Sarah was born in Louisville, KY and raised in St. Matthews, one of the many neighborhoods that make up the new district 34. She is running because she deeply believes our state house should fully reflect the people of Kentucky and their needs. If our leadership continues to only represent a narrow band of perspectives and experiences, it will continue to serve only a narrow set of interests that have already failed to meet the challenges many of us face every day. We will never get to better solutions to the challenges facing Kentucky if we don’t have all Kentuckians at the table working together toward those solutions. “When I get into a room, I look to see who is missing and not only invite them in, but also move over and make room for them at the table.”
Both of Sarah’s parents grew up in the Highlands, raised by single mothers who instilled in their children the value of hard work, a value that would carry down to Sarah and her own family. Sarah’s Mamaw, Angela Pearce was a well known supporter of the democratic party in Kentucky and for many years her home in the Highlands was a polling site, opening her garage up in the summertime and in the winter members of the community would file down to her basement from the backyard. Sarah’s Grandma, Ann Stalker, worked for many years on the line at Brown-Forman and also cleaned Saint Agnes church.
Sarah takes inspiration from her mother’s drive to provide for her own family. When Sarah and her sister Kate were only two years old, her mother went back to school to earn her RN in nursing so she could better provide for their family. Working third shift at the hospital meant only going to school part time. Despite this, she remained focused and, with the help of Sarah’s father and their families, she persisted and earned her degree after six years of living on a tight budget and Grandmothers staying the weekends when she had to work back to back shifts. Often, as soon as she arrived home in the early morning, she went right into getting Sarah and her sister Kate breakfast and dressed for the day while Sarah’s father got her older brother off to school and then to work himself.
Sarah’s father became a small business owner after taking night classes on the GI Bill and starting Magnum Cycles in 1984 on Dixie Hwy in the West End. If you drove anything other than a Harley Davidson you probably were a customer of his and couldn’t look away from his overwhelming collection of parts and bikes in a small space. It was the place to go for vintage and hard to find parts and still is today. The business stayed in the family when Sarah’s brother took over the business in 2015.
Sarah attended Greathouse Shryock Elementary and Barret Middle school, both schools in her District 34. As she got older she grew a love for the arts; writing, photography, and acting. This love encouraged her to apply for the Governor’s School for the Arts program where she was accepted and continued on and graduated from Male High School. Sarah followed her love of the arts and attended Stephens College for Women in Columbia, Missouri where she received her BFA and also met her husband Javan Roy-Bachman. Sarah and Javan lived in Los Angeles and Chicago before returning back to Louisville to raise a family.
After returning to Louisville Sarah contemplated going back to school to get her Masters degree in art therapy so she could work with children. This led to working as a teacher in early childhood programs at Jewish Community of Louisville and the University of Louisville Early Learning Center which has a partnership with Family Scholar House. While the timing turned out not to be ideal to go back to school it was clear that it made sense to take a break and stay home, time she will never regret. It was during this period of connecting with other mothers who were at home with their children that an unusual opportunity presented itself and Sarah being the curious person she is, took a chance and started a small business with a focus on providing a natural teething rattle for babies and toddlers. She really enjoyed learning the aspects of a small business and even had their product on the aisles of Whole Foods Market; they closed the business when the financial realities of a fledgling business forced Sarah to start a new chapter.
Sarah began a deeper focus of community in 2014 when she started work with the Center for Nonprofit Excellence. Over her seven years as the Director of Community Engagement and Membership, she cultivated relationships with leaders throughout our community. Whether they were an executive director or a critical program staffer working in the field, Sarah probably knew them. In 2018 her team was recognized by the Louisville Urban League and given the Arthur Walters Champion for Diversity award for providing more diversity and inclusive programming to the nonprofit community. Some of the most powerful professional experiences she had were hosting over the years local leaders such as Sadiqa Reynolds, Dr. Cherrie Dawson Edwards and Yvette Gentry to national leaders such as Terri Lee Freeman, Director of the National Civil Rights Museum and Terrence Robert, one of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African-American students who, in 1957, were the first black students ever to attend classes at Little Rock Central High School.
By 2015, Sarah and her family opened their home to become foster parents. They wanted to provide a loving and safe place for kids to land when those children’s families’ lives were in crisis. It was through this experience that Sarah became focused on the intersection of trauma and education. Through these experiences of fostering children, Sarah became familiar with the many challenges that make up the foster care system. She quickly became an advocate and an outspoken voice for children and youth in foster care. In October of 2021, Sarah started consulting privately so she could continue her love of working with nonprofits that are doing meaningful work in the community. She lives in St. Regis Park with her family and three beloved dogs, Coal (Mountain Curr), Smudge (Boston Terrier) and Teddy (Golden Doodle). She can be spotted at many Heine Brothers locations, several of the libraries, yard sales, and thrift stores throughout the year.