Guest: Sarah Cestnick
Sarah delves into a moment when she was 10 years old experiencing her very first panic attack, not knowing what it was at the time. Growing up in a Christian faith, Sara believed that she would get the support she needed given her belief that God helps to overcome the sensations of panic – the promise of faith. She later experienced depression in her first year of university when she experienced 3 losses in her life from suicide, heart disease and cancer. The latter was her maternal grandmother whom she saw go through it and then was unable to attend the funeral after she lost her grandmother. At school Sarah suffered a sports injury, which led to losing her hockey scholarship, which prompted her transfer to another University in Ontario. Sarah had a moment of deep understanding after the passing of her grandmother that she needed help to work on her mental wellbeing outside of her many supports at the time. After she completed her undergraduate studies, she reconnected with a friend learning that she was victim of human trafficking, and after leaning this, Sarah panicked that she would lose another person from her life. Sarah wanted to help, at the same time, she didn’t feel credible to help with the issue. After having conversations with others, and Sarah started to catch audiences, it inspired her to compete for the Miss Canada pageantry, while she had to work through imposter syndrome to take the initiative forward, she believed she could through pageantry, and focusing on the cause that she is raising awareness for – anti human trafficking. Her key message to the listeners is that: find out where your identity is; ask yourself what defines you; where are you placing your time, energy and resources and can you potentially reallocate these; remember that you are so loved, even when you don’t feel it.
Guest Bio: Sarah is an anti-human trafficking advocate, model, and business professional in the financial marketing industry with a passion for giving back. She has accomplished thousands of volunteer hours across international borders, received various awards in business, leadership, and the arts thanks to her involvement with her local church and her degree in Business and Communications at the University of Waterloo. She attributes her entrepreneurial spirit to her upbringing immersed in hockey, visual arts, and travel.
Sarah has competed at Miss World Canada as Miss Burlington 2022, winning the Miss Congeniality titles at nationals. She competed at Miss Supranational Canada as Miss Burlington 2023, placing as first runner up. After a close friend of hers escaped from human trafficking, she was empowered by the opportunity to spread awareness about this issue, she completed governmental training before building out her curriculum for local and global communities. She is currently the founder of her own anti-human trafficking initiative The Omega Project, founded in 2022.
Passionate about: Fight4Freedom, represents an active voice of justice for individuals and communities exploited by sex trafficking, and aid in the journey to safety, healing and freedom.
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