Just a few years ago, Omemee content creator Sasha Harrison was living a very different life than the one she’s living now.
In those years, Harrison learned how to use tools to transform spaces on a budget, created her own DIY furniture blueprints, and has made steady progress towards her dream home.
On top of that, she has crafted meaningful relationships with local businesses, garnered more than 51,000 Instagram followers and over 34,000 on TikTok, raised thousands of dollars for local organizations, and has inspired a community of people to take a chance on themselves — and all while raising her two young children.
Though social media has a way of making life look glamorous, Harrison hasn’t always had it easy along the way. But just as her social media platform inspires thousands of people, so too can the life lessons she’s learned while pursuing her dreams.
One step at a time
In 2020, Harrison and her young family moved to their Omemee property to give her husband, Scott, the space to grow his diesel repair business, which would fund their ultimate dream of buying out his family’s three-generation dairy farm.
But, with everything going into the business and the farm, there was nothing left in their budget to fix up their own home.
“I realized just because we’re investing so much into the farm, that there was no way I was going to get the house of my dreams unless I made it happen myself,” says Harrison, who, until making that decision, had never used power tools before.
With an “outdated” house and a shop which needed an “absolute overhaul,” that dream house was not any easy project to begin — and continues to be a work in progress.
“We were optimistic, but it was and still is overwhelming,” she says. “There were a lot of elements to this property that needed a lot of work.”
Despite that, she took on one project at a time, first cleaning out and designing the repair shop and re-doing the entryway in the house, before it “snowballed” into her first build with a patio area outside the shop.
“Then, I did the kids’ room, our room, and then the laundry room — which was a bigger project,” she says. “It’s been a lot of work and it’s a constant grind but as soon as we get done one thing, we ask what we are working on next.”
It’s okay to do something you’re passionate about and get paid for it
Before changing careers and choosing to stay at home to focus on getting their new house to feel like a home, Harrison was working on call as a nurse and program coordinator at VON Assisted Living in Peterborough.
As she worked on a few projects around the home, and as her social media presence grew from spotlighting local businesses during the early days of the pandemic, there came a point when Harrison felt “lost in the thick of it” and was unsure what would come next.
“I remember sitting down at the table with my husband asking, ‘What am I supposed to do?’ and ‘Who am I?'” she recalls. “I felt like I had lost everything I was, and everything I had built with my nursing career.”
She recalls her husband telling her find whatever it is that she’s passionate about and make that her career. Between that encouragement and seeing his “zest for life” in farming, she was inspired.
“I realized it’s okay to do something that you’re passionate about and get paid for it,” she says. “I think a lot of people, like I did, think they can do the things they like on the weekend and have a separate nine-to-five job. But life doesn’t have to be like that. You can make it whatever you want it to be.”
With that realization, she monetized the love she had for design by registering her content creation businesses and sought sponsorships from local businesses so she could continue sharing her budget-friendly builds and designs.
Failure is an incredible opportunity for learning and building
Unlike a lot of influencers, Harrison’s feed is not perfectly curated with posts that show off nothing but her successes. She also shows off her vulnerabilities and her failures — like when she dented the shop the first time she used a skid steer, or when she gets in over her head with a project.
Though Harrison’s not afraid of her failures now, she didn’t always feel so comfortable embracing them, especially when beginning as a new business.
“I remember feeling so nervous and so scared about doing something on my own and just failing,” she says. “I think that’s the biggest fear you have as a business owner. You fail so many times, but those failures are incredible opportunities for learning and building and then, after a while, that fear of failure just sits in the background.”
When people project negativity, that’s something that’s going on in their life
And as with anyone who makes their career online, Harrison faces her share of negativity from strangers on the internet and outside the community, whether it’s gendered assumptions that her husband is the brains and brawn behind her builds, backlash about letting her children assist in the projects, or even just generally about her appearance.
“I don’t love social media,” she points out. “I love when it can be used for inspiring people, but sometimes it can be a really negative space. I think I’m just sensitive and I care so much about other people that it really hurt me to think that somebody would want to hurt me like that.”
While in the past, Harrison has gone through “peaks and valleys” of being affected by hurtful commentary, having occasionally distanced herself from TikTok, her years in the industry have shown her that the cruelties are not really about her.
“I see it in a different way now and I think that’s what makes it a little bit easier,” she says. “When people project negativity, I think that’s something that’s going on in their life, where maybe they feel they’re not in a great space, and I feel bad for them.”
The most beautiful thing we have in life is the connection to other people
Everything that Harrison has used on her DIY journey has been purchased locally, and all sponsorship money she receives goes right back into investing in other local businesses.
After getting her first sponsorship from Monaghan Lumber Specialties, Harrison continues to work with them. While other businesses often assume that, as a woman, she doesn’t know what she is talking about or is shopping for her husband, she notes Monaghan Lumber has been “100 per cent supportive” in her visions.
“I’m so grateful for that relationship,” she says. “I think that our community trust in me because of the people that I work with — they all have wonderful customer service and they’re good human beings.”
Other companies she has worked with include Lindsay Buick GMC, Kitchen Depot, Kennedy’s Appliances and Electronic Store, Horlings Garden Centre, Johnston’s Greenhouse and Landscaping, and many others.
Her platform has also been instrumental in campaigns for businesses supporting Big Brothers Big Sisters of Peterborough, community food drives, and YES Shelter for Youth and Families.
“I’m very fortunate to have a platform,” she says. “We definitely do not take that for granted. I think that’s pretty special that we can see our community come together in this way.”
Harrison has recently been working behind the scenes on social media management for other businesses. Though at first she didn’t think she’d enjoy it, she’s finds now that it opens up a different kind of creativity within her.
“People are often so critical of themselves, but I find that I can see from the outside how many beautiful souls are working with each other to make that entire entity work,” she says. “It’s super inspiring and it fills my heart right up to be able to show that side of their business.”
Between connecting with local businesses and now working behind the scenes with them, to her love of sharing inspiration and tips on her platforms, it all comes back to one of her greatest passions.
“I love connecting with other humans and learning about their story and being a part of other people’s lives,” she says. “I think the most beautiful thing we have in life is those connections with other people.”
For more information about Sasha Harrison and to keep up to date on her latest projects, visit sashaharrisondiyanddesign.com and follow her on Instagram and TikTok.
