We were lucky to catch up with Sharon Lewis Ruff recently and have shared our conversation below.
Sharon, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
My most meaningful project is the “I Failed” Podcast. SO! Picture me rolling… LOL! I’m just kidding.
Seriously, I was inspired to create the podcast because of a conversation that I had with an old co-worker who was extremely happy about all of the accomplishments I posted on my timeline. To give you our story, we worked in retail at the time, making $10 an hour, which was rough. However, we made light of it all through laughter, food, and working endless hours to fund our dreams.
Since I quit that day, I hadn’t seen him, and I honestly forgot that we were connected on social media; UNTIL he sent me a message applauding one of my recent awards. While catching up, I noticed that he was speaking to me as if I had such an “easy” road to triumph. While I’m a private person, and my problems don’t show on my face, I felt like he had seen me struggle once.
In my offense of his tone, a light bulb turned on in my head that I NEVER SHARE MY STRUGGLES. How could he possibly know that life wasn’t always great for me?! I failed more times than I could count getting to that moment, but my failures were embarrassing to me. I had particular storage space for my failures, and it was buried DEEP beyond reach.
Then I thought, how many of us are experiencing endless success timelines while thinking that “those” success moments just suddenly appeared? Think about it. If you constantly see the same people posting their accomplishments without a struggle, you’ll begin to feel like nothing ever goes wrong in their life. Not to mention the shutdowns during the pandemic that shifted all of us to social media for immediate interaction. Failure isn’t something that people readily post, and we need a safe space to talk about it.
Creating a podcast that caters to those who consider themselves imperfect and live in the lingering regret of their failure was and is important to me. In an unstable world with a guarantee of failure, the guests and I bring clarity and liberation to those who want to be free from the bondage of failing.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am “the” Sharon D. Lewis Ruff, also known as “Shay Ruff” on the podcast, and the proud owner of Wisdom By 30. Wisdom By 30 is a literary and production group that offers publishing, copywriting and podcasting services. I am a New Orleans native and a “Purpose Doula” to those previously plagued and paralyzed by their insecurities. In addition to being an author, speaker, coach, and content creator, I am also the wife to Philip (Phil) Ruff and mother to Olivia and Jacob.
My story for the “I Failed….” Podcast stems from 2 aspects. The first is breaking the glass of “from the outside looking in” and destroying the bondage of being ashamed about failing. I set out to complete only six episodes with some friends, and now, so many subscribers later (nationally and internationally), we are headed into our 70th episode. The podcast was birthed on May 3, 2020. What I am most proud of is the reach that we have with our audience and their life-changing feedback. Right now, we have listeners extending to Nigeria and Germany with a 5-Star rating!!
As you can see, I’m a problem solver, and I STRONGLY dislike for anyone to feel stuck and helpless. Through my life experiences, I can teach others, so they won’t have to encounter what I’ve been through. I advocate for creativity and enjoy motivating others to find their “creative side.” It’s my passion, and I won’t stop empowering others.
My podcast inspiration is Patrice Washington of the “Redefining Wealth” Podcast.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
I self-funded my business and podcast. While doing so may give a sense of ownership, self-funding can be a bit taxing. The best wisdom I can share is to fix your credit, get three business bank accounts outside of transacting accounts like PayPal or Venmo (I’ll explain shortly), sign up with SAM.gov, and ensure that you have a physical business address.
Let me explain the three business accounts. One account is for deposits only, meaning the money your business makes needs to go into this account after you pay expenses. The second account is for taxes. Calculate your tax amount and place that amount into the tax account. It’s better to save now than hit with an unexpected tax bill later. The third account will be strictly for transactions only, meaning accounts payable. Place your accounts payable amounts in this account and pay your bills and payroll.
Why is all of this important? It opens you up to options to obtain funding. Take your business seriously and operate it with integrity.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
ABSOLUTELY! These are my go-tos:
The teachings of Dr. Myles Munroe
Book: “The Ownership Spirit” by Dennis Deaton
Book: “Prevail” by Brandon Sweeney
Book: “No Chumps Allowed” by Tasha T. Huston
Book: “Who Moved My Cheese” by Spencer Johnson
The Fearless Fund is headed by Arian Simone
Contact Info:
- Website: ifailedpodcast.com
- Instagram: @wisdom_by_30
- Facebook: @theifailedpodcast
- Linkedin: Sharon D. Lewis
- Youtube: Wisdom By 30
Image Credits
Photo Credit: Angele “Aziza” Polote IG: @lovelyfoofie