Meet Sarah Parsons

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

Sarah, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
Resilience is an interesting ability to trace to its roots in our own stories as it is inextricably tied to struggle and adversity as that is predominantly how it is cultivated. When I look back at my journey of developing resilience, it really challenges me to reframe events or situations that were difficult or downright horrible in the moment with a new appreciation and even gratitude for the resilience it built within me.

If I had to focus on one type of experience that has helped me cultivate the most resilience it would be repeatedly finding or putting myself in situations, professionally and creatively, where I was seriously out of my depth.

There’s a famous quote that has been misattributed to almost every brilliant person that says, “If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.” This truism has been key for me in being able to build my ability to be resilient. Whenever I find myself in the deep end of the pool my reactions vary from being excited to confused to anxiety ridden to completely overwhelmed. Looking back, I can see a throughline of how important it is to not just make it out the other side, but to stay present in the situation so that I can look back and use the experience as a touchstone to reference in future times of struggle, fear, overwhelm or pain.

I do my best to remind myself that resilience is not a personality trait or a value, but rather a skill that can only be developed through times of adversity – and that adversity or struggle, as awful or heartbreaking as it can be, is also a chance for growth.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am in Public Relations and have my own Los Angeles based PR firm called Sarah Parsons Media where I focus on working one on one with all kinds of folks in entertainment, the arts, and entrepreneurial spaces who are looking to make a difference in their “corner of the world.”

I founded Sarah Parsons Media in response to going through adversity in my own life; I was seeing all of these incredibly talented, passionate, good hearted individuals who wanted to change the world but didn’t know how to share their story or mission. With my background in the arts, I studied theatre and performance at the college level starting at the age of 15 and continued to CALARTS, I can immediately identify what’s special about my client’s stories or brand.

In the time since founding Sarah Parsons Media, I’ve been honored to collaborate and work with some of the most amazing clients whose missions and purposes truly inspire me. This has led Sarah Parsons Media to winning a Webby Award, 3 Anthem Awards, a NAMI Award and even having a presence at the Cannes Film Festival within a year and half of its beginning.

I really believe that what makes Sarah Parsons Media special is the trust our clients have in us to share their incredible stories that allow us to craft these incredibly unique, holistic PR campaigns that highlights them to their ideal audience.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Stop Paralyzing Yourself with “Perfect”: If you’re early in your journey of creating or building something, no matter what age you are, stop trying to make something or be “perfect”. The fear of something or me personally not being “perfect” held me back for a VERY long time. Far longer than it should have. While this is not permission to half-ass something (or anything really), it is a reminder that perfection doesn’t exist and that no matter how long you plan and build and create there’s always going to be something that falls short of the mark. And that’s okay, in fact it’s more than okay, it’s part of it.

Make Mistakes Often: This goes hand in hand with the last one. Allowing yourself to make mistakes means you’re pushing yourself to try or do something new. Expecting to get it perfect the first, second, third, or even fiftieth time is absurd. Remind yourself of this when you are tempted to feel sorry for yourself (we’ve all been there and go there still – even when we know better). You me, and all of us learn and grow through a series of f*ck-ups, and as long as you’re following your True North and operating from that place, any mistake you make (unless it’s heart surgery!) usually isn’t the end of the world and is therefore fixable.

Uphold Your Boundaries Without Apology: There’s a lot of talk these days around boundaries and rightfully so as many of us were never taught or modeled what appropriate boundaries look like – especially in the pursuit of something we’re passionate about. Personally I’ve had to learn the hard way what it feels like to not respect your own boundaries – and let me tell you it’s the worst. Invest the time and energy into discovering what your boundaries are. What is acceptable and what is not in the pursuit of something you love. Write them down. Revisit them often. And most importantly, when they are challenged calmly and resolutely uphold them.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
Always! My firm is intentionally small so that I can be directly involved with the strategy of every single client’s PR campaign, however I’m always looking to connect and collaborate with those looking to make their “corner of the world better.”

I’m not your gal if you’re looking for fame for it’s own sake, but if you have a mission, a message, a purpose, a THING that you believe in and are the conduit it for — I’m your gal.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Image 1: Danielle LeFever Photography Image 2: Danielle LeFever Photography Image 3: Dimitrious Kambouris – GETTY.

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