What inspired Sarah O'Reilly to create Be Me?
Sarah O'Reilly created Be Me out of a deeply personal need: her eldest son Ralph was struggling with sensory and emotional difficulties, and she had no ready-made solution to help him. She turned to reward charts, noticed a striking shift in his behaviour and mindset, and realised something more durable and purposeful was needed — a physical reward box system that could genuinely motivate children and build lasting habits.
What began as a practical response to Ralph's challenges quickly became a much larger vision. Sarah observed that the positive changes she saw in Ralph extended beyond behaviour — they pointed to something foundational about how children develop confidence and self-regulation. The experience convinced her that a well-designed reward system, built around consistency and meaningful incentives, could have a transformative effect on children at scale.
This personal starting point gives Be Me its distinct character: it isn't a product born in a boardroom, but one shaped by real parenting experience in a blended co-parenting family. Sarah, who found her true purpose around age 32-34, channelled her entrepreneurial instincts — honed watching two parents run their own businesses — into a venture with genuine stakes. You can hear her full account of this journey on The Purpose People Podcast on Listenly.
"90% of a child's behavioral profile is built by age 5, so those early years are really important — whether that starts with a small task like brushing your teeth, making your bed, that is building the life skills and the foundations for the person you're going to become."
— Sarah O'Reilly, Founder of Be Me
Sarah O'Reilly grew up in an entrepreneurial household, watching both parents run their own businesses day in and day out. That early exposure to the real graft behind business ownership — far from the glamour it appears from the outside — shaped her approach to building ventures of her own. At 21, she launched her first small company organising events in Bristol before relocating to Oxford.
She is a mother of four children in a blended co-parenting family, and it is this lived reality that directly gave rise to Be Me. Her eldest son Ralph's sensory and emotional difficulties prompted her to experiment with reward charts at home — and the results were clear enough to convince her there was a product worth building. Be Me is the structured, physical reward box system she wished had already existed.
Sarah says she found her true sense of purpose around age 32-34, a moment of clarity that brought her entrepreneurial energy and her parenting experience together. Be Me is currently raising funds via Kickstarter, with an estimated delivery of 9 to 12 months post-funding. Her work sits at the intersection of child development, healthy habit formation, and family wellbeing.
Ep. #187 — Healthy Habits and Financial Skills Every Child Needs with Sarah O'Reilly