Meet Sara Strunk

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Strunk.

Hi Sara, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My story. This is always a very hard question for me to answer because so much has happened in my life already between trauma, heartbreak, accomplishments, struggles, etc. It’s like — Where do I even begin? I guess a very very (very) short summary would be: I was born in Pennsylvania and moved to the Bay Area, CA when I was eight years old. My childhood wasn’t the greatest, but there was definitely beauty in the chaos. Mental Illness, drug abuse, and homelessness run in my family, and I took on the role of being the “stable” one at a very young age. The backbone if you will. Although I also struggle mentally, It’s a lot more manageable for me than it is/was for them. I also felt the pressure of needing to grow up fast and to make sure I can take care of myself. Because of the things listed above, my home was always very chaotic. As a kid, I would typically hide in my room and be on the computer for hours on end. Myspace, then Facebook (because RIP Myspace), and Youtube became my escape. I remember and have lots of video proof lol, of recording and editing lip-syncing videos for fun. It became one of my hobbies and became something I was good at. I also would vlog every day after school & record covers (Typically songs by my first true love JB). Looking back now, I guess that’s where my love for content creating started!!

I’ve always been a very creative person, and I know there’s things I’m good at, but now the question is – what can I do? In the past couple of years I’ve discovered passions and just things I love to do like video editing, model, make music, design clothes, take photos & curate my Instagram, etc. – but even knowing that I enjoy all of this, I don’t know which route to take and I just feel stuck. But I have to remind myself that that’s okay and everything will happen the way it’s supposed to when it’s supposed to. So for now, I’m just going with the flow! I’m very thankful to my young, sad, and lonely self for diving deep into her creativity and discovering a passion in the midst of heartache. And I’m thankful for my adult self for being strong, breaking generational curses and also keeping faith during this quarter-life crisis I’m currently experiencing lol.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My childhood wasn’t the greatest. When I turned 16 a lot of the things that I experienced and witnessed (and continued to) seemed to catch up to me all at once. I remember starting to be so angry, so sad, and so confused all the time. I really started struggling mentally and it got to the point where self-harm and suicide threats/attempts became my normal. I never wanted to label myself or be known as “the depressed girl” so thankfully nobody ever saw that side of me. Luckily as I got older and with Jesus on my side, I’ve been able to be set free of all that. Obviously, I still have sad moments, in fact because of my mental disorders, my lows are very low, but I’m very self-aware and know how to deal with all of my emotions in a healthy way unlike when I was young and impulsive.

Mental health is something I’m very passionate about, especially since it goes back multiple generations in my family tree. I’m very open and vulnerable online and I’m blessed to be able to share details of my life with people in hopes of helping or letting people know that they’re not alone. I just want everyone to know and feel love and to learn that dark times don’t last forever.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am currently a nanny and have been for almost 7 years now! I love what I do and I’m good at what I do, but this definitely isn’t forever. Like I mentioned before, my heart is set on having a career based around being a creative. I’m not there yet, but I have big hopes for 2023!

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
What I’m most proud of and what sets me apart from others is my empathy, my heart and my love for people. Whatever I end up being called to do, I hope that I positively impact anyone’s life that I cross paths with. And because of that, I know I will be successful.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/sarapaige?fbclid=PAAaY9X6kf48dvMx1StooRm-1j9loi45O_OeHRGDhv4ZK9Oi-e2o-cTUlwAHo
• Instagram: instagram.com/areyousaraious
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@sarrapaige?_t=8YgcV0hmGnW&_r=1

Image Credits
John Thatcher, Erin Tindall