Good Neighbor Podcast: South of the River
Bringing Together Local Businesses and Neighbors of South of the River
Good Neighbor Podcast: South of the River
EP #114 Finding Freedom: How Wildlife Coaching Transforms Your Business and Life
We explore the world of "wildlife coaching" with Erin Barry, founder of Live Your Truth Journey. Erin shares her approach to helping people live more authentically by embracing their wild side and moving beyond people-pleasing to create fulfilling lives aligned with their true values.
• Wildlife coaching is a collaborative relationship that empowers clients to fulfill their dreams based on their values
• Common misconceptions include thinking coaches simply give advice or have all the answers
• Unlike therapy, coaching is primarily future-focused on helping clients become their best selves
• Personal growth creates an "upward spiraling" effect where improvement in one life area positively impacts others
• Erin's personal transformation from people-pleaser to authentic living inspired her business
• Defining core values like family connection provides a foundation for better decision-making
• Erin offers wildlife coaching, speaking, retreats, and creative workshops to help others live their truth
To connect with Erin Barry, visit www.liveyourtruthjourney.com, email erin@liveyourtruthjourney.com, or find her on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.
Welcome to the Good Neighbors Podcast, south of the River, number 113. And today, have you ever thought about your wild side when it comes to performance? Well, we have an awesome guest today in Erin Berry with Live your Truth Journey, and she's going to teach us a little bit about the wildlife when it comes to coaching us in business. Welcome, erin, how are you doing today?
Speaker 2:Great Mark. Thank you so much for having me today. I'm really excited to be sharing this space with you on the Good Neighbor.
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, it's going to be kind of fun. I guess you're going to kind of take me through the wild side too, right? Oh, absolutely, let's do it All, right. Well, why don't you start giving us a little bit of background that drove you to some of your passions? Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 2:It is definitely a passion business. I help people live their truth through wild coaching, speaking, directing, retreats and also creative workshops, and you know, it's a focus of. When people feel free to be themselves versus conforming to someone else, then they are living the happier and more fulfilling lives. It is something that I myself went through, of a transformation, of being a people pleaser to creating the life that I love and living fully.
Speaker 1:The little bit that we've shared through our networking and stuff. I hear that I see it and I've listened to you speak to uh in your business. I know there's um, oh, it's kind of like the mental health world today. There's so many misconceptions about a business coach or a life coach. Uh, can you share some of those myths and misconceptions to help people you know want to live their wildlife better or meet with you?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. You know there's a few of the misconceptions that life coaches have, and that is that all we do is give advice to you or all we do is solve problems for you, and that is not what life coaching is all about. A life coaching, especially with me, is a collaborative relationship that we build with each other, in which I empower you to fulfill your life dreams and ambitions based on your values and your goals. I believe that everyone is competent, creative, resourceful and capable of designing their own lives, and they have the answers in them.
Speaker 2:Another thing about life coaches is that we're good listeners, and that is what helps us to pull out your deepest dreams and your deepest desires that you can live your life, living your truth, living it more fully and happily. So that's one of the misconceptions. Um, and that kind of goes along with also that the life coaches have all the answers. We definitely don't have all the answers. They are within you. You need to connect to your own inner being, your own inner wisdom and that higher power, whatever it may be for you, so that you can then get out of life what you want and live your truth. So those are some of the big misconceptions that are related to life coaching.
Speaker 1:So it's not like the old style when you lay on a couch and you tell your life history from the day you were born all the way until today, when you're an umpire like me and what I got to listen to a whole bunch of parents yelling at me and stuff.
Speaker 2:Absolutely not. I definitely will help people do some of that reflecting, because knowing where you are is very important so that you can get to where you want to go. But there is a difference between therapy and working with psychologists versus working with a coach. I mean, they will help you get to your future, but life coaches are definitely a lot more future focused, and so we are looking at what is going to make your life better, what is going to help you to become the best you that you can be. So it's absolutely about living that forward, fulfilling life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I know firsthand that when I'm feeling good at home and when I'm feeling good on myself, my business takes off like crazy. So that's really what the Good Neighbors podcast is all about All of you folks that help us out and help us be better people. It all starts at home, right?
Speaker 2:It does. It's amazing to me how much all of our life areas overlap and affect one and the other areas overlap and affect one and the other. And I always talk about with people a lot of times is that there's an upward spiraling growth for life and that just means that you can be focused on one area of your life and as you become more and better in that area, it's going to affect the other areas of your life. But you will rotate through the different areas and as you do that, you will continually grow. But it is amazing how, when you do just like you said, when your home life is impeccable, or even if you get connected, that will affect your home life and it will affect your health and your energy.
Speaker 1:And so I absolutely just yeah, I get pegged all the time wondering I'm the Energizer bunny, or I go to Rotary and they said you know, geez, mark, for 60, you got more energy than anybody in the room. But it's because of you folks that keep me excited every day and I listen to your stories. So. But you know, we get past all those misconceptions and you're working hard and helping people, but you have your own family too. So I want you to share a little bit about some of your family, some of the things you love to do, whether it's travel or sports, and tell us a little bit about Erin Berry's wild thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so my life is definitely wild. You know, being a life coach doesn't mean I'm perfect, it doesn't mean that I've got all of my stuff put together. You know, we all have our life challenges that come and go, and I've got three adult kids my youngest will be graduating from high school this year and so I'm still very busy. Actually side note, this morning I had to go help my college student with a flat tire, so my morning started out with quite a bit of energy. So I love supporting my kids and helping them in any way that I can, and that definitely keeps my life with a wild edge to it. I do have three bonus kids and a grandbaby and in our free time we enjoy soccer so football and I do actually referee that and am involved as much as I can and I love being outdoors and being active outdoors, so me and my family get to the lake as often as we can.
Speaker 1:And reading I love reading, so that's, uh, that's awesome I uh, take out the reading thing for me, and watching a good video or listening to a book is my style. I somehow don't comprehend the eyes to brain thing, but when I it doesn't go to my mouth I don't, but if I can somebody read it to me, my ears work just fine. So one of the other things I like to always try to get out of the people I work with and stuff is you know, we all have our reasons why we go into certain businesses. Obviously, you know mine with the publishing, and I was a fundraising professional for a long, long, long, long time. That was my life. But how about you? Is there something in your life that turned you into coaching? You know your own little journey that did? Or your kids? What is it that makes you live your own truth journey?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. It is definitely my life experiences and the transformation that I experienced myself that led me into creating Live your Truth Journey and becoming a wildlife coach. Becoming a wildlife coach, I was one of those people that was living an unhappy and unhealthy life, trying to please others and meet everybody else's expectations, and I was playing with my kids on the floor when they were younger, one morning and the thought that went through my head was is this the example that I want to be setting for my kids? And the answer was no. Want to be studying for my kids? And the answer was no, it's not. I am not stepping into my personal power, I am not being authentic, erin. And so at that time of my life, I was searching for some money freedom and some time freedom so that I could spend more time with my kids, and some time freedom so that I could spend more time with my kids. And I got connected to digging into the personal growth, and it was the book the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey that then triggered my journey to really begin, because I defined my values and clarified my vision. My family, I knew, was important to me, but I didn't have the value defined. So as soon as I defined the value and realized that connection with those most important people in my life is what is most important and experiencing life with them and lifting each other up is what's important is important. And when I started making my decisions from that foundation, then I started living my truth and so that transformation being reconnected to personal growth.
Speaker 2:I did have a previous life in it and that company was acquisition. So I started actually as live your Truth Seminars with the intention of doing retreats. So I started as a speaker and wanted to facilitate retreats and so I started as Live your Truth Seminars. But that acquisition didn't go the way it was and I did end up being divorced during that whole transition time. So it was a side hustle and a hobby. Okay, during that time I ended up adding the life coaching because I was looking at okay, how do I get out of this IT position and make this my full-time thing? So I did add the life coaching and at that time I switched the name to live your truth journey. So that's kind of the story behind live your truth journey. I wanted to to be more in align with all the different services that I was offering. So I do speaking, I do retreats, I do the wildlife coaching and the creative workshops.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's awesome in both our journeys. It's kind of interesting how people see us and you know, I've known you for a little while now and I definitely see and I kind of don't necessarily like the word mature, because we're all mature adults, but mature in our destiny it's like I went from publishing crawling around on my knees trying to sell cookie dough to having major events and then have pandemic changed my direction to publishing, did the same thing there, didn't even know what a publisher was, then move into supplying communities with people like yourself and other businesses, and that's what really gets me excited every day. But in the end it's all everybody watching us and we like to emulate good people and, aaron, you are definitely in that category of a great person and I know you can help a lot of us. So as we get close to the end here, I always want to make sure everybody knows how to get a hold of you. So if you could share any and all the ways to get a hold of you, from calling to Facebook to everything- yeah, absolutely Well.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Mark. I know that I am in good company with you. I really appreciate again this time for sharing the space with you, so for getting in connected with me. I think the best way to learn more about me and connect with me is through my website, wwwliveyourtruthjourneycom. I also have my email, which is erin at liveyourtruthjourneycom and for all the socials I'm out on LinkedIn, instagram and Facebook. Currently, on my website, you'll be able to see what upcoming events I have, you'll be able to learn more of what WILD is all about, and you can also schedule a call with me through my website so that we can connect and see how I can help support you.
Speaker 1:I can't wait to take the next move down our journey together and I definitely want to thank you for coming on board today and hopefully we'll have all of our good neighbors go to your website and I look forward to some of the different things we can do together, both supporting our communities. But today we are going to wrap up the Good Neighbors Podcast with Erin Berry and Live your Truth Journey and let's all find our wild side. So have a great day and I look forward to seeing you again, erin.
Speaker 2:Bye now, thank you, Rick Bye.