EP010 Living a Fruitful Life Despite Some Dips Along the Way 🍓❤️🙏🏼 with Shari Fitzpatrick
[CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE EPISODE]
Lynda Sunshine West: I’m super excited to introduce Shari because I met her like I’m meeting a lot of people in Clubhouse. It’s so amazing because you were in there, Shari. You were in there in a room. I don’t remember what the room was because that’s not what’s important. What’s important is that you were speaking and I was listening. And then I was, like, oh, my God, this woman is so awesome. I love her story. I wonder if she’ll come and speak at my event. That was my question. And I reached out to you on Instagram and I asked you and you said, yes.
Ladies, if you never ask you never know the answer.
Shari Fitzpatrick: Right. Exactly. Exactly. And I love Wayne Gretzky’s quote that you’re always going to miss 100 percent of the shots that you never take, you know?
Lynda Sunshine West: Yeah. That is so true. I love that because it really is true. It’s really about asking. Yeah. Some people are going to say no. Some people — a lot of people are going to say no. But you just keep asking them. Keep asking other people. But eventually people will say yes, I’m going to tell you this, that about 95 percent of the people I ask say yes. I’m going to ask you, Shari, right off the bat, because here you are. You created this multi-million dollar company. We’re going to get into your story in just a minute. But you created this multi-million dollar company and you still said yes to this woman. You didn’t know anything about me. You don’t know what my network is about. Zero information. And literally, I think it was about three or four minutes later that you responded, Yes. So I would love to hear from you because, you know, you are successful. Why did you say yes?
Shari Fitzpatrick: Well, because I was in your shoes. You and I are a lot alike, you know. So there were people in my life that helped me and supported me. And I had the same questions, you know, why would they want to help me? But they did. And I’m still asking for help. I sent off a pitch last night to a broadcaster that I want to give me a little shout-out that I can use for some Mother’s Day marketing. So I’m doing the same thing as you are. And that’s just part of being an entrepreneur. It’s so important to surround yourself by wisdom and reach out and do that. But again, just giving back, paying it forward. And today I’m rebranding and starting the — you know, I’m an old school marketing girl. I like conferences and live audiences like you just mentioned. And so I’m kicking and screaming, but learning social media a little more and kind of poking around and Clubhouse is really cool. So kind of checking that out a little bit to help me to build my new Instagram and so forth. So, yeah, that’s why I said “Yes.”
Lynda Sunshine West: Well, fantastic. I’m glad. I’m glad I asked because previously in my life before about six years ago, I would never even have asked. I would have been too scared. And so I’m glad I don’t let the fear anymore stop me, because like I said, I could have not reached out and this never would have happened. But I’m just glad to have you here because your story truly is amazing. And I want you to tell the ladies, share your story, because how did you get started? What made you decide to start your chocolate-covered strawberry company? And then why did you have to sell the company? I love this part of your story because it’s just — it hits home. And then what made you decide to start? So she had Shari’s Berries and now she has Buried in Chocolate. And I got to share that I posted on Instagram, I think it was that you were going to be speaking at the event, and I said, I’m excited to have her. And she said, I’m BERRY excited. So do you say berries in everything you do?
Shari Fitzpatrick: Yeah, I was definitely destined to sell strawberries for a living. I grew up in southern Oregon and a real small town. It got real hot in the summertime and my dad always had a big garden, which included a strawberry patch. And he introduced me to the concept of, you know, dipping my beloved berries in chocolate. And somehow it was my job to go out and pick the berries. And I created this really great system. It was like, you know, one strawberry for the bucket and two for me and one for the bucket and two for me. And I just fell in love with them.
And years later, when I got out of high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I just was very driven. I was raised by a stepfather who believed in working hard and playing hard. And I just really wanted to continue that kind of lifestyle. I wasn’t really into school. I mean, I did okay in school, but I’m more of a street smarts. I’d rather kind of learn as I do it, kind of a risk-taker kind of girl. I’m a classic entrepreneur. When I was first called an entrepreneur, I didn’t even really know what that meant. But anyway, so I moved to Los Angeles. My stepbrother offered me an opportunity to come to Los Angeles and work for his mortgage firm. So I always wanted to be a California girl and I couldn’t pack fast enough.
So at age 20, I moved to L.A. and I did a crash course on what a mortgage broker did and marketed myself to real estate agents. And it’s there in Los Angeles that my sister Emily introduced me to the concept of dipping my beloved strawberries in chocolate.
And so gourmet chocolate strawberry gift baskets became my signature gift as I marketed myself to real estate agents and grew my business. So 4 1/2 years later, I was a little homesick. So I found myself in Sacramento. I spent nine months in Reno, Nevada, on the way, is a little closer to home northern and became a stockbroker. Another crash course, got my 36 in 7 and became a stockbroker and I hated it. You know, I love working with numbers, but I wear my heart on my sleeve and I don’t like cold calling. And so I continued to use my strawberries to serve at my investment classes that I taught. And one day I had my aha moment. Somebody said, you mean you can make these chocolates and you’re doing this number thing? In my 20s, my idea of success was I thought you had to have a prestigious job title, you know, and drive a fancy car, make a lot of money.
But I started thinking about how short life was, and I don’t know why in my 20s I had that interest, but I started thinking about how short life was and if I could do something fun for a living, then I would have a more fruitful life. So I came to Sacramento, came back to California, and my high school sweetheart, this guy named Clay Fitzpatrick, was living in Sacramento and if Clay was here today he’d be telling you girls that I was stalking him, but it worked. So anyways, I came to Sacramento, I got a $1,500 cash advance on a credit card, and I got a one bedroom apartment.
And I turned my passion and hobby of chocolate dipping strawberries into a business. I had no business, education or experience. I think I gave away more strawberries the first year than I sold. But again, just street smarts and getting them out there, I really had my work cut out for me because nobody had ever given chocolate dipped strawberries as a gift before. I mean, they were dipping strawberries in fancy hotels long before I was even born, but it was always just a confection. So I try to tell people what I did and they didn’t really understand. So I thought, you know, we’re kind of like a florist. So I would explain to people we’re like a florist. You need a special gift sent out, you give us a call, put a little message card on there, and we deliver it. But my berries, my gifts were pretty, but you could eat them, too. And so I actually designed a bouquet where the strawberries looked like a bouquet of long-stemmed red roses? And I was able to get a patent on those. And years later that became our signature gift as we rolled out our national rollout.
So anyways, that’s how it started. I was just a home based business single girl with. I think when you add your passion together with hard work, anything is possible. And that’s when dreams can become a reality.
If I can do it with chocolate dip strawberries, I mean, my kind of theme as a professional speaker is that anybody can do it. So, again, I think when you pick something that you really enjoy and you love to do, then it doesn’t feel so much like work. And then you have the tenacity to keep on going when the going gets tough and there’s going to be really hard times. So if you enjoy what you’re doing, I mean, I remember one time coming home from vacation, I couldn’t wait to get back to work. I’m like, I think I’m onto something here, you know? Definitely.
Lynda Sunshine West: That’s fantastic. I love that because they say if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. And, you know, it’s like, how do you get to that point? Some people started earlier and some started later. When was it that you — because you said I took out a $1,500 line of credit and then I started my business.
Shari Fitzpatrick: 1989.
Lynda Sunshine West: That’s just fantastic.
Shari Fitzpatrick: Thank you, Lynda. I was 10 when I was started. I know you were so curious.
My Polish blood is finally paying off, got Eskimo Indian grandmother and then a full-blooded Polish mother. So you know what that makes me. But anyway,
Lynda Sunshine West: Yeah, well, this is awesome, what I love about it is the $1,500 to get started back in 1989. That was still a lot. That’s a decent amount of money. But it was a lot of money back then and you got started. But still, like you said, you probably gave away more that first year than you sold.
Shari Fitzpatrick: Yeah. That’s how I marketed. I felt like if I gave them one they’d want to come back for more. So if you can get — bigger is not always better, just start small. If you have an idea, want to take it out for a spin. You know, get some business cards made at Vistaprint and take your product or your service and just trade it with friends and family that need it and try it, just try it. And so, in fact, my book, Buried in Chocolate was published by Pelican, and it’s a dozen chapters and a dozen lessons that I learned while I took my passion and turned it into profits. And one of them is just on just start. A lot of times people don’t start a project or a business idea because they don’t know how or they’re afraid. Or, in this day and age, they’re afraid someone will steal their idea if they put it out there. And so just start and I encourage people to do that because, you know, like you said, you never know. And I just never wanted to be at the end of my life and have any regret. But if I would only try it and this time in our country, a lot of people need hope. A lot of people have lost their job or they hate their job or they’re thinking maybe now’s the time.
I mean, more business licenses have been filed for in 2020 than ever before. So creativity takes courage. And a lot of innovations and inventions have been created out of necessity and difficult times. Everything from Velcro to sticky notes and all that were mistakes. There’s a whole chapter in my book on mistakes as I’ve made a lot of mistakes and they’re painful but if you can learn from them, they’re very valuable. So I just encourage everybody just to start and take it out for a spin, take that idea out for a spin. And again, if I can do it, you can do it, too. And just try it.
You know, a lot of people have dreams, but they’ve never done it. So when I worked for a balloon gift delivery company for five bucks an hour when I moved to Sacramento in 1989 and just kind of learned the ins and outs of a gift delivery business. And I loved it. A lot of people have always dreamed about having a restaurant, but they’ve never worked in a restaurant. So I would suggest you work doing that thing or making that item and try it before you spend all this money in your retirement to open something or start something without giving it a little test first.
Lynda Sunshine West: Well, you know, it’s cool because you started with $1,500 and it turned into like overnight, I’m sure it was like, you know, the next year after the first year, it turned into a million dollar business, right?
Shari Fitzpatrick: No, no, no, not to that happen. Yeah, no, it was a good, you know, I was probably in my seventh, eighth year, before it got to that level, yeah.
Lynda Sunshine West: What did that feel like? You had this dream, you were doing what you love, passionate about. You started making more money than you were giving away as the years went by. And then what did it feel like that when it hit you that reality that you hit the million dollar mark, what did that feel like?
Shari Fitzpatrick: Exhausting. I was starting my family. I had three little boys while I was building my business. It was a constant juggle that was hard and painful, a lot of sacrificing. And it was one day at a time. It wasn’t anything that ever happened overnight. It morphed. And there’s a lot of ups, a lot of downs, a lot of blood, sweat and tears. But you know, I was proud of that. I was grateful. I probably didn’t enjoy it enough because I was working so much, but it was wonderful and I still enjoy it today. You know, I think it is still my story and I hang on the coattails of that and just continue to work on other new, fun, adventurous, innovative projects.
Lynda Sunshine West: There was a point there that you ended up selling Shari’s Berries, so you want to share with us that story there and then how Berried in Chocolate came out.
Shari Fitzpatrick: Sure. Well, it actually wasn’t a sale, though. It was sold. It was more of a hostile takeover and it was sold. And I lost the company and it was heartbreaking. I felt as if I’d lost one of my boys and I grieved it like I’d lost one of my boys. And it was a 10-year process. So it’s like, how could something like that happen? But when my business was in its ninth year, I was overwhelmed. We had 35% same store sales increases year after year, had three stores, a little factory, two little boys, pregnant with my third one. And Valentine’s Day used to ruin my life. I mean, it was bad. I mean, you’d work 2 1/2 days straight, 40-hour shifts and pregnant and nursing and it just was hard.
And so and the Internet was new and I was limited to only delivering my fresh products and perishable delicate products to my local region. And so I was so excited when a tech-minded, young, motivated, smart lawyer approached me with a deal of a lifetime and went all in immediately. I was so happy to have a partner. I didn’t know that I was supposed to have my own lawyer. I thought he was my lawyer and I agreed to a really bad business deal. I made a huge mistake. I didn’t even know what due diligence meant. I was just so excited about all of this and went all in. And it took me about a year to realize that I trusted the wrong person.
And I found myself in a boardroom instead of the inventing room. And for the next ten years I would be chipped away at and chipped away at and suffered great heartache through losing the company a little at a time, and about 10 years ago the company was sold off for pennies on the dollar to San Diego Pro Flowers. And I didn’t get one penny. It was just gone. 22 years of blood, sweat and tears was just gone, and I grieved it like I had lost one of my boys and I didn’t even know how I would survive. I still get teared up.
But during that time, I came to understand that we learn the most and our character is built during the difficult times in our life now when we don’t have a care in the world. And I learned that dipping strawberries in chocolate wasn’t who I was. It was just what I did. And disappointments in life and hard, painful lessons are unavoidable in this life that we live. This is not heaven. This is earth. We live in a broken world where we’re learning these lessons and we all have our share of them. And I learned that God is much more interested in my character than my comfort. And I also read an article during that time. So like now what am I going to do? You know, and I was berry dipper, that’s all, you know.
So over the years, as I built my business, one of the things that I did was I did a lot of public speaking at the university for the business classes, entrepreneurship, the Rotary, the Chamber of Commerce at conferences. And I started kind of enjoying that a little bit. And so after I lost my company, I got a book deal. I did another crash course. I always wanted — that’s one thing I can — my story is my story. No one will ever be able to take that from me.
And so in that process, I got a book deal with Pelican and they published my Buried in Chocolate book. And it was over in every Barnes and Noble overnight, nationwide, and they sent me on a book tour. So then I started taking my speaking more seriously. The best thing I did, for anybody out there that’s interested in being a storyteller and sharing your adventure through being a speaker, I was accepted into the National Speaking Association, a speaker academy in San Francisco. They have them all around. And I for 11 months was going back and forth a weekend here and there, and they catapulted my public speaking to a professional level and it was just priceless, valuable. So today I’m a professional speaker. I just want to have fun and be a berry dipper. And now God’s given me this platform to encourage and motivate and inspire thousands of other entrepreneurs or wanna-to-be preneurs or mompreneurs like me to follow their dreams and just to never give up.
Lynda Sunshine West: The devastation, I just can’t imagine what that felt like to have that, like, wool pulled from — and then the time too, it’s not like it was that day. I mean, it was painstaking, I can imagine for those years.
Shari Fitzpatrick: It took me several years. Yeah. It took me — and it’s still, you know, it’s a journey. And, you know, I’d read this article during that time that really encouraged me. There was a woman that was doing research on successful entrepreneurs in our country to see if there is any common denominators amongst them all that weren’t really obvious. And what she found was that the majority of all successful entrepreneurs in our country have their biggest success tight after their biggest failure, and that was proof to me that entrepreneurs aren’t quitters, I mean, we don’t have a choice. There is no option. So I’m like, okay, now what am I going to do? So when I speak, no matter where I am, how many hundreds of people were in the audience, they’re all served one of my chocolate-dipped strawberries, one of my original recipe, chocolate-dipped strawberries right before I take the stage. And I started getting asked, well, how do we get strawberries from you? And I have to say, you can’t. You can’t. You can’t. And if you have a product or service that people are asking you for and you keep saying we don’t have that or I can’t do that, you better figure out how to do it because you’re missing an opportunity there and some low-hanging fruit, right?
So I looked at, you know, I learned a lot about forgiveness during that process and when people hurt us and we go through difficult times — for me, I felt like I had to respond rightly to what God allowed to happen in my life and forgiveness is really important and there’s a little riddle about unforgiveness, and that unforgiveness does more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than the object on which it is poured. You have to forgive in order to heal and move on because you’re just letting it continue to hurt you and you’ve got to heal and move on. So I was over it, so I didn’t pay any attention to the new company, Shari’s Berries, a big corporate thing. And I had to just let it go like an old boyfriend that you’re in love with. Out of sight, out of mind, you know.
So anyways, I started looking into it and I saw the quality and the difference in the Shari’s Berries brand today than it was when I ran it for 22 years.
So the one thing I didn’t make a mistake on is I never agreed to a non-compete and that after all the thousands of dollars I’ve spent in legal fees, I also know that Shari’s Berries is my story and I am free to share it legally because it’s my history and it’s who I am.
I don’t want to disparage anybody, but today, I’m not associated with Shari’s Berries at all anymore, and I need to let people know that during the holidays.
So anyways, my book is called Buried in Chocolate. So I launched Buried in Chocolate, to answer your question. And that’s where my original berries can be found. We ship nationwide and all my new funky things that we have. And my book is also available chocolate dipped, it’s trademarked the first book in the world with calories. So I’m back in the inventing room and doing funky things.
The strawberries were my first idea. They didn’t take everything. They just took my first idea. So we live up in the wine country and we have our own wine label, big, bold, red award-winning, and we dip those in chocolate, too. All of that is on the website.
So anyways, back having fun again, enjoy being a speaker and glad that this pandemic is kind of winding down a little bit because I’m getting booked for live events again. We’ve got four cities already booked for later this year starting in August. And will also do a little wine and chocolate pairings after that, too.
Lynda Sunshine West: I’m glad we got you before you’re out there touring the world because you’re able to be here.
Shari Fitzpatrick: That’s why I said yes, because I ain’t got nothing else to do now.
Lynda Sunshine West: At what point did you start Buried in Chocolate? So, you know, you had that devastating thing happened, you mourned it for a while. You finally moved through it and Buried in Chocolate. I’m going to start it. And when you started it, did you start it like gangbusters or how did you start the company?
Shari Fitzpatrick: No, because it’s very small. It’s very intimate and boutique, again, like it used to be and fun. My main career is a speaker. And so it’s a small, enjoyable company again. And it complements the other things that I’m doing really well. And I have all new products that are coming out and I love the inventing part of it and I just really enjoy it again. So I started — there was three years that I didn’t sell strawberries after I lost the company. And because I just was I was just broken. My heart was broken and I just didn’t have it in me to even — so, I took a while and worked on my speaking career and invested in that and promoted my book and my wine and got through it one day at a time. And now the speaking is just the main part.
But a few years ago, our three sons have grown up and they’ve left me to go follow their own dreams. And we have this beautiful property here in the Fairplay wine region, which is below Lake Tahoe and above San Francisco, so above Sacramento, but right in Northern California. And so I always had another dream, as being a dreamer, to have a bed and breakfast someday. So we converted the property, we added another five acres next door, and so we have a bed and breakfast now, and that is at Bedandberries.com.
As part of a new passion project of mine, I have a ministry effort in Puerto Vallarta, Nuevo Vallarta, where I’m helping severely poor and disabled children there to have a better future. And that’s called boysnberries.org. And so when you stay here at the bnb I’m letting people sleep in my boy’s room so you can support my boys and kids in Mexico that don’t have a bedroom. And that’s all on the website.
So if you’re ready to get away, come and let me be your concierge and host you. We have guests this weekend. In fact, they’re out wine tasting. You get the VIP treatment. And each day when you come back or you check-in, there’s a different chocolate creation. It happens to be sitting here because I’m out in the parlor.
Lynda Sunshine West: Or you’re going to make us drool. You’re going to do it to us?
Shari Fitzpatrick: And so I just want to show you. So this is a tray of chocolate-covered Oreos and then it has some of our new grapes. These are just little small ones that we fill in the wineries for pairings. But these are chocolate-covered grapes and they have greenery and they’re also on the website. You can pull them up, but they’re dusted with edible gold. They’re fresh red seedless grapes and can pull them off the vines. I love chocolate-covered raisins. And so these are chocolate-covered raisins before they’re raisins, right? Just pull them off and eat them. And they’re called grapeful because I’m grapeful. Learned to be grateful for what I have. You know, I’ve suffered a lot of loss like a lot of people have. And to have hope and just be grateful is a key to happiness because, you know, life is short and do what you love. And, you know, there’s a big difference between making a living and making a life. My pastor once told me he’d never heard anybody on their deathbed saying they wish I’d spent more time at the office, so make sure you have your priorities straight.
And my faith and my family have always come first. I have one shot to be a great mom and I can always work. And, you know, I went through that juggle of being a mom and business back and forth and that guilt. And I learned that if you put your family first there’s never a decision to make and all that guilt goes away and, you know, you just get things done.
So, yeah, so our mess is our message. You know, sometimes we have to be tested to have some testimony. Our flaws and our imperfections are so much more interesting than our successes. Now my audience can relate to me because I’m approachable and we become better comforters when we’ve suffered, too. And so if I was just up there on the stage, if none of that had ever happened, then, you know, how boring would that be? Oh, it’s so easy and great. What’s wrong with you? You know, but I’m up there in the trenches, I’m broken-hearted, and you just get inspired and encouraged and energized to just not quit, one day at a time, do what you love and have a fruitful life.
Lynda Sunshine West: I love you all your alliterations, I mean, it’s because the fruitful, the berries, grapeful. Do you do your own marketing? I love your catchy names for your products businesses.
Shari Fitzpatrick: I do. I love naming things and I do all the photography, too. So I love naming things. And I think when you’re naming your product or your company or your idea or your promotion, it’s so important to name it something fun to remember, easy to say, memorable. And so I love doing word studies and naming things, too. I dip them in chocolate, and then I name them, and then I figure out how to sell them. That’s my gig.
Lynda Sunshine West: You heard it right here. Dip ’em in chocolate, name them, and then figure out how to sell them. I love that. I love that. But Shari, I have one last question for you, and that is, what is one action step our audience can take today, tomorrow or next week that will propel their — up level, their business and/or professional life? One action step?
Shari Fitzpatrick: Ok, well, I think it’s important to delegate. As a control freak, driven entrepreneur, it was hard for me to delegate. You have to. And I did this test on Strength Finders. Maybe some of you have taken those before. And it’s so important to focus on your strengths. So know what your strengths are. And usually it’s what you enjoy or what you’re good at. So start delegating what you don’t enjoy and what you’re not good at. Things like housekeeping, bookkeeping, H.R. Those are all the front list in mind. And there’s a lot of virtual assistants you can get for just by the hour, 15 minutes these days. So really try to delegate so that — time is money. So do your time using it how you’re best and you’re going to find success quicker and more efficiently because you’re focusing and doing what you love and then again have your priorities in the right order. You know, build your house on that solid rock. It’s just a job. We don’t want our work to hurt our home life or our health or anything. It’s just a way to support our families. So it should never hurt them. And then just remember that making a living is not the same as making a life.
So do what you love and have a fruitful life. And I’ve learned over the years — in my 20s I told you my to be successful I thought I had to have a prestigious job title and work with money and drive a fancy car and have a lot of money in my bank. And now I’m realizing the most important things in our life, true success, is knowing that what’s most important are the things that we can’t see. Joy, peace, hope, love and the eternal.
CONNECT WITH SHARI HERE:
www.berriedinchocolate.com
CODE: WAT2021 for $10 off until June 30, 2021
Bed and Breakfast: www.bedandberries.com
Ministry www.BoysandBerries.org
Speaker www.ShariFitzpatrick.com
Chocolate from The Real Shari www.BerriedinChocolate.com
Speaker — Author — Entrepreneur — Berry Dipper
Shari@ShariFitzpatrick.com
www.ShariFitzpatrick.com
