We were lucky to catch up with Sherri Tilley recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sherri, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.

It’s no secret that everyone is a product of their environment. Whether we express ourselves through attention-grabbing extroversion or self-protective introversion, each of us is profoundly affected by our own unique upbringing coupled with the resulting assumptions, responses, and conclusions that we subsequently develop while making our way along the journey of life. Like most parents, my mother and father put a great deal of conscientious effort into imparting important life lessons to me and graciously planting seeds of integrity within me so as to produce a healthily bountiful crop of God-fearing morality, ever-inquisitive intellect, and heartfelt loving-kindness.

My soft-spoken and tender-hearted mother taught by example as she cared for those around her with a multitude of benevolent actions that were consistently selfless and meticulously hospitable. Conversely, my shrewd father, a car-dealing businessman and weekend race car driver, delivered his words of wisdom in clever quips and insightful snippets that I collected up like golden trinkets. Even now, these lessons remain stored in my soul as precious treasure; and five of my most favorite principles include:

“Say what you mean and mean what you say.”

My dad knew the value of an unwritten hand-shake deal, and he offered a great amount of respect to unwaveringly honest men who were good for their word. When I was growing up, there was never any room in our house for hem-hawing around the truth, giving half of a story, or being anything less than fully committed to conveying the actual facts that transpired in any given circumstance. As a consequence, I learned to work as diligently as possible to relay information accurately and to do everything in my power to avoid breaking a promise. To this day, I consider trustworthiness to be one of the most virtuous characteristics that a person can exhibit.

“It’s only money; it’d be different if it was something you couldn’t replace.”

An entrepreneurial risk taker by nature, my self-employed father faced the oscillating financial fluctuations of plentiful seasons of prosperity as well as economically lean stretches of recession. Always a quintessential hustler working hard to provide for his family, he taught me to shrug off feelings of defeat or hopelessness and to believe rather for the brighter tomorrow that was most assuredly just around the corner. During those intermittent ebbs of cash flow, he strongly emphasized the importance of not only remaining undeterred while fervently pursuing career goals, but also earnestly safeguarding the much more cherish-worthy aspects of life like love, honor, and family.

“Stay ready to keep from having to get ready.”

This one still makes me giggle. Countless times, I’ve heard my father spout this offhanded response to the question, “Are you ready?” to which he’d often wittingly reply, “I stay ready to keep from having to get ready.” The concept was ingrained in his stoic character and extremely indicative of his rarely-changing demeanor. He held fast to his personal beliefs, continually educated himself, and maintained a consistent determination to stay on top of his game within the spheres of his interests and industry. Throughout the course of my own life, I have come to realize that many crises can easily be averted simply by thinking ahead and functioning within a reasonably maintainable state of mental preparedness.

“Don’t let your mouth write checks your [derrière] can’t cash.”

My dad had absolutely no tolerance for arrogant individuals, cocky jerks, or outright liars. This inherited aversion to egotistical self-absorbed narcissism is one of the reasons that I am unwaveringly inclined to ensure that each business transaction I negotiate serves to nurture the development of a mutually-beneficial partnership. Rather than overpromising outrageously unrealistic results, I tend to offer strategically reasonable standards of excellence and then consistently over-deliver by providing the highest level of skilled workmanship that I am increasingly capable of producing.

“Everybody needs a little help sometimes.”

No matter how hard you try, how diligently you work, or how many times you tell yourself “when the going gets tough, the tough get going,” sooner or later, you are going to need someone to come alongside you and lend a hand. This assistance may manifest itself in the form of physical help, emotional support, professional advice, financial assistance, or through countless other means. If you endeavor as best you can and yet still fail, my dad considered there to be no shame whatsoever in allowing someone to lift you up with encouragement and resources when necessary as you regain your strength and continue on your way.

I really can’t determine which of these axioms seemed to be the most important to my father. If I heard them once, I heard them a hundred times during my adolescent stay under his roof. Working like a powerful tag team to ensure a collective victory, my father consistently taught me insightful concepts as my mother affectionately walked beside me offering clear instructions on how to convert such lofty ideas into practical actions that would simultaneously benefit myself and others. For those reasons, mixed with a zillion other meaningful moments, I am forever grateful for the highly impactful influence that both of my parents have had on my life.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

As an award-winning journalist, photographer, videographer, voiceover talent, and content strategist, I have produced and implemented hundreds of promotional campaigns as the owner/publisher of TheFlashList.com entertainment guide and TheArtOfGallivanting.com travel guide. Known for providing newsworthy insights about unique experiences and interesting people from around the world, my featured work as a digital media liaison includes national news, consumer reviews, celebrity interviews, and much more. My reputation for journalistic integrity and artfully-executed media coverage is derived from extensive professional experience as a broadly-networked digital news provider, travel writer, community advocate, and brand liaison for top entertainment venues and business organizations globally. I am a strong proponent of expressing inner God-given talents in a way that cultivates joy and a sense of well-being within ourselves and others. And for me, a daily dose of creativity is absolutely crucial. Any day spent writing insights, taking photographs, producing video, narrating a commercial, cooking a meal, or arranging a bouquet of flowers is unquestionably a day well spent.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

For revelation about our true identity, abundant life in Christ, and a good God who loves us immensely, the go-to source is obviously the Bible. Without that, our future would be utterly hopeless. But additionally, everything about the foundation of my way of doing business can be found within the chapters of Napoleon Hill’s Laws of Success. All sixteen lessons are absolutely fascinating and easy to implement, but the one particular concept that “the man who does more than he is paid for will soon be paid for more than he does” has proved to be especially true.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Parlay your resources like your professional life depends on it … because it absolutely does. If you want to start or grow a business, you first need to assess your tangible and intangible assets. My suggestion is to work from the inside out by taking stock of your own goals and dreams, personal traits and characteristics, and material products or services. Do you have extra free time, investable funds, practical experience, specialized skills, or even the ability to upgrade an existing idea? Can you offer a service more quickly, more efficiently, more artfully, or with more customizable options? Consider everything you have available, and then simply take a little of this and a little of that, combine it into a viable package, and present your unique offer in the marketplace. Rather than facing the intimidating challenge of developing a large enterprise at the macro level, start out by finding an interestingly noteworthy niche where you can work more thoroughly and efficiently at the micro level with a loyal base of clients who love and appreciate your specific offer. This way, you can quickly gain success and then ramp up as rapidly or as gradually as you feel comfortably inclined. In my opinion, any ongoing business endeavor should be an enjoyable outcropping derived from the expression of your own gifts, skills, talents, and truly authentic personal identity.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://sherritilley.com
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• Other: https://www.theflashlist.com
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