Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Haywood.
Hi Sarah, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have a variety of interests and creative pursuits, ranging from health and wellness to music, spirituality, skating, filmmaking, and producing.
I guess it all started when my mom got me my first pair of skates at 5 years old. I remember it quickly becoming my favorite pastime. My brother and I spent every weekend at the roller rink for nearly 10 years. When I was 15, I managed to score a job working the snack bar at the local skating rink. I ended up quitting a little over a year later when the owner told me that I couldn’t be promoted to work the floor and DJ because that was a job “only for guys.” Sadly, I believed him. It wasn’t until 15 years later, when I was sitting behind a DJ booth with a couple other DJs and watched what was happening. I knew in that moment that it wasn’t only for guys and that I had just been reconnected with my musical calling to be a DJ.
When the pandemic hit in March 2020, my work and travel haulted, which gave me the space to tune in with my inner child to find out what she needed most. I had an impulse to pull out the skates I’ve had since I was 12 years old. Due to lockdown, I started practicing inside in a 5 x 8 sq foot space. I eventually took it to the streets when the lockdown lifted and started DJing roller skate parties from California to New York. I have been presented with so many golden opportunities since I reconnected with my favorite childhood pastime, and I couldn’t be more grateful or excited to be on this path.
It’s been so fun to mix and weave all my passions together. I love curating the vibe and the moment with music. I love skating because it helps bring people into their bodies and clear their minds. I am not a trained dancer or skater. Instead, I combined skating with an embodiment practice I have been doing for years. It’s a meditation-in-movement practice that invites you to surrender fully to the music, getting out of your head and into your body. Flowing, moving, and grooving in a way that feels good, not being concerned at all with what it looks like. It’s about how it FEELS. If you get out of your own way and give the body permission to do its thing, miraculous things start to occur, not only in the moment but also in your life.
I love creating and curating spaces for people to be present connect to their bodies, their breath, and themselves. My intention is for people to have an embodied experience that leaves them feeling transformed and elevated while putting a smile on their face in the process.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Oh, man. It definitely has not been a smooth road. I can’t count how many challenges and obstacles I have overcome to get where I am today. I think overcoming myself was my biggest hurdle. I was in my own way for so long. I was scared of my own success. I was afraid it would come with too much responsibility and that it would mean I would have to give up my freedom, which feels like the most important thing to me.
I struggled for nearly a decade with purpose and what I was “supposed” to do with my life. I felt so conflicted that I was interested in 22 different things and wanted to do all of them. I still struggle with being a multi-potentialite. I want to make an oracle deck, to write a book, to produce music, create courses, empower women rescue animals, publish my poetry, make art, pour into my YouTube channel. Staying focused is a skill I am still cultivating.
There have been other blocks and challenges along the way, and ultimately, I have always had the vision to see them as opportunities for growth and expansion. They have served me well. They helped me get more clear about what I don’t want so I can align myself with what I do.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a multi-faced artist working primarily as a DJ, roller skater, filmmaker, producer, and fine art photographer.
My day-to-day is never the same, which I actually really love.
The last couple years I have shifted from the coaching and health and wellness space, primarily focusing on the arts.
Some highlights have been working with Usher, DJing Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace in NYC at the iconic Rockefeller Center the last two summers, producing and filming a 6-episode traveling docu-series on roller skating, and going to Saudi Arabia with Swizz Beatz to bring roller skating to the Middle East. I helped film, and I skated in two of Jason Mraz’s latest music video, “Be Where Your Feet Are” and “Feel Good Too.” The last couple of years I have had the privilege of producing, filming, and directing a lot more music videos and it’s been super fun. One of my favorite music videos to work on was “Summertime” by Jasmine Jordan.
I also have a business called Moon Scribe. I create custom fine art photography by doing long exposure, light paintings at night, using handheld lights and the moonlight to capture one-of-a-kind pieces. It’s kind of hard to wrap your head around if you don’t know photography lingo, but it’s a super unique offering and quite a fun process, especially for clients. You can find my work online and at a few galleries in Hawaii. Check out my Instagram @moon_scribe to see if you can figure out how I make them! No photoshop involved!
I think the thing I am most proud of is who I have become in the process of life. I am proud of my mom and my brother for what they have accomplished independently. I am proud of how far we have all come as a family. I am proud of myself for putting in the work, the time, the dedication it takes to be a full-time artist. I am proud of the decisions I have made that have put me in the front of the right people, who gave me the opportunities to work with some of the best artists in the world.
I think my vibe is what sets me apart from others. I have an innate yearning to help raise the vibration on the planet, and I think people recognize that and want to work with me.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk-taking.
“Leap and the net will appear” is one of my favorite mottos.
I feel like my life is one risk after another. I prefer living on the edge. I feel like it’s important to follow those impulses and take the leaps. As someone who likes to be on the forefront of revolutions, blazing the trail, every step can feel risky. When there is no template or roadmap for your path, life is filled with risk. It’s also filled with miraculous experiences that are only possible when you take those risks.
Dropping out of college, moving overseas, traveling the world alone, moving to San Diego, pursing the arts, becoming a DJ and roller skater…all major risks I took to get closer to the life that I dreamed of.
The key for me is knowing there is nothing to be afraid of. I don’t fear death, so that makes it really easy to live life to the fullest. The way I see it, I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Sometimes, you just have to surrender and trust that it’s all working out for your highest and greatest good.
Pricing:
- DJing $500 and up
- Photography $1200 and up
- Roller Skating $350 and up
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sarahhaywood.me
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarah_haywood
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/moonlightsarahmony
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-haywood-57446139/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7c1DNm2HMeP7685qmHiucA
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/haywood-sarah
- Other: https://zez.am/sarah_haywood
