Sarah Minella is an Extreme Mom

Just 11 months ago, recent divorcee, Sarah Minella found herself up to the neck with responsibilities. A single mom of two young kids, she was working three jobs just to make ends meet. While flipping through a magazine one day, she came across an article titled, “The Bucket List.” Something long dormant was reawakened—a spark flared from deep within.  

“Before I had children, I lived an unconventional lifestyle that allowed me to travel extensively, do extreme sports and volunteer regularly. I started thinking about the old me (pre-kids) and thought how amazing it would be for my kids to meet that person. I wanted my kids to see who I truly was.”  

So Minella got even busier than she already was, and last September she formed Extreme Moms—a non-profit organization that brings moms together for local, national and international events that combine extreme sports with charity. “Our new little slogan here is ‘find your extreme’. I think that it’s part of the natural process to hold back from doing extreme sports when you’re a mother. It’s an instinct to protect your child and yourself. You have to work hard to push yourself back to where you were before you had children.” 

Which is something Minella encourages other women to do. 

Extreme activities that the group moms have participated in thus far include extreme painting (live models act as canvases!), a polar bear swim, skydiving and rappelling down the 20-story downtown Milwaukee Hilton. 

Minella is in the process of adding more trips abroad (a trip to India is already scheduled), with the ultimate goal of spreading the group’s reach to include  more moms, particularly in the low-income bracket. “I think our mission statement says it best,” says Minella, “extreme moms is dedicated to inspiring moms to live to their highest potential. We believe that a strong, healthy, vital mom creates children that set goals and surpass them.” 

To Minella, the new way her children perceive her has changed everything. “You can say anything you want to your children. But it’s your actions that they really pay attention to.  They see how dedicated I am to this and then, when they come to events, they get to see what all of the hard work was for. I  wanted my kids to see [particularly daughter, Simone] that women can do anything they put their minds to.” 

Now they do. 

While the focus is typically on moms, the group is open to allies as well (men or women without children who would like to assist the group), children and husbands are encouraged to come to events to support moms. For more details on upcoming events, Sarah Minella and ways you can help her out or attend an event, visit extrememoms.org