In this six‑question, seven‑minute interview, Professor Pete Alexander hosts children’s author and entrepreneur Sheri Fink on the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Sheri explains that she writes picture books with her husband under the brand Whimsical World, aiming to boost kids’ self‑esteem and ambition. She shares a key lesson for businesses: the importance of "walking away from what's not working faster," illustrated with the example of cutting a failing Facebook ad campaign. Sheri then discusses her biggest entrepreneurial insight—energy management—advocating a "hell yes/hell no" decision rule to prioritize personal well‑being and create lifestyle freedom. She recommends fellow thought‑leader Shannon Kaiser as a podcast guest, praises her energizing presence, and recounts her first job at age 15 as an administrative assistant in a women‑run real‑estate office, where she learned to use a computer and observed female entrepreneurship. The episode closes with Sheri’s contact details (website, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook).
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This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast, where business leaders share their insights. It is 6 questions in 7 minutes because successful business leaders are busy and rarely have more time to spare. So let's get to it. Question number 1: In a few sentences, please tell me who you are and what you do.
Hi, I'm Sheri Fink. I write books that inspire and delight kids while planting seeds of self-esteem and high achievement. I do this alongside my husband, award-winning author Derek Taylor Kent, under our business Whimsical World.
Sheri, it is so great to have you on the show. Question number 2: What's the best thing about working in your industry?
Wow, okay, so when you're a children's author, which is by the way one of my childhood dreams come true, You, when you get up in the morning and you go to work, kids go to bed that night believing in themselves and the infinite possibilities for their lives. And in my book, there's no more rewarding job than, than what I do today.
I love that. And as a parent of a couple children myself, I absolutely, that resonates so wonderfully with me. So thank you so much for that. Question number 3, I have a fictitious book. Which you can appreciate, obviously, which you think most companies should read.
I need that book. I think the chapter that would be the most valuable would be, based on my own experience, "Walk Away from What's Not Working Faster." I like that.
So What's not working faster? So can you elaborate a little bit on that?
So many times as an entrepreneur and in my personal life, I have hung on to things and people and situations and partnerships that I saw a glimmer of hope, but it wasn't really working. And I wasn't being truly honest with myself or the situation. And if I had been, I could have saved myself time, money, energy, headaches, lots of drama later If I had been willing to, for example, like cut the Facebook ad campaign early when I saw it wasn't working and nothing I was doing was fixing it, stop throwing money at it, you know, walk away faster.
Very wise. And it reduced that stress that's involved with it when you're worried about it and it's not working and you just get more and more frustrated, I assume.
Exactly. Yeah, yeah.
Great advice. Question number 4. Other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude, and care for customers, What advice or insight would you give to other business leaders?
I would say the biggest thing that I've learned as an entrepreneur is energy management. When I first started, I wasn't focused on— of course, it's fulfilling and everything, but I was saying yes to everyone all the time. And the more yeses I gave out, the more nos I had to say to myself and my personal life and my self-care. And what I realize now, having been in business for almost 10 years, is that You have to say yes to yourself first and be very clear on what's a hell yes versus a hell no so that you can create a lifestyle freedom, which is the whole benefit of being an entrepreneur. If you allow yourself to, um, to say no to things.
And I absolutely love the term hell yes, hell no. I know exactly what you're talking about as an entrepreneur myself. So thank you so much for that. Question number 5. What other business leader like yourself would you like to acknowledge and invite to be on my podcast?
I would love to see Shannon Kaiser. She is an inspirational thought leader. She has, I think, 4 or 5 best-selling books now that are in the self-help, personal development field. And she just has this energy about her. It's just something about her, like, just even being in the room with her it unleashes something within yourself about what you're able to accomplish. She's a, she's a very high demand, in high demand speaker, and she would be amazing on your show.
Wonderful. Thank you for that referral. I'll reach out to her. And our final question, question number 6, please tell me about your first job.
Well, my first official job was when I was 15 years old. I worked for a real estate agency. It was brand new. I grew up in a tiny town in rural Virginia, and this real estate agency was special because it was founded by women. And I worked for a team of 6 women. I was the administrative assistant. They got their first computer while I was working there, and I personally had never worked on a computer before, so I had very humble beginnings. So in high school, they got this computer and they just sat me down in front of it one day and said, hey, figure out how this works. So I played with the computer and I taught them things that I don't think either of us knew. So it was, it was a really great opportunity to see female entrepreneurs like really owning their life and their business and, and to, to learn how to use a computer at the most basic level. And I've never forgotten it. It's really stuck with me this all this time.
What a great story. Thank you for sharing that. And Sheri, thank you so much for being on the show. How could people find you?
Well, you can find me on my website at sherithink.com. You can also find me on Twitter and Instagram at @sheri_fink. And on Facebook at Sherry Think Fan.
Perfect. This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Thanks for listening.
