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Midlife is PRICELESS...Not A CRISIS! - with Sairan Aqrawi
7 Plays2 days ago
In this inspiring episode of Beyond Retirement, Jacquie sits down with Sairan Aqrawi, civil engineer, certified coach, and founder of the Gem Thrive Academy. From STEM to soul-searching, Sairan shares how she helps women over 50 rediscover their “hidden gem” — a unique passion, gift, or calling buried under years of work, family, and obligation.
Whether it’s painting, public speaking, or building furniture in your garage, your gem doesn’t need to make money to be meaningful. Sairan’s bold, no-nonsense approach helps women reclaim midlife.
To find out more about Sairan and the GemThrive Academy, visit sairanaqrawi.com
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Transcript
00:00:03
Speaker
Retirement. That's what we're all aiming at, right? But exactly what does that mean? conjures up visions of endless days of golf, drinks with little umbrellas in them on a tropical beach, feet up reading a book.
00:00:16
Speaker
Is that what it's all about? I don't think so. Life would get pretty dull after a while without anything meaningful to do, don't you think? I'm Jackie Doucette, and I'm on a mission to discover exactly what life is like beyond retirement.
00:00:30
Speaker
Join me while I chat with people who've already done it, who've retired to something rather than from something. Let's find out together exactly what's waiting for us when we say goodbye to that nine to five.
00:00:51
Speaker
Hi everyone, welcome to another episode of Beyond Retirement. I'm your host, Jackie Doucette, and today I have Sarin Akrawi with me. Sarin's a civil engineer, she's a certified coach, and the founder of the Gem Thrive Academy.
00:01:04
Speaker
Originally from Iraq and now based in the United States, she brings a unique blend of technical precision and emotional intelligence to her work. By day, she leads engineering product projects.
00:01:15
Speaker
By night, she helps midlife women discover their hidden gems. the talents and passions buried under years of career and caregiving. A powerful speaker in both English and Arabic, Saren has shared her message around the world, empowering women to thrive in life's second act.
00:01:33
Speaker
Saren, thanks for joining me today. My pleasure, Jackie. So glad to be here. So you've got a lot of things going on in your life. How did you end up doing what you're doing when you started out as a civil engineer?
00:01:49
Speaker
Well, ah to go back about the pivot moment that why I decided to have a side business, this all happened when I was finishing my master's degree with George Washington University. And I made the mistake thinking that, yeah, I'm finished master, why not doing the doctoral?
00:02:06
Speaker
That was a big mistake because I did not take any break and I started my doctoral program right away. that's when I started getting very tired. And in the middle of the first semester for my doctoral, the school asked me if I'm willing to speak with the group of younger engineers at the engineering school at GW. So I said, why not? Let me see how can I help.
00:02:27
Speaker
After I finished the session, the head of the women in engineering contacted me and she said, ah the girls loved you. I mean, they were really captivating about your advices and the roadmap you put up for them or the real ah workforce for for women in engineering, you happen to be a coach.
00:02:48
Speaker
I had no idea what she's talking about. i was like, what's, I said, coach? I said, what does that mean? I thought she's talking about a sport coach. And she said, no, no, I'm talking about business and life coach. I said, I don't know, what is that? i I've always been a technology. So I'm not aware of the other side of the universe about emotional intelligence and communication and active listening.
00:03:10
Speaker
These are a little bit away from engineering mindset because I've been in engineering for a long time. So she made me curious. I went back and I checked the ICF and I found out that it's a program being a certified coach. I fell in love with it.
00:03:24
Speaker
I started the exam. I've been certified after that and I never finished my doctoral. And that's the Yes.
00:03:35
Speaker
and So I mentioned the um the Gem Thrive Academy. what What does that involve? what what's a What's a hidden gem? Well, the term that I use about the hidden gem, it's I got inspired by Jack Canfield's success book when he talked about chapter 39, when he talked about focus on core genius. And Robert Greene also talked about it in his mastery book. He called it a life task or kind of like a life purpose.
00:04:02
Speaker
Each one of us, Jackie, we came to this world in order to complete a pieces of the puzzles. ah You finish one side, I finish the other side, and we all complete and close the same world.
00:04:14
Speaker
I feel and I believe ah strongly that each one of us has a hidden in talent or a hidden gem that not necessarily we're only born with it, but perhaps is that one thing that we really enjoy doing and something that ah defines us, something that is built inside us in the core.
00:04:36
Speaker
And because of life taking us and in, you know, faces, we get married, we raise kids, we take care of, you know, parents and in-laws, that's hidden gem and hidden talent kind of get muted.
00:04:49
Speaker
So kind of like we still have it, but it's there somewhere. And I feel especially for women, when we hit that 50, we always been scared about, oh, you get old, um you're you're outdated, played safe, don't try new things.
00:05:07
Speaker
The 50 kind of like the reflect stage that we think about our life said, okay, I done my job. I've been having good paycheck. I raised my children. I've been a good wife.
00:05:18
Speaker
Now what? That's it? My 50? It's the ah countdown? Is this a waiting room? It's not. it's It's a new frontier. When you are reaching that 50, you already accomplished so many lessons and wisdom along the way that no one can take that away from you.
00:05:40
Speaker
Regardless in any any area of life, you can be a teacher, you can be a doctor, you can be an an engineer. All the events happen in your life, it's form who you are, it's shape who you are.
00:05:53
Speaker
And when you hit that 50, it's your time to claim those advancements. It's time for you to claim those experience. If you're willing to have it as a side business, why not?
00:06:05
Speaker
Don't say it's too late. It's never late. You are right on the correct time. And so how do you help someone who feels like, wow, i'm you know I've reached 50, I've reached reached the halfway point, and it's kind of all ah downhill from here. How do you help them change their minds?
00:06:25
Speaker
The most important things I feel how they feel, because I'm in my mid-50, so they are not talking with someone just hit 30. So I know what 50 means. I know what it means when your kid's grown and they drive their own car and they go out and they you invite them to dinner by text. I know all of that because I have two kids 18 months apart and my husband always travel you know outside US. So and instead of me calling myself you know crisis or emptiness or all these negative connotations, that's only make us even more depressed.
00:06:58
Speaker
There is no need to say those things and emphasize for those words. that we've been hearing and no one told us they are not the correct statement for 15. So to answer your question, when a client book a 15 minutes complimentary with me, first of all, I have to make sure they are committed.
00:07:19
Speaker
With all respect, a lot of clients, they come to vent. They are lonely. They want to speak with a friend. ah They want just to chat on that 15 minutes.
00:07:29
Speaker
um I come so bold, maybe because of my background is engineering. I dealt with concrete and steel and foundation. So I come really bold and not harsh, but very clear and ask them, what is the goal for this session?
00:07:44
Speaker
If the goal is for you to have a friend like me and chat with you, I'm not your friend. I'm not your cousin. I'm not someone that you study, ah you know,
00:07:55
Speaker
During the college and we become, you know, colleague at work or at school. I'm someone you hire and you're paying money to take from a to B.
00:08:06
Speaker
I have to take you to the best version of yourself. And that's with your work, not by me being a magician and give you a pulse or a manual that you can follow so you can reach your best version in three months. So I can tell because I've done so many of those complimentary calls. I'm not saying I'm genius, but I can tell by now.
00:08:27
Speaker
When you come to those complimentary calls, if you're really, really serious about making a change or you are here only to chat and just feel good. And when I know they are committed, that's when the one-hour session will start.
00:08:43
Speaker
I give them one hour free because I want to explain the structure of the gym, Thrive. I have to explain what the school about, why it's a mini VIP, why there is a four women addition to them.
00:08:57
Speaker
why we share the lessons between each others and why is 90 days. It's not three weeks. It's not five weeks because I have to go the three months. It's because there is a three pillars of the gym.
00:09:11
Speaker
There is a clarity and there is an action and there is a consistency. So for sake of your audience, I don't want to explain everything I do on the Gem Thrive for anyone who mentioned your platform or mentioned your name. I can give them that 15 minutes complimentary and I can see if they are really serious about making a change in their life.
00:09:35
Speaker
That sounds great. um But I think people would be interested to know a little bit more about the program in general, what what it is that you're offering to see if it's something that they might be ah might be interested in. it Of course. So you will have different level of client come to you. So you will have client who are already clear about what they want to do. So I'll give you an example. Let's say you are in IT or you are in finance or you are in HR. and you're about to retire, right? You're 57, 58, and you said, I'm thinking to have a side business, and I like to write books, or I like to be a speaker, or I like to do things knitting by hands. If you are clear, that's already taking care of the first phase.
00:10:18
Speaker
I just need to emphasize more on the clarity session on the one month, because Sometimes we can be all over the place. So going back to the example of the speaking, if you want to do speaking, still you have to niche it down even more. You can't just be speaking about everything.
00:10:35
Speaker
You have to be specific. Are you motivational speaker? Are you a keynote? Are you a technical speaker? Are you a facilitator? Do you love to do workshops? So I have to know in that clarity, one month, we have together to define which kind of speaking you want to do.
00:10:53
Speaker
So that's when one will take care of the clarity. And I always use the engineering metaphor because it's very close to the mind. People will remember it. It's like building, how you structure a building.
00:11:06
Speaker
If the clarity is not there, your foundation is not stable. So if the foundation is not good, the whole building will collapse. That's mean your whole business will collapse. So the first thing is the clarity. After that, you want to be a speaker, right?
00:11:21
Speaker
What is the second step? The second step is the structure of the building, the window, the door, and the wall. That's the action. the action that you need to do, not that I need to do. I'm just guiding you. I'm just a guidance. So if you come to me and you said, yeah, I'm clear to be a motivational speaker and I'm doing the action, then I ask you, which kind of action are you doing?
00:11:42
Speaker
You might tell me, oh, I'm taking classes with Ryan Tracy. I've been listening to Les Brown and Tony Robinson and you know Renee Brown and all the other speaker, and I'm very inspired by them.
00:11:55
Speaker
Where is the action in that? That's not action. That's just paying attention to other speaker. The action is for you to really do the speak, be a speaker.
00:12:06
Speaker
And of course, I'm not going to tell you jump on the TED Talk or go and speak with Les Brown on big stages, but I will ask you to do a small bite of speaking. Be in a panel on LinkedIn.
00:12:18
Speaker
Be running a workshop in your school. ah Give back to the community for nonprofit organization and just speak for 40 minutes. So the action is for you to be a speaker is to speak.
00:12:31
Speaker
Then if you're done with that, the last month is the consistency is how to scale your business, how you can go beyond making $5,000 $4,000. in a month. The consistency is the roof.
00:12:42
Speaker
Always the roof, is it it protect the whole business from collapsing, right? The roof is the main things on the top. So the roof is always the consistency by you continue doing the speaking.
00:12:55
Speaker
Don't come as a client, say, I spoke in one event. That's good milestone. And you celebrate the rest of your life. No. If you want to be an effective speaker, you have to continue doing and that's where the consistency comes from.
00:13:12
Speaker
When someone comes to you and and they've got this idea, for example, like you say, they want to be a speaker and they get partway through and they realize, well, maybe this isn't quite what I was thinking it was. How do you how do you help them pivot and see how maybe it is what they want, but not quite in that way?
00:13:33
Speaker
and Great question. And because it's happened to me when I was a ah coach, my first niche was international expert, like transition expert. And the reason why when I started a business in my first website, it was international transition expert. All my clients were international women in engineering.
00:13:52
Speaker
So I've done that for four five years. Not it didn didn't work. It just, it it was not skill scaled the away how I wanted. So I pivoted to business strategists and now I'm even coaching women in engineering, which is another niche that I'm doing because of my background.
00:14:11
Speaker
So to answer your question, if you're coming as a speaker and when you do a little bit speaking and you don't feel that spark or Your eye doesn't lit up.
00:14:21
Speaker
You come back and he said, that's one thing that I chose. It's giving me stress. I feel the pressure. That's become a side hustle, not a side haven or heaven.
00:14:32
Speaker
And that's what I call side business. It should be a haven, should be a heaven for you. Your side business should not be something that make you not sleep ah during the night or worried about the finance and how to fund it.
00:14:44
Speaker
Then in that case, you are not enjoying And anything you don't enjoy, you're not going to thrive in it. It's a gem thrive. So you're finding the gem and you're thriving. So there is a joy in between.
00:14:58
Speaker
And if you don't have that joy, that means that's not the right niche for you. and Do you think that all the people who find or, well, if everyone has one of these gems inside of them, do you think that they all really need to be a business?
00:15:15
Speaker
No, no. And I answered this question last week in another podcast because the lady who who asked this question, she said, I know a lot of people, they have a good paycheck, but they paint very nice.
00:15:27
Speaker
They are just, you look at their pieces like, wow, these painting done by you and and you make $250,000, $300,000. You don't need to quit that job, which pay you well to be a painter.
00:15:38
Speaker
But my call here is to bring that gem to the surface. Share it with others. There is a lot of artists on the world that would love to see that talent and that fame. Not necessarily you want to sell it, but at least share it, celebrate it. Don't leave this world hiding those fame in the basement.
00:15:58
Speaker
That's sad because the world, the universe, did deserve to see that art from you, deserve to see that gem from you. So don't sell it. Just celebrate it and share it.
00:16:10
Speaker
I like that idea. I think it's just the idea of making making the world ah a better place, a prettier place. Yes. Because something you've you've done adds to it.
00:16:21
Speaker
Yes. and And you know why it's important also? Because when you do that, you're holding and continuing to hold your uniqueness. Right. by not being looked like anybody else. So again, I'm not telling you to quit your 300,000 job, but if you're painting very nice, you are unique in that because you are a technical and you have that IQ and EQ merging together. So that's what's make each one of us unique and why we should hide it and brush it off until we leave this world.
00:16:52
Speaker
Just bring it up, celebrate be happy about it because that would just make you unique. And for someone who is maybe struggling a little bit figuring out what their gem might be, what do what do you suggest they do to you know to start figuring it out, to start uncovering that gem?
00:17:10
Speaker
Yes. And and um that's not an easy process that I can tell you, oh, I'm a smart engineer, follow one, two, three, four, and you're going to find your hidden gem that you had when you were 15. Some people, they intentionally sit down with themselves and they write a lot of things happen during their life.
00:17:28
Speaker
So let's say if you are in the beginning of 30 or you're late 20, it's easier because you just you just graduate from college. But if you are a client coming to me to me and you are 58 or 59, you already passed that 50 doing a career. So I might so not struggle. It might be more struggle for both of us to really tap on what does really inspire you, what does really make you Lit up in the room and say, yeah, that's exactly what I love to do.
00:17:57
Speaker
And normally it's come also from asking a lot of deep question. And normally we say that in coaching world, peeling the onions, like kind of like go deeper and deeper and deeper. And I ask a lot of questions like, have you done any sports?
00:18:11
Speaker
Were you doing sport in your team? What was interesting you during the college? whether you Were you riding blocks? You were running potty? What was that one thing that made you lose the sense of timing?
00:18:23
Speaker
And when i they started talking about something else than their day job, and the whole body language changed, the whole energy of the face, this their eyes started smiling, not just the mouth.
00:18:37
Speaker
Their eyes started living up and smiling. And i was like, wait right there. You were been talking about doing something by hand. Oh, yeah, I was with my husband. We love to do things stable. And, you know, we create table and doors for the girls. I'm like, so you enjoy that? Yeah, but, you know, just stuff for us.
00:18:54
Speaker
But they don't realize when they were talking about that hobby or that passion, they really, really, their energy change. And that's what I know that's their hidden gem.
00:19:08
Speaker
When you see them come alive, yeah even if they don't realize it, that's um that' what they're excited about. yes I see them. They don't see the face, but I see like from being serious, the whole face lit up and they start smiling and they go on and on. And they tell me stories about things they have done. i was like, they've been talking about this for 20 minutes, right? So that's made something really interesting. And that's exactly the example I give to to most of the client. I said,
00:19:37
Speaker
ah when you ask an artist to to paint, if you go to the basement or she go to the basement, they might stay in the basement for four hours. you You literally have to remind them that the dinner time passed.
00:19:50
Speaker
They don't feel the time because their soul and brain playing with the brushes. They don't feel it. as This is what, like you said, bring them to life. So that's exactly how you know that that's their hidden talent.
00:20:04
Speaker
So your hidden gem, was probably the coaching that that drew you into all of this. if If you weren't doing it as um a side business, would you still be doing it? Is it something that that drives you or is it something that drives you because it works as a side hustle?
00:20:25
Speaker
I'll tell you the truth. I mean, ah people, okay, so if you hate your job totally, you'll be like, I wish if I just retire tomorrow so I can do this like full time and make money.
00:20:39
Speaker
I'm not there yet. I don't hate my job. I love being engineer. I love the calculation. I love the design. I love the problem solving part of the engineering mentality. And now my daughter always teased me when her dad is in a way and we get something mechanical, you know, broken or some damage in her shower or something. I tried to be like the handy woman, right? Or the handyman. And she looked at me, she said, mom,
00:21:05
Speaker
Could you please, you know, stop? Don't be like that. Like you, I, you get this interest to solve. Everything should be figured outable for you. That's the engineering mentality. You want to solve issue. You want to solve problems. So it's not only solving equation and math.
00:21:24
Speaker
Because the more we do it in school, it tends to be ah printed in our personal personality. So she teased me. She said, like, mom, call the mechanical. Call someone who fixed it. I said, no, let let me try.
00:21:35
Speaker
And when I succeed fixing her shower, it's like like I feel like million dollars because I'm not only the engineer who works in transit, I'm also the mom who works.
00:21:46
Speaker
you know, trying to be the fixer of the shower and fix something by her hand. So I feel like I'm not there yet to hate my day job totally. And not because it's paying me well. It's just because it's my identity too.
00:22:01
Speaker
I'm born to be a tech woman. I'm born to be a woman in engineering. But on the side, I can help other younger engineer or engineer in their midlife to think outside the box, to be leaders, to be impactful, to have a purpose in life.
00:22:17
Speaker
And my IQ, met in the EQ, it helped me a lot because you cannot be effective just having credential and degree.
00:22:28
Speaker
And now I'll give you example. I've been in engineering for almost 100 years. I see a lot engineers, right? And in staff meeting, they come to the room. And with all respect, some of them, they have like,
00:22:42
Speaker
the the greatest LinkedIn page and, you know, resume and their abbreviation, actually their degree is longer than their bio. They have all these credential and degree and license and all of that.
00:22:55
Speaker
And when they sit with you on those engineering meetings, They don't make any sense because they only depends on their book smart. They were very good in school. They got the degree. They got the master. They got the PhD degree. With all respect to all of them, I respect all the engineers.
00:23:13
Speaker
But there's other skill you need to add. in order to be effective. You need to have communication skills. You have to have active listening. You have to be a team player. You have to have an empathy at work. You can't just ah drive your day by using your brain.
00:23:32
Speaker
The brain and heart should be working and talking with each other. So if I go to your LinkedIn and I see you are genius and coming to a staff meeting, all you saying, complaining and whining about problem, which kind of problem solver you are, which kind of a team player you are, which kind of a team lead you are, which kind of a manager you are.
00:23:54
Speaker
Because being a leader first, you have to be a role model. No one cares what you have in your LinkedIn. People care what change you can make in the room. And that's what I see in the engineering world.
00:24:08
Speaker
Was it, this is going a little bit off topic, but was it hard for you to come into the engineering world in the United States?
00:24:20
Speaker
um When I moved to United States in 1996, I had my bachelor in civil engineering and construction. So I had the bachelor, but I i earned my master in in here in the U.S. It's quite different. um that the The study, the the approach that they solve engineering here,
00:24:43
Speaker
it's It's more of, like, I don't know how to say it. Like, when you are in Middle East, you are a civil engineer, you are only a civil engineer. You're only on site doing construction. It might change now. After 30 years, I'm not aware. But my days when I was a civil engineer, I was only able to do construction and civil engineering.
00:25:02
Speaker
When I came to United States and I work in private sector and work in small company, big company, and now working for transit, I knew that engineer has to be um having this general knowledge about other discipline. Meaning, if I'm in transit, I cannot just raise hands and say, only ask me about civil or construction.
00:25:22
Speaker
Because it's transit, I have to be aware of how they integrate all the discipline. I have to know a little bit about mechanical. have to know a little bit about electrical. Not necessarily expert, but I should not have a question mark in my face when people ask me a question in transit.
00:25:38
Speaker
And after 30 years, I knew that I have to know about other discipline a little bit in order to be effective in meeting and solving engineering problem. So i I'll not say it's different or more difficult. it's it's It's a different aspect of knowledge. Here, you have to master other things. You have to know how to talk in meeting. You have to be comfortable.
00:26:01
Speaker
um Communication, again, it's it's a big thing ah to be successful. You have to be willing to stay student forever. You can be holding this ego with you because you have math and you have 35 things. I don't need to learn anything.
00:26:16
Speaker
No, you you have to always continue willing to learn things that might not even relate it to your day job, but it's open up other venue for you.
00:26:29
Speaker
Going back to women who are getting close to retirement or so well specifically women, I guess, what do you find that they're most afraid of in trying to uncover they're their gem? Because I'm sure that some women are scared to find out what they what they might have been missing all their life.
00:26:50
Speaker
Yeah, 90% of them, they are afraid to fail, right? Right. And my package does not have a stamp on it said, you're going to succeed and make money. I'm not giving you a guarantee because it's all inner job. It's all inner work from you as a client.
00:27:04
Speaker
So I'm not selling a success story just by signing up my program. You will be succeed if you follow the steps, if you follow the roadmap that I'm giving you and the guidance. Again, as a coach or a consultant, I'm not a magician. I'm just your your accountability partner.
00:27:22
Speaker
I'm telling you the stuff that you don't need to waste time on it because it's from experience. I done it and it didn't work. There is some mentorship on it too because I feel bad when they pay me the money that they are insisting to do the same mistake that I done 10 years ago.
00:27:38
Speaker
So I tell them, wait a minute, I done this, it's not going to work. And the most important thing, the Going back to a question, what is the fear when they go retirement? They tell me, okay, I'm 57, I'm 60.
00:27:51
Speaker
If I start something, do you think with your guidance, there will be no obstacle. There will be no blocks. That's a myth. No way. we will still see those obstacles until we die. Why?
00:28:06
Speaker
Because it's life. So don't expect even me being your coach, I'm going to tell you, if you take that road, it's going to be all rosy. And I'm going to clap for you all the way until you finish.
00:28:19
Speaker
There will be always and will stay always failing, obstacles, blocks, and even negative you know comments. When you start something, people might say,
00:28:32
Speaker
Why are you even doing this? You're 60. Go just watch Netflix and enjoy live and, you know, have popcorn and travel with your husband. But the question is, do you want that?
00:28:45
Speaker
Do you want to be on the couch watching Netflix and having popcorn? If the answer is yes, great. ah Call me. I'll just join you for a cup of tea. If that's what you want to do for the rest of your life.
00:28:57
Speaker
But a lot of women nowadays, they want to be effective. They want to have an impact. They want to be powerful. So 60 is not the end. 60 is the start.
00:29:08
Speaker
You just have to have faith on yourself, have the confidence and the commitment. You have to really devote your time and your energy in it. And there is no way you're not going to succeed.
00:29:22
Speaker
So that sounds a like another job almost, finding you know finding your your inner fortitude to be committed and work hard again once you've ah once you've completed something. It's a rebirth. It's not another job in a way it's going to stress you because you're reborn. It's a rebirth.
00:29:42
Speaker
The first half, this why we call it mid-life. It's mid-50-50. So all that 50, the first session, the first half of your life, you raise kids, you are navigating, you are discovering yourself.
00:29:55
Speaker
you were doing You are an employee 9 to 5. You're raising a family. You're paying the bills. That should not be the same scenario after the second half. This is your time.
00:30:07
Speaker
This is your life. Claim it. and and And I'm sure you can do it if you are committed. It sounds like the right to the right idea. i think you mentioned that midlife isn't a it's a isn't a crisisless a crisis, it's a priceless phase. And that's the that's the way we need to do it.
00:30:26
Speaker
It is. it's I see a woman in the 50 with trophy in their hand. And I bet you if you ask any one of those women, I'm included. I did not have this confidence in my 20 and 30.
00:30:38
Speaker
I didn't have the confidence because I didn't have the experience. Not because I was not competent. but The more you have experience and you master those game and you gain those black build and what are you're doing, you become competent.
00:30:52
Speaker
So when I tell my younger engineers, when I coach them at GW, they said, how can I act and behave differently? Confident. I said, there is no act and behave confident.
00:31:03
Speaker
You have to gain the confidence by being competent. You have to know your numbers. You have to know your fact. and And believe me, if you go to that room and you act, you are confident.
00:31:15
Speaker
It's so obvious. Anyone who's little bit smart, they can tell you are faking it. yeah well In order not to fake it, to really act as confident, you just have to gain the skills in order when you show up as contagious, people will see it very generally.
00:31:33
Speaker
So if someone wants to find more about you, excuse me they can go to the um Gem Thrive Academy, your web website, they can find it there. what What else would you like them to know about you personally?
00:31:48
Speaker
but that um Well, the fun part about me, I don't know what to say. I
00:31:58
Speaker
i love to be active. I eat very healthy. I'm pescetarian. I was a swimmer for a long time. I was a swimming coach back in Iraq. um I do lift weight. I'm not not big deal. like I'm not at the gym. I do everything at home now.
00:32:13
Speaker
And um from the testimonial on most of the people, the feedback they say about me, ah that I leave the room, I make everyone in the room, when I enter the room, I leave the room and they feel different.
00:32:28
Speaker
I'm able to add more energy and I hate to say motivation because motivation lasts very short, but the I see myself like when I check back with the people who I talk with, even if they were not my client, if they were just, i was just doing pro bono hours.
00:32:48
Speaker
um They tell me that they felt different when I left the room. They felt like they they have a clear steps to do what's next. This is why every time when they asked me to do the vision board, uh, they said, can you tell us more about vision board? I never call it vision board. I call it action board because vision is not enough, Jackie. I mean, I can sell you beautiful vision, uh, that does not last for long, but if give you action board, it And I give you the blueprint and I tell you this is what needs to be done in order to reach the other side of your first version.
00:33:26
Speaker
That's make your vision action board. So I'm fun to be with. um Sometimes too bold. um I tell my client, you will hate me the first session, but you will hate me forever. That's great. And um I think I read or maybe you told me ah you're writing a book.
00:33:48
Speaker
Yes. I just write ah the introduction now and half of the chapter one. I'm very i'm very harsh on myself. Like I don't let my pen just to write my thoughts. I go back and again, the engineering pop up again. I want everything to add up.
00:34:04
Speaker
But I don't think i will postpone it more than this. So I'm planning to publish it hopefully 2026. Very nice. very nice So for one final thing, if you had just one message that you could give a woman who's over 50, who's afraid of change or afraid of what the future holds, what would that message be?
00:34:29
Speaker
My message is to, to go and sit down alone and write down what you really want. Exactly what you really want. Again,
00:34:40
Speaker
I am not forcing or asking everyone to have a side business. is This is might not be for you. If you are 60 and you just want to enjoy a relaxing retirement, watching TV and travel around the world, great.
00:34:57
Speaker
Don't call me. I mean, there is nothing wrong with that, right? Just be clear what do you want. Don't have everything in one piece of paper all against each other's.
00:35:09
Speaker
If you clear what you want, write it down and commit it to that. If you want to stay relaxed until you hit 100, great. You might be someone who deserves that. You've been in in some harsh job or military or boots on the ground, who knows, right? So having a side business is not for everyone.
00:35:28
Speaker
And my final message is whatever it is, is it pitching idea, starting a restaurant, starting a business, whatever you dream about, please start now.
00:35:39
Speaker
Don't postpone anymore. Life is too short. And and this you don't want to leave this world without having your footprint in it or your stamina.
00:35:52
Speaker
Great. Saron, thank you very much for being with me today. I've really enjoyed it. Thank you, Jackie, for having me. My pleasure.
00:36:02
Speaker
And that's it for this episode of Beyond Retirement. Thank you so much for hanging out with me. I hope you enjoyed it. To check out the video interviews, please go to my YouTube channel at bit.ly forward slash beyond retirement. That's bit.ly forward slash beyond retirement. Be sure to subscribe so you won't miss any new episodes.