Love What You’re Doing With Sheri Salata

Welcome to the Conscious Pivot Podcast with international speaker, business mentor, best selling author of Pivot and your host, Adam Markell. The Conscious Pivot shares the stories and wisdom of people who have successfully reinvented some area of their business and personal life. You'll gain powerful insights into how you can fully embrace new opportunities, increase your performance and master the art and science of innovation and resilience. So please join Adam as he guides you on your Conscious Pivot.

Hey everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the Conscious Pivot Podcast. I'm your host, Adam Markell and I'm really excited to be here with you today. More than even excited, I am so grateful. I feel really blessed that I have this opportunity. I don't think there's ever a day or a minute of the day that isn't made better by presence of, by my becoming present to how grateful I am simply to be breathing and alive. And in this moment, I have, as we all do, so much to be appreciative of. We finished this past weekend a three day training. We do a really wonderful training for people who are wanting to become public speakers and wanting to get on TED stages to do TEDx talks and things like that. And we did such an incredible three long three days where everybody ultimately filmed, we filmed them doing their legacy talk on Sunday. So my voice is hoarse, my energy is high, but man, oh man, we've been putting it out for days and days and days. So I feel grateful that my body is resilient and that I've held up so well, you know, after emptying my cup in that way that I still feel so energized. And I think there's no accident about that. I love what I do. I was earlier today had a conversation with my friend Phil Town and he's a few years older than me and he loves what he does and therefore his energy is just always sort of tracking, probably more like 30 year old energy. And I feel the same way because when you're grateful and you love what you do, even though there's challenges, every one of our lives has challenges. We all have things that are difficulties and we get tired and all the usual stuff, but for me it seems that we bounce back more quickly, that we have more resilience when we are both grateful and we're also in love with what we do, not that it's easy, but we're actually in love with what we do. And I have a guest today, a wonderful, wonderful woman that you'll get to meet in just a few moments and learn from. She's got an incredible both personal experience and business experience that is, I think, very much indicative of that recipe of both gratitude and love of what you do and how it creates resilience and creates opportunities to pivot in new directions and always in positive new directions. So her name is Sherry Salata. I'm going to read some things, a bit of her bio to you all because it is incredibly impressive. And then of course, as you know, I'll do, we'll ask Sherry what's missing, what's not in the bio that she wants you guys to know about her. So Sherry Salata is the co host of the popular podcast Series this is 50 with Sherry and Nancy, where she and her Soulmate friend of 27 years, Nancy Hala, are recreating the middle of life as they set out to make the rest of their dreams come true. How cool. Sherry and Nancy are also co founders of Story, a media company producing print, digital and live event content, and Orange Dragon Productions, developing TV and film content. Sherry's current venture is the evolution from her 21 year career with Oprah Winfrey. Her action packed days as executive producer producer on the Oprah Winfrey show were chronicled in the acclaimed docu series season 25. Behind the scenes, Sherry also served as co president of Harpo Studios and Owners Network, that is the Oprah Winfrey Network. And Sheri, it is just a pleasure to have you with us. And that is a bio that most people would sort of die for, I suppose. I mean, I don't know how to put it, but people would love to have that be their legacy. And yet, as great as that is, I want to ask you what's not being stated there that you want folks to know. And at the same time, I also want to state this too, that while that's a, that's a bio that a lot of people would live their lives to have, you are continuing to evolve and pivot into amazing new adventures. And you are so not settled or satisfied or ready to rest on that amazing bio. So first of all, welcome, welcome to the Conscious Pivot podcast. Thank you for being here today, Adam.

I am so honored that you are asking me. Thank you. I'm happy to be here.

Way cool. Way cool. So let's start with that question about what isn't in the bio that you'd love for people to know about. Sherry.

Well, I, oh my gosh. Since you just asked me that question, here's the answer that springs to my mind. So it's probably most accurate that I Adam, am the princess of pivot?

No.

And the second headline to that in parentheses is, up until probably the last year, I hated change. So being the princess of pivot for most of my life, with some essential pivots, and being a person who resisted change, that was a very interesting, energetic dynamic going on within me as I. As I marched through my life.

No kidding. We talk about a sort of. Talk about a dichotomy of things or a fun interplay of both being the princess of the change manifestation thing and somebody that resists and hates change.

Exactly.

Wow.

Exactly. Right. So, yeah. So that creates a bit of an energetic swirl, and I have some insight and perspective. That's very helpful for me about that now. But, you know, I can look back and see that I often used misery as my compass. I'm a Midwestern girl. I was raised in Chicago. I have those Midwestern lunch pail to work, punch in the time clock and give 10,000% of yourself kind of DNA. So I would often be in the wrong job and giving, you know, and not thinking about, wow, I need to pivot here. I would wait until I couldn't get out of bed in the morning, or there was so much misery that the world looked dark and bleak. And that's when I would say, I gotta quit. And that's what I mean. I had some essential, crucial, watershed pivots in my life. And up until recently, most of the time, it was because it was like change or die. That's how far I push that.

Well, I didn't know this at the time that we. When we first met each other just recently in Oahu and in a beautiful resort in Hawaii where we were attending a TLC meeting. And you were. You were one of the most amazing guests that we've. We've had there. So that was incredible. And I know you're good friends with Arielle Ford. She was on our podcast, I think it was about two weeks ago, which was lovely, but I didn't know it at the time that we were simpatico. But now it makes perfect sense. It's obvious. That's, in essence, what I did as well. I spent 18 years, and I wouldn't say I was miserable for 18 years, but when people say, no, tell me about the pivot, tell me about the book and all that kind of thing, I say, well, you know, where did it all begin? I say, the story begins with misery. The story begins with my waking up and putting my feet on the floor and feeling miserable to begin the day to the point where the Voice in my head that was saying, what the fuck are you doing? Like, seriously, how long can you continue to wake up, look in the mirror and know that you're living. It's a fraud. I mean, yeah, taking care of your, your responsibilities is honorable. And I did, you know, wife, amazing, beautiful family, four kids, the houses, all that stuff. I took care of my stuff. But ultimately it was at the cost of my soul. That's what was eroding on the inside. And so that was a watershed pivot and it took misery to bring it about because I also am so addicted to certainty. So I feel like you and I are, we are like twins separated at birth or something comes to that.

Oh, my goodness. I mean, I think, you know, now it's super funny. At the time, it was just one miserable experience after another where I would get an ill fitting job. And I did that for six years out of college. I'd get an ill fitting job, I'd try to turn it into a career and make it my life instead of just saying, hey, wrong job. This isn't a fit for you. Feel your soul and spirit. Instead. I'm like, I'm gonna make this work. I'm gonna be really good at it. And then it would be like, I can't get out of bed in the morning, gotta quit. And, you know, listen, I'm really, you know, I look back and I can see that was my soul literally grabbing me by the scruff of the neck and pushing, you know, and pulling me out of those situations because it wasn't gonna be my road. I wasn't, you know, like, I had all these dreams and I was on the dreamless path. Nothing fit for me. So I think that, you know, I look back on that self and I think, you know, I don't know, I was just circling the airport, Adam, for so long, like, what am I supposed to be doing? I feel like I have so much to give. You know, when people hear the, you know, the 21 year Oprah career, they're like, you're so lucky, Cherise Salata. How did you get so lucky? And I'm like, you don't even know. I circled that airport for years, you know, eating peanuts and, you know, and drinking bad drinks because I just couldn't land my own plane.

I'm breathing on that one because A, it's close to home for me, and B, I'm thinking, how many other people are out there right now circling? Yeah, waiting, waiting for the landing instructions, waiting to get either running out of gas, worried they're gonna. I mean, we'll stick with this analogy for a moment, but you think about it. We've all been in planes that have circled, you know, due to weather or what not. And, and it's like to just be given permission to land. And that permission is granted by us. We know that in the situation we're at. Not that we are any smarter than anybody else. I won't speak for you. You're a smart cookie. I will stick to myself. I'm not smarter than anybody else. But I have learned some things. That's one of the privileges of being around long enough, making enough mistakes and all that kind of thing. I've learned a few things and there's no question that one of those things I've learned is that we give ourselves permission. In fact, we had a break. Somebody had an incredible breakthrough this weekend at our event because forever and ever and ever, her biggest issue is that she doesn't give herself permission to, in this instance, for example, land her plane and then take off again. You know it. Who's to say what, how many times we're supposed to be able to land and take off and land and take off. So why don't we start. Let's go back a little way, since that is, let's call it a pattern. You had a pattern.

Yes.

And at a certain point, maybe the pattern has broken, maybe it hasn't. But your sort of go, go, go crash or the go, go, go, can't get out of bed, job, job, job, job, job, can't get out of bed was a bit of that program work hard, Midwest work ethic. So start us back a ways and then obviously want to get into where it is you ended up at the Oprah show and where you started there and let's take a little journey together.

Well, I would start by saying I didn't take my own life very. I was lucky enough that I had parents who were willing to pay for my four years in college. It was totally assumed I would go. It wasn't like I was going to be doing something else besides going. But I didn't take my own life seriously. I wanted a great business card. I wanted the kind of career that would be admired. I wanted to feel significant, but I really wasn't willing to put the pieces in place. So, you know, upon graduating, I. I decided on a lark to move to Dallas, Texas, which was not a great decision for me. I knew nobody. I had no contacts or connections, and I didn't have a job. So right about the time where all the graduates are going into training programs. I'm at the employment agency and they're telling me that there's a job opening typing legal descriptions at a title company and I need money now, so I take it. And then I try to turn that into law school. My dad puts the kibosh on that. Then somebody says, well, my brother has a toy store. You know, you could be in the management program. Well, that sounded fancy. So off I went and did that. And, you know, it wasn't fancy, and, you know, it. You know, I definitely liked managing people, but it wasn't. I could feel it wasn't my calling. But there I go on to the next toy store, and now I'm higher up and I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to make a life of it. And then someone comes along and says, hey, there's this 711 company here in Dallas, and you'd be really great in their management training program. Well, that sounds fancy. That sounds substantive. That sounds something like, I can call my dad and he's going to say, good for you. You've got benefits and insurance and a 401k. But I didn't realize the training program actually began by being in a 711 store and running it. So that was a time of great personal growth for me. As I really got to, you know, there was a part of it that felt kind of humiliating for me. I had a college degree and I'm putting on a smock every day and sweeping the parking lot and emptying Slurpee machines. And that was. It was kind of like adding layers to my life experience and meeting super interesting people, but also getting very clear that, where are you going here? Where are you going here? I ultimately was given then 8, 711 stores to run, which was a whole lot of work and really challenging. And then as they were getting ready to promote me to the big fancy job that I really secretly wanted, I woke up, up one day and realized I needed to quit and move home. That you are going to be 60 someday, sitting in this glass tower at a desk made out of. What is that, Preform wood, Pressed wood, and with your pictures on your desk. And you are going to say, what in the world? How did I end up here? This is not my creative. My creative touch point with the universe. This is not what I'm supposed to be doing. So that was a huge pivot. And it was, you know, I would say it was kind of based on misery, but it was based on anticipating the future misery, right 33 years from now you're going to be so mad at yourself that you didn't get this right. So, you know, listen, at 27, when all the other kids are buying houses and stuff, and I'm living in the basement of my parents house, of course I felt like a big, huge failure. I move on from that. I get a really lucky break and I become a secretary, which is what it was called at the time at an ad agency. And it's a big break for me. It was by my best friend's fiance, who was an executive producer. And I clicked in. I'm like, I don't know if this is it, but I know this producing thing feel. I've been producing since I was five years old, bossing people around and creating plays and songs. And, you know, my first cousins literally run when they see me coming, even to this day. But I could feel like, okay, I'm on this treasure hunt. Okay, I found some jewels. Okay, okay, so we're in the territory. We're in the space somewhere. Here you're getting warmer, getting warmer. And so off. I spent years, I did, you know, ham commercials, I did six flag commercials, I did hairspray commercials. And I felt, you know, there was an external fanciness in that I'd have to go off to Hollywood and for a big shoot. And I got to use all that creative Hollywood like language. But, you know, after a while, that ran thin for me. And I began to know that if I did not have meaning attached to this wonderful creative process and this creative. These creative tasks that I had been trained in, that this was. It was going to be like everything else. You're not going to be able to get out of bed. You're going to be super miserable. And, you know, there was a show across town in Chicago that was getting national attention. It was called the Oprah Winfrey Show. I didn't really watch it ever because I was working, but I could feel a pull. I don't know why. It really made no sense. I wasn't a daytime television viewer, but it felt like something. It felt like more up my alley. And so I just began to tinker with that idea. It would float through my head. And finally I worked up to the nerve to apply Adam, and they promptly rejected me. The message I got was, you're not what we're looking for.

Was that the actual message?

Oh, yeah. The words, they're blazing down my heart. I'll never forget them. I mean, the truth is, I did feel like I was overstepping a little bit. And I Didn't have a lot of confidence that I was the right fit. So that rejection just kind of. That kind of felt like, oh, my God, I can't believe I did that. You know, how embarrassing. You know, of course I'm not the right fit there. And I let that go. A couple years later in a really dark moment when I literally could not produce one more Hairspray commercial. I was like, I don't care about this. My life's a misery. And my friends were gathered around me. Everybody's worried about me. You know, they're making casseroles. They're like, you can do it. I'm like, I'm such a failure. I come home to a message on my answering machine, and a woman says, we were cleaning out an old closet here at the Oprah Show. We found your resume. Please come in for an interview. And that was the beginning.

Wow.

And I was 35 years old in an entry level position at entry level money. And I felt like I had won the power lotto because I could feel in every cell of my body, I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm where I'm supposed to be. And I don't care how junior, you know, my position here is. And everybody who's in senior roles is younger than me. I don't care. This is it. This is where I'm supposed to be.

Wow. So that's. There's a. There's an entry Point here. 35, but it feels right. And you end up an EP at the show. And a lot.

I do.

There's a lot of distance, but.

Shocking.

Shocking.

Shocking.

Wait a minute. Hold on.

Made it to the show.

Sherry, I gotta ask you, when you say shocking, it's like. It's a trigger word for me. And our folks know this. I want you to say shocking in your best English accent, please.

Shocking.

It's shocking.

It's shocking.

You remember Fawlty Towers?

I was not a Fawlty Towers. That feels like guy.

A guy. All right. It's silliness. It's total silliness. It's English humor, which is probably more. Oh, my God. More of what we're talking about.

Talk about shocking. Everybody was shocked.

You got to say it like, you know, it's shocking.

So it's shocking.

It's shocking. But what's the journey? Give us a sense of that. What does it look like to go from entry level?

Yeah.

And you're 35 and your entry level. To becoming the EP of the show. And then ultimately, the evolution leads you to. Even. Even beyond that, to be co president of Harpo Studios. Just give us that.

Well, I will say this. I was given from, like, the first month I was there, my old boss gave me the most valuable piece of advice that is literally the basis of what happened over the next 20 years. And he said, don't be worried about your next job or your promotion or where you want to end up. There you're in a special moment in time where you're surrounded by opportunity. Just do the job in front of you really, really well. Just now, my Midwestern ethics kick in. Just do the job you have and do it really, really well. And don't worry about what's next and don't worry about what's. And not always the right advice for everybody. But for me at that time, because you're so close to dazzling in a company with Oprah and the Oprah Winfrey phenomenon, that advice served me really well because really, I only cared about what I was doing. I never looked ahead. I never expected to be promoted. I never expected to one day run the show. And in the end, focusing on what I was doing was really about deciding. Deciding just to be love. I just loved it. I just loved it. And I wanted to. And I wanted to give my best. I loved it enough to want to give my best in every moment in whatever I was asked to do.

Yeah. That there are people that are listening to this and watching some folks watching on YouTube right now as well, who are stopping to find a pen or take out another device and write this down. And it deserves writing down. It deserves saving. And yet it's so simple and profound at the same time. I mean, this has been my own experience that when you handle what's in front of you, just what's in front of you, and you do it with love and to be love. So appreciate that you put that in there. Because this is an element of every. It's an element of what brings us joy, personal joy, and what provide. What creates professional joy is to love. I mean, it's where we started on some level, where we started the show even, was this idea of loving what you do and loving it enough to be present with it so you're not three steps ahead. You're not manipulating to create some road to a higher, you know, some higher thing in the. In the business or sabotaging someone else or playing the political games that get played to jockey for a new position. You just were present in the position you were at, loving what you were doing, putting 100% of you into it. And then as we know, other people, they sort of, they peel off. I mean, that's my experience. People just sort of peel off to the left, they pull off the right. It's not their mission, it's not their purpose or they sabotage themselves or whatever happens. And then lo and behold, you're here, then you're one step further and then you're one step further, one step further. Was there anything else that was pivotal that happened during that career time? And what timeframe we talking about between getting into the show and becoming the.

So I was a promo producer for eight years. So I started in 95. So that would have been about eight years later. That would have been like 2003. And I. Let's see, we sunsetted the show in 2011. I was EP for five years. So from 2003 to 2006, you know, that was kind of like a rapid ascension of service, you know, to, you know, to the show and to Oprah and to the eps that were in position. I think, you know, what I want to say about that is I had a little bit of a luxury of going into that being willing, first of all, being willing to go into that entry level position at 35 years old. I know nobody else my life who would have done that would have given up a 401k, a salary you built for a number of years because you know that what you're doing is not your dream. And so I am the living proof that that kind of boldness is rewarded. And I knew it then at the time for all the other mistakes I made and I made a ton of them, I knew when it didn't that what they were going to pay me and what that level was, it did not matter. That was the least of it. And I knew that all of that would come around in good time. But I think the real gift that I had at 35 that some of the younger people didn't totally understand is I had had, I had had some jobs. I knew what it was like out there, you know, working for companies and kind of being, you know, your life experience, your day in and day out is kind of at the whim of others. So I was able to bring from, because of where I come from, such a deep reverence and appreciation and realizing that, you know, I think people make a mistake when they feel they get into a position at work and they start feeling entitled because being paid and being asked to join someone else's mission, that that's a privilege. That isn't just I deserve it. It's a privilege. It's a privilege to be employed by somebody. And, you know, I had such, such appreciation for that privilege that it kind of informed my energy around it.

Yes. So did people more often than not just take themselves out. I mean, I'll call it sabotage. But your, your road was a combination of you being in love with what you did, coming from a place of integrity, just keeping your, your, your, your head on straight, looking at the road in front, taking your mentor's advice, which is to do the job that was in front of you. So was it that combination and other people that. That either peeled off left, right, sabotaged themselves, or something else that took you? Because that's a meteoric rise from entry level to the EP of the Oprah Winfrey Show. I mean, seriously.

Well, and you know, here, I have to tell you, no, nobody peeled off. It was one of the most talented, skilled, dedicated producing teams I will ever know. So I can't explain it to you. I can only tell you what was in my heart and how I, how I couldn't, you know, what I felt about it, and then I can tell you the results of it. But I don't know what that mystical, magical, what those, what that was.

So was there pixie dust involved?

There has to be.

There has to be, right?

There has to be. I mean, you know, that. Listen, I look back at that and I realized that that time in my life, there was some very mystical things happening. And, you know, I believe in pixie dust and I believe in fairies, and I believe in, you know, I believe in magic. So I don't, I can't explain it. Yeah, they're the best in the business, and they've been doing it forever, and I have and will always have such deep respect for them. I mean, that was a team like you've never seen.

So at a certain point, the show is going to get sunsetted is what you said it. So we're going to put it on the shelf and move on to the next great thing. You moved with the show when the own network was created. You went along with that after the show, the daytime show ended, right?

Well, the network had been launched in January and we were still finishing the show. And that, you know, that was all hands on deck. That that took all, that took our every ounce of our beings, you know, to, as we like to say, land that plane. That was, you know, the legacy of it, the enormity of what it meant to the culture, the sense of responsibility we all felt to Oprah. That was a 24 hour occupation. And so the network launched in January and then we were focused on ending the show and that was done. And we all looked at one another and said, couldn't have done it better. And thank you, Oprah. And yes, then the vice president at the time, Eric Logan and I, we were the president's Harpo. I think we went out to LA to see if we could help out. So if we could help Oprah out, if we could, you know, kind of try to infuse, you know, Oprah's principles in it. And, you know, it was a completely different business, really hard, completely different from, you know, Harpo and our, the little world that we've created. It was, it was tough and it was like, you know, learning on your feet as you need to get things done really fast. And, you know, it's, you know, for me, it was really wanting to, you know, protect Oprah's legacy and help her have more of the dreams she wanted. So, and the blessing out of that for me, because, you know, there, there was lots in the days, day to day that was very challenging. But the blessing for me was I got introduced to California.

Oh, that's right. You weren't a California girl at that.

Because remember, I told you, even though I'm the princess of pivot, I don't like change. So as a, you know, I'm trying to think if I was like 33 years living in Chicago. Yeah, I had it by then. I had a nice place overlooking the lake and my whole family's there and, you know, that's where my roots are. And all of a sudden, every other week I'm out in California and I'm thinking, this is nice. I like this energy. There's something about, you know, I don't feel done yet. And there's something about it is la la land. There is a very dreamy, there is a, anything's possible. There's a magic out here that speaks right to my soul. So over a five year period, I got to prepare for my pivot. I got to kind of get used to the idea of I can take a plane anytime and go back to Chicago. Chicago's always going to be there. But meanwhile, sometimes when you make a change like that, all of a sudden you are, it's like you're back on the rapids. You're back in the game of life. You know, you're meeting new people, you feel more alive. And that is why those kind of pivots, I think, are essential to maintaining life force.

Yeah, you're rerouting. And that rooting process is beautiful. It's gorgeous. And it's also scary. I mean, our pivot involved six years ago now, it's hard to believe it, but it's more than six years ago at this point. We moved, we uprooted the kids and everything. I closed down a law practice that had existed for 18 years. And everything else in our family's all still on the east coast, although a whole bunch of friends. Because this is the thing with west coast people. Their whole mission. Or say their whole mission, but maybe that's funnier. It is our whole mission to get everybody that we ever knew and everybody we love that still lives in the cold and still lives on the east coast or in the Midwest to move out here. Like, this is our entire life's mission.

Now, I feel like, you know that story that people would tell about how superficial everybody in LA is? I think that is a tale to keep you from moving out there.

Oh, it's crap.

Because it's great. Yeah, it's great.

So anyway, people are people, no matter where.

Where, that's for sure.

But so five years goes by. You're. You're by, you know, doing the commuting thing, and at some point you decide to move out and. Yeah, and where you live currently in la. And then there's some old. How should we call this? What is this? This, to me, it was the whisper I started to hear. Like, it wasn't even a whisper. It was like a buzzing sound. I used to work in a building that had the old air conditioning unit or the, you know, H vac units. You could hear them buzzing all the time. I would wake up and I would hear this sound. It was like this little sound that says, you know, like, what are you doing? And part of your pattern previously was to recognize that misery. I want to quote you, you said, misery is my compass. Yeah. So at some point did it become a compass again?

Well, I was very unconscious, so I wasn't. I wouldn't say I was totally aware that my life was not dreamy, but I was forced to get conscious. I had. I was just remembering recently I had. Because I was like, what was it? Well, I was jealous of all the young entrepreneurs I was meeting on the west coast who were like, I had my own company. And I, you know, like, I'm like, wow, what's that like? You know, I'm like, oh, my God, you're 56 years old and you are like, you know. You know, no matter how beloved the person is, you work for, you work for them, you report for duty, you know, you're not sashaying around doing whatever you want, you know, and the higher you go, the more responsibilities you have, the more meetings you have. You know, like, I'm chained to a boardroom all day long. But what it really was is there was a moment and it was a confluence of events, but the moment is when I had to do a real reckoning. You know, I had coasted on my dreamy career for a really long time and no matter what else was going on in my life, my health was horrible. Super overweight, hadn't had a date in years. No relationship, a romantic relationship, lots of great friends, great family. But, you know, all those areas were so, like, withered. And, you know, all of a sudden I'm not 35 anymore, I'm 56. So, you know, I'm having these chardonnay conversations with my great friend Nancy, who is also feeling very similarly. And we're like, is this it? Is this like, okay, I was at least able to ding the career. I can check that box. I have the career people, as you said. People would want to pluck out an eyeball for that career, for how it reads. But it's like the rest of it. I didn't. Maybe, maybe I'll get it on the next lifetime. You know, Nancy had freelance to put a roof over her head and raise these two amazing children and, you know, dreamed of other bigger things career wise. But you know, she's in her 50s. Is she done? You know, should we like go and start doing those Travel trips that 80 year old women go on and, you know, kind of start to wind down? Well, of course not. So then if you're gonna say with, if I take advantage of modern medicine and take care of myself, I could possibly live to a hundred. So if I'm in the middle ish of life, I better get serious about creating it and creating the life I want. So when I had to answer the question, are you living the life of your dreams? The answer was no. And now I'm a producer, so what's next? You know, I've got to produce the life of my dreams. And that means that I had to make a radical pivot, redefine work, reset all of my priorities and really decide how I'm going to spend the rest of these years with love and appreciation for everything that's come before. But I really want more. I want the life of my dreams. I don't want to just say I had an amazing job.

Yeah, settling Is settling is tough. I think it's in. At some point I've said this to people from stage or in some other, in some other way, that whatever we have in our lives is what we've settled for. Somebody said that to me once and I thought, yeah, that's true. And how true it is for all of us that the things that we have are the things we've settled for. So if there's more that you want, then you can't just accept the status quo for very long. I mean, change is the constant. It. That's one of the great paradoxes or oxymorons, that change is a constant in the universe. It's everywhere. Our seasons change, day to night, cold to hot. I mean, it's changing constantly. And then when you add the human experience into it and the advances in technology and everything else, disruption and change is happening at a greater pace than it ever has. Every day, it's exponentially greater. So you really have to get great at change at a certain point or your only defense to it is to hold on tight, right? Like the white knuckle, the whole ride, wanting it to just stay the same, because at least that you can count on. And we all know that that just doesn't work. Status quo or stagnation only leads to death. Ultimately, things get toxic pretty quick. Water standing still gets toxic pretty quick. When it doesn't move. We have to move. And. And yet at the same time, it's scary because it's all. It's all dealing with the unknown. So you faced your unknown, you faced that thing. Like you said, even though you are a princess of pivoting, change scared the daylights out of you.

I didn't like it. Now I listen. I don't know if I totally love it yet, but I'm saying I do because I'm really. I'm gonna seep that into my bones. I'm gonna say, oh my God, I'm so excited to see how this comes out instead of how's it gonna come out? I'm so excited to see what I create next instead of what am I gonna do?

Tell us about what you're up to.

It's the start. So, you know, this podcast world is a Cracker Jack surprise to me. Coming from spending my career in tv, it is so delicious and engaging. And in this new world of content where we are literally becoming our own individual networks and cherry picking what we wish to consume, I just find it so specialized and uplifting and you can really create amazing learning and energetic content. From the podcast world. So I'm loving doing our podcast, this is 50 with Sherry and Nancy. We're having a ball with that. I'm right now, as we speak, I am in the midst of, I'm not going to say finishing because that wouldn't be totally truthful, but I'm in the midst of a book that's about this experience I'm having where my last and final pivot. Well, I shouldn't say that my latest pivot is that the only work I need to do is the radical self care that I'm committed to day in and day out. For every breath that I breathe for the rest of my life. That's what I'm up to.

I'll tell you, it is such an important topic and I speak about it so much, it's so redundant. And I never get bored. I'm never bored of it. And I'm hoping as I say this, I'm having kind of a little moment inside where I'm thinking to myself, are the people listening to this right now going, oh yeah, I wish he would not mention this every single time. But it is so important that we get how we create resilience. Resilience is what allows us to have new chapters. The pivots that we have in the future are the result of our ability to be around in the future.

I get it now, Adam.

So aware of yourself is the key.

Yes, you are now preaching to the choir because there was a time I would have said I was doing it because I love to talk about all those things. I. But I now, like already, you know, we're speaking early in the morning and I have already done half a dozen things that are really a part of my daily ritual and routine that really contribute to that. The quality of life, the dreamy life I want to live. And I make sure that does not get swept aside because I have a big call or an interview or a meeting or an appointment. Appointment or I really should get some social posts out. That comes first before anything else. I never could say that in the past.

So what are the non negotiable aspects of your morning ritual? Because this is where people, I think would love to learn something.

Yep, meditation, meditation, meditation. I have. I will, I will confess that I've talked about it more than I've done it total minutes of my life. I love talking about meditation. But I will say in the last many months here in my dream Quest, I'm a TM meditator. So twice a day, without fail, 20 minutes. And it changes Everything. So there's that. I called my dad because I have an area of friends and family that I just want to make sure I'm consciously touching every day. So I just kind of think about. I don't want that feeling of I really should. I feel like that is a. That's a stressful feeling. I think that's unproductive energy. So I take the bull by the horns and I just kind of look through different. The different areas that matter to me in my life and say, have I meditated? Did I read something spiritual? I might do a little chant. I might do a little chant. I'm gonna have a healthy smoothie. I'm going to do a little daydreaming in my day. Just kind of like vision questing a little bit and kind of, you know, juice that energy of creation and possibility. I'm gonna connect with somebody in my life that matters to me. I'm gonna do. You know, I'm still calling my soulmate Love In. So I do a little daydreaming about him and how I'm going to feel in that relationship. And those are now my non negotiable rituals. And after that, I'll do a conference call. I'll do some other things that are meetings or furthering creativity and innovation. But that is not my first priority.

Yeah. Well, I am so appreciative that you've shared that with us. I can tell you that the Next Pivot, which is the next book for us, is called the Next Pivot is a. It's an exploration of exactly what you're up to. So I think this is an invitation for us to play in that arena. I'd love to interview you and have this be a bit of a case study on it, because it's really key. I've enjoyed our conversation so much. I know I am only in a minority of those that are either sitting in their car, on the treadmill or wherever they're consuming this, which is so cool. Probably some people at work as well, and hopefully it's juiced them. I love your language. I love the way that you put words together and your presence, which has been just divine and a real gift to us today. Sherry, thank you for being on the show.

Thanks, Adam. I really, really enjoyed it.

Yeah. So wonderful. I want to bookend the conversation as we always do. So we started with gratitude and we will. There's no ending. This is just a continuous beginning. So I want to share with all of you what my hope is. My prayer and my hope and my wish And I get to do this because I have this microphone in front of me which gives me this wonderful ability to express an intention and set it out into the ether for you, for all of you. For you, Sheri, for myself as well, that tomorrow we get to wake up just like we did today. What a blessing. What an incredible gift that we get to wake up. And my prayer is that we all get to wake up a little bit more tomorrow than we even were today. That is to wake ourselves up physically, mentally, emotionally, even spiritually, that we're a little more conscious. And if we can do that, if we can simply be a little more conscious tomorrow than we were today, we're doing something really right in our lives. The trajectory for our lives is in a really great direction. And in that moment when we are taking that breath, we know that there's things going on in our lives. Not everything is something that we are embracing at that moment. And yet taking that breath, you can be aware that other people in that very same moment are taking their very last breath in that moment, that you're taking your first conscious breath of the day. And also there are babies being born who are taking their first breath. So that moment is sacred in so many ways. At a minimum, it is something to be grateful for. So the three parts to my morning ritual that take a few minutes, that's all it is, is to wake up. Yay. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I am in gratitude. And then from your bed, if you want, or when you hit the floor, it's, I love my life. I love my life. Declare out loud, I love my life. That is my solemn wish. Have a beautiful day, blessed rest of your day, your evening, wherever you are. I know we've got people tuning in from Australia, from Europe, from all over the world, which is just flipping incredible. It's absolutely amazing. So thank you for that. If you've not yet subscribed to the podcast@adammarkel.com you can do that. Subscribe, leave a review on itunes as well. And our Facebook community is magnificent. Would love to have you check that out and join us at the StartMyPivot community. People just like Sherry, just like me, just like yourselves, who are pivoting into something and recognizing that we don't pivot once. We're pivoting pretty well continuously from the beginning to the end. And the only question is whether we can do it more elegantly, more gracefully, and. And even more in a more effective way so that we're pivoting into things that we love and that's what this is about. So start my Pivot on Facebook. You can get there by going to pivotfb.com so that's it for now. It's been a beautiful show. I wish you again a wonderful rest of your day, your evening, etc. And we'll see you again soon. Ciao for now, everybody.

Thanks for listening everyone. We hope you now have the tools and greater insights to navigate your own pivot. Help us inspire others by sharing this episode and leaving your comments over@adammarkel.com podcasts for more tips, strategies and support as you consciously pivot into a new business and lifestyle you love. Join our Pivot community on facebook@pivotfb.com.

Sam.