Meet Sherry McClurkin, MS

We were lucky to catch up with Sherry McClurkin, MS recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sherry, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

My purpose, just like everyone else’s, changes as my life stage, emotional growth, and situations change. The big vision is: I am here to serve and honor Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior; that is a moment-by-moment and step-by-step path as it is laid out before me. This is true Joy.
I don’t believe “purpose” is something to “find”. That’s a myth. It’s a myth that causes anxiety, fears, and a sense of not living up to something, where that something isn’t even defined. Live your life, try different things, spend time with various people, keep stretching your comfort zone, that’s how to discover what fits you, what speaks to your heart as important and valuable. No one can do that for you.
My current purpose, as given to me by Jesus Christ, is to Coach, Speak, & Write about the truth that our emotions, mindsets, relationships, nervous system, and Christ are interconnected, intertwined, and extremely important to attend to.
My current purpose was given to me through frustration and burnout from my previous purpose. My previous purpose was as a Trauma Therapist, which I did for over 10 years, where I gained the education, knowledge, courage, and vital client experiences to become the Coach, Speaker, & Writer I am today.
Throughout all of that is prayer, Christ-centered Bible studies, and other ways to sharpen, deepen, and intensify my relationship with Jesus Christ. Every purpose I have is based on Jesus Christ.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I love inspiring Christians, particularly women, to Heal & Renew their hearts and minds & deepen their faith. My passion is exploring the truth of intertwined emotions, mindsets, nervous system, relationships, & Christ. They’re all interconnected. The goal is unlocking your Authentic Christ-centered Calm, Confident, Empowered self.

I love sharing my expertise as a former trauma therapist of 10+ yrs, being neuroscience-informed, and a real person who went through real things and discovered my own Authentic Christ-centered Calm, Confident, Empowered self and never looked back.

I’m excited to invite you to several upcoming Free speaking engagements:
— June 20, lunch time = If you are a Christian woman in or near Tucson, AZ, please join me at the in-person Tucson Chapter meeting of the National Association of Christian Women Entrepreneurs (register @ NACWE.org) where I’ll speak on “The Abandonment Wound”.

— also June 20, evening = If you are a Christian woman, please join me at the virtual, US-wide networking meeting of the National Association of Christian Women Entrepreneurs (register @ NACWE.org) where I’ll speak on “Conquering Imposter Syndrome: Lessons from Apostle Paul’s Thorn”.

— July 23-27, virtual = Please join me at the Comeback Champion Summit where I’ll speak on “Humility as a Super Power”. Register @ https://www.ComebackChampionSummit.com

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I call myself a life-long learner and believe it’s vital for all of us to be life-long learners. We need to keep growing or we stagnate. I get antsy when I don’t have enough variety and have too much sameness. I’m also aware I have a higher risk-tolerance than many; that means I’m often willing to face my fears and take steps into the unknown. I advise everyone to cultivate both those skills and mindsets..
I feared returning to college in my 40s after failing out of college in my early 20s. I wasn’t sure I could do a college-level program. I wasn’t sure I would fit in. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do homework and assignments in my 40s. I faced those fears. I not only returned to college and finished my Bachelor’s degree, I went on to earn a Master’s degree, then a License as a therapist, followed by years of intensive trainings specializing as a trauma therapist. I loved all of it.
That entire journey changed me, built my confidence, sharpened my focus, increased my people skills, and so much more.
That antsy feeling began gnawing at me about 4 years ago and that started my emotional dive into what a change might look like and the pros and cons of making a change. So I had to face my fears of the unknown, financial concerns, and what others might think of such a change. When it was time, I was determined and motivated and still afraid. So I transitioned into Coach, Speaker, Writer.
I had no idea of what that change would open up for me nor the amount of new learning and a good amount of unlearning I was destined to go through. I’m glad I didn’t know upfront how much work I still needed to go through to get the coaching, speaking, and writing really going; or I might not have done it. Now, though, I’m grateful to Christ for putting amazing people in my path who stuck with me through my anxiousness, fears, and overwhelm as I took on these new roles and all that comes with them.
Surround yourself with support, experts, and encouragers.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

Transitioning from the role of trauma therapist to coach, speaker, writer sounds like it wouldn’t be that challenging. And that’s accurate if only looking at the time with the client or audience. Everything else, though, is entirely different; from marketing to messaging to finding clients/audiences to the words I use to requirements; it’s all different. I also moved my home across the country 2 years ago, so I started over in that aspect, too. I’m in need of connectors, clients, audiences, and collaborators.

My vision is to have some 1-to-1 clients, many speaking engagements, develop and lead workshops, and to build a catalog of on-demand webinars that come with group coaching. To do this, I need to reach my ideal clients.

Social media is crowded. As a therapist, there are well-known online directories for us to join and for potential clients to use to find us. There’s no equivalent as a coach, speaker, writer. Email inboxes are overflowing; I know mine is. I post on Facebook and LinkedIn. I have an email list and send infrequent emails. Those are fine. The best ways, though, are warm introductions and referrals, along with joint projects with those who already have a substantial following and are willing to share.

I’m interested in connecting with churches and other Christ-centered organizations that have or serve Christian women who are ready to heal and renew their emotions and mindsets and deepen their faith, and who have an income-level where they can afford a coach. I’m happy to do free speaking and workshops to an audience of Christian women who fit that description, as long as I can also offer them my other services. I’m happy to collaborate with others who offer different services from mine yet have a similar/same ideal client.

And I’d love to connect with others who offer different services with the same/similar ideal client, so we can market each other.

No small business grows all by itself. Every small business needs a team. I’m looking for my team.

Contact Info:

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