Interview with Sherry Kallergis of At Fortyfive Magazine, Disrupting Women Influences, Fabulous Friday & Fabulous Youniversity
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| Image by April Rose More Photography |
I am from a big family in Alberta, the oldest girl and child. I was required to take care of others as my mother was often not well. I also suffered from a number of health problems. Whenever I had a chance to focus on myself, I spent it dealing with my health. It seemed the only time I was taking care of myself was when my health was precarious and required me to focus in. As I aged I realized I was not the only woman who denied her own wellbeing because she was putting others first. I wanted to provide a community and environment for women to share, learn and grow in new directions.
What motivated you to launch your At Forty Five brand? What were the challenges of creating a business that embraced your passion while still dealing with the demands of work, family and personal needs?
I realized I needed to make a conscious effort to get to know myself and explore other facets of my life. It all started when my daughter asked me what my favorite color was and I didn't know. I realized I had totally lost touch with who I was. This kicked off a period of self discovery...travelling, trying new restaurants. Once I started doing that I realized there were a lot of women like me who were trying to do the same thing and could use a safe place to share.
What motivated you to launch your At Forty Five brand? What were the challenges of creating a business that embraced your passion while still dealing with the demands of work, family and personal needs?
I realized I needed to make a conscious effort to get to know myself and explore other facets of my life. It all started when my daughter asked me what my favorite color was and I didn't know. I realized I had totally lost touch with who I was. This kicked off a period of self discovery...travelling, trying new restaurants. Once I started doing that I realized there were a lot of women like me who were trying to do the same thing and could use a safe place to share.
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| Image by April Rose More Photography |
AT FORTY FIVE was a way for me to do that.
One of the biggest challenges with starting a business besides the myriad of how to's one needs to learn, is the fact that you must give something up to make room for the business. I do not prescribe to the belief women are a superpower that can have it all. This requires you to put your desires/needs and yourself first. Typically that means setting boundaries and denying someone or others the time they have come to rely on, which they believe they deserve. Learning to say no is a lesson many women struggle to come to terms with. It was a big one for me.
The other big challenge is lack of time. If you are already living a full life something has to give in order to set aside time to focus on your business. You will need to reassess how you spend your time.
"Your life is a story sell the movie rights girl" was a personal motto I adopted. The fact that everything I did in a day was movie worthy changed my attitude. It inspired me to live in the moment and to find joy in everything no matter how mundane. The magazine looks to share the stories of women who are living their best life, discovering new ideas and ways of doing things to inspire other women who are looking for change.
I touched earlier on the biggest challenge being setting boundaries. In my magazine one of the first articles I wrote was how I quit cooking daily and moved to an episodic cook once a week - and the fallout. I was spending a silly amount of my time shopping, cooking and cleaning the kitchen, serving meals all day and night with my family's crazy schedules.
The pushback from my family was legendary. It was a common refrain that it is mom's job to cook fresh meals every day. Becoming an episodic cook was such an empowering step though, and served as a real catalyst for my personal development. It allowed for "me" time. I have heard back from many women that this change served as a new approach. It opened up their eyes and freed them too.
In 2018 you launched your own YouTube channel - At Forty Five Disrupting Women Influences - featuring interviews with a wide variety of guests. What is the focus of these interviews, this station? What do you most hope viewers will take away from watching?
In these crazy times there is no lack of things to spend our time on. We have become used to consuming on demand. As well, the written word is only one method for communication. I wanted to be able to offer up articles in multiple formats and this collection is the beginning. Again I hope women will find inspiration from "talking" with other women, sharing their expertise from painting to marketing, and sharing knowledge whether it is how to breathe or setting up a bucket list for the year. Women are doing amazing living all around the world. It's an honor to let them share on Disrupting Women Influences.
Now for your latest venture launched in February 2021 - Fabulous Friday TV - which you co host live with Ann Marot on your Youtube every Friday. How did you two meet, and what inspired you to launch a TV show together?
Fabulous Friday TV is an international celebration of living, being and feeling fabulous. I met Ann who is in South Africa through the magazine. After doing work together it seemed a natural progression as she is focused on helping women network through business. We both knew women are feeling wore out, stressed out and left out. We all are fabulous and need to be reminded we own it. We need to assert our right to be fabulous and we need to take care of all facets of our life.
What can you tell us about Fabulous Friday - the inspiration behind it, how you choose your weekly topics and who your audience is? How can someone be a part of the live show?
I am starting a podcast series called When Life Changes, talking about life circumstances or incidences that shake up the status quo with reverberating consequences. The first of the series (The Bright Blue Gorilla Unorthodox Lifestyle: Coachsurfing, Music and Movies) is up as a video on my YOUtube channel and the podcast will be launching in early spring.
"You are smart. You are kind. You are important." - from The Help
Links -
One of the biggest challenges with starting a business besides the myriad of how to's one needs to learn, is the fact that you must give something up to make room for the business. I do not prescribe to the belief women are a superpower that can have it all. This requires you to put your desires/needs and yourself first. Typically that means setting boundaries and denying someone or others the time they have come to rely on, which they believe they deserve. Learning to say no is a lesson many women struggle to come to terms with. It was a big one for me.
The other big challenge is lack of time. If you are already living a full life something has to give in order to set aside time to focus on your business. You will need to reassess how you spend your time.
First came your online magazine for women 45+. What was the inspiration behind creating it and what kind of content do you include? What steps were needed to make it a reality and were there any unexpected surprises/challenges along the way?
"Your life is a story sell the movie rights girl" was a personal motto I adopted. The fact that everything I did in a day was movie worthy changed my attitude. It inspired me to live in the moment and to find joy in everything no matter how mundane. The magazine looks to share the stories of women who are living their best life, discovering new ideas and ways of doing things to inspire other women who are looking for change.
Sharing about my bucket list challenge on Disrupting Women
I touched earlier on the biggest challenge being setting boundaries. In my magazine one of the first articles I wrote was how I quit cooking daily and moved to an episodic cook once a week - and the fallout. I was spending a silly amount of my time shopping, cooking and cleaning the kitchen, serving meals all day and night with my family's crazy schedules.
The pushback from my family was legendary. It was a common refrain that it is mom's job to cook fresh meals every day. Becoming an episodic cook was such an empowering step though, and served as a real catalyst for my personal development. It allowed for "me" time. I have heard back from many women that this change served as a new approach. It opened up their eyes and freed them too.
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| Show goes live every Friday!!! |
In these crazy times there is no lack of things to spend our time on. We have become used to consuming on demand. As well, the written word is only one method for communication. I wanted to be able to offer up articles in multiple formats and this collection is the beginning. Again I hope women will find inspiration from "talking" with other women, sharing their expertise from painting to marketing, and sharing knowledge whether it is how to breathe or setting up a bucket list for the year. Women are doing amazing living all around the world. It's an honor to let them share on Disrupting Women Influences.
Now for your latest venture launched in February 2021 - Fabulous Friday TV - which you co host live with Ann Marot on your Youtube every Friday. How did you two meet, and what inspired you to launch a TV show together?
Fabulous Friday TV is an international celebration of living, being and feeling fabulous. I met Ann who is in South Africa through the magazine. After doing work together it seemed a natural progression as she is focused on helping women network through business. We both knew women are feeling wore out, stressed out and left out. We all are fabulous and need to be reminded we own it. We need to assert our right to be fabulous and we need to take care of all facets of our life.
Fabulous Friday TV Show Ep2 Loving Makes Us Feel Fabulous
What can you tell us about Fabulous Friday - the inspiration behind it, how you choose your weekly topics and who your audience is? How can someone be a part of the live show?
Fabulous Friday TV is a weekly production of Fabulous YOUniversity. Each week we cover a facet of the Fabulous YOUniversity lifecycle bringing subject experts or women with interesting stories to share on the subject. It gives women a chance to take a moment for themselves, dial into their fabulous being, participate in the discussion and win some great prizes. This FREE event is held every Friday at 8am PST / 11am EST / 6pm South African time. All the instructions for attending the show are available once you register at: https://www.fabulousyouniversity.com/fabulous-friday-tv-show
Fabulous Youniversity is a platform of courses developed for women. The first is a guided 21 Day Challenge to reconnect with the fabulous you created by me for when you need a new direction. More information, or to sign up for the challenge at this link - https://www.fabulousyouniversity.com/21day-challenge
You continue to expand in new and exciting directions. Is there anything else on the horizon being developed.
I am starting a podcast series called When Life Changes, talking about life circumstances or incidences that shake up the status quo with reverberating consequences. The first of the series (The Bright Blue Gorilla Unorthodox Lifestyle: Coachsurfing, Music and Movies) is up as a video on my YOUtube channel and the podcast will be launching in early spring.
I'd love to close with one of your favourite quotes. It can be on any topic, just one that has relevance for you.
"You are smart. You are kind. You are important." - from The Help
Links -
- Website - www.atfortyfive.com/
- Facebook At Forty Five - www.facebook.com/atfortyfive/
- Instagram - www.instagram.com/atfortyfivemag/
- Youtube Station - www.youtube.com/channel/UCtfogHbeUFTnVWcn5NKzB_Q
- Linkedin - www.linkedin.com/in/sherrykallergis/
Thank you for including me on your wonderful blog and for posing questikns that caused ne to reflect.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure. I love having you here to share your story! I know it will inspire many.
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