About

Jacob Cass Logo + My Photo by Emily Tebbetts + My Design = Woo!

My grandpa Glenn Perl’s painting of a brilliant road, the inspiration behind my motifs of a brilliant road (the spiritual road of authenticity) in all my books. Slogan inspired by it - “Every road has its reason, to rise to unseen brilliance.” The Brilliant Road leads to The Tree of Life and then as per one of my children’s book from which falls The Gold Grief Leaf. Someone made a promise with me to always be authentic. I was once nicknamed “Unseen Brilliance.”

In high school meeting holocaust survivor Jack Sittsamer, survivor of 6 Nazi concentration camps. This was taken May 1 2007.

Activism with Amnesty International at Slippery Rock University. This started her interest in it!

Josie Badger former Miss Wheelchair America helped Sarah to start speaking to youth at conferences in PA.

Workshops with youth at The Woodlands Foundation w/David Hale RIP 11/28/79- 11/09/20

I was featured on the home page of SRU’s website. You can also view it here.

As former director of Leader-in-Training Program at Camp Tockwogh

Unseen Brilliance - Pictures I’m actually glowing in! Lol The ones that are three different versions of the same pic was on one of the hardest days of my life. But I had inner peace. I believe I captured it there. <3

Knotsvilla modeling shoot by Angie Candell

A friend shared this poem and then soon after it was read by a presenter at Reimagine, an org she is involved in. If you look at her The Gold Grief Leaf page, Mary Oliver has been inspiring her!

She takes a lot of photos of herself but wants to say that the Blobfish is the epitome of beauty.

Fun fact - I worked at a daycare. I knew there was a free photoshoot offer at a mall in limited time with Premier Imaging. I drove right after work. I turned my shirt backwards to hide the school’s logo so it is just black. Sometimes you gotta hustle!

Photos by Rohit Venkat.

Holl and Lane Magazine — Featured in Holl and Lane magazine. Photo by Emily Tebbetts

Who’s who? Lol Doing the Steve Jobs pose.

She would like stuff like this not to happen anymore. She doesn’t believe that Rings of Power is Tolkien’s will. Please do not mess with people’s art. (This includes for herself!)

Serendipity getting an internship in branding and social media.

The first photo I picked out for Tiny Buddha — The first pic I picked for Tiny Buddha.

Just a shoutout and thanks to Nancy Clark for helping me write for Forbes!

I used to network on twitter and got this feedback once. Thank you Sarah! Twitter is actually how I got many of my interviewees, opportunities and into Forbes. Now I’m just on facebook.

My characters - Maresca (left) from children’s book, Brilliant Road and the Red Balloon and Payton (right) from You Are The Reason My Skye Is Blue

rip my dog lady

That awkward moment when you can’t get a pic with your dog.

My dog Lady mid-yawn looking at camera like a smile. We saved each other. Finally got it! But why aren’t I looking at the camera???!!

My last moment with my dog Lady. RIP. Yes I had it touched up a bit - It was 2am.

Selfie time! (Since so much of my page is past modeling photos).

I am proud to share the name Jeanne with Gene in a way. I do not mean this to approve or condone every instance of a person’s life. I love Willy Wonka and I love Gene Wilder and his intentions to make the world a better place. I also like candy. Who doesn’t, am I right?

Jeanette van Geldern, holocaust victim. I had a dream that God said “Look how beautiful she is.”
*According to Auschwitz Museum “27 November 1925 | A Dutch Jewish woman, Jeanette van Geldern, was born in Rheden. In September 1943 she was deported to* *#Auschwitz. She did not survive.”*
*Here* *is more about her life.*

17 February 1941 | Franciscan Fr. Maximilian Kolbe was arrested by Germans in Niepokalanów. He was first sent to Pawiak prison in Warsaw and then to Auschwitz, where he finally sacrificed his life - volunteered to replace Franciszek Gajowniczek, sentenced to starvation death.

22 February 1943 | Sophie and Hans Scholl & Christoph Probs were executed by guillotine in Germany for their public resistance against the Nazi regime. They were members of White Rose movement called for active opposition to the Nazi party.
Hans, a medical student at the University of Munich, was 24. Sophie, a student of biology and philosophy, was 21. Christoph, a medical student, was 22.
Their activities started in Munich on 27 June 1942, and ended with the arrest of the core group by the Gestapo on 18 February 1943.
At great risk, the White Rose group conducted an anonymous leaflet and graffiti campaign that called for active opposition to the Nazi regime.
In total, the they authored six leaflets, which were multiplied and spread, in a total of about 15,000 copies. They denounced the Nazi regime's crimes and oppression, and called for resistance. In their second leaflet, they openly denounced the persecution and mass murder of the Jews.
In their attempt to stop the war effort, they advocated the sabotage of the armaments industry. “We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will not leave you in peace!"
"For Hitler and his followers there is no punishment on this Earth commensurate with their crimes. But out of love for coming generations we must make an example after the conclusion of the war, so that no one will ever again have the slightest urge to try a similar action" - a fragment of the fourth leaflet.
In the picture: Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst.

NOTE: MAY NEED TO REFRESH PAGE TO VIEW GALLERIES or if memes blur (Thanks Squarespace). Left side are photos of meaning or more here.

Sarah Jeanne Browne graduated from Slippery Rock University in 2012 with a BA in English, Minor in writing; magna cum laude; an honors student and mentor; president of 4 clubs (2 honoraries - Sigma Tau Delta and Golden Key Honor Society then 2 activism clubs she started - DRIVE - Disability Rights Inspiring Voices Everywhere and GLO - Global Literacy Outreach); Treasurer then Public Relations Officer of Kappa Delta Pi; Secretary of Amnesty International; Blue Key Honor Society member; Lambda Sigma member; WOW Team membe; and FYRST member. And potentially more clubs. She created events on campus on important issues such as the Armenian Genocide, Gua Africa, Disability Rights bringing in speakers such as Josie Badger and others from Pennsylvania Youth Leadership Network, and more. She was a recurrent guest for President’s Commission on Disability Issues. She won the Dunlap Scholarship. She won the Rising Star Award. She completed their Compass Leadership Program. She had an internship with Innovative Intellects where she created lesson plans for homeschooled kids. She was a volunteer note-taker for Office for Students with Disabilities. She was an Orientation Ambassador. She went on multiple care break trips to volunteer with youth. She worked with youth in East St. Louis, MO, spring 2009. She did a St. Lucia Leadership Program: Leader of Workshop: Resume and Job Application Workshop at Leadership Conference at Soufriere Comprehensive Secondary School, spring 2010. She led a Junior Achievement Program and presented community living and real world skills activities to elementary school classrooms in New York City, spring 2011. She was a Co-Lead for Carebreak Springbreak 2012, working with YMCA kids in Kansas City, Mo schools. She presented at the capitol with President Smith at SRU and students, 2011 on education budget cuts. She did presentations for Sigma Tau Delta, EAPSU and PCEA then SRU Research Symposium and NCHC - Presented data analysis study: In 2011, she presented at the NCHC Conference in Phoenix, Arizona on her honors program research project, "Writing Therapy and Resiliency in Human Development." This is a recommendation letter she once got. This is random, but she is the thumbnail and seen in this SRU video honoring veterans at about 3:48.

She has some graduate experience at Brandeis University. She was pursuing high school English teaching through a Masters but left that program. At the same time she had an internship on branding and expanded into that area. She saved kids in places she would not have otherwise been had she stayed the original course. This website shows the Brilliant Road that her faith took her on to do good where she may.

book writing

Sarah Jeanne Browne is a speaker, writer, and activist. She is authoring books such as You Are The Reason My Skye Is Blue, Brilliant Road And The Red Balloon, The Gold Grief Leaf, Lonely Luna, Departure, and Mourning Star. She has a memoir Unseen Brilliance on the backburner but doesn’t know what it will be yet (or when it will be ready) so just will mention that! She had a dream of two kidlits in WIP now - Nobody, The Listener and Fragment of Forgiveness.

Youth Advocacy

She is a youth advocate: She took courses in this area. She deconstructed aspects of the education system. Once she had a premonition of the name of a child at a daycare before starting or seeing the roster, and that child was the one she turned around the most. She also just realized many years later (as in right now) she also had a dream of a name and she met that child at a summer camp who came just a week later. She created a program for her YA characters called “Unseen Brilliance” during a suicide prevention ball which eventually she hopes will be adopted into real life. Her past speaking engagements were on topics of leadership for youth at The Peal Center - Transition Conference August 2010, Pennsylvania Youth Leadership Network, and The Woodlands Foundation. She worked with autistic youth as a paraprofessional, nanny, workshop facilitator for nonprofits, PreK teacher, preschool teacher, camp counselor, and a Director of a Leader-in-Training Program. She wrote Grieving for kids insights from experience & more (she has a meme for that under Grief Advocate). She wrote “Building Self-Esteem in Kids” for American SPCC. She was a Communications Advisory Committee member of The National Foundation to End Child Abuse and Neglect (ENDCAN). She consulted them to use quotes about children on their social media which they did though they didn’t come from her. Her article for EndCAN is “Connection Before Correction.” In it, she created the acronym LOVES for making connection: Listen, Open Up, Validate, Explain, and Solve Together. Sadly this organization shut its doors. She will repost the article soon (it's on medium for now but she’s scouting for another home or seeing what happens with EndCAN fully).

She believes that screentime, cartoons, and internet are cesspools for disconnection, seeking the wrong attention, and removal from the wonder of life itself.

lived experienced mental health advocate

She has been diagnosed bipolar. She believes she has autism, adhd, and dyscalculia. She has undiagnosed autism and is considering whether or not to pursue diagnosis as hers is so unique she doesn’t know if it would fit on the scale. She has learned about neurodivergence mainly from social media which contradicts things that mental health professionals deem impossible. She believes systems need deconstructed, and she tries to find solutions. She has evolved her views since the following podcasts and articles. The system itself creates unrest and anxiety. Disability system is forced disability. There is no lesson for every difficult time. It would be better to not go through them. She was told to say she was depressed when she wasn’t so there’s been a lot to that is creating her own theories about herself and the system itself.

She is a mental health advocate featured on The Mighty. She was on the podcast, Have the Conversation, “Stigma, Shame, and Surrender with Sarah Jeanne Browne,” and on the podcast, Meet In The Middle, “Striving For Better Mental Health.”

self-help writer

She empowers with her self-help wisdom on Forbes and popular self-help sites.

Her freelance writing included interviews with Jessica Valenti, Liza Donnelly, Vikki Ziegler, Josie Badger, Lauren Lubin, John Oberg, and more.

She currently writes for Forbes, Lifehack, Elephant Journal, Raise Center, Sentient Media, Bella Grace, Dreamscape, EndCAN, Tiny Buddha, The Daily Positive, Reimagine, and more. All her self help articles are listed under “self-help writing.”

PLATFORM PROFILES

Her most popular Forbes article: What The Vagus Nerve Is And How To Stimulate It For Better Mental Health
Lifehack profile
Tiny Buddha profile
Elephant Journal profile
Sentient Media profile
Raise Center articles - Invisible Disability Stigma and Mental Health Advocacy
ENDCAN - “Connection Before Correction” now on Medium as it shut its door and she’s scouting another home for it and “Building Self-Esteem for Kids” (Originally for American SPCC linked below)
Bella Grace
American SPCC
Good Therapy
The Mighty
The Daily Positive
Dreamscape
A Lust for Life
Mic
The Minds Journal
Beyond Good Ideas
Thrive Global
Reimagine - One and another and another and another
Medium - These are mostly personal reflections

Wisdom collector

Album in gallery page as well. - Facebook Album.

She has collected wisdom from horror, heartbreak, and hardship. She has lived through some impossible situations to obtain them. She disagrees with the game of reposting the most popular memes and quotes as she doesn’t believe that actually solves life. She doesn’t know everything. She wants you to find your own wisdom as well. Use your wisdom. You have the wisdom to change the world. Take it further than her! She has more memes for her books so check them out on their own pages.

Disability rights advocate

She is a disability rights advocate. She believes disability is FORCED POVERTY. She completed TRAIL (Training Regional Advocates to Influence Leadership) 2.0 Adventurer project - This advanced virtual advocacy training program by Women and Girls Foundations supports advocates with disabilities in learning strategies to make systemic change through learning about how laws are made, how politics play a role in decisions that impact our lives, and how directly ask for a change. At the end of the course, participants completed an advocacy project. She was a personal assistant to Josie Badger, former Miss Wheelchair America. She completed ten hours of training from Leadership Development Institute in disability and leadership. She was involved with The Peal Center, Pennsylvania Youth Leadership Network, and The Woodlands foundation which focused on disabilities. She was on the Youth Council for the Epilepsy Foundation. She taught disabled and autistic people. She wrote for Dreamscape. and Raise Center (Invisible Disability Stigma and Mental Health Advocacy) on disability rights and mental health advocacy. She joins in on email and petition campaigns to reach congress.

2014 workshops: Bloom Transition Program with the Woodlands Foundation. Bloom is about reverse inclusion for adolescents with and without disabilities.:
March 8- Healthy living for Bloom Transition Program
April 12- Self advocacy for Bloom
Monday- August 4th from 6:10PM- 6:40PM- Health and Wellness presentation and activity
Tuesday- August 5th 6:30pm- 7:00pm- Self Advocacy and Acceptance presentation

Testimony:

Josie Badger

“Ms. Browne was a participant in a Leadership Development Institute, funded by the State Implementation Grant from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, which I coordinated in November of 2009. This Institute was held in an effort to increase the leadership capabilities and opportunities of young adults with disabilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania. At the Institute, she demonstrated amazing potential as an advocate and leader. Due to her leadership capabilities and enthusiasm, I invited Ms. Browne to assist in leading other Leadership Development Institutes. She then took the initiative to coordinate a disability student group at Slippery Rock University. She has continued to be involved in advocacy and human rights work. She has used her gifts of creativity, passion social justice, and writing to improve the countless individuals. Ms. Browne has contributed to writings on human rights for Service Internships and women's rights for The Feminist Observer.

In my ten years of working with youth leaders, I have never been as impressed as I have been with Sarah Browne. I have witnessed her in various difficult situations in which she has handled with professionalism and maturity. Her life experiences have allowed her to understand and advocate for youth with various needs and of all ages. I highly recommend Sarah Browne. I have no doubt that she has the capacity to make a tremendous contribution.” ~Josie Badger

tiny buddha assistant

May 2020-July 2023

For Tiny Buddha she worked on site management, consultation, editing articles, community forum management, calendar quote selections, projects, memes, and picking pics for articles. She’s trying to capture some of them on this page so there aren’t all displayed.

Here are quotes of hers that were in Tiny Buddha calendars/planner. It’s also an album on her gallery page.

Here are SOME of the pics she picked out for articles:

Here are SOME of the memes she helped create:

animal rights advocate

“The planet cannot sustain billions of meat eaters.” ~David Attenborough

She is a vegan. She wants to note she is still figuring out vegan food and how to make it work. She doesn’t really like salads. We can’t all be perfect!

As long as we perceive sentient beings as inanimate objects or machines the set up will be for cruelty.

She is always looking for cruelty free AND vegan products (these terms are not the same thing). Ethical consumption will save everyone.

She wrote a children’s book on animal activism called Lonely Luna. Sy Montgomery gave a review for it: "As you can see from this children's book, Sarah Jeanne Browne has a deep connection with animals, an ear for language, and an eye for fun!"

As a vegan activist, she interviewed John Oberg for Sentient Media. She sent emails and social media posts for animal rights to companies with abuses. She did admin work for The Humane League. She wrote about veganism for Elephant Journal. She is a Hen Hero for Mercy for Animals.

Sanctuary Involvement:

One thing I will say about SOME animal sanctuaries for rescued animals with a bad past being welcomed into strangers constantly touring or petting them when they are skittish and shy can backfire. It is a great marketing tool to show how they help people i.e. cow hug therapy but they need their own boundaries and comfort level not constant stranger attention in sensitive cases. I'm sure many welcome it. But it can be too much. I've seen it.

She doesn’t condone or endorse all practices of organizations she has helped support.

She disagrees with reiki for animals or humans. She won’t get into the reasons why! She’s experienced some animal communication. In general one must watch out for new age forces as sometimes they are wrong and right and it’s done on purpose. Sarah won’t get into that here! Lolli wouldn’t let her go in a beautiful way - she felt a pull and opened up to passage in the bible mentioning goats. This isn’t to say she agrees with any religion fully but it was an interesting moment.

She sponsored Lolli the goat and Turkey Guardian for Heather the turkey from The Gentle Barn. She even painted Lolli the goat - check it out here and below.

She loves animal yoga at Hope Haven Farm Sanctuary. She painted Rigby the Emu from Hope Haven and created some graphic designs as seen below.

She also created Hope Haven Farm Sanctuary’s graphics for Giving Tuesday November 28, 2023 #givingtuesday -

Here’s another great org: Safe Haven for Donkeys. As of now they can’t confiscate donkeys from bad owners but she hopes law will change.

Her favorite creatures are octopuses. She has a qualm with My Octopus Teacher that while forming a relationship with the octopus, he didn’t intervene when a small shark bit off her arm. She had to stop watching after that. (If there is a reason for this that she's unaware of please let her know). Sarah is also passionate about the prevention of octopus farming.

My dog Lady has inspired my animal activism. RIP.

Grief Advocate

From an article I wrote for Elephant Journal.

She is a grief advocate. She wrote a children’s book about grief - The Gold Grief Leaf which is done. Project in works Mourning Star a character for grieving kids to engage with and have workbook questions. TBD. She is writing a book on grief for adults called Departure. She shared her story on Reimagine’s Instragram: HERE. She often attends their conferences. Her Reimagine profile is HERE. She has blogged for them such as here and here and here and here and a resource on grieving kids here. She collaborated on a Reimagine event with Jenny Dilts Oct 25 2022 at 1pm EST called “Write Your Way From Grief To Growth.” See recording below:

Her articles on grief include 7 Ways Of Remembering You're Going To Die One Day Motivates You To Live In The Moment, 7 Quotes to Help you Move Through Grief with Grace, How to Find Love through Loss, How to Grieve without Guilt, The Man who Taught me about Redemption & Saved my Inner Child, How I Make it through my Grief over my Friend’s Suicide, You Never Know How Much Time You Have, So Forgive While You Can, What’s Really Important: 3 Things I Realized When I Lost My Grandmother, Grief Goes On, Grief Stole Time, What’s Mine and Rewired My Mind to Appreciate Life, Loss Uplifts Through What We Miss, and Grieving for kids insights from experience & more.

She recommends supporting the Live Like Ally Foundation, in remembrance of Ally Willen. They have a great grief reflection here.

brand Consultant

She consulted brands (mostly for fun) due to an internship with Degrees2Dreams with a workshop at Hubspot and featuring Steve Garfield, author of Get Seen. She learned about social media, including blogging, inbound marketing, social media marketing, search engine optimization, the law and new media, video blogging, and more. She consulted Payhip, The National Foundation to End Child Abuse and Neglect, and Tiny Buddha. Her philosophy is simple “Do it for love, not for likes.” Lol.

@sarahjbrowne Thanks for your consulting Sarah! :) You gave us such wonderful and practical ideas! Can't wait to implement them!
— Payhip (@payhip) July 3, 2013

facts about sarah

Ālea iacta est!

She is a person doing things. She doesn’t always know what they are. But that’s okay. We don’t know everything. She just knows what she doesn’t know. You know?

Her slogan is “Every road has its reason, to rise above to Unseen Brilliance.” She doesn’t know what it means fully but you can decide that, k? Thanks in advance.

She has bipolar, dyscalculia, autism, and adhd (Audhd). Her hero is Audrey Hepburn. She is vegan. Her logo is by Jacob Cass and is red or can be inverted as white with a rose using her initials and a heart mark in the middle. Her logo is inspired by Sophie Scholl and the White Rose, a vision of her grandmother handing her a red rose, and she always wanted to be loved like how Vincent van Gogh loved sunflowers but as a rose. She modeled for John Robert Powers modeling agency for Knotsvilla wedding site and Raspberry Beret’s blog- Raspberry Beret modeling: (They revamped their site but you can look at back links or something to see them): link one: http://rberet.blogspot.com/2013/12/sarah-brown.html

link two: http://rberet.blogspot.com/2013/06/sarah-brown-wearing-raspberry-beret.html

She is a survival of abusers, trauma, and broken systems which she is trying to use to create goodness in this world. She has fought off bullies and mean girls and people projecting their problems onto her all her life. She is an ethical philosopher. The happiest time in her life was reading The Hobbit. She had a meditation she saw herself on a “Lonely Mountain” then realized that is in it. She hopes to give off Gandalf energy. She doesn’t believe in empaths - you’re either a human being with empathy or you’re not; it’s the minimal requirement of living. She prefers to live in a tree with an owl. She wishes we would all just agree to use the Oxford Comma. Despite once being a self-help writer, there’s nothing she hates more than affirmations. Ah, irony! She has spiritual experiences but she doesn’t try to define or explain them. She loves centering prayer (bringing God into your meditation/mindfulness); kayaking; hiking (she’s hiked part of the Appalachian trail); nature; reading (there’s a list of book recs at the bottom of this); meditating to Wakes meditation music; listening to Mimi Page whose song “Come What May” helped her through rock bottom (there’s a playlist of songs she likes at the end of this page); writing to Tido Kang music; watching youth baseball games at a local park; reading poetry by autistic youth; turtle watching at a pond; solving life wisdom which ultimately cannot be solved but lived through; playing Final Fantasy 9 and Zelda Twilight Princess (the former she believes Garnet should have grown a tail at the end to be like Zidane and the latter she played with a friend in an inpatient facility and there was a moment she took her eyes off the screen and used the controller and solved a challenge - sadly that friend died by suicide but it was a moment they were both were amazed by and later she had a dream he hugged her and said “Sorry I left you”); lavender (she loves lavender tea and found that helped her most with anxiety); going to her favorite The Little Green Bookstore; playing with kids (she considers herself a big kid); walking her dog Lady; drawing; trying new vegan snacks; solving things; and being her own peace. She is a TED Talk enthusiast who was on the Community Board of TedxGrandviewAve in Pittsburgh. Her favorite is The Danger of a Single Story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Gene Wilder opened up her creativity and activism. Also deconstructing cancel culture. She acknowledges her privilege and is trying to learn everyday. She once couldn’t stop rhyming. Now she can tap in and out. Anyways that left room for doubt that she could write like other people who despise rhymes. Now she does her own thing. She loves literary nonsense. She doesn’t expect anything from life.

Here’s a random poem she likes. Take off the mask!

We Wear the Mask

BY PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR

We wear the mask that grins and lies,

It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—

This debt we pay to human guile;

With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,

And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,

In counting all our tears and sighs?

Nay, let them only see us, while

We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries

To thee from tortured souls arise.

We sing, but oh the clay is vile

Beneath our feet, and long the mile;

But let the world dream otherwise,

We wear the mask!

222 Signs

For fun, she adds screenshots of 222 signs to her very long 222 sign thread which goes back to 2020, (now deleted due to leaving twitter). Here are just SOME 222s. She’s lost track of how many she gets. It’s a weird phenomenon! She also has the album on her gallery page. If it’s a screenshot of a music video at 2:22 minutes it means she paused it then and only realized it after. This has happened a few times but she’s only including a couple. She chooses which to put out there. There are much more. They mean to her just a simple reassurance from God. The 222s aren’t always promoting a certain message. For example, there have been ones with influencers she doesn’t want to promote. So they tend to follow her where she looks online or otherwise. Interpret as you will! I am at my limit for this gallery so will stop here but there may be more on the gallery page or her facebook page. She has deconstructed some of what the 222s are connected to also. It’s not unwavering support for anything. She doubts she will capture them forever.