Sarah Teitel: Today’s Notable Young Professional

Today’s Notable Young Professional is singer-songwriter, guitarist, artist and yoga enthusiast Sarah Teitel, who’s set to release her debut studio album next week. Her five-year goal: helping others find meaning for themselves through the making of art…

Elevator Pitch: Describe your job in a nutshell.
I write songs and poems, sing and play guitar, paint and make collages. I’m also a student. Right now, I’m pretty immersed in statistics. It’s a required course for my psychology degree. I dreamed of standard deviations the other night.

What was the inspiration for this career route?
I’ve been making art for as long as I can remember. As a child I was always rallying my friends to enact whatever story I happened to be obsessed with at the moment. I spearheaded a Grade 5 production of Les Miserables. Making art, all types of it, is integral to the way I process and respond to the experience of life. A couple of years ago I started volunteering at CAMH (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health). I felt useful and fulfilled in a new way, helping others to discover what it is about art that draws me so strongly, that strengthens and comforts me. I decided to pursue a career that would allow me to use art to facilitate healing and growth. 

What is the best part of what you do on a day-to-day basis? The most challenging part?
The best part of doing what I do is getting to be exactly who I am. Which I guess is a funny thing for me to say, because the whole idea behind my album is that we, people, aren’t any one thing definitively. Or maybe it’s not such a funny thing to say. In my day-to-day life, I’m allowed to operate in multiple capacities; I get to make music, visual art, I get to learn, I get to help people (at least I hope I help), I get to explore. In that, I am so fortunate. It’s a tremendous privilege. The most challenging part of my day-to-day life is that there is no super-imposed structure. I’m responsible for my time – what I do or don’t make of it. 

Where do you see yourself in five years?
I’d like to be making art in the way I do now and in ways I cannot conceive of now, and I’d like to be helping others to find meaning for themselves through the making of art. 

What is one major challenge that you’ve had to overcome in your career? How did you overcome it?
What I do requires an active imagination. It also requires that I perform on occasion. I become confused sometimes – am I being “genuine” or am I “performing”? I wonder where the difference lies. I wonder if there is a difference. I don’t think I’ve overcome this, and I’m not sure it’s the type of thing you overcome. I think maybe it’s something you live with. I hope, that as I grow, I live with it more and more comfortably.

What does success look like to you?
My basic needs met, a little extra for fun, time and space to create, having the sense that I am helping to make something meaningful happen in the world. 

What is the most memorable milestone in your career?
There are two I’m thinking of now. One is making “Who Are You Holding.” I’d made albums before in people’s basements, but this was the first time my songs were recorded in a studio, with professional musicians playing them. I couldn’t have asked for a keener, better band, or for a more sensitive arranger than Raffi Altounian, who was also my co-producer. I upped my game too for this recording. I took lots of singing lessons, and looked hard and deep into myself to write the songs. The second milestone was deciding that I wanted to go into a career where I could use art – all types of art – in a therapeutic context. That was a hugely important decision. Making it helped me to understand where I fit in the world. 

Do you have any advice for other young professionals?
Be open to what comes your way. 

Where is your favourite place to wine/dine in your city and why?
Batifole on Gerrard Street. The food, wine, and ambience are great; so is the value. 

When you’re not working how do you love to spend your “Me” time?
Exploring, taking walks; thinking, enjoying silence.

Where is your favourite place to travel? Why?
St. Lucia is my favourite place in the world so far. I’m actually very poorly travelled. But I’ve been there twice, and everything about that island appeals to me; the topography, the climate, the vistas, the people, the spirit, the music, the food. Even Piton Lager, and I don’t even like beer.

If you had to choose a theme song, what would it be? 
Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”.

If you weren’t doing what you’re doing, what would you be doing?
I would be in Mysore, India, practicing at the Shri K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute.

Do you support any charities? If so, which one(s) and why is that important to you?
A little while ago I put on benefit concert for my local library. The libraries in Toronto are incredibly well-run institutions. I’m continually amazed by the quality of the materials, and by the services available. I also participate in an after-school program called “The Nook.” It’s an initiative of the Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre, and it aims to support children who are at-risk from low-income families, or new to Canada. I volunteer there, helping kids to write songs.

What to you is notable?
Kindness. Empathy. Humour.

Blackberry, iPhone, Android, or Other?
I recently switched from an iPhone to an Android. It’s cheaper, which I appreciate. At the same time, I’m reminded with regularity that sometimes you get what you pay for. 

#NOTABLE

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