60 seconds with sarah rivera: “we can honor where we came from while continuing to grow, lead and create something new.”

I met Sarah Rivera through Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses several years ago. She’s one of those rare people you can talk to about business one minute and God the next – and somehow it all feels like the same conversation.

That makes sense once you know her story: faith, family, heritage, service and entrepreneurship aren’t separate parts of her life; they’re woven together. A first-generation American and Latina, Sarah went from counselor to founder and CEO of La Luz Counseling, while also building The Counselor’s Mentor to help make the road a little clearer for the professionals coming behind her. 

And in this 60 second Q&A, she talks about what it means to carry forward what shaped you while still having the courage to build something new, which, if you know the story of toth shop’s namesake, makes Sarah’s story one of our favorites. 

– meg

toth shop (ts): Tell us some of your favorite parts of your personal and professional paths. 

Sarah Rivera (SR): I was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, and I am a first-generation American and Latina. My family and heritage have shaped so much of who I am – my faith, my work ethic, the importance I place on family and community, and ultimately the kind of leader and business owner I have become. 

Education has always been an important part of my story. I started college at 16 and completed my undergraduate degree at 19. I later earned my master's degree in counseling from the University of Texas at San Antonio and spent about eight years working in nonprofit and community mental health before eventually stepping into private practice.

When I opened my solo counseling practice in 2017, I certainly wasn't thinking, "I'm going to become a CEO." I was a counselor who wanted to serve people well. Like many first-generation professionals, I understood how to work hard, pursue an education and build a career, but entrepreneurship required me to learn an entirely different set of skills. Much of that I learned along the way.

ts: What does Hispanic Heritage Month mean to you?

SR: When I think about Hispanic Heritage Month, I think about honoring the people and values that helped shape us while also recognizing what we have the opportunity to build for the generations coming after us. I'm proud to be a Latina business owner, counselor, mentor, wife, daughter, mother and woman of faith. My grandmother's name now lives on through a practice serving our community, and the lessons I've learned along the way are being passed on to other counselors and future business owners. I think there is something very special about that full-circle experience.

ts: What is the story and meaning behind the name "La Luz Counseling"?

SR: Over time, my small solo practice grew into La Luz Counseling, a group mental health practice serving children, teens, adults and families in the San Antonio area. The name La Luz, meaning "the light" in Spanish, is deeply personal to me. It honors my maternal grandmother, Maria de La Luz Sanchez Almendariz, a strong and loving woman whose kindness and deep faith in Jesus left a lasting impact on our family. Carrying her name into the practice allows me to honor both my Hispanic heritage and the legacy of faith passed down through generations.

ts: How does your faith integrate into your leadership style and the services offered at your practice?

SR: The name “La Luz” also reflects my own Christian faith. Scripture tells us that God is light and calls us to be a light to others. That is what I hope La Luz can be for the people we serve – a place where, during some of life's darkest or most difficult seasons, they can find hope, direction, healing and a little more light. My faith isn't something I separate from my leadership. It influences how I make decisions, how I treat people, how we serve our community and even how I define success. 

At La Luz, we provide excellent, evidence-based mental health care, while also offering clients the opportunity to incorporate their Christian faith into counseling when that is important to them. Looking back, I can see so many places where God has opened doors throughout my career, including doors I never could have planned or opened for myself.

ts: What message or legacy do you hope your journey leaves for future generations?

SR: I hope part of what my journey demonstrates is that we can honor where we came from while continuing to grow, lead and create something new. We can carry forward the faith, culture, sacrifices and values of the generations before us while creating opportunities that perhaps weren't available – or even imaginable – to them. And hopefully, what we build today makes the path a little wider for the generations who come after us.

ts: Every person we interview answers this same question last – Mile 18 is generally considered to be one of the hardest miles in a marathon. You’re hitting a wall. You’re forced to dig deep. What’s mile 18 in your line of work, or at a point in your career, and what do you tell yourself when you find yourself in the middle of a mile 18?

SR: The power of the “pivot” is something I applied in sports during my earlier years: keeping one foot planted firmly and shifting the entire body into a different position to offer a better vantage point. It’s the same in business. Many people hit a hard season and think about rebranding, changing directions, or throwing out everything they’ve built up to that point. But I think it’s important to stay the course and stay committed to what you’ve built. Be willing to humble yourself into a pivot and say, “I am in a blind spot and need to shift directions without losing myself completely.”

When I hit Mile 18, I remind myself: Stick with what you know, not what you feel. Stay grounded even when it feels chaotic, keep your head up, listen to the experts around you, and search for another potential outlet without losing sight of who you are and what you’ve built.