SHERI SALATA: I Left The Oprah Winfrey Show - And This Happened

So you have gotten to midlife and you think that is all there is. Well, join us today on the Scale or Fail show because that is absolutely not true. You are just getting started right here, right now on the Scale or Fail show. Welcome to the Scale or Fail Show. I am Alyson Maslin. I am your host. I am a business mentor and I bring the most amazing guests on this show that are business and life experts. They are sharing their wisdom, their experience to make the pathway just a little bit easier and more fun for you. And, and today you are going to be absolutely blown away by our guest. I am so honored to have Sherry Salata who is the writer and producer, co founder of the inspirational lifestyle brand the Pillar Life and co host of the podcast the Sheri and Nancy show which you absolutely need to subscribe to. It's fantastic. Her current ventures are the evolution of her 20 year career with Oprah Winfrey. Her action packed days as executive producer of the Oprah Winfrey show were chronicled in the acclaimed Docu Series Season 25 Oprah behind the Scenes. Sherry also served as co president of Harper Studios and owned the Oprah Winfrey Network. She's been named One of Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business, the Hollywood Reporter's Woman in Entertainment Power 100 man, she is just a, a powerhouse. And the 2017 Feminist Press Power award winners. Sherry has written a new memoir which we are going to talk about today, the Beautiful no and other tales of trial, transcendence and transformation. So Sheri, thank you for coming on the show.

Alison, my beloved friend, yes.

I am so excited you're here. And gosh, your story is so inspiring and it is so timely because I really do feel that, you know, we are, this is a different age than where our parents were at this age. Right? It's like 60 is the new 40 or the new 30. And I just love the message that you have out there. And so, so I want to go deeply into what you have to share. So from Waukegan to Oprah to new transformation, your business, your book. And so tell us your 20 years working side by side with Oprah, one of the most powerful positions in television from promo producer to president Harpo, can you share, you know, a little bit of your journey and you know, what is your big why right now?

Oh my gosh. Well, first of all, I love how you started out there, my beloved friend, because that is the new revelation which is the middle of life. 40 to 60 ish is really just the beginning. I didn't know that when I was 40 years old, I didn't know that. I thought, wow, you hit your mid-50s, you know, you're going to start winding down. And culturally, there's been some messages generationally. I was raised by a woman who thought, listen, by 40 years old, you know, you've made everything come true that you can make come true. And now it's time to put on some sensible shoes, get a sensible hairdo, and kind of wait for somebody to call you to bake cookies with the grandkids. And that is absolutely fine if that is your dream. But for me, I had one of the most amazing careers ever in the history of time. The kind of job that some people would pluck an eyeball out for. And yet when I left my time with Oprah, which was almost 21 years, what I had realized, my big epiphany was I created a dream come true career, but not a dream come true life. And that was the beginning of rethinking everything I thought about the middle of life. And what else? What else can I do?

I love it. I love. I feel like I'm just getting started, you know, and so I love this. And I think, you know, here you were, as you said, like the dream career. And, and I do think so often we equate the career that, that is our life. I mean, even though you loved it, I mean, there's so much more. So I think this message is so, so important, and I'm really excited that you're out there sharing that, but it takes a lot of courage, right? And to leave something like that you and go into the unknown. So many people stay forever in a career that's not even, not even close to dynamic, because the thought of just jumping out into towards your dreams, it's like jumping off of a cliff. So what was the inner voice, that sign for you that you went, this is at its time?

Well, in my new day here, one of the things that I most love to do is a podcast like you with my co host, Nancy Hala, who's also one of my BFFs of 30 years. And we were kind of having the same conversation, the same kind of epiphany, like, what else? What else? And we finally said, if not now, when? If not now, when? When are you gonna be the head of your own creative project? When are you gonna manifest the life of your dreams and not just the career of your dreams? Nancy's story was different. She had raised two great kids. She was a freelance business writer. She hadn't been singularly devoted to a career. But you know what I began to see as I looked at it is I could have done it all differently. I could have had a very integrated life of my dreams even when I was running the Oprah show. But I had some internal work to do, which is I really only wanted to do anything I was good at. So I wasn't that great at manifesting and maintaining a love life. So I was like, all right, well that's not really working out more job. I'll work some more hours, accomplish more things career wise because that was what came easier to me. And what ended up happening is what came last on my list all the time was my own well being. And that was the big epiphany for me that hey, you are halfway through and if you take care of yourself, you might live another 50 years. You better get it together, girl. You better put yourself first, taking care of yourself first and then see go about manifesting the life of your dreams.

Yeah, that's huge because women suck at that. I mean we really are raised to make sure everybody else is okay.

That's right.

You know, it's a big shift and especially now with women running their own companies, so many of them, they've had to learn to really have that strong voice and say it like it is. And it doesn't. It didn't come natural.

Well, and that's one of the great things about being an entrepreneur and running your own company is you decide. You're setting your schedule, you're deciding how many hours a day you're going to devote to self care. You're deciding that's kind of like the ultimate in an integrated life that's free. But the truth is you can work for somebody else and have a great job like I did for so many years and still make radical self care and taking care of yourself with meditation and yoga and plant predominant eating, you can do all that and still work for somebody else. It really is a mental and emotional shift, which is I am so crazy in love with myself that I'm going to make sure that I am tending to my own well being.

I love that. That's beautiful. It really is a stand for yourself and setting boundaries, right?

Yes.

Now when you made that shift here, you were going from crazy, crazy running from here to there and all of a sudden you're at your place with your beautiful bulldogs, which meditating. We are bulldog sisters.

Yeah, we are.

And then all this space, was that freaky for you to make that shift?

Well, listen, I mean I had kind of. I had been. My priorities were a little funky. So the truth is I was really tired. So it was kind of a relief to have free space and a chance to breathe. For sure. But what's so interesting is that my neuro pathways are so well worn about crisis and stress and gotta do it and gotta make it happen. That kind of energy that even now I still have to check myself like, who do you want to be? I want to be. I want to be a creator. I want to be an attractor. I want to be a magnetizer. I don't want to be like rolling gigantic boulders up mountains anymore. Because that's not really the most successful way to have a great life.

Yeah, I like to say get out of the fight and into the flow.

That's it.

And I really think you can do the same thing, but it's just operating in a different energy. But you have to be conscious of it. Right. Because you definitely fall into that boulder pattern.

Absolutely. And you're exactly right. And I love what you just said right now. That is exactly the shift it's from, you know, that, that fight, that adrenaline pounding fight that we tend to get addicted to if, you know, when we're devoted to the mission of our careers. But it's really flow. You're looking for that ease and that fl. And it takes some practice. And I love what you said, Allison, about consciousness because for many areas of my life, I would deliberately stay unconscious because I didn't want to have to make those changes. Because I knew once I got conscious about the ways my own behavior was sabotaging my well being, I would have to make changes. And it was like, nah, someday, someday I'll get to that. And that turns out to waste a lot of time.

Yeah. And you know, we're such creatures of habit. Don't you think too? I think that's the biggest thing. And with our clients and business owners we work with, I think it's just, we're just so used to, you know, sleeping on the certain side of the bed, having that certain thing for breakfast. And this is. It's like the easier go to. But then you can just get stuck. Right. For years, four years.

You know, one of the things that I really discovered, and I write about this extensively because I loved this epiphany that even though I had this exciting, you know, somewhat glamorous kind of work life, I was in such a rut, I didn't even know it. And that's when I realized that the reason you don't know you're in a rut is because you're literally in a ruthless. You can't see that you're in a rut. And so when you find out that you were in a rut is when something happens. You make a move, you make a shift, and all of a sudden you're seeing new sights and you're breathing new air and you go, oh, my God, I went the same way to work every day for 15 years. I go to the same grocery store at the same time. I get up, I make my bed, I make my breakfast, I. I feed my puppies. You are in such a rut, you don't even know it. And what I realized is as you get older, no new is coming in unless you make it. So. So I was like, ok, I want that new life force. I want that feeling of newness. So I signed up for Italian lessons. I went to knife skills class at Sur La Table. I learned how to chop things. I'm getting ready right now to learn how to grow my own crops in my new backyar. I am dedicated and devoted to bringing new to my life because that's when you start to feel like the fires of your dreams start stirring. Like all of a sudden you're like, hey, what about this? Maybe I could do that. What about reading this or trying this? You can feel the life force literally rise within you.

Oh, you're inspiring me. I was sitting here going, oh, yeah, maybe I should take that art class.

Yes.

Well, my gosh. Okay. You're inspiring me. So the book, let's talk a little bit about that. And I love the quote at the beginning. First we were young, then we were so busy. Then one day we woke up to discover we were at an age we once thought of as old.

I know. That's one of my favorites.

I mean, and like I said earlier, I really do feel that we do live in a different age now and we can create our life. But what was the impetus of the book?

Well, listen, I had had a wonderful conversation with my woman who ended up being my publisher and editor, Karen Rinaldi, who is of our age and is super interesting. Like, she started surfing when she was 40, took her five years to get up. I mean, she's crazy interesting and she thought I had something to say. We had a long conversation. She thought I had something to say. And I thought, well, gee whiz, you know, that is, you know, it's kind of the American dream to write a book and have it published a little bit. I don't think I've ever run into anybody who wouldn't, you know, who didn't say that, oh, it'd be great to write a book. I was also, at one point, Oprah's book club producer.

Wow.

So I have such a reverence.

Oh, my gosh.

I have such a reverence for the written word and for authors. So it was a little bit daunting. Like, I had to go through some worthiness issues, and then I just started telling my stories. You know, I've had a front row seat to some of the wisest, most prolific wisdom keepers of our time. And even though it took me a long time to implement their advice, I felt like, wow, I had a front row seat, and I have something to share from that journey.

So who are some of your favorites?

I love Dr. Oz. Ayanla Van Zant. Deepak Chopra is. Oh, he's a personal friend. I absolutely adore him. Kris Carr, crazy, sexy cancer Kris Carr is. She is literally lighting the way in terms of health and wellness. I love Brene Brown. I love Elizabeth Gilbert. I mean, the list goes on and on and on. And I feel like I had this incredible audience with. You know, I was a fan. I was a fan. I took notes. I literally would sit in the control room, and I would take notes when I hear something that resonated. And I feel like, you know, I often say, Allison, that the greatest company benefit of working at Harpo Studios and for Oprah was that I was paid to build a spiritual life. I was paid to ingest this information that, you know, and I would have done it for free. I mean, I really would have. And it literally changed everything for me.

Yeah, I bet. I mean, I bet Oprah was sad to see you go. How did that go? That.

Well, you know what? There's nobody more loving than Oprah. Nobody more loving than Oprah. And listen, nobody would wish me well more than Oprah, knowing what I gave to her over the years, what I received from her over the years. I'm sure she feels exactly the same way about me as I do about her.

I remember watching the Tony Robbins special with you two in there. This is before you and I met, and I just remember you two jumping up and down together, and I just thought, wow, you two have a really beautiful bond.

Oh, that was fun. That was one of my most fun work days. You know, I mean, at the end of the day, she was my boss, but, you know, we had some hilarity. We had some fun like that, like hoping that Tony wasn't gonna call on Me in the arena and doing the firewalk, at the end of which was, oh, my God. Which is crazy.

I've never done that. So let's talk a little bit about the book. First of all, the title, the Beautiful No. Tell me about that. How did you come to that?

The Beautiful no is the title. It's the title story of the book. And it's about how I got the job at the Oprah Show. And I'll give you a little sneak peek into that, which is I applied and got rejected. I applied and got rejected. And, you know, probably many of your subscribers are the kind of people who would keep at it and keep going and keep trying until they landed that job of their dreams. I was not like that. Once you tell me no, I am never coming back. I am never going to pressure you. I'm like, I'll take the no and be on my way. And what happened was I went back to my life. I was a freelance advertising agency producer, producing television commercials for hairspray and theme parks and fertilizer and all kinds of stuff. And I just went back to my path, and I wasn't super happy. I was missing. I needed more meaning. I wanted to feel like if I was going to work 80 hours a week, that it was in service to something that really made a difference in people's lives. And I had been so sure that the Oprah show, which was just across the river from where I worked, I was just so sure that was the answer. But no, I got rejected. Left a message on my answering machine. So I just went about my business. And down the road after that, somebody new got hired in that department, cleaned out an old closet and found my resume and my audition, my tape of commercials, and called me in.

I mean, how was the universe going, love? Because whoever finds that kind of stuff, they usually just take it and trash it.

Exactly. And like I said, I was never gonna apply again. But what I began to see is, like, you know, years later, I didn't get this right away, but years later, I was like, wow, if I hadn't gotten. Because right before I finally got the job, I got a big no that broke my heart from a big advertising agency. It was a fancy job with tons of money. And I was like, oh, maybe this is what I'm supposed to do. And he told me in person he was going to hire me, and then he didn't. So I was, like, devastated. I'm broke. I am 35 years old. I am not a kid. I am 35 years old. I thought I had so much promise, I thought my dreams were going to come true. And there I was. Nothing is working out, everything's a no. And then I get the call that, hey, we found this old resume of yours. Will you come in? And I started to realize years later that those no's were such beautiful no's. Those nos set me up for amazing life experiences. And then I went back and I'm like, okay, what about that one guy you thought you wanted to marry who didn't want to marry you? That was a good no. I mean, gosh, where would you be right now? Because you were like, that was your little tri level paradise dream. So I went back in my life and I'm starting to think, Alison, that for all of us, those nos are big, gorgeous gifts in our lives. And if we could collapse time and know that right now, like you get a no and you go, ok, can't wait to see why that was the big gift. It is.

Well, it's like the no, that's the big yes. Really, Right? Yes. Saying yes to all the magic that's coming.

Yes.

But you don't see it at the time. Yeah, it's not in alignment, you know, and so, but, and then I was thinking too, the beautiful no. And another way of looking at it for you is you kind of said, you know, no to, I'm not going to be living life on somebody else's terms anymore. Right. It's also like you're setting your boundaries to say.

Well, I think that's really interesting. I think that's a really interesting conversation. And maybe you can. That boundary thing is not a small thing. That is a big. There should be courses starting in fifth grade, how to set boundaries. I mean, my gosh, we talked about it so much on the Oprah show and I still wobble on that. Like, what does that mean? And there's something about it. It really is tending to your own gard, tending to your own life with ferocious loyalty. Really not letting anything in that doesn't uplift or enlighten you. Really not allowing your time to be used up with negativity and pessimism. That kind of is what it is. And I'm still working on it.

I think it's getting to a place that you have to be. Okay. And believe me, this is something I continue to work on, has been a big deal for me and a lot of women that I know is being okay that once you say no that others might be mad or upset and just dealing with it like you're not Gonna die because they're upset with you.

Yeah, that's good. That's good. And you're not responsible for other people's reactions. You know, I think about, I mean, I think about the number of times in my life I've done those uncomfortable yeses because I wasn't willing to deal with their disappointment or their upsets. And, you know, that's not the way to live. That's not the road to the life of your dreams, that's for sure.

Yeah. And you're really saying your dreams or your whatever, happiness is more important than your own.

No.

Question yourself. So now you talk in the book about a dream quest.

Yeah.

So how can people discover their own dream quest?

Well, when I finally took the time to kind of, I called it the Reckoning. I did a really, really deep dive look at all the areas of my life. And it was, it was, was a little blood curdling. And I forced myself to do it with tender eyes, my tender voice, because it could have just taken me out. And once I did that, I said, okay, what is the life of your dreams like? Area by area by area. What does that look like? And because I like inspiring language, it became my mighty dream quest. My mighty dream quest really is about continuing to stir the fires in each area of my life and magnetize and attract those experiences I really want to have. And it isn't like everything gets, you know, it doesn't happen in a second, but it's also about creating a dreamier journey, like knowing that it's on its way, knowing that it's coming, and just being happier in the day. Yeah.

Not like you'll be happy when that transpires, but actually be happy in the now, on the way right now.

Always choosing happiness. Always choosing the better feeling thought moment by moment by moment.

Right. And a lot of that too is the self care, like what you were talking about earlier. Feeding your soul, feeding your body, taking care of your health.

Well, you know, at the end of the day, we all have. We have to put together our own personal recipe for what happiness looks like. You know, you just can't put on someone else's suit of clothes. So once you know what that is, then you start to come up with the practices that support you in choosing happiness. What does that look like? On the days that I meditate, I move somehow, whether it's yoga or a workout. The days I have lots of plants, it's easier for me to choose happy thoughts. It's easy for me to be optimistic, to see the glass half Full. On the days I don't do that, I can get really distracted by what's going on in the outside world. And then I can get anxious and stressed out and, oh, what's going to happen to us? And I know that had I done my practices, it would be a much easier ride.

Yeah. Because you can deal with it. Right. You have your feet in the ground. Yes. Your eyes are open and you're focused on what is going.

Right.

There's a lot of beauty in the world, too.

Right. Yes.

So your book, everyone needs to go out and get it. And I just, I can't wait to share this with our entire community. What do you, Sheri, what's your big hope with the book? The big message, big takeaway that you want people to get well, the lives.

The big takeaway is it's never too late to live the life of your dreams. And if not now, when? If not now, when? And I hope that by, you know, listen, you put a book out that's about your life, you feel a little bit like you're walking around without skin on. And what I hope is that, you know, through my story, that other people feel the same way about themselves, that, hey, you know, let me create the life of my dreams and let me take a look and make sure that I am living the life that I always wanted to live.

That is beautiful. And you're so real in the book. I think that you give everybody permission to love themselves. You know, the good, the bad, all of those pieces. I cannot recommend. The beautiful. No. Enough. So everybody watching this, you've got to go out and get the book. And you're gonna love it. Give it as a gift as well. And it will be love. Life changing. So anyway, Sheri, thank you so much. This is so much fun, and I can't wait to see you in the coming months here.

Yay.

All right, to you.

Bye.

Thanks, everybody. Thanks for joining us. And you know where to find the scale or fail show on all places that are airing podcasts. And you can watch us on video. You can listen to us on the treadmill on audio. And get out there and elevate yourself because you are worth it. Bye, everybody.

People always talk about they want to be part of seven figure companies. I'm now part of seven, eight, and nine figure companies.

I've been introduced to some of the largest corporations, Fortune 500 companies, and it's with Alison's help, she's kind of expanded my horizons and my capabilities. And I think that's the most important.

Thing where she expands, she makes, you know, what you can do and be successful at that. Being with Alison and being able to.

Learn who to hire and why to hire and how to develop a passionate, creative, inspired team was really, really important for me because I needed to shift some energy in my business and I.

Feel like with her help, I've really done that. Pinnacle helped me grow my company to.

Where at this point a year ago.

I'm making, I made a million more than I did at this point last year. So I really wanted to break that ceiling. I've hit that ceiling for several years in a row and Pinnacle has helped me do that by implementing the thought.

It's actually just a thought process and.

How you view your company and how you view what you're doing.

I think a lot of us entrepreneurs are hard on ourselves and are hard.

On our companies when it's not that we shouldn't be that way. So I think it's just looking at things a little bit differently, putting into practice the systems that she teaches us. For example, if you want an example.

Putting people in place to where I want my business to be at in two, three years. So I've got people right now in.

Place and it's wild. It's just like all the work is coming in and we're in place and we're not stressed out and it's just amazing. It's just an amazing place to be.

What I love most about being in the Pinnacle is constant access to support. So whether it be my mastermind group.

Or the recorded resources that Alison has.

Produced for us, or the constantly cutting edge information that's coming to us on social media, Facebook ads, how to conduct webinars, you name it, we have a resource for it. So since joining Pinnacol, we've added 12 new positions to the company.

We've increased revenue about 43%. We've increased profit by 111% this year. More importantly, I've gotten out of some.

Roles that I was in, like QA manager.

And some of the marketing things that I was doing are now outsourced or.

Not outsourced in sourced to a team member. And I've really focused in on running.

The business instead of letting it run me.

Coaching opportunities out there. And a lot of times I'm a little bit suspicious.

It's a kind of a sales job.

You know, are they, are they in it for themselves? Are they in it for me? And at no time have I ever felt with Pinnacle that my best interest was not number one priority. And it's truly an organization and not just Allison and the coaches, but everyone there.

It's coming from a place of giving and.

Working for mutual benefit.

A lot of sharing going on and that's a great team to work with.

Right off the bat. I laid a foundation for my coaching practice and I increased my prices and within one week I had signed two high paying clients that had basically paid for my coaching program with Alison. Since then my income has doubled my coaching program with Alison and since then my income has doubled every single month. It's been tremendous. But being a part of the community has been the greatest asset. I've been so fortunate and blessed to befriend so many other amazing entrepreneurs who I learn from on a regular basis who always have my back. Like minded people that I surround myself with and the environment is so positive. I just cannot speak highly enough of it and I am always compelled to share it with everyone I know. I feel it is the biggest gift to introduce and share this opportunity to connect with this kind of community, with everybody that I know.

Don't be the company like I was being in business for over 12 years.

Looking back and saying, what did I.

Do in the last 10 years? Do it now.

Now is all we have.

We don't have the past and we don't have the future. All we have is now.

I've been in business for 21 years now and I've worked with a number of business coaches and I watched Alison for four years and the results that her clients had when they worked with her. And I finally decided this is the next coach that I'm going to hire. Because she is the real deal. She is available to her people. She absolutely cares deeply about each and.

Every individual and the success of their business.

And you know what? We have to in business take risks. And sometimes taking risk is hiring that new coach. This is a risk worth taking. There is nothing like it. I can't even explain. Explain what? The opportunity and the learning that comes with Pinnacle. Don't even think about it. Because if you think about it, that's.

The number one thing that will hold you back.

Just do it.

You won't regret it.

You just need to do it.

I mean, you have to stop being on the fence. You have to get off the fence is boring.

The fence is. Honestly, I was on the fence for. Oh gosh. I was on the fence for maybe two years and it was a horrible.

Fence to sit on.

I hated the fence because the fence kept me stuck. And it was when I finally jumped off the fence that my business skyrocketed.