has a whole bunch of science behind it in terms of building neural pathways in our brains and getting really in a place where we don't really know. We don't have to know everything. And you're surrounded by other like-minded, successful women who are there to support. And by the time we get to dinner where we're really celebrating, you know, what's amazing about women and we're dressed up.

For the evening and candles and flowers and a private chef, that discussion at dinner is real, know, and authentic and people don't feel like they have to do all the posturing and the pretense and all of that. And so that's why it works, right? And so these activities we do are really a vehicle to get us to that place. And once you form those relationships, then you've got help.

For your career and anything else that you need it for. So that's what Project 1490 is really about. And we do it through what you came to as our day of badassery. It's like our MVP. And then we have retreats. We have one coming up in May and lots of things in between. We have an online community and we do virtual events and meetups and dinners. And it's really about community.


Precious LaTonia Williams (11:30.911)

I just got to say how unique of a concept it is. And I'm going to take something from my life. So I once was in a movie and we went, we, they rented a rental bagel and we went to the Joshua tree. It's in California. And I've never started a fire. I've never eaten beans out of a can. I've never slept under the stars.

And you know, in my mind, I'm thinking, I can't, the ants might get me. But over time, I started to like it. And I said, to see a sunrise and a sunset. I live in Brooklyn and I love watching the sunrise and the sunset and slowing down. Maybe it's because I'm from St. Louis.

Maybe it's come from St. Louis, went to school in Atlanta and then I made my way up the Eastern seaboard. But because this is Women's History Month and what you're talking about is different types of experiences that are just spy days and things like that, but really getting to know each other through these different experiences that are really bonding.

How does it serve women in the greater community at large? When women come back from this event, I'm not gonna ask Queen Lisa, because we already talked about it, but from your perspective, it's not just about the women in the room, but what do you hope that they take back to the greater community in being at these events?


Sarah Dale (13:09.862)

love that you just asked me that because one thing I think as women we tend to do is we have a very long list of people and jobs and all kinds of things that we serve before we get to us. And I have two girls and lots of stuff going on. And I was at the bottom of my own list for a long time.

went and fed myself at some point, know, when my kids were a little bit younger. And it was such a, like, I was so hesitant to do it, you know, I was so like, you know, I had to take a whole weekend, et cetera, et cetera, right? You know, the drill. And I got back and I was so filled, so fed that when I got back,

I was so happy and I could give all of it to my kids and to my job and to my husband. And it was then I really realized like, if we don't feed ourselves, we've got nothing to give. And it is that sort of put your moment mask on first kind of concept. And so I think as a community at large, the more we see other women doing them, the more we give ourselves permission to do it. And the more


Precious LaTonia Williams (14:22.219)

Yes.


Sarah Dale (14:32.81)

options there are people get fed in many different ways, you know, so this project 1490 isn't for everyone, but it is for a certain kind of quality of woman, like women of substance. That's what I have been saying recently, because they're the women that are in this community are fantastic. And they all have that they all have the struggle. It's not without struggle.


but they come and they show up and then they can show up for other people and that has ripples way beyond this smaller community.


Lisa Zeiderman (15:10.889)

I think that makes sense actually. I do think I see the rippling certainly. And I also think that there is some sort of a transformational experience that occurs. And certainly for me, felt, I mean, I'm gonna be honest, I couldn't do most of the things, certainly not easily, that were on your checklist that day, right? Like lighting a fire was really difficult. I got it done, it was extraordinary. I couldn't chop the wood.


Precious LaTonia Williams (15:15.671)

Mm-hmm.


Precious LaTonia Williams (15:35.703)

Lisa Zeiderman (15:39.721)

with the, I think we were like throwing the axe or something. I think that's what we were doing, right? We were throwing the axe and I'm like thinking, this isn't a good idea. And I remember my husband saying to me, don't throw any axes. That's not a good idea for the day. So, but at the end of the day, I felt much more empowered for whatever reason, even though I couldn't do most of those things. I felt that I had tried something different and that because I tried something different,


Sarah Dale (16:04.71)

right.


Lisa Zeiderman (16:09.341)

was out of my zone. I was really proud of myself for doing that. And I did bring it back to a lot of people, you know, as you know, Sarah, I brought it back to a potential client. I brought it back to the board. I've talked about it with my people. I think that it is definitely has an impact. So from your perspective, who is the ideal woman for Project 1490? And what kind of impact do you hope that you


Sarah Dale (16:13.862)

That's right.


Precious LaTonia Williams (16:25.495)

Do it.


Lisa Zeiderman (16:38.165)

you're going to have on the members of Project 1490 and just even on the people who come for the Day of Bad Assery. What impact do you think that you want to have on them?


Sarah Dale (16:49.22)

Yeah, I love Lisa that you said, you it wasn't the amount of success that you had, it was that you tried. And that in and of itself is so powerful because like the first time we do something is usually the worst time we do something, you know, but now you'd say you've done it. Like when would you ever have had the opportunity to, you know, you're just not exposed to that kind of stuff here, which is the point, right?


Precious LaTonia Williams (16:57.588)

Yes


Sarah Dale (17:17.574)

I think the ideal woman is career focused, ambitious, all of that, but maybe they feel like, this all there is? Or in a transition or have something that's inside of them that they really feel like there's more, there's more potential in me, whatever that could mean to somebody. I feel like that really resonates with people because


Precious LaTonia Williams (17:29.623)

you


Sarah Dale (17:46.68)

It gives you an opportunity to kind of shock the system a little bit and free some things up. But people join for many different reasons, you know, but when they come in the door, somebody said to me as a member the other day, this is an A plus community. It's not really have anything to do with me. It's about the kind of women that are in it.

And because they're open and they're willing to have new experiences and really, really support each other. And I think that the impact that I really love making is somebody telling me, you know, they're not getting to where they want to be or they have an idea that they haven't unleashed on the world or there's just something. now they're taking the steps to get there and they're having the courage to go after what they actually really want instead of feeling stuck.


Precious LaTonia Williams (18:52.255)

I have to tell you, it's Women's History Month and I want to say to you, Sarah, since I didn't get, I wasn't blessed to be there with you and Queen Lisa. Thank you for being a trailblazer. Thank you for creating experiences.

that women so desperately need right now and to step out of convention and to step out of, there's only certain ways you can show love for yourself or that you can bond with other women. And that's why I think your story is so incredible and the experiences that you are creating. I want to day a badassery too. I want to be down too. The second thing, all right, you know, I just want to make sure I don't want to just be showing up and then like, please don't invite her.


Sarah Dale (19:40.747)

No, you are gonna love it.


Lisa Zeiderman (19:44.021)

We should have the whole board, by the way. But I'm just saying.


Precious LaTonia Williams (19:45.877)

That's what she said. So we gonna try to make that happen. I'm telling you, Queen Lisa brought it back and we were like, I want to be down. And I probably would be like you, Lisa. I probably can't throw the axe too far. And I struggled with creating the fire, but I wasn't alone. And I also want to say that


Precious LaTonia Williams (20:07.927)

My word for this year is audacity. As a woman in my 40s, and I'm saying my treble A's and women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, we're not allowing societies to silence us or say we don't have value and we don't have worth. So I have two questions for you. If you have a word for this year, what is it and why?


And the second question is, as you've created Project 1490 and you've reinvented yourself and how you see yourself and how the world sees you, what advice could you give to other women who are thinking about is it too late to reinvent and discover new things about themselves?


Sarah Dale (20:58.15)

Great questions. Then thank you. I think that my word off the top of my head word, right? So it's probably courage because it's definitely something I want to have a form where other women can build their own courage. And honestly, I'm out on a limb.


You know, I quit my corporate job. am doing this and I, you know, it takes some courage and, not just once. It's like a repeating kind of thing, you know, and getting on podcasts and do it, getting out there and doing all the things. It's like, you know, it's not, it's not necessarily in my comfort zone.


But I'm so passionate about this and I want other women to experience it. So I have to build my own courage as well. So that is my word for the year. advice, I'm gonna pass on some advice that I got that finally sort of kicked me into this was I had this idea as Lisa knows, like 20 something years ago, I had kind of the formation of this idea to do this.


And for lots of reasons, I let something stop me.


But if you start with five people, right? you, you know, I always thought like, if I think of an idea or I'm an entrepreneur, I got to think of the next Airbnb, you know, like lots of pressure there. you know, so, so start with five people. And the other advice that I'm also giving to myself these days is stop moving the goal posts. When you, when you accomplish something, claim it.


Sarah Dale (22:54.7)

so that you can have that moment instead of like just simply moving the goalpost on yourself to say, it wasn't enough. And I feel like we do that a lot and I've seen it in myself. And I wanna say like, you know, this is pretty damn good. You know, you did this and yes, there's more to do, but you'll do that tomorrow.


Lisa Zeiderman (23:18.741)

It's great.


Precious LaTonia Williams (23:18.795)

That's why you're a trailblazer.


Sarah Dale (23:21.21)

Thank you.


Lisa Zeiderman (23:22.239)

Great. So we ask one question to all of our podcast guests. And the question is this, Sarah, why is the power of the ask, name of the podcast, crucial to women, especially financially in your opinion?


Sarah Dale (23:40.634)

Yeah, I mean, I'm sure other people on this podcast have cited all the research about us and how, you know, we don't ask as often, we don't ask for as much, you know, all things. And if you think about the ridiculousness of women and having parity, right? Equal pay, know, really having equity.


is like some ridiculous, like 60 years away or something. And in part, it's like you have to, from one point of view, it feels like, we have to wait for the world to change, but we don't have to wait for the world to change. We just have to ask, you know, like from one point of view, right? There are like other things that the world does need to change about, but there is some things in our control. There are some things in our control and


We have to take that, that control that we have and use it to the absolute health so that we can make the 65 years really condensed because none of us are going to be here for that.


Precious LaTonia Williams (24:52.755)

This is what I mean. Do you all see, do you all see that the Power to Ask podcast powered by Savvy Ladies, we bring the best guests and to have Sarah here from Project 1490, sharing her experiences of being in the Northeast and moving to Montana, rediscovering, reinventing herself and doing the same for other women and the ripple effect it has in the community. What a Women's History Month moment.


And just like I always say, just like Queen Lisa and I always say, keep coming back to the Power of the Ass podcast. It gets better and better and better. Subscribe, tell a friend to tell a friend to what? Tell a friend to watch, to comment, and to let these women trailblaze, to let these trailblazers who are women know that you are supporting them and they're supporting you.


We're asking the questions you want to ask. And we want to let you know is never too late for anything and new experiences. You are more than what you do. And hearing their stories is incredible. So keep coming back to the Power to Ask podcast co-hosted by Queen Lisa Ziderman, manager partner, Miller Ziderman and me, Precious Williams, CEO of the Perfect Pitch Group. Sarah, we're so delighted that you gave us your time today. Thank you.


Lisa Zeiderman (26:15.221)

Thanks so much, Sarah.


Sarah Dale (26:15.258)

Thank you.