Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Driscoll.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I began my photography journey in 2013. I was a stay at home mom at the time and decided I would spend my time trying to document our beautiful, everyday life as well as I possibly could. I didn’t want average images of these times, I wanted to be able to depict the true emotions behind motherhood. I wanted my children to look back at photographs I took of them when they were babies and FEEL my love radiating through each one. I opened my business is 2014 and began booking clients by word of mouth.
Many years later, now in 2018, I just announced that I am no longer taking clients because I am working on myself and spending time with my own family. My career has now led me to open The Unraveled Academy (www.theunraveledacademy.com) where I teach artists, photographers and those longing to be creative and capture their everyday life how to do so. I do my best to welcome all creatives into our home there and teach them everything I know about how to be successful, happy and fulfilled in their art.
Great, 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?
Absolutely not. As a photographer, it is all about the hustle. You have to be present on social media ALL OF THE TIME. You have to take TOO MANY clients and you have to occasionally take work that does not necessarily inspire you. What I have found is that I am happy when I follow my heart. So now that my heart is leading me away from clients and more toward personal work and teaching, I will follow it.
Being a mostly work from home mother is also insanely difficult. There are many nights where I lie in bed and wonder if I pushed myself too hard or if I didn’t give my children the love and time they need and deserve. In the end, I try to give myself grace because I want them to know that they can do anything they put their mind to. I hope when they look back and remember how hard I worked, they will be proud.
Please tell us about Sarah Driscoll Photography and The Unraveled Academy.
I run a nonprofit called Spectrum Inspired (www.spectruminspired.org). I have a son on the autism spectrum and we started SI in order to document families touched by autism and share their stories.
I run Sarah Driscoll Photography. With that, I specialize in documenting families and children. My passion is really in documenting the beautiful light and innocence that beams from a child. I feel as though I am able to connect with them much more easily than I can with adults. Children are always amazing to me.
Now that my business has grown, I now work with others on how to grow their own business and how to take beautiful images and live the creative life of their dreams.
I also photograph weddings under The Root & Bud with a partner. You can find us here www.therootandbud.com.
This brings me to The Unraveled Academy. My favorite of all my businesses. This is an online school for creatives. You can join us for only $15.00 a month and gain access to all our courses and such.
At Unraveled, we believe in the power of the misfits, outliers and underdogs. That is why we built a nurturing space for artists to grow and create without fear of judgment.
Here is our founding story:
Every idea starts with a problem. Ours was simple: the photography community was starting to feel like a popularity contest and not everyone had a lunch table to sit at where they felt welcomed and comfortable. We became concerned by the lack of support, quality education and encouragement of each person’s unique creative journey.
As artists ourselves, we know the indisputable link between great art and free and open self-expression. We couldn’t stand how many vibrant voices were being stifled because they didn’t feel like they had access to a safe space to explore themselves and inspire their creativity. We started Unraveled Academy to create an alternative.
By creating an inclusive and nurturing community, jam-packed with educational and inspirational experiences, we provide students and teachers the opportunity to sit side-by-side and learn from, support and inspire one another. There is no hierarchy, only good questions and equal passion.
By providing edgy courses, networking opportunities, and constant, hands-on interaction, we’re able to provide a higher-quality, more vibrant opportunity for artists to become masters of their own unique, creative journeys… not a version of someone else’s.
We believe education should be accessible to all. We offer a cost-friendly membership so no artist looking for high-value courses and community support gets left behind. Most importantly, we believe in the power of the misfits, outliers and underdogs to create art that will change the world.
Whoever you are, wherever you are—you’ve got a seat at our table. We hope you’ll join us.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite memory would be reading in my bedroom late at night. I have always had a love affair with words. My most favorite read of all time, the one that has inspired me in so many ways for my entire life would be, Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein.
Here is a story I shared with my students over at Unraveled if you’d like to pull from it:
My story is not a tragic one, nor is it one for the books. It is humble and ordinary and yet it is all mine, so I think, for now, I’ll keep it.
I remember the first night I felt truly inspired. I was about ten years old and had just returned home from an evening at the library with my father. He urged me to take out a book on poetry and I reluctantly agreed because I wanted to make him believe that I was deep and brilliant despite the fact that I had no real intention to enjoy it.
Now, before you start thinking I took out Emily Dickinson, let me assure you that it was, “Where the Sidewalk Ends” by Shel Silverstein. But, let me also inform you that although his words are whimsical and silly, they are also threaded with wisdom and inspiration and they ultimately changed my life.
Shel Silverstein, quite literally, invited me into his world where words tangled amongst each other in dance. I felt as if I belonged there, amongst the outcasts and vagabonds, and I stayed up all night with a flashlight in my hand, lighting the pages to what I knew was the beginning of my creative journey.
My love affair with words continued as I grew and I went on to major in English in college. While I was always drawn to art and photography, I never really dug into it due to the fear of not being the best. THAT right there is my greatest vice. I have this insatiable need to be the best, always. If I am not the best, I become uninterested and unattached and if you are not attached to your art then is it truly art?
So often, our self-doubt stops us from even trying. So often, we allow our own preconceptions and judgments to get in our way. It’s incredible to me that anyone would ever hold back from something that they love so deeply. I cannot even fathom a day without taking a photograph now (even if it is just in my mind, rather than with the click of a shutter). I see the world through images and poetry. Everywhere I look there is something beautiful to remember or feel deeply.
I digress. My story goes on to include a son. My favorite mistake. Toward the end of my time in College, I gave birth to a sweet baby boy named Jackson. His presence in my life made me even more inspired to spew words and art out into the world. When he looked at me with his pale blue eyes, I would weep. Suddenly, the beauty of the world was magnified.
The truth of the matter is that I was never able to be an adult alone in the world. I was never able to soul-search or travel or find myself. I was too busy counting pennies, changing diapers and microwaving chicken nuggets to survive. Motherhood defined me at too young of an age and it was hard, man. I identified only as, “Jackson’s mother.”
Then, I was, “Jackson, Delaney, Luke and KerriClaire’s mother” and still never had a real job in the real world. I was immersed entirely in motherhood — drowning somedays and wondering who I was without my babies. Even just walking into Target without a child on my hip was scary and I felt completely naked and vulnerable to the outside world. So, while I still wrote often, I knew there was something more to my creative journey.
One morning, I woke up, sipped my coffee while nursing my baby, and I read one of my old poems about my eldest son. The poem described the curves of his cheeks and the way his almond eyes seared into my being and transformed me into the woman I am today. And yet, I hardly had any photographs of his babyhood to prove it true.
So, I picked up a camera, determined to learn exposure and capture the beauty of my babies and I had a revelation. I realized, that to me, a photograph is just another version of a poem. I could say the same thing in one photograph as I could say in 100 pages of words…. and I was hooked. I became no different than a drug addict who goes straight from pot to the hard stuff. The high that came from one quick click of the shutter was so much more instant and mind-blowing than the weeks it would take me to feel the buzz off a poem. Gosh, maybe I’m a creative addict?
But, like I said, my story isn’t mind-blowing or worth writing a novel about. I had struggles and successes just like everyone else. And while mountains weren’t moved, stories were told and memories were made. My life unfolded just as it should have, “accidental-like on a breeze.” I know it may seem simple and boring to some, but you know what? I felt that shit. I have felt every single damn second of my life so hard.
So, my friends, if you are a Hope-er, a ray-er, a magic bean buyer… if you’re a pretender, come sit by the fire. For we have some flax-golden tales to spin. Come in.
Pricing:
- I would love for you to share the pricing to join me at Unraveled. It is only $15.00 a month to gain access to everything.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sarahdriscoll.com, www.theunraveledacademy.com www.spectruminspired.org www.therootandbud.com
- Email: hello@sarahdriscoll.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarah_drisc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SarahDriscollPhotography
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