Hello I Am Woman Community! Today’s I Am More article will be introducing Sherise Rae Galagarza. I met Sherise on instagram through her business page, continue reading to learn more about her & how she has navigated the creative industry!
Sherise is a Puerto Rican woman who was born in Hawaii, but has spent most of her life in Florida. She is a graduate of the University of Central Florida, where she majored in nursing. After graduating Sherise worked as a pediatric ICU nurse until recently, when she decided not to return after her maternity leave.
Since leaving her nursing career to be a full time mom, Sherise has started a small business, BySheriseRae, where she sells stickers, tee shirts, car charms, key chains, & stationery. As mentioned earlier, prior to opening BySheriseRae, Sherise worked as an ICU nurse in the pediatric ward. She explained to me how intense her job was, because of the nature of cases she dealt with day in and day out. After the overwhelming days she experienced, she would come home and relieve herself of the stress through artistic expression. She told me how she has always been an artistic person, and it has always helped her to manage her stress. From there, her stress relief practices turned into a full time small business.
Since becoming a small business owner, Sherise’s creativity has become her job and can sometimes cause her to not feel creative at all. For many creators, small business owners, and other artists once your passion becomes your job it can be hard to always keep things fun and enjoyable. Sherise and I touched on this matter being as though we are both turning our passions into a career and something we both agreed on was setting boundaries for yourself. Sherise stated it best during our conversation saying; “At a regular 9-5 job, you are not home working until 11 at night; once you clock out, you clock out. It is important to set hours for yourself to help avoid burnout.” It can be so easy to get wrapped up in your desire to create, help, or support, that you work yourself to death. We commonly forget that we as humans operate our best when we are well rested and properly taken care of.
I recently went through a similar situation where by the end of May I was so drained, that the thought of working on an I Am Woman project made me nauseous. I had worked so hard, spread myself so thin, that I had lost sight of my main mission, and most importantly I had forgotten about my sanity. Once I had realized that I was over doing it, I canceled what I had planned for the rest of the month and took all of June off. During that month I went on vacation, I found a new creative outlet, and I put myself back together so that I could continue to grow I Am Woman. I’m sharing this story with you to remind anyone mixing their creativity and career that it is okay to take breaks. Had I not taken a month, who's to say I would’ve found a new creative outlet, which helped me climb out of the artistic hole I dug for myself.
Sherise mentioned herself that she was struggling to balance work, creativity, and home. Her solution was to ask her followers how they handle the matter and many people responded with, be sure to set boundaries and take breaks. To all the writers, artists, crafters, bloggers, designers, youtubers, content creators, ect., if you are stuck don’t get down on yourself, step away and come back with refreshed eyes.
While we spoke about the ups and downs of creative burnout, Sherise mentioned another key component to staying inspired; surround yourself with inspiring people. I used to hate the saying “You are who you hang around,” and I still don’t completely agree with it, but I do think that if you surround yourself with like minded people they will help you stay the path you all are interested in, whether that path be good or bad. Which is why, as creators we need to make our space less about competition and try to create a supportive community for one another.
With that being said as a small business owner herself, Sherise’s advice for anyone looking to start their own business she encourages you to find a community of people who support you. Running a business comes with a lot of learning, love, and long days, so it’s important that you have a support system. Having a supportive group of people in your corner to remind you of your mission, passion and contribution to the world makes all the difference. Sherise explained to me how she is very lucky to have an amazing support system herself; a huge shout out goes to her husband as well as her mother for their continued support & love!
When asked, Sherise shared some of her greatest achievements with me which included: being the first in her family to graduate college, having a published research article & starting her own business. These are all such great achievements & I hope a few of you reading allow her success encourage to continue after your goals, it's never too soon or too late to get started.
To wrap up this article Sherise attributes her greatest female inspiration to her mom. She explained how her mother has always been supportive and loving, as well as a wonderful role model. As we spoke Sherise reflected on how her mothers hard work and determination have helped to guide her in her own life. For those who are moms, soon to be moms, aunts, big cousins & all, let this be a reminder that you are the role models for our future generation!
Thank you for reading, I hope you all love Sherise as much as I do & you took something positive away with you! For more information about her business & where to find it, click here to learn more!
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