Coaching for Artists
Follow your creative calling
There's the creative journey you take to learn and make your art, and then there's the creative journey you take to shape your life as an artist. Our society hasn't historically made this easy!
Hi there, I'm Sarah Donnell, theatre artist, writer, director, and creativity coach. I believe creativity is in our very nature--no matter who we are--and getting to express and explore that should not be a luxury reserved only for an elite few.
Following the call of your inner artist is a brave, personal, mysterious, transformative, often spiritual process. You deserve support from a coach who will help you see your emerging self more clearly while empowering you to recognize and honor your own intuition and discernment.
If you're ready to dig deep...or even just dip your toe into the well of your potential, I'd be honored to accompany you.
Coaching is for you if...
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You want to devote your life to your art but you aren't sure how
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You've got a particular project, audition, opportunity coming up and need a second set of eyes and some feedback
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You're trying to find your own voice
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You want to get a better sense of how you present yourself
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You're in the midst of a personal renaissance and want to make the most of it
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You're spinning your creative wheels and feel like you're getting nowhere
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You actually don't think you're creative at all
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You feel like you used to be creative but aren't sure how you ever could be again
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You need accountability to meet creative goals
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You need direction
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OR you need to find the fun and joy in your work again
If any of the above sound familiar, it may be time to...
“Finding the right coach to inspire me and guide me to where my heart desired for acting was a necessary step toward achieving my goals and I am so happy that I found Sarah! When we started working together I noticed a switch in my confidence in my acting path and an ease in knowing that I have the support system to cater to my goals."
My Story
I was a super sensitive, anxious, weirdo little kid with big feelings. My creative energy often made me restless and uncomfortable (it still does sometimes), but making things made me feel better. Drawing, painting, smushing clay, knitting, crafting, making books, writing poems, singing, dancing, sewing, playing instruments, acting in plays--anything to give me an outlet.
As I got older, I liked so many things that I never felt I would be good enough at any one of them to be excellent. I narrowed my focus to acting and writing, though I still felt I needed to choose one, I followed them both. And then I went through it. I felt the thrill of being good at things and the embarrassment of not being good enough. I've been underestimated and underprepared and underpaid. I've talked myself up and I've sold myself short. I've felt the shakes of stage fright and the blows of rejection. I've been the big fish in the small pond and the small fish in the ocean. I've felt stereotyped, invisible, and also unstoppable. I achieved things I never dreamed of doing and I landed jobs I didn't know existed. I've commanded the spotlight and collaborated with geniuses. I've been lauded and humiliated. I've gotten myself into dangerous situations and learned to listen to my intuition. I've experienced burnout and come back from it and burned out again. I've given up. I've started over. I've published. I've gotten the part, and I've written my own. I've lost the thread and taken the detour and gathered priceless treasures along the way. I've thought my well was dry forever, and then I've found it overflowing again.
We live many lifetimes, and the creative process is a spiral of birth and death and birth with all the associated struggle, celebration, mourning, and surprise. I've been through it over and over and I've devoted my life to continuing to do so.
These days I've stopped fighting my fate as someone who does many things. I've given up on imagining I could give up being a theatre kid or a writer. I've also embraced being a passionate potter, an imperfect singer, an untrainable dancer, a haphazard crafter, and other stuff I haven't even considered yet.
If I could do any of it over again, I don't think I'd change much about my story...but I do wish I'd had a coach for more of it!
My Coaching Style
Depending on the artist I'm working with, I might draw from my training as...
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an instructor and mentor to set appropriate assignments and goals
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a performer and yoga teacher to work with movement and embodiment
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an Amherst Writers and Artists-certified workshop facilitator to draw out what really works about your style and voice
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an acting teacher to reflect to you where you might be holding back
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a Theatre of the Oppressed facilitator to explore how context and identity shape your experience of your power
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a chaplain to dig into the big questions and beliefs that affect you and your work
We might move, we might breathe, we'll definitely reflect. I'll bring a plan and questions, but I always defer to what's coming up as important and relevant to you in the moment. In general, I rely on intuition more than cookie-cutter coaching frameworks. If that sounds like it might be your speed, too, I trust us to co-create a transformative space together.