Meet Sarah Sheppard | Health & Mental Health Writer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sarah Sheppard and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sarah, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
My life looks very different now than it did a few years ago. For a while, I was working remotely (even before the pandemic), traveling often, and spending most of my free time reading and writing. Since becoming a mom in late 2023, I’ve found it’s nearly impossible to stay balanced. Often my child’s needs come before my own, which can be challenging and exhausting, but it’s the season of life that I’m in and I love being a mother, so I’m doing my best to stay present and only spend time on things I really truly enjoy.

I’m grateful to have an encouraging partner and a large support system who give me the time to focus on both paid and unpaid creative pursuits. Even if it’s just an hour or two on Sunday, a weekday evening, or thirty minutes in the morning before my daughter wakes up, I’m able to carve out space for reading, working on my novel, writing my newsletter, and doing freelance assignments, all on top of my full-time job as a content manager. My schedule looks different every day and week, but I consider creativity to be an integral part of my self-care so I make it a priority.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started writing when I was very young, but I didn’t know I could get paid to write. I honestly didn’t believe this was possible unless you became a bestselling author. It seemed like a pipe dream and the only career paths I thought possible were law school or book publishing, so I chose the latter and even that seemed impractical to my Midwest parents. I moved to the East Coast for a job right out of college and I loved it – the people, the manuscripts, the industry – and I was quite successful for my age, but it paid very little and I still wasn’t doing what I really loved: writing.

I quit just as I was making a name for myself and embarked on a freelance career. I had no network, no connections, but I was determined to make a living writing, so I moved back home and launched myself into a world I knew nothing about. In the beginning, I took every job I could – I taught ESL, worked as a server at a brewery, edited law transcripts, did publicity for authors, and wrote blog posts for free. I hardly made any money at first, but every year my business grew and grew. Eventually, I got paid to teach writing, attend artist residencies, edit manuscripts, and write articles and essays on topics I really cared about.

Now, I make a living writing about mental health and health topics. I get to interview founders, CEOs, and medical directors of mission-driven companies I respect and I get to share meaningful information with thousands and thousands of people on a regular basis. I still plan to become a published author someday (and am actively working on a novel), but I’ll never have to rely solely on my fiction to make money and that makes it all the more enjoyable to work on. If I could tell my younger self one thing, it would: keep writing; don’t stop. Do what you love, no matter how impractical it seems, and eventually you can make a career out of it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
There’s so much happening in Detroit these days. It’s such an underrated city. For anyone visiting, I recommend spending some time on Belle Isle – there’s a beach, an aquarium, a nice bike trail, and it’s just a lovely spot.

For coffee (since I’m an avid drinker), I highly recommend James Oliver and Red Hook. The Congregation is also a cool spot for visitors. For bookstores, definitely check out John King Used & Rare Books, Flyleaf in Grosse Pointe (which is also a great place for a cocktail on the rooftop), and Sourcebooks. For food, there are so many great new places opening up that I’m eager to check out – Ladder 4 Wine Bar, Leña, Mad Nice, Alpino.

It’s also worth going to a baseball game, seeing a concert at one of the many historical venues in the city, or simply walking around downtown. And something I love about Detroit is the street art. There are so many incredible murals rising up all over the city.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Lesley University in 2017 and I had the most incredible cohort of fiction and non-fiction writers and poets. I can’t praise these individuals enough. Not only are they all amazing artists (and many of them now published authors), but they are wonderful, supportive people. I see some of them regularly and we still maintain an active group chat.

Website: https://sarahsheppardwriter.com

Instagram: sarahsheppardwriter

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahsheppard/

Other: https://steepedinwellness.substack.com/