Sarah Welch is a member of Kenway's leadership team who helps shape market solutions and go to market strategy. But earlier in her career, she struggled with something many high performers do: asking for help felt like admitting weakness. Here's how she transformed that fear into a leadership strength.
Sarah Welch has always been a helper.
"Since I was young, helping people is something that has always come naturally to me," she says. "I've always wanted to help people—whether that be volunteering, whether it's charity, contributing, helping my friends with something. It's very much in my nature to just always want to help."
Despite Sarah’s passion for helping others, asking for help never came quite as naturally.
"I used to be afraid to ask for help because I didn't want it to look like I didn't know what I was doing," she admits. "Helping others is one of the things that lifts me up the most, but I was often afraid to ask for help."
Early in her career, asking for help wasn't just uncomfortable—it felt risky. "When I did ask for help, It often felt like I was letting some down or didn't have what it took to succeed."
The unspoken message was clear: Figure it out yourself. Don't show weakness. Don't admit you don't have all the answers. "That's not the case here at Kenway," Sarah clarifies. "saying, 'I need help’, is not only acceptable, it is encouraged.'"
At Kenway, something shifted.
"At Kenway, our culture is rooted in the belief that offering help when needed—and accepting it without judgment—is crucial for success," Sarah explains. "This philosophy shapes everything we do, both internally and externally, and has helped shape who I am as a leader today."
The transformation shows up in how Sarah now approaches learning. "The great thing about that is I continue to learn from people every day whether they have been here a year or 20 years. I have something to learn from them, and I'm no longer afraid to show that."
This wasn't always comfortable. But Sarah discovered that vulnerability wasn't weakness—it was the foundation for real growth, both for herself and for the teams she leads.
Today, Sarah intentionally creates the psychological safety she once wished for.
"I always want people to feel there's room to fail," she explains. "When there's pressure to be perfect, it makes things hard. When people can ask questions and ask for help, they thrive."
The message to her team is clear: You don't have to have all the answers. You just have to be willing to learn.
"When I talk in interviews a lot about why I've stayed at Kenway, my answer always comes back to the people and the culture," she says. "We are such a collaborative company, and we are not competing with each other for things like titles or access to certain projects."
Sarah is explicit about this: "I never feel like there's a competition with any of my peers, regardless of how long they've been here. And I never look at myself as superior to anyone here, regardless of if they've been here for one year or 20 years."
Why? "Because I know that I have just as much to learn from everyone at Kenway as I have to teach. I think that constant collaboration and the “help and be helped” attitude is what makes us stronger as a team, stronger as a company, and stronger at helping our clients achieve what they need help with."
This bidirectional learning—where knowledge flows in all directions regardless of title or tenure—isn't just nice to have. It's what makes Kenway effective.
This philosophy of mutual learning extends directly to how Sarah approaches client relationships.
"When I think about the way that Kenway goes into any relationship with clients, I always think of it as a partnership and a trusted advisor collaboration," she explains. "I never look at it as 'Kenway is going to come in and tell the client this is how it should be done.'"
“What is their business problem? What is it that they need help with? And then making sure that we seek to understand their expertise—because they're really the experts in their business, in their industry, right?"
Kenway's role is to complement, not replace. "We're here to collaborate with them and layer on our expertise in whatever solution they need help with. It's really bidirectional—a partnership that allows us to add value holistically with our clients."
This partnership approach requires something many consultants undervalue: emotional intelligence.
"When you're in consulting and your client is asking you to come on and help them solve a business problem, a lot of times there can be resistance, concerns around change, or maybe fear of job elimination," Sarah notes.
Some consultants might push harder, overcome objections, or assert expertise.
Sarah's approach? Adapt. "You have to make them comfortable that the goal here is really to help them. It's not to take over what they're doing. It's not to get rid of their position. But the goal is really to help solve their business problem, make their life easier."
It's the difference between being technically right and being effective. You can have the perfect solution, but if people don't trust you, don't believe you care about them, or feel threatened by you—the solution won't matter.
Sarah learned this the same way she learned to ask for help: by recognizing that relationships and trust aren't separate from the work. They are the work.
Today, Sarah creates environments where others don't have to carry that fear. Where people can ask questions without judgment. Where mistakes are part of the learning process. Where "help and be helped" isn't just a tagline—it's how work actually gets done.
That's not just good leadership. That's what happens when you transform fear into freedom—both for yourself and for everyone around you.
Help & Be Helped isn’t just a philosophy — it’s how we lead at Kenway. Connect with Sarah Welch on LinkedIn or read more stories of how Kenway brings Help & Be Helped to life on our Insights page.