885 Shari Aldrich:

Melinda Wittstock:

Coming up on Wings of Inspired Business:

Shari Aldrich:

I had a friend who told me, “Shari, you realize the injury had to happen on your hand, right?” He said, if it had happened anywhere else on your body, you would still be massaging. And even though you loved it, you wouldn’t have grown the way that you’ve grown. Because it forced me to step outside of a comfort zone of teaching and massaging and stepping into my next journey, which was helping other people, other massage therapists, grow themselves.

Melinda Wittstock:

Everyone faces adversity and everyone has a choice – be defeated by it, or leverage that adversity as a springboard guiding you to your true purpose and entrepreneurial success. Shari Aldrich has repeatedly alchemized adversity into advantage, her life forever changed when she woke up one morning to what she calls her “cosmic alarm clock”—the sudden, insistent inner feeling of needing to act—telling her to run a marathon. That one simple decision led to a series of successes that she’d never dreamed possible, culminating a flourishing business and now her inspirational book, The Cosmic Alarm Clock: Wake Up to Your Extraordinary Life. Today she shares time-tested lessons that have been condensed into easy-to-follow steps she calls the Five Pillars for Life.

Melinda Wittstock:

Hi, I’m Melinda Wittstock and welcome to Wings of Inspired Business, where we share the inspiring entrepreneurial journeys, epiphanies, and practical advice from successful female founders … so you have everything you need at your fingertips to build the business and life of your dreams. I’m all about paying it forward a five-time serial entrepreneur, so this podcast is all about catalyzing an ecosystem where women entrepreneurs mentor, promote, buy from, and invest in each other because together we’re stronger, and we all soar higher when we fly together.

Melinda Wittstock:

We all know how hard entrepreneurship can be and all the ways it tests us. So, if you’re struggling with a challenge in your life or business, you’re going to want to listen on to this uplifting interview with one of the most inspiring entrepreneurs I know because Shari Aldrich has repeatedly turned adversity into rocket fuel for personal and business growth – from a series of soul-changing family deaths to a harrowing finger amputation. She’s the CEO and Founder of the Bodymechanics School of Myotherapy and Massage, training massage therapists and helping them launch their own schools with a mission to get 10 million people out of pain. She’s also the author of the inspiring new book, The Cosmic Alarm Clock: Wake Up to Your Extraordinary Life, turning her journey into a practical guide for us all to live our true purpose. Shari will be here in a moment, and first,

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Melinda Wittstock:

We can sleepwalk through life or wake up to our full potential when we dare to turn trials into triumphs, failures into fortune, and adversity into advantage.

Melinda Wittstock:

It sure is helpful to have a blueprint about how to navigate all of life’s curveballs, so I’m so excited to be sharing this conversation with Shari Aldrich, a successful entrepreneur whose new book “The Cosmic Alarm Clock – Wake Up to Your Extraordinary Life” provides an empowering guide to personal transformation, with deeply personal insights and five practical pillars anyone can use right now to turn obstacles into opportunities and unlock their true potential for living a life of purpose, fulfillment, and joy – no matter the circumstances or challenges you face right now.

Melinda Wittstock:

Let’s put on our wings with the inspiring Shari Aldrich and be sure to download the podcast app Podopolo so we can keep the conversation going after the episode.

[INTERVIEW]

Melinda Wittstock:

Shari, welcome to Wings.

Shari Aldrich:

Thank you, Melinda. I’m so excited to be here.

Melinda Wittstock:

You have such a wonderful book and we’re going to get into all of that in a minute. First this concept of a cosmic alarm clock, yours rang. Tell me about that. What was that? What made it cosmic and what was the conclusion when it rang?

Shari Aldrich:

Yeah, so the first time that I can really think that I heard this cosmic alarm clock was in 2004 when there was a very strong voice that told me to wake up and train for a marathon. I always say I don’t know where that voice came from, but that voice for an entire year told me don’t even think about it, get up, get dressed, go run. And it was on the heels of losing three members in my family. It was very traumatic time. I was super stressed out in my job as an IT director, taking 10 to 12 ibuprofen every day, and feeling like I was going to die before I was 40. And so, here’s this voice that was telling me to make a drastic change in my life, get up, get dress, go run. And that’s what I did.

Melinda Wittstock:

So literally it was just like a voice from somewhere. Get out there and go run. I’m curious about this. How many people get those cosmic alarm clock type experiences, but then ignore them?

Shari Aldrich:

Oh, man, I, yeah, I wish I had like a statistics number, but I would imagine that probably most people do. There’s this secret conversation going on in your head. There’s this messaging that’s telling you an alarm clock that’s sounding, that’s telling you something isn’t right in your life. And you need to make a change. Some people heed that like I did; others go back to sleep and hit this snooze button and don’t make a change in their life.

Melinda Wittstock:

And there’s a huge cost of doing that. Because the alarm clock is is directing you on your right path, I guess, right?

Shari Aldrich:

I would say so. Yeah, like, you know, as a massage therapist, we tell our patients that pain is, you know, not the offender. It’s a defender and it’s telling you that something is wrong in your life that you need to make a change. And so, when you have this unsettling or this fear of something happening and there’s a voice that’s telling you to make a change. And you don’t do it. It’s almost like manifesting the bad in your life, instead of listening to make it a change and following a path that would lead you to a happier life.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, it’s kind of giving the finger to the universe in a way, right? (laughs)

Shari Aldrich:

I like that, yeah. I’m in control, universe. I’m in control, yeah, I like that.

Melinda Wittstock:

It’s kind of egoic thing, I think. We all have this intuition, we all have these abilities, but I think we’re socialized and trained to ignore them and sort of into what’s prescribed for us. And it’s so limiting. So obviously entrepreneurs don’t have that so much. Like we go on these epic journeys, creating things out of whole cloth and live our vision and they do all these things, take risks, do all of that. So, we have a bigger propensity maybe to listen to not cosmic alarm clock, because we have to be able to succeed. Do you think that’s true?

Shari Aldrich:

I totally think that’s true. A lot of my patients, when I was seeing, you know, massage clients worked for state government. And I talk about this all the time. They worked for state government. They were miserable in their jobs. They hated their co-workers, their boss, their whatever. And when I would ask them, why do you stay? They would tell me because of the benefits, right? And so, they’re choosing a benefit’s package, maybe vacation instead of like going out and doing something that’s going to make them super happy.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s sad. So, there you are, your first day, you put on your running shoes.

Shari Aldrich:

Yeah, I think I ran half a mile that first day.

Melinda Wittstock:

And so, what was that like? I imagine it was hard and how did you feel afterwards?

Shari Aldrich:

Well, you know, it was really hard, and you know, kind of humbling a little bit. I’ve been an athlete my whole life, but never a distance runner. And so, to just get up and go outside, I think it was five in the morning. And I came home and, you know, I honestly felt really good. The next day went a mile, you know, and pretty soon I was up to five miles in a regular run, but that, you know, when you come home and you feel accomplished, like, you started your day with something that’s for you, not for anybody else, but it’s for you. And yeah, it’s very empowering.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right, so it was this essentially a cascading thing. Like once you proved you could run and you could run a long distance and you could get to five miles and you were better, but then just opened the door. Oh my goodness, there are other things in my life. If I can do that, I can do other things. I can do anything.

Shari Aldrich:

Yeah, it most definitely did lead to a cascading effect of things changing in my life. My diet changed obviously. As I started becoming more conscious of what I was putting into my body, within a couple of weeks, I wasn’t taking ibuprofen anymore. My headaches completely went away. Somewhere on my way of my marathon training journey, I got my first massage. And I was really anti-touch before that. But getting that first massage, the minute hands laid on my back was an epiphany that I needed this in my life. And that led me to going to massage school. That led me to teaching out of massage school. And that led me to quitting my job in IT and really taking control of my life. And then ultimately buying the school that I graduated just four short years after graduation.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right. And becoming a very successful entrepreneur. Your life would have been so different.

Shari Aldrich:

I truly believe had I not listened to that, I would have died before I was 40. I had two siblings that died in their 30s, one from a stroke at 36 years old. And my older sister died in a head-on collision, and she was 39, she left behind two kids. So, I truly believe that I would have died from either stroke or heart attack before I was 40 from the unhealthy life I was living, the stress that I was under, the unhealthy diet and the ibuprofen that I was taking.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh my goodness, okay. So, it leads you to massage, you continue on with your athleticism, not all these tragedies in your life, Shari. But then there was another one that was going to come that probably tested your faith. I want you to talk about the experience. So, you’re a massage therapist and you’re going on this journey into massage and then there’s a finger.

Shari Aldrich:

Yeah, so this is, let’s see, it was in 2013 and it started again with me, I don’t know if it was a cosmic alarm clock or just, you know, finally like turning this snooze button off where I’d been married for 23 years and in July of 2013 I told my husband that I wanted a divorce. In October of 2013, I was doing a mud run. And my plan going into the divorce is that my massaging, I was massaging 25 to 30 clients a week, and that is what I was going to use to support myself. And my finger, my pinky finger got stuck on one of the obstacles and ripped off. It actually was called a degloving where it ripped the tendon halfway at my forearm all the way off as well. And yeah, that was pretty traumatic, and having the injury happen on my hand, which was my life at that point with massage therapy. Once one of those moments, I could have, I like to say, could have laid on the couch and really become depressed over where my life was going. But that wasn’t the journey I was meant to go on, I guess.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, so how did you deal with that adversity? Because I mean, this can do your head in. Like you finally find your path. Like I’m on the right path and things are going in the right direction. And then all of a sudden something happens that you wonder, as a universe telling me, I shouldn’t be a massage therapist because I’ve lost my finger. How do I even do that?

Shari Aldrich:

I think I love that question, by the way. I think there’s two pathways that somebody could take when they’re facing adversity. One being giving into it and settling and maybe going back to that IT job that you hated, but that would provide some guaranteed income or continue to push through it with grit and fortitude and a determination that this is what I’m supposed to do. I had a friend who told me, and it was really profound the way that he said it. In that he said, “Shari, you realize the injury had to happen on your hand, right?” And when I questioned him, he said, if it had happened anywhere else on your body, you would still be massaging. And even though you loved it, you wouldn’t have grown the way that you’ve grown. Because I became this impetus for future growth that I wasn’t even looking for. But it forced me to step outside of a comfort zone of teaching and massaging and stepping into my next journey, which was helping other people, other massage therapists, grow themselves. So, they weren’t stuck in a position that they weren’t earning or growing the way they were meant to.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right. So, you know, it’s just so funny how life throws us all these curveballs. So, I know on my own entrepreneurial journey, Shari, doing five businesses that like some of them are very much in alignment and they flow with ease, and they seem to be going, you know what I mean, if they happen and other ones have been incredibly hard and it always leads you to, am I really on the right path? Am I on my soul purpose? Right? And how do I know, especially when obstacles come up, right? And those obstacles I’ve learned are always opportunities for growth. Or they may require a little pivot or it’s just a nudge from the universe is okay, not like don’t go on that path, but just change the path slightly or just, you know, and so how do you know? Like what was going through your mind at that time, right? In terms of really actually like testing your faith, like am I on the right purpose?

Shari Aldrich:

Yeah, I think for me there was another factor in that I had this staff and students but most importantly my two daughters working for me, and it became a failure isn’t an option moment for me because it wasn’t just my income that was affected but that of my kids and my granddaughters or grandchildren. And so there was definitely a grit and fortitude, like I said, that forced me to keep moving forward. And I knew I was, you know, kind of thinking back to that pivotal moment when hands were placed upon me, that, you know, that could give me the faith that this was where I was supposed to be. It was a very pivotal moment in my life, that this is where I’m supposed to go. And I think, yeah, when you’re being tested, you know, to see if this is what you’re supposed to do. Again, you have two options. You can quit, which is not my DNA, or you can push through it and see what growth is on the other side. And that’s what I did.

Melinda Wittstock:

So, you have all this responsibility, and you push forward. So, wow, there’s the physical reality of the massage piece without a finger. And I’m going to disclose here. I’ve known you for a while. I met you were in the same entrepreneurial group, Maverick.

Shari Aldrich:

Yeah. I remember meeting you in when was it 2015? I think yeah, 2015, yeah. Almost 10 years ago now.

Melinda Wittstock:

And I also remember going to Richard Branson’s Necker Island with you.

Shari Aldrich:

We broke the internet with the picture when you told him I lost my finger.

Melinda Wittstock:

I think I took that picture. So anyway, coining the four-finger massage. It’s like you turned a real impediment or real challenge into an asset, or at least you found a way to do that.

Shari Aldrich:

Yeah, I like to say I had to figure out how to work on my business instead of in it. I was very much a technician. I would go from teaching a class to doing a massage, interviewing a potential student to doing a massage. And I was very much in the doing the work instead of leading. And so, it kind of forced me into becoming a better leader. And on the other side of this healing journey, it led me to opening the second campus in another city. So yeah, it definitely, it helped me realize that I was able to grow and move beyond this and still continue to earn, you know, what I needed to and pay my kids and support my grandchildren.

Melinda Wittstock:

Well, you know what? It’s such a gift in a way. I think a lot get stuck at doing, right, and it prevents businesses from scaling because I’m like almost 900 interviews on this podcast right now almost every woman I’ve interviewed has struggled with this at some point or another. One of the things is perfectionism and the other thing is thinking you have to do everything and not only do everything but do everything perfectly and it’s not hiring fast enough, not really investing in the business and not really developing those leadership skills like you have to do any. So, it was almost like you were just pushed into that, like you had no choice.

Shari Aldrich:

It was 100% what happened. Yeah, like I said, it forced me to become a better leader.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah. So interesting, because I look at your story and I think, oh my goodness, all these really difficult things that you’ve gone through have actually been gifts. Like you could have chosen to be a victim. This was done to me or used to this was done for me. You made the more conscious choice.

Shari Aldrich:

Yeah, and I think through different thought leaders that I’ve been around or listened to, or whatnot, it was developing tools inside my soul that helped me to overcome this quickly. There was really maybe 10 minutes that I felt sad for myself. The rest of it was like, okay, I can use this as a tool to help others right away. I saw that as a pathway for growth to help other people through my healing journey. And so, I shared it openly, what I was experiencing and going through on my different social media profiles.

Melinda Wittstock:

Shari, you’re like a machine on social. Like, I was just like, you are very consistent in your posts are so authentic and very, very real and relatable. I think that’s another thing that a lot of women struggle with because I don’t know, we’re afraid to shine our light or just, you know, who we’re supposed to be, like how authentic or how raw do you want to be? And I’ve always admired you for being able to just say what’s going on in your life and your posts are very inspiring.

Shari Aldrich:

Thank you. That’s always been kind of my goal is to use social media for good.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh God. If the rest of the world could learn that lesson, we’d be way, way, way ahead.

[PROMO CREDIT]

Wings of Inspired Business is brought to you by the new podcast, Zero Limits Business Growth Secrets. Join me together with Steve Little – serial entrepreneur, investor and mergers & acquisitions maestro – as we explore the little-known 24 value drivers that spell the difference between a $5m business, and a $50mm even $500 mm business. That’s Zero Limits Business Growth Secrets, produced by Podopolo Brand Studio at zerolimitsradio.com – that’s zerolimitsradio.com and available wherever you get your podcasts.

Melinda Wittstock:

And we’re back with Shari Aldrich, CEO and Founder Bodymechanics School of Myotherapy and Massage and author of The Cosmic Alarm Clock: Wake Up to Your Extraordinary Life.

[INTERVIEW CONTINUES]

Melinda Wittstock:

So, there was a certain point where I guess the Cosmic Alarm Clock went off again and you said it’s time to write a book.

Shari Aldrich:

Yeah, it’s called Cosmic Alarm Clock, of course.

Melinda Wittstock:

And now in the book, you have distilled down all these lessons of your life into these easy-to-follow steps. They’re the five pillars for life. So, let’s take a moment and go through these. Let’s start with pillar number one. This is un-numbing your life.

Shari Aldrich:

What I say about this one is that making a decision is like a wakeup call. You really have to be very mindful in noticing when you’ve become complacent in your life. And so, you know, kind of for me personally, when I’m faced with making a decision, I can ask myself, am I just drifting through life and accepting what comes my way? Or can I, you know, think by making this decision, am I making decisive or taking decisive action to create a better opportunity for myself? And again, I can liken this back to the people that I worked on that stayed in jobs that made them miserable and just coasting through life. That is just definitely not something I could ever see myself doing.

Melinda Wittstock:

So, you’re un-numbing and that to me sounds kind of like just getting conscious, getting aware of what you want. Like, you don’t even know what you want. And you’re just kind of drifting along, like flotsam of and jetsam. But this is like kind of taking power, right?

Shari Aldrich:

Ooh, that’s really a powerful statement. It’s the drifting, right? And so just kind of, you know, passing the days away and till death.

Melinda Wittstock:

There are all kinds of, you know, research on, you know, deathbed sort of confessions and all these people that regret that they have is unlived life. It’s like, oh, I wish I could have done this. You know, why did I not do that? That’s pretty universal. I remember an exercise a long time ago that we did at Maverick where we had to pick seven words that we wanted on our tombstone, right? It was a powerful exercise because when you really think what is the impact that you want? What is your life here for and what you want to make? And so very, very sobering for me.

Shari Aldrich:

I remember that exercise.

Melinda Wittstock:

So, pillar number two is ‘Movement is Life.’ Okay. So obviously you went out and you started running. Generally, people who exercise or happier, you know, right? Mentally, emotionally, physically.

Shari Aldrich:

And so, this pillar, what this one really is probably my most powerful mantra that I have. And the flip side of that is movement is life and stillness is death. And so, you know, you could look at that with your personal health, but you could also look at that in relationships, business, you know, just everything about you is like, is it moving forward? Are you creating constant forward movement? And so, this is a powerful mantra for me to say, you know, and when I think about a decision I have to make, I really do look at this. Does this create movement for me or my business? If it does, you know, it’s a hell yes, check the list and I can go forward for with it. But if it’s not going to create movement, it might not be the right decision for me to make. Every business needs to be moving forward and every business needs gathering momentum as well. So, if you’re just still the world passes by you. Right. So, it creates opportunity for another business to come in and create more movement in that arena that you’re operating in and for them to basically take business from yours. So yeah, keep moving, just keep growing.

Melinda Wittstock:

You’re coming from a very spiritual perspective, right? In the realm of energy. If energy is blocked, that’s in our bodies. I mean, that’s disease or dis-ease, right?

Shari Aldrich:

Right like if the arteries of our business get clogged.

Melinda Wittstock:

That makes so much sense. Okay, so pillar number three is ‘follow your joy’.

Shari Aldrich:

Yeah, l like I mentioned, I I lost three family members in a really short period of time. I’ve talked about my brother and my sister, but sandwiched in the middle was our mom at 59 years old and she died of lung cancer, where we found out her diagnosis on Saturday and she died on Monday. And so, you know, the joy element for me is seeing, you know, when I was in my mid-30s, that life is so short. And, you know, if what you’re doing isn’t making you happy, then you need to make a fast decision to change your life. You know, like, yeah, getting out of bed and making a conscious decision to be happy and follow your joy is so much different than waking up and being miserable and hating everything about your life and what you have to do that day. Follow your joy. That’s pivotal for me is to be happy in what I’m doing.

Melinda Wittstock:

It’s amazing to me how many people don’t actually know what they want, or they don’t know what makes them happy. And so, in that sense, they’re living what I call a life of “should’s”. They’re doing what they think social media tells them to do or their friends or what they think their circumstances dictate or maybe what got drilled into them by their parents when they were very young or whatever, but it’s not actually them. It’s something else, but they aren’t even aware of it.

Shari Aldrich:

Yeah.

Melinda Wittstock:

What are the steps to actually knowing what you actually really want?

Shari Aldrich:

In one way you could think about going back through your life, maybe taking a journal out and doing some writing about this, but you know, think about those things that you’ve done that have made you the most happiest. You know, like as a child, I loved playing sports. I loved running. I loved playing basketball. You know, whatever it is in your past that you love to do, how can you bring that forward into your life today to help you make a change to be happier?

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh my goodness, because the clues really are what we were doing when we were three, four, and five, so sharing that story about me. I mean, I wasn’t even six years old yet and I went door-to-door with my black lab demanding prepayment for my show, okay? And so, in my show, you have like music, costume changes, I was combining my gymnastics with my ballet and some of my skating sort of moves, and I came home with like $100. I went through 100 houses, right? And I said to my dad, like, where can we find 100 chairs? Like, this is like a sort of a natural normal thing like any child would be doing and the whole show and the choreography and all this so is it any wonder I have this career that is at the intersection of media tech. The clues are often there.

Shari Aldrich:

I think so. And again, the people that listen to those or the people that don’t, it’s really interesting. My family, most of them went to college and got college degrees. I went to a year of college and dropped out. I was able to see this wasn’t for me. But I’ve had students out of come to my school that graduated college in different programs because it was expected in their family. And they didn’t really think about from the element of this is what I want to do. I had MD’s come through my program because they didn’t want to do that. But they really wanted to do something to make themselves happier by helping people. And so yeah, I always applaud those people who make those decisions to live in joy. Because life is short. Again, I go back to this lens half of my family dying in seven years. Follow your joy.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right. Yeah. So, the fourth one. Yeah.

Shari Aldrich:

I love this story in the book. And so, I hope I hope people read thisI have a deep, deep, deep fear of the ocean. It’s been with me for as long as I can remember and fear is the ultimate anti-motivator and so I was on this trip in Hawaii and we were in the ocean in a boat, a little like canoe and it got stuck on a coral reef and here we are with a hole coming in the bottom of the canoe and water coming in the canoe and this is the biggest fear of my life of being in the ocean and drowning. So yeah, if you think about this analogy of a boat not moving because of fear, and this is your life that you’re not doing something because you’re afraid to make a change or afraid to rock the boat. You’re afraid to get in the water. That is an anti-motivator, and you know, it will stop you from moving forward. And so, kind of really looking inside your soul to see what is it that you’re afraid of in making this change to live for yourself. And you know, I kind of look at this in the making the decision, and I, the one moving the boat, right? And I, the one that’s making a change in my life, or am I letting myself be pushed around by water? And that analogy comes into this job that you hate or relationship that makes you miserable. Are you driving and making change or you letting that other situation direct where your life goes?

Melinda Wittstock:

Exactly. So, the final pillar is to tell your story and that you’re doing. (laughing) And a lot of people don’t necessarily. A lot of people are kind of want the safety of being in the background So yeah, let’s talk about telling your story.

Shari Aldrich:

Well, first of all, it’s my archetype is that is that of a storyteller and that’s always been my DNA. And I think if again, going back to childhood, I always wanted to write a book. And so, it’s kind of this is coming full circle. I’ve always had this in my background. But you know, storytelling brings people together and builds empathy and community, you know, from that earliest caveman days that the storyteller was the one who created community around the fire and engagement. And so, you know, if we think of it from that lens, when we understand one another better by telling your story and inviting people into your life, then we’re going to work towards a better life for everybody. And so again, when I’m thinking of social media posts and connecting with people and creating community, and telling the story, is that going to help this community grow? And so, I think telling your story and inviting people into your life. And it is probably one of the most important things that we should get better at.

Melinda Wittstock:

It’s so vital, especially for entrepreneurs.

Shari Aldrich:

Mm-hmm.

Melinda Wittstock:

You know, if you look at the data, just even in this realm of the type of companies that need venture, right? The companies that get funded have a CEO founder, that is really good at storytelling. Because when you need money before your idea is even proven or whatever, and so many investors actually look for that. So, what is your story? And then how does that weave into the story of where you’re going? Because people buy in, and they make decisions on an emotional basis. So, it’s not just about your numbers, although the numbers do tell us to be too when you’re busy. You have to figure out how to tell the story with your numbers. That’s a whole other thing. But in the early days of a business and throughout the business is how you connect with your customers. It’s how you market. It’s how you sell. It’s how you get investment. It’s everything. Everything comes down to real competence in telling an authentic story. Right? And then something that I’ve seen many, many people really struggle with. What do you think gets in the way of people being able to tell their story? Like, what’s the fear there?

Shari Aldrich:

You know, maybe inadequacy, not a compelling story. I’m shy. I don’t, I’m, I’m private. Yeah, I don’t, I don’t know what people’s reasons would be for not telling their story. But from my experience, right, if somebody is looking at two different brands and one is just about the price, but the other is the story behind the product, more people are going to connect to the story of the product versus the price. And I think that’s something that a lot of people miss the boat on is connection and humanity and being in your humanity when you’re communicating with somebody, whether it’s in you know, person or on social media.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, because business is about people. It’s so funny as someone who’s a recovering journalist why it took me so long to actually understand that? It’s so strange, right? Because I think you get into this because like literally had businesses in media, we are telling stories all the time and winning awards for telling stories and yet there was this block to even telling my own story.

Shari Aldrich:

I’m going to put this back on you then, Melinda. Do you think that that was because you were a woman? Do you think your male counterparts did the same?

Melinda Wittstock:

You know, I’ve seen men and women be good or bad at storytelling. Mostly I see women shying away from it. And I think I’ve come to the conclusion that many women have this kind of primordial fear of standing out.

Shari Aldrich:

Yeah.

Melinda Wittstock:

Because we’re so community oriented, like we fear we’re going to be cast out of the tribe. And that goes back like millennia because of the way communities had to operate. So, for a man, it was okay to be the lone wolf because he was literally going out with a bow and arrow or whatever the weapon of the day was to do one thing, which is like, shoot, kill the wildebeest and bring it back. Whereas all the women were doing everything else in relationship with one another. So, if you were cast out of the tribe, that was death, right? Yeah, for sure. So, and that still manifests itself with phenomena like mean girls and you know all sorts of things. And literally in my early career experience, I found that a lot of women were really stuck in scarcity. And so, my immediate, any immediate superiors I had that were women in my 20s and 30s did everything they could to stop me rather than rather than being open to helping. I think that is really changing. I think that’s the result of being in scarcity as opposed to being like in abundance. Like all women can succeed just because one does.

Shari Aldrich:

Exactly, right.

Melinda Wittstock:

I think part of the problem was there, which leads to this fear, like if I stand out, some people call it the tall poppy syndrome, I’m not going to have any female friends and I’m strong, so like, no man is going to want, you know what I mean? It’s all that kind of stuff. And then now, I think a lot of women are afraid of just haters on social media, trolls and whatnot, depending on what their message is. And when they really succeed, you do see women kind of getting taken down more than men. So, there’s a lot of things like that. And it doesn’t have to be that way, but I think a lot of these are subconscious beliefs.

Shari Aldrich:

I think you’re right. If I think about myself in the context of what you’re just talking about, being a lifelong athlete and being in a position of having to be coachable, right? So, there was always a coach in whatever sport I was playing and giving direction to whatever you’re doing and transferring that into my adulthood. Now, looking also for people who are coachable and stepping up to that realm of being a coach myself is somehow being okay with it, like being this person that’s okay to tell my story to help future people, right, or people I’m working with, to help them elevate and grow, right? When it starts with being coachable for me.

Melinda Wittstock:

Coachability is everything in entrepreneurship. I mean, in all our storytelling, of course. I mean, there’s a whole bunch of different ingredients. You need all of them really to really succeed. But like, the coachability is absolutely critical because you are learning from your customers every day or you should be constantly wanting to interact with them and get their feedback and like be learning from the market, be learning from all these different inputs. And so coachability is critical. I was a figure skater, and I remember overcoming adversity and like, okay, if I fell down on the hard ice for a hundredth time, I’m just going to get up and do it again until I can do it. Right?

Shari Aldrich:

Yeah, 100%.

Melinda Wittstock:

To answer your original question, I think for me personally, I was always different from everyone else from day one. and hence, sort of shunned in a way. And so, it made me want to kind of fit in. Yeah. No, I’m not meant to fit in. Like, I mean, leaders can’t fit in because leaders are leaders. They’re not like everybody else, right? It’s actually a good thing, but it took a while to actually understand.

Shari Aldrich:

I would agree with that too. Yeah, and yeah, you’re so gifted. You are so gifted in what you do and how you help women.

Shari Aldrich:

You are such a gift to women everywhere. And the leadership skills that you exhibit every day, that you model, right? For someone like me who sees you as somebody to be inspired by, you model success. And that helps people that come behind you, right? And so, I’m appreciative of everything that I’ve seen in you and everything I’ve seen in you and learned from you as well. So, I’m just, thank you for everything you’ve done, Melinda. You’re just a gift.

Melinda Wittstock:

And you’re just bringing tears to my eyes because no matter all the things that you’ve done and succeeded with, you can always have your eye on like what’s next and sometimes you just, I think we don’t take enough time generally in our lives to just acknowledge our successes. Because you get so wrapped up in the here and now this next thing I got to do and you know all these sorts of things and the volume is up and down entrepreneurial journey right it’s hard but I really appreciate that because the one thing I have learned about entrepreneurship is it’s totally a head game like it’s entirely about your subconscious and your mindset and like all these things and I mean your story is proof of that as well.

Shari Aldrich:

Yeah no it definitely is a head game, and you know there’s just so many things that when you’re at the head of whatever it is that you’re doing, that you have to keep your eyes on from personnel to the job, the product, the finances. There’s just so many things that you could get tied up in the minutia of that and lose sight of the story, the community, the movement, all the things that you’re trying to build. So, you have to kind of compartmentalize the day to day with the growth that’s happening. Yeah, keeping your eyes and your heart, you know, in the bigger picture of your soul purpose and your journey.

Melinda Wittstock:

I wanted to ask you about the process of writing a book. I think you know this story. I originally started writing a book to create this ecosystem where women are helping each other and buying from each other and investing in each other, and wanted to write the book that I wish I’d had, right? I started the podcast so I could create an audience for the book. And then I don’t know, I’ve been doing this podcast for seven years. I still haven’t written a book. But you know, the podcast, I have a lot of stuff to run through like an AI or something and have a great book. I will eventually get around to it. But tell me about your process. So, there’s all other cosmic alarm …

Shari Aldrich:

Yeah, it really was another cosmic alarm clock.

Shari Aldrich:

I was doing a program kind of a six weeklong kind of like figure out what’s next in your life. And I went into this program with this idea of disrupting the massage industry, which is hilarious, because I’m already doing that. But I went into this program with that idea. And about two or three weeks into it, I woke up one morning with this, oh my God, no, you’re supposed to write your story. And it really was a cosmic alarm clock moment where halfway through, I completely changed gears. And by the time I went to the in-person event around this, I had already 15,000 words written in this book. So that was what started the process. And then when I came home, I hired a company, World Changers Media, and I worked with them to help me kind of pull the story out. So, every two weeks I would meet with, I don’t know, my guru, my giant, this is why I called her. She would just ask me questions and it would pull stories out of me. And it just kind of helped me to dig deeper inside of past stories in my childhood and kind of into my psyche that then we’re pulled into the book. And then it went through the next rendition where they took my stories and put it more chronological. So, it was easier to follow versus kind of haphazard stories in the book. So, it was a journey, and it was a passion project for me to tell this. I’ve always wanted to write a book since I was 12 years old. And the Cosmic Alarm Clock is that dream come true for me. Like I just wanted to share my story and help people who might be struggling with making a change in their life and realize they can do it. And if I did it, anyone can do it.

Melinda Wittstock:

Well, it’s amazing, Shari. I mean, it’s a wonderful book and I want to encourage everybody to make sure they go by the cosmic alarm clock. It’s such a good book.

Shari Aldrich:

Thank you so much. And you’re highlighted in there as well. You, one of the things I wanted to do in the book was share stories of other people that I know friends and some students, some entrepreneur friends with challenges they’ve overcome. And so, I highlight some brief stories from other people in there as well, to kind of to become a map for others to follow as they’re struggling to overcome challenges in their life.

Melinda Wittstock:

Amazing, amazing. And so, as we start to wrap up, we haven’t really even talked about Bodymechanics, the incredible kind of massage school, which I’ve seen you grow over time. Not only do you teach people how to become massage therapists, but you also help existing massage therapists grow their businesses, grow their schools, grow their facilities.

Shari Aldrich:

Yeah, so my school, I have two campuses in Washington State, Olympia and Vancouver, Washington. And between both campuses, we graduate between, I don’t know, 75 to 100 a year in that vicinity of massage therapist. That’s definitely meeting a desperate need for massage therapists. Through the pandemic, we had a drastic downturn in the number of massage therapists in the US, but also the number of schools. I recall hearing at one point around 400 massage schools in the country closed during the pandemic. At a time when everybody was realizing how important touch was. And so, there’s been a drastic uptick of people looking for bodywork, but less massage therapists coming out. So, I created this business in a box ‘done for you’ program where we help massage therapists around the country open a massage school. And it’s kind of this idea kind of going back to losing my finger and what that happened thinking I could help a million people get out of pain. And then when I had this injury, it manifested into I can create an army of people who can help me get people out of pain. So it’s not just me, but I’m helping and mentoring other massage school owners around the country who are then graduating competent body workers and were exponentially, I might have to raise my number to 10 million people out of pain. Because yeah, I think to date we’ve helped 13 schools open around the US and we have I think six more right now that we’re working with. And it’s been just a great, great, great joy and into that abundance of possibility and not scarcity that my school is the only one that could, you know, produce quality therapists. I just want to help people.

Melinda Wittstock:

It’s amazing. Well, you’re having such a big impact on the world. And I love that your goal has become bigger. Right? Because there’s always a bigger goal and why not? To scale everything you’re doing. I mean, not only your story and the inspiration, but like scaling, bringing people out of pain. And empowering them to take control over their own lives, like with their own businesses. It’s just it’s very inspiring. So, Shari, I’m going to make sure that everybody knows how to find you and work with you and but also obviously get your book and now will be in the show notes. Thank you so much for putting on your wings and flying today.

Shari Aldrich:

Oh, thank you so much Melinda. I just adore you. I always have and I always well. You’re just such a great friend and I just appreciate you so much. Thank you.

[INTERVIEW ENDS]

Melinda Wittstock:

Shari Aldrich is CEO and Founder Bodymechanics School of Myotherapy and Massage and author of The Cosmic Alarm Clock: Wake Up to Your Extraordinary Life

Melinda Wittstock:

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Melinda Wittstock:

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