Our latest Island Influencer episode is a first for us—and a very special one. It’s not often we get the chance to welcome a mother and daughter together, but we felt this was a truly lovely combination. Their intertwined stories deserve to be heard in tandem.
You’ll meet Sarah Jarvis, who built a successful career in marketing before life threw her a devastating curveball—stage three ovarian cancer, forcing an unexpected and early retirement at age 58. Since then, Sarah has become a passionate advocate for raising awareness of ovarian cancer while navigating life with an incurable illness.
You’ll also hear from Dr Rachel Jarvis Martin, Sarah’s daughter, whose deep love of nature began in childhood on the Isle of Man. Rachel’s career has taken her from studying chimpanzees and elephants at Chester Zoo, to working on conservation projects in South America, to completing a PhD researching heart disease in great apes. When her mum was diagnosed, Rachel paused her PhD to come home, ultimately rethinking her own future in light of what truly mattered.
Now an Education Officer at Manx Wildlife Trust, Rachel is on a mission to connect people of all ages with the natural world. Her return to the Isle of Man represents a growing (yet still rare) movement of young, educated professionals choosing a life and career rooted in community and purpose.
This is an open, deeply moving, and humorous conversation about resilience, career change, family, nature, and why it’s never too early (or too late) to live with intention.
Here’s episode 131 with Island Influencers Sarah and Rachel Jarvis, enjoy!
Useful links
Connect with Sarah Jarvis on LinkedIn
Connect with Rachel Jarvis Martin on LinkedIn
Rachel’s Instagram & Rachel’s BlueSky
We are taking a break for the Summer but will be back with many more stories of successful business owners, experienced professionals, entrepreneurs and community leaders based or with influence in the Isle of Man in September.
Island Influencers is produced by Bear Content & Social KEWS
