We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sara Anfuso. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sara below.

Sara, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I always told myself from a young age that I never wanted to work a desk job and sit in a cubicle (if possible, of course). After I graduated from University of San Diego, I suddenly found myself in a desk job. And then another. And another. It got to a point where my mental and physical declined to a point where I decided to take a “two month” leave to focus on myself and just get outside and walk — something that I’ve always loved. It’s what recenters me.

The day after I quit my job, I told my now-husband, “Hey, let’s do something crazy today and walk to our favorite tea shop.” He agreed to this 14-mile journey and we embarked on our trek the following day. I posted an Instagram reel about our day out and I guess that long distance walking is a niche that was untapped? The video took off like wildfire and people were so curious about the whys, hows, and wheres.

Ever since that day in January of 2024, I’ve been getting outside going on distance walks, filming my days, and sharing them with the world. I’ve had the honor of working with numerous brands, like Brooks Running and Fjallraven, to name two. In addition to my own solo walks, I also host about 2-3 community walks per month and it’s so special to see people come together over a shared interest of getting outside, breathing fresh air, and just walking!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Sara Anfuso and I’m (relatively) new to the Seattle area. I was born and raised in San Diego, California, and lived there until 2020, when my boyfriend (now husband), convinced me to try out Seattle for a summer. Even though it was during the pandemic, I had never moved anywhere in my life and I wasn’t prepared for how beautiful life in the Pacific Northwest would be.

In 2023, we decided to make the move officially from San Diego to Seattle and wow, what an incredible journey it has been! Everyday I’m so grateful to wake up surrounded by trees, lakes, and mountain ranges — it truly is an inspiration landscape that always keeps me true to myself.

I graduated from the University of San Diego with double degrees in Architecture and Music Composition in 2021… In other words, the creativity has always been there, but now I feel like I’m actually able to use it on my own terms as I’ve started my own business!

I go by the username @servedbysara because at first, it was a food account. I have a love and passion for cooking, so I thought that sharing it with the world would be a joy. When I repurposed that account for my Seattle, walking, and lifestyle content, I decided to keep the name because I really liked the ring of it.

You can find me long distance trekking across cities, hosting community walking events, and showing you my favorite places in Seattle and beyond on Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube (@servedbysara).

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I do think I’m rather hard on myself at times as well as impatient. I held this belief that I had to have everything figured out as soon as possible and in reality, that just isn’t the case. I’ve had so many incredible mentors in the creator space along the way that I owe so much to, but “having everything figured out” isn’t a reality that changes on the month-to-month.

For example, for a time, I thought that I needed to have a podcast, so I invested the time and energy into that and eventually that it didn’t resonate with me and I ultimately decided to put down the mic. I’ve really had to ask myself: Does this energetically align with my work right now? What am I gaining from this? What is my community gaining from this? Is this something I can see myself doing longe-term or is this just an impulse?

How did you build your audience on social media?

I’ve been on Instagram since 2013, so just about 12 years. Granted that it has changed immensely in those years, I’ve really had to teach myself everything I know about taking social media seriously within this last year. Instagram isn’t just as simple as “take a picture and post it;” you have to constantly be thinking about what will impact your audience and ask yourself if the content you make will resonate with others.

I’ve learned that growing on Instagram is really somewhere between a 60-70% “post for your audience” and a 30-40% of “post for yourself.” There are certain reel or post concepts that I love, yet I know that they’re very personal to me and won’t likely do well with Instagram’s algorithm. I stand by my belief that it’s important to be genuine and to post for yourself, but growing on Instagram/social media means catering to your community/following. Finding a blend of posting content that is meaningful to you AND to your audience is the key… and I’m honestly not sure I’ve found that quite yet! Algorithms change so quickly — just when you think you cracked the code, it changed on you and favors an alternate type of content! It’s a game, really!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.instagram.com/servedbysara?igsh=MmNmd2hkYnVxcDV3&utm_source=qr
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/servedbysara?igsh=MmNmd2hkYnVxcDV3&utm_source=qr
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@servedbysara?si=KVgWxba__7Lid3W-

Image Credits

Sara Anfuso