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

Hi Sarah, what role has risk played in your life or career?
My entire life and career have been built on taking risks. I was a high school dropout from West Phoenix, and I poured every resource I had into graduating with honors from ASU, buying a home, or creating a stable life. In March 2020, I took the leap to transition from marketing and events to make media production my full-time job, and I was terrified. My passion pushed me and kept me going, though, and now, I realize that it was the best decision I’ve ever made.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I never wanted to be part of a true crime story or create true crime content. Like a lot of kids, I grew up pretty poor in West Phoenix, and I wasn’t sure I’d make it out. I was always a bored high achiever and dropped out of high school on the first day of my senior year. Very few people thought I’d make something of myself, but I did. I got my GED and was enrolled for the next semester at my local community college a few weeks later. I worked multiple jobs to pay for school and it took six years, but I graduated Summa Cum Laude from ASU in 2012 as a homeowner.

That’s around the same time my journey fighting for my missing sister really began. She went missing in 2001, and I was the family contact since 2007, but after college the police told me my best chance of finding her was getting media, so I did exactly that. I went on dozens of true crime programs and was often the first family member the host had ever worked with. I was getting the media the police asked me to, but it was horribly traumatizing along the way.

It was clear that there was a major disconnect in true crime. There were very few people who’d actually experienced a true crime case making content about the subject and I saw an opening in the market. It was so simple to me, I wanted to create true crime with heart told by those who knew the person at the center of the story best. A simple, but unique idea in true crime at the time.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Monday—We start the day with a hike at Phoenix Mountain Preserve. From there, we go to Tryst Cafe. I recommend steak salad and beer-battered green beans, along with a Tryst Punch. We finish the day by walking around Desert Ridge and especially enjoying some book shopping at Barnes and Noble.

Tuesday- We HAVE to do tacos and they need to be authentic, so we wait in the line during the lunch rush at Tacos Mich downtown and try not to melt our faces off with their house salsa.

Wednesday- We might need a little downtime, so we snag a mid-week deal at Sanctuary on Camelback and drink margaritas by the infinity pool before grabbing appetizers from Elements.

Thursday- We are feeling lucky, so we head out to Fort Mcdowell Casino to try our chances at the slots and maybe catch a show.

Friday- We take advantage of having a weekday off and explore downtown, we check out city scape but spend most of the day taking in the new exhibit at the Science Center.

Saturday- It’s time to get up early to get the best of Phoenix at the farmer’s market. We might have to check out a few to get everything we’re looking for, so we go downtown and to Roadrunner Park to pick up all the essentials for making our own carne asada tacos and prickly pear margaritas with homemade prickly pear syrup.

Sunday- On our last day we wake up late and head to Valle Luna around 11am and catch my favorite server Dawn. Here we enjoy all of my Valle Luna staples, Kelly’s Dip, a mini taco basket, tamales, and a cheese enchilada with no olives just for me.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have to shout out to the nonprofit organization Defenders of Children. They provide free trauma-informed and healing-focused legal services to children and their families throughout Arizona and helped me throughout my sister Alissa Turney’s murder trial. After spending years building a dedicated following online that greatly supported me throughout my journey, I was suddenly in a position where I couldn’t tell them what was going on with the case or seek help in understanding the proceedings.

David Newstone at Defenders of Children ensured that I was informed every step of the way and never attended a court hearing alone. I don’t think I would have made it through without David and his extremely dedicated team.

Website: https://www.voicesforjusticepodcast.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/SarahETurney/?hl=en

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@saraheturney?lang=en

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