Meet Sarah Carson | Actress, Private Investigator specializing in fraud, and a financial advisor.

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

Hi Sarah, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I’ve started 3 businesses. I still run all three businesses. When I got out of the Harvard Business School (I was one of the first women to be admitted), the school was geared to sending graduates to Wall Street or consulting. I, however, went to an international design company and ran its product development effort. My first business found me when I was working for this company, which involved traveling the world. Friends, who thought I was good with numbers while they weren’t, asked me to help them with investing. They were willing to pay. So since I was choosing my own investments, there was very litlle extra effort involved to decide for them, also. I still have that business, but I’m not taking any new customers.

In the late 80’s, I took a family leave from my job because of some family issues that needed my attention. As the leave was coming to an end, I found myself not wanting to go back. I loathed the idea. I had grown up on a family farm.. Farmers are very independent. They cherish their freedom. Corporations are the antithesis to this, and I hated being told what to do all the time or falling some strategy which seemed to me pretty insane. So I quit without a plan in place as to what I would do next.

I saw an ad in the newspaper for the Nick Harris Detective Academy. I enrolled thinking this would be an adventure. I was delighted to find out that I loved it, that I was good at it, and I could pursue it as an entrepreneur. I did have to take a job in order to get enough compensated hours as an investigator to take the private investigator exams in California and in New York to get licensed. I did get licensed, and I added private investigation as an income stream to the financial advisory business I was already doing.

I added acting to the mix years later.. A lot of people I had met over the years seemed to think they had just recently seen me in some movie or television series. That made me curious, but I also saw it as a way of healing. All the years I had spent in corporate America had made me quite guarded, and I thought life would become a lot more enjoyable if I weren’t so guarded.

So now I have three different businesses. None were launched in the manner taught at the Harvard Business School, but the three are so rewardig in different ways, I

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I never considered myself an artist. Being an actress never crossed my mind growing up despite being related to Johnny Carson, one of the entertainment greats. I came to it late in life more, at first, from the standpoint of therapy instead of art. It’s not been easy. There are far fewer roles for senior aged women in the entertainment then the percentage senior women represent in the total population. Although there are fewer actresses competing for those roles, they have 40-50 years of experience. They are familiar to casting, who often defaults to them.

But I’m different from these veterans of the entertainment industry who have spent all their adult years (sometimes even younger) pursuing acting. I have actually done many of the roles I’m auditioning for. Besides the three businesses I own and run, I’ve taught at colleges and done intelligence work. I’ve run a farm, been an executive in major corporations, and practiced meditation for nearly 50 years,

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?
I think I would start with a house tour, since I live in an old Victorian built in 1884. Los Angeles doesn’t tend to preserve anything, but there are some Victorians left in Pasadena, and Monrovia, or Heritage Square, Adams Blvd. near USC, and Angeleno heights. Then we’d do some of the Hollywood touristy things such as Hollywood Blvd, Universal Pictures, and other studios which give tours. As part of the Hollywood series, we’d go to the site of the old Christie Mansion on Sunset Blvd. The Christie brothers (I’m related to them) ran the Christie Movie Studio, Eventually it was sold and eventually became the Universal Studio, We’d spend a day at Santa Anita and another in Santa Monica at the beach. We go South to San Diego County near the Tecate border crossing to see Mt. Cuchama, which the Indian tribes of Southern California revered as the “Mount of Creation.” We’d most likely eat at home instead of going to restaurants and bars. I’m a better cook than most restaurants. Then ending with a drive to Santa Barbara.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have to credit the success I’ve had to my mother. When I was a child, she enrolled me in a book club called “Great Women in History.” Those books opened a world of possibilities for me I would never have considered. She also made it possible that I would have the time and opportunity to do well in school and to learn many new skills, She was my biggest cheerleader and encouraged me every turn.

Website: www.sarahcarsonactor.com

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Twitter: cast sarah carsib

Image Credits
Main shot is by Brian Parillo Shot in front of house by Jeffrey Lorsch Others done by myself