Meet Sarah Turner

Sarah Turner started her career at just 17, when in 1997, she joined the Royal Australian Navy. 3 years later, she graduated from the Australian Defence Force Academy with a Bachelor of Arts in history and politics.

 

By 21 she was a qualified warfare officer and veteran of the Gulf War. At age 23 she was one of the youngest ever qualified female navigators.  Before she had turned 28, she had completed her post graduate study at the University of Plymouth, and was classified an International Category A Hydrographic Surveyor.

 

Throughout her Naval career, she held a variety of leadership positions, including coordinating international deployments and leading Australian border force and search and rescue operations. Her other responsibilities included maintaining the navigational safety of vessels, sometimes with up to 300 personnel embarked. She was awarded the “Hugh Pathard” memorial award for excellence in Leadership.

 

But by age 30, her past trauma and high functioning anxiety were deeply impacting her professional life. She just couldn’t hide behind her “mask of perfection” anymore and in 2010 she was medically discharged from the military with PTSD, anxiety, depression and alcohol abuse. Her mental health rapidly deteriorated as she battled, shame, redundancy, addiction and debilitating anxiety.

 

She like her life was over. If she wasn’t this high achieving Naval Officer, who was she? That same year her “tada” moment arrived when she fell pregnant with her first child. In that one “light bulb” moment, she made the brave decision to heal her past trauma and create a new future for her family. As a daughter of a Vietnam Veteran and the Granddaughter of a WW2 Veteran, Sarah understood the cyclical pattern of trauma and was determined to not pass this legacy to her children.

 

She began to study mindfulness, alternative medicine and yoga. In 2012 she became a qualified yoga instructor. She used her scientific and leadership backgrounds to create a fresh and authentic approach to healing and Dijolife was born.

 

Dijolife is an acronym of two of her children’s names, Dixie and Jordy, a daily reminder of what started her authentic journey. Sarah is passionate about helping women live free from anxiety and teaching them to find the courage in owning their authentic story. From humble beginnings teaching local women in her community, Dijolife has grown to now encompass over 50000 women globally.

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Sarah is now the proud mum of three wonderful children, with baby Sage being a surprise welcome, just last year. She is a bestselling author, a solopreneur, a female mindfulness and authenticity coach and a hater of “toxic positivity.” She is passionate about changing and empowering the discussion around female mental health, so that other women never have to find their space “below rock bottom.”