So THIS Happened...
“So THIS Happened…” is the podcast version of catching up with your most unfiltered friend over wine. Each week, Jen and Rachel dive into personal mishaps, past memories, local happenings, weird habits, and whatever else pops up — including the occasional celebrity headline we just have to talk about. It’s casual, it’s chaotic, and it’s all real.
So THIS Happened...
Episode 51: Many Hats, Many Tales, One Squad
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Season 2 of the Wichita podcast So THIS Happened kicks off with hosts Jen Cole and Rachel Chappelle, joined by Wichita entrepreneur Dr. Shareika Fisher of Reitreat Consulting and Freish Florals.
🎉 Season 2 Kickoff
Fresh off their Anniversary Party at Bubbles Champagne Bar (presented by Vu Events), Jen and Rachel recap surprising Season 1 guests with custom Bella Bonita Designs scrunchies, plus new "Pairs Well with Champagne & Caviar Bumps" patches from Happy Camper Hat Company.
🍷 Wine, World Cup & the Plaza
Jen recaps a 4th of July weekend road trip to Kansas City, tasting Riesling and rosé from Vinzant Wines inside the Made in KC boutique on the Plaza, right as World Cup crowds packed the streets for Colombia's match at Arrowhead Stadium.
🩰 Alice in Wonderland with Ballet Wichita
The hosts dressed up (Mad Hatter hat and bunny ears included) for Ballet Wichita's traveling production of Alice in Wonderland, bringing their Instagram giveaway winner Mikayla and friends along for a night out at Goldfinch.
🎩 Wearing Many Hats with Dr. Shareika Fisher
Recorded live at Greater Grounds, this Season 2 premiere features Dr. Shareika Fisher, founder of Reitreat Consulting ("Wonder Woman for executives") and Freish Florals, and the new coordinator behind Lead Wichita's Global Leadership Summit, returning August 6-7 at INTRUST Bank Arena. Jen, Rachel, and Shareika talk through what it really means to wear many hats across Wichita's nonprofit, entrepreneurial, and creative spaces, from protecting your calendar to leaning into your strengths. Freish Florals recently joined the approved vendor list at Bradley Fair, and Shareika's Floral Fridays are not to be missed.
📣 Before You Go
Join us live! Sip Squad Sessions kicks off July 20 at Bubbles Champagne Bar with guest Stella Hankins of Bella Bonita Designs. Merch is live: Uncorked & Slightly Unhinged, code STHANNIVERSARY for 15% off through 7/31.
Find Dr. Shareika Fisher: Instagram @dr.reirei | LinkedIn: Shareika Fisher
Find Freish Florals: Instagram @freish_florals
So THIS Happened is Wichita's podcast for real talk, local culture, and the occasional Taylor Swift spiral. Hosted by Jen Cole and Rachel Chappelle. New episodes drop weekly — find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
Proudly sponsored by Vu Events — it had to be Vu!
Oh my gosh, it's season two!
SPEAKER_01Season two, episode one.
SPEAKER_00Season two, episode one. Oh my gosh. So um I'm Jen. I'm Rachel. And we are so excited to be back after a three three-week break. Uh wow.
SPEAKER_01We took a little break ski so we can get some things in line for season two.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, some things happened. We'll just we'll just say that for now. Um, so welcome back, uh, Sip Squad. We're so excited to be launching season two today. We are here at Greater Grounds. It's it's so much fun to be on location. Greater grounds. We love Greater Grounds. Yes, and we're here with Dr. Sharika Fisher. Welcome. Excited to be here. It's gonna be amazing.
SPEAKER_01She brought us an anniversary present here. Look at these beautiful bouquets.
SPEAKER_06Every celebration deserves a little touch of happiness.
SPEAKER_00Blouse are my happiness. Yes, absolutely. And they smell freaking amazing, guys. It's incredible. So fresh. So fresh. So fresh. Oh, that would be an adorable hashtag. So things have happened. My road trip to the uh World Cup weekend in Kansas City and tried some wines. We had our anniversary party yesterday. At Bubbles. We went to Alice in Wonderland. It seems like a lifetime ago. Ballet Witch Toss production of Alice in Wonderland. Of course, we love our partners at Ballet Witch Toss.
SPEAKER_01We did take a recording break, but we did not take a break. That's right.
SPEAKER_00We have forgotten. It's overlooked. But today we're so excited to have Dr. Sharika Fisher with us. So again, welcome. Thank you. Thank you.
SPEAKER_03So happy to be here.
SPEAKER_00So you have uh retreat consulting and fresh florals. I love that.
SPEAKER_06Two businesses.
SPEAKER_00Two businesses, but you wear many hats. And so that is the theme of today's episode. We're gonna be talking about many hats. Before we get too far in anything, we want to make sure that we thank our sponsor, Vu Events.
SPEAKER_03Thank you, Vu Vince.
SPEAKER_00It had to be Vu. We love you. And uh don't forget, if you love what we do, please follow, subscribe, leave a review, a review, whatever you want to do. And uh we have a lot coming up this season. So we're starting off with a bang today. Yes, bang. And we're gonna be talking about many hats. And then we this season we're also starting our live recording, our Sip Squad sessions. Sip squad sessions. Um we have three venues on board. Uh so look for us at Bubbles and Grow. Yes, and Tour Brewing.
SPEAKER_04Oh, yes, that's exciting news.
SPEAKER_00And maybe some other things too that are maybe in the works, but we're not quite talking about yet. Stay tuned indeed. Yeah, so we had our anniversary party yesterday.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we did. Um, it was a lot of fun. It went really well. I think we had a pretty good showing. Yeah, yeah. And everyone did enjoy it. Many people stayed for the full time earlier. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Oh my gosh, some people stayed longer. I know we definitely did. We stayed long after everyone left, maybe a couple glasses after everyone left. Definitely deservingly so. Thank you so much. That was like the time that we actually got to sit there and take it in. Yeah. But the cool thing about it was we were we were making clips throughout with all of our past guests that had shown up to the shown up to the party from from season one. Yeah. And so we have these fun little conversations. Um, and then because we were creating that content, that also meant that we were having side conversations, like private time with each one of them. Just to gift them all these amazing scrunchies. Yeah. From they're designed by Bella Benita. She's right here in town. It's our custom print.
SPEAKER_01So it's our custom. So this happened print. Now we own it. We own it, so watch for more merch. Watch for more merch. Uh, because there's gonna be more coming out, but of course, uh, that was our special gift uh to our past guest. That's right. Amazing. And our past guests said that you can more than likely see them for season two. So we're gonna be getting them on the books as well. Again, to catch up with them and see what's happened with them over the last few years.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think it's gonna be a packed season with all those returning guests. I'm so excited. So it was a wonderful time yesterday. Yeah. And I did a little road trip. I went and made us some new friends. Actually, they had reached out to us, Vinzant Wines, yeah, out of Kansas City. Turns out this winery has been around for like 40 something years. I I had no idea. They own many restaurants in the Kansas City area. Bubbles has their wine in their you know, in their retail section. Yeah, it was so much fun.
SPEAKER_06That's really cool.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and it was so cool because the World Cup was happening. It was the day that Columbia was playing at Arrowhead, and so when we were at Maiden Casey, which is where they have Vinzant lines on the plaza, uh packed house. I'm sure. Packed house.
SPEAKER_03It was crazy so much fun. It's crazy.
SPEAKER_00It was so wild to just get a little step into that world. Um, it was 4th of July weekend. It was just it was such a fun way to spend the 250th. I feel like we did it very much in a fun way, a very Jin and Tim way. My husband went with me, obviously. It was so fun.
SPEAKER_01But you did not you did sports, you did wine, you didn't.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because we went to the Royals game too. Yeah, and we did wine, and we did local shopping, and it was so much fun. It was wonderful. The wine is fantastic. I tried their Riesling and their rose, loved both of them. Chef's kiss. And they sent some home so that on an upcorking episode of So This Happened. She nailed it. I did practice that a couple times before we before we hit record. On an upcorking episode of So This Happened, we will be sipping on some Vinzant wine. So thank you so much to Vinzant for sending us your precious wines. And then one more recap. We went to Ballet Wichita's Alice in Wonderland.
SPEAKER_01Yes, and that's the traveling one. They're taking around, I almost want to say the globe, but yeah. I might as well be. But yeah, that was a lot of fun. We dressed up a little bit. Jen over here had her hat, her little top hat. I'm not had her hat. I had my bunny here.
SPEAKER_03Adorable. Exactly. Everyone loves the theme. Yeah. Everyone loves the theme.
SPEAKER_00Oh gosh, it was amazing.
SPEAKER_01Uh, our ticket winner with us. Yeah, Michaela. Michaela and her friend, and uh, we went to Goldfinch, of course, afterwards. Yes, we did love that place. Yes, it's so cute. So cute. I know. And we stayed there for quite a long time. I took and my sister-in-law Kayla, she came as well. Yeah. We had a lot of fun.
SPEAKER_00It was good to get out of the house and get a little dressed up and was. And the performance, of course, as always, was phenomenal. Yeah, it was great. They do such a great job. So beautiful. And Alice in Wonderland, I hadn't actually seen that since I was a child. Not the actual store. I've seen my son did a another version of it, like a sequel to it.
SPEAKER_01I always say Alice in Chains, but that's a band. It was called Alice by Heart. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Where my son played the Mad Hatter, so that character is now pretty uh special to me. Plus, like the Mad Hatter is hilarious anyway. You gotta love that kind of weirdness.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, but you can tell they had a lot of fun with it. Like with kids with the Queen, and then you know, when they play golf with the flamingos, and they did not use real flamingos for the record.
SPEAKER_00No, but it's that's one of the I that's some of the magic that I had kind of forgotten about with Alice in Wonderland, and so it was kind of neat to be able to examine that as an adult and experience that again. A little inner child happiness there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there were some scenes I forgot about that the ballet reminded me of, and it kind of tied everything together in a different kind of way.
SPEAKER_00So I liked that. Yeah, I did too. It was wonderful. Um, of course, we've got to mention our new merch line pairs well with champagne and caviar bumps inspired by our lovely friend Brent. And and if you purchase one of that line, of course, 10% of the profits goes to our friends at Ballet Wichtaw. So we just always support our friends at Ballet Wichita. We love them.
SPEAKER_01And then we also have uh patches by by uh Happy Camper.
SPEAKER_00Oh my gosh. That say it pairs well with champagne and caviar bumps, too.
SPEAKER_01So we have those available as well. She made little circle ones and she also made square ones.
SPEAKER_00So oh yeah. So when we're out doing our live recordings, if you're interested in purchasing either a scrunchie or a patch, we have them for sale. Yes, we've got those local collabs going. Yes, we do.
SPEAKER_01That's a lot of fun to have them be part of our merch line. It sure is. So exciting.
SPEAKER_00Okay, it's time to dive into wearing so many hats, the magic of wearing so many hats because we all do, and this is when we're really gonna start like just really getting to know you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, Dr. Sharika Fisher. The way this game goes is as you've seen, because I you've seen the run of show, we have prompts, and so it's always like a this thing or a that thing. And what we'll do is we'll start with you and then we'll go around and say our answer and why. And that's kind of it's it's not a it's an icebreaker, but it's not. Yeah. Um, and the fun thing about this, I think the part that Rachel and I really love about this, and I think our listeners love it too, is the way that these things that we say during this game kind of come back to visit us later in the episode a lot of the times too.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and sometime to previous episodes. Oh my gosh, that's so true.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. So we're gonna start off with I think I feel like this question just kind of goes right off the cliff like, who are you? Okay, is it are you a delegated person or are you okay, I'm just gonna do it myself person?
SPEAKER_06I am I'm just gonna do it myself person, yeah, honestly, because when I have so many things to do, sometimes it's not that I don't trust my team to do it and get it done, it's just that I need it to be done right then and there. Yeah. And instead of saying, like, hey, last minute, can someone take care of this for me and putting that pressure on somebody? I would rather just go ahead and take care of it. Yeah, but if I have enough time and I'm planning out properly, I can delegate and let people kind of get to their own way of doing things. And I think that also allows people to be creative in how the process kind of plays out. I agree. And then the end result, you think like, oh, this is what we wanted the end result to be. But if you give people that creative way, the end result comes out even more beautiful because it's it's better than what you could have imagined. Yeah, yeah. I love that.
SPEAKER_00That's good. Yeah. What about you? Oh, let's take a guess. I am very much a do-it-myself person, as Rachel and I had a conversation about this very beginning yesterday. And yeah, it's for the same reason. I'm like, it's just instead of explaining it, I just want to do it myself. Yeah. So my pledge to you, Rachel, is on season two and beyond, I'm really, really, really gonna work on being a better delegator and sharing and sharing the work, especially as I as we both know, the workload with the podcast is definitely expanding.
SPEAKER_01It definitely is. We have started to discuss outlines of how the delegations will work. Yeah, but because it's just us, we kind of delegate each other.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. So it's usually it's her delegating to delegate. This makes me delegate to her.
SPEAKER_01She's a really good delegate. So yeah, I guess my turn. I think I am a do-it-myself person. Yeah. If when it comes to like getting the task list done that you have to get done, because I also there's something I need done before I can do the other thing. So if I had to wait for someone to get done then there, then I wouldn't be able to do the next thing, and then I wouldn't be able to properly plan ahead of time. So with me being able to just knock it out for certain instances, but then again, like you said, there is a time and place for delegation. There is when you have that time to give it to them without just being like, no, here and now. Yeah, I like that planning out. That's very but it depends on the situation. So I think both, I think I definitely Jid says I'm a good delegator. You are, I think I am a good delegator.
SPEAKER_00I hear you talk about your job, and I notice that you are a very good delegator.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Um, and like building that trust in your team is very important. So it's also, and then I do see them shine.
SPEAKER_00Like, and then they feel really good about it because they have some ownership in it. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01Taking ownership makes it feel good, which also builds that trust both ways. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06And I think in that too, like, as a former manager of a large team, you find out what your team's strengths are and what your strengths are, and you try to lean into what their strengths are, and that's how the end result becomes so fantastic.
SPEAKER_01So, what makes the great delegator is consistently doing it that way that you know who to delegate for what. Exactly. So that's what's really cool about that. But as far as just like the tasks, the list of tasks I have, I'm gonna just do them. Yeah, I know. Especially if I already have the paint took it.
SPEAKER_03And just I'll knock the back girl. I want to. I was like, I don't have time, I need an A. Migrate's a little bit more. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00Like, stop messing with my stuff. Oh my god. Oh no. Very good thing that there's that document history. Yeah, yes, yes. Absolutely in restrictions. Yes, restrictions are great. Absolutely. Not to sound like a control freak, but they really have a plan.
SPEAKER_03They do, they do. There's a reason why they were put in place. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00Thank you so much. Um, I wasn't planning on going down the list, but I really like the next question, too. All right, so are you a say yes to everything or are you protect the calendar type of person?
SPEAKER_06I used to be a say yes to everything, girl. I am a yes girl in general. Yeah, I love to be there for my people. I love if it comes to work stuff, I want to show up and support. I want to be a helper. That's always been my MO. Yeah. But in this last season, as I've been transitioning into the two businesses now, I have found that I overextend myself, right? With all the other community work and things that I'm also doing. And so I have to make sure that there's a balance now. And I don't think that it's called like work-life balance anymore because it's it's that's just like unrealistic. Yeah. But it's like, what is the balance for you? Yeah, especially when it's your business.
SPEAKER_01That's much more difficult if you find that balance.
SPEAKER_06The time, yeah, right? Because it's like I could literally work all the way for 24 hours. Oh, seriously, and I'd be fine with it. Absolutely. Like I'm doing what I love too. And so then you realize, like on your on your three-week break, lady, I know your break and the recap that you just gave us didn't sound like so much of a break.
SPEAKER_03No, no, no, no, no. It was more of a rebrand.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and the crazy thing is we still missed each other because we hadn't recorded. We didn't have a recording. We didn't have a cadence. Exactly.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, what your routine. Yeah. So yeah, I think it's I think it's now in this season, it it's more about protecting that calendar and understanding that I do have to have time to recharge, reset, and rest. Yeah, and prioritize that. Whereas before I was a yes girl, and then I did not prioritize rest, reset, recharge. What does your reset recharge look like? Oh man, my it can look like a glass of wine on the patio, you know, it could be cuddles with my dog in a movie. Oh, he's such a big baby. That sounds nice about that, right? Yeah, I don't know. Um it could be a vacation, you know, with my girls or just going and hanging out, like with friends and family for a nice dinner or something. Like even if I'm hosting, yeah, you know, but that like recharges me. I love to cook and stuff like that. So that actually gives me a little reset when I'm cooking and sharing a meal with other people. So it can look like a lot of different things.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think it just depends what you need in that moment. Um, and it's different kinds of recharge. Like you need your U-time recharge, and then you need your family recharge too. I know it always feels good when I end up going to swing by my dad's or something. I'll end up staying there for like a couple hours catching up because things just keep popping up. And then it's like, oh well, that felt good. Yeah. Yeah.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_06And it's being able to allow your calendar to breathe in that way where you can swing by and not feel the pressure to have to run off to the next scene, right? Because I feel all too often we book ourselves so tight that it's like, oh, I can only stay for 45 minutes, or I can, instead of like organically like living in the moment and just like sharing that with the people.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and then you're pulled either way, you're pulled away from the thing you're trying to make time for, and then you're also pulled to the thing that you're also trying to make time for, so they both get lacking.
SPEAKER_00I know, exactly. I feel that a lot, like when we sit down, but we're like we're doing our coffee breaks, you know, like a lot like that should be. I feel like I can't relax into the coffee break part of it until the content has been collected, and I am hyper fixated. Like, even when I walked in the door here, I was like, okay, we gotta start making the content. And then I was able to like, okay, and then like you got here, perfect time. We had just wrapped, literally just wrapped, and you walk in with these beautiful bouquets and happy anniversary.
SPEAKER_06That was beautiful, it's me just looking at it. Yes, yeah. I and that's why I love my business, fresh florals, because it just brings a smile to people. Yes. So it's just like for me, when I see flowers in my space and places, it makes me happy. So bringing that to you all was just like, of course, no brainer.
SPEAKER_00We're celebrating. Yes, so much, much appreciated. And cheers, cheers to that idea because more people need to take time to find those fresh florals, yeah, and bringing happiness everywhere you go. That's exactly right. Yeah, I feel like for me, I used to be very bad about being a yes person. It was so bad that in a about a decade ago, maybe a little over a decade ago, I had a boss who was very serious about working with me on saying, like tell telling people no. I was so afraid of telling people no. Can I bother borrow a dollar? Yeah, like do I have a dollar? Let me crown my change. I don't know. But I would feel so guilty about like just saying no to like anything. Yeah. Will you do this completely impossible task? I'll figure it out. You know, like I was so bad. And I think my boss saw me like kind of just internally stressing about this. She probably knew me a lot better than I knew myself at that point. And so she worked with me on um confidence and saying no, and how saying does say no physically hurt? No, saying no does not physically hurt, and but saying yes too much can actually physically hurt. And so it wasn't, you know, it can take a huge toll on you. Really good point.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, or financially, if you keep giving away. Oh my god, I think no, here's the deal. I I've let that happen before.
SPEAKER_00I've let someone completely take advantage of me before, and it was terrible. It was bad for my former marriage, it was bad for my mental health, and you know, and yes, it can take so many kinds of tolls on you if you are a total yes person. So now I am a lot better about like no, I just I feel a lot more comfortable. Like I sit there and I'll I'll really consider it though, and I'll say, you know what? No, this just it doesn't fit uh my lifestyle right now, or no, I have too much on my plate right now, but I'm very I feel very honored that you asked me to do this. I have found ways to comfortably say no and set those boundaries. Yeah, so now I am more of a check the calendar, protect the calendar, and protect my mental health type person.
SPEAKER_01Yes, absolutely. Good for you. Thank you. It was a road. I am I'm a yes to a lot of things person, but I'm also pretty protective of my calendar because especially when starting the new role that I started, I'm not sure what my schedule's gonna be. I don't know exactly when I'm gonna be in town or what I'm gonna have to do. Right, and then also things pop up all the time with our podcast. So I need to like we but we need to make sure to knock our certain days in to give us that space. So I know that's set in stone, but you know, I think I panic in my brain sometimes when people ask me if I can do something a specific day, even Jen, because I don't want to ever say yes and then pull out. So that's my having to do that. I never do that though. Like, I feel like a lot of people do that where they're like, oh yes, absolutely, and then they'll cancel last minute. And I never want to be that person, and I'm really not, I'd rather be honest with you and be like, let me check my counter. Will you text me that date? So when I have my agenda, my planner in front of me, yeah, and I have my brain straight, yeah, like then I can put it in my books and see if it'll work. Absolutely. I and then get back to you on that. Like even with Jen, I do that. I'm like, just text me that, please. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And then you'll see her pull out. Like, if we're sitting out and they're doing it in like we've talked about this on many episodes, she'll she will pull out the planner and start marking things down her calendar, start marking. Organizer life, sticky nice life, soulmates. Yes, it is beautiful.
SPEAKER_01It is something I wish I could do. But that being said, I do protect my space a lot with that planning and wanting to say yes to as many things. I feel like it's it's kind of like a rate rating them scale. Like I have to rate it on an important scale of like, do we need to do this? Do you know, or do I want how much do I want to do this? How much do I need to do this, and how much of that is both? Yeah. And then and then I kind of work around my other like time around those things. Like whenever I need to get done. Yeah. But there have been so many times that Jen and I have been like. You know, oh, this day doesn't work out, or I feel super pooped. And I'll be like, you know what? I actually feel really pooped tattoo. And then we'll both be like, let's just record tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00I mean, even last week, we were supposed to launch this season last week. But I ended up having to have a tooth extracted and it didn't work.
SPEAKER_01And I honestly was like, you know what? That's fine. I used the day to catch up on chores and stuff because I've been out of town the week before. So I think part of it is finding the people that you're comfortable being honest with are the people that allow you to save that space in the calendar. And then that gives you the confidence to do that with everyone else in your life. That's exactly right. Because if anyone's gonna get mad at you for being honest about your time and your personal needs and your schedule, then they're probably don't need to be. Then I don't need to put you on my calendar.
SPEAKER_05You don't get a color code.
SPEAKER_00And you also have a sound effect. Woo! It's not good.
SPEAKER_01So I feel like we're all in line with that one. Um I think my brain is more of like puzzle piecing everything.
SPEAKER_06And when I see the puzzle, I can be like I think that comes with maturity though, too. Yeah. You know, like after you've done it a couple of times and you get to that point where you just you have overextended yourself so many times you're like, I don't want to put myself or the other people or whatever in that position ever again. Yeah. And so that just comes from like experience, I think, too. That's yeah, right.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And if you really love a television show or something, you know, be like, you know, I just need my show. Exactly. And a couple hours before bed.
SPEAKER_03Yes, protect that time. Yes. You know, like a recharge. Love island at the Love Island watch party, the walk guy, you know, whatever. You gotta make sure you have that time. Yes. Yes. That is recharge.
SPEAKER_00All right, so this is the last one of this or that. Okay, all right. These are fun. I know, and I think this one will be a lot of fun too. This one is are you a celebrate the win publicly person, or are you a keep it close kind of person?
SPEAKER_06I am a keep it close person. My people are always the ones that are like cheerleading me on, and they're like posting it, and they're like, oh my gosh, you did what?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, what happened? You didn't even tell us. You was on TV this morning or whatever. And I'm just like, let us know. You know, it was just it was my or whatever.
SPEAKER_06So I am a definitely like keep it closed person, and I think it just comes from like a family where I grew up where humility and like humbleness were like a key value in our household. Yeah, and so in order to not be braggadocious, right? We kind of like hide everything, you know, or whatever. And so I think there should be a good balance, though, right? You should be cheersing on you know, small wins and big ones. Yeah, yeah. And so I'm trying to work on not keeping it as close. But it is really hard for me. I'ma definitely keep it close first, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Well, I think there is something to be said for that too, you know, because I think in a way, I think you said humility and stuff like that. They say make big moves in the like behind the scenes are quiet. Yeah, and if they see you, they'll see you. They'll see you, yeah. Or I don't know how the quotes go, but that's how in essence, you know, because otherwise you're like, I'm not a boaster or anything like that. So I feel like it's a hard one for us to answer. It's your term. Yeah, you know, it it is out at an anniversary party. So yeah, well, but that's huge though.
SPEAKER_06That's like a crazy milestone celebration.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. I mean, most podcasts don't make it because they don't make it past their first year. That's right. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Some of them, most of 75% of them don't make it past episode six. That's crazy. So the consistency, yeah, you have to like you have to be able to deal with the fact that sure it's gonna be crickets at first, but if you keep going and keep being loud, you have to, you do have to be a little bit braggadocious because you have to market yourself if you're gonna so and not only do you have to record consistently, you have to market consistently. Yes. And both of those things can, you know, take a lot of energy. But I feel like for me, it I think it dep speaking of hats, it depends on which hat I'm wearing. That's good, yeah. Um, at work, I'm not so great. They tell me I need to be better about sharing the wins because I'm a social media manager and a lot of the times they the bigger organization doesn't understand like or they they don't, they're not seeing the people reposting our content or the mentions that we get or you know, the influencers interacting with us. And I do, and I forget to like I just I forget to take the time and put it in the group chat and oh my god, yeah, yeah. So I'm I'm really bad at it.
SPEAKER_01It's like more content you have to do.
SPEAKER_00It's taking a like I have to draw a screenshot and then I'm more that's exactly it. It takes away from my productivity. Like, sure, it is exciting, but at the same time, I need to take a screenshot. I have to get in the group chat, I have to have the conversation, and sure that conversation's fun, but like I manage a lot of pages and I manage a lot of Google profiles, and it yeah, I love celebrating, but I also like I'm again, I have to protect my time. I'm so ridiculous about protecting my time.
SPEAKER_01Delegation! I know.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so I've gotten now in that aspect, we have a new kind of a new system that we've rolled out to the other hotels. Like I have content gatherers at each one of the hotels that send me stuff every week. So that has gotten to be so much fun. There's some delegation. There is some delegation, yeah. There is some delegation and it's fun too, because then I'm like in the chat. I do like to be in the chit chats with those girls because we're collaborating and we're nerding out about content. I find that productive. Yes, we've got the same goal. I really I love those conversations, so I'm really glad that we have that new system. So I guess I do like delegating because I like the nerd outness that I get to do with it.
SPEAKER_06What you're doing, I think that's and the people that get you and your language you don't have to explain. Yeah, you know, that's you can just say hop in in the middle of the conversation and they know exactly where you are and what you're talking about.
SPEAKER_00My brain is a hundred percent if I'm awake, I'm I I hate I it's something I'm not sure I really love about myself, but it's just a fact I am thinking about content all of the time, a hundred percent of the time. How can I make this content? Why am I not making this content? I should I be making this content? Why aren't they making this content? Can they send me to the hotel and I'll make this content? Like, it's all I'm thinking about. Um, and so yeah, but I I guess in that aspect, I'm more of a but I I would like to like and with our podcast, I feel like we're really good about celebrating the little wins.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so they're probably and it's fun too because we have each other to celebrate with. Yeah, and our guests too. We're celebrating your wins all the time.
SPEAKER_02I'm over here excited.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so we get to hype each other up, which I think makes it even more fun to celebrate, versus like if you're like, hey, look at this thing I did. Right. And then like just like that. If you were to send those numbers or those comments or reposts to the people, they might not understand the importance of it. You know, I always feel like if I show someone something cool I did, they'll be like, oh neat.
SPEAKER_00Okay, good. That's how I feel. Like if they respond like that, then I don't want to do it anymore. Like, can you at least spend like a party emoji or something? Are you mad at me?
SPEAKER_03Exactly. I always give a woo-woo. Yeah.
unknownYes.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. But yeah, um, I think I like celebrating all the little moments. But if it's something big I've done, I don't know. I'm not much brag or but like I think even with our party and stuff, I was like, oh, it's nothing.
SPEAKER_03It's such a big deal.
SPEAKER_00But it wasn't been so much fun to watch all of our past guests and community members interacting with each other, and we were not even really part of the party if you think about it. We were so busy, like, because you were hosting. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And so, which is great and totally fine. I'm glad that they all came to the same flowers for anything, or any excuse to cheers. I love it. Yes, or any, yes, any excuse. Any excuse to be like, oh, let's bake a cake, or oh, let's have some, let's just celebrate and get dinner. Yes, I was like, yeah, like I love celebrating all those little things for sure. Yeah. Never really celebrated much birthdays, like very big. It's usually just going out to dinner or something like that. But I enjoy those, like those like simple, beautiful things like flowers and dinner and drinks with friends. Like those are the things I like. But yeah, I don't know. I think it's hard because we just had our public party, you know. So I'm like, yeah, I guess we do brag. We're bragging about our people.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, but you know, you made a good point though, too, when you have to market. Yeah. And so that's one of the things that I've been struggling with now owning two businesses, is that because I am such a like keep it to myself, don't really share kind of a thing that I'm having to work with marketing agencies. Yes, yes, my brand, and how I want to put it out there and how I'm sharing that. And it is a balance there. You have to do that. And here you are. This is part of that.
SPEAKER_00This is part of that getting out there, putting myself out there, guys. Well, I'm never really gonna put you out there because we're gonna we're gonna deep dive into Dr. Sharika Fisher. So, like with that, I would love to know. For one, let's talk a little bit about retreat consulting. Because I and then tell me tell me how that started and why, and you know, just and how long ago that was. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_06So, retreat consulting actually, I started in 2021. Okay. And it was part-time, it was one of those things where, like, you know, COVID was still kind of going on, yeah, and everybody was like side hustle, side hustle kind of a thing.
SPEAKER_04Oh, for sure, right? Like, so I was personal gardening in that time.
SPEAKER_06I know, right? We were picking up hobbies, we were side hustling, we were doing all sorts of stuff, right? And saving money on gas because we didn't have to commute. Where did that go? There were some good times in the middle of the time. There were some balance times in that though, too. But yeah, um, in 2021, so we were kind of coming out of COVID, and my friends, they are always my biggest supporters and like cheerleaders. And like, I have such a great support system. And they were like, Hey, you need to like start a travel planning company. So initially, retreat consulting was really supposed to be for travel planning. Okay, all of my family's travel plans. I did all of my girls' trips, anything that I went on or whatever, I was always the itinerary keeper. Yeah, I was always the coordinator of flights and the hotels and all that, right? And so they were like, This should be what you do. Yeah. Right. So I went ahead and started the business and and I named it Retreat Consulting because at the time I was like, we're just gonna do consulting of travel projects. Right.
SPEAKER_02Like I'm not gonna actually be a travel advisor, right?
SPEAKER_06Right, but it morphed because I ended up being an executive director of a nonprofit here in Wichita for about three and a half years and had to take a break away from entrepreneurship. Like, so I was like, I started this business and then it just like kind of went dormant outside of the little mini trips I was planning for my girls and my family. Yeah, and I wasn't promoting it or anything because I was so busy. Yeah, and so when I decided to transition from being an executive director, I got several phone calls of people who were like, Hey, we need you for this project, we need you for this project, we need you for this project. And I thought it was gonna be temporary.
SPEAKER_02So I was like, Okay, it was like September 24, right?
SPEAKER_06September 2024. I was like, okay, I'm gonna do these little projects, you know, over the holidays. Yeah. And then in January, I'm gonna go job search. Nice. And I looked up, and it was the end of February of last year in 2025, and I just kept getting phone calls from executives, my colleagues, friends who trusted me and were like, hey, I've got these projects, I need to focus on development or I need to focus on strategic initiatives, I need to focus on, you know, board development. Can you come and take these few projects off my plate? Yeah, yeah, while I focus on these other things, and I'm like, hey. And like from there, it was like Wonder Woman for Executives was born. I love show me your shield. That was so cool. So it's like they throw out this signal, they need a little bit of help. I come in and I take these projects that and I can relate, right? Because I was an executive for three years. And I remember looking up so many times being like, Man, if I had an extra one of me for the next six months or eight months or just the next year, I could get so much more done. Yeah, and that's exactly what I am now for executives. That's perfect, yeah. Yeah, yep. That's so good. Casual tagline is Wonder Woman for Executives. I come out, I help them, you know. I'm on the Avengers line. I love it too. It's so great. So I I love all of the different organizations I get to work with. I get to work with arts organizations, health organizations. I get to work with nonprofits, for-profits, tech companies. Like I mean, just crazy.
SPEAKER_01It really diversifies everything that you're learning and building, yeah, but you're able to contribute to, yeah, and you're able to carry that knowledge from like one different sort of market into another one. Yeah. Like, yeah. So that's really cool. You did always say you were more of the helper. So like you can help all these different industries and different like fields and erasing.
SPEAKER_06And my friends, right? Yes, but those were my like a lot of my initial clients, my first year, and I'm in the second year now, but my first year were my friends. Yeah, they were executives that I had met at conferences around the country. Yeah, you know, they were executives right here in our community that trusted me, they saw my work, they knew who I was, and they were like, let's go. Let's go. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01They were like, She's got our back. And word of mouth is such a powerful thing. Oh, yeah. That's that is like probably one of the best tools that you can have under your wings as a business owner, as anything, as a podcast starters. Uh yeah. Like just word of mouth, because that's really what people trust. Yes. You know, like anything, even like for job acting or anything, going on a need, you don't trust some robot that's sending you a message. Right, which I know. You know, so exhausting. If you were to look, if we were to even look up, you know, I'm sure like your business or whatnot, like how are they gonna know unless they hear from word of mouth, you know? So that's just so much more powerful, I think, than somebody just coming across something really quickly because they get that personal tie with it. Yeah, and especially these days, everybody is needing more of that personal tie. So that is awesome, and we are so happy to have you here so we can help spread your word.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I know, I know. Yeah, um, let's say let's dive a little deeper into fresh, also. So you're you're doing you're doing your consulting, yes. But you're in the is this like the kind of the creative basket? Yes, yes, creative basket.
SPEAKER_06You're clearly great at it. Thank you so much. I just I found a happy space in that transition. Right because when you're transitioning, you're kind of like, I don't know what's happening here. Yeah, what do I do? What am I doing with my time? I'm I'm job I'm trying to job search, but I'm getting, you know, these contracts and stuff. Um, and so I was really still trying to figure out am I doing this or am I going back into the workforce? Yeah, I was just trying to figure some things out. And thankfully, I had a little bit of leeway about six to eight months before I was gonna really have to be like, okay, I gotta, you know, I'm gonna go yeah, I was gonna say, yeah, gonna see me at Chick-fil-A, it's my pleasure, and I would love that because I eat there all the time and I need a discount as much money they get from me. But it was just like I was kind of like, okay, on Fridays, I was doing these floral Fridays on my Instagram, my personal Instagram, and I was building these floral bouquets for my home. Yeah. Because it brought me happiness. So I pour myself a glass of wine, and I would get my flowers, and I would show people how I was cutting my stems, and I found joy in these miniature arrangements just to put around my home.
SPEAKER_01Yes, I love having one in like every room. Yes, yes, everywhere you look, there's like a pop of the colour.
SPEAKER_06There's a little pop of color and a pop of freshness and a scent. It just lifts the mood. I always have done it for when my guests come to visit me and they always have fresh flowers in the guest room, stuff like that. And so while I was in transition about a year ago, it was March of 25. Someone reached out to me on one of the things that I had posted, like my build your own bouquet on Floral Friday with me. Yeah. And they were like, How much is that? I need that for Thursday. Yeah. And I was like, I don't even know how to reach out to this. I'm like, this is for my bathroom. There you go. That was about $25. You know, or whatever. And so it was just like the weirdest thing. And my friends. You're like the base and without it. Yeah, I'm like, do I do rap? Do I do ribbon? You know? Like then I start getting into all these other things that I know how to do. And so my friends were like, Sharika, you are go for it. Talented enough to do it. Yes. Just do it. Like you've all you just started another business. You're wild enough to start another one. Like, if anyone else could do it, you can you can start two businesses in a year. And I was like, Y'all believe in me more than I do. I don't know. I'm gonna have to go and like research all this, you know, or whatever. And so I had my one-year anniversary for fresh in March. I'll have my two-year anniversary. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00That's amazing. For a retreat in September.
SPEAKER_01Okay, it's coming up.
SPEAKER_06And so it's just like, I am out here full-time entrepreneurial. Yes, you are.
SPEAKER_00That is fantastic. I'm happy for you. I am too. I am that's amazing. I think that would be just so fulfilling in so many ways. It is. Oh my gosh, I love doing my little prom parties for the girls.
SPEAKER_06Oh, I bet that is a blast. Now, oh, that's like my favorite time of the year. Really?
SPEAKER_01So you like give them their different flowers?
SPEAKER_06So I look at their prom dresses and I bring in florals to match their dresses. They host parties at their house. Yes. With all their friends. On idea. They build their own bouquets and I just guide them through that. For their girls? No, for their prom. Oh, because the girls are doing bouquets now, ladies. What? Not corsages? I know.
SPEAKER_04That is wild. See the things you learn when you start.
SPEAKER_06That's a really demographic. That's amazing. Yeah, so you know how like back in the day it was like corsages. And the guy brought it up. And they had the bouton. Now they still boot do bouton ears. Yeah. But the girls do bouquets. Okay. Like full-on almost bridal bootlegs. Where do you put that? They hold them in all their photos. Oh, of course. And then I have because I do miniatures, I I give them like vases and stuff so that they take, they kind of take them in the car. Yeah. And then they can put their put it in once they're done doing their photos and stuff like that. So you can keep it after the photos.
SPEAKER_01That is nice. Especially if they have like a matchup, they have like a high school romance and then they get to keep their flowers. But also I'm like, make the boyfriend pay for it.
SPEAKER_06I know.
SPEAKER_01Or the boyfriend build it for the girl.
SPEAKER_06But it is a very interesting season with the learning of the flowers in this particular new tradition because I've learned that the girls they are buying their own bouquets and they're also buying the boys their boutineers. And I'm like, all you guys have to do is show up with dress. Maybe pay for dinner and the limo. Maybe pay for dinner and the ticket.
SPEAKER_01And then they just show up dressed. And I'm like, what? At that rate, they better be getting a limo, too. They better be lost. They freaking better. Also, let's be honest, though, there's a lot of men out there, no infants, guys, but like maybe they ain't so good at flowers. Yeah, yeah. Oh, that's a drink. Oh my god, I had this boy to watch. I love these stories. I think it was. I think, first of all, I think they may have been like slight apology flowers, but I think they were also for my birthday. And he knew I liked the color blue, right? This is okay. It looked like it looked like it belonged in an old folks' home. Oh no. Like it was blue and white. And I was like, no. And dusty looking. Yeah. Oh no.
SPEAKER_05Those look like antique. Those are like the antique drying type.
SPEAKER_01It almost looks like it should have just been dry. But it was beautiful. It had to have cost him like a hundred dollars. Of course. Of course it did.
SPEAKER_06But I was so I was like, but when you get into the dyeing and the spraying and all that, it definitely ages the flowers. Yeah. And so that's why with fresh, I try to keep the color of the flowers the color.
SPEAKER_01And also I want pinks and yellows. Yeah, right? And some green. Like there was big and big and pretty rough.
SPEAKER_06But most flowers do not come in blue. Yeah, exactly. So then if you're getting a blue arrangement.
SPEAKER_01I think it was blue hydrangeas because it's got off and some lilies and stuff. But, anyways, it just was terrible. And I was like, oh my god. The one time a man buys me a really nice bouquet and has it delivered to my office.
SPEAKER_03It's horrible. Call me, fellas. There you go. Or call me.
SPEAKER_04Any of those things because I can definitely take care of make sure it's not that. Even with the favorite color, okay?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, like put a little ribbon on it. Exactly.
SPEAKER_04I don't need a blue. Little something blue.
SPEAKER_01I was just like You were like, no, that's ain't it. Like, honestly, when it came, I walked back in from orange because we got to the reason I was gone, and all the girls in the office were like reached, like they were waiting for my reaction. I just thought I thought that maybe someone delivered it to Romstad for Romstad because the it was actually. Leave that out. I thought someone delivered it to my office for my office because the company's color was blue. Yeah. And so that's what it looked like, and it didn't look like a hey, I love you flower book. Happy birthday. Yeah. It looked like a corporate. I was like, what is it? My ninth corporate thing.
SPEAKER_03Corporate thank you.
SPEAKER_01Oh gosh. It was with like a little jewelry. I was like, I know, you went above me, like a little box of the sweet fella. Coca Dolce chocolate.
SPEAKER_03Sweet fella. Yeah. Intentions.
SPEAKER_01Intentions. Now we do appreciate the intention behind it. I kept them, I pruned them, I kept them fresh for a long time, but I was still just like, oh. Not that. Some boys are colorblind, but I don't know. It's just not my point. So I get why they would want to get their own flowers. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yes. And I think that's such a funny one.
SPEAKER_01Some boys would be rolling up there with a daily lion. I don't know. I know. Which I do like daily place, but time and place. Sorry, I had to go on that tangent and tell you about me too. It's a good one.
SPEAKER_06I know exactly what you're talking about. Like I know the exact look. Like I can picture it in the hand.
SPEAKER_01Lovely he wasn't there when I got. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Because he it would not have been the reaction he thought. Oh no, absolutely not.
SPEAKER_00So, okay, so right now, what we've talked about is two of the hats that you wear.
SPEAKER_06Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_00Let's add a couple more. So, and I I think that's so impressive. So you have your entrepreneurial side and you have your side, like your community side. So you are is it's your Global Leadership Summit and then Lead Wichita, is that correct? Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_06Well, actually, Global Leadership Summit and Lead Wichita, they're one of my clients. Oh, that's fantastic. Yeah, yeah. So it's great because I can kind of intertwine my love of community with some of my skills and help support some of these nonprofit organizations. And so Lead Wichita is one of my clients. Amazing. We've got Global Leadership Summit coming up on August 6th and 7th. And I'm the one that's coordinating everything down at Vinterest Bank Arena. Oh, that's huge. That's a big one. Yeah, yeah. We're expecting like 2,000 people, which would be like the largest global leadership summit that they've ever had.
SPEAKER_00Wow. Like in Wichita or everywhere. In Wichita. In Wichita, yeah. It's massive.
SPEAKER_06Our site would be 2,000 people. That would make us the number one streaming site in America. Okay. Yes. Yeah. And so that's what we're going for. I'm like behind my CEO. You know, again, I go in, I'm Wonder Woman for Executives, and this was this is what he wants. And this is his goal. And so I'm working with the marketing agency and coordinator and all of that, and just kind of streamlining everything. Amazing. To make sure that they reach those goals. Yeah. So they're originally out of Chicago. Is that where is that? Yeah, the Global Leadership Network is originally out of Chicago. And so they're the live broadcasting has in that area. That's what I thought. Okay. Yeah. And prior to this year, Wichita has been the third largest stream of sites in the bubble. So yeah. Right. And you would not have thought that. Yeah. And again, comes back to our conversation earlier. How are you marketing yourself? Exactly. How are you sharing this information? How are you sharing these stories of transformation that's happening at this community event here locally in Wichita? Yeah. And so that's one of the things that we've been working on and moved it back to Interest Bank Arena. And so we've got a lot of fun things too that I have decided. I'm like, um, can we do this? Can we do that? Can we do this? Can we do that? That's you know that's great. Like little local activation type. Little local activation.
SPEAKER_03Perfect.
SPEAKER_06And just how we're gonna do like catering this year, everything. Oh, that's important.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean I'm a foodie girl. Yeah, so are we?
SPEAKER_06So, you know, just what we're doing in that space and how we're trying to engage some of our local influencers. Oh, amazing. Tell them like this is here, and this is for your leadership. This is this is for everybody, it's for teams, it's for individuals who are leaders. Um, and so like come out and like be there. Yeah, yeah. If you're one of my clients, I love Lee Wichita, I love how my faith intersects with their values and their mission and their alignment. And I've never had in a workplace before. Yeah, so that's been really fun to tell me.
SPEAKER_00I'll tell you what, alignment is everything. Like, I feel like sometimes we get so excited about a certain part of the job, but you forget to think about like behind the scenes. What is that? Does that really align with my beliefs as a specialist? Is that because I I wrestle with that a lot all the time right now. Like, I hate to say that, but I'm wrestling with it at work, and everyone at work knows that I'm wrestling with it. So I'm saying it on here.
SPEAKER_01Sometimes sometimes I think it's just communication things. Sometimes companies don't communicate what their true values are. Yeah, or what their actual or they say it, but they don't live it. Yeah, they they say it, yeah, yes, and then they just don't tell you the steps that they're taking to reach and maintain those goals, yeah, and so or those values, yeah. So I think that can be a struggle point as well, yeah. Um for sure, or several, unfortunately, struggle points. Yeah, yeah. But no, so that's so good. And I think that's why our podcast works so well. Our values are aligned, our mission. Yes, that that is true. That is so true. Like, and we just we know that our intentions are there, exactly, and people can see that though, right?
SPEAKER_06Like when you're living your values as an individual and the things that you are doing in community or your work align with that, they get behind you because it it creates a level of credibility and validity. Yeah, that people are like, no, this person is who they say they are. In every single space, you can be authentic. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01Authenticity is a big right now. Yes, but it should be. Yeah, and it's not like just word of mouth, it's word of heart. Exactly. Oh, that's a good girl, girl. That was good. That was good. That was really good.
SPEAKER_00When I go through an edit, I am I am pulling that out into notes and we're putting, we're doing some with that. That is beautiful. That was really well cheers, guys. We're having word of heart. Word of heart in every way. Yeah, yes. I want to know a little bit about a little more about lead Wichita. Yeah, let's talk about Lead Wichita.
SPEAKER_06So, Lead Wichita has been established as a nonprofit organization since 2019. Okay. Okay, so they've been around six, seven years now. Um, they have the ownership of the Wichita Prayer Breakfast.
SPEAKER_00If you're not going to be able to do that, yeah, that's what we were chit-chatting about when we met. It was that day. It was that morning, and I met you that night. You needed some wine.
SPEAKER_06I needed wine time that night. And I was so tired. And it kind of goes back to like protecting the calendar or saying yes to things. And when I said yes to Landon, shout out to Landon, love Landon and Wichita, yeah, and Wichita Life. Landon is so cool. Um, yeah, I I was showing up for my friend. Yeah, right, yeah. Because he was my friend, yeah, and kind of going back to that network. If you trust people, yeah, they're inviting you to stuff. Like, I was like, I'm gonna show up, but I was so exhausted. I had gotten up that morning of the prayer breakfast at two o'clock that morning to be downtown by 3 45. Okay. And then the prayer breakfast went until 8 30, 8 45. You already had a whole day. Yeah, so by the time 10 o'clock came, I had worked a full shift. Yeah. I was delirious. And then I was like, I need lunch. I hadn't, I didn't get to eat breakfast because I was the host. Because you all know what happens when you're the host, right? You don't get to eat, you don't get to drink anything, you're just running around, right? And so anyway, they I was coordinating those efforts and helping them with Lead Wichita, and they actually had the largest prayer breakfast that they've had in Wichita since the establishment of it. Oh, that's fantastic. Over a thousand folks at Century 2. I love Century 2. And so we we made some changes this year, and as the new coordinator and putting my little spin and twists on it, I was you get nervous if it's something that's been a long-standing tradition. Yeah, that you and you have to execute, yeah, but also you want to you see where there are some opportunities for growth. Exactly. Things went really well. That's good. That's another win. I know, it really is. It really is. It honestly has been such an incredible start to this entrepreneurial journey in the last two years. And but yeah, lead Wichita, so they are known for the prayer breakfast and they're known for Global Leadership Summit. Those are the two large events that they host in our community. Okay, right, but they actually do a lot more than that. They are a connector of networks in our community and network leaders, so nonprofit leaders who are working on homelessness, foster care, recidivism, upper mobility, marriage and family development, all of that. So powerful, make sure to connect those people, literacy, financial, financial literacy, that's a big one, childhood literacy, yeah, trying to be the bridge in all the great work that's happening in our community. I love that, right? Because there's so much everywhere, there's so much happening. Yeah, and if they're not connecting, they don't know what each other is doing. Yeah, or they're connected to duplicated services and collaboration.
SPEAKER_05Existed.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, yep. So Lead Wichita is really the launching pad to get people connected into those networks, okay, but then also to ensure that those networks are working collaborative collaboratively on those efforts within our community so that we can truly move the needle forward.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's great. That is amazing. Yeah, I know when we were speaking with Javana, she mentioned how there was some opportunity she wasn't aware of at some her spring that then she found out about. Oh not instead of connect you with her. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00And so she's actually our official sponsor, Vu Event. She's an event planner. Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_05I know Vu events. Yes. I haven't met her yet, but I've been. Oh, you will love her.
SPEAKER_06She's fabulous. She's wonderful. Yeah. Some things she's done. So that's fantastic.
SPEAKER_00I love that so much. That's that talk about alignment. Our people are like, they're always connected. It's always so much fun. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So her values are the same. Yes, there's nothing there's nothing better than making the community better from the ground up, and then it's all the people inside of it.
SPEAKER_06It's the people. It absolutely is the people. Like, I think you and I were talking before we kind of started officially, and people don't even realize I'm not from Wichita anymore. Yeah. Because I've been here for so long. I just had my 14th anniversary last month. Amazing. Here in Wichita, and I absolutely love it. But it's the people that make Wichita so special. Yeah. And they just, I felt like I get a big hug when I think about Wichita and the community of folks. Vince, you know, I'm at bubbles all the time. Y'all were having your anniversary there yesterday. I know the staff there. Shut up. Yeah, they're loving. Yeah. Like I'm sure they took good care of y'all. Of course they did. They always take good care of me when I'm there. I've hosted events there. So it's just like when you're out and about wearing these mini hats, you do find overlap. Yeah. And that does also help. Yeah. It really does.
SPEAKER_00It does. Yeah, there it's just like an extra layer too. Gosh, the word is at the tip of my head, like the extra layer of support. But yeah, there is a word for that. We're all in sync, so synchronicity. Synchronicity. We're always talking about our neurosynchron. We'll hear us say the same thing at the same time a million times.
SPEAKER_01Because we are very neurosynchronized. It's like we all have hung our hat on the same hat rack. I feel like, yeah. Like those old coffee shops. I think the old coffee shop with like a big hat coat rack, and then all the people that go in and out of that same coffee shop every day, but they miss each other. Yeah. But they all have their hat or their coat on the same rack every day. And then when they finally meet, that's really cool. Yeah, it really is. Like us creating this podcast in this community has, I think, helped us even realize, like, and everybody is starting to make that web even stronger. Yes. Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_06I agree. And I would say Greater Grounds is also part of that, though. Yes. That's fantastic. Anytime I'm in here, I it feels like I run into so many people. Yeah. Like I come and work sometimes or have a meeting here or whatever. And I cannot get out of here without seeing at least one other person.
SPEAKER_00That happens to me when I go to Reverie on a weekday. Reverie? Yeah. It's just like I love that about our people.
SPEAKER_07Yeah. Yes.
SPEAKER_06And that just makes the web stronger. And that community feels stronger. And it's like, it's kind of like you got cheers, the TV show. Now I'm behaving myself a little bit.
SPEAKER_05But y'all know the thing. Everyone knows your name. Everybody knows your name. Yeah, it's a big thing.
SPEAKER_06We go to so many spots sometimes around town. Uh-huh. And it's everybody's gonna know your name. It just, even though we are in a decent sized city, it's still largest in Kansas. It's the largest in Kansas. It's the biggest small town. It's a big small town, and it makes you feel so good. I love it.
SPEAKER_01And I think how much we're growing with all of our different businesses and everything, like Great Grounds Opening, just everything. Yeah, it helps keep us smaller because it's owned by our people. It's that Midwestern love, I feel like.
SPEAKER_00It is.
SPEAKER_05It is great. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So, okay, and since we're on this topic, I love that we're naturally on this topic already. If someone looked at everything that you're involved in from the outside, what do you think the thread is that ties it all together for you?
SPEAKER_06I would say it's the community aspect, but also the helping piece. Yeah. Like just me naturally wanting to see folks succeed and utilizing my skills and gifts in a way that can help them do that. Yeah. Right. And I think that has been like the greatest blessing in both of my businesses is allowing myself to really lean into my gifts and share that with the world. Yes. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01That's one of the biggest things that's always inspired me is when people take their gifts and their passions and they turn them into a lifestyle. Yes. And keep doing them. Yeah. So never stop doing that. I know inspiration and it makes it makes everybody happy. Yeah. People that meet you. Yeah. Because it's real. I mean, people can tell when you're faking things. Yeah, that's the important part. Yeah. And I love that. And I think that's what makes it so good. And it means, you know, be good. And what is the other reason for community if not helping each other? I know. You know, like it takes a village to do anything. Yeah. You know, even though we like to do it ourselves sometimes. We do.
unknownWe do. We do.
SPEAKER_05But you know, if y'all need to delegate y'all something.
SPEAKER_06But you know, if there's certain things we know what to do, right? It goes back to like knowing people's strengths in our community. When you know your community, you know, like, okay, I'm calling Jim for marketing. I'm calling Sharika for flowers. I'm calling Rachel for sticky notes and organizations. She's got project management Excel spreadsheets. I'm calling her gods. You know what I'm saying? So, like, when you know that about your people, yeah, then I do think it comes back to be easier to delegate. Yes. Because then you know who to call. And you can trust them. And you're like, okay, she got that. I'm gonna move on.
SPEAKER_01You trust them, someone else trusts them, and then that helps not only them grow, but you grow and just the whole community. Yeah. And then it helps that connection grow and make the web stronger. It's a full circle. It is.
SPEAKER_06It it's it and speaking of the web, you know, like shout out to my friends over at Greater Witch Talk Partnership as well. They talk about the web in our community being so strong that, like, once people kind of get here and get into some sticky part of that web, it's really hard for them to want to leave or look at other places because you are risking that piece of the web. And so I that's how I've been here for 14 years. Like I didn't, I thought this was temporary. I thought I was gonna come here for three years. I did no whole Wichita. Like I said, I'm here for three years and peace. That's right. And here was the same way. And I absolutely love it. I love the people that I get to meet, I love the special parts of our city, and just like fantastic women like you all are. And like we're really about our business here though, too. Yeah, you know, like we're getting stuff done, and like we are enriching the city by doing that. We are and sharing our gifts, all of us, like all three of us.
SPEAKER_01Like that, and I love to see it grow so much, even just the year that we've been doing this. We met so many new people, had so many amazing conversations. Conversations I would have never imagined.
SPEAKER_00It was insane. It's just like it's amazing.
SPEAKER_01Has made me even more of a stuck Wichitin.
unknownLike, I don't know.
SPEAKER_03I don't think it's stuck in the world. Sticky. You're in the sticky web.
SPEAKER_01The web got you, though. Maybe trying to make me move for work, and I was like, oh no.
SPEAKER_00I was like, mm-hmm. I mean, it makes you happy. Absolutely not.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, absolutely not. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00Okay, I feel like so. For some people, they hear these conversations and they're like, oh my gosh, how do you do it? How do you like how do you wear so many hats? How do you manage that? So, for what would you tell someone that that initially feels overwhelmed by everything that they're trying to hold at once? Like they want to do it, but then they're general they're like kind of initially overwhelmed by it. Yeah, how do you get there?
SPEAKER_06You know, I think like it you're always going to have like that initial gut fear of like Yeah, can I succeed or not? I know it's terrifying. And that is literally that's usually what's crippling people. Yeah, yeah. It's not once you get on the other side, your capabilities like you can do it, you do have those gifts or whatever, but it's like that initial crippling fear to be like, am I going to put myself out there to fail in front of everybody? Or what yeah, what if this goes bad? Yeah. And I I would say for me, how I got over that was I really leaned into just the pieces of mead that I enjoyed and the things that I have strengths in. And so, like a lot of the services, even at retreat consulting, are things that I'm really, really good at. And there's things that I have tools that I've collected from other organizations or different jobs over the years that I technically could offer as a service, but I intentionally left them off of my service list because I didn't enjoy them and they weren't my strengths. Amazing. And so I think that if you really tap into what your true gifts are, yeah, yeah, and like what your strengths are and what it is that you want to share with the world, if you lean in and go all in on yourself, like bet on yourself before you bet on anything else. Love stuff every single time.
SPEAKER_01And I bet even those things that you kept off, you still bring skills that you learned through dashing. Absolutely. No, there's a blade over there. No one needs to know the secret woman power gets. Yeah, I know, right? I'm Wonder Woman.
SPEAKER_03I've got to pull out little tricks and things here and there. You gotta keep the mysterious exactly.
SPEAKER_06Exactly. Yeah. So it and it helps me, right? Those services that I don't offer at the forefront may come into play when I am in the trenches with an executive. And I'm like, hold on, wait, we need to pivot over here. Did we think about these things before we're changing these things? Yeah, right. And it allows me to think at a higher level of strategy and initiation for them and execution because I have those skills. Now, I'm not still probably gonna do that for you. Yeah, exactly. You at least I'm gonna be aware and say, hold on, let's pause on a couple of pieces that I need to do and let's go over here and make sure y'all have this one. You delegate your people to handle that handle so that I can do my job. Exactly, so that I can do my job, right? And so, yeah, so it can sometimes kind of uncover some things that are happening internally in an organization. And because I have that trust and rapport with my executives, they know that I'm not at that point. I am literally not gonna waste their time because I'm like, well, I can't even take your project, or we're gonna pause on the project with me and go take care of this person and holler at me, you know, for six months or whatever. When it makes more sense, yeah, yeah. And I think that also builds trust and rapport. It does. It's not like I'm just on retainer, just being like paying. No, like I guess I'll figure it out.
SPEAKER_00Right, no, we'll get that new. Learn to say no. Learn to say no, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, know your scope. Exactly. Know your scope, know your scope. Absolutely. Builds trust for sure. Because then like people like saying I don't know, or saying we can't do this right now things helps build that trust in them. It does. It does construct the business, she knows what she's talking about. Oh, she is right. Okay, yeah. I didn't even think about that. We didn't even think about that. Or over thought about that. I just thought that I could get it done anyways. And you're gonna be over here like, no, I don't want to do that because it could jeopardize what I'm doing. It could do it.
SPEAKER_06And my credibility and my ability to protect yourself. Yes, yeah, you have your own portfolio like how yes, or whatever. And so, and but I would say, especially with retreat consulting. I have had several repeat customers already in the two years.
SPEAKER_01That's awesome.
SPEAKER_06The two years that I have been in business. That's a testament. That is a testament, right? Because it means that I did great work. Yes. The first go-around and they are they have come back two and three times over. That's great. Um, and like I am so grateful and just like so blessed because the projections as I was talking everything out with my very small team, it looks like I'll be booked through 2028.
SPEAKER_03Oh my God. Girl. Yes. I know. It's amazing.
SPEAKER_06As an entrepreneur, when you take that step, you're just like not sure. Yeah. Right. And wow. It was like I really just leaned all the way into it. And I am so grateful that I really did. Yeah. And there were little nuggets on and signature like things that kept me going and encouragement along the way in this journey. But I'm so glad that I stuck with it and like leaned into my community, leaned into the network, and like leaned into my sticky web. Yes. Um and they caught me. They really did. They really did. They caught me. That's great. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01It's a flywheel, if you think about it. That's amazing. What amazing mind too is that you know, you just know that. And I'm sure with all that work, you're probably gonna you're gonna build successes with those jobs. Yeah. That you're gonna be booked out for the next four years. I know. The pipeline's just gonna keep just keep building out.
SPEAKER_04And so I'm telling people now, I'm like, if you want to get on my calendar, you better get on it now. Yeah. Booking through 2029.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, exactly. 2030, right? 2030. Yeah, it's true. So that's it.
SPEAKER_06Um, and so now I'm like, okay, how do I build the team? Yeah, right. Oh, scaling, yeah. That's important. Now that is the next step. And now that can be a scary enough. That can be very scary because a lot of people are they trust me with their product or with what I'm you know, contracted to do, and they want me to do that with them. Yeah. And so then I have to build out a team that can clone me, if you will, yeah, in certain spaces where I'm overseeing. And so that's what that's where my mind has been in the last three to six months because of how things have unfolded. And so that's the next scary step that I have to take. But I'm so excited.
SPEAKER_02So exciting.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, man, you just really have to start to get in your fate dirty and talk to people about and finding out who mimics who you are. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06Like at least what you need in a certain aspect of what you exactly, and who has some skills that can be duplicative of the some of the skills that I have in my back pocket so that I can assign them to certain tasks and things like that.
SPEAKER_01Or some that you can gain those from f like following you for like. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00You know, I feel like that was, you know, I feel like there was a lot to trainable people is a huge thing. So I feel like yeah, going back to the night. Yeah, like I feel like that was the purpose of that night was to open those conversations and just to get people talking about because sometimes when you just start talking to people that you don't necessarily, there were so many times that night that I was just there on behalf of our podcast. Yeah, and the amount of excited conversations that I've had, and then the and the conversations that I'm still having that stemmed from that night and some of the reconnections that I made from back in 2018 to now, it was wild. It was such a powerful night.
SPEAKER_06It was such a powerful night. I'm so glad that even through the early morning that I was I know that I was to get there that I stayed way longer. You know, I was there so once I get somewhere, I'm an extrovert and I'm just gonna do it. Yeah, especially when we started doing this. We started, yeah, we started, we started pouring it up, and then there were people that I hadn't seen in a while. That was the thing. And then there were people that I'd never met. Yeah, and even from like that night, like going back to fresh florals, so from that night, I am now on the approved vendors list for Bradley Fair.
SPEAKER_03There's such a florals because of that night.
SPEAKER_06Perfect because I showed up and made sure, even though I was there and I was tired and I was supporting I showed something was just like, and I think that goes with your gut instinct of like also overcoming some of that fear, right? Or like overcoming some of that tiredness.
SPEAKER_01Like when you are just like something's telling you, go, yes, go, go, go, and you can sort of feel the vibe of different events that are happening and be like, okay, this is where it's at in the important list as far as like what it's gonna do to. And I mean, not to sound selfish or anything, but just we have to see. Well, no, it's about the boundaries, the boundaries and the balance. Like if this, if this is just all for fun and games, or if this is a great networking opportunity, you need to stick it out, yes, push through it, and use this opportunity to bond with people, everyone's having a good time, everyone's talking about everything again. Like use that new people, yeah, old people you haven't connected with in a while. Yeah, yeah, then that's so exciting. And how can you leave? Yeah, like how can you leave? And those ones sometimes come when you don't expect them.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, it yeah, it did.
SPEAKER_01And you're like, I'm just gonna have to push off my rest day for the next day. The next day. Yeah, exactly. That's exactly what I did.
SPEAKER_06I was just like, I have to be there, and I I fought nail and tooth to be there because I wasn't gonna go to bed because of how you did up that day. Um, but I made it out and I just met some incredible people like you, and then, like I said, reconnected with some old colleagues and friends that didn't even realize that I was in the entrepreneurial space. I don't think anybody knew who was really gonna be there that night. It was so much mystery to it.
SPEAKER_02It was like exclusive invitation. Yeah, it was wild.
SPEAKER_06They were like exclusive invitation for entrepreneurs, and I'm thinking, Is that me? Imposter syndrome of the space. Exactly. Is that me?
SPEAKER_02Just got to the entrepreneurial space. How did I get invited here?
SPEAKER_01I know, I like a podcast, whatever, but it was just such a raving about it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I was like immediately. I was writing a high for days after this event. Me too.
SPEAKER_06Like all the follow-ups that I did have literally translated into so many things. Yes. That's good. And so when you're in a space like that and it's like genuine and it doesn't feel forced, like it didn't feel forced.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. No, like we just turned around and started talking to each other. Instant friends.
SPEAKER_01And then like your friend new, my friend people just like oh my gosh, this has to be our new Halloween line merch. Join the website. Join the web. If you know you're so in the web.
SPEAKER_05You have all of your friends and we have all of your books from season one.
SPEAKER_03Make a graphic. Or part of the web. There's a y'all idea. Merch idea. Merch idea. Y'all need to have a Halloween party at this point. Also. Tell Giovanna. Oh shit.
SPEAKER_05Oh, Ballet Wichita will probably be having their ghost bride production of some sort.
SPEAKER_06So y'all could just tag along and say, everybody that's in the sip squad, come here. Yeah. And then like a discounted price for you all.
SPEAKER_00Like a discounted price. Yes.
SPEAKER_06Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00Rent, we're having conversations. Well, we got a lot going on. Bring the caviar. Why we do this because crazy, awesome, amazing ideas happen when the great minds get together. Yeah. And especially minds that love the same city and the same community. I think it's fantastic. Yeah, this is why.
unknownNo, that doesn't hurt.
SPEAKER_00But okay. This has been great. This has been fantastic. I want you to tell our listeners how they can find you. Oh, you can find me. I used to be like Hitchcock, actually.
SPEAKER_02You got to know somebody to find me.
SPEAKER_06But no, you can find me on socials at Dr. R-E-I-R-E-I, Dr. Riri, or on LinkedIn at SharikaGram, fresh underscore florals. And I do floral Fridays. So check out my floral Fridays. I build bouquets usually every Friday or a highlight, like my favorite bouquet from the week, or a delivery that I did with special story or something like that. Um, and those are always fun. Like I really, really love those. So amazing.
SPEAKER_00We'll start reposting those. Yeah, find me online.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yes. We will not be sorry. And tell your husbands.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Yes. Yeah. Girlfriends tell you. I'll love them. I'll be able to do that. Tell your everybody. I'm starting. Tell your everybody.
SPEAKER_06And tell your everybody because I'm also starting, I'm trying to kind of carve my lane in floor the floral industry. Yeah. And one thing that I learned, a really sad statistic, actually, is that like 85% of men never receive flowers until the funeral. Yeah. Oh. So I believe that men deserve flowers too. And it is like the best when I have a floral bouquet that I deliver to a male just randomly, whether it's their birthday or whatever, because they have never received flowers before and they are just as excited to receive flowers.
SPEAKER_03They deserve flowers too.
SPEAKER_02That's so true.
SPEAKER_01You'd be so surprised. Yeah, no, I bet so. I left flowers at my man's place last night. Oh, that's true. Because we had left our rest of our party. So I left them in his bathroom. I don't think he even noticed. Oh no, he will.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah. Just put little touches around the house. And then they start to expect it, though, right?
SPEAKER_06And then they realize how beautiful it is.
SPEAKER_02They expressions get more attention than we think.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because yeah. I really think they do. I really think they do. And that's why they love us. They do.
SPEAKER_01They're observant creatures. So of course they're love beautiful things. So of course they're gonna love very visual creatures. So they're gonna notice a pretty bouquet. Yeah. And the smell.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, this has been an incredible this is gonna this has been an incredible episode. I am so excited to publish this. I almost want to just do it tomorrow. We gotta edit. We gotta edit it. I know. We have some work to do. You guys don't even know. But this has been amazing. Thank you so much for joining us today.
SPEAKER_05I've loved this.
SPEAKER_00Um, if you guys love this, please go ahead and follow, subscribe, leave us a review, and also a big, ginormous shout out to Greater Grounds for letting us hang out here today.
SPEAKER_01Yes, their anniversary is on the 15th.
SPEAKER_00Yay! Cheers to two years. Yeah, two years.
SPEAKER_01Two years on the 15th of July. So um, yeah, shout out to them.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I love them here. Yes, and then shout out to you. Thank you so much, Dr. Sharika Fisher. You're amazing.
SPEAKER_06So wonderful having this chat with you all.
SPEAKER_00It's been great.
SPEAKER_06I'm so happy for you all success. Thank you.
SPEAKER_00We're happy for yours.
SPEAKER_02Thank you. Thank you, everything. Thank you so much. Yeah, it is the Mad Hatter Indeed. Yes.
SPEAKER_06Well, congratulations opener and also the one-year anniversary because that is something that needs to be paused, reflected, and just enjoyed. It is.
SPEAKER_00I shot my bubble gun all over the place. Oh, she has this bubble gun. Oh my gosh. That thing needs to come to some episodes, I honestly believe.
SPEAKER_03There's plenty of bubbles.
SPEAKER_00And then, of course, we can't forget to shout out our our amazing sponsor, Vue Events. We love you. It had to be Vu. And don't forget, next week, um, July 20th, we will be doing our very first live recording with Stella Hankins of Bella Bonita Designs at Bubbles at 6:30. We're back at Bubbles. I may crash. You please do. It's gonna be a fantastic conversation. We're gonna be talking about her sobriety journey, so it's gonna be a lot of fun. Uh so please come out and join us. We would love to uh see you, get to know you, spend some time with you. And and so this happened. Here we are, season two.
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