Sara Lohse doesn’t believe in big, dramatic origin stories. She believes in the small ones—the messy, honest, “you can’t make this up” moments that actually make people stop scrolling and start listening. (Yes, including the one about accidentally getting a very unfortunate tattoo in Ireland.)

She’s the founder of Branded Media and Favorite Daughter Media, a podcast strategist, and the two-time award-winning author of Open This Book: The Art of Storytelling for Aspiring Thought Leaders. Her career has taken her from pun-driven campaigns at an ad agency to directing marketing for a financial firm to running a Signal Award-winning podcast production house—and she’ll tell you every single detour was exactly the point. Because everything happens for a story.

Today, Sara works with business owners and consultants who want to use podcasting and thought leadership to build real trust—not manufacture hype. She produces mission-driven podcasts, develops brand voice, and coaches clients to turn everyday experiences into content that connects. S

he’s spoken on stages at FinCon Expo, PodFest Multimedia Expo, Speakonomics, and Outlier Podcast Festival, has been featured on dozens of business and entrepreneurship podcasts and in Authority Magazine, and can even be spotted on Netflix. Her superpower? Seeing stories where everyone else sees chaos.