IAM2774 – Founder and Coach Helps Others Heal, Grow, and Step Into Full Power

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Transcription:

Sarah Monares 00:00
keep going, keep moving forward, keep taking the steps, do whatever it is that you need to do to not stay in the same place, whether that's asking somebody for help or whatever it is that you have in your heart that you want to create, it's there for a reason. And we have so much at our fingertips. We can find the help and the support to move forward and bring that to life.

Gresham Harkless 00:52
Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I Am CEO Podcast, and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Sarah Bueneras of theweedspot.com. Sarah, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Sarah Monares 01:01
Awesome to be here. Thanks for having me.

Gresham Harkless 01:03
No problem. Super excited to have you on. And what I want to do is just read a little bit more about Sarah so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. And Sarah is the founder and CEO of multiple businesses. She is a licensed counselor, coach, writer, blogger, and podcast host. Her first book is coming out in October 2019. All of her businesses center around helping others heal, grow, and step into the full power of the— of all they were created to be. She believes in the power of vulnerability. Connection, and intentional growth, and believes these characteristics are important for success in every area of our lives. Sarah, are you ready to speak to the I Am CEO community?

Sarah Monares 01:36
I'm ready. Yes.

Gresham Harkless 01:38
Awesome. Awesome. So, I want to kick everything off with what I call your CEO story and what led you to get started with your business.

Sarah Monares 01:44
Ooh, okay. This has got to be quick. So, of course, you know, every story has tons that goes into it, but, uh, I ended up going to school to be a counselor, uh, based on, I'll sum it up. Is in saying that I didn't know, but I had a lot of my own healing I needed to do from my past and things that I've been through and loved helping other people. But when I went to school, I realized I was going to school and I was healing myself in order to learn how to help others. And so I started a private practice in 2009. I'm a licensed counselor and I've, I built up my practice. With multiple other therapists working there. Um, we were seeing lots of clients every week. It, it was really awesome. And I felt like I was made for something bigger, something more. And I was really seeing these patterns within my clients of a lot of people are dealing with the exact same issues and they really think they're the only ones. Struggling with those things. And so I started to see a little bit of an issue, like we need to find a way to connect these people. We need to find a way to talk about these things in a larger platform so people can find each other, connect with each other, uh, normalize a lot of the things that they're feeling and dealing with and, and just how powerful that is. And I love counseling. I still do counseling. And there's a lot of power in not hiding. And so counseling can be a very, you know, it has a lot of negative connotation for people. It's scary. They don't want people to know they're in counseling. So really all of these things are what propelled me to start the Wee Spot, to start blogging and writing and talking about my history and my, my experiences and bringing people together in multiple platforms to be able to have these real conversations.

Gresham Harkless 03:50
Nice. Well, I definitely truly appreciate that. And I think even that you, as you spoke to, a lot of times when you're going through something that's difficult, you often feel like you're alone. And I think that by you, like you kind of spoke to, is having that opportunity to kind to talk with somebody to work through things. It's so important. And a lot of times, especially people that I say are givers and are naturally born to kind of give, you have to kind of, as I say, put on your own oxygen mask first, make sure that you're able to give more, but you have to heal yourself first in order to do that a lot of times.

Sarah Monares 04:22
Yeah, I completely agree.

Gresham Harkless 04:25
Nice. So, I wanted to hear a little bit more about the We Spot. And of course, I know you have a book coming out. I know we talked a little bit more offline about that. So, I want to also hear about that and all the exciting things you have in there.

Sarah Monares 04:34
Awesome. So, the We Spot is a women's community and the name came from really just wanting it to be an all-inclusive place for women to come together. All different religions, backgrounds, belief systems. That's really important to me. There's a lot of communities out there that focus on just this religion or just this belief system. And I think it's really important for us to be able to come together and lift each other up and love on each other and support each other while still knowing we have very different backgrounds. I think that's a huge healing that needs to happen in our world in general. And so that's really what the We Spot is founded on. And so within the We Spot, I have the We Podcast where I interview women and men. I do meet, work with men in counseling, just not so much online. But the podcast is about talking to men and women about their real stories and what they've really struggled with and gone through and helping people, like I said earlier, know they're not alone. And then we have a blog where we have 15 bloggers. We're adding 15 more. It's been amazing. And all of these ladies write from recipes to their deepest darkest feelings about things. And it's, it's an amazing, vulnerable place where we get to feature these ladies. We have a new article that drops Monday through Friday about all different areas of growth. And so I blog on there. I've blogged for a couple local magazines, a mom's blog. And yeah, my new book is coming out. It's called Looking In and Finding Out, and that comes out next month.

Gresham Harkless 06:22
So nice. I definitely appreciate that. And I think that, that, um, especially in this day and age, I feel like, you know, like you said, like you and I said a little bit too, like, you know, a lot of times when you're going through something, you feel so alone. So I think the beauty of, you know, this day and age is that we have so many different ways that we can connect with people. And I think that while, while we feel alone, you know, there's so many different ways you can reach out to people, whether it be through a blog or a podcast or, you know, video interviews, whatever it is to kind of reach out and connect with people to let them know. For one, you know, that they're not alone, but two, they always have a place or an opportunity or somebody they can reach out to or connect with because I think a lot of times we need that in our most difficult times.

Sarah Monares 06:58
Yes, I totally agree with you. Yeah, it's amazing to see the bigger community of people that are saying, yeah, you know, me too. And we all know the power of me too. And also be able to find a space where it does encourage you to go and get the additional help and support that you need outside of that as well. And part of the We Spot, we do have a, we are Women in Business Directory. And so we highlight women-owned businesses and different services. So counseling and coaching services so that people do have access to some of those places they can go to do the deeper work also.

Gresham Harkless 07:38
Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, and having opportunities to do that, obviously, but also to be able to tell, you know, your story and things that you're going through, I think also brings, maybe helps with some of that kind of, you spoke to the, um, negative perception sometimes of going to and speaking with somebody that you kind of realize that none of us has it all together and we're all kind of working on something. And when you hear that from somebody, you hear that especially from successful people or, or people that, you know, are, have gotten to some level you want to go to, it kind of brings power to like where we are and understanding that it is okay to ask for help. It is okay to, to go to a psychiatrist. It is okay to talk to a person because we all need some type of help in some different way.

Sarah Monares 08:15
Yes. Amen.

Gresham Harkless 08:17
There you go. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce, and it could be for you or your organization, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique? So I think that there's two things in particular, and the first one is, is really the encouragement of people really being vulnerable and real in their everyday life. I think a lot of times in, you know, business and corporate and all of these things, it can feel a bit stuffy or like I'm trying to create this perfect facade of myself and that's how I become successful in business. And I think it's totally the opposite. I think that we really encourage, you know, own your story, own who you are. That's really what makes you successful in your business and in your life and really pointing people back to themselves. I think The best rule is that there's no rules and being able to help people, help people go within their own selves and find their recipe for success rather than looking outside of themselves for you have to do A and B and C and D, which can seem so overwhelming and discouraging. And what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another.

Gresham Harkless 09:34
So, nice. I definitely appreciate that. So, I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So, this could be an app, a book, or the habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

Sarah Monares 09:46
More effective and efficient. So, I think going back to listening to yourself, being grounded within yourself, that's super important. I've really prioritized walking every day, time alone, time to reflect, time to get back to my own self and center myself. And I think that there's a balance too, because I think that a lot of times we can think that, you know, we're the only one we need and that's completely false also.

Gresham Harkless 10:16
Nice. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. So that is a word of wisdom or a piece of advice, or if you can hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Sarah Monares 10:27
I would tell myself to not focus so much on the things that don't matter, the little pieces. I think I spent so much time getting hung up on researching how do you blog, how to make a blog successful, how to have a great logo, all of these things that I realize now you can have amazing business without even having a logo, really. I mean, there's all of these little things that we spend too much time on and get too hung up on making sure that they're perfect, making sure that they're right before we move forward. And I would just really say, uh, let go of a lot of those things and it will come together, but really prioritizing and looking at what really truly matters.

Gresham Harkless 11:15
Yeah. And that could be, you know, definitely, I don't know if you find that the same thing that could definitely be hard, especially if you're starting up, I guess you can say any new venture that, um, you to understand what the priorities are, because a lot of times those external influences will tell you that you need to have a logo. It needs to be this way. It needs to be this font and so on and so forth for you to be successful., but then you have, you know, the, the business that doesn't have a logo and they're super successful. Trying to kind of balance all of that and understand, you know, what is that priority sometimes can be one of those difficult things. But, uh, it sounds like it's something that you feel like is definitely important.

Sarah Monares 11:47
Yeah, because I think it can make you— make people stay in the same place rather than taking action and moving forward. They spend a lot of time researching and trying to do what, you know, is the best thing to do rather than taking the action.

Gresham Harkless 12:04
Yeah, absolutely. And then I think that action kind of creates that momentum and that momentum kind of creates success. And I think a lot of times, and I don't know if you find the same thing where you kind of feel as if you can't go back and create a logo later on. You have to have it from day one that you can't improve, you know, your copy on your website. You can't, you know, do these things and improve upon those things that it has to be right from day one. And sometimes when you try to do that, you never get started.

Sarah Monares 12:29
It's so true. It was something that really impacted me really quick. We went on a tour of Budweiser. One of the big hallways in the building is the logos that they've had from the beginning until now. And it— I don't know, there's probably 50 of them. Like, there are a ton of different logos. And I was like, wow, like, it's not going to always be the same. It's continually going to change. And you don't have to have it 100% perfect from the beginning. Obviously, they are a hugely successful company who didn't have the right logo when they started.

Gresham Harkless 13:04
Exactly, exactly. And then that's a great reminder, cuz I think that's one of the things that, you know, I started to, to notice too when I started to read a lot of, you know, biographies and autobiographies that, you know, those people that have reached success, and of course that's always different for everybody, but I think you realize, you think that sometimes they're, they're born and they wake up and then they're successful, but they have ups and downs. They have those peaks and valleys. And I think when you understand that, you understand there's changes, there's evolution to logos and evolution to, to life, um, on a, on a deeper level, then that kind of gives kind of peace, I guess you can say, in the journey that we're on. Yeah, totally. Nice. So, I definitely appreciate that. And now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on this show. So, Sarah, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Sarah Monares 13:48
Yes. So, I've battled with this question, honestly. CEO feels a bit too fancy of a word for me. To me though, I think what it means is thought leader. I think it means the person who has the vision and it's their job to look within themselves for that vision and then bring together a team of people to help motivate and bring on board to make that vision a reality to come to life.

Gresham Harkless 14:21
Nice. I definitely appreciate that. And, you know, I think a lot of times, you know, we can get hung up on, you know, those different aspects, but I think that, you know, having that different perspective on whatever it is you're doing as a leader and what we're producing, what we're creating, that's for our— that's our decision to make, just as we kind of talked about. And whatever we decide is what we could kind of make happen and come to fruition. So I appreciate that definition. I appreciate you winning that battle and giving us that definition as well too. And I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know. And then of course, how best they can get a hold of you, find out about all the awesome things you're doing, and of course, get a copy of your book.

Sarah Monares 15:02
Awesome. Yeah, I would just say to leave people with just keep going, keep moving forward, keep taking the steps, do whatever it is that you need to do to not stay in the same place, whether that's asking somebody for help or whatever. But whatever it is that you have in your heart that you want to create, it's there for a reason. And you— we can— we have so much at our fingertips. We can find the help and the support to move forward and, and bring that to life. So people can find me, I'm pretty active on Facebook. That's probably my most active social media platform. I do have, and that's just Sarah Maneras. And then on Instagram, I'm Sarah_Maneras and thewespot.com and sarahmaneras.com both have information about my book. It'll be through Amazon and it's called Looking In and Finding Out. But if you go to either one of my websites, there'll be lots of links for you to find it.

Gresham Harkless 16:03
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Accessibility and visibility is everything. And to make it even easier, we will also have it in the show notes as well too, so that everybody can follow up and get a copy of the book and find out about all the things you're working on. So Sarah, thank you so much again for your time. I appreciate all the awesome things you're doing. Of course, appreciate your reminder for us to kind of get moving forward and not wait till yesterday or the day before that. Do it today or tomorrow. And I appreciate you. I hope you have a great rest of the day.