We recently connected with Sarah Wyland and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sarah, thanks for joining us today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

Legacy is something I’ve thought a lot about recently. How do I want to be remembered? What do I want to leave behind? I think there is a lot of truth to that saying “people will remember how you made them feel.” I want to be remembered as someone who lived bold and authentically, who shared stories, and who inspired people and made them feel like they matter.

Sarah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I feel like I do everything! I’ve worked in digital marketing for 12+ years and now serve as a director of marketing and communications at a major university, a role I absolutely LOVE for so many reasons. I’m also a writer, a coach, and a Pure Barre instructor.

I sort of “fell” into marketing after college when I took a job at a marketing agency doing social media for a major U.S. retailer to ensure a steady income and benefits while also working as a freelance country music journalist. I worked there for three years before deciding it was time to leave Nashville and head back to my hometown to be closer to my family. I joined another agency that focused on SEO and paid media and learned a tremendous amount before being “poached” by an educational travel company to do digital media. I spent five years there focused largely on content and social media strategy but touched a little bit of everything before moving to another state to work in digital marketing for another major university.

A lot happened while I was in that role. I was working full-time, but my passion for fitness led me to open my own boutique barre studio. I learned quickly that while I love coaching, I don’t love the nuts and bolts of running a physical business. We had a lot of issues with the construction of our studio that resulted in us ultimately having to close our doors. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise as COVID came along and we likely wouldn’t have been able to sustain business during the shut down.

In the middle of the studio falling apart – quite literally – my mom passed away. To cope with her death, I found myself turning to an old favorite hobby that had fallen to the backburner: writing. I spun up a short story based on a TV show I was writing, posted it, and went to bed. I woke up to a couple dozen comments asking me to keep writing.

I wrote A LOT. I truly can’t count how many fanfictions I wrote in a relatively short timeframe. With the studio permanently closed, I would go to work, go to the gym, and then come home and write for a few hours before bed. When COVID rolled around, I seemingly had limitless hours to write. I was obsessed. I’d always kept some sort of personal/lifestyle blog active, but this was a whole new world. My following started to grow, and with the nudge from several readers to consider writing for TV and a particularly inspiring section of Shonda Rhimes’s book ‘Year of Yes,’ I decided to apply for MFA programs in writing and producing for television.

I had no idea how to write a script. I spent the last six months of 2019 teaching myself how to do that and applying to four of the top 10 film schools in the country. I didn’t think I’d get into a single one. I got into all of them. I was floored. I ended up turning down the big deal USC in favor of another program that felt more aligned with what I wanted to do and started my MFA program in the fall of 2020 in a remote setting thanks to the pandemic.

Even though school continued to be remote, I moved out to Los Angeles for the winter semester and continued working for the university for several months before transitioning into yet another marketing agency. While L.A. was great at first, I learned that it wasn’t for me. I loved writing, but I didn’t want to work in Hollywood. I loved being by the beach, but I didn’t want to live in L.A. I went through a dark time with my mental health until I had the opportunity to move back to Nashville and take on my first director-level position at an agency.

With all this moving and shaking, the two things I’ve done consistently are write and coach.

On the writing front, I’ve decided to pursue a self-publishing journey and will be announcing the release date of my first novel soon. I’m still teaching Pure Barre, and my own coaching offering has shifted from health and fitness to more life-based. I think it’s clear from my story that I believe in taking bold risks and trusting that there is growth outside of the comfort zone. I get a lot of DMs and emails from women saying “I wish I could do that” or “I’m so inspired by you,” and while I love that I have that sort of impact, I believe they are more than capable of making those same sort of decisions. I work with them to help them identify what they want out of life, what’s holding them back, and craft a plan to get there.

And just because I don’t have enough going on, I recently launched She’s Down South, a lifestyle website inspired by my love of sports, travel, books. and all things southern. I have a lot of plans on how to grow it over the next several months and can’t wait to see where it takes me.

I think a lot of folks believe they have to choose one thing and do that. They have to work in marketing or be an electrician or analyze data. I don’t agree with that. I think we can – and even should – have multiple interests. We also don’t *have* to monetize those multiple interests, no matter what the girl bosses on Instagram say. Sometimes, you can just do something for the passion of it!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My mom passed away at 55 years old from a host of health problems. She didn’t go to college and spent her whole career working in patient registration and insurance. She was great at it – she was always winning awards or getting recognized for her dedication – but she wasn’t passionate about it. When I was younger, she would talk and talk about wanting to start a magazine for divorced women. She went as far as brainstorming her ideas in a notebook. I can remember a certain sparkle about her when she would talk about it. I don’t know that she ever told anyone outside of me.

She never started that magazine.

I think about that a lot – the big hopes and dreams she had and the passion that would burn in her when she daydreamed about it. I use that to drive me forward. I know that there will be failures and things that don’t work out, but her lost dream inspires me to continue to chase mine. I want to know that I went after it, that I gave it my all, even if it – whatever it may be – doesn’t work out. I consider it a tribute to my mom’s memory to go after my creative pursuits.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think it’s my authenticity that is building my reputation. A lot of folks talk about showing up as their authentic selves, but I don’t know that they necessarily follow through. Sure, I post the good stuff. The career wins, the fun outings and experiences, the cute outfits, and lots of photos of my dogs. But I also share the other side of the coin. I share when I’m struggling with anxiety or when self-doubt comes knocking. I post a lot of cooking and baking successes, but I also post the fails or the nights when dinner is a steamed bag of broccoli and some popcorn because I haven’t had a chance to grocery shop. I find that sharing the messy moments is what creates the conversations in my DMs. People tend to think I “have it all together” from the outside looking in because I do so much and seemingly do it all well. I think it’s important to show them the other side of the coin and to build their trust that way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sarahwyland.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahwyland/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SarahKWyland
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahwyland/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarah_wyland
• Other: https://shesdownsouth.com/