My New Venture: She’s Down South
I’ve spent a lot of time praying about “what’s next” this year. What is my purpose? What am I supposed to be doing? As Emily P. Freeman would put it, what is the next right thing? I often pray over the following:
- What would you have me do?
- Where would you have me go?
- What would you have me to say?
- And to whom?
I’ve been praying over these questions a lot in recent months. Weeks went by with not so much as an inkling of an answer. God is forever working on my patience – you’d think I’d have learned my lesson by now – so I waited. And waited. And waited some more.
Then something strange happened.
Over the course of two weeks, several people made the same suggestion.
“You should write about sports.”
People from different walks of my life – coworkers, past and present, friends, sorority sisters, acquaintances, even a family member – reached out through texts, DMs, emails, even a Slack message to say “you should write about sports.”
When you hear something often enough, especially in a short amount of time, that’s a pretty good sign God is trying to get your attention. It took a few repetitions for me to “get it,” and then to begin to turn the idea over in my mind in quiet moments.
Then, it clicked. The idea came to me sudden and clear.
I’m so proud to share She’s Down South with you.
She’s Down South brings together all the things I love – sports, food, travel, books, music, and life in the south. It’s SEC football, childhood stories from rural Virginia, small towns explored, books read, music listened to on road trips. It’s baseball diamonds, favorite foods, observations about life, and tradition. It’s the stories of makers, movers, and shakers that call the South and all its imperfections home.
She’s Down South was inspired, in part, by my Papa Clark and the love of sports we shared. It was inspired, too, by the time I spent in Los Angeles, seemingly thriving on the beach while pursuing a fancy career as a television writing, all the while missing the slow, tarnished glitter of home – of the South. And of course, it was inspired by that bit of divine intervention.
I’ve always wanted my own media company. I’ve tried a lot of iterations over the years. I’ve tried coaching and health and wellness and The Bold Life (which I still haven’t given up on) but nothing has felt right, even in the early stages when it was brand new and I was excited about it. This… She’s Down South… Feels different. I have a certain excitement, a certain push, a certain deep-rooted belief that this is something I should be pursuing. I have so many content ideas, so many thoughts and prayers and dreams. I want to spend all my free time writing articles and creating graphics, and scheduling social media. It’s exciting and that feels really good.
The goal is to monetize, launch a podcast late summer (just in time for football season!), and maybe even a merch line down the road, all while maintaining the authenticity and storytelling She’s Down South is rooted in. I have a big vision for this space, and I’m excited to build it, see how it grows and changes as we go.
To see how God uses me and this space.
I have no idea what I’m doing, despite having a journalism degree and 10+ years of working in marketing under my belt. I’m doing all of this late at night, early in the morning, and on the weekends, working around my full-time job and teaching Pure Barre. I’m figuring out websites and emails, and LLCs and checking trademarks and copyrights and Googling all.the.things. I’m taking the “fake it until you make it” approach in the most literal sense.
What I do know is I haven’t been this excited about something in a really long time and that while *I* don’t feel ready to toss it out into the world, sometimes you just have to sow the seeds and start to push the plow, trusting you will eventually see the harvest. I have dozens of content ideas, so many hopes, and a whole lot of blind faith.
You may be asking what I plan to do with this space. I plan to still share personal and faith-based content here. It will be more personal, less scattered. That’s another lovely thing about She’s Down South – it answered a big question I’ve been wrestling with for a while: how do I talk about everything I love at SarahWyland.com? I could never quite make it work in a way that it makes sense.
It makes sense now.
I have clarity now.
Even while I wait for God to answer those big questions about what’s next and where should I be and what should I do, I feel like I have clarity, at least in this.
Here’s She’s Down South.
I hope you’ll stay awhile – and maybe bring your friends.
