Season 3 Kickoff

After a much-needed break, I’m back behind the mic with more intention and alignment. I’ve been healing my body, getting real about what entrepreneurship looks like for me, and reconnecting with myself through rest, play, and movement. From Pilates and Salsa to reimagining how I want to work in my business, life lately has been about choosing ease and tapping into what feels right for me instead of copying someone else’s blueprint.

This season of Life in the Middle is about creative exploration, finding truth, and examining relationships. Grab your Reflections Worksheet and let’s jump into this new season to continue on the path to finding clarity and trust in ourselves.

Episode Quotes: 

"Salsa taught me I don’t know how to follow—and that not trusting others was showing up in more ways than I thought."

"Nothing in work is guaranteed. I’m just trying to set myself up for success and align with what I truly enjoy."

"Yoga used to stress me out... now it’s helping me get my strength back, and I actually enjoy it."

In this Episode:

• 01:30 Rethinking my business goals and setting up for new opportunities
• 04:50 The truth about solopreneurship and why I’m focused on alignment over hustle
• 08:20 Healing from injury with Pilates and Yoga
• 11:00 Changing eating habits and learning to be more intentional with my health
• 14:00 How I’ve been volunteering and choosing joy in small, meaningful ways
• 20:50 My vision for Season 3: deeper conversations, relevant topics, and creative expression

Connect with ME!
If you’re ready for deeper conversations or you want to close the gap from where you are to where you want to be, visit sharonapatrice.com.

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Transcript

S2EP37 FINALWITH INTRO OUTRO

[00:00:00] Welcome to Life in the Middle. I'm your host, Sharona Patrice, the go-to empowerment and lifestyle coach, teaching you how to get unstuck so you can build a life that you think is impossible if you are the curious type who wants to know what a person is really thinking and failing. You know those thoughts that we rarely say out loud or the ones we only say in private, around our family and close friends, and you're ready to get to the bottom of the bullshit, then this is the space for you.

I have to warn you though, I dish it spicy, but always with love. So if you're ready, let's get started.

I am back. It feels so good to be back on the mic you guys. I've taken a little bit of a break and it felt good to rest. You guys obviously know that. At the end of November, that's typically my last episode of the podcast. And then I go on break for the holidays. And so I took a little bit more [00:01:00] of an extended break, but that's okay.

I'm a Taurus. I need the time to unwind. I need to just chill out and do nothing 'cause I literally like doing nothing. So I was taking it easy over the holidays and the plan was to start back up. Episodes like that for first quarter of the year, but it just didn't work out that way. And also too, I'm figuring out and learning that my year, my new year really doesn't start until like the springtime 'cause that's what my birthday is.

And so it just feels better. It feels more an alignment with me and how I wanna create. So we'll be getting started in the springtime moving forward, but. Yeah, a lot has happened since then. My birthday was last month and you know, I'm 48 now, so shout out to me and shout out to all my TA out there. This episode, what I wanna do is just give you guys a little bit of a life update on what's been going on these past several months, and then just talk to a little bit about what my thoughts are for this season and what you can expect.

First things [00:02:00] first, what have I been up to? So many things. I took a little bit of a break around the holiday times. I've been shutting things down like mid-December. I'm not working. I really like that because it's something that I've always wanted to do ever since I started my business. Really what I wanna do is take the entire December off, but I try to like by mid-December, just not be working on anything.

It's just like chill out time. And I've been doing this since I've been coaching full time, so it's been working out really great for me. But yeah, so last year I think I told you guys that. I had been planting a lot of seeds and trying to get myself set up, just really revamping a lot of things in my life, not just with my work and business, but just my life in general.

Like I've been really doing a lot of self-reflection, a lot of inner work, a lot of getting clear about who I am, what I want, what I wanna do, what I wanna focus on. So I've been planting seeds and building and working to expand my [00:03:00] business. I just recently got certified through WeBank, and that stands for Women Business Enterprise National Council.

And basically it's like the most widely recognized and respected council for women owned businesses in the United States. And so I went through the steps to get my business certified for one, because I needed to kind of revamp and pivot a little bit from what I was doing in the direction I was going.

I still am gonna be helping solopreneurs, you know, also have like private clients and working with small businesses. But I wanted to broaden my business a little bit and I feel like I'm in a bit of a transitional stage. So I was trying to set my business up to be able to work with corporations and government agencies and kind of businesses across the gambit, not just with private clients and personal client.

I'm also. Branching out a little bit more to do, not just coaching, but like [00:04:00] personal development training. 'cause that's in my background. I've done that for more than 13, 14 years when I was in the corporate space, and I've also done some consulting. So basically I'm just tapping into all of my skills, all of the things that I do, because the way that the world is moving right now, things are changing, they're shifting, and there's just no certain need.

There's just no certainty. So. I'm just trying to set myself up to be successful and I'm also just trying to tap into the things that I really enjoy and I just feel like this is a really good move for my business and, you know, just trying to adjust with the time. So I've been putting a lot of effort and energy into that and I feel really proud of myself because, listen, being out here building a business, you know, doing things a lot of times in a silo or in a, like your little bubble box.

It can be really challenging and just entrepreneurship and having a business where you are [00:05:00] the marketer, the CEO, the CFO, the financial person, you know, the, the accountant, the bookkeeper, you're all the things. It can be really challenging. So that's one of the reasons why I really focus on solopreneurs and like small business owners, like people who are just kind of like getting started and ramping up and also.

Professionals in their career who wanna shift or who wanna change. I get it. I get it. I used to be that person, you know? So, um, yeah, I feel good about the direction it's going, and I just know that. It's a bumpy road, but you know, as we can see, nothing in work is guaranteed. There's no such thing as a secure job.

As we know. The whole government, you know, all the agencies within the government are breaking down. That's a whole nother story. I'm not even gonna go into that right now 'cause it's a lot. But I'm just sharing all this to say that, you know, I've been paying attention and just really rethinking how I wanna work and just [00:06:00] restructuring.

What I feel about my business and kind of like why I've created my business. For those of you who don't know, you know, being an entrepreneur, starting a business was never a dream or a goal of mine. I just landed here through circumstances and you know, just different decisions that I've made. And now that I'm on this other side, I feel really, really good about it.

But I also know that it can be challenging and it's not like all roses and all peaches and cream. It's a lot of work. And you know, there's a lot of. Really great things about it, but there are also lots of really hard challenging time. So I'm looking forward to putting myself in a really good position to be able to work with clients and to be able to, you know, set myself up to be successful with these other opportunities that may come.

So, been working on that. The other thing that I've been doing a lot these last few months is focusing on my health. I've had a couple of car accidents. I'm not sure if I've shared that before, but. Like the last three years, I've had [00:07:00] two car accidents. I've been hit both times, and so I had lower back issues as a result of that.

And it's just been challenging, like physically, I. So I've been focusing a lot on my physical body and getting it back into shape, strengthening it, you know, making sure that I'm good, making sure that I can like walk and move. Okay. Because listen, as you get older, we take for granted that we can actually go for a walk or we can like, get in out of the car, you know, sit on the toilet, getting out of the shower.

Like these are basic things that like, I know it probably sounds like I'm super duper old, but. These are just things that over time, if you are not paying attention to you just take them for granted. So having this injury and having to strengthen it and nurse it back to health, it has been very eyeopening and it's just given me a lot more appreciation for my health, for just the basic everyday things that I do.

So I've been focusing a lot on [00:08:00] yoga. Doing gentle yoga, and I just discovered this new class called the Yin Yoga. It's like stretching, but it's holding the poses for longer periods of time, so it's been good for me. Yoga used to stress me out when I first did it a few years back, I just never got it. I was like, this is not helpful.

This isn't making me not be stressed. It's actually making me or more anxious because I was trying to do the moves and it was just difficult. And so I just never really enjoyed yoga, but then I. Went away to this ashram, it's called yogaville. This was like years back, maybe like 10 years ago now, and I discovered this form of yoga called Haha yoga.

I guess it's yoga for meditation. And I loved it. I absolutely loved it. So. Anytime I would try to do yoga, I would try to look for classes like Haha yoga classes, which they're not very common, but I think the closest thing to them maybe is gentle yoga. So I've been focused on that and it's been really great for me.

So I'm now into yoga, [00:09:00] definitely making sure like every week I go, I've also been doing Pilates. I dunno why I took so long to take a Pilates class, but. I should have been taking a Pilates since the beginning of time. I should have been taking a Pilates like in my early twenties. But Pilates has been a game changer for me, especially with strengthening my lower back.

You know, my lower back, I have a herniated disc and this is what I was told from getting the x-rays and everything. And so this Pilates class has helped to strengthen my core, which helps with your, you know, your lower back and all that stuff. I know I probably sound like a doctor, but I literally.

Changed my body with all the stuff that I was doing, but specifically Pilates has helped a lot in strengthening my core and like helping my back to feel a lot better. So I've been going to my chiropractor and getting my treatments in, like I've been seeing all the doctors, all the things, doing all the things, and so I've just been really focusing on that, eating well, taking my [00:10:00] vitamins, drinking water.

It's just been really good. Another thing I started doing more recently is intermittent fasting. I've noticed that, you know, with going through like perimenopause as you're going through that, like there's a lot of things that are going on with your body, like hormones and things are changing and, but I've noticed that, you know, certain things that I eat, it just doesn't sit well with me anymore.

And I've been trying to just again, pay attention to my body. So I've started intermittent fasting and it's actually worked really well for me. It's helped with my perimenopausal symptoms. It's also. You know, helped with like blood sugar regulation and I feel just better during the day. I feel like I'm paying more attention to what I'm eating.

I had to work my way up to, I think I'm at a 16 eight now, which is 16 hours of no eating, which is fasting, and then eight hours of eating. So I have like a window of where I eat, but trying not to eat too late because y'all, I was literally snacking through the night and I figured I was [00:11:00] doing that because number one, I was bored.

Or number two, I was like, lonely. That's a whole nother story. But yeah, it was just not healthy and I was just doing it because I could. And so, you know, I started just getting to the point where I was like, okay, we're not gonna just blindly be eating and just sitting on the couch snacking all night.

We're gonna shut this down and be more mindful of like what we're doing. So yes, focusing on my health has been top priority these last several months. Another thing that I've been doing a lot is just having fun and following my heart and doing what feels good. I just recently started taking salsa lessons.

I love it. It is amazing. And I'm doing the salsa, it's called Casino. It's a Cuban style salsa, and I love it. I've been taking classes every week and just learning how to, you know, do the different basic moves. I've just recently gotten into partnering, so [00:12:00] that's very interesting. I took salsa and when I took it before, one of the things I learned about myself was that I do not know how to follow.

I do not know how to follow, but it's not even just that. I have this ability to control or want to control and it's also a trusting for me. So I remember when I took it years ago, I was like going through my divorce and I was just in a really difficult space. It was just like a hard time for me. I think it was linear salsa that I took based upon what I know now.

And it was just a fun class. A lot of people were just in there learning, and I remember there were guys and girls in the class, but like if I had a male partner, typically in salsa, the male is the lead. The male leads and you follow as a woman. And so what I was learning in that class was that I was not following my partner because I didn't trust him.

I didn't believe that he knew what he was doing. So if I felt like he was doing the move wrong or he was not doing it correctly, I wouldn't follow. And [00:13:00] so I learned a lot about myself from being in that class. I learned that I didn't trust and I also learned that I like to take control. And so it was just a.

Eyeopener for me to understand those things about myself, it's sort of like I knew those things, but they were highlighted even more so when I was taking the SALSA lesson. I'm trying it again and I have a different perspective on it, a different mindset. I'm even going into it in a different space, like I'm just having fun.

I'm looking forward to the classes, and I'm just enjoying myself. Whereas before, I think I was trying to distract myself. This time I'm actually. Intentional and focused, and it's just been good. It's just been good so far. So I've been having more fun. I've also been volunteering more. It was at a senior center.

I volunteered for an organization that puts on different, you know, dinners and helps people that are having food deficiency or you know, people who [00:14:00] don't have enough to eat. And so they did an event at a senior center where it was like an Easter event and. We did like an Easter dinner for them, and then they had Bingo.

So bingo was serious. Do not play with seniors in their bingo. Okay. It's very, very serious. So that was super fun and I really enjoyed that. So I've just been trying to, I. Get into things that I enjoy, and I also celebrated my birthday last month. So again, shout out to all the tourists. I had a really nice time.

So typically on my birthday, I go away. I usually take a trip, and I haven't been doing that the last several years though I probably haven't taken a trip for my birthday since pre covid. So it's been a minute. At some point, I am gonna take a trip again, but I just, I don't know. I haven't scheduled anything.

I haven't planned anything for, there's a multitude of reasons. Number one, just financially I'm not in the space to go on an extravagant [00:15:00] vacation. Number two, I haven't felt like the need to go away, like with all the things that have been going on in the world. I don't know. I've just been feeling more called to stay closer to home and.

I feel like at some point I'm gonna wanna venture out again for my birthday, but this time for my birthday was pretty low key. I didn't do too, too, too much, and I stayed local. So I don't know, maybe I'll talk about that in another episode if people wanna hear about it. But I feel like I talk about my birthday every single year.

So I don't know, maybe people don't really wanna hear about my birthday. But anyways, with all that being said, I have just been enjoying my life. I have been focused on. Setting myself up for the future. I think I told you guys back in like, was it 2024? It was like my year of nine. I was going through it, shutting things down, things were closing out, relationships were changing.

Then last year was my year of one. If you guys are into numerology, I don't know if you are, but I. One is like new [00:16:00] beginnings, like fresh start. So again, planting a lot of seeds, you know, setting up the foundation, building, you know, whatever you're trying to build, right? So for me it's been, like I said, my business, it's also been my personal life.

I'm just trying to get my body right. I wanna be healthy, I wanna be strong. And I think as I'm getting older, I'm really enjoying this process of aging. I know that, you know, the forties have been a little challenging, okay? Don't get me wrong. But I feel like I'm more excited about the things that I'm doing.

Like I think before I looked at like exercise or you know, working out as a chore, like, oh, I don't really wanna do it now. I feel like I'm doing things that I actually enjoy. So I look forward to my classes. I look forward to going for my walks. I look forward to, you know, moving and being out and about being social.

So I'm really. Moving into a space where I'm just kind of being foundational and doing a lot of inner reflection and just focusing on myself. And so with that being said, [00:17:00] I wanna talk to you guys about what you can expect this season. I have an idea. I feel like I go through this every single season. I talk about what to expect and then, I don't know, sometimes it works out that way, sometimes it doesn't.

So I'm gonna say this with the understanding that. I may change my mind later, but there are a couple things that I've been thinking about as far as this season and kind of the direction I wanna go. Number one, I think I want to talk more about relationships. I really wanna just focus on relationships and all their forms, not just romantic partnerships, because relationships are, to me like the cornerstone of everything that we do.

I just feel like now more than ever, it's so important for us to come together and have that connection and that community, and I feel like relationships are the way that we do that. Relationships are what make up life. Everything that you do is about a relationship or [00:18:00] relationship to something. So I'm not sure how we're gonna explore it this season, but I'm looking forward to it and I think I will understand a little bit more as we go.

But. I think it's important to give space to this area of life because I don't feel like I've really focused a lot on relationships in past seasons. I may have touched on it here and there. I try not to go too deep, especially about romantic relationships because I don't feel like a relationship expert, and I also just, I wanna be able to explore it from my perspective, but also kind of give you guys something to walk away with that's tangible and helpful.

Tap into that a little bit this season. And I also think that this season I'm gonna pull the trigger and we're gonna have a few guests. Now we're gonna try this out because this is definitely a solo podcast. Okay. But [00:19:00] I enjoy talking and sharing my thoughts, but I know that it may be helpful to bring in some other perspective.

So I've invited a couple of friends. To join me this season. Join, join. We're gonna try it out. We're gonna see how it works. But I also know that like when I am thinking about topics or wanting to bring in topics, you know, that I think are gonna be relevant and helpful. I know that those are typically sparked by conversation.

So a lot of times when I have an idea about an episode or something, I wanna talk about. Those things come about because I've had a conversation with a friend or there's something that's happened that sparked an emotion within me or some sort of feeling. It's typically inspired by conversations, but it could be something I read like maybe in a book.

It could be something I heard. It could be a podcast. I saw somebody else's podcast. Maybe there was a topic of discussion, and then I'll think about it from my own perspective and say, oh, okay, that sounds like something I could share as well. So what I want for this space is. [00:20:00] This is life in the middle.

So this is navigating those middle spaces of life, the middle of those relationships, the middle of where you are with your job, the middle of where you are financially, the middle of where you are in making some of those really heavy decisions, or just a space where you can come to really process whatever it is you're going through.

So I wanna be able to share my perspective in a way that's helpful and. I want you to always walk away with something tangible that you can reflect on and think about how it applies to your own life. I want this to be a space where you walk away and you're like, wow, I really got something out of that.

Or, wow, I'm now gonna go off and do X, Y, and Z. So I want you to be able to take action. I want you to be able to feel. Empowered in what you're doing, but most of all, I want to explore topics that I think are gonna be helpful and relevant for the [00:21:00] time right now and for like what's going on in life. I know a lot of people are going through so many different things.

So much is changing and moving in the world and it's challenging right now. And so. Hopefully this is like a small space of peace, of support, of strength, of hope, of empowerment for you, so that like as you move through your day, as you move through your month, your year, you're feeling better and better about the decisions that you're making.

So that is my hope for you, and I just think that as we go forward too, I'm gonna play with a little bit of different types of episodes. I have a lot of recordings that I have made. Throughout like the years and over the months, and I think that would be helpful. They're literally just private conversations that I've had with myself, and so I've been thinking about how to incorporate those as well.

So we'll see how that goes. But either way, I just wanna use this space to explore creativity and to be able to navigate and also change my mind. [00:22:00] I hope that by doing that you understand that you also have the permission and the right to change your mind and to decide what is best for you and what works for you as well.

All right, so that's all I have on my mind for now. This has been super exciting for me. This journey has been really great. I'm so happy that I decided to. Start life in the middle, and I'm so happy that you guys are here with me. I also just wanna take a moment to thank each and every one of you who has been rocking with me since the beginning, the first episode.

You know who you are, and also for those who've hopped on the train, right? If you've hopped on Midway and you're like, Hey, I'm riding with you. I love it here. Thank you so much for your support. I know a lot of times that when you're starting something new. It can be scary, you know, like this podcast is exciting for me, but it's also scary.

It's like you're putting your thoughts out into the world and you're sharing a part of yourself or a piece of yourself. And you know, [00:23:00] sometimes people will like it, sometimes people won't it, and that's just part of what comes with the territory. But I just appreciate every single download, every single share, every single reply, or every single time somebody clicks the button and listens because.

It just reinforces that I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. So thank you so much. And with that being said, if you have been here for a while and you are enjoying the podcast and you like what you're hearing, I ask that you just leave a review and give the podcast a rating so that others can like.

Understand and see why you like it so much and you know, may help them to tune in as well. It also just helps people to understand like what the podcast is about and like what you like about it and you know, give your thoughts coming from someone who actually is listening so I can talk about it and read about it all day, but I think people like to see others perspective on what they're listening to and why they think it's great.

If you could do that, I would so appreciate it. And also too, don't forget [00:24:00] to download a copy of the Reflections Worksheet so that you can write out your thoughts and share any takeaways as you tune into all of the episodes this season. I've created that specifically for you. It is my gift to you, so as always, you can grab that link in the description of this episode and all the other episodes, just whatever you get a minute.

And I would say that is all I have for now. I'm excited about season three. I can't wait to chat with you and to keep up the conversations. So we will see where this journey takes us, and I will see you on the other side. Bye for now. Thank you for tuning into this episode of Life in the Middle. I hope you feel inspired to use your space to dream, believe, love, and live a life that you think is impossible.

If this episode spoke to you, please show some love and feel free to rate, review, and subscribe. If you're ready for deeper conversations or if you feel like you need a little support, closing the gap from where you are to where you wanna be, visit sharona [00:25:00] patrice.com or click on the link in the description to connect with me.

Until next time.