When Meridian native Sara Rea packed her rented U-Haul trailer and pulled out of her parents’ driveway in 2005, she was headed to Los Angeles.

Little did she know that she was beginning a journey that would lead her to become an award-winning producer, joining forces with Reese Witherspoon and her company, Hello Sunshine. 

Rea’s company, SKR Productions, launched in 2014, has also produced “Project Runway Threads, “Project Runway Jr.,” and “The Naked Truth.”

Under Rea’s leadership, Project Runway was nominated for 10 Emmys, won the Emmy for best host, received multiple PGA awards, and won a GLAAD award. Most importantly, the show promoted diversity and individuality, including models of all sizes and contestants from all over the world.

Rea is most recently known for her work as showrunner on the Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn hosted “Making the Cut,” an Amazon Prime program that incorporates an e-commerce element, allowing viewers to buy designers’ creations on Amazon Fashion.

Hello Sunshine, Rea’s new joint venture with Witherspoon, produces “Get Organized” on Netflix and is making a competition series, “My Kind of Country” for AppleTV+. Witherspoon made the official acquisition of Rea’s SKR on Dec. 7, 2020. With that move, Rea will bring staple employees who have worked with her for more than 10 years.

“We are our own little village,” Rea said. “That’s important as it is the most effective way for us to continue the development and creation of projects that matter. Our goal is still the same: to embrace diversity, inclusivity, and positive change in all we do, both onscreen and off.”

As Head of Unscripted Television for Hello Sunshine, Rea believes this move came at the right time with the right people. “Witherspoon is supportive, hands-on, and has incredible ideas for our mission-driven programming,” she said. 

Witherspoon agrees.

“Sara has led an incredibly talented team whose values and goals reflect everything we believe in at Hello Sunshine, and I am inspired by all they have accomplished,” she says.

Rea, a 1991 graduate of Meridian High School, still maintains a core group of friends in her hometown. Rainey Chancellor Breaux, Kristy Dollar Bridgers, and Katie Crowe Coleman all concur that Rea’s success is no surprise.

Coleman says, “[Rea] has worked so hard, and she’s so well-liked in the TV world. She has a way of making everyone feel at ease. When we visited her on the set of “Project Runway”, we were treated like royalty because we were friends with the ‘big boss,’ but they also spoke so highly of her.”

Bridgers, who now lives in Oxford, remembers Rea’s drive and determination in those early years.

“I think all of her years as a competitive tennis player trained her early never to give up,” she said. “She has the biggest heart and a strong desire to not just live a life, but to live a life that is marked with purpose.”

Breaux agrees.

“Sara and I have been best friends since birth,” she said. “Our parents are best friends. She is honest, fair, decisive, and hardworking, yet she still takes time to check on my family and me. To be as successful as Sara and to remain well-grounded is a testament to her upbringing and the values she learned from her amazing parents and family as well as this community.”

The life-long friends laugh as they remember their adventures, including a trip to New Orleans when they were juniors at MHS.

“Our parents let us fly to NOLA by ourselves for the weekend to celebrate our January birthdays,” Coleman recalled. “We had so much fun.”

Bryan adds, “We all had birthdays to celebrate, except for Sara. We brought her along for the fun factor.”

Today, Rea’s parents, Chuck and Bobbie Rea, chuckle about that trip.

Bobbie Rea remembers her daughter as the shyest little girl in second grade, but she soon gained confidence.

“We call it the ‘Girl Scout Theory,’” she said. “When Sara was in Brownies, she began selling Girl Scout Cookies. I told her I would drive her around, but she would have to knock on neighbors’ doors to make her sales. She did just that, and I think it boosted her confidence. From that day on, she has been a determined and focused person,” she says.

“We are just so proud of her,” her father added. 

Rea believes her path to success was set all of those years ago.

“I’ve found a lane I am excited to be in, but I must credit my parents with giving me their support to be myself,” she said. “It’s a mentality I try to foster in my own life and my productions.”

“I’m proud to promote programming that emphasizes that dreams really do come true,” Rea added. “Whether you want to be a doctor, a teacher, an astronaut, or a fashion designer.”