On this episode of the That’s Audacious Podcast, host Lauren Clemett speaks with the exceptional Sharon Jurd, a seven-figure business coach, mindset expert, author, speaker, and CEO of the Sharon Jurd Coaching Institute. A self-described country girl with nine companies to her name, Sharon shares her remarkable journey, emphasising the core values and mindset shifts that have driven her success.

Values-Driven Leadership and a Journey of Helping People

Sharon’s journey began in a small country town, instilling in her a strong sense of community and values like respect and curiosity. She realised early on that her work had to align with a central purpose: helping people get from pain to pleasure. Whether it was helping clients buy their first home in real estate or guiding entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, her focus has always been on the person, not the product. She has coached in over 127 industries, and her success, she says, comes from the belief that if you put out good energy, you will attract good people.

The Snowball Effect of Awards and Hypnotherapy as a Game-Changer

In her real estate career, Sharon won an astonishing 36 awards in a very short time. She shares that this wasn’t about ego but about building credibility and a profile in a new town where she knew no one. The awards created a snowball effect, legitimising her expertise and attracting clients.

Later, in her coaching business, Sharon hit a roadblock: her clients had great strategies but weren’t implementing them. This led her to discover hypnotherapy, timeline therapy, and NLP. She became a master trainer and now teaches these skills to other coaches. Integrating these tools into her coaching has been a game-changer, allowing her to address the “what’s going on up here” (the mindset) before focusing on strategy. She believes that without the right internal beliefs, a great marketing plan will never yield consistent results.

Overcoming the Fear of Success and the Tall Poppy Syndrome

Lauren and Sharon delve into the critical topic of self-worth and mindset, particularly concerning awards. Sharon highlights that many people fear success as much as failure. She offers several powerful tips to combat this:

• Reframe Fear as Excitement: The unconscious mind can confuse the two. By consciously telling yourself, “This is not fear, this is excitement,” you can recalibrate your neurology and approach challenges with a positive, energetic outlook.
• Release the Need for Perfection: Sharon points out that no one has it all together, no matter how successful they appear. The belief that you must be perfect to win is a self-imposed roadblock.
• Visualise the Win: She encourages a powerful visualisation exercise: vividly imagine the successful outcome of winning an award five minutes after it has happened. This tells your unconscious mind that it’s already a reality, prompting it to work toward that result.
• Learn from Not Winning: When she first lost an award, Sharon initially made excuses. However, the experience provided invaluable feedback from the judges: she wasn’t “bragging on” her achievements enough. This taught her the importance of self-promotion and not downplaying her successes, a lesson she applied to win the following year.

The Courage to Brag and Embrace Success

Sharon challenges the insidious tall poppy syndrome prevalent in Australia. She encourages people to celebrate their wins openly, citing a story about a man whose exuberant celebration at an awards night was met with quiet judgment. She suggests that if more people were confident in their success, it would become the new normal.

She also addresses the fear of being disliked, reminding listeners that there will always be some people who won’t like you, and that’s okay. The key is to focus on the overwhelming majority of positive support and not be held back by the few who are unsupportive.

Sharon’s Advice to Her Younger Self

At the end of the podcast, Sharon shares three pieces of advice she would give her younger self:

1. Enter awards sooner. The credibility and profile they build are invaluable.
2. Build better relationships. As a younger, ambitious entrepreneur, she was too focused on immediate outcomes and didn’t understand the long-term value of nurturing strategic alliances.
3. Start sooner, because you’re never ready. You will make mistakes, but that’s where the learning happens. Waiting for the perfect moment will only hold you back.

Sharon’s insights offer a powerful lesson in combining a strong ethical foundation with a fearless mindset to achieve audacious success.

SHARON JURD is a 7-figure business coach, mindset and success coach, speaker, author, and CEO of SMJ Coaching Institute. She owns nine companies and enjoys margaritas and hiking. Sharon is a #1 Best Selling International Author of two books entitled ‘How to Grow Your Business Faster Than Your Competitor’ and ‘Extraordinary Women in Franchising’.

To learn more about Sharon Jurd and her coaching, mindset programs, and hypnotherapy, visit her website at https://www.smjcoachinginstitute.com.au/.