Sarah Marsh had two passions when she was a child: reading and animals. We all had childhood passions, but few have kept them as guideposts throughout their careers as she has. Sarah started as a zoo volunteer when she was still a teen and went on to study wildlife conservation in college. Her hard work paid off and she landed many exciting jobs: dolphin trainer, zookeeper and firefighter.
In today’s episode, the first of two parts, Sarah shares her early career, a business detour that earned her an MBA and some valuable startup experience, and her transition into motherhood. As a new mom of twins, one with significant health concerns, Sarah found herself overwhelmed with even basic tasks like getting both babies in and out of the car. It was a friend who helped her find her way to a doctor and an anxiety disorder that was helped with medication. She also found that returning to her love of zookeeping, in a volunteer capacity, helped anchor her to her old identity. As her family grew, she added reading and writing as creative outlets.
Her journey eventually led to writing her first book, Thomas Paine and the Dangerous Word, a picture book biography published by Disney Hyperion in 2018. We’ll conclude the interview next week with a deeper dive into her road to publication, her next book, and what’s keeping her busy these days beyond her writing.
