Today is Sarah Brennan’s birthday.
You’re like — who the hell is Sarah Brennan?
I’m like — she’s Sarah White, but she’s got a new last name in late 2014 because she married a dude named Jake.
You’re like — I still don’t know her. Is she new?
No, Sarah Brennan is not new. We met at an HR technology conference before anybody knew anything about social media, and we became fast friends.
I like Sarah because she has a ton of empathy — for HR professionals, for executives, and for anybody who’s ever had to use really bad work-related technology.
Sarah is very practical. In her world, stuff doesn’t have to be so hard. The world of work is full of enough drama and hassle. Let’s try to make work less difficult, okay?
I’ve seen Sarah speak at a few events, and she’s totally relatable. She lives near Milwaukee and talks about the pressure (and joy) of being a working mom. She knows how to prioritize issues in her life, and she wants to make sure that HR professionals and recruiters are sensitive to the needs of applicants, candidates, and employees.
I also love being friends with Sarah because she keeps it simple and very real. She’s not telling me what I want to hear unless I tell her, “Please tell me what I want to hear.”
I seek her advice on all sorts of important issues. Should I cut my hair? No, because you’ll just complain about it. Do I want to speak at another HR conference this year? No, you are burned out and you want to stay home with your husband and cats. Should I believe in unicorns? No, unicorns aren’t real.
I’m a piece of work, and I appreciate how Sarah is like — You’re being a piece of work and maybe you should step away from the internet and go to Target for awhile.
It’s a pretty good friendship peppered with discussions about HR technology and celebrity gossip. You should be so lucky in your lives to find someone like Sarah!
So let’s all wish Sarah (White) Brennan a happy birthday. She’s no longer on Facebook and doesn’t do very much social media, anymore, but we can make her feel loved by sending out a tweet.
[Tweet “Happy birthday @imsosarah! “]
And let’s never forget her sage advice: don’t cut your bangs!
Happy Birthday ImSoSarah! Did I ever tell you this story about Sarah? I hadn’t met Sarah in person until a recruiting conference back in the day. We had spent our last penny to exhibit our startup at the conference. Sarah was stationed near our booth, and I liked her right away. She was funny and smart. I like funny and smart people. Our booth was a hit, and we were making important contacts with potential customers. On the morning of Day 2 of the conference, my co-founder went missing (long story, not relevant, we found him eventually). I was panicked about my co-founder and also worried because our booth was unattended that morning. When I finally arrived, there was Sarah, in our booth, explaining our product to customers. How can you not love her?
Oh my goodness, I totally remember this. Ha!
Someone had to make sure you didn’t waste the money you spent on the booth!!
Thank you carmen for the walk down memory lane!!