Behind the profile: Princess Sarah Culberson
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Girl gets adopted. Girl grows up in a loving family. Girl wonders about her birth parents. Girl hires a private investigator to find them. Girl discovers she’s a princess.
If Princess Sarah Culberson’s story sounds a little Disney, that’s because it is. They’ve optioned her story for a movie. If you don’t feel like waiting for the silver screen debut, you can read her book, A Princess Found. Or find one of her many interviews, listen to her podcast, check out her TedX talk, visit her website, or follow her on social media.
The brief for WXN’s inaugural Be Bold Magazine was simple enough, if high-stakes. Share Princess Sarah’s story in a way that embodied the WXN’s mantra: Bold Women. Epic Journeys. Inspire ambitious professional women to define and embrace their own boldness in whatever form it takes. Lift other women up, no matter what age or stage, across industries, to achieve what they are called to do.
The challenge? I needed to tell a story millions had already heard and make readers feel like they were hearing it for the first time. Given editorial freedom on tone and direction, I didn’t want to summarize the facts; I wanted to bring others along on the journey.
And I only had 1,600 words to do it.
This is the story behind the story of Princess Sarah Culberson: Not Your Fairytale Princess and how it became a crown jewel in WXN’s most-read flipbook.
Finding the spark
In 2023, Princess Sarah gave the keynote address at the Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Awards Gala. I had a front-row seat capturing every word for WXN’s social feeds. Coming back to my notes in early 2025, one line stood out:
“When you think about your different titles that you carry and what you do in the world, what does that mean to you?”
Doing the homework
I poured through her memoir, interviews, appearances, podcasts and talks. Every fact went into a fully sourced reference document, but what I was really hunting for was the underreported and the underexplored. The theme of identity kept popping up during my research: staying grounded in who you were, discovering who you are, and shaping who you want to be.
Brainstorming the Qs
I typed that theme at the top of an interview roadmap and plotted a conversational flow that covered everything from her early childhood to her upcoming Disney project. Knowing the broad strokes of her story meant my questions could focus less on the “what” and more on the “why.” As these conversations tend to shift direction, I also built in room for unexpected twists and turns—of which there were many.
Interviewing royalty
During our hour, Princess Sarah shared both familiar stories and ones she rarely voices. Finding her identity as an adopted child, the fear of the unknown, the guilt of a privileged upbringing, and the choice to act rather than be crushed by that guilt. I dashed down follow-up questions, prodded deeper into the emotion, and followed my nose when an off-the-cuff comment sounded interesting.
Refining the format
I initially considered three formats: a feature profile, an as-told-to essay, and a structured Q&A. The Q&A allowed Princess Sarah’s voice to shine on its own, but didn’t deliver the emotional punch I wanted. An as-told-to essay is a powerful approach that digs deep into emotion, but I didn’t want to put words in her mouth. The feature article was the best of both worlds.
Navigating the flow
I sketched a rough outline and combed through my 5,000-word mountain of notes. I was drawn to the three questions she asked when she learned about her birth family: “Is this real?” “Do I have to wear dresses all the time?” “Do I have to be perfect now?” Those became my framework, three mini-stories that showed her past, present, and future, and gave me a natural way to pull readers through the bigger journey.
Setting the tone
I know WXN’s brand voice well—I helped craft it. I also know their audience after six years of meeting hundreds of their members. Those two factors, combined with the journalistic standards I’ve practiced for almost two decades, helped me land on a tone that sounded like WXN and would appeal to their audience, striking a balance that felt deeply human, relatable, raw, and most of all, honest.
Hooking by the heart
Most profiles about Princess Sarah open with her royal discovery. I tested that approach, too, then one that focused on her first days after adoption, and then one that opened with her first letter to her birth father. The hook that stuck was inspired by a story she shared about finding empathy with her birth parents, imagining what they might have gone through giving her up.
Noting and quoting
Princess Sarah is an accomplished speaker and storyteller, so I followed her words to guide the narrative. I highlighted the quotes that I reacted to most strongly and the notes and facts that supported them. Tales that didn’t make the cut, like her early travels in New Zealand, helped me understand her voice and decide which moments to emphasize.
Digging the details
Specificity is the soul of narrative. Through them, you see the world take shape through someone else’s eyes, like the thrill of seeing 42nd Street at the theatre, the print of the green dress her birth father gave her when she arrived in Sierra Leone, the cracked walls of Bumpe High School and Jillo, a young girl receiving a prosthetic leg through Princess Sarah’s humanitarian efforts.
Wrapping it up
While the hook draws readers in, the ending is what lingers. This is where I usually bring the story full-circle addressing an early question or scene within the context of the story just told, but with Princess Sarah’s story, I pulled the main threads together into a message that focused on the magazine’s goal: inspiring bold women to step into their purpose.
Calling readers to action
For WXN, Princess Sarah’s story wasn’t just an inspiring read—it was a chance to show the calibre of women who stand on the Top 100 stage. The natural follow-up question was, who else out there deserves to have their story told? We gave readers a bold next step to carry that momentum forward: Nominate a woman to join the Top 100 alumni alongside leaders like Princess Sarah.
Wielding the pen
“Write without fear. Edit without mercy.” The first draft of the story clocked in at 2,200 words, far too long for this publication. So, I set it aside for a day, returning with fresh eyes and a ruthless red pen. I printed it, read it out loud, chopped the fluff, tightened the beats, and made sure every word pulled its weight. Nothing was safe.
Adding the polish
Before sharing the piece with WXN and Princess Sarah herself, I gave it one final pass with a fine-tooth comb. Line by line, comma by comma, I checked for grammar, clarity and consistency with WXN’s house style. Grammarly flagged the little stragglers I missed, and I wrapped up with a clean seventh-grade readability score
Taking feedback
First is rarely final. Other perspectives help shape a piece into its best form. The WXN team brought their excellent ideas to me in the days that followed, and after an hour of tweaking the content, it was thumbs up all around. I sent the next version to Princess Sarah herself. Her response:
“Wow! You are such an incredible writer, and you captured my story beautifully! Thank you so much for sharing your lovely skills and talents.”
Give your story the royal treatment
WXN released the first issue to Be Bold into the world in April 2025. Since then, the magazine has been read the world over, reaching audiences in North America, South America, Europe and Australia.
Princess Sarah’s story is one of eight I contributed to that issue, ranging from profiles and personal essays to advertorials. The second edition of the Magazine, releasing in September 2025, features another five pieces I crafted with the same bold, human storytelling.
If you have a story that deserves the royal treatment (and you probably do!), and you want a human word nerd who will tirelessly dig into the details, offer a fresh angle, find the words that get people to not just read but care, and collaborate like a trusted partner should, let’s talk.