Born and raised in Evanston, Illinois – Sarah takes us through how her love of filmmaking began and how the camera gave her a voice and courage she hadn’t discovered yet. Sarah took her passion to film school, moved out to Los Angeles, and landed her very first job on the hit ABC show Dancing with the Stars. And although the job had its perks – 20 million viewers, and a slew of celebrity talent to work with – Sarah felt like something was missing in her career and in her life. She set out to pursue her dream of making documentary films that can uplift, inform and inspire.
Sarah recounts her experience of making her first film – The Empowerment Project – which shines a light on extraordinary women across the US, from a Pilot, to a mathematician, athlete, astronaut, four-star admiral, and many more. With humor and authenticity, Sarah shares the stories of these incredible women as well as shares clips from her films to truly immerse the audience in these stories.
Sarah then takes us through the once-in-a-lifetime journey of her second film Losing Sight of Shore which follows the unbelievable true story of four brave women who set out to row across the Pacific Ocean – from America to Australia, over 8,000 miles! She explains how much of a risk she took in the making of the film as well as the extreme dangers the crew faced on the voyage across the sea. Ultimately Sarah’s wildest dream came true – she sold the film to Netflix worldwide and today, the film can be seen in over 190 countries.
With a unique mix of an entrepreneurial spirit and a drive to change the way the world perceives women - Sarah entertains, enlightens, and encourages the crowd to live their best lives.
Partial List of Takeaways:
- We are all extraordinary – we just have to unleash our potential.
- It is so important to share our experiences and our stories – our voices matter.
- You can never cross the ocean without the courage to lose sight of the shore – leaving a comfort zone in pursuit of a better version of ourselves.
- We have the power to change our media landscape – with our dollar, with our remote, we are more powerful than we could ever know.
- Everyone will feel inspired and empowered by the end of this talk!
