Meet Sarah Grassel

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

Sarah , sincerely appreciate your selflessness in agreeing to discuss your mental health journey and how you overcame and persisted despite the challenges. Please share with our readers how you overcame. For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.

Back in high school, I had a major trauma in my life. Everything I knew kind of fell apart and pieces are still falling into play today. The only thing I knew to do was to keep moving forward. Onto better, onto bigger. When I got to college I poured myself into classes and work. My passion for photography blended with my trauma and sometimes my PTSD would bleed into projects. It wasn’t until my husband (then boyfriend) encouraged me to seek professional help that I started to heal. Despite the bumps in the road, I knew that I couldn’t let my work and my business suffer from my mental health. It’s hard because when you have a tough week as an individual small business owner, most of your clients don’t know what you are suffering. I have been very fortunate to luck out with some AMAZING clients who are very patient and caring. While I strive to deliver galleries and work on time, most of my clients recognize that I am human and are always thrilled when the gallery is delivered. The moments captured are worth the wait. From birth stories to graduation or the first steps with engagement/proposal to wild(e) weddings and adventurous elopements, I’ve been blessed to capture so many authentic memories. I think that a lot of my trauma and mental health has actually helped to improve my quality and work. Through healing, I have come to understand just how important the little details and memories matter, so I am very passionate about helping my families and couples to authentically and timelessly capture their important milestones. To this day, I am still working on healing. I still have PTSD and triggers that I am working through with EMDR therapy as well as a second counselor, but I have to roll with it. Life goes on. Just like on a wedding or elopement day, you have to roll with it and be flexible. No matter how much you plan, sometimes things go a little sideways. It’s kind of relatable to trauma and mental health struggles. I can wake up in the morning and plan to have a beautiful blessed day, but I could easily get triggered and have to roll with a new plan or my child’s school could call asking me to pick up early because of the weather, etc. I’ve learned to have a “plan-did” approach. Gentle guidance. A simple plan with lots of cushion when things have to move around. Same thing for family sessions! Kids are a little unpredictable at young ages, so you HAVE to be flexible. I may have a 30minute session with a family, but when they arrive there’s a blow-out diaper, baby needing to be fed, or all out melt-down from a quick car nap, you just have to roll with what situation life presents. I also want to say a LARGE part of my healing and overcoming my mental health struggles has been because of my faith. Prayer hasn’t always been easy, when my trauma happened, I actually gave up on God. But with the help of my husband, I found my way back to the Catholic faith and take one day at a time striving to live a life led by Christ’s example. I truly believe that Christ put my husband in my life to bring me back home and has a bigger plan for me. Outside of the business, my husband and I raise three kids of our own and currently have three foster siblings. All of the kids are six years and under, the youngest two under the age of one. That presents it’s own challenges while running a business, but again, we just roll with it and say a lot of prayers. Huge shoutout to my husband, honestly. Isaac has been the biggest support in every step – encouraging me to seek therapy, cheering on my business, and now even joining the business as a videographer! All while being a full-time personnel in the SD army national guard. He’s amazing.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

Wandering Wilde Media is a full-service media company. We offer web + brand design in the off season (weddings), book families year-round, and primarily serve couples in the Black Hills of South Dakota seeking to authentically and timelessly capture their love story from engagement to wedding. We used to travel across the country for weddings, we’ve been to CA, SC, GA, IA, MN, CO, and more, but with six kids at home, we are sticking to our roots once more. Anywhere we can drive within reason is our service area. Glacier National Park and the Tetons are two of our favorite places outside of South Dakota itself, and they’re an easy day’s travel.

There’s a reason the name of the brand is Wandering Wilde. We love the outdoors. Hiking, kayaking, tenting, fire-side receptions, etc. you name it, if I could live outside year-round, I think I would!

Outside of work and our careers, Isaac and I are recent foster parents. Before that, I served as a CASA volunteer. As a part of my trauma, I am very passionate about the youth in my community and wanting to help in any capacity. I partner with South Dakota Kids Belong as a foster friendly business to offer a free session for foster families and youth in the Black Hills area, and I’ve even seen clients from that offer passing through on vacations. Now as a foster parent myself, I realize just how special it is to offer kiddos professional photos. If not for them, but for their parents who are missing milestones like birthdays, dance performances, sports events, etc.

I am not sure how much detail you are looking for?

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The biggest thing I did for myself was going to college. As someone who left high school during a pretty traumatic time of life, college helped me to stay focused and to dedicate my time to my passion while strengthening my skills.

The second thing was simply getting out there. It’s a huge leap of faith to invest in yourself and to start taking on clients, so I started slow. I started second shooting, associate shooting, working in marketing departments, and even working in the publication world. All of that experience helped me to gain the knowledge and experience I needed to confidently invest in myself after graduating from Black Hills State with my BFA in photography and journalism.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

The biggest challenge I am facing now is work/life balance. As a full-time business owner and stay-at-home mom, there’s quite a lack in balance. That mixed with the unpredictable life of fostering, there’s been a whole new adjustment period.

After my first was born in 2021, it took me about 9months to figure out how to keep business during “office hours” and keep my personal life going without staying up all hours of the night to edit, email, etc. My kids have all accompanied me to different family sessions, seniors, etc as well, and I have some amazing clients who love to see my kids and keep up with them as they continue to grow. It feels like I am building my own little community of support some days with how much clients become friends/family to me.

The challenge still remains the same today, but just like when my oldest was born, I know it will take time to adjust and that this is just a season.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

All photos taken by ourselves. Wandering Wilde Media

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