Today we’d like to introduce you to Shari Gullo

Hi Shari, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?

My story has been all about overcoming fear. I was raised by parents who felt it was in my best interest to be fearful and on guard. They wanted to protect me and in hindsight I think they must have felt that instilling in me the need to be on high alert would keep me safe.

A big part of being taught to be fearful, was to be cautious. I understood that I was not to make mistakes. I was not to be impulsive or spontaneous. My journey has been about overcoming my upbringing.

A woman I met recently had just become a grandmother. She said as a result she has stopped taking risks. I told her with age I have become more of a risk taker. Another woman listening in who knows me well, said she felt that in my case that was very true. It felt good to have that confirmation that not only am I less fearful, but it is noticeable.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

Why do we think the road before us will be smooth? If we have goals, if we aspire to be visionaries and change the world in big or small ways it will never be easy. The bigger your goal and the more you attempt to challenge the status quo the harder it will be.

I was a part of a small group of woman who wanted to install a peace pole in Lake Zurich, Illinois. Peace poles have been around since 1955 and they can be found on every continent. There are thousands of them worldwide. Peace poles typically have the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in several different languages on their sides. Everyone desires peace so installing a peace pole seemed like an easy goal to achieve. When it came time to choose which languages we would include on the peace pole we learned that there are 60 different languages spoken in our township. We decided to put “peace” in each language on our peace pole.

Fundraising for the peace pole was difficult. We couldn’t figure out why. There were times it was suggested that we should drop the project since the community wasn’t donating. Then we learned why. We discovered some residents were angry that there were so many bilingual people living here. As a group of white women our eyes were opened for the first time to the degree of racism and xenophobia in our community. There is a quote, and I wish I could remember who said it, but it says something about what can make a group of people come together is a common enemy. When we discovered our enemy was racism and xenophobia we resolved that no matter how long it took we would get a peace pole installed in our community. The haters didn’t realize that they didn’t deter us. They galvanized us.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?

Having been brought up fearful and having changed into a risk taker is the major accomplishment in my life. I used to read self-help books all the time and I finally decided to experiment and see if the advice in some of them actually would work. I started the Big Ugly Book Drive to gather books for those in the book deserts of the coal-mining areas of southwestern West Virginia. I didn’t know if I would be successful. I was inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s quote, “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” I had been taught to be cautious and never make a mistake so I thought I had to have every step of a project figured out or I shouldn’t attempt it. The book drive was an experiment in finding out if that was true. I discovered it most certainly is not. And I learned one can’t possibly plan every step of a project that large. I was able to send over 54,000 books to Step By Step, a non-profit in Big Ugly and Charleston, West Virginia for distribution to households without a single children’s book.

Since the completion of the peace project I have become involved with Cathy McCauley and Pamela Self in creating a large artwork for the Wormfarm Institute’s 2024 Farm Art DTour. This is something we haven’t done before. It’s a new challenge for us to use our creativity to spread conservationist, Aldo Leopold’s message to preserve all species. We are excited to push ourselves in a new direction and to see where it will lead us.

Friends now see me as someone who can accomplish anything. That isn’t true, but I have learned when you attempt an audacious goal people want to see you succeed and want to help you succeed. A few people have told me the things I have done have inspired them to do projects they had been fearful of starting. That brings me joy.

Failing no longer scares me. Not trying scares me.

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?

Changing the world in some small way gives me a rush. It’s gratifying to see that if I put in the effort there is no telling what can happen as a result. Why settle for happy when one can achieve sheer joy? My son, Ben, wrote down a quote that hangs on the wall behind my computer monitor. It says, “It’s never too late to be exactly the person you’ve always wanted to be.” I don’t know its source. It reminds me of the Rachel Goode quote, “My greatest peace comes from breaking out of the jail of myself.” Breaking the bonds of the fear that held me most of my life is my greatest joy.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: preserve.collaborative.art