I’m Sarah Kellner, a writer, artist, producer, and career mentor. I’m an elder millennial and digital native with the soul of an 80-year-old woman who does the crossword in pen and doesn’t take crap. I make my living in San Francisco, by way of Atlanta and the East Coast.

I’m a huge music person — I love metal, shoegaze, blues, soul, indie, and of course hip hop, which is where I got the name “The Career Come-Up.” I’d always heard hip hop artists talk about coming up in their respective scenes and neighborhoods. They’d talk about how they made it, how they achieved their success, usually through hard work and key opportunities, doors being opened, meeting the right people, and taking their careers to the next level. If you’re interested in reading those stories, there’s a brilliant book aptly called “The Come Up: An Oral History of the Rise of Hip Hop” by Jonathan Abrams, which I highly recommend.

In devotion to the idea of the come-up and achieving success, I’ve created a space where you can find career advice, resources, and services to help you take your career the to the next level.

I’ve been working in the digital content industry since 2009. I’m currently an individual contributor (IC) at a tech company, but have also worked in management. I’ve worked as an intern, contractor, full-time employee, self-employed freelancer, and just about everything in between. I’ve worked at mom-and-pop businesses, startups, magazines, corporations, and tech giants. I’ve been around the block, and having found a job that I truly love, I want to share the wisdom on how I got here.

I’ve been on both sides of the hiring table. After hiring several contractors at one company who got converted to full-time employees, a coworker joked that I should work in recruiting. Talent acquisition is not my passion, but when they said that, a little seed was planted. Over the years, I’ve helped advise countless people with their resumes and job-hunting skills across a variety of industries, including technical and mechanic jobs, accounting, digital content, and marketing.

I also served as the official mentor to the writing program at my alma mater, the Savannah College of Art & Design for the 2015-16 school year. I visited classrooms, reviewed portfolios and resumes, gave lectures on what it’s like to work in marketing, how to find a job as a writer, and worked with many soon-to-be graduates. Since then, I’ve worked with people at all levels of their careers.

I’m also a huge advocate for mental health and self-care, and believe that those things are not only meant for your personal life. Self-care at work comes in many forms — making sure you have good work/life balance, taking breaks, and most importantly, advocating for yourself and what you need to do the best work possible.

I’ve learned a lot over the years and have had some amazing mentors myself — folks who shared wisdom and helped guide me. I love helping people and my aim here is to pay it forward. I’ll keep the synergy and corporate jargon to a minimum (we can circle back on that). These are true stories, things I’ve seen and heard, with a little personality thrown in. I hope you enjoy this and find it valuable.