Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Michelson.
Sarah, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
As an overly enthusiastic singer and artist from the age of six, my life has seen a beautiful transition from that of a performer and singer into an accomplished and socially impactful manager for artists and creators nationwide. During my childhood years, I spent my days and nights enrolled in countless centers, workshops and performances across the spectrum of theater to concerts. Singing was my life, my true passion. My idols of Sara Bareilles, Ingrid Michaelson, and Joni Mitchell, instilled in me a deep love for expressing emotion through music.
With the incredible support of my family, to the extent of taking out a mortgage on our childhood home to fund my career’s ambitions, I gave my heart and soul into following my passion for music. I moved to California as I turned 18 years old with a plane ticket and my purse. However, I would soon find myself preyed on by a deceptive manager that left me alone, in-debt, and ashamed. While I was struggling to pay rent, he ran off with the last of my family’s savings and was rewarded with a spread in Vanity Fair for being the “youngest con artist.” The entertainment industry encouraged his behavior. The industry glamorized it. I vowed to make a difference.
My casual YouTube singing videos eventually led to my early employment at Fullscreen, a company at the forefront of the digital media renaissance. I then continued on to manage independent creators across beauty, lifestyle, and fashion. I had this unstoppable drive (and my stubborn Filipino ancestry) to help people get to where they were going, and push them to perform at their best. I became a casting producer for primetime television shows led by Meghan Trainor, Diddy, and DJ Khaled. I traveled nationwide to attend festivals, events and night clubs. I soon found myself providing real opportunities to ambitious young artists who were in the same position I had been in just years earlier. In retrospect, I enjoyed it so much because it was a way for my heart to pay it forward with the opportunities I never had.
I’ve since partnered with Jodi Thomas and Rebecca Reczek of City Media Entertainment, where together we can make a positive social impact. We work exclusively with clients who have a desire to better the world, and we help brands such as L’Oreal, Make A Wish, and Magee Women’s Health Research achieve their goals through healthy and positive messaging on topics ranging from sustainability, cruelty-free, women empowerment, mental health, Black Lives Matter and more. I couldn’t be doing this without my partner in crime, Bernadette Levi, who assists with all things from creative design to quality control. My life led me here, and although my father passed in 2012 and never got to see my work, my heart is at peace knowing he ran one of the largest food recovery banks in Florida. It’s only natural that I would follow in his footsteps.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I believe what sets us apart is our genuine passion for social good, social justice and social impact work. I feel a lot of other companies compromise but we’re a small / might business and that’s to our advantage. We choose that above anything else (money, greed, selfish gain) and with strong integral values, I believe when you push concepts like this forward, it comes back ten folds.
What were you like growing up?
I was extremely bubbly, outgoing and super friendly. My first award in kindergarten was the friendliest in class. My parents would have to hide the telephone so I wouldn’t call random strangers and strike up conversations with them. Although I always ended up finding the phones since (back then) nothing was cordless and I’d just follow the cord, haha. I love including people and making them smile. Sometimes it was hard for me to make lots of friends but my one friend who’s a frontline Doctor in NYC Jenica Chandran was really there when I was bullied and music was my way of coping hard times.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.CityMediaENT.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @itssarahjane / @citymediaent
Image Credit:
Yes my headshot was done by Mimi Taylor 🙂
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