Meet Sheryl Robinson | Gold Award Girl Scout Mentor and Cheerleader

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sheryl Robinson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sheryl, let’s start by talking about what inspires you?
I am inspired by the young women I work with. Earning the Gold Award is a process that involves identifying a problem, finding the root cause, determining a solution, creating a plan to implement the solution, connecting the issue to our world, implementing that solution, creating a team to support the project, ensuring the solution is sustainable into the future, and writing a reflection of the project summarizing the outcomes.

These young women have done many amazing projects – writing a book, improving our oceans, changing laws.

They do this while balancing school activities, work, and planning for the future.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
With the podcast, I have had the opportunity to connect with Gold Award Girl Scouts from around the world. The feedback for the show has been great. The most difficult part of doing the show (other than editing – which I’ve been lucky enough to partner with an amazing editor since the beginning) is connecting with Girl Scouts who have earned their Gold Award. Today’s youth is very savvy about privacy. Even though they may be all over social media, they know how to keep their private information private. There have been multiple times when I hit a wall trying to find a way to connect with a Girl Scout who has an unusual project or an amazing story. I’ll see if I can connect with a parent or troop leader when I can.

At first, I did not keep a regular schedule for releasing episodes. I have consistently released an episode every other week for the last two years. A main component to keeping that schedule is a weekly goal to invite at least 3 Gold Award Girl Scouts to be on the show. It can sometimes take me a whole day to find those three people to invite.

I created the show for two reasons. 1. I wanted to encourage more Girl Scouts to Go Gold and believe that hearing from their peers, rather than an adult, would open the door to make this achievement feel more real. 2. I wanted the Gold Award to be better recognized and to share these young women’s amazing work with others.

In addition to inspiration from my guests, the podcast has opened an entire world to me—women in podcasting. This community is another area where we work to build each other up and be the best we can be, not work against each other in a competitive environment. I’ve had the opportunity to meet some of my idols in person and have made amazing friends with other podcasters whose paths I would never have crossed otherwise.

I love when these two worlds cross and I find a Girl Scout who has used podcasting to get her message out about their project. It creates an even deeper bond between us.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m not from Colorado, although I was in Denver for a week this summer. While visiting, we went to Pikes Peak and Rocky Mountain National Park. I love the area as a nature lover and can’t wait to return and explore more. I would love to do the Manitou Incline!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I found my niche and passion after supporting multiple Girl Scouts in my community through the Gold Award, including my daughter. I joined the Gold Award committee to support more Girl Scouts working on their Gold Awards. Since then, I have had the opportunity to expand that support nationwide supported by my council, GSUSA, and many Girl Scout friends.

Website: https://heartsofgoldpodcast.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sherylmrobinson/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherylmrobinson/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sherylmrobinson

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sherylmrobinson/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sherylmrobinson

Other: https://pod.link/1258386922