Meet Sheri Oneal

We were lucky to catch up with Sheri Oneal recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Sheri with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
As a kid, I learned a lot about business from my mom. At a young age, I made an allowance working after school and during school breaks in her beauty salon answering the phones, taking appointments, cleaning up, and folding towels. She later opened up an antique store where I also worked and I had to speak to customers about the things in the store. Those experiences taught me how to be responsible, to show up on time, and how to earn and save money. It showed me I could do anything I wanted as long as I worked hard and believed I could become what I dreamed of becoming.

My parents both worked very hard, I watched them grow both of their careers and build a comfortable lifestyle for my sister and me. They both were a big part of my belief that I could accomplish anything and that is where my work ethic comes from for me.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am a commercial photographer, an artist, a storyteller, and an educator in Nashville. Commercial photography is my primary career specializing in architecture, editorial, PR headshots, and travel photography. Since the pandemic, I started a blog and podcast series called The Creative Push which is also part of a learning platform I am growing called Learn and Create. I have always wanted to support fellow creatives and felt it was important to share the stories of others who have overcome adversity with their own creative endeavors.

As a storyteller, I decided to combine my love of writing and photography in a way that might offer inspiration to other creatives who might be struggling. As I develop these new side hustles it is introducing me to new skills with writing, video, audio, editing software, and AI research among other things. My hope is to offer online inspiration, tips, photo and business courses for freelance creators and solopreneurs. It is still in the early stages due to my limited budget, working around my full-time photography career, my learning curve, and doing everything myself but I am having a blast.

I am very close to releasing a lot of new things that I have been working on over the past 2 years including online courses, books, fine-art imagery as well as continuing my podcast, YouTube vlog, and blog content.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1. Outlining my goals in detail in a Google document. It’s one thing to think about what I plan to accomplish in my business it’s another to outline in detail what I want and how I think I can accomplish each goal. Having an outline and plan of action allows me to have something to check back on later and revise my plan of action if it doesn’t work. When a goal is just a thought it tends to get lost over time especially when life gets busy. Outlining my goals in detail seems to keep me accountable and gives me something to fall back on when I am trying to catch up after a few weeks of craziness. As a freelancer, this can happen a lot.

2. I schedule weekly time blocks on my calendar from outlined goals in order to complete the needed tasks. Putting alerts and time blocks on my calendar reminds me to make time to do what needs to be done to move closer to accomplishing my goals. As a freelancer, it is easy to lose sight of things you need to keep up with outside of actual assignments. Breaking down what I need to do into smaller tasks and adding those to my calendar keeps me from feeling overwhelmed and alerts me to complete some of the steps in order to get things done. It sounds so simple but when you don’t make the time for that smaller weekly task they pile up and over time can feel overwhelming and create stress.

3. Be patient. Patience is something I struggle with because I have so much I want to do. I create really big goals and often feel there is never enough time. That feeling is usually because I want to complete so many things quickly. What I am learning is that success doesn’t come from just checking off your goals on a list. The journey in between is just as important while you are going through the motions. Sometimes a goal takes a completely new and better turn towards something better while putting in the work and being patient along the way. Accepting when things go wrong and having patience in those times allows you to grow by overcoming those adversities.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?
Collaborating with other creatives is the theme of almost everything I do with my side hustles. I wear a lot of hats right now because I am trying to build a learning platform for creatives on my own with no budget and limited expertise in regard to video and audio editing. My side hustles are not generating income yet but I know they will eventually. I am generating interest and growing an email list for when everything is in place. I am always looking for interesting creatives who have inspiring stories that would appeal to my creative audience on The Creative Push.

I would love to collaborate or partner with a videographer, audio person, marketing pro, or anyone else who might want to take part in the vlogs or podcast interviews. I would want to be sure they are getting something of value, whether it is strengthening their craft, cross-promotion online, or even possibly becoming a co-host. I am unsure how any of that would look but I am open to ideas and possibilities.

I truly want to grow a body of videos and podcasts that help other creatives become more confident and successful as not only creatives but as solopreneurs living their dreams.

Contact Info:

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