Motivational speaker uses music to empower youth

WATCH: Motivational speaker Sara Westbrook is using her musical talents to empower youth.

TORONTO – Sara Westbrook is a singer-songwriter and for the last 14 years has been using her voice to share her message with kids across Ontario.

Westbrook is the founder of UPower concerts, an in-school program which holds concerts and talks in school across Ontario.

She tries to use her personal experience growing up to empower kids.

“When I look back, I did not have the confidence I have today,” Westbrook said.  “In school, I worried  constantly of what people think of me.”

Westbrook has helped mentor thousands of children to overcome life’s challenges through song and storytelling at schools. She teaches what she calls a “choice making formula”  to guide youth to embody confidence, respect and resilience.

“The skills and tools that I share with these young people, If I would have applied them at their age then that confidence and being able to bounce back would have happened at a younger age,” she said.

The message of UPower is to make the right choices in tough circumstances.

“Her message, especially about believing in yourself, and having that confidence, you know to follow you dreams to follow your passion. Sara does that beautifully in the concerts,” said Rosanna Bird, the child and youth counselor at St. Anthony of Padua.