Podcast Episode: F*ck Perfect Content: How Sarah Weiss Turned Zero Views into a Thriving Brand By Being Real AF

Let me tell you about Sarah Weiss – a woman who went from hiding behind Canva graphics because she was terrified to show her face, to becoming one of the most authentic voices in the content creation space. Her journey from speech therapist to full-time content strategist isn’t just inspiring – it’s a masterclass in what happens when you stop trying to be perfect and start being real.

If you’ve been telling yourself you’re “not the type of person” who shows up on camera, Sarah’s story is about to change your mind.

The Woman Behind the Brand

Sarah runs @onbrandbysarah on Instagram and TikTok, where she helps business owners get visible online using the power of video. But her journey to becoming a content creation expert started in the most unlikely place – as a speech therapist who was completely unfulfilled in her career.

“I would listen to business and marketing podcasts on my way to work,” Sarah told me. “I have always been a very creative person. I was a theater girly. I worked very hard to get my master’s in speech pathology, but I just wasn’t fulfilled in my career, which was very, very hard to admit.”

The Fear That Almost Kept Her Hidden

Here’s the part of Sarah’s story that will hit you right in the gut: she started her business hiding behind Canva graphics because she was terrified to show her face on camera.

“I think I was always the kind of person that’s like, ‘Oh my God, I hate my voice on camera. Don’t replay that in front of me. I can’t listen to myself,'” she explained. “I’m also a curvy girly. I’m a woman in a bigger body. My whole life I’ve been told to be smaller, to shrink myself because that makes everyone around me comfortable.”

Sound familiar?

Sarah was telling herself the same story so many of us tell ourselves: “I don’t go live. I don’t show up on video. I don’t speak on camera. That’s not what I do.”

The Moment Everything Changed

But then Sarah had a realization that changed everything: “I’m not going to fail to make people around me comfortable.”

As an all-or-nothing person (which, same, Sarah), she made a decision. She stopped hiding behind graphics and started showing up as herself – big personality, curvy body, real voice and all.

“I know that I have such a big personality and all I have to do is press record and share my voice and share my personality. And lo and behold, it worked.”

The Biggest Misconception About Social Media Success

When I asked Sarah about the biggest misconception people have about building a business on social media, her answer was immediate: “That it can be quick.”

“Building a sustainable business and building a community on social media that is like a raving fan of you takes time. It is not going to happen in a week, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks. It takes time.”

This hits different when you realize Sarah is saying this as someone who has actually built that raving fan community. She’s not some guru selling you a pipe dream – she’s someone who did the work, day after day, even when nobody was watching.

The Content Strategy That Actually Works

Here’s where Sarah gets really practical. As someone with chronic illness (fibromyalgia and chronic migraines), she had to figure out a sustainable way to show up consistently without burning out.

Her solution? The 50/50 strategy:

• 50% batched content
• 50% off-the-cuff content

“What I do to create consistent content and show up every day for my people is I batch 50% of my content and I allow the other 50% to be off the cuff,” she explained.

Her batching process is simple: she sets aside 1-2 hours per week to just press record (her highest energy task). The editing, captions, and posting can all be done from her couch during lower energy times.

Why B-Roll Actually Works (Even If You Hate It)

Sarah used to have a “personal vendetta” against B-roll videos (those short clips of people drinking coffee or typing on their laptop with text overlay). But she had to shift her mindset.

“What I had to say to myself is this shift of, ‘How lucky am I that all I have to do is post a seven to 10 second B-roll video on Instagram and thousands of people become aware of me and my business?'”

Her B-roll strategy is genius: Instead of posting actual podcast clips, she posts 10-second B-roll of herself pretending to talk into her microphone with text like “Can I show you how to replace sales calls with DM sales? Comment ‘pod’ and I’ll send it to your inbox for free.”

Simple, effective, and it works.

The Business vs. Content Creator Distinction

Sarah made an important distinction that’s getting lost in the online space:

Business Owner: You’re leading people to YOUR product or service. You’re not making the majority of your income from brand deals or platform payments.

Content Creator: You’re getting paid from the apps, brand deals, and user-generated content.

“If you’re a business owner, you do need to be a content creator,” she said. “But there are so many other things that go into growing a sustainable business outside of content creation.”

She compared it to an iceberg – posting on social media is just the tip. Below the water is networking, email marketing, client retention strategies, referral programs, and more.

The Pivot That Changed Everything

Sarah’s most impactful business pivot was moving from done-for-you social media management to business mentoring.

“I realized that social media was really just the tip of the iceberg and so many of these business owners had fundamental business strategy problems that I very much knew how to solve,” she explained.

Instead of just managing their social media, she started addressing messaging problems, systems problems, email problems, and client experience problems.

The Success Story That Proves It Works

One of Sarah’s clients, a holistic nutritionist for pregnant and postpartum moms, was terrified of TikTok – it literally gave her hives to think about opening the app.

After working with Sarah, TikTok became her main platform with almost 10,000 followers. Her client now says, “Oh my God, TikTok is so fucking easy because all I have to do is open up my phone and talk.”

That’s the power of the right strategy combined with permission to be yourself.

The Advice That Will Change Your Perspective

When I asked Sarah what she’d tell her speech therapist self, her answer was profound:

“You’re never gonna do more personal development than you will do while becoming an entrepreneur. And I would also tell her thank you because she is the one that decided to get up and out of her own shit because she wasn’t happy.”

For Anyone Just Starting Out

Sarah’s advice to beginners is exactly what you need to hear:

“Don’t be afraid to take up a lot of space. You’re never taking up too much space.”

“If you think you’re talking about something too much, posting too much, saying the same thing over and over, I want to tell you that you’re actually doing a very good job. Sounding like a broken record and showing up like a broken record is what makes the most successful entrepreneurs.”

Her final piece of advice? “Fuck around and find out.”

“Allow yourself to be flexible and adaptable and don’t make it a you thing and get curious.”

The Bottom Line

Sarah’s story proves that you don’t need to be perfect to be successful online. You don’t need to have it all figured out before you start. You don’t need to be a certain size, have a certain voice, or fit into anyone else’s box.

What you need is:

• The willingness to get uncomfortable
• Consistency over perfection
• A sustainable strategy that works for YOUR life
• Permission to take up space

Sarah went from hiding behind graphics to building a thriving business by simply deciding she was the kind of person who shows up on camera. She batches content when she has energy, posts off-the-cuff when inspiration strikes, and focuses on serving her audience instead of creating perfect content.

The online world is huge. There’s room for you, exactly as you are.

The question isn’t whether you’re ready – it’s whether you’re willing to start before you feel ready.

Because here’s the truth: while you’re sitting there perfecting your strategy, someone like Sarah is out there building the exact business you’re dreaming about by simply pressing record and being herself.

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Ready to dive deeper into building your digital empire? Subscribe to Beyond the BS and follow me on Instagram @the_no_bs_newyorker. Check out Sarah’s work at @onbrandbysarah on Instagram and TikTok, and consider joining her Cozy Content Corner membership if you want to know “what the fuck to post” every week.

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