September 2026 Featured Interview
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The Art of the Reset:
From Fundraiser to Founder, Sara Jensen Realized Her Purpose
Sara Jensen
Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Hugh & Grace
Photo Courtesy: Sara Jensen
Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Hugh & Grace
Photo Courtesy: Sara Jensen
About Sara:
Sara Jensen is the co-founder and co-CEO of Hugh & Grace, an award-winning women’s health company recognized by the Inc. 5000 as one of America’s fastest-growing private companies and trusted by more than 100,000 women.
Sara Jensen is the co-founder and co-CEO of Hugh & Grace, an award-winning women’s health company recognized by the Inc. 5000 as one of America’s fastest-growing private companies and trusted by more than 100,000 women.
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After navigating 14 years of unexplained infertility with her husband and co-founder, Ben, Sara turned one of the most challenging experiences of her life into a mission to change the way women understand and take action around their hormone health. Their journey ultimately led to Hugh and Grace, a company named after their two children, born through the extraordinary generosity of two of their sisters who volunteered to be their surrogates.
Sara is an entrepreneur, international speaker, women’s health advocate, and author of Hormone Health Simplified, focused on making hormone health easier to understand and actionable for women at every stage of life. About Hugh & Grace: Founded with a mission to make hormone health simple and accessible, Hugh & Grace is helping redefine preventative women’s health through high-performance, hormone-supportive products, education, and a rapidly growing wellness community. From everyday routines to national partnerships, Hugh & Grace is creating a movement around women’s health — giving women practical tools to feel, look, and live better at every stage of life. |
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Dr. Jenipher Cornelius, business and leadership editor, spoke with Sara about her major career pivot — what it cost her, what it gave her, and what she's learned about resilience, reinvention, and knowing when it's time for a reset.
Before launching Hugh & Grace in 2020, Sara spent nearly fifteen years in philanthropy, first with the Muscular Dystrophy Association, then in major gift fundraising at the University of Southern California, where she worked with the university's wealthiest donors on gifts worth tens of millions of dollars.
While Sara was building that career, she and Ben experienced difficult challenges while navigating infertility. Their children were born through surrogacy. In the process, the couple began researching the link between everyday chemical exposure and hormone disruption, a connection that would eventually reshape their careers, their marriage, and their sense of purpose. Sara resigned from USC in the middle of her maternity leave with Grace; Ben resigned from his own career the same week. Together they built Hugh & Grace from nothing, nearly losing it in the opening months of the COVID-19 pandemic before growing it into the mission-driven company it is today.
While Sara was building that career, she and Ben experienced difficult challenges while navigating infertility. Their children were born through surrogacy. In the process, the couple began researching the link between everyday chemical exposure and hormone disruption, a connection that would eventually reshape their careers, their marriage, and their sense of purpose. Sara resigned from USC in the middle of her maternity leave with Grace; Ben resigned from his own career the same week. Together they built Hugh & Grace from nothing, nearly losing it in the opening months of the COVID-19 pandemic before growing it into the mission-driven company it is today.
Let's start with your background. You spent years in philanthropy before Hugh & Grace. Walk me through how you got into that world.
I spent my entire career at the University of Southern California (USC). Before that I worked for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, then went to graduate school at USC. I worked as a recruiter for the university on their major gifts team for the business school. I'd raised $5 million at a gala before, but I'd never sat down and asked someone for $5 million myself, so I was somewhat intimidated to start the role. When I first started, I covered two cities. By the time I resigned, I covered over half of America, working with our top alumni and parents. It was really about relationship development and understanding what someone wanted for their legacy. When someone writes that big of a check, you want to ensure it’s for something impactful. I never took that for granted.
I spent my entire career at the University of Southern California (USC). Before that I worked for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, then went to graduate school at USC. I worked as a recruiter for the university on their major gifts team for the business school. I'd raised $5 million at a gala before, but I'd never sat down and asked someone for $5 million myself, so I was somewhat intimidated to start the role. When I first started, I covered two cities. By the time I resigned, I covered over half of America, working with our top alumni and parents. It was really about relationship development and understanding what someone wanted for their legacy. When someone writes that big of a check, you want to ensure it’s for something impactful. I never took that for granted.
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How long did you do this type of work?
About fifteen years. During that same time, Ben and I went through fourteen years of infertility. I joke that we were outside looking in. We had very strong careers, but I think we were depressed most of the time, because we were going all over the country for doctor's appointments, therapy, acupuncture, anything recommended to help me get pregnant. I had other opportunities to change careers, but I needed the flexibility to get to all those appointments. I felt stuck in a way. What ultimately pointed you toward hormone health specifically? Eventually, my husband's sister volunteered to be our surrogate and gave birth to our son, Hugh. A year later, my sister volunteered to be our second surrogate, and we had our daughter, Grace. We were all exhausted, but after fourteen years, we had our miracles. During that time, we started learning about hormone disruption, initially just around infertility. The more we researched, the more we saw those same chemicals were also linked to cancers, autoimmune disease, obesity, and depression. Looking back, I'd had insomnia, endometriosis, and chronic urinary tract infections my whole life, and it was all related. I didn't connect any of it to my own fertility issues until we were deep into treatment. |
L to R: Ben, Grace, Hugh and Sara
Photo Courtesy: Sara Jensen |
We looked at our skill set and our network and asked: How do we use this? We assembled a medical expert advisory board with some of the best thought leaders in the field, and we knew it needed to be a consumable products business because so many of the chemicals we're exposed to daily come from the products we use every day. I remember one meeting, pre-COVID, with a formulator we ended up partnering with for skincare. A very tall, intimidating man walked in and said, ‘The world doesn't need another body oil. The world doesn't need another face serum.’ We explained our mission anyway. By the end of the conversation, he said, ‘The world does need this. Let’s get to work.’
Click the book cover to learn more.
Sara and Ben Jensen share their transformative journey from a 14-year battle with unexplained infertility to becoming pioneers in the hormone health movement. |
When you decided to resign, were you thinking, "Oh crap, what am I about to do?" Or were you steadfast, never looking back?
Definitely an ‘oh crap’ moment, but also something we couldn't stop thinking about. When you can't stop thinking about something, you know you have to do it. There's some backstory here. I didn't get maternity leave for Hugh. USC has amazing maternity benefits, but two weeks before Hugh was born, their insurance provider told me that because I wasn't physically pregnant, I didn't qualify. I took one sick day the day he was born, and he came to meetings with me starting at two months old. I spent the next year working with our trustees to change that policy at USC, so anyone using a surrogate or adopting now gets full maternity benefits. Then, with Grace, I finally got maternity leave, and I resigned in the middle of it, because the timing meant we needed to start working on the business. This was something we had been talking about with each other, but now the world needed to hear it. It was scary: a newborn, a barely-two-year-old, and deciding to work full-time with my husband. Did Ben resign at the same time, or did he keep working to bring in income?
No, he resigned too. We went all in together. If you want to do something exceptionally well, you can't split your focus, and you can’t dabble. This needed to be what we did with our lives, so we had to be a hundred percent in. It also mattered to the people helping us; they weren't going to make introductions if they thought we were hedging. We put all of our liquidity into the business, and we were set to launch in May of 2020. |
Then March 2020 happened [the beginning of the COVID shutdowns]. Outside investors pulled out. We couldn't get our products for almost a year. It was March 23rd — Ben’s birthday — and the lowest day in the stock market that year, and we had to decide whether to move forward or walk away. We decided we were doing this, but it took a lot of grit.
Later, another investor group offered a seven-figure check we really could have used, but it was a group that wouldn't have grown the business the way we wanted. We'd already put our kids' names on the business. Hugh means heart, mind and spirit. Grace means goodness, generosity and love. Those became our company values, so we turned the check down.
What surprised you most about becoming a founder and CEO?
How hard it is, especially doing it with my husband. It became a whole family enterprise. We had to learn boundaries. It'd be ten o'clock at night and I'd say, ‘Ben, I have this amazing idea,’ and he'd say, ‘I need a wife right now. Send me an email, and we'll discuss it tomorrow.’ We had to define wife time versus CEO time. Working from home is really living at work. But I'd take the challenge of running a business any day over the years of wondering whether we'd ever have kids. I have more self-confidence now, in my late forties, than I did when I was younger and defined by more superficial things. This business isn't just benefiting Ben and me; it's impacting hundreds of thousands of people, and not just with product, but education as well. That's what keeps us going.
Later, another investor group offered a seven-figure check we really could have used, but it was a group that wouldn't have grown the business the way we wanted. We'd already put our kids' names on the business. Hugh means heart, mind and spirit. Grace means goodness, generosity and love. Those became our company values, so we turned the check down.
What surprised you most about becoming a founder and CEO?
How hard it is, especially doing it with my husband. It became a whole family enterprise. We had to learn boundaries. It'd be ten o'clock at night and I'd say, ‘Ben, I have this amazing idea,’ and he'd say, ‘I need a wife right now. Send me an email, and we'll discuss it tomorrow.’ We had to define wife time versus CEO time. Working from home is really living at work. But I'd take the challenge of running a business any day over the years of wondering whether we'd ever have kids. I have more self-confidence now, in my late forties, than I did when I was younger and defined by more superficial things. This business isn't just benefiting Ben and me; it's impacting hundreds of thousands of people, and not just with product, but education as well. That's what keeps us going.
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Do you believe reinvention is becoming an essential leadership skill?
I do. I'm a very different person in my 40s than I was in my 20s or 30s. If I'd held onto my dreams from my 20s, I'd have been miserable; that version of me wanted to be a stay-at-home mom of four. I’m the oldest of six. My mom was a stay-at-home mom of six, so I just always thought that’s what I was going to do. That was how I defined success previously. Becoming the best version of yourself means constantly learning, focusing on what you've learned, and stretching. It's also about deciding who you want to be and then going and striving for that. What have you learned about resilience through this journey? Resilience is a decision. You decide to keep going. Words matter. I recently read a study where researchers worked with people trying not to eat cookies. One group said, ‘I avoid cookies.’ Another said, ‘I don't like cookies.’ A third said, ‘I do not eat cookies.’ The group that said ‘I do not eat cookies’ was the most successful. When you decide this is what you're doing, and nothing will stop you, you do it. |
Ben and Sara Sharing their Story
Photo Courtesy: Sara Jensen |
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"I truly believe what I'm doing now is my purpose. I talk to so many women now about their health stories, and it always comes back to: What are you doing with your story? How are you helping other people improve theirs? " ~ Sara Jensen |
If someone is considering a career reset today, where should they start?
Internally with their gut. Ben and I go on a retreat every year, just the two of us, and look at the next one [to five] years and ask what kind of life we want to live. But you also have to make sure the idea has legs. Is it feasible? Who are the competitors? What unique skills do you bring? We resigned at the same time, with a newborn and a barely-two-year-old and put all our liquidity into something we believed in but couldn't guarantee. There are smaller, lower-risk ways to try entrepreneurship. The successful startups are usually the ones that learn from their mistakes faster than they run out of money. But you should also know what makes you happy and fulfilled and stay true to that. When it becomes a mission, there’s a way. |
Is there anything about your old career you miss?
So many things. It was carefree — going to parties, meeting people. It was fun. And it was impactful. But honestly, anybody could have done my last role. I truly believe what I'm doing now is my purpose. I talk to so many women now about their health stories, and it always comes back to: What are you doing with your story? How are you helping other people improve theirs? So, while fun is fun, Hugh & Grace drives my purpose — both with my kids and with this business!
What does "the art of the reset" mean to you?
If you call it an art, it needs to include enjoyment. Enjoy the journey. One day we'll all look up and look back, and there will be a story to tell.
I'll leave you with this: Pressure is a privilege. When you're doing important things, having important conversations, creating a meaningful life, that comes with pressure. Realizing it's a privilege to carry that and then enjoying it, that is the art.
Finally, where do you find sanctuary?
I find sanctuary in nature - especially spending time outdoors with my family.
So many things. It was carefree — going to parties, meeting people. It was fun. And it was impactful. But honestly, anybody could have done my last role. I truly believe what I'm doing now is my purpose. I talk to so many women now about their health stories, and it always comes back to: What are you doing with your story? How are you helping other people improve theirs? So, while fun is fun, Hugh & Grace drives my purpose — both with my kids and with this business!
What does "the art of the reset" mean to you?
If you call it an art, it needs to include enjoyment. Enjoy the journey. One day we'll all look up and look back, and there will be a story to tell.
I'll leave you with this: Pressure is a privilege. When you're doing important things, having important conversations, creating a meaningful life, that comes with pressure. Realizing it's a privilege to carry that and then enjoying it, that is the art.
Finally, where do you find sanctuary?
I find sanctuary in nature - especially spending time outdoors with my family.
*Besides being named to the 2026 Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private businesses, Hugh & Grace is also the Women’s Health Partner to the National Professional Women’s Baseball League.
Editor’s Note: Hugh & Grace opted for the direct sales company approach to ensure women across the country could share their stories and connect with others through real conversations. I immediately connected with the company’s mission one year ago and have been committed to sharing my experiences ever since. To learn more about the mission and the products, click here.
Editor’s Note: Hugh & Grace opted for the direct sales company approach to ensure women across the country could share their stories and connect with others through real conversations. I immediately connected with the company’s mission one year ago and have been committed to sharing my experiences ever since. To learn more about the mission and the products, click here.
