Full name?: SARIAH
Position / Job title?: Recording Artist, Actress, Dancer
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I always always always knew I would be an entertainer. As a child, I would lay down a blanket in my living room as my stage. I put on my favorite leotard and would sing and dance around for everyone and anyone who was there! That never stopped. As I grew older to a young adult, I would hook up my discman to my stereo and learn every Mariah Carey songs and sing it to my bedroom. I would picture an entire stadium of a sold out crowd and perform every song! Even now, when I am rehearsing in my NYC apartment, I do exactly the same thing.
What is the single most important piece of advice you would give to other career-minded women?
Nothing happens overnight. You have to put in the work. You have to make mistakes. Trust your journey – this will bring you everywhere you want to be.
Let’s talk about work/life balance. What does that mean to you? Is it important?
I have had a lot of trouble in NYC with this one. When I first moved here I was always sick, never slept enough, and didn’t take care of my own health. I had a lack of balance and it clearly wasn’t healthy. Over time I have learned that when you respect yourself, your time, your body, and your health, others will too! Schedule life and work with whatever works best for YOU. Now I schedule my healthy lifestyle, my workouts, my studio time, and my sleep at the beginning of every week. It is a must if you want to stay healthy and get all of your goals done for the week. Then this allows you to take one day to enjoy! I like to call mine “Sunday Funday!”
On that note, do you think women can have it all? Both the baller career, and the happy family?
Absolutely we can. All of my best girlfriends have it all. I love them dearly and we all inspire each other. We do our group texts daily to motivate each other and lift each other up! This goes hand in hand with the balancing of work/life question too. When you’re passionately following your career, the romance will come. I promise. I have never dreamt about my wedding or thought about what dress I would wear. I have ALWAYS been dreaming about my stages, my music, and my future clothing line. With that has come a beautiful romance. I have a lot to do before I want to have children because I know that when I do have them, I want to take time off and really devote my life to them.
If you could look into a crystal ball and see 20 years into your future, what would you want to see?
I will have gone on a few world tours! I will have my own makeup line, clothing line, more artists under my label, married with three children, a house in LA and in NY, a dog (maybe 2), atleast 5 albums, and a non-profit devoted to music therapy for healing.
Parents love to say, “just wait ’til you have to face the real world…” When you were in college or high school, what did you think the “real world” looked like? What is the difference between what you thought and reality?
I always thought that there would be this magic switch and all of a sudden we would just become adults! The “real world” or “when I grow up” are all phrases that I thought would happen when that magic switch happened. Clearly, I was wrong. But that is okay! I love the reality of it all. Moving to New York City from Boston for college was the perfect “facing the real world” I could have ever imagined. Having NYC as my college campus forced me to learn so much about myself, the city, all while keeping my head in the books. Reality is so much better than I even imagined because of the journey it has taken for me to get here. Of course I have made a million mistakes both professionally and personally, but that makes all of our future decisions that much better. I don’t believe in regret. I believe in the journey and how you get to your destination!
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