I’ve had the opportunity to work with Sarah for two years now and have met her several times in person. Her ability to use social media to grow brands and reach people is amazing. Her commitment to authenticity is just one of the reasons I have asked her to be a speaker at this years conference! See you soon! Eva
Being asked to have a direction in high school is kind of scary. Especially with society telling you only college will make you successful. When you look at the entrepreneurs around you, you probably think they’ve always had a clear direction. Which isn’t true, a lot of us get lost before the journey even begins.
I had no clear direction when I graduated high school. I take that back, I did have a clear plan after high school. I was going to acting school in New York where I would have a potentially promising career as a starving actress. The closer I came to the day of my first post-high school adventure the more scared I became. Why? I was going to be a STARVING artist. I was committing to staying poor until I made it, which even if I had, an $80,000 price tag would have followed me forever. That’s when the “direction” I had fell apart.
I dropped out a few weeks before classes in New York started and enrolled in a community college. There, I felt safe and could live without a direction in life. But even then, everyone who knew me well would have said, “she’s always had direction in her life, it’s to lead, to teach, and support the wellbeing of others. Sarah is ambitious, she’ll figure it out.” I didn’t want to get to know that part of myself yet.
I bounced between majors in college. I cozied up with science, art, communications, and fell into a class with one of the five wisest women I know, Cindy Coon. Her class entitled, “Marketing and Business Strategies For The Young Artist,” (or something like that) was literally the only class I actually truly needed to go through. Spending a semester in her class I realized my potential again, my drive to lead, my drive to teach, and my drive to be better than I was allowing myself to be. I discovered which direction I needed to head towards.
I graduated college in 2014 after seven years of expensive self-discovery. Had a quick stint with a marketing agency, created their social media department, trained and educated each person there on social marketing, and I created a business plan based off the knowledge I had from my last college class.
After a year of employment I walked into work one day and quit. The next day I worked solely with my company, The Blonde Spot, on a full-time basis. Now I have long-term, sustainable clients who I not only market on social media, but educate along the way.
Educating those interested in social media and branding has allowed me to pursue that teaching element I’ve always loved and have worked toward. I think educating young people and teens on how to pursue their passion is important. College isn’t for everyone and for those like me, it turns out to be an overpriced adventure.
With young entrepreneurship on the rise I see the future of the business world bursting with innovation and the spotlight is on you, the teenpreneur. Opportunities to attend workshops and conferences like The Teenpreneur will give you the power to make well informed choices and understand how marketing, multimedia, and starting a real business works.
