Meet Sarah Fraser | Podcast Host, TV Host, Entrepreneur

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

Hi Sarah, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
I love taking risks. My entire career, moving to LA, has all been based on risk. I started a pop culture podcast about 8rys ago and it was a huge risk. A major radio station had offered me 195k per year to stay on and be a midday host or take a severance package. I took the package and started a podcast. I knew after 9yrs in radio that radio really was dead. People thought I was nuts and couldn’t believe I would walk away from that kind of money.

For the first two years of launching my podcast I thought they were right but slowly over time I built my podcast to exceed that. Betting on myself changed everything for me. I never would have become an entrepreneur or had a top trending Apple 200 TV & Film podcast if I hadn’t taken a risk that day. I encourage people all the time to take calculated risks, you will learn so much and I’m a big believer big risk big reward.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My art has been creating a top pop culture podcast called The Sarah Fraser Show. I cover a lot of reality TV and I’ve carved out a niece for myself because I can talk to anyone. I pride myself on giving people a platform to tell their entire truth and full story. An example of this was when I scored the exclusive interview with Drake Bell after the “Quiet On Set” documentary exploded. Drake had really been burned by main stream media and was nervous about doing interviews. We were originally supposed to chat for 20 mins and I sent Drake the questions beforehand, but Drake completely opened up, and spoke for 1.5hours because I let him correct a lot of misconceptions about himself that were out. I let him truly tell his story. I really try not to judge people and even if I might not like someone based on something they did on TV or social media I love sitting down with people and asking them about it – I find we always have common ground and I walk away understanding their point of view. I feel that is very unique about me and my show, especially in this climate where every is so siloed. My favorite compliment is when you people say ‘wow, you made me think differently about that person!’

My path to being a top independent podcaster hasn’t been easy. I pinch myself to this day that I get paid to talk. I started in morning radio in 2007 and I had a female boss say to me…’Sarah, women don’t want to hear other women on the radio, that’s why you need a male co host!’ Think about how many women you’ve ever heard of that lead their own radio morning shows? Not many, I know radio is dead now but that was hard for me to unlearn. I love seeing today that so many women are top podcasters like Alex Cooper (Call Her Daddy) and Crime Junkies! Freaking AMAZING! Also, being an entrepreneur is hard at times. The first 3yrs of my podcast I lost money. I’m talking like 30k and 25k another year! I didn’t buy new clothes for 2yrs when I started my show in order to reinvest.

I have learned a ton of lessons. The biggest one is to connect with other entrepreneurs in your industry that are actually making money and are successful. I find these people are usually not the ones that have the biggest followings on social media or are on TV, they’re more subtle and grinding. Connect with business people that aren’t threatened by you but instead want to see you shine too and will actually share tips and tricks with you. I want the world to know that if I can create a brand and successful podcast so can you! I never thought I would be a business person and here I am. I also want people to know that you’re never too old. I didn’t hit my stride until 39. Follow that dream you have in your gut, what is that thing that whispers to you when you’re quiet. Go for it, be open to pivoting, find maybe less glamorous people that are making money and connect with them. Your dream will happen.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I LOVE LA. I would say to my friend let’s jump on VIP hollywood tour experience, I find those to be so fun! Not the celebrity homes tours, you can’t actually see the stars damn house…you just see a bunch of green hedges! But there’s a VIP company that will tell you the history of LA and has secret spots to take a pix of the hollywood sign

A trip to catalina island, I know a lot of angelinos think it’s overrated but I find it beautiful. Feels like you’re in Europe

Go to Craigs for dinner and happy hour, the best celebrity sightings in the city and the food is tasty.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
So many people have gotten me to where I am today but two people stand out. My husband (Dan aka ‘Schman’ as we call him on the podcast) and my mindful eating therapist Robin Mize. I feel in love with my husband and knew I wanted to marry him when he wouldn’t let me quit my dream. I was going thru a rough patch with my podcast and had an offer to work as a TV host, he told me…’Sarah, if you do that you’ll have gone against everything you’ve wanted since I’ve known you!’ He was right. That’s when the lightbulb went off that I had a really good man. My husband really helped get me thru that period of time financially and emotionally.

The second person is Robin Mize, Robin has been my long time mindful eating therapist. I used to be an overweight child and young adult. I went to my first weight watchers meeting when I was 12yrs. That started a 17yr run of yo yo dieting and hating my body. I was getting ready to quit radio and TV in 2011 because I couldn’t take the fat shaming I would get online and from being on TV when I found Robin. Robin changed everything for me. The first day I walked into her office she told me I would eventually be able to trust myself around food and get to a place where I would love myself and my body, I thought she was nuts! Over about 3yrs she was 100% right. I lost 50lbs naturally, have kept it off for over a decade, and I love myself. Resolving my emotional eating trauma changed everything. I realized in life I was never going to be thin enough or fat enough for everyone so put it all out there. The entire premise of mindful eating is that when we eat when we’re not hungry we’re covering up an emotion. Stress, sadness, boredom. For me it was losing my dad when I was 15yrs old and never really dealing with that pain until I was 28. My favorite book that really helped me understand this is called ‘Women, Food, and God’ by Geneen Roth. I’ve applied the lessons Robin taught me to every aspect of my life. Feeling confident and not hating your body has changed everything for me.

Website: https://www.thesarahfrasershow.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesarahfrasershow/?hl=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSarahFraserShow

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thesarahfrasershow

Other: Listen to my podcast on apple podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sarah-fraser-show/id1064651383

Image Credits
Sarah Fraser Show, I own or took these pictures