You were born to create — and the world needs the art only you can make!
So own your truth. Follow your passion. And make your art!
You’re in the right place if:
- You’re a teen or college student who wants to make a career as an artist but doesn’t know how to get started.
- You’re trying to figure out how to navigate your education — including how to get the most value from your degree and deal with all its related expenses.
- You’re a creator (writer, visual artist, musician, performer, etc.) of any age looking for ways to do the work you love and permission to be unapologetically yourself.
If that’s you, here are 2 ways I can help right now:
Read the Blog
Get weekly insights and resources for teens, college students, young adults & creatives of all ages — straight to your inbox from a professional writer and English professor.
Take a Course
Learn how to get the most out of college, effectively manage your time, and do the work you love — all without overwhelm!
Hi, I’m Sarah!
Here are a few things you’re probably wondering about me:
“Were you a creative kid?”
Yep! I know exactly what it’s like to be a young creative because I was one too. I’ve known what I wanted to do all my life — write stories.
As a kid, identifying as a writer was easy: I spent recess writing in my notebooks and wrote my first novel in the first grade, a dystopian fantasy about alien unicorns arriving on Earth via meteor to save the world.
By sixteen, I’d published my first professional article in a state newspaper and was busy writing a series of Nancy Drew-like novels after school.
“Why did you stop writing for so long?”
Technically, I never stopped writing. I just stopped actively pursuing a creative career.
Writing is all I ever wanted to do. But, in my teens, I started receiving harsh feedback on my stories from publishers and well-meaning family and friends. And it hurt. As a teen, I didn’t know how to feel about or understand all the rejection. I thought I didn’t measure up.
It was also time to start thinking about college, and all the adults in my life were telling me to forget about writing and get a “day job.” So I tried to put aside my stories and focused on finding a more “practical” career.
But I could never completely turn it off. Stories and characters kept coming to me, and I kept writing in my notebooks. But I wrote in secret because I couldn’t face the rejection and didn’t know back then the value of feedback or how to approach my writing with a growth mindset.
I kept my writing hidden for decades. I even ran a writer’s group for seven years and never shared anything I wrote!
“What changed?”
In my late thirties, while pregnant with my son, I completed the first draft of a novel and realized I needed to share my stories with the world. I needed to show my son that following your dreams matters. And I needed to answer the deep longing in my soul to finally be who I am.
Today, I make my living as a writer (and a teacher!), and I even co-wrote a series of picture books with my own creative kid — because I know that supporting him in his journey matters too.
I now understand there’s value in rejection, and overcoming the fear of being seen allows me to help others every day, including as an English professor who teaches writing.
That’s why I’m so passionate about helping young creatives!
I still regret all the lost time I could have spent pursuing my art, and I regret so many of the choices I made with my education and my life. But there’s power in regret — because it’s the reason I’m so passionate about helping young creators today. It’s also the reason I’m working on a book about how to navigate college for a new generation — including for creative types like me!
I don’t want you to lose decades pursuing your dreams. The world needs your art — because you’re the only you. You’re the only one who can make art in your voice, through your eyes, and in your own way.
“Why should I care about art & creativity?”
You don’t have to. But the truth is art changes the world. It reminds us we’re not alone, it shows us what’s possible, and it changes minds. It also helps us make sense of our beautiful, chaotic, messy lives.
Even if you’re not an “artist,” we’re all creative in our own ways. It’s what makes us human.
And if you’re looking for “practical” benefits, creativity is something that future-proofs us against being replaced by robots. And it’s got some amazing health benefits, especially for mental health.
All that aside, if you’re any kind of artist at heart, you know you can’t not create. Your soul hurts and your mental health suffers when you’re away from it too long. So don’t be. Whether you pursue a creative practice as a hobby or a career, the world needs your art — and so do you!
Official Bio
As a writer, essayist, and journalist, Sarah has reported from the financial trenches to the doctor’s office. Her words have appeared all over the web, including in publications like USA Today, Healthline, Tiny Beans, and YourTango, where she’s written about everything from her kid’s hair to the ghosts of New Orleans.
Most of her writing focuses on education, personal finance, parenting, and creativity, and she’s currently at work on a book about helping Gen Z navigate college — because it’s not your parent’s education!
Sarah is also a college writing center director and an English and humanities professor with over 25 years of experience teaching at all grade levels and 16 years of experience teaching at the college level.
Sarah lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband and son.
