Meet Sheryl Green

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sheryl Green. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sheryl below.

Sheryl, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
My stepmom, Linda, came into my life when I was just 4-years-old. My mom and my dad had just divorced and even at that young age, I was showing signs of anxiety. Linda always acted as my advocate. She was my voice the entire time I was growing up… even though she was always in pain.
With life-long auto-immune issues, she dealt with everything from heart and lung trouble to Rheumatoid Arthritis, to spending years in a wheelchair. Even though pain was a constant in her life, she got up every day to make the world a better place. Through a wicked sense of humor and the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever met, she got back up every time she got knocked down. The day after she passed away, I received a phone call from the Nevada Donor Network. She’d signed up to give whatever she could to whoever needed it. As difficult a time as it was, knowing that she continued to help others, even after her death, put a smile on my face.
As I’ve encountered my own challenges in this life, I’ve used her strategies to be resilient. I use humor in every situation, and I always look for ways to help others, whether that be through animal rescue or using my painful journey to help make someone else’s a little bit easier.
I may not have gotten her genes, but I certainly inherited Linda’s resilience.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’ve always loved reading and digging into a good story. While going through a divorce in my late twenties, I took a writing class at the community college and discovered a love for writing as well. I wrote 3 novels (funny serial killer books) before deciding that I didn’t want to be a novelist after all and abandoning my unpublished books on my hard drive.

A few years later, I decided I wanted to be a professional speaker. Everyone I spoke to said if I wanted to be a speaker, I needed to write a book. Well, that wasn’t a problem! I turned my sights to nonfiction and have now written (and published!) 6 books of my own and ghostwritten several others.

My latest book is called “You Had Me At No: How Setting Healthy Boundaries Helps Banish Burnout, Repair Relationships, and Save Your Sanity.” It’s designed for people who are tired of people-pleasing and putting their needs on the back burner. It’s my favorite book so far because everyone who reads it makes changes (for the better) and begins to implement healthy boundaries in their lives. My mission is to make the world a better place… one boundary at a time.

I speak to women’s groups, nonprofit groups, and other organizations who would like to improve their quality of life (and their businesses). I love helping people examine their lives and start making their priorities a priority!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1. Resilience, for sure. I’ve been knocked down so many times, but each time, I get back up stronger. It’s important to find the lesson in what has happened so you are not doomed to repeat it!

2. Radical responsibility. It’s very easy to play the victim in any situation, but it’s not helpful. We need to look inside ourselves and be honest about why we are where we are today. I’m not suggesting that we can control everything around us, but for the most part, we are in our current situation because of decisions we’ve made in the past. The great news… if you are responsible for where you are at – you get to be somewhere else by making different decisions!

3. Vulnerability. I’ve been very open about the challenges I’ve faced. I share my story in books, on stage, and with anyone who is interested. Because of this, I easily build rapport with good people, but even more importantly, I give them permission to be vulnerable as well. It leads to some very honest and powerful conversations and incredibly strong relationships.

My advice to people on this journey (and we are all on this journey) is to give yourself some grace. You aren’t going to be awesome at everything right away. This all takes practice and every step you take should be celebrated. Basically… stop beating yourself up!

How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I’m always interested in meeting people to potentially collaborate or partner with!

I’d love to talk to therapists and coaches interested in putting on events for their clients. The next goal for my business is to host in-person retreats dedicated to empowering women to speak up for themselves, put their needs first, and start establishing healthy, functional boundaries. It would be wonderful to have a partner for this.

I’m also looking for a mentor who is further along in their journey and interested in sharing their knowledge and experiences.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Melanie Rose

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