Today we’d like to introduce you to Sabrina Waggoner.
Hi Sabrina, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I grew up in Wyandotte, Michigan, and actually started dating my husband, Garrett, when we were in middle school. We graduated high school together in 2013, so in a lot of ways, we really grew up together. Right after graduation, Garrett joined the Navy, and life started moving pretty quickly from there.
During that time, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my own life. I went to college and ended up dropping out twice, which was really discouraging for me. I felt like everyone else had a career path they were working toward, and I just couldn’t figure out what mine was supposed to be.
Garrett and I eloped when I was 19 in 2015, and then had our big wedding with our family and friends in May of 2016. That same month, we packed up and moved to St. Marys, Georgia which is where my husband was stationed. In 2017, we moved again to Corpus Christi, Texas, before eventually coming back home to Downriver Michigan in 2019 when Garrett’s military contract ended. As crazy as moving around could be, it became such a special part of our lives. We were constantly experiencing somewhere new and making new friends, and it’s something we still miss.
In 2021, I had a video go viral on TikTok and my account blew up almost overnight. At the time, though, I really didn’t do anything with that engagement. I had no idea that social media could actually become a career for me, and honestly, I don’t think I even looked at it that way yet.
More than any career, my biggest dream in life had always been to become a mom. In May of 2022, that finally happened when we had our first son, Weston. I became a stay at home mom, and it has been one of the best things to ever happen to me. After Weston was born, I started taking content creation more seriously. I joined several TikTok programs, started working with brands, and slowly realized that something I really enjoyed doing could also become a source of income for our family.
We welcomed our second son, Warren, in January of 2025. During my pregnancy with him, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I started sharing parts of that experience online and connected with so many other pregnant moms going through the same thing. At the time, I had no idea that what I was learning about diabetes would soon become incredibly important to our family.
Just five weeks after having Warren, our lives completely changed when our two year old, Weston, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. His diagnosis was a huge shock and an even bigger learning curve for my husband and I. Before being thrown into caring for someone with this disease 24/7, I was incredibly uneducated about Type 1 Diabetes. Looking back, I truly believe my experience with gestational diabetes helped me recognize that something wasn’t right with Weston and ultimately helped save his life.
Since his diagnosis, I’ve shared parts of Weston’s journey and what it looks like to be a medical mom caring for a chronically ill toddler. There is so much I wish I had known about Type 1 Diabetes before it became part of our everyday life, so if sharing our experience can help educate someone, help another parent recognize the signs, or simply make another T1D family feel less alone, then that means a lot to me.
Over the last few years, I’ve realized that content creation is the career I spent so long feeling like I didn’t have. It’s given me the opportunity to connect with people I never would have met otherwise, make genuine friendships, learn from other people’s experiences, work with brands I love, and financially contribute to my family. While having the privilege of being home with my sons.
It’s funny to think that I once felt so discouraged because I couldn’t figure out a traditional career path for myself. I eventually found one, it just looked completely different than what I thought a career was supposed to look like. I still have big dreams and I really feel like I’m only getting started.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely not, but I think a lot of the struggles along the way have shaped where I am today.
For a long time, one of my biggest struggles was feeling like I didn’t really know what I was supposed to do with my life. Dropping out of college twice made me feel like I had failed in some way, especially watching other people my age graduate, start careers, and seemingly have everything figured out. It took me a long time to realize that there isn’t one right path and that success can look completely different from person to person.
Content creation itself definitely hasn’t always been a smooth road either. Social media can be unpredictable. You can put hours into something that gets very little attention and then post something you barely thought twice about that reaches millions of people. There’s also the criticism that comes with sharing your life publicly. I’ve had to learn how to be confident in who I am, what I believe, and what I choose to share without allowing the opinions of strangers on the internet to carry too much weight.
One of my biggest challenges now is balancing being a content creator with being a stay at home mom. I don’t really have traditional working hours. I’m filming, editing, answering emails, working with brands, and coming up with ideas in between taking care of my kids and everyday life. Some days that means getting work done during nap time or staying up after everyone else is asleep. I’m extremely grateful that my career allows me to be home with my boys, but there is definitely a lot of work happening behind the scenes that people don’t see.
Of course, the biggest challenge our family has faced has been Weston’s Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis. Becoming a medical mom overnight completely changed our lives. There really isn’t an “off” switch with Type 1 Diabetes. My husband and I are constantly thinking about blood sugar, insulin, food, activity, illnesses, and all of the things that can affect him. Learning how to manage that while also having a newborn and continuing to work was probably one of the most overwhelming seasons of my life.
At the same time, that experience has given me an entirely new perspective on what actually matters. I’ve learned that I’m capable of handling things I never imagined I would have to handle, and I’ve found an incredible community of other parents and families who understand this life.
So no, it definitely hasn’t been a smooth road, but I also don’t think I would be where I am today without some of the harder parts of my story.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a full time content creator, primarily on TikTok, but I also create content across Facebook and Instagram. My content is a mix of motherhood, lifestyle, home, humor, and sharing my opinions and everyday life.
Along with the content I create for my own platforms, I work with brands on sponsored content and create UGC ads that brands can use on their own social media platforms. I’ve developed my own style of filming and editing UGC that has become something brands specifically love and continue to come back to me for. I love finding ways to make an ad feel natural and relatable while still creating something that catches your attention.
One of the coolest parts of this career has been getting to work with brands that I once considered dream partnerships. It’s still surreal when a brand I already know and love reaches out wanting to work with me.
I’m most proud that I’ve been able to turn something I genuinely enjoy into a career that allows me to financially contribute to my family while still being home with my sons. After spending years feeling like I didn’t know what my career path was supposed to be, being able to say that I built one for myself means a lot to me.
I think what sets me apart is that I’ve never tried to fit myself or my content into one specific box. Whether I’m creating for my own audience or for a brand, I want it to feel like me. I think having my own personality, filming style, and way of storytelling has helped me build genuine connections with my audience while also creating work that brands trust me to bring to life.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I love the sense of community here and how familiar everything feels. Our families are here, we have lifelong friends here, and now we get to raise our boys in the same area where we grew up. I also love that Downriver has so many different little communities, local businesses, events, parks, and things to do while still being close to Detroit and everything the city has to offer.
As for what I like least, I think I have to give the most Michigan answer possible… winters! I love Michigan in the summer and fall, but by February I’m usually questioning why we ever left the south.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sabrinawaggs
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1C9qFEvXfY/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sabrinawaggs
