What I'm Celebrating

[04]: Joy Soldier

Hi friends, 

I’m not sure if it’s the season turning, or that vaccinations are rolling out with greater alacrity, or just the general high vibration people in my life as of late, but I feel like I need to pause and appreciate the beautiful things I’m observing right now. 

Nothing makes me happier than bearing witness to your joyful moments.

As such, I’m borrowing something I absolutely loved from my friend Carly Valancy where she calls out amazing things that her friends are up to. 

You’ll find some highlights from Joy Soldiers below -- let me know if you have shoutouts or something you could use help with! 

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Celebrations - Cool People Doing Cool Things (an non-exhaustive list):

• Waverly Middleton became a yoga teacher through Vera Yoga! Help her build her yoga instagram here.

• Carly Valancy begins a new role as Director of Community at NuMarket tomorrow (it’s like gofundme for small biz & is democratizing access to financing. Amazing.)

• Christy Coco is a super talented singer, songwriter, & general multi-hyphenate artist making music -- she’s looking to collab with songwriters if you know any!

• Riane Puno helped launch Modern Fertility’s new prenatal vitamins (check em out!)

• Jasmine Neal, co-founder of Tune, is launching in Canada (global biz, ayo!) and is raising a $2M seed round. 

• Lindsay MacMillan, (poetry & writing extraordinaire) moves to London in May -- if you have friends in London, let her know!

• Tasha Kim gave me two amazing book recommendations (The Namesake, Pachinko).

• We welcome Danielle Mantich back to New York (the West Village, no less!) 

• April is Poetry Month and I’ve been inspired by Lindsay, Willa, Christy, and Marlon as we write things. Grateful to be on this journey together! 

• Annie Reardon and Renee Russo, founders of glow, got into the esteemed Humans in the Wild program, and are raising capital for glow! 

• Ja’dan Johnson joined our team at Upstream and literally knocked my socks off with his talents (check out these social graphics) 

• Happy Birthday Meagan Loyst, queen of Gen Z VC!

• Jack Policar, COO of Phood, got into Techstars and launched a sustainability community.

• Alexis Teixeira is in all ways amazing and shared this cookie sampler that benefits ROAR.

• Abena Anim-Somuah is building Food Supply, empowering culinary creators with the tools to establish their online presence.

• Lindsay Jones is an incredible interior designer and I’d look at her design insta all day.

• Danya Issawi (a freaking STAR journalist at NYT) who I met in a very academically rigorous photojournalism class in Barcelona is speaking on Upstream this Friday about her journey to journalism.

• Thank you everyone who has been following along for my 30 days of poetry, listened to the new meditation on Insight Timer, and just generally tolerated my social oversharing as of late. I promise I will chill out. Maybe. 

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One more thing! 

Tomorrow at 12pm ET, I will be chatting with Nina and Niloo who founded Good People (RSVP). 

They have dedicated their lives to helping adults make energizing, life-giving friendships and combat loneliness. Nina and Niloo also put together a collection of insights about community and I was honored to be featured next to Willa, Val, and Carly. Hope to see you at the talk tomorrow!

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So all in all, this is to say that I am awed, inspired, and astonished that in this brief life on planet earth, I get the chance to know and be known by each of you. 

Thank you for being on this journey with me. 

With joy,

Sarah

P.S. If you liked this round-up of celebrations or have a celebration you want to share, lmk!

P.S.S. Sharing this pic from my run around the lake at Kensington Metropark in Michigan bc it feels too beautiful not to. Yes I recognize this is not Strava, thank you for understanding.