Sarah Miller ('85) recently launched Chatterhood, an online resource she describes as "Yelp meets Angie's List" for parents looking for reliable suggestions on kid-friendly businesses, babysitters, playdate locations, etc. We talked briefly with Sarah on her journey from St. Andrew's student to Chatterhood CEO.

Sarah graduated from St. Andrew's Lower School in 1985. She says her favorite St. Andrew's memories "involve music and Mrs. Elkjer's class: singing a solo 'In His Time' for a chapel service, performing in the first grade musical 'Down by the Creekbank,' and learning to play recorder and ukulele. I also loved learning calligraphy in Mrs. Roberts' fourth grade class, and I still use it to this day."  

Sarah went on to graduate from Austin High School, then DePaw University with a degree in French and International Business. Later she earned an MBA from Texas Christian University. After working for high-tech firms, government and non-profits, Sarah now works as the Executive Director of Development Communications at UT's Health Science Center in Houston.

Sarah spent years re-locating with her husband and two kids to new towns across the U.S., and struggled to find recommendations for local, kid-friendly vendors. As working parents, neither she nor her husband had enough time to spend hours researching online. Sarah decided to create her own solution, and launched the website Chatterhood in spring 2015 to fill this void. Sarah says she's still in the process of building up the platform, which serves mostly Central Texas but is growing to serve other cities nationwide.

Nicole recently contacted us to share her experience in LA, and to encourage students interested in the film industry to contact her to learn more. 

 

Nicole was a "lifer" of St. Andrew's. She recalls Darryl Borges having a special role during her college application process. She says, "I first knew Senor Borges as my Spanish teacher freshman year, and then I was fortunate enough to have him as my senior year advisor. I will be forever grateful to him for his kindness and for being a cheerleader for me throughout high school and especially during the college application process. I still firmly believe that whatever he said in his support letter must have played a strong role in my admission to UT. I know he'd be proud to see that although I work in a field that is stressful by nature, I never allow myself to panic. He was eternally patient and supportive for the long months I spent incessantly freaking out waiting to hear back from UT!"   

After graduating from UT, Nicole moved to LA to work at a talent agency. She now works in Publicity at Fox Searchlight Pictures, which has won the Academy Award for Best Picture both years that I have worked here (first for 12 Years A Slave and most recently for Birdman). She says, "It's been a busy year and our upcoming slate is awesome! I wanted to share my story in case any students are interested in potentially working in the industry. LA is amazing! I can also now add that our next film is called 'Me & Earl & The Dying Girl' which won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at Sundance earlier this year. It releases in Austin on June 26 and I'd encourage everyone to go see it; it's one of my favorites!"    

Recently Spotted on Campus: Caroline Pinkston ('04)

Caroline Pinkston came to the St. Andrew's Diversity Dash on May 16, representing our partner organization Breakthrough Austin. Caroline received her BA in English and American Studies from Northwestern University, followed by master's degrees in English Education from Lehman College and in American Studies from the University of Texas. She taught at St. Andrew's as an English teacher for several years, and was introduced to Breakthrough as an Instructional Coach at the UT Summer Program.