Have you ever wanted to pursue a passion but were afraid to start? Shara Goswick shares how she pivoted from writing books to podcasting in midlife.
Guest: Shara Goswick, ost - Life Stories Podcast
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Host: Dr. Deborah Heiser
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Episode Introduction
I am so excited to bring Sharon goswick here today to speak with you about midlife and what it means to pivot from being a storyteller in books, she's authored five books, to a storyteller of others in her podcast that she started three years ago. So her midlife journey is one of a pivot, but still remaining true to what she's always been interested in.
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Pursuing Midlife Passion | A Conversation with Shara Goswick | After 40 Podcast with Dr. Deborah Heiser
Unknown Speaker 0:20
Sarah,
Unknown Speaker 0:29
welcome back to after 40. I am so excited to bring Sharon goswick here today to speak with you about midlife and what it means to pivot from being a storyteller in books, she's authored five books, to a storyteller of others in her podcast that she started three years ago. So her midlife journey is one of a pivot, but still remaining true to what she's always been interested in. So welcome today, Shara. I'm really excited to hear about your journey. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself? Thank you so much for having me. My name is Shara goswick. I have been married for over 30 years. I've got three grown children and two grandchildren. I've always been a homemaker. I've had, you know, different jobs throughout the years, but mostly I've been home, and it was after my kids were grown, and we still have one living with us. He is on the spectrum. But, you know, my kids are grown, and once you are done raising kids, it's like, Okay, now what? What do I do now? You know, there was not ever anything that I aspired to be that I needed to go get a degree for I've always loved being a mom, and I'm a grandmother now, and I like being available to my family and to the people in my life that need me. You know, I love to serve at our church, or I volunteer at the local pregnancy center. I just, I like being available, and so it wasn't a job that I really wanted, but I just had this desire because I love talking to people. I just love talking to people. I love I think I'm nosy, but I just like asking questions. Um, I just had this desire to have a podcast, and I actually bought a microphone and left it in the box for a few years, because I would get excited thinking about it, and then I would talk myself out of it. I'm like, nobody wants to hear what I have to say. What am I going to talk about? And then I finally just thought, I'm either going to do it or I'm not. And so I just started, I just started talking about my life and things that I had been through and, you know, things that had happened to me. And then I was able to start interviewing people. And then I just was hooked. I couldn't I couldn't stop. How many podcasts have you done now in the past three years? Okay, I so I numbered it weird. I don't know why I did this. I am on episode 288 but I have not done 288 episodes anyway. I think I've done like 130
Unknown Speaker 3:12
Yeah, that's a lot. Now I know that you've written five books, and I'd love to know a little bit about those and what they're about. So most of my books are for children. They're three. Of the books are for they're about a little girl, and they're about the Bible and about being afraid and about Christmas. And then I wrote a little devotional for girls. The the biggest book that I wrote was about our son's journey with autism from the time he was diagnosed until he graduated from high school. And I've thought about getting back in and and continuing this story, because he's been out of high school for over 10 years, so I've thought about jumping in and continuing that one but that's what they're about. So you have always been a passion follower. It sounds like if you have a passion, you might let it sit for a little while marinate, but you go in and go for it. Yeah, there are so many people who think that midlife, especially is a time when that you know a passion feels frivolous, a passion feels like I don't know that I should be indulging myself in that way, but you did just that your kids are out. You had a way of transitioning from writing to podcasting. Do you feel like that, that is fulfilling that need for you, that that passion, absolutely, absolutely I love. You know, one of the things I love is having people in my home. I love having people here to cook for them and to love on them. And I think the podcast is kind of the same thing. It's like I'm that nurturing gift that I want to make people feel comfortable and welcomed. I think it's kind of the same thing. It's a different format, but it's kind of the same thing. So I think that's just kind of in me, you know, it's just what I like to do, you know, I love that you put it that way, and I can see that. I can hear the storyteller in you. It is like having company over when you're doing a podcast, it's like having people in your home, yeah, and having that conversation that you would have over a cup of coffee or over dinner. And I think the people feel intimidated like being a podcast host or a guest means that you have to come to the table with something really extravagant and bold, but really, you know, podcast host is just mentoring, right? You're getting people's expertise out there to everyone else to share and enjoy and to hopefully ignite or inspire something in them. To Sharma, Sure, absolutely. So you have been doing the podcasting your kids are out. Is there anything else that you do besides podcasting and writing? I volunteer at our pregnancy center once a week. I was a teen mom, and so it's important to me to kind of pour into these young women the way I had women in my life pouring into me. I just, it's also like a mom thing. I kind of see them as my children, you know, and I get to love on them. That's other than taking care of my family and, you know, helping with my grandkids whenever I'm needed. And like I said, I like being available to help the people in my life. So that's really a lot of what I do. I stay really busy. That's mostly what I do. And it sounds like you've been a someone who is a helper, and you say that you're you're loving everyone, that you've been like that, always that that was not a pivot for you. You've just found new ways of doing, volunteering, podcasting, having people in and around in new different ways, and having your grandchildren over. Is there any advice you could give to someone who's in midlife and says, Oh, I don't know what to do with myself. My kids are out of the house. Yeah, I'm not sure what to do. Do you have any advice for them? I would just think about the things that you love to do and do them. I mean, really, it's that simple. My husband, when he retires, eventually, he wants to work at a nursery because he is passionate about gardening and about, I mean, he makes our home look beautiful. I have zero desire to do any of it, but it's all really pretty. I like looking at it. He but he's passionate about it. Loves it. Find those things that you love to do, if you if you love working with the kids. You know, there's places you can volunteer at the library, or sometimes in schools, they have places where you can go read to different students. I mean, there's just so many different places you can jump in. It doesn't have to be a job. It doesn't have to be an income maker. If you don't want it to be, just find those things that you love to do. And I think there are opportunities everywhere for us to do them. I think that's such good advice. I think that we can all do that, and it doesn't matter what what you've been doing all along. Maybe you like to sing or something like that. There's an example I have of a person who was an artist and he wanted to go to the football games, the college football games. So he came a college of football bus driver, so down and be on the field during the games. That's a great idea. Would have thought of that like completely different from heart. But you know, we all have a desire that something that feels like it would be a luxury to us to be able to do if
Unknown Speaker 9:01
there's a little clever thought about it, we can always do whatever we want. Sure, go to games, podcast, write books ever we want. My other question for you is, having authored books. How do you get your story out. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Do you mean the process of actually publishing and all of that? Is that what you're asking I'm more thinking of if a person feels like they have a story in them, or they feel like they have something to say. Is there any advice that you could give them about writing a book? I so I am definitely not the most professional writer, but in all the authors that I've talked to, they all kind of said the same thing, just start, just start writing. Expect your first draft to be trash. I mean that they've all said that. Just expect it, because that's what happens. And then you go back and you can, you know, editor or find people to edit for you and help you. But just start. That's, I mean, nothing's gonna happen until you start doing it. So I would say, Just begin. Just begin writing it out, maybe even doing some vlogs, you know, yeah, sure. You don't have to make them live until you want to. You can write and then press live when you want. You know, getting started on anything like you held your microphone for a couple years, right? I've done the same with everything, including writing and the other projects that I've done. There's that intimidation factor that that hits us all when we want to try something that we feel passionate about, because failure feels like it could be a big deal. Is there anything that you see in your future besides what you're doing that you want to try that you haven't yet? I don't know. I don't know my husband wants me to start public speaking. That still scares me. I can sit in front of my computer and a microphone all day long and talk to people all day long, but standing on the stage still terrifies me. To me, it's very different. I can absolutely relate to that. You know, I just some advice that I have for you and anyone else, is that I I got accepted to give a TEDx talk, which I thought was going to be a really, this was seven years ago. Yeah, never eight now, but I thought, Oh my gosh. I never thought I would get accepted. So I never planned for anything. And then I got it, and I said, Oh my gosh, I'm gonna have to get on stage. And jumping into a pile of snakes was more refreshing
Unknown Speaker 11:52
compared to getting up on a stage. So I decided to go teach at a local university and an adjunct professor, and that is something that people could do. You know, you can you could teach at a local university. You could go because you're standing in front of people, you stage. And then I never left. I just stayed there after starting to do it. I've been there, I think, eight years now, but I love that you said that there's also Toastmasters that people can do. I just joined that not long ago. Oh, did you? And even though I go out on stage and give talks, I would suggest it to anyone out there, yourself included, to check it out, because it's it's people in your community who are supportive of you to do doing it, and if you don't do well, they don't, they don't shun you. You know, they don't do any you know, they're really wonderful about it. Look at that. I will say I did. I did do this. I went to a conference last week, and multiple people came up to me and said, I want to, can I talk to you? Can I talk to you about how you got started with your podcast. I mean, several people did, so I've I'm starting to round them up, and I am going to do not really a class, but a zoom call, just to, kind of, just to get people started, the branding and the marketing and all those things they can. They have to look somewhere else for that, because I'm not good at that. But just getting people started, sometimes that's all somebody needs, there's just a little bit of direction. And so I am going to do that. I don't know if that will continue or if I'll do more with it, but I did. I did offer that. I love it. You mentor in so many different ways. And you know your podcasting is mentorship, but now you're saying people are asking you for advice and guidance, and here you are mentoring them. I think that's so cool. You know, I hope that people, I know people are going to learn from you. You're fabulous, host, very kind. Thank you very much. Do you think you'll ever make a book out of all the life stories that you've compiled from your you know that has come up multiple times. I've heard people do that. And so I have really thought about that, because I've talked to some incredible people just I continue to be amazed at what people are doing all over the world. And it probably needs to be a bug to tell their stories and get those out. So I don't know it's a possibility. It's something I need to look into. For sure, I could see it being one. Do you have any stories that stand out? Life story really? You know, you said, Wow, I wasn't expecting this. Or this is much more than I thought it was. So many, so many. You know, the things that have surprised me the most are when I find out about different ways people are helping those that are suffering that I would never have thought about before. One of them that stands out to me, there's a woman, arasi Cook, started a nonprofit called pralines backyard Foundation, and what she does is she helps find foster families for animals, for pets, for women who are in domestic violence situations that are afraid to leave because they don't want to leave their pets. I never would have thought that was an issue. I mean, it just opened my eyes to that. And so things like that. When I find out that people are hurting in ways that I it just never would have occurred to me that has really just blown my mind. Wow, and that people are here solving problems. Yes, that we don't even know about, necessarily about that either, but, you know, it gives me tools. Anybody who loves their pets understands that, yeah, it makes sense. I just it's not something I've ever, ever thought about before.
Unknown Speaker 15:37
Well, I applaud you. You have taken midlife by the horns, and you are driving forward, mentoring, giving back, trying new things, following your passion and engaging in the things that you love. And you're a perfect example of what we should all be doing, which is following our passions and throwing caution to the wind. If you have something that you really desire, you should follow it. I hope that by next year, I'll be able to see some of these, either in a blog or a format. I really thank you for coming on this show today and sharing your wisdom with us. Tell us, how can we find your podcast, find your books and find more about you. You are so kind. Thank you so much for having me. If you go to my website, all of my information. Is there? Life stories podcast.com, all the links to listen. Are there my previous guests are there. My link to my books are there? Everything is on my website. Well, I urge everyone to check out the podcast. It's really wonderful. And indeed, she does have all of the pictures of her most recent members that she's had on so do check it out. Just wonderful host and you are going to get to hear stories from people's lives that are really going to.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai