Sarah King: You just never know

Just last month, a local musician had a life changing experience. Thad Cockrell had been in the music business for many, many years. He’d garnered some fame, but nothing bill sustaining.

So he wrote a letter to his manager telling him he was done—that he wanted to try some new avenues in his life. He’d gone this route as far as it would take him. Or so he thought. The very next week Jimmy Fallon, host of The Tonight Show, heard his song while in a hardware store. Fallon was OBSESSED with his song. He wanted to have Thad on the show to perform his song that week! Unbelievable!

I related all too well to this story. When I moved back to Raleigh from NYC, my life too had a most unexpected shift. My husband and I had been back a mere six months when we found out that we were unexpectedly pregnant. We had always had the motto “accidente solomente” (*accidents only). After 13 years of “trying," we had started to wrap our heads around the fact that we were not going to be parents. Our next steps, or so we thought, were to use the knowledge we had learned in the Big Apple as restaurant managers and Italiophiles to open a restaurant. We even had financial backing. Then I found out I was pregnant.

(Insert record scratch)

Having just moved back, we were nowhere close to being on our feet. By the time our son was born, we had to apply for food stamps just to be able to afford formula. Fast forward three months and I had taken a very part-time job at a wine store. One morning I completely broke down. How on Earth did I end up with a baby, in a 1000-square-foot house on food stamps? Didn’t I go to college? Didn’t I stay true to my heart? Wasn’t that what I was supposed to do?

My boss asked me to join her for a glass of wine after work that day. At the bar sat a woman my boss knew, the program director at MIX 101.5. I had done radio in college, but it had been 12 years since I had even seen a microphone. She asked me if I wanted to get back into radio. Of course I did! It was my biggest regret in life getting out of radio. And three months later, that same program director asked if I’d like to host the morning show on MIX. And my life changed forever.

No matter how hard you plan for the future, you just never know. Don’t give up on your dreams. Twists and turns are part of the journey. A story isn’t very good if there isn’t any strife in it. Happiness is so much more sweet when you’ve earned it! ​

Sarah is the mom of one and part of MIX Mornings with Kyle, Bryan, and Sarah.