005 - Sally Green on Transforming Adversity into Opportunity

Sally Green's transformation from a house cleaning business owner to the vice president of author development at Action Takers Publishing is a narrative of resilience and reinvention amidst adversity. Her journey through personal loss and pandemic challenges to a career rooted in her passion for writing is not just inspiring but also a guidepost for anyone looking to pivot their life path. Her story, shared in our conversation, is a testament to the unexpected opportunities that can emerge when we navigate life's turbulent waters with hope and determination.

In discussing the healing power of writing, Sally highlights how crafting words can be a therapeutic endeavor, offering solace and a means to process experiences. This episode delves into practical advice for both seasoned and budding authors, emphasizing the importance of storytelling as a tool for personal growth and healing. Our dialogue extends to the significance of self-care and self-love for entrepreneurs grappling with self-doubt and external pressures, underscoring the transformative power of embracing creativity and rest in one’s daily regimen. Sally's insights and our shared wellness practices aim to empower our listeners to embark on their own journeys of self-discovery and healing, nurturing their inner strength and creativity.

You can find Sally Green here:   FindSally.com

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---CONNECT with Deborah Edwards---
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---CONNECT with Debbie Pearson---
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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Hey everybody, I am so excited to welcome you again to the Shiro Cafe and I am also very excited that we have Sally Green with us today and Debbie, yeah, tell us about our guest.

Speaker 2: 0:21

Okay, well, hello everybody. If you are a creative person, that creative type, you're going to love this episode. Our special Shiro today is Sally Green, and her Shiro journey will take us from owning a house cleaning business to great loss, to her current position of being vice president of author development at Action Takers Publishing. Now, how in the world did that happen and what events could have possibly occurred? How could Sally's background, what she's passionate about and what's transpired over time, help shift her out of desperation into a meaningful and fulfilling life? Now, as you can probably guess, her life didn't start out so easy, but we'll get there in a minute. So let me share a little bit more about her. So you can probably guess, her life didn't start out so easy, but we'll get there in a minute. So let me share a little bit more about her so you can get a better sense of who Sally is as a person.

Speaker 2: 1:10

She's one of those people who are passionate about healing through writing. She's a lifelong learner and reader, and what touches my artist soul is she is an artist who also loves painting in acrylic. She calls it her mental get away from everything and, like I literally couldn't agree more. I love it. So Sally and I met at a live conference called expert positioning summit and we connected immediately. So since then I've taken Sally's courses to get my book out of my head and onto paper and I'm excited about that and I'll be announcing that at the right time. But this podcast is not about me.

Speaker 3: 1:48

So let's know it's.

Speaker 2: 1:51

It's about our guest Shiro, who loves to use the power of words for herself and others to dream, heal and achieve. So, Sally Green, welcome to the Shiro Cafe podcast. How are you?

Speaker 3: 2:05

doing. I am so excited to be here. I just love this. Yes, thank you.

Speaker 2: 2:11

So let's start off with you sharing your Shiro's journey. How is it that you came to be where you are today? Like I know, there was, like I said, the cleaning business, and then all these events, and then here you are doing what you're doing, which is absolutely amazing, yeah. So share with us. How did all that happen?

Speaker 3: 2:34

Yeah Well, I mean, I started the house cleaning business when my when I had my daughter, when my daughter was small, as a way to just earn some extra money, and you know people will pay you to clean their house for them. So so it was. It was easy, it was something that I enjoyed doing at the time. I had my small daughter, so I either I was able to bring her or, it was only a few hours, I was able to get a sitter for her, um, and it just kind of blossomed from there. I got one account and and then the next thing I knew I had a full schedule and I was going to three houses a day, and my husband joined me about 15, 20 years ago, and so him and I were doing the house cleaning together. We did that for a number of years and then COVID hit. When COVID hit, we lost a big cleaning client because they didn't want us in there, because you know so, and it was it was like 60% of our business.

Speaker 1: 3:37

Wow.

Speaker 3: 3:39

So that, yeah, and that was that was tough, you know. And so we were struggling with that, and I remember that it was March 25th of 2020. I woke up that morning and I looked in the mirror and I realized I was a mess. I mean, I was a mess financially. I was a mess emotionally, spiritually, physically. I was 40 pounds heavier than I am right now, which and I'm still not where I'm supposed to be, you know. And so I was in a real bad head space and I knew that if I didn't do something, I would get into a downward spiral and I would get into a place where I wouldn't be able to climb myself out. And I knew I had to do something, like right away. And so I started, I started walking. I got my daughter and I said let's just go for a walk. I got to clear my head. So we went out for a walk. It was March, it was cold, and when we came back, I was like you know what? We need to start eating healthier. We need to start, you know. So we started eating healthier, we looked up recipes, we started walking regularly, and then I was like I got to start taking some online classes. I don't want to do the house cleaning anymore. I want to do something different, and so I started taking online courses, and then, in July, I got an offer from the courses that I was taken to write a chapter in a collaboration book my first collaboration book.

Speaker 3: 5:01

I'd always loved to write. Writing was my getaway. You know, I would sit and write all the time. I had a book of poetry I'd written, I'd written Bible studies, I'd written stories for my daughter when she was small, and so so when I got that opportunity, I was like, oh wow, this is so great. What I didn't realize was that, you know, it was about being in business. Now I had my little cleaning business. It was just me and my husband and I wrote in a book about entrepreneurship, and I quickly realized that I was totally out of my element in that book, because I was in this book with 150 highly successful business owners and coaches who were like the guy who was from Ugg Boots, who invented Ugg Boots, the guy who invented the game Pictionary All of these high powered people were in this room and me.

Speaker 3: 5:53

You know this little house cleaner from Shelton, connecticut, who had no, no list, no following, no new nobody. And so I said you know what I got to leverage this opportunity. I am never, ever going to get this opportunity again. And so I said you know what I got to leverage this opportunity. I'm never, ever going to get this opportunity again. And so I reached out. I went on Facebook one Saturday and I reached out to every single author in that book and send them a friend request. How many were there? 150.

Speaker 1: 6:19

Wow Okay.

Speaker 3: 6:21

And I said we're in the same book. How's it going? What are you working on that I can come support you? And I started showing up in there taking their courses. I started showing up at their math. They invited me to join masterminds. I would. When I would go to these things, I would make sure I asked questions because I wanted them to know who I was, and so that was. That was the start of all this.

Speaker 3: 6:44

And I's where I connected with a woman, linda Sunshine West. She was also part of that book and she was running a mastermind. She invited me to attend. I started doing that and then she was putting these books together the collaboration books and invited me to be in those collaboration books with her. So I joined the two books that she was doing and I hired her to be my business coach. So I started working with her regularly, once a week, because I was like, well, I need to figure out how, what I'm doing here, because I had no clue. I'd run a cleaning business for 25 years. So I hired her to be my business coach. We worked together for about 10 months.

Speaker 3: 7:24

We published the two books and one day I was talking to her and I said you know you seem a little stressed. She was doing all the work herself. She was doing all these books all by herself. I said could I help you? You know she had helped me so much. I said I just want to help you. And I it wasn't. I was looking, I wasn't looking for anything, I just wanted to help her out. I said I can talk to the authors and help them write their stories. I could I. I know you know I can do some web development. I'm pretty good at graphics and artistic stuff if you want me to do some behind the scenes stuff. So she started throwing me little things here and there and we published the two books eight days apart. They both both became international bestselling books. And she called me about a week later and she said I love working with you, I love doing the publishing. Do you want to do this as a business together?

Speaker 2: 8:15

And so her and I.

Speaker 3: 8:16

She stopped doing her business mentorship, I pretty much stopped doing the house cleaning and the stuff that I was doing and we went full throttle into the publishing business. This was in October 2021. Since that time, we have published together, her and I 32 books, and they all become international bestselling books. We focus mostly on the collaboration books, where each person writes their own chapter, but we have done solo books too in the in the process, wow.

Speaker 2: 8:46

So what is it that you do that to help the authors? I mean, you're talking about the collaboration book, but if somebody either wanted to participate with a collaboration book or they have their own story but they can't, like I couldn't get it out of my head and it's all stored up there. But like, how do you? So what is it that you do that helps authors? I don't know if it's the same for a collaboration book or it's different, like I don't know. So what do you do?

Speaker 3: 9:14

Yeah, yeah, mostly I mean for my job, you know, and the company is to get on a phone call with the authors and we usually do a zoom like a zoom call and I just asked them their story, tell me, tell me what it is. You know what it is. You want this book to do for you. Tell me what it, what your story, you know, cause each, each book has a theme, like we had one embracing the impact of cancer, so it was all people who had had that diagnosis and they wanted to share their story. We had one called finding your purpose. So it was all people who were on a quest or had called finding your purpose. So it was all people who were on a quest or had already found their purpose. So it was, you know.

Speaker 3: 9:55

Okay, how did you find your purpose? What was the? What did you go through? You know? And then, what do you want this book to do for you at the end? Do you want it to be a legacy for your children to read your story or do you want it to get you clients for your business? So it's knowing that outcome of what they want out of the book and then being able to pick the right story from their life that they want to tell and share inside that book, and so it's helping them to. You know, I just ask them questions and help them get more clear on exactly it is the story they want to tell and the story they want to share inside the book. So you have.

Speaker 2: 10:34

I'm looking for clarity on what you're talking about the collaboration book and the different types of authors. So you may have an author, let's do the find your purpose book or whatever.

Speaker 2: 10:46

I don't remember exactly what you said but there may be somebody in there that just wants their story as a legacy and that story goes in there because they're writing. It's real, like self-contained. It's not like there's 10 steps to find your purpose and one person writes chapter one because that's step one, but it's more like each chapter is an inclusive, conclusive chapter in and of itself.

Speaker 3: 11:12

Yeah, we have done books the way that you've said, where we're looking for specific authors and that's you know, we know the chapters and then we have to select the authors based on you know. But if we have, like, we had the book. We had unstoppable female entrepreneurs, okay, so we had women coming to us saying you know, I've built my business. This is how I did it, and so it was. A lot of the books are more you know. Let me share my story of what I did so that you could read it and, you know, maybe get some inspiration from it.

Speaker 2: 11:55

Gotcha OK. So I understand that, in addition to publishing or helping people write their books, you are also a sought out, sought after inspirational speaker, sharing your experiences and insights. What is it that you do that motivates in other people to like, embrace self-care, pursue their passions or unleash their inner author? You know what is it that that you talk about?

Speaker 3: 12:26

yeah, mostly it's you know the power of your words right, getting your words outside of you, making sure you know, especially with the self-care, saying the right words to yourself, saying the right words to others, because the words that we say, the words that we write, the words that we say to others, the words that we say to ourselves, our inner dialogue, all have meaning and all have have consequences. You know, if we're we're bullying ourselves and saying things to ourselves that we wouldn't say to anybody else, you know we all, we all do that. So it's it's cleaning up that language and cleaning up the and and writing your story. Cleaning up the and writing your story. So I talk a lot about you know the power of your words, getting the saying the right words and then how writing is healing.

Speaker 3: 13:21

I've had so many authors that I've dealt with. We've had over 400 authors in the last two and a half three years that have said, wow, you know what I didn't realize when I sat down to write my chapter? How emotional I was going to feel as I was writing it. And then hitting the send button to send it to you was really hard for me because I'm putting my story out there. But then afterwards, the healing that took place because they were able to share their testimony, they were able to share their story, they were able to get that off their chest and out into the world. And now other people are reaching out to them saying, oh yeah, I've had a similar situation and it kind of. It kind of makes it all worthwhile. You know, know, and you do, you go through that healing process. Some people I've I've I've dealt with that have written there or they want to write a story about something and maybe it's too recent and it's still too raw.

Speaker 1: 14:26

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 14:26

And I say to them you know what? This isn't the story that you want to share right now. You still have some healing to do. Let's think. Either think of another story or maybe we're going to push this out a few months. That's happened numerous times because you know we don't want, we don't want. We want the the author to be ecstatic when they hand a book to somebody and say read my chapter be ecstatic when they hand a book to somebody and say read my chapter, Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 14:55

What would you say, Sally, is the number one piece of advice that you would give to someone that is, you know, like Debbie, has that book in them but don't know how to get it out, or don't know how to start. What would you advise them to do in that situation?

Speaker 3: 15:14

Yeah, I mean I say just do a little bit every day, because a lot of times it's overwhelming. You know, you look at your project or you have this idea in your head or and it's like, wow, you know I got to do this and this and this and this. The thing is to just start. Number one just start, even if you just go in and open up a Word document and just put the name of the book there and then just start writing. Or just get a notebook. It depends on what you. Some people like to handwrite, other people are okay with typing. Go buy a notebook, growing up a fresh notebook and a pen. Oh my gosh, that was like my a blank.

Speaker 3: 15:55

So maybe just go to the store, buy a notebook and just put the name of the book and then just start right and just start brainstorming, brainstorm ideas. It doesn't need to be in order, it doesn't need to be perfect, just outside of you.

Speaker 2: 16:10

So what I'm hearing is because I think, like a lot of people, I look at a book, right, I buy a book and it's the completed project, right, it's like it's gone through whatever the magic is it needs to go through, and we see the finished product. But in writing it ourselves, I know for me, I'm like I need to write every word, the way it will be at the end. And I'm hearing like, and I know now, but that that really just getting bullet points, uh, quotes you enjoy, um, thoughts that came up, a story that you want to share about that, and it just just like this might sound a little TMI, but it's like just puke it out and we'll clean it up later. And because, like that mattered for me, just get it out, right. And so, just being able to and you know I worked with Sally, like I said, we did this.

Speaker 2: 17:12

I did a little, it was like a three day or, and then it was a whole week course. We did a little workshop, a little course, then it was a whole week course. We did a little workshop, a little course, and it was like, uh, sally was able to just spend a few minutes with me, like what do you want and asking me some questions what do you want from this and how do you want this to look? You know, and just doing that was just such clarity that I was able to like get my outline down. Um, sally helped me with my outline and then I was able to like I, I was like y'all put me in a room by myself. We were on zoom Right, so put me in a breakout room and I was like, and for like 30 or 40 minutes I just typed my heart out and it was great, like I got so much done. And of course you go, it was just, it was a fabulous process. I highly recommend it for anybody that's interested. Go ahead, deborah.

Speaker 1: 17:59

And that said I mean, that is what you know I'm actually in the process of writing a book now. It's just been exciting and frustrating at the same time. But that said, what would you advise? For you know? For at what point would you advise a writer like me to contact someone like you? Because you know, and right now we're saying I'm doing a collaborative book with my friend Jonda Ford, and we're like thinking, well, we'll wait until we got the book done and then we'll contact somebody. It sounds like that's not probably the best way to do it, or there's other ways that could support us better. So what would your advice be to us.

Speaker 3: 18:44

Well, first of all, everyone is different, right? Everyone writes it in a different way. The way that I write, or the way that Deb writes, or you write, you know, everyone has their own style, their own way of getting things done. If you're stuck, I think hiring a writing coach or getting even just like a one time, like one hour, sit down with somebody and just maybe get some input and get some inspiration.

Speaker 3: 19:13

If you're really struggling with getting it finished, a lot of times people will write it and they keep writing it and they keep writing it and they don't know how to end it. So, you know, maybe that's where you need to to. You know you've you've gotten it mostly done, but you need help in either ending it or or cleaning it up, or does this make sense? Or maybe just just somebody to kick some ideas off of. You know that kind of thing, yeah, so I think it's it's it's wherever you are in the process and wherever you feel that you need. You know for others that might be right from the start. You know I need I don't know what I'm doing, I just I need help everywhere, you know, and to be able to maybe meet with somebody once a week or once every two weeks to get these ideas and get the writing out there. So it depends on where you are as a writer, how dedicated you are to writing and how quickly you want your book to be out into the world.

Speaker 2: 20:18

Sally, you have a weekly accountability and writing hour. You want to tell us a little about that?

Speaker 3: 20:27

Yeah, yeah. So what we do is it's just kind of like a writing club. We have two or three women right now that are regulars, that come in and it's just you come in, you sit down, you write, if you have a question with me, you I'll work with you one-on-one. We have like a quiet room we'll send you into and and it's just more. You know, a lot of people just need that accountability, right. It's I, I'm going to write today and I just need to to sit down and get it done, so I don't know that feeling.

Speaker 2: 21:02

It's like if I schedule cause this is how I am If I schedule time, I'll just make it up Nine o'clock on Friday morning, from nine to 10. And I'm going to write there, you can better believe something comes up and I don't get it done. Well, I can write later. Let me participate in this other thing, whatever it is, and but when? When I have that accountability and I'm like I don't know what that is, just knowing that I'm going to be like dialing into that Zoom call and going in there, there's accountability where it's like I'm sorry, I can't, I'm committed versus all right, because I think I can do it later and it never gets done later. I mean never, but it's more likely that it's not.

Speaker 2: 21:51

It's like coveting the time, you know just like a doctor's appointment or you're going to see your lawyer or something like that. You're going to do that instead of the other thing. Okay, so I know that people can call if they want to talk to you for a free 30-minute Zoom. Call Right, Sally, Yep.

Speaker 3: 22:11

Yep, you can go over to FindSallycom. That's my website or my contact, but the business is actiontakerspublishingcom. So if you go to actiontakerspublishingcom, you find all about being part of a collaboration book, and there's also a link there to connect with me and schedule a call with me there too.

Speaker 2: 22:37

And we will have all that information, your contact information in the description. And, yes, you've written several books. I noticed. How many do you think it is by now? Do you know how many altogether?

Speaker 3: 22:51

Collaboration books. I think I just finished my 17th one since I started and I wrote my first children's book in january and I'm going to be releasing another one um next week or this. So, um, you guys are the first to know um in march, in march of 2024, I'll be releasing uh, book two in the in the children's book series that I'm working on, children's picture book. Oh, nice.

Speaker 2: 23:20

So it's the cutest baby dragon is the first one, first one, is it also?

Speaker 3: 23:25

a dragon book and the second one is my. Dragon tried to plant a tree.

Speaker 1: 23:30

Oh, that is so cute.

Speaker 3: 23:32

And so that will come out. I just got this yesterday. This is the book cut design.

Speaker 2: 23:38

Don't tease our audience too much.

Speaker 3: 23:40

They can't well, this way they'll already be aired right. So yeah, maybe so, um, we'll.

Speaker 2: 23:51

So if they go to find sallycom, they'll get the same page as the well. Well, I see it says actiontakerspublishingcom slash Sally. That's all about you. The page is amazing. It's like all kind of stuff that goes on in your publishing career. You've got book signings, you've got the Zoom call, there's other collaboration books that are written and listed there, your co-writing power hour, and that's a special membership. Now you got a fee for that. How much is that? I see a fee for today or through leap the leap years. What's what's happening with that?

Speaker 3: 24:32

yeah, well, actually we're having a leap day special. Today's. It's the 29th, so it's leap day that we're recording this. Um, but we have a book coming out called the book I read, which is a book that you read that changed your life. So what is? What is that book? And we want the story of your transformation. So if anyone is interested in getting into that book, we're having a special just for today or the end of today. Just for today or the end of today, for $229,. You can get a chapter in that book.

Speaker 2: 25:03

Yes, Unfortunately we will. We're not. This won't be aired today.

Speaker 3: 25:08

So what would it normally be?

Speaker 2: 25:17

It's usually $750. Okay, and, and, and, people can get their story in and all they I don't want to say all, but they write it. You guys take care of, like compiling, producing and all that stuff.

Speaker 3: 25:22

Well, that's, that's the great part about these collaborate the books that we do. You write one chapter and you hand it to us. We do all the editing. We do all the formatting. We turn it into a book. We do. We'll give you all the promotional materials. We put it out on Amazon, we promotional materials, we put it out on Amazon. We do everything. All you do is you write your chapter, you send it to us, we do everything else and you become an international bestselling author.

Speaker 2: 25:46

So y'all have a process to get it.

Speaker 3: 25:47

Yeah, we have a process. We have and what happens a lot of times, like the book we just did. On Tuesday we had two women who were in it from India, another one from like three or four of the women that were in it were from Canada. So it hit number one because they're pushing it out to all of their family and friends to purchase it on the day of their launch. So it hits number one in the US and then in Canada and in India. So beautiful yeah.

Speaker 2: 26:18

I gotcha. Oh, that's awesome. Okay, very cool, and I see you're on Facebook, linkedin, instagram. I'm all over the place, all right. Um, so, deborah, I'm looking at our potential last question you want to go for that Well?

Speaker 1: 26:37

actually, I would like for us to ask Sally, the last question that you had on the run of show, so one um, how self-care and self-love supports you now, because you've been through this whole process right, and so how does self-love and self-care support you now in your life?

Speaker 3: 26:59

Yeah, you know that's a good question because, you know, being an entrepreneur and owning a business is not easy. There's ups and downs and there's a lot of self-doubt. There's a lot of, you know, naysayers, people who tell you you shouldn't be doing this. You know, and I've been struggling with that lately, you know thinking, you know, is this, am I in the right place? Am I supposed to be doing this? What's my you know, what's going on? And so that whole self care comes, really becomes an important piece. And what am I doing to make sure that my, my headspace is correct? What am I doing to make sure that I'm not going in that downward spiral again, to make sure that I'm I'm taking care of myself?

Speaker 3: 27:50

And so that whole self care becomes. So I, I sit down and I do my paintings. I love to paint. So the other day I just I just did a painting yesterday, so it was like all right, you know what, when I get into these places, it's like I need to get back to you know something that's going to help me to be creative, so writing or or painting, or sometimes it's just taking a map you know I'm tired it's three o'clock in the afternoon, four o'clock in the afternoon.

Speaker 3: 28:23

I got it right, right, and it's like you know I'm just gonna go lay down for an hour and shut the phone off, keep the phone in the living room, go lay down in the bedroom and just take an hour and just, you know, take that time for yourself. I spend my mornings in meditation and prayer, and so it's taking that, that sacred time for myself. You know, getting up and just making sure that I'm taking care of me.

Speaker 1: 28:51

I love that, I love, love, love that, and just having that awareness, right yeah. That said, I do have a final question what is your just deepest desire for our audience? If you could just wave a wand and everybody would have this, what would that be?

Speaker 3: 29:14

I think you know, sharing your story, being able to share where you've been because we all have such unique stories and experiences and things that we've been through share.

Speaker 3: 29:39

But the things that are that you've you've overcome, and the things that you've accomplished because you've gone through things to be able to help other people come out the other side, that have gone, that are currently going through what you've overcome, is huge. So I think that you know for for people to be able to sit down and write their story or share their story and get it out into the world and make that impact on somebody else is what I wish for people. I wish that they have that opportunity, whether it's verbally and just telling their story to someone and sitting down and having coffee and sharing what they've been through to someone, sitting down and having coffee and sharing what they've been through. Or whether it's writing sitting down and writing it and putting it out, either in a book or just writing it and giving it to their, their child, and saying here's what I've, I've been through. It doesn't have to be, you know, grand, but it can be if you want it to.

Speaker 1: 30:34

Yeah, I love that. That is so such a beautiful, heartfelt wish to send out to our audience. Thank you, thank you so much.

Speaker 2: 30:56

Absolutely Well. This needed to hear again. Even though I practice self-love, self-care and all these things, I go into my little downward spiral and it's so good to hear somebody remind me and I'm like, oh yeah, like I haven't painted in a long time, I want to go paint again, right, and I think I might even go take a nap. You know to do both of those, because I don't know about anybody else, but I grew up like you didn't take a nap. That was a no-no. You better go get something done. You don't have time for that. That's lazy, blah, blah, blah. But it's not when you're honoring your body. It's absolutely self-care and self-love. So well, we really, really enjoy you being here, and I just want to remind our audience that all of Sally's contact information is going to be located in this episode's description and Deborah over to you.

Speaker 1: 31:57

So thank you, sally. I really, really enjoyed spending time with you today. And thank you, audience. I'm so happy that you're here with us and, as always, we invite you to love and care for the Shiro in you. Bye, bye.