87. Create Space for your Soul with Sharmequa Franklin

Welcome to Disrupting Burnout - a podcast where we beat burnout so that you can love your career again! Where is the physical space that you can go to come home to yourself? What space do you have designated to support you and spark creativity in your life? 

This week on Disrupting Burnout, I’m joined by Sharmequa Franklin, a Woman Who Defines Disruption by creating a space for soul care. 

Sharmequa Fennell-Franklin better known as The Artsy Girl ™ is the owner and CEO of The Artsy Girl - a handmade jewelry and accessory company. Sharmequa is also a mom, a wife, and the Executive Vice President at AgSouth Farm Credit where she leads a group of experienced professionals in human capital, learning and organizational development. 

Sharmequa believes in growing people and creating confidence boosting earrings and accessories that help you bring out your inner sparkle! 

It’s Time To Disrupt Burnout:

00:30 - Finding Peace In A Pandemic

07:30 - Create A Space For Creativity

14:30 - Just Do You

20:30 - Tackle The Big Rocks First/ Schedule Your Purpose

25:00 - Finding The Common Theme 

Create Space for your Soul Takeaways

●      “I’m Sharmequa before I’m anything, and I need to be able to protect that.” - Sharmequa Fennell-Franklin

●      “I don’t want my job to define who I am, I want to set that path.” - Sharmequa Fennell-Franklin 

●      “I want God to know that I’m listening to what he wants me to do and not what I think I want to do.” - Sharmequa Fennell-Franklin 

●      “I try to show up as my authentic self everywhere I go.” - Sharmequa Fennell-Franklin  

●      “Your authentic person is your best person.” - Sharmequa Fennell-Franklin   

●      “If you don’t schedule the purpose, it’s not going to happen.” - Dr. PBJ

●      “We handle employees from conception to birth.” - Sharmequa Fennell-Franklin  

●      “You have one purpose that you express in many different ways.” - Dr. PBJ 

This episode is brought to you by HeartWork Academy!  If you’ve ever felt like you're marching in place, putting in all of the effort, but not moving forward, this program is for you. If you feel buried and you’re ready to move into brilliance, it’s time to join a community of disruptors who understand and who genuinely want to support you and hold you accountable as you show up in purpose everyday. To join the Heartwork Academy, visit:  http://heartworkacademy.com.

Connect With Sharmequa:

Instagram: @theartsygirl76 | https://www.instagram.com/theartsygirl76/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theartsygirl76

Website: https://www.theartsygirlshop.com/

 Let’s Connect

●               To connect with Dr. PBJ, go to patricebucknerjackson.com

●               Support The Show |https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/lovepbj?locale.x=en_US 

Transcript

0:00

I don't want to lose me, I don't want my job to define who I am. I want to set that path. And God to know that I'm listening to what he wants me to do, and not what I think I want to do. Hey, friends it's PBJ. Again, listen, we are still talking to women who define disruption. And the woman that I am going to introduce you all to today, she has probably known me longer than anybody else I have introduced you to I think we met when I was about 13. So if you really want to know if PBJ is PBJ, you should ask this woman because we've been around each other. We grew up in the same hometown work together. My very first job was with this woman. So we've been able to walk through life together. And when I tell you, this executive vice president in the financial industry, this mom, this wife, this business owner, this CEO, this artists, this creative, this woman, Sharmequa Franklin, my sister, my friend, she is the perfect example of women who define disruption, because she is filling her life with purpose. I talk about discovering your brilliance, and maximizing that brilliance, meaning everywhere you look around you is purpose. And when I see Sharmequa that's what I see. So sister, welcome to Disrupting Burnout. I am so honored to have you here today. I am so honored to be here. It's so amazing to kind of see the work that you're doing for women. And I think that what you're doing is phenomenal. And I think it makes me feel good. Because you're home girl, you know. And I've just watched you blossom and grow and I'm just so excited for you. Oh, thank you, sister. You've been a big sister to me for a long time. And I am grateful Grateful for your love. So let's I need the people to know who you are. So please tell them who you are. My name is Sharmequa Franklin, I grew up in a town that a lot of people are like where is early branch South Carolina. But I grew up in early born South Carolina, born and raised there and went to the University of South Carolina. Worked for Farm Credit for 22 years, and just in various positions and went from a customer service person when I was in Colombia, straight out of college, and then I migrated to a training position. That's where I kind of got that love for HR and training and learning. And then I transitioned to Maryland. I lived in Baltimore for a while I met my husband. We have a little boy, his name was William and he is a ball of fire. I have no idea where he gets it from. But he gives my grandfather's name say my grandfather raised me, him my grandmother, they raised me and I found that fit into Nathan William. So please don't tell my husband that he's like the love of my life. And and I'm just a mom, you know, not just a mom, but I'm a mom, I I own a company called the artsy girl. And the artsy girls started when I was it was in the middle of a pandemic. And I was stressed out and my husband said, you know, I know you Chief HR officer and you've got all these things going on. But why don't you go back to your first love like you love art you love drawing and creating and and so I said okay, I can do that. And I decided I was gonna build a she shed because there was no way I could draw and create just in my house. I had to have someplace to do it. So I created this business honestly did not expect for it to take off. I was nervous. I was like, you know what if I make this stuff and nobody likes it and I end up with all of these things. And I remember selling like my first piece. I had always made stuff for people and given it to them for gifts and I sold my first piece and I was like oh my god Have people actually read this stuff? So. And honestly, a lot of it came from this desire to just not only be the HR person or just be a mom, you know, I just be your wife, I needed something for me. And I needed to figure out how I was going to a keep me sane throughout the COVID experience that all HR professionals were going through at the time. But I also needed something to take me back to the place of solace. Grandfather, and I used to draw together and it allowed me to be able to almost have a piece of him whenever I'm creating, or whenever I'm making something. And believe it or not, people are like, How in the world are you doing this? And I always say, it's through the grace of God. Yeah, God gives me the desire to go out and just do it. And I have been blessed with so many amazing people around me who believe in the arts to girl believe in the brand. And believe in what I do, until it is just, it's just worked itself out in a way that I just didn't imagine that it would. And I can only say that was just through the grace of God, because it's not me. So Oh, my gosh. So first of all, I love, I love the way in the midst of chaos. Your husband who loves you very much reminded you sometimes we need somebody else to remind us, of what settles us and what's at our core and what we love. Because in executive that you are a woman in executive leadership, you're a black woman, and executive leadership. So the pressure is real, the pressure is real. And we can get so bogged down with the pressure that we only remember what we love anymore, I don't have time to think about what I like, I don't have time to. But I love the fact that your husband said Wait, wait a minute, you got to find a way to do what you love. And then this is so powerful, you created a space for it. Hold on, because that is something that I never talked about on this podcast before. And you just brought my attention to that. You created a physical so I remember your social media posting of the phases of the seashell, like I'm following, I'm gonna follow I'm a subscriber, okay, I remember the steps like it, making a space in your yard and the she shed arrived. And and you did decorate, like, you created a sacred space. And I will not work at like, if if I'm working for the company, I did no work for the company. In my shed. When I worked from like, when we were at home for that period of time, when the shisha was done, I refuse to do any work from there. Because I want a separation between my life as an executive and my life as an artist. My mob boss is phenomenal. And he supported that. And that that meant a lot to me because a lot of people don't know how to separate the two. And when you are a mom, and you are wide, and you're trying to be someone in the community and you know, you need some place or somewhere to go, yeah, for peace. When I go into my shed, everything is pink, and happy and colorful. And when I go out there I am honestly at peace. I bring no negative energy into that space. If I have somebody that calls me from work, I take it outside that she should because I want that to be a symbol of who I am outside of everything else that I do. I'm sure I'm weak well before I'm anything I need to be able to protect that. Oh my gosh, I have a coach in my life who talks about the space she has a space pillar and she talks about setting your your space up to support you and how important you know sometimes it's not the lack of clarity that is the problem. It's not the money problem, it's not the marriage problem or job problem, it's your space, you can't even think clearly. Because you are not in a space that allows you to be clear or allows you to be creative. And even if you don't have a she shed, I have another friend who talks about car therapy, she'll get to her house, and in her car for 30 to 45 minutes if she can, like if the kids are at school, or her husband is taking care of them, she will sit in her car for 30 to 45 minutes. That's her space. That is her separation, that is her space. So sometimes you need to think about the physical space, where is the physical place that you can go to, like Dr. Tim O'Brien says, Come home to yourself. Where can you come home, where's your home coming? To come home to yourself to remember who you are outside of the expectations of other people outside of your job title, outside of your job responsibilities outside of mama and wife. Now, don't don't log off. Listen to me. Y'all hear me, being someone's wife is an honor. Being someone's mother is an honor. It is never all of who you are. You were somebody before you met them, please go ahead. Your job also can't be who you are either. Like, you got to figure out who you are. Like, I remember moving to Maryland. And everybody was like, What in the world are you doing? Why are you moving to Maryland? And I said, Honestly, it's someplace I can go where I can renew myself. And I can become someone that's not tied to South Carolina or where I grew up. And you know, all of that that's made me who I am. But it doesn't find. And sometimes we get lost in the next job title and the next whatever it might be. And then we lose ourselves in the process. I don't want to lose, we, I don't want my job to define who I am. I want to set that path. And I got to know that I'm listening to what he wants me to do, and not what I think I want to do. So through the artsy girl, I have been able to become someone that I know I am. And I know, for some people, that doesn't make any sense, but it it allows me to, to escape from everything that's going on around me. And you have to understand like that COVID stuff. And I hate I don't I don't want to like, oversimplify it. Or even it was, it was horrific. Yes. And I needed something to keep me from falling apart. And the artsy girl is and probably will always be that thing for me. I feel like I'm a better person because of it. Yes, absolutely. I was a person who buried myself in my title. You know, after I hit burnout, and I walked away from my job, I didn't even know how to introduce myself anymore. Because I was so used to saying I'm Dr. Patrice button, and vice president of blah, blah, blah. When I didn't have that. I literally did not know how to tell people who I was. Because I had put my entire identity into a label that somebody else gave me. Doesn't mean you don't honor your title. It doesn't mean we're not grateful for the promotion and for the experience. All of that is true. And it cannot be the home of who you are. You have to shine forth in everything that you do. You bring you to the work to the family, to the community. But you can do that if you never have a space or time where you come home to yourself and recognize who you are. Talk to me show me go a little bit because we started a conversation before we hit record and I was like stop stressed out because we got stuck back on the podcast. Because what I said is you are you are fire like you are a phenomenal woman and do you remember what you said? I think I said something along the lines of I don't even recognize that. I just I just do me. I try to show up as my authentic self. Everywhere I go. And I'm not just saying that just because I'm trying to sound And anyway, I'm just saying, I try to show up as my authentic self all the time. So you know, if I, if you need me, I'm there. And I've had a lot of people ask me, like, how do you do this? Like what? Like, I really don't know. Yeah, work, I make it work for me, I want my son to see me as my whole self, I want him to see me. As someone who can persevere, I want him to see me as someone who could set some goals and achievement. And you got to have you just you got to be authentic with who you really are. Because that's your best person, your authentic person is your best person. Absolutely be somebody else that you're not, you end up with impostor syndrome, because you're not really being who you really are. I don't recognize that, you know, people say, Oh, my God, you're so amazing, and that my grandfather taught me how to be humble, and just how to be an authentic person. And I just always want to be that. Yeah. A couple of things. The piece that you said earlier, and you said right now is I don't know how I make this work. I don't know. I'm just figuring it out. And I wanted you to say that here on the air, because I want people to know that you're looking at somebody who you think has it all together. And you're watching somebody who you think is just flawless. Perfect. I wish I had that. And all of us are out here just trying to figure it out. I don't care what their timeliness, go ahead. If you follow me on social media, I say all the time, I'm a hot mess. My team will tell you, I'm coming in here on wheels, most days. But to the outside world, I got you. I'm 150%. In at work, when I'm here, I put all of my energy into what I'm focusing on at that time. So my son, I'm all in focusing on him. I take I make lists, I go through those lists, I try to do the most important things. First, the big rocks first. And then I just move things along, you know, in my business life, in my work, and also in my family. Because then I know it's been a while since I came to you in this way. But I got something to share with you, you all know that I'm in the process of writing this book. And as I'm doing this, there are strategies and ideas and, and thoughts that are coming to me that I've never had, and I'm so full, I can't wait to get it to you and the book is coming this year. But I can't wait until then I'm seeing the evidence in my life. And in the lives of folks that I'm coaching one on one. And God has laid it on my heart to create something for folks who may be interested in one on one coaching, but you can't afford it. It doesn't fit into your budget. Or maybe you're curious about coaching, but you've never had that experience before. This is for folks who feel like you're marching in place. Like you're putting in all the effort, but you're not moving forward, you feel buried, and you're ready to move into brilliance, I'm ready to share out. I've got some strategies, I've got some things to work through with you. Listen, friends, this is not gonna be fancy. There's no fancy sales page. There's no course platform. This is going to be us meeting once a month through zoom for me to pour out to you what I have and to support you and your journey. That's it. That's it. This is 40 not 40. This is 3030 bucks a month. And there has to be some kind of investment, or I've learned that people don't show up, right? But at that level, you deserve $30 a month. You can find $30 A month. So if you have wanted to work with me, but just couldn't find it in your budget. If you've been curious about coaching and just not sure if it was a good fit for you. jump in on the HEartwork Academy 2023 I have an even if we work together before a friend you ain't seen this yet. You haven't seen this yet. I am so ready. I'm so thankful. And I'm ready to share with you and I'm ready to support you. Okay, so listen, if you're interested, join with the link here. Fill out the form join us in the HEartwork Academy will kick off in May. We'll meet once a month on Zoom. And we're going to walk this thing out together. Nothing fancy but let's just get it It is time for you to live in brilliance. You need to know what it means to show up in purpose every day. And I'm ready to help you. All right, I can't wait to hear from you. And I'm excited to serve you. I'll see you soon. Bye. Okay, we got to talk about that we got, because you said I do the big rocks first. And that is a concept that I've heard recently that was very powerful. So what do you mean by I do the big rocks first. So the things that we my immediate attention, that are things that can impact all other people, I try to do those things first. So for example, if it's a big project, and it's due, I make sure I prioritize that. I don't know if you can see in my office, but I've got this. This net, you know, it is, is horrible, it looks horrible. But I got these post it notes, and I'm moving them. So the priority eight things are on top, there be items in the middle C items at the bottom. And I move those things around, because sometimes they change. And those eight items, I focus on those right away. So I have a schedule for my artsy girl creation. When it's when I'm when I'm I left work. When I left work, I go home and look at the orders that I've come in that come in. And the people who order it first, I start with there's I have a schedule, Monday through Saturday. It's kind of what I do things. Mondays, and Tuesdays are male days, Wednesdays and Thursdays is just kind of like a refresh. And I take care of the accounting stuff. Saturdays I create, unless there's something going on with my family, Sunday's symbol, and I just start that same cycle over again. And I try to give myself some grace. I don't like to make people wait for things. So I just try to communicate up front. But the goal is to make sure I take care of those important things first. And then those other things that aren't critical, you know, I get to those labs. Yeah. So I want to say two things. One, I want people to be clear what you do. So in the artsy girl, you are creating jewelry and accessories, and you are creating them by hand. So every piece that is ordered, and that is sent out, every piece is made by your very hands and designed. And oh, you've added you've added greeting cards, Valentine's Day cards, I saw you with some luggage, some artsy girl luggage. So all the things and I want to make that clear, because I want people to understand, I want them to understand the work that you're putting into your passion. But what I love is, so many of us are just guilty of scheduling and prioritizing at work. And we never prioritize the rest of our purpose. So I love the sticky notes. I'm a sticky note person, I got some big poster paper right over here. So I'm with you, I'm with you. And so many of us do that for somebody else's dream for somebody else's company, for somebody else's organization. But we fail to do it for ourselves. I love that the same system that works for you at your finance company is the same system that works for the artsy girl and for your motherhood and your family. And you deserve that you deserve to put a system in place. If you don't schedule, the purpose is not going to happen. Whatever it is, yeah, we'll be working out eating right sleep, whatever. If it doesn't go on the calendar is not going to happen. And honestly, if it's not on my calendar, it's not that important to me. Because if it's on the calendar, I'm making it happen. Okay, so talk to me, because you have this HR piece, where you're empowering people and professionals and leaders. And then you have the art segro Where you are sending razzle dazzle into the world. What is that common purpose? Like how do those two things come together? What are you doing in each one of those things to impact the world? I will tell you that. The biggest piece about being in Human Resources is a lot of people will let me go back a lot of people think that HR lady is the person who pays the person who tells me what my benefits are. But HR is so much bigger than that. It is, it's helping people find their purpose. Helping people have and make dreams come true for their families. Helping people grow in their careers, their career journey. You know, we, I like to tell people, we handle employees from conception to birth. So, and it's a cycle. And I want people to feel like, I'm a part of that, that me and my team, and I'll say, my team, because I feel like I have gotten to a point in my career where I've got to bring other people along. The folks that work for me, I tried to make sure and I said work for me, they really worked with me, and I work for them. But I want them to be front and center. So many times, we become the leaders at the top. And we don't reach back down to the people who are late like that we're leaving. And so it makes no sense for me to be on every project, or, you know, I try to make sure that the folks on my team are the people who are front and center. And they want I want to be here for their resource. So my goal is to make sure that I'm empowering them. So they can empower other people. So that one day when they become whoever that might be, folks are looking at them and saying, Wow, I want to work for that person, because they looked out for me. I correlate that to the artsy girl because I want women to feel amazing. There, there's so many things out there that's distracting, you got social media, and you know, all the girls pumping and bumping and you know, all that kind of stuff. I want women to feel confident in whatever it is they're doing. If they're just running around, and they just want to pull on a pair of hoops and run around town. I want them to feel amazing doing it. They pick up a notebook that I have drawn or created. I want them to feel that spark and that razzle dazzle that I always talk about. That's very important to me. And I want the same for the people who work for the organization as well. Yes, yeah. That that is the perfect example of discovering your brilliance. Because you have one purpose. You express it in many different ways you express it in your finance company, you express it in the artsy girl, you express it in your motherhood, you express it in your community, your leader in your community. But there is one purpose is one purpose. I want people to feel their best, whether they're whether through HR coaching them and bringing them through their career, or whether it's through the accessories or journals or pieces that you create, when they pick it up. When they look at it. Look at it when they put it on. You want them to feel their best, you're pulling them forward to their best aid. Oh, you know what, it's so beautiful. That's what your grandfather did for you. When you drew with him, when you created art with him, that's what he did for you. We used to drive Charlie Brown, like we started out drawing Snoopy and Charlie Brown. And he would just say to me, let your imagination run wild. You want Snoopy to run, let him run. He wasn't gonna jump, let him jump. And so when I got really stressed in 2020, I had to reach back to that habit filled. And what that felt like is is changed my life in a way that who knew already, like telling my age later that I would be at a point where I would say wow, I'm that little four year old girl sitting down drawing with my grandmother who I am and you're impacting the world with it. I'm trying you doing it. I love it. I love it. So listen, I gotta let you go. But please tell people how they can find you how they can find the RC girl because I know all my folks are ready to go to your website because we love jewelry over here. Okay, I already have my pieces. I get what I need first so y'all can order now because I don't play with As I get my first book, please let the folks know how they can find you how they can follow you and how they can order. I have Facebook and Instagram. That's the artsy girl 76 And I've just got registered trademark, like status I'm really excited but the artsy girl 76 Th e AR T sy girl 76. And that's either Instagram or Facebook. My website is the artsy girl shop.com Th e AR t S y girl, shop back home. I love it. I love it and everything will be in the show notes so that you all can follow, you can check out the artsy girl you can order so that you can get some razzle dazzle in your life. I know that from hearing Sharmequa's story, that you are recognizing that you are more than one thing. You have more than one hat, you have one purpose, but that purpose is expressed in many different ways. And people are so quick to tell us what you can do that they don't get to tell you what you can do. Whatever God created you to do, you can walk confidently in those shoes because the burden won't be too heavy for you. Because it's yours. All the things that are assigned to your life you can do and my sister is an example of that. So I'm so grateful for you joining us thank you so much. I appreciate it's my pleasure, even for you. Same Same. Listen, y'all As always you are powerful. You are significant and you are loved. Love always PBJ