Passion Struck with John R. Miles - Sharon Guerin On Unlocking Your Hidden Potential and Taking Control of Your Life EP 14

Starting point is 00:00:00 So if you don't water yourself in essence, if you don't learn, if you don't take giving in information, able to take constructive criticism to just be teachable, you're going to, you'll wilt out really fast. So you just have to have an open mindset, you have to stay positive, you have to stay focused and work diligently within that gift that you've been given, or within that passion. [♪ Music playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing in background, playing an inspirational person and message that helps you unlock your hidden potential and unleash your creativity and leadership abilities. Thank you for spending time with me today and let's get igniting! Thank you so much for joining me today on the Passion Shark podcast. on the Passion Start podcast. Japanese chef, Euro Yuno, who is regarded by his contemporaries as the greatest living

Starting point is 00:01:10 Suhi Krasman said, once you decide upon your occupation, you must immerse yourself in your work. You have to fall in love with your work. Never complain about your job. You must dedicate your life to mastering your skill. That's the secret of success and is the key to being regarded honorably. And there's so much truth to that quote, we each have an opportunity to make a choice. Make a choice and pursue action-driven life, a life where we wake up every single day inspired. But so often we fail to do it. And then we fail to master the skills that are needed to take us from point A to

Starting point is 00:01:53 point B. And it's making that choice in doing the hard work that really matters and can take you where your dreams want you to go. And that's exactly what happened with our guest today, Chef Sharon Garin. She was at the point of losing it all, having to work four different jobs to support herself and her family. When an unexpected mentor entered her life and changed her trajectory because she made a choice to pursue her dream. And I think so many of you are going to be able to relate to her message today.

Starting point is 00:02:32 But before we start, let me give you more about her background. Sharon Garen is an executive chef who used personal agility to transform both her personal and business life. Sharon went from working five jobs and barely getting by, bringing over six figures in her first year launching the culinary queen, a high end catering company located in the Tampa Bay area. Sharon is a recognized ambassador of the Personal Agility Institute and helps guide people around the world using personal agility to transform their lives. Her passion is grading great food

Starting point is 00:03:16 and she wants to show the world that a self-taught chef can great and teach everyone how to do what she does and find the same passion that she has for cooking. and create and teach everyone how to do what she does and find the same passion that she has for cooking. I'm so excited to have Sharon Gehran on the show today, and thank you so much for watching and listening Passion Start Podcast. [♪ music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in I am thrilled to welcome Chef Sharon Polinaric-Wheen on the show. Welcome Sharon, how are you today? I'm doing wonderful. Thank you John for having me. I'm so excited to be able to talk to you and share my story.

Starting point is 00:03:53 Well, I am so excited to talk to you as well. I remember a few weeks ago for those who were tuning in, we did an interview with Maria Madarelli, and during that interview, she couldn't stop talking about you. And afterwards, told me I have got to get Chef Sharon on the show. So I am so glad to have you here. And for everyone to hear this amazing story of how you've become an executive chef. Well, thank you.

Starting point is 00:04:19 I really appreciate it. I'm humbled to be here. And I'm glad to share my story with everyone. Well, and I'm not sure if Maria told you, but for me, one of my favorite pastimes and creative outlets is actually cooking. So for me, it's a real pleasure to have a true chef to speak to because I consider myself still an amateur, although I, you know, I like to cook all kinds of things. Have you always been a chef? So, I want to say yes, because it's the gift that God gave me. I have been cooking since I was nine.

Starting point is 00:04:59 My mother was a single parent who just kind of knew that that innately, that was my gift and that's how we bonded. So she would always be working and come home. She would include me in the kitchen and that's how we got our quality time together. And I just started cooking then and I've been cooking ever since and until I actually made it a career and career hobby, what I live for, what I do every day. Well, that's great. And for me, it started as a hobby.

Starting point is 00:05:30 And I can't even say I learned it from my parents. It's just something, when I came home from work, if I didn't go to the gym, I needed some type of outlet to put the day away and to focus on new things. So for me, it was a way where you could, because as you know, when you're cooking, you've got to be there in the moment. So it was a great way for me to get out of that work mind,

Starting point is 00:05:54 transition to being in home mind and start playing with things. And that's how I do, most of my cooking is, many of these, I have recipes for, but the thing I like about cooking over baking is I get to be a chemist, in many ways, and get to experiment with different spices that I like that I add to the base recipes. That's funny Marie is always asking me to write down

Starting point is 00:06:22 my recipes and I'm like, Marie, and I really don't have a recipe I Just do it like I just you know I know that I put this in or that in it for the next time But I I really just go with the flow and how I feel I think that just I feel like I Just enjoy the food and the smells and I can put them together and it's just natural for me. Well, that's great.

Starting point is 00:06:46 I was the other week making some Italian meals and I have this cookbook that I've had probably 12 years and as I was going through these old recipes, I had written notes that face is okay, but it's much better. I tried it with basil this time or I tried it with crushed red peppers and so it was kind of fun to see on my comments, or I made this one, I said,

Starting point is 00:07:07 this recipe is horrible. Or I just, it's kind of like making chicken no la. For me, it either turns out really well, or it's a disaster, and I'm not sure exactly what causes one sometimes or the other, but it's always experimenting. Well, sometimes it's a disaster. And I'm not for exactly what causes one sometimes or the other, but it's always experimenting. Well sometimes is the

Starting point is 00:07:30 energy you put in it. You know, your mind is that, you know, when you're cooking. So I completely zone out and I sometimes when you know people around me and they'll be like Sharon and not Sharon and I'll be like fun I'm concentrating So you've been a chef for a long time But what was it that really was going on in your life that caused you to decide to take this path of forming the culinary queen, you know What was life like before for you? And then was there some significant moment that happened that caused you to decide to go on this passenger journey?

Starting point is 00:08:11 Yeah, so in 2017, so I also had a medical background and I was working as a staffing director for a home health care agency. And I was doing private, I was doing private I was doing private shipwork on the side I was ubering I was driving limos I was doing everything trying to find out what I really wanted to do and I always knew I wanted to cook I had a dream of getting on food network and having my own TV show still have that dream I'm working towards it here I come. And I had a friend of mine. He was like Sharon you're like all over the place.

Starting point is 00:08:47 I need you to watch this movie. He said watch this. I was ubering on a Saturday. I said, okay. It was the secret. I don't know if you've ever known about it. I'm very spiritual and motivated by what we put out in the universe. And he was like, I just watched it.

Starting point is 00:09:08 It changed some things for me. I think it would be really helpful for you. So, A. My car on a Saturday. I watched the movie The Secret. And then he sent me the video. After I watched it, he sent me the video. Still the same Saturday. He sent me the link to watching Steve Harvey's leap leap of faith where he's on the stage of family feud

Starting point is 00:09:29 and he talks about how God instills a gift in every each and one of us and until we live in that gift and we take a leap and we fly. We are never going to live within the gift that he gave us. And so it just really resonated with me and on Monday morning I went to work. My boss and I sat down every Monday with being the director of staffing. And he said, Sharon, so how was your weekend? What's up?

Starting point is 00:09:52 And because we normally just talked about what's gonna go on the rest of the week. And I looked at him and I said, without knowing I was gonna do this, I just said as long as I come here eight hours a day, five days a week, I will always live your dream and not mine. And I need to give you 30 days. And I left. I left 30 days later. And from that time on, it was November 11 was my last day. And from that time on, I kind of just hustled and hustled. And I was like, you know, just started building my social media

Starting point is 00:10:26 and I took that leap of faith and I was like, I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna do it until it works for me. You know, and as you know, when you take a leap of faith, you're gonna fall, everything's not gonna be perfect. But as long as you get back up and you pick yourself up, you know, pick yourself up, wipe those knees off and keep going and I was determined every day, whether or, when I wasn't driving Uber,

Starting point is 00:10:50 limo or doing shift or doing private events or chef work, every day I perfected my craft. I did something with inside the gift that I knew that God had given me to be, and Beth was passionate about it. I worked in it diligently and I just said, I know something's going to happen for me. And then in June of 2018, my mom passed away. Oh, I'm sorry.

Starting point is 00:11:16 It's okay. She passed away June 16th of 2018. And I promise you three weeks later I was ubering still you know trying to figure out how I was going to get on food network wanted to start a YouTube channel. Didn't know how to do it. I'm not very technical. Being 54 years old I didn't even have a computer until I was in my 30s. And I was ubering, pull up to the airport. Reimatterally is standing there with a fur coat over our arm. In the middle of the summer, you know, fabulous as she is.

Starting point is 00:11:57 And I popped the trunk and I said, you know, the trunk's open, you can sit up front if you want. She's had earbuds in it. I didn't realize it. And she got in the back seat and I'm thinking to myself the type person I am, well you're going to talk to me anyway. You know, when you sit up front of you're in the back. But I honestly believe that was the defining moment. God knew that I had been working really, really hard in doing what I needed to do. She literally discovered me. By the time we got to her house,

Starting point is 00:12:29 she was already on my Instagram. We had already talked and I had asked her what she did. I told her I wanted to start a YouTube channel. She said, why don't you just do it? And I was like, honey, I'm old. I don't know how to do that. When she got out of my car, she was like, what are you doing on Friday,

Starting point is 00:12:44 which was three days later. And I said, nothing, why? she was like, what are you doing on Friday, which was three days later? And I said, nothing why? She's like, bring some food. We're gonna shoot your first YouTube video. From that moment on, everything has changed. Like the moment where you got in my car, I always tell her she discovered me. She can deal with someone to discover me.

Starting point is 00:13:01 So I now know another thing about Maria, talent expert and talent agent. Well, you know, it's interesting you bring it up about that feeling of working for someone else versus working for yourself. I happened to recently be listening or I shouldn't say listening, reading a New York Times article where it said only 25% of Americans feel that they're actually living or doing something that involves their passion. And it, you know, hearing that number, just 25%, you know, was one of the reasons I felt I had to create this passion-start brand because who many of us out there these days are living, you know, what may be

Starting point is 00:13:46 comfortable, but comfortable and passion are two different things. You know, when you have passion, you all of a sudden become mission oriented about, you know, and it's not really as much about being mission oriented, about serving yourself as it is using your your hidden powers to serve others. Can you can you tell me it has that been part of your journey as well? It has. You know, every day, my clientele is so wonderful. Every day, I get to do I get to feed people, but with something that I love to do. So I'm nourishing people. I'm, you know, feeding, like feeding someone is like loving someone to me. So I never really feel like I'm working.

Starting point is 00:14:34 It honestly get up every day, happy. I'm not, you know, like I used to get up and be stressed, like, I don't want to go to work today. Do I have a sick day? I never feel like that. I don't feel, I don't even know when I've taken a day to just not cook. It doesn't even feel normal. It's just, it's what I want to do. It's what I love to do. And it doesn't feel like I work anymore. Well, that's great.

Starting point is 00:15:00 Well, before you reach that point, what was, you know, what were some of the fears? Because that, you know, what I always hear, you know, are when you when you start talking to someone about their current identity, what's going on with them, and then you start asking them to face brutal facts of their current situation, you know, they always bring up fears or obstacles. What were some that you had to overcome? And what would you tell our listeners or some of the secrets to doing that? So I think that when I actually watched the secret

Starting point is 00:15:34 and I listened to that Steve Harvey clip, all the fears for me came before that because I was fearful, am I going to be able to pay my bills? Well, I'd be able to help my children out. How do I make my car payment? Were people going to accept me on this journey and trust me to carry out their weddings, their anniversaries, their birthday parties, their five-course seated meals that they're paying $100

Starting point is 00:16:01 a plate for, all of those fears that limiting beliefs that I had before watching, the secret and listening to that and just believing in myself and that gift. Afterwards, when I made that decision to do it, I can't say that I was actually fearful but more driven to overcome those fears. Like, I'm gonna be in your face

Starting point is 00:16:26 and I'm gonna do this and I'm not taking no for an answer. In the beginning, I told everybody I was the yes girl. So if you wanted an event done, yes, we'll make it happen. Yes, I can do this. Yet I just kept telling myself, yes, I created a vision board and I just didn't let anybody stop me. And I think that when you start to do that, every window that God closes, he opens up another one. It opens up a door, in other words. So for me, like the doors that opened up once I just

Starting point is 00:16:58 kept living diligently within that and facing all of those limiting beliefs and fears, these doors just kept opening up and they're still opening. Now I've reached the success that I have. It's now about doing more and giving back and showing people that you can do this. That's great. And what was the origin story for the brand, the culinary queen. How did that come to being? So I chose that name because I did not go to culinary school. When my mom passed away, before I met Maria, my dad gave me all of her cookbooks,

Starting point is 00:17:39 dating back to when I was a kid, and I actually found the culinary art institute book of 1979. So my mother was actually teaching me at the age nine and 10 and 11 to cook from a culinary art book. So I just, it's just all these little signs that were like, this is what you're supposed to be doing. This is, this is your path from when you were a kid. And so the culinary queen. Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, became an offshoot of that because you wanted to show that you didn't need to go to Fort Ambulu or some of these training institutes to become a self-made chef. Right, so what I just wanted everybody, the culinary queen to me is that every woman can be a queen of her kitchen.

Starting point is 00:18:24 everybody, the culinary queen to me is that every woman can be a queen of her kitchen. That is for me, like you can own it, you can be the top person in any kitchen. All you have to do is apply yourself. It's a choice. Yeah, and I think that's great because I think any dream that you want to accomplish, what you just said is the core to it. Anything that you want to accomplish, you can do. You just have to set your mindset and perception to change it from the way it was before to envisioning a future that you want it to be.

Starting point is 00:18:58 And then what I think is once you do that, you've got to get on, I call it a passion journey, other people call it a momentum journey, but the most important thing is to start taking actions. And before you do that, though, you need to start really prioritizing the steps you're gonna take.

Starting point is 00:19:18 And I think that's something that you use a technique called personal agility to help you with. Yeah, so when I met Maria, because Maria, as we, I don't know if everybody knows if they listen to the other show Maria, is very, she's a Fortune 500 marketer, she's also an international DJ, she teaches people personal agility and when I met her she took me on for coaching and we just really found out what with with personal agility you have to identify what really matters to you. And so when she asked me this question I was like wow you know okay well this really matters to me which was

Starting point is 00:20:01 my career financial stability and my. Those were the top three things that were really important to me and what really mattered to me because I knew that those things were going to change my life and head in the direction that I wanted to go to. So from that point, she started to coach me on, you know, doing the breadcrumb trail and setting the priorities map and leading myself through, unstained, focused on what was important to me and how I would get to my end result. And how to do that. Yeah. So I think Maria and I use some similar coaching techniques because we,

Starting point is 00:20:40 we both are trained in agile. And I found how successfully it's worked in multiple jobs. I've had and how you can apply it, like you call it personal agility, how you can apply it to your own life, and use it to figure out, you know, you're yearly, monthly, weekly, and boil it down the daily priorities, and then use stuck points and other things

Starting point is 00:21:07 To help you get through those those issues or speed bumps along the way How how do you is are the stuck points things that you and she worked on? Yeah, so you know there was you know things from you know childhood past relationships and just know, things from, you know, childhood, past relationships and just things that I was never taught, you know, that when we used our priorities map and we started to hone in on what really mattered to me and what the limiting and belief was that was keeping me from getting into that goal. We've worked those different things. Actually, what I found with using personal agility in my personal and business life was that I addressed a lot of things

Starting point is 00:21:51 that I thought weren't there, you know, like, oh, that happened back then, it doesn't bother me anymore. But we started to address some of those issues and heal some wounds that needed to be healed in order for me to be successful and have the mindset to be able to move forward and you know just knocked down a lot of barriers and a lot of walls that were there that now I know that stuff happened to me but they don't affect me in the same way. going through that, did you find that you had, I think where I'm going with this question is, I think our self identity is made up of so many elements that we listen to things outside of us. Tell us our self identity.

Starting point is 00:22:37 So we listen to what friends say, our self identity is, we listen to what society says, what social media says. Did you have difficulty crossing that lines to truly understanding who you were and who you wanted to be during that process, or did you find that it was fairly easy to get through it? I think there was some difficult times, but that was more in a resistance to changing. You know, because you get used to doing so many things a certain way for so long. And, but just having that coach there and Maria being my personal agility coach, just having her there and being able to see to say to me, what would it look like?

Starting point is 00:23:21 Or, you know, how would it, what, how do you think it would turn out if you did it this way? And is that really important to you? Is that really your responsibility? You know, just having someone that was able to coach me and let me look at what I was doing made me think more. I don't think I was ever afraid of the changes that needed to happen because I'd already made the choice and chose to do things differently. It was breaking the bad habits that were more, you know, things that needed to be addressed. So once I broke those bad habits and

Starting point is 00:24:02 you start to create new habits and have the right type of people in mindset around you, it really wasn't that hard for me. It's interesting. You just hit on every Friday I do a solo podcast and you just hit on two solo podcasts I've recently done. One is the importance of finding a mentor and I give what I think are the five important things to finding one. And one of them is you need someone who, you don't want your friend, you want someone who's going to tell you the brutal facts of what they're seeing in you because you need

Starting point is 00:24:36 someone who's going to hold you accountable. And I think too often we pick people who are easy to be mentor instead of people who are really going to challenge us and where we need to go. So I'm glad to hear that. Marie is doing with that with you. And then the second thing I heard you bring up is I have this concept. It's in my book. In this previous podcast episode called the mosquito principle. And I believe we all need to conduct a mosquito audit and what I mean by that is the mosquito is the most deadly animal on the planet and often we have both people and activities that fill our lives that are keeping us away from achieving our dream and you need to conduct a mosquito audit to rid you know to either recognize who they are in the behavior that they're doing or get them out of your life completely.

Starting point is 00:25:28 And it sounds like you've done both of those things. So the interesting about thing about that is I'll have to read your book because that's it does apply to what was going on in my life before. And I would be interesting to just, you know, read it and see how things have changed for me and where I recognize with that. But I was taking care of my oldest son, helping my middle son, his family. I was supporting all the people around me and not taking care of myself. So one of the things that Maria had me do was,

Starting point is 00:26:03 you know, like I'm going to help you, but you're going to have to even know that you're a children, they're adults, they need to be responsible in order for you to be successful and for that to trickle down to them, they need to see you set clear boundaries, clear guidelines, and move forward. And she really held me accountable to like, you know, you know, well, I can't do this for my business because I gotta go take my son, you know, to work. Well, why can't your son get on the bus?

Starting point is 00:26:34 Why can't he be an adult and do what he needs to do to be a responsible adult because you have things you have to do for your business, you have things to do to create what you wanna create. And when you're doing all these things for all these other people, you're not concentrating on yourself. And one of the things that I did for a very long time was I used to help everybody around me trying to be accepted instead of accepting myself first. Yeah, that's exactly yeah, and that's exactly where I was trying to go with that self identity is oftentimes we're trying to prickly so many other people were not we're not living the life or doing the things

Starting point is 00:27:14 that we were called to be. And so now what I've now since we're two and a half years in now I changed my life in my situation and what I was doing and have become successful. My oldest son is now actually in a very successful job. My youngest son is just graduated high school. So I see that my sister now is fulfilling her passion to take on her artwork and get out of working for somebody else. So I see that people around me are now affected by the positive things that I'm doing. And Maria, one of the very first things she taught me was, is that you are the some of the five people around you.

Starting point is 00:27:55 So I really had to take a really hard look at who my friends were and what they were doing with their lives and what they were actually taking from my life and move and move forward accordingly. Yeah, what do you think is the importance of surrounding yourself with positive people? Energy. I mean, just energy in itself, I'm like someone's negativity can run, rub off on you really, really quick and get you running down the wrong path. And so for me, I just want to surround myself with people who are moving forward, working to, to better, to even not just better themselves financially,

Starting point is 00:28:39 to better themselves with, you know, spiritually in their mind, you know, just everything about them being more of a positive surrounding for themselves, people that meditate and, you know, just try to take a positive spin on anything that actually happens to them. You can, oh, you can get yourself down faster than you can get, you know, so quickly running down that wrong road. I had a pastor one time that is this really resonated with me that said that it takes more

Starting point is 00:29:13 muscles to frown than it does smile. So why don't, why aren't we all smiling all the time? You know, so I just try to keep a smile on my face. And that's one of the things a lot of people call me sunshine because I really am smiling all the time because I think it just Did you know that Forbes magazine recently cited that over 70% of individuals who did personal development courses masterminds or one-on-one coaching benefited from improved work performance relationships and more effective communication skills Here at PassionStruck, we are obsessed

Starting point is 00:29:46 with self-development, coaching, and mentorship. That is why we've created a free resource to help you unlock your hidden potential, because people doing great things in business and life are just like you. They have just gotten some coaching along the way. And we have got you covered so you can too. Let us show you the systems and frameworks

Starting point is 00:30:05 that we teach growth-minded individuals to help them to unlock their purpose and live and build a passion-struck life that gets predictable results and gives you the freedom that you actually want. Go to passionstruck.com slash coaching right now to get started. right now to get started. I have this really good friend I used to work with from Lowe's, his name is Steve Solaji, and I remember every single time I would see Steve, I would say, Steve, how are you doing? And he would go outstanding or incredible or, and one time I was having a conversation with them and I said how are you this positive all the time and he goes well you know I didn't used to be he goes people used to come and ask me the same question and I

Starting point is 00:30:57 would say I'm okay I'm tired you know so-so it's an okay day and then he he started realizing you know the power that I'm emulating through my words is what is having an impact in my mind. And at this point, he had decided that whenever anyone was going to ask a question or something like that, he was going to change it into a very positive approach. And he said, over time, just that simple act caused him to have so much more positive energy, you know positivity in his life and the result of how it impacted those around him, he said made a complete black and white

Starting point is 00:31:37 difference from, you know, how many of us would answer that question. So that leads me to my next question is, why do you think it's so hard for people to let go of beliefs that aren't serving them anymore? Oh, wow. That's a good question. Comfortability, not the unknown, not a fear of not being like failing,

Starting point is 00:32:04 so they stick with what's comfortable to them. And they don't put themselves out there. And I can tell you that if you're not in a good space, putting yourself out there and not being comfortable, may, whenever, whenever something's uncomfortable or doesn't feel good to you, it's time for change. And so I always say, if they, if there's something going on, like this happened this day, that happened that day, just the universe challenging me to do better. That's great.

Starting point is 00:32:34 And a great saying too, because I do think, as I said before, I don't think I told you about this. Part of the studies I've been doing is I believe not only in the United States, but most Western cultures are on the verge of a global emergency. And if you look at this through a different lens, there are five, six, seven different studies out there and growing that are showing that entrepreneurism and business vitality, which are the forces that kind of brought about, you know, our current evolution that we're living in right now are starting to die in the United States and in other Western countries. And I believe

Starting point is 00:33:18 there are a number of reasons that two biggest are the contagions of comfort. You know, I call them the contagions and the mind and spirit. And to me, it's comfort and apathy. And I think those things are facing more and more people like you were saying. And then, till you are willing to address that comfort feeling, you're never gonna get away from it. No.

Starting point is 00:33:44 And you know, sometimes you have to be, sometimes you have to be uncomfortable to grow. You know, you have to get uncomfortable to get out of whatever is in your way. Doing things that are different are not always just going to feel good. So you have to constantly be learning and seeing and just putting yourself out there to do better, to be better, to feel better. If I, so like for me, I wanted, so in my story, part of my story is that that, my dad also in last year passed away in January.

Starting point is 00:34:29 Yeah, so 18 months apart, my parents passed away. Both of them had to be taken off life support. So a decision for both of those parents. What's the rest on you? We had to make the decision to, you know, first my dad was with me and my sister and my, our kids to take the decision to take my mother off life support. Then my dad, 18 months later, had a massive coronary failure

Starting point is 00:34:59 while driving a car and hit a lightbulb. And at that point, we had to make a decision to let my dad pass in me with my mother or to selfishly keep him with us. And it was not me and my sister and I looked at each other and said, this is not how we would want to live. He wants to be with mommy and we're going to honor his wishes. But in that, both of my parents died to obesity, heart disease, diabetes. My mother was legally blind, although their health was in a shams.

Starting point is 00:35:37 And I decided then, one of the things that was on my, my what really mattered to me was my health. And I had lost 20 pounds, but I was really up and down. I decided then, I said to Maria, I said, I gotta, I'm going to change this. I'm going to change it for me and my family. Let's meet every Monday.

Starting point is 00:35:57 Let's, let's make do a personal agility board for weight loss. She was struggling also, and we had another friend that was struggling. And so we had another friend that was struggling. And so we met every week on Monday, we applied personal agility to it. I have lost 55 pounds. I've taken myself out of the above high risk. My visceral fat wasn't even measurable

Starting point is 00:36:19 when we started this. I'm now only about 20 to 25 points away from being in a normal. My other girlfriend has lost 30 pounds. Maria has lost over 20 some pounds. I now have got my sister who has lost 53 pounds of girlfriend who has lost 42 pounds. And now I have another girlfriend who has just recently started and lost 10 pounds. So just seeing what I did has affected that many lives. So when you, I'm sorry. Yeah, it's amazing.

Starting point is 00:36:51 No, that's amazing. And what were the steps that you took to do it? Because to have one person achieve it is amazing in itself, but to have now a six or seven, what were some of the secrets? So just being vulnerable and sharing my story and sharing my journey and just letting them know that you can, anything that you want to do, you can do.

Starting point is 00:37:17 I, when I first started that journey to lose the weight and using personal agility, I hired a trainer and he would come to the house and I literally, he would have to tie my shoes to get me outside to exercise. I cursed at him the whole way, the whole way for the first two or three months. He's my best friend now.

Starting point is 00:37:38 No matter what mood I'm in, no matter how much I don't want to exercise, he is always positive. He is always encouraging. And I just know that the end goal is going to give me my life in a way that I never thought I'll be able to see my grandchildren get married. And that's, to me, in so much. Well, I mean, that's amazing because I think, you know, I think personally in something I teach is that I think there are three magic quadrants. There's, you know, your health. And I think so much of how we feel has to do with what we put in our bodies.

Starting point is 00:38:17 I've written a ton of articles on gut health and it matters so much to chronic diseases, things like dementia, and everything. And giving you with the energy you need, the second thing is doing something, some type of activity each day, where you're moving your body. That could be everything from going for a walk, doing a spin class, you know,

Starting point is 00:38:45 Peloton, doing yoga, to doing something, you know, it, it, it frees up your mindset and gives you a chance to recharge, it gets the body moving, and that metabolism going, you know, and then the third thing I think that's so important is mindset, and it's the three things have to have to kind of inner work and that's what I've I've found in myself um brings the magic quadrant out and it sounds like you've been using many of the same techniques. Yeah you know I just I honestly a lot of what changes us is a choice. You can either choose to be stagnant or you can choose to change and be better. So once you get your mindset in that you're going to change and that you're going to choose to be better, it's all about choosing.

Starting point is 00:39:35 It is really all about choosing. I chose to be successful in my business. I willed that into my life. I believe that it could happen. I envision myself every day. I still envision myself somewhere on someone's TV show, showing people how to make healthy comfort food. Every day I get up, I picture myself when I'm in my kitchen

Starting point is 00:39:58 and dancing around, listening to Fleetwood Mac, I picture myself on somebody's stage, and it's going to happen. Like, I'm not taking no for an answer. And until I get there, I'm going to, I'm going to keep working every day to, to get there and doing what it takes. Yeah. So well, you're getting, I think you'll like this. My, my slogan for this show is make a choice because I think you just hit the

Starting point is 00:40:23 head on the nail. You've got to make the choice because the hardest you just hit the head on the nail. You've got to make the choice because the hardest thing to do in this whole, you know, this whole app or add to this whole passion journey is actually making the choice that you're going to change. My next part of the slogan is work hard because without commitment and action, you're not going anywhere. And then the third part of the slogan is step into your step into your sharp edges. And to me is you've got to do something each each and every day that scares you. And you can't be afraid of it.

Starting point is 00:40:54 You got to embrace it. You got to go after those shadows that you know engulf you and you've got to step into it and get beyond them because every time you do it allows you to grow and become more and more who you need to be. Absolutely. Every day and you have to, you also have to be willing to learn. If you're not willing to learn, you're not going to grow. It's like a flower bed. If you don't water it, it's going to die.

Starting point is 00:41:23 So if you don't water yourself, you know, in essence, if you don't learn, if you don't water it, it's going to die. So if you don't water yourself, you know, in essence, if you don't learn, if you don't take even information, able to take constructive criticism, to just be teachable, you're going to, you'll wilt out really fast. So you just have to have an open mindset, you have to stay positive, you have to stay focused, and work diligently within that gift that you've been given, or within that passion. So I'm fortunate enough that what I'm passionate about is my gift. So I get to live within my passion and my gift every single day. I know from a very young age that I was meant to cook, and I know that I I still can remember being a

Starting point is 00:42:05 child saying I'm going to be a star one day. I remember that. I remember like it was yesterday just acting out that I was famous and that I was a star. So I know that I'm supposed to be doing something fabulous. That's that's amazing. So then I have to ask, you know, what is the aftermath like this? So we talked about what your life was like before. We kind of talked about that crisis situation that happened. Are you've overcome, you know, these obstacles along the way? And, you know, achieve success. So now that you've had success, what's the aftermath? What does your life look like today from where you started from? So it's so different.

Starting point is 00:42:53 It's so different. I used to struggle and had, I can't tell you, well yeah, I can't tell you because we figured it out and we looked back, sorry. At least a thousand dollars a year I can't tell you, well, yeah, I can't tell you because we figured it out and we looked back, sorry. At least $1,000 a year in instant fush, efficient funds, fees in my bank account. Cars being reposed, moving from one place to another, not always having to figure out how I was gonna feed my kids

Starting point is 00:43:22 or just struggling to survive. I'm sorry. It's okay. And today. Today, I make well over six figures. I'm able to be the support to my family that they need when it's important. I was able to, nobody in my family could afford to bury my father. I was able to do that. So that was a really good feeling to know that my family could count on me at that time. That I could just sit down and pay bills without feeling like one of the bills weren't going to get paid or if I kept the

Starting point is 00:44:05 water on the lights weren't going to be on I can I just sit down once a month and pay all the bills. I had a car repot when I first started this journey I have two cars sitting out there completely paid for. They're not fancy but they're good and they work and they're I, you know, just Christmas time I was able to invite my whole family here and cook for them without asking any of them to do anything, which is the world to me, to just have all of them here together and not feel like things are so strained, You know, I could get up in the morning time and just, and be happy and not worry about the things

Starting point is 00:44:51 I had to worry about before. And to give back, I can give back now. Yeah, that's fantastic. That is such an inspiring story. So if you had to look at all that you've accomplished, what would you tell the listeners is the secret to developing a winner's mindset? Wow. It all comes back to making a choice. Really hone in on what you want. Figure out what is really what you want to do with your life. Like, you know, like my oldest son,

Starting point is 00:45:26 he really loves to take photography. And I was like, well, figure out how you can make that, your life's working, your passion. So you never have to work again in whatever it is. If it's knitting hats, if it's doing nails, if it's carpentry, whatever you feel like is your passion and what you're called to do, sit down, find out what really matters to you, and then build a priorities map that will develop that passion and focus on those things and not the things

Starting point is 00:46:03 that aren't going to develop that. Because a lot of times we focus on the wrong things. We focus on what's going to just get that day over and maybe put dinner on the table. But if we're focusing on that end result and where we want to be in our life and what it takes to get there, all of that other stuff is just going to come naturally. You're going to be, everything's going to happen the way it's supposed to, as long as we're focusing on the right thing.

Starting point is 00:46:34 Yeah, and you bring up two more great points there. One is, I think too often, we practice pinball leadership in our own lives, meaning we end up living our days with no intentionality at all. We kind of just bounce off thing to thing to thing to thing and not accomplishing what we need to, instead of doing it with intentionality. And the second thing is, you used a different word for it, but to me, we are so caught up in focusing on what is urgent, we don't focus on what is important.

Starting point is 00:47:10 And our lives get so consumed by these urgent, these things that we think are so urgent that aren't taking us to our final destination of where we need to go. And you know, you use personal agility to help work with both of those, but intentionality and focusing on what's important are so critical to getting you from where you are today to where you want to be in the future. Absolutely. And if we don't have focus on what that end result is and we're just taking care of all the other stuff that's going on, then we're never going to get to where we want to be because we're not focused on the result. We're not focused on, hey, I want to be a chef on TV. What am I doing every day

Starting point is 00:48:00 that's going to make me a chef on TV. If I'm not posting on social media or trying to do, you know, contest that or put out there by Food Network, if I'm not, you know, posting my food, if I'm not talking about me. I go in a grocery store and I literally will hand the lady behind me, here's my card, I'm a private chef.

Starting point is 00:48:23 You know, like I'll talk to everybody, my sons look at me like I'm crazy. Like why does everybody have to know that? Because you never know who you're going to meet. You never know who you're going to run into. You never know what next thing in your life that is going to be a door that will open. So my job every day is to tell somebody what my passion is. That's awesome. And a great way to end this portion of our interview. So the next, the way I like to end the interviews is I like to go into a bit of a lightning round, of rapid round questions. And, you know, I don't want you to overthink these. I just kind of want you to give the answer

Starting point is 00:49:07 that comes to mind. So you ready? I'm ready. So the first one's a softball. If I would ask one of your friends or family, what the best thing you cook is, what would they say? Oh gosh, my family would say mac and cheese because they love my mac and cheese, but it's not healthy.

Starting point is 00:49:27 So, but the people around me and my clients would say the fact that I make healthy food comforting. Well, that's great. And what is your favorite thing to make? I'm a comfort food girl. So I love to take any recipe, anything that's out there and make it so that way it is healthy. I try to keep everything.

Starting point is 00:49:47 Grass fed, no GMO, no pesticides. We don't do frozen food, canned foods. Everything is made from scratch. That's great. And I have to say with the colder weather we've been having, one of my favorite comfort foods is potato soup. And you know how fat-ning that can be. So I was very happy.

Starting point is 00:50:07 Well, we used turn-up saying, I found some other secrets to cut out about two thirds of the fat and other things and it tasted pretty much the same. Yeah, a lot of people use milk or half-and-a-half with those kind of things, but heavy cream, if you use organic, it's low-carb. So you can change to heavy cream if you want to use heavy cream.

Starting point is 00:50:28 What, or oat milk? Oat milk is really good. Okay. So if you could meet anyone who's alive or dead, who you've never met before, who would it be in Y? I would want to meet Steve Harvey, and I want to meet him because I, although I watched this secret and all of the philosophers on that show gave me a basis for what I then proceeded to do in my life.

Starting point is 00:51:01 Steve Harvey, and that little fiveminute clip that he gave actually changed my life and the directory of it. I took a leap of faith because I trusted what he said. And interesting that I found there to be a lot of truth in it. And I would like to thank him. Well, that's a great, one of the better answers I've ever gotten. What is the best compliment you've ever received? That I'm the best chef that anybody's ever tasted to food, tasted to food, or like you really need to be on TV.

Starting point is 00:51:38 Okay, and if you could win. Oh, you didn't win. I got one, I'm sorry, I forgot this one. My current clients, sit, call me and said, there has to be something in this food. It tastes too good. That's, that's awesome. If you could win any award, what would it be and why? I would think the mom of the year award. I know it. Everybody would want me to say

Starting point is 00:52:08 to be a some type of chef award, but the mom of the year award. I just the reason why I do everything is for my family. Okay. And I just want them to be proud of me. If you were to give a listener one word of wisdom, what would it be? Believe in yourself. Okay, and if someone wants to learn more about you, I or you, watch you, where can they do so? They could always just Google me. I am Googleful, the culinary queen. And we have Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, website, we have a thumbtack. But mostly, if you just Google the culinary queen, they'll find me. Okay, well, Chef Sharon, thank you so much for being on the show today. And

Starting point is 00:53:02 you know, sharing your story, I know at times it wasn't easy, but I think there is so much here that our listeners can pull apart and really learn from your inspiration. So thank you so much for being on the show. Well, thank you so much for having me. I really enjoyed it. It's great. I love it. Anytime.

Starting point is 00:53:23 Okay. Well, thank you. And I'll have to consider you having you back on as the show progresses to see how your dream continues to grow. Well thank you so much, I'd love it. What an amazing guest Sharon Gehrin was. She brought so much content for all our listeners today. Everything from how do you get through your comfort zone, developing a winner's mindset, facing your fears and overcoming

Starting point is 00:53:56 them, using personal agility as well as many other topics. It was such a joy to have her on today and to hear how vulnerable and inspirational she was throughout the show. There is so much meaning that you can get from her and I hope that you do. What a great episode that was with Chef Sharon Garin. And boy did she have so much inspiration to give you all today on how she made that choice. She didn't want to work those five jobs anymore.

Starting point is 00:54:33 She wanted to pursue her dream and that's exactly what she did through hard work and dedication. I have learned throughout my life, just like the quote at the beginning of this segment, that mastery is an ever-ending process. And to become best at whatever we're pursuing, whether that's to be an entrepreneur, a small

Starting point is 00:54:54 business owner, a leader in an organization, someone in the military, you must practice every single day and master what it is you want to pursue. And that is exactly what we try to bring forth in each of our episodes of the Passion Strike podcast. I am so excited that you found us here today, and thank you for continuing to watch and listen to our show. Thank you so much for joining us. The purpose of our show is to make Passion Go viral.

Starting point is 00:55:27 By sharing the knowledge and insights you can use to unlock your hidden potential. To hear more, please subscribe to the show in iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you'd love this episode, we'd appreciate a five-star rating on iTunes, where if you simply tell free of your most driven and motivated friends about the show and post to your social accounts, that would help us grow our PassionStruct community too. If you want more tools to unlock your potential, please make sure to also visit our website

Starting point is 00:55:59 passionstruct.com to sign up to our email list as well as check out all the links and resources in the show notes. Be sure to tune in on Tuesdays and Fridays for our next episodes. And remember, make a choice, work hard, and step into your sharp edges. Thanks again, and I'll see you next time. you

Passion Struck with John R. Miles - Sharon Guerin On Unlocking Your Hidden Potential and Taking Control of Your Life EP 14

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