Ellie Shefi: Tales Of A Survivor

Ellie Shefi is the award-winning American author of the books: “Unlocking Your Superpower: 8 Steps to Turn Your Existing Knowledge into Income”, “Sisters Rising: Stories of Remarkable Women Living Extraordinary Lives” and “The Authorities: Powerful Wisdom from Leaders in the Field”. Through her own life experiences, Ellie has been coaching and mentoring others to succeed and find their own story, and live their best lives!

Welcome Ellie! Could you please tell us about your role and journey as an entrepreneur? What inspired you to become a “changemaker”?
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been driven to change the world—to give a voice to the voiceless; to fight for justice, equality, and opportunity; to teach, mentor, and empower. It’s my nature, my calling, and my purpose. Every obstacle I’ve overcome along my journey—abuse, rape, domestic violence, homelessness, cancer, or any of the other challenges that have arisen along the way—has deepened my commitment to providing others with practical, easy-to-implement, results-driven tools and strategies that empower them to get from where they are to where they want to be. Growing up, my family didn’t have money for extras, so I launched my earliest entrepreneurial endeavors—tutoring, proofreading and editing, and teaching art and dance—to pay for things like clothes, shoes, books, movies, concerts, and other activities. By 19 years old, I was working in management training. I followed a potential job opportunity in the field that took me from California to Texas. I arrived there with no home, no connections, and, ultimately, no actual job. But I had skills: I knew how to talk to people; how to motivate them; and how to hustle!

So, with what little cash I had, I lived out of my car and rented office space to open my own management training center. I would recruit and train people to manage and motivate themselves and whatever sales teams they would oversee. Once fully taught by me, my management trainees were ready to get to work at whatever company needed them! A business that I started out of nothing pretty quickly allowed me to get an apartment, build a community, and paid for my college education. That was really when I began to level-up my entrepreneurial skills. The daily need to figure things out not only for myself, but for my clients and my trainees as well, was the genesis of becoming a true strategist. Time and time again, I’ve relied on being a master problem solver who could quickly and adeptly navigate the twists and turns of life…and business. I’ve started and scaled many businesses in the decades since, and now I’m excited that I get to share that experience with entrepreneurs and budding entrepreneurs through my courses, workshops, coaching programs, accelerators, and mastermind groups.

“No matter what I’m going through, someone, somewhere is going through something much worse.” 

Resilience. I think you know this word very well and the deep meaning it embodies. How did you build an unbreakable mindset to overcome all the traumatic and challenging events in your life?
Resilient and unbreakable—two words that definitely describe me! I’m an abuse survivor, rape survivor, and domestic violence survivor. I’ve lived in my car and eaten the food restaurants were throwing away at the end of the night. I’m a medical miracle and a cancer survivor who has been defying doctors’ death deadlines for over two decades. It is in clawing, crawling, and scratching my way through fire after fire that I’ve been able to develop an impervious mind. I know first-hand that you can’t control external situations and circumstances. But what I also know, however, is that you can control the words you use, the meanings you assign to things, and the perspective you maintain. When you reframe the situation and change the words you use to describe the circumstances or events to reflect an empowering narrative, you take control of your mindset and shift from feeling overwhelmed, helpless, unsuccessful, or behind to creating opportunity, seeing possibility, effectively problem solving, and forging a path forward. Now, some days finding the empowering meaning and perspective in events and circumstances takes more work than others, but it’s always worth it. It’s a daily decision—a daily practice—through which I’ve trained myself to find the growth, lesson, and blessing in everything that happens, to be grateful for everything I have and everything I’ve experienced, and to remember that no matter what I’m going through, someone, somewhere is going through something much worse. Every day, I choose to take control of my narrative; and every day, I choose to claim my power, calibrate my compass, and put myself in the driver’s seat of my business and my life. It’s through this practice that I have developed an unbreakable, unstoppable mindset.

What type of services do you offer on ellieshefi.com?
I offer no-fluff, easy-to-implement, results-driven tools and strategies to action takers who are ready to level-up their business and their life. My services are practical; I provide my clients with strategies to gain clarity and do more in less time with increased efficiency so they attain their desired goals faster. I work with impact-driven clients who use their businesses and their lives as a force for good. For me, it’s about enabling my clients to achieve their desired time, money, and personal freedom so they can live a meaningful and impactful life they love.

Specifically, I offer a variety of courses, workshops, coaching programs, and masterminds that help entrepreneurs launch, pivot, diversify, and scale their business.

Additionally, I offer book writing and publishing workshops as well as coaching services to help authors and aspiring authors get their books out of their head, into their hands, and out into the world. And my publishing house offers ghostwriting, editing, formatting, and cover design services to those seeking to have their book published… Read the full interview