Sarah Killen — the only person Conan's following on Twitter — chats about her decision to use all the new attention for good, and says she's on Team Coco forever!On Friday,Conan O'Brein prophetically Tweeted, "Sarah Killen, your life is about to change," as he decided to make the 19-year-old Fowlerville, Mich. student the one and only person he's following on Twitter.
Turns out the funnyman couldn't have been more right.
Literally overnight, Killen's life changed dramatically, and the newly-minted Twitter celebrity graciously took a break from her tweeting to talk with Tonic via Skype about all the newly discovered attention — and her admirable decision to use her pumped-up platform to raise money and awareness for good.
"I'm really glad it was just this random thing that I got picked," Killen tells Tonic, explaining that it happened after someone from Team Coco sent her a quick note via MySpace asking permission for Conan to follow her.
"I thought the note was sent to a bunch of people, not just me, because it was very vague," she explains, adding that she has yet to speak to Conan directly. "I don't know why he picked me, but I think he has some genius plot behind this."
And it turns out Killen came up with a pretty genius plot of her own, too.
Just hours after Conan began following Killen — and her followers jumped from just three people to several thousand — Killen sprang to action.
She worked with her mom, Venita Killen, to finalize a fundraising page for the 2010 Susan G.Komen Michigan 3-Day for the cure, a 60-mile, three-day walk in August to raise money for breast cancer research and community programs she plans to do with her mom and fiancé John Slowik,Jr. (pictured with Killen above). She posted a link to the fundraising site within 12 hours of Conan's Twitter follow — and she's delighted, and admittedly stunned, that people are donating like crazy.
"When we first decided to do this walk, we agreed to try and raise $1,000 and thought it would take a couple of months of car washes and bake sales," she tells Tonic, and says she decided to do the walk because cancer runs in her family and her grandmother had a breast cancer scare last month.
But thanks to Conan, some generous Twitter followers and Sarah and her mom's quick-thinking, they reached their initial goal in less than 24 hours. They quickly upped their goal to $5,000 and as of Sunday morning they were already 49 percent there, with $2,430 in pledges."It's awesome," she says of all the generosity. "I was afraid we wouldn't even be able to raise that much money for months, so to do it in a day is just amazing."
Killen admits she's also benefited personally from all the attention — not that she asked for any help. For instance, a guy from Hornblasters, a Florida-based online retailer, sent her a new Apple computer because the old computer she was using for her Tweets was less than reliable. People are also coming forward with freebies for Killen's Sept. 25th wedding, including a NYC-based bridal company, Kelima K, which offered her a gratis gown in exchange for promoting their favorite charity, the Children Hunger Fund. Killen has already graciously linked to the non-profit on her Twitter site — something she was glad to do.
"I've always been kind of a charity-minded person," Killen says. "My mom made me do Girl Scouts all through school and we were always helping out in the community. I did 40 hours of volunteer work each school year and would help out at church and the nature center."
Now, Killen is in the unique position of being able to get — and give — so much, and says she is just grateful to Conan O'Brien for giving her this completely unexpected opportunity. She especially loved the chummy Tweet he posted Saturday about her: "Sarah likes Twizzlers and craves cantaloupe. I like Raisinets, but melon feels creepy in my mouth. Twitter pals 4 eva! :)"
"I want to send him a direct message," Killen tells Tonic. "But I haven't done it yet. I'm still trying to figure out what to say."
But one thing's for sure. If Conan does get his own show and wants Killen to make an appearance, "I would leave immediately," she says without hesitation. "I am so there."