I’m an artist who builds systems—spaces and structures where expression can happen.
I'm drawn towards understanding how we can learn to be safe, grounded, and free enough to express ourselves and create what we love.
Sometimes that’s looked like writing songs, hosting jam nights, and acting. Other times, it’s looked like designing content systems that publish thousands of pieces per year. On the surface, those paths seem different, but it's the same fundamental work.
I care about creating the conditions where something honest can emerge—and then building the structure that helps it take shape and exist in the world.
CREATING
I’m a singer-songwriter, actor, and writer, drawn to expression in many forms.
I began writing and releasing music in my 30s, teaching myself banjo and collaborating with producers to bring songs to life. Since then, my work has reached 1M+ streams. My sound blends folk, cinematic, and electronic elements.
I’ve written a feature-length screenplay, acted in film and television, and continue to explore storytelling across mediums.
What matters most to me isn’t any one format—it’s simply having fun making stuff.
BUILDING SYSTEMS FOR CREATIVITY
My other artform is designing systems that help ideas take shape at scale.
I’m the Content Operations Director at BWZ, where I’ve spent the past 7+ years helping grow a bootstrapped media tech company from under $1M to $20M+ in annual revenue, winning multiple awards along the way.
I design the systems that make that scale possible:
- High-volume content engines (5,000+ articles/year)
- Tech-enabled production workflows
- Team structures built around ownership, trust, and experimentation
We’ve grown from a team of 3 to 75+, and from under 1M to 10M+ annual visitors—largely by turning content from a manual effort into a shared, evolving system.
But the work isn’t just about scale. It’s about building systems that people can operate inside of—where they feel clear, supported, and capable of doing great work.
WHAT I'M BUILDING
More and more, I’ve been focused on bringing these worlds together, combining both the practical/technical and the spiritual/artistic sides of expression and creation.
I see creating as both an art and a science, a mystery and a system, magic and manual work.
With this balanced approach, I've had the honor of mentoring several artists through the courageous acts of producing their first song, taking their first acting class, quitting their jobs to (successfully!) pursue music, auditioning for big roles (and small ones), singing in their real voice in front of an audience for the first time.
This has inspired my current personal project, The Jungle Gym: a library of audio clips that serve as mini creative “workouts” and pep talks for the creative spirit. These are raw and real, Sarah-style “mini-podcasts” that draw from my lived experience: I drop the pre-tense and I get down on the floor to play right alongside you with short, sincere guidance to help you reconnect with your sense of fun, access your expression, and build creative courage.
Message me if you'd like early access to The Jungle Gym – send a DM on Instagram (@sarahjanetolle) or email me at sarah@sarahtolle.com
