About Me

I never considered myself a writer, nor was I motivated to write about my life until my mom shared her personal essays with me. She was a nurse and didn’t think of herself as a writer either. But she felt a calling to flesh out her life through writing and wanted to leave a legacy of sorts so her daughters could learn more about who she was, outside of being a mom. A memoir writing class opened up with Beth Finke at the Chicago Cultural Center, where she wrote short, random stories from her life for four years.

When I read my mom’s essays, I learned more about her and our family history than I had ever known or thought to ask. The essays captured her era, her character, her views and life lessons. They were evidence of her life, her love and her legacy. My mother had stacks of essays that she had bound and copied into simple booklets for my sister and me to treasure.

In 2015, she passed away shortly after sharing those with us. Her stories provided comfort as we grieved her loss and helped turn my pain into purpose. She was my inspiration to begin writing my own stories and to become a facilitator of the craft.

By trade, I have worked for more than 30 years as an educator, coach and consultant in the field of health promotion/disease prevention for public/private sectors. In 2019, I began to immerse myself in courses on memoir, personal narratives, and storytelling. When COVID hit, I pivoted my career and completed additional coursework in written expression therapy for Trauma and PTSD and expressive writing for grief and loss.

My strengths are in group facilitation, coaching and most recently producing! To date, I have led numerous workshops, classes and groups with a wide variety of populations and organizations. From women’s groups to older adults and health care professionals, it has been an honor and a privilege to witness so many stories. I am also extremely grateful for a grant collaboration with Tufts Medical Center who gave me a shot at facilitating micro memoir workshops with some of their physicians to address post-COVID burnout, retention, and resiliency. This project opened the door to many more projects in healthcare settings, further demonstrating how writing can improve health and well-being.

Over the last few years, I challenged myself to tell some of my stories on stage and fell in love with live storytelling. In 2025, I solo-directed and produced a show that I licensed from Heather Christie called Love Notes! Real Stories. Real People. Real Love. The event lineup included seven local storytellers and seven acoustic songs, culminating in a beautiful evening that supported a local cause. Stay tuned for my next storytelling production on the theme of Motherhood - May 8, 2026!

In closing, I would be remiss without emphasizing that you don’t have to be a good writer to write your stories. Unless you are looking to get published or tell your tales on stage, the writing process itself yields tremendous benefits. Storytelling has stood the test of time. It connects us to ourselves and each other. I hope you will give it a shot!

Thanks for your interest,

Sarah Squires-Doyle