Who Created WIRL Project?

Sara Brennan

Sara Brennan, Founder and Creator of WIRL Project

Hi, my name is Sara Brennan and I am the founder and creator of WIRL Project. I think it’s important that I share with you why I created this website, because it really represents the mentality behind it. I have always found it empowering to share my true thoughts and feelings, which is probably why I enjoy blogging so much. I think being honest and truthful with yourself and others is healthy, empowering, confidence-building and attractive! So, for this reason I built my entire website and brand around the phrase What It’s Really Like (WIRL). Thank you for taking the time to visit and explore my dream website, I know you’re going to love it as much as I do.

I created WIRL Project to provide a place where real people could share real stories, thoughts and information about real life in one organized, easily searchable location. I used to have my own blog and found that it was hard work to be heard, seen and found in the online world. It was also very difficult to learn how to design my own website, install widgets and plugins, and basically create my own “brand”; I knew there had to be a better way. While blogging, I was also astounded at the number of people who wanted to “guest post” to my blog so that they too could tell their story. I would think to myself, Why should you need my, or anyone’s, permission to share your story, thought or idea? Of course you can post to my blog! And after some thinking, several personal branding sessions and some soul searching, I finally figured it out; and that’s how WIRL Project was born.

On a personal level, my family and I have been very blessed in life, but we’ve also been through some tough times, including caring for and watching my father lose his battle to ALS and I’ve always found it comforting to share this and other life experiences with others. This became especially true when I became a new mom in 2013; little did I know that I was about to be blindsided by stay-at-home-motherhood and the plethora of information that nobody talked about! I spent what seemed like a lifetime on search engines, searching for and reading individual forums and blogs, looking for someone to relate to, but found that I didn’t have time to keep up this online search for hope or hop from forum to forum or blog to blog. This was frustrating to me because I knew there was great information out there, but it was so scattered, unorganized and hard to find! To help solve this problem, a few friends and I collaborated and started our own “mom-blog”. We found that sharing our frustrations, bliss and sometimes clueless feelings actually made us better, more confident moms – it was incredible! We also found that we were really impacting other moms by receiving numerous comments and emails, telling us how much they appreciated what we were sharing because they too could relate, but never wanted to admit these thoughts and feelings. Unfortunately, after only a few months, we mutually decided to end our blogging journey together; we were really busy new moms and blogging was a lot of work! I love those girls for what we accomplished together and I’m so thankful for that journey, but after all was said and done, I wanted to accomplish more. I knew the upbeat, real, conversational way my mom-friends and I shared our stories really worked, and at that point, I knew this idea could work for all areas of life, not just motherhood; so I dreamt up WIRL Project.

As I said before, I created WIRL Project to provide a place where real people can go to search for and share real life and what it’s really like in any area or category. I believe that if you’ve lived it, you are the best kind of expert there is! I’ve learned that letters and credentials behind your name don’t necessarily mean you know what you’re talking about or can relate to others. So, if you’ve been through something funny, serious or embarrassing, have a question to ask, need advice from someone who’s “been there”, want to raise awareness for a cause or disease, have a recipe or tip to share, want to thanks someone publicly, or just want to rant about whatever it is that you’re feeling, you should be able to do so without the work to maintain your own website and/or the uneasiness of using other social media outlets. The idea behind WIRL Project is so simple, but I believe that together we can change the way we share information online in a very cool and innovative way!

I personally thank anyone who uses WIRL Project and sees the vision. I especially thank all of the incredible members who are willing to Share. Real. Life. with the common goal to help, inspire, educate and empower themselves or others. I can’t wait to see what this community can accomplish together by sharing what it’s really like and truly look forward to collaborating with awesome like-minded individuals who really “get” what we’re doing at WIRL Project!