Conversations with Sarah Callender

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Callender.

Hi Sarah, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
After graduating from Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, in 1998 with a degree in Communications, I started working in the nonprofit field and haven’t looked back. I was hired at 22 as the first female District Executive in Rutherford and Cannon Counties with the Boy Scouts of America out of Nashville, and I learned a lot about proving myself. The Boy Scouts of America gave me a foundation and work ethic on which I have continued to build my career. Taking a few years off from being a career woman, I stayed at home and started a family with my husband. I learned during those years that ‘reinventing’ oneself was key to staying active, engaged, and growing no matter what season of life you are in. I helped to charter a Mothers’ of Preschoolers group in West and Middle Tennessee that supported young moms of preschool-aged children with engaging speakers and activities.

I taught night classes at a local community college part-time and even trained myself in water aerobics to be able to teach a senior citizen’s class through the local city parks and recreation program. Those were fun years that I wouldn’t trade for anything. After teaching preschool part-time at a local church for seven years, I began working at a local nonprofit, Special Kids Therapy and Nursing Center, as their grant writer. This was an amazing opportunity to learn about the grant-writing world and to do more fundraising activities for a local nonprofit I cared deeply about.

Working in the Development Department at Special Kids for six years helped me build connections that eventually led me to be hired as the Main Street Murfreesboro Executive Director in 2019. Through all these career moves I would credit building strong relationships and having a life-long learner’s attitude with helping me achieve the most from each opportunity.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
From 1998 to 2023, I have worn many hats as a woman, mother, and professional. There were seasons with each stage of adulting and figuring out what I was passionate about and where I wanted to focus my energy. Whether it was building a new career and gaining experience for my resume and paying the bills, or taking time to stay at home with babies, then jumping back into the full-time role of working outside the home, there were certainly struggles along the way. Balancing what you need and what you want as you pursue a career is important, but so is feeling good about what you are dedicating your time to. I have always worked with nonprofit organizations either volunteering or through various careers, and the salary at nonprofits is not high.

But the importance of giving back and helping others brought me more satisfaction than keeping up with others who earned more from a corporate paycheck. As a woman, there are specific struggles of balance with family and career that one must face. Having a supportive partner to encourage and help share the responsibilities of parenting and working is the most important thing. A struggle many women face is the “imposter syndrome.” We tell ourselves we aren’t qualified or don’t have the experience to do a job. We can be our worst enemies. I had to practice a lot of faith and positive self-talk to move past those moments of fear when I thought I had taken on more than I could handle or might look like a failure if I didn’t do everything perfectly.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am the Executive Director of a nonprofit organization called Main Street Murfreesboro. It is a revitalization program in the Murfreesboro historic downtown. Our organization is 37 years old, and I am the fifth Executive Director. I had very big shoes to fill in the community and a reputation to uphold with this organization’s work. My team consists of one other staff member and two contract workers. I am governed by a volunteer board of 20 community leaders and three committees that meet regularly to guide the organization and my team throughout the year. From overseeing the downtown farmer’s market (May-October), organizing the downtown small business membership and marketing for this group, coordinating free, live community concerts during the summer, and planning the annual Rutherford County Christmas tree lighting, my days are very busy. Multi-tasking is the name of my game! I specialize in event planning, fundraising, volunteer organization, and marketing. My goal is to help our small business owners achieve success downtown.

Whether that is through connecting people with experts who can help advise them or introduce them to others who may have what they are looking for, or listening to people and finding out what their needs are and seeing what we can do to help them, I am always meeting new people downtown. I am most proud of my work with the Main Street Board in pivoting our focus from event planning to an economic vitality focus. We want people to know about our downtown and come support the small businesses located here, but we also want to be a support to the small business owners themselves. The way I am able to do this is by bringing in others, community leaders with different expertise and a love for our downtown, to serve together in the organization. This organization is different than any other in that its focus is building community and creating a sense of place in our historic downtown for everyone to feel like they belong.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I don’t believe in “luck” but rather in the saying “everything has a reason.” Whether good or bad we can learn from an experience in our life that will add value to our future self if we pay attention. “Nothing is wasted” on one’s path of learning and growing. The failures in life seem to teach us so much more than the achievements along the way. I believe that relationships built, even if for a moment, all work to enhance who we are and the opportunities we find ourselves facing.

Each stage builds upon the next one with your work experience and life goals. I never take anything for granted, from the smallest volunteer job I have had to the most important job now that I am serving in. I try to keep myself humble and remember all the steps along the way I have travelled, good and bad, that got me to this place. And then I pause and am thankful for all those people, experiences, and opportunities I had over the years.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mainstreetmurfreesboro.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mainstreetmurfreesboro/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MainStreetMurfreesboro
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-callender-aa0b2222/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mainstreetmurfreesboro3392