Your Collective: A Year of Growth and Change

In this solo episode, Sherisse Alexander celebrates the first anniversary of the Your Collective podcast, sharing exciting changes including a shift to video format, the launch of a new website, and a commitment to authenticity. She reflects on her journey of self-discovery, the importance of intimacy with oneself, and the evolution of content that will encompass diverse spiritual perspectives. Sherisse emphasizes the ongoing nature of personal growth and invites listeners to join her in this transformative journey.

Takeaways

• The podcast has transitioned to video format to enhance connection.
• A new website will provide additional content and insights.
• Reflecting on the original purpose of the podcast is essential.
• Self-discovery is a journey that requires introspection and honesty.
• Intimacy with oneself is crucial for personal fulfillment.
• The podcast aims to support those feeling dissatisfied with their lives.
• Authenticity is a commitment for the upcoming year.
• Content will explore various spiritual perspectives and tools.
• Listeners are encouraged to embrace their own journeys of growth.
• Celebrating milestones is important for community and connection.

Chapters

• 0:00 Celebrating One Year of Your Collective Podcast
• 2:49 Embracing Change and Authenticity
• 5:54 The Journey of Self-Discovery
• 9:12 Content Evolution and Future Directions

Transcript

Sherisse Alexander (00:02.049)
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you are when you are watching this. My name is Sharice Alexander, your host of Your Collective. Today's episode marks the first anniversary of the podcast, Your Collective. And I thought it was really fitting to actually just do a solo cast today and talk about some of the

changes that are coming up in this next year of episodes. And I'm personally really excited. think in the beginning of the year, I did allude to them. But right now, if you're paying attention and watching, you'll see that there's definitely been some changes. So here's the first change is we've gone to video after connecting with some other podcast guests and some nudging from the people in my corner.

I've decided to not only come out from behind the mic, but actually put my face out there for the world to see. So huge step for me and I'm excited about this most recent change. So that's number one. Number two is there will be a website that will be available and launched here very shortly.

Hopefully by April 30th, we are live and ready to go with the website. And the website is just more content about the podcast. So you'll have links to every podcast episode. There will be blogs. So just my thoughts on any particular episode that we have or whatever the case may be. And in addition to that, just some more creative pieces and creative works by myself.

about the podcast and just whatever happens to be going on in my life. So it's really actually an opportunity for you to get to know me more intimately. I guess I, not I guess, I know that that is a really big deal for me. So I hope that you guys will enjoy the content that is on there. So why all these changes? The purpose, and I think that through the exercise of having to

Sherisse Alexander (02:20.326)
you know, make all of these changes with the podcast. lot of the activities or exercises that I've been going through have really forced me to like come back to the very beginning of why I decided to start this podcast. So, I thought that I think it's always good to revisit the why and make sure that we're still aligned with what the original intention or purpose was. So I've had an opportunity to reflect in these last few weeks and months.

and revisit the why and the why hasn't changed. The why is still very much the same on day one of this podcast as it is today. There have been a lot of juicy, juicy lessons. and I think that the first or most significant reason why the podcast came to be is, you know, when I was embarking on this journey.

of, we'll say, dissatisfaction in my own personal life. It didn't matter what was going on professionally or relationally, but just deep within me, there was this dissatisfaction. And I think that most people are very desirous of seeking outside of themselves for something that brings them peace, fulfillment, joy, all of these things. And so

my journey into how do I make Sharice whole? How do I make Sharice happy? How do I make Sharice feel fulfilled is really what inspired this, you know, very intentional and conscious journey into self. And it felt very chaotic. It felt very, I felt so lost so much of the time. felt like I didn't know

to do that. I knew that it was a spiritual journey, but I just didn't know where to begin. didn't, you know, and as I've said before on the podcast, you know, it was doing the things that, you know, other people might have been doing or other people were suggesting. And at that point in time, it was going with very traditional methodologies in terms of faith and spirituality. And those things just didn't land for me. They didn't feel right. They didn't, they still

Sherisse Alexander (04:32.152)
didn't allow me to create an intimacy with myself and also with creator and the divine. So really the purpose behind this journey and sharing it with you is more than anything else to if you were feeling, if you at this moment in time are feeling a sense of, dishappiness or sorry, just happiness, unhappiness or dissatisfaction with your life.

And you've got all the things that one would think that you should have. that's like, you know, the relationship of your dreams, you know, the kids, the pets, the house, the vacations, the money, the car, the things, and you still don't feel satisfied. Then maybe it's your soul calling on you to go within. And that's really why I started this so that you could have a sense of not being alone.

that you could have a sense of there's so many ways to create that intimacy within yourself, because that's really where it begins is a deep intimacy with yourself. And I'm sure you've heard this before, but what does intimacy really mean? It means into me, I see, or the other play on it when we're looking at relationships is into you, I see. So it's really just this.

willingness to be very open, vulnerable, honest, and authentic and transparent within all of that. that is the why. And throughout this journey in the last year, you know, it's the works never stopped. I genuinely I'm going to be a lifelong learner and a lifelong seeker of the truth. And I always say to people who know me well, it's the day that I stop asking questions and the day that I stop seeking.

is the day that I should, that I'm gonna begin dying because I just have this unquenchable thirst to learn more about myself and how I relate with the people around me. So during the last year, one thing that became very obvious was that I was still not being fully authentic, even though I thought I was.

Sherisse Alexander (06:52.14)
there were still a lot of parts of me that I was not sharing and not high or not, you know, opening up about and not, willing to put out there for people to judge. And I recognize that, you know, it was obviously fear of judgment. then obviously there might've been some judgment about myself and whether or not I was ready. because, know, when you put yourself out there in a very public way, you.

obviously open yourself to being judged by people. So this movement into video and continuing this podcast is, you know, such a huge, huge step for me because it's really, like I said, very indicative of continuing to stretch myself and challenge myself and force myself to be uncomfortable. And that's how we know that the growth is beautiful is because I'm willing to do it.

As much as it terrifies me, I'm willing to do it. these changes are meant to hopefully inspire you to take the same action in your life if there's something that is scaring you or that you're holding yourself back. So my commitment to you this next year is to really, really show up as my most authentic self in every conversation.

in every interaction and in every interview that or podcast chat, whatever you want to call it that I have. So that is about the authenticity piece. And then the last thing is, I suppose, the type of content. So the content is always going to be around the trifecta that I talk about, right? Mind, body, spirit. We are whole human beings. And so even just to talk about work,

you know, there has to be resonance, there has to be congruency, alignment around, you know, the three things, your mind, your body, and your spirit, and how those things are working together, communicating together. So the content this year is just really going to be about more tools, more people, more resources. So please, I'm saying it to you in advance because it might seem a little chaotic and maybe a little disconnected.

Sherisse Alexander (09:12.704)
but it's with intention, it's with purpose. Because we all come at this relationship with ourselves and ultimately with Spirit, the Divine Creator, the One, the Universe, whatever you call it, God, whatever you call it, to me I use them synonymously. We all come at the relationship very differently. It's a very personal, it's a very intimate journey and so hence the reason the content will reflect that.

There'll be some guests that talk about God and come at it from a very traditional or Christian faith. There will be guests that talk about things like karma or Hinduism or Buddhism or tantra or the universe. So it'll be all over the place. And I look at them all as tools and resources to help you to begin to peel back the layers on self so you can build that very intimate relationship with yourself.

So I just wanted to make sure that you're prepared for what the content might look like so that you're not confused about what the message is supposed to be. The message is still the same. It's a journey. It can be overwhelming. You're not alone. I'm here to support you. And I support you through the messages that come through this podcast. So I hope that you enjoy this next upcoming year.

I hope you enjoy the move to video and, speaking of video, where can you watch these podcasts? YouTube. So we're now on Spotify, Apple, YouTube. I think there's one more, think on Amazon as well. So those are all the changes that I wanted to share and I really wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate the milestone of first year.

of your collective, the podcast, you'll even notice there's a new logo, a refreshed logo. So that is showing our continual evolution and change and new iteration of what the podcast is. I think of it as a little bit of a matured glow up. anyways, I don't wanna belabor it. Thank you so much for the support, for those that are listening, subscribing, sharing, talking about it, whatever it might be. Thank you very much. I appreciate the support. And here is,

Sherisse Alexander (11:34.998)
Cheers to another year. Thank you.