How Petra Wilkes Is Helping People Rewrite Their Stories Through Sage & Lore in Southwest Florida

Inside the MelloD Designs production studio in North Fort Myers, Petra Wilkes sat down with Lloyd Duhon to share the deeply personal journey that led her from military service and education into therapy, storytelling, and the creation of Sage & Lore and Sage Grove.

For Petra, therapy is not just about helping people heal from difficult moments. It is about helping them reconnect with their values, understand the stories they tell themselves, and intentionally shape what comes next. Through her work, she is building something that blends mental health, leadership development, and personal growth into a framework centered on identity, purpose, and authentic human connection.

a story rooted in reinvention

Petra Wilkes Does Not Describe Her Life as a Straight Line

Before becoming a licensed mental health counselor and marriage and family therapy candidate, she was a pre-law student, a high school teacher, a parent, and eventually a member of the United States Navy, where she served as an air traffic controller.

“I’ve worn many hats,” Petra shared during the interview. “We talked about stories. I got a lot of them.”

Her path into therapy did not begin in a classroom. It began through her own experiences navigating military life, transition, and personal healing. After leaving the military, Petra found herself needing therapy, and that experience became a turning point.

“When I got up off that couch, metaphorically and literally, I knew that’s what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

Petra Wilkes

That realization eventually led her to pursue three master’s degrees focused on marriage and family therapy, clinical counseling, and religion. From there, Sage & Lore was born.

Even the name reflects the philosophy behind her work. Sage & Lore means wisdom through storytelling, a fitting name for a narrative therapist who believes the way people tell their stories can shape how they understand themselves, their choices, and their future.

the person behind sage & lore

Ownership, Authenticity, and Values

What stands out most about Petra is not simply her credentials. It is the conviction with which she believes people deserve ownership over their own lives, identities, and personal narratives.

Throughout the interview, she repeatedly returned to themes of authenticity, values, and self-awareness. Those ideas were shaped heavily by her military experience, particularly entering the Navy later in life than many recruits. Petra joined as a parent and someone who had already experienced several distinct chapters of adulthood, giving her a perspective rooted not just in discipline, but in lived experience.

“I learned how important it was to authentically be who I am and to carry my whole story with me forward,” Petra explained.

Her time in the military deepened her understanding of leadership, communication, and the importance of collective responsibility. Rather than viewing hard work as purely individual effort, she began to understand how interconnected people become when they are working toward a shared mission.

“I learned about community and culture and shared vision,” she said. “It’s a collectivist type of hard work.”

That perspective now directly shapes the way Petra works with both individuals and organizations. Whether she is helping someone navigate personal growth or guiding leadership teams through cultural challenges, her focus remains the same: helping people understand what they value, communicate more honestly, and move forward with greater intentionality.ectly informs the way she works with both individuals and organizations.

why she built sage grove

What Happens After People Identify Their Values?

While Sage & Lore began as Petra Wilkes’ private therapy practice, Sage Grove emerged from a larger question she kept encountering in both therapeutic and organizational settings:

What happens after people identify their values?

Petra noticed that many personal development systems stop at awareness. People complete assessments, attend workshops, or create lists of values, but often struggle to translate those insights into real-world decisions and long-term behavioral change.

“And I’m like, okay… what happens next?” Petra recalled during the interview. “How do I build a life with these values?”

That question ultimately became the foundation for Sage Grove.

Designed as more than a traditional values inventory or motivational framework, Sage Grove combines narrative therapy principles, values alignment, and structured decision-making processes to help people create consistency between what they claim matters and the choices they make every day.

For Petra, the process is not simply about identifying values. It is about understanding the story connected to those values and learning how that story shapes leadership, relationships, communication, and future direction.

“You’re no longer passively existing in your own story. You pick the pen up and decide what you want for your future.”

Petra Wilkes

Rather than treating personal growth as a passive exercise, Sage Grove encourages individuals and organizations to become active participants in their own development. Petra describes the framework as a way for people to reconnect with the story they are living and intentionally shape what comes next.

bringing values into leadership

Values, Culture, and Organizational Alignment

Although Petra works closely with individuals, Sage Grove has also evolved into a framework for organizational leadership and workplace culture development.

Through her work with teams and executives, Petra has found that many organizations struggle not because they lack vision, but because there is a disconnect between leadership values, employee values, and everyday decision-making.

Her process helps organizations identify what they truly value and create stronger alignment across communication, culture, and leadership.

“You’re not making decisions that don’t align with what you say you value,” Petra explained. “You’re launching from those values.”

Rather than approaching culture change through rigid corporate systems, Petra emphasizes honest conversation, emotional safety, and self-awareness.

“It’s a gentle way of having deep conversations. People hear improvement more easily when they don’t feel exposed or attacked.”

Petra Wilkes

That balance between accountability and empathy has become a defining part of Sage Grove’s approach.

building a different kind of practice

Mental Health, Leadership Development, and Storytelling in Southwest Florida

Petra’s work reflects a growing shift happening across Southwest Florida’s entrepreneurial community. Increasingly, local business owners are building companies centered not only around services, but around philosophy, identity, and human connection.

For Petra, Southwest Florida represents a place where those conversations can happen more openly.

Her approach blends mental health, leadership development, and storytelling into something intentionally personal and deeply reflective. Whether she is working with therapy clients, executives, or organizational teams, the goal remains the same: helping people reconnect with who they are and what they value.

She describes her work as intentionally “disruptive,” not in a destructive sense, but in a way that challenges people to question systems, habits, and narratives that no longer serve them.

“I value rebellion. I think rebellion is necessary. That’s why people become leaders.”

Petra Wilkes

what clients may not immediately see

The Emotional Labor Behind the Work

Behind Petra’s calm communication style is an extraordinary amount of emotional labor, reflection, and intentionality.

Throughout the interview, she emphasized that values are not static. People evolve. Organizations evolve. Stories evolve. Problems often emerge when people continue operating from outdated assumptions without realizing their priorities have shifted.

Much of Petra’s work focuses on helping people uncover those hidden disconnects between what they say they value and how they are actually living or leading.

That level of introspection requires patience, trust, and emotional safety, especially when working with individuals or organizations navigating difficult transitions.

“I listen and I don’t judge,” Petra explained. “I care less about what you don’t have. I want to know what you want.”

That philosophy appears to sit at the center of everything she is building through Sage & Lore and Sage Grove.

business information

Business Information

Sage & Lore

Therapy and values-based personal development practice founded by Petra Wilkes.

Specialties include:

• Narrative therapy
• Leadership and organizational values alignment
• Team culture development
• Personal growth and self-awareness frameworks

Framework: Sage Grove

Location: Southwest Florida

Interview Location: MelloD Designs Production Studio, North Fort Myers, Florida