Who is Robin Shear?

If it’s important for you to know who I am so you can determine if we are a fit, this page is in-depth, just for you!

If you don’t make it to the end, here’s the main thing you need to know about me, the take-home message:

I want to know and connect with people and help them incorporate ridiculous amounts of joy into their lives.

Let’s be honest, if you are reading this, I want to know and connect with YOU. I don’t know anything about you. I want to know your stories, what brings you joy, what matters to you deep down, what you would like to overcome, what you dream of experiencing, how you want to grow and change and live your best life… all of it.

Is this possible, with me being here and you being there? Yes! Because of the magical internet and free videoconferencing software!

Everyone Has a Backstory

Please don’t laugh, because it’s true: I have lived in the same sleepy midwestern town village with one blinking light and very little variety for most of my life. But doing life here has allowed me to know and connect with an entire community, something I will forever be grateful for. On the flip side, living in the same map-dot has also fueled a burning need to know people who are different. I am drawn to people of different races, abilities, upbringings, faith backgrounds, age groups, nationalities, hang-ups and struggles, names & addresses, you name it, just people who are different than me. I love to identify common ground, create unity and establish relationship… and feel less different. There is beauty in connection. Once while on a subway in Manhattan, I saw a man with a tattoo that read “Dear God, please save me from my friends.” He had his hood up and his headphones on, so as badly as I wanted to connect, I respected his boundaries… but the image haunts me and I will forever want to know his story. He was different and I was curious.

To read an incredibly inspiring book about cultivating unity and relationship,
click here.

Because I have been told that connecting with people is my superpower, I feel that doing this in a variety of ways has prepared me to be your coach. I have been a wife to a husband who could be teaching people how to be a great husband and father for over 25 years. We have two beautiful children who amaze me constantly and are now young adults chasing their own joys in life, looking to contribute to the well-being of others. We have never had mountains of money, but we are loaded in all the ways that matter. We make incredibly fun and meaningful memories together, talk about everything openly, and have a phenomenal family life. While we have shared too many special moments and crazy memories to list here, stay tuned, as I hope to publish a book full of ideas before God calls me home. I fully accept the fact that our family life can never be perfect, but it’s even better than the life I wanted and imagined having someday. I am so thankful!

My first professional (in other words: paid!) calling was in the field of dietetics, which I adored and never planned to leave. I got to teach nutrition at the college level, lead worksite wellness classes around the community, and do a bunch of public speaking.

I am one of those weird people who lights up in front of an audience… I actually love the feeling of sharing with a crowd! I’ll speak to any group that would benefit from a joy boost!
Book a Free Breakthrough Session to discuss your event!

I also ran a nutrition counseling practice where I specialized in eating disorder recovery. Here I met wonderful but deeply burdened people who slowly came to life before my eyes (with a lot of help from good therapists). One of my formerly anorexic clients has said that the day we went to a Halloween store and dressed up like an outhouse and the Incredible Hulk was a turning point in her recovery. Who knew that joyful experiences could inspire actual living?

After 8 years of volunteering as a church youth group leader, it became clear the time had come to leave the field of dietetics and focus solely on youth ministry as a profession. I jumped in with both feet and had a complete blast connecting with kids of all ages and their families, aiming to help them see how God’s word is alive and relevant in their everyday lives. We talked about everything in relation to scripture, went to tons of concerts and youth gatherings to help them feel connected with other believers their age, got involved in countless service projects and mission trips, and had a riot doing it all. I can’t say what impact this had on the kids or families, but it led to incredible growth and fulfillment in my own heart!

For a brief, sweet period, I got to serve senior citizens in the area of life enrichment. I cherished being adopted by the elderly residents of 4 distinct communities and learning about their lives and values while creating moments of meaning. I can hardly believe I got paid for that. We went on mystery trips, grew our weekly exercise classes to standing room only (those folks can throw down seated kickboxing moves and a YMCA dance routine with the best of them!), and constantly shared who we are and what matters to us. My life is so much richer because of these priceless friends.

Coaching Enters the Story

But while I was working with seniors, a warm spot began to grow in my heart, an idea that was taking root and making me wonder if my next calling was materializing. As I realized I could meet my need to know and connect with people as a life coach and public speaker, I began to share the idea with my family and inner circle. After receiving a unified response of “GO FOR IT,” I eventually shared my vision more broadly on social media. I guess I thought people from my community would say “What’s life coaching?” and “Get a real job!” But the voices of people I had known all my life said “YES!” “I can see you doing this!” and “This is YOU!” Honestly, I was taken aback by it. Starting a business would mean taking a big leap of faith and I wanted to park my heart there a while and make sure this was really something I could do. I took a breath. The thing that held me back was, I just didn’t know what I would coach people on, exactly. What do I know about? What can I offer other people?

When I was ready to stop listening to doubt and fear and revisit the same warmth in my heart, which was God’s voice within my belief system, I saw the common denominator in all of the above ways I have been called to serve and live my own life, all of those years and experiences coming together into one very clear focus, the subject I felt I actually could coach people on: JOY. You know…

• Straight up joy,   the type that says my heart is singing and alive and I love living this way!
• Rediscovering joy   that has been lost due to the path life has taken you down.
• Seeking joy   without feeling guilt and letting it fill your bucket and shape your choices.
• Allowing your joy   to be contagious and overflow to everyone around you! * (if you are into foreshadowing, see below)
• Breaking out   of your comfort zones and feeling purposeful like never before!
• Living fully   and completely and wholly… being the “you-iest” YOU you can be!

At that moment, it occurred to me I didn't need to be an expert on an academic topic to be a helpful coach who can impact people’s lives for the better. I could specialize in the thing that permeated how I was already living: JOY! Joy is the ribbon that weaves my whole picture together and I want to extend that same beautiful ribbon to you, right here, right now.

After receiving some extremely thorough Whole-Person Coach training through Coach Training World, I joined the International Coach Federation, took the leap of faith, did the hokey pokey, and put my whole self in… because I want to meet you and help you discover your joy.

What About Your Story?

What I love about this is we can meet online wherever you are. Any state, any country, any time zone. There are no limits. You can be in Palestine, Turkey, India, Northern Ireland, Nicaragua, or Toledo (I am blessed to have made connections with wonderful people in these places already! The whole “Joy To The World Coaching” thing is intentional!). You can sit somewhere comfortable in your sweats, download Zoom (the free software that lets us chat), and pull me up on your screen, and together we will figure out what matters to you and how to get you there. It’s so easy. And just between us, I genuinely hope that the guy with the tattoo shows up on my screen someday so I can know him and help him understand he’s not alone. I have been praying for him for years.

*You might think this all sounds really nice - a girl in a village who wants to spread joy, how sweet. I could leave it there and let you think that. But the truth is, I want something bigger. I want to infect the world with joy as part of my plan for world domination. It’s the biggest takeover ever. Can you imagine a globe that overflows with joy?!

If you could imagine that, let’s talk: We’re not that different!

Book a coaching session with Robin

Robin's Sources of Joy

My Christian Faith

Being in a living relationship with God is central to the core of my existence. I could not tell my story without including my faith, because God is the ultimate source of my lasting joy. I will gladly share my faith with all who ask, but I will never push it on those who don’t. If you would like to share how your beliefs guide and shape you, however different they may be from mine, you will find a very interested and humbled listener… please don’t be afraid to share, I love to learn! If praying together in our coaching sessions would be meaningful to you, I would be honored. Praying with people is one of my greatest joys.

Shared Experiences & Adventures

These really drive my choices and bring me a tremendous amount of joy. Whether it’s a hooky day with one of my kids (I love spending time in antique stores and dreaming of buying a one-room schoolhouse with my daughter or test-driving muscle cars and attending concerts with my son); a relaxing day at the beach, dinner on the patio or a picnic on top of our frozen lake in the winter with my husband; wholeheartedly acting out every part of Bohemian Rhapsody with everyone in the car on a great roadtrip; cheering for friends at the Special Olympics (this is a population who could be coaching the world on joy!); hearing responses to my “Ask me how we are alike” shirt; learning who people really are as we share dinner at a local soup kitchen; when a person with memory loss has a beautiful moment of clarity… I am all about the deep connection that comes when experiences are shared!

Movement

Being still for long periods is torture for me. I crave motion. I walked our beloved Brittany Spaniel over 7,000 miles in her lifetime because her trot was so cute and irresistible. I literally have to break into dancing, jump around, and unite with music completely at concerts (don’t stand next to me!). Weightlifting feels great because I can be strong and capable; I can be small but mighty. I would love to join a roller derby team, but I can’t convince my family to support the idea just yet. Distance biking is my very favorite “get to”– I love getting to ride fast down hills, aim at mud puddles on dirt roads, tackle the challenge of bad weather biking just to say “IN YOUR FACE” to conditions that could keep me from riding, turn wherever I want and as many times as I want, and pray for the people in my life and listen to Christian rap music the whole time.

Among many gifted artists,
KB is my favorite rapper because you can hear the smile in his voice!

Nighttime bike rides are the best because I have so many colorful lights, it looks like the circus is coming to town. Moving makes my heart sing! I need to get up and move as soon as I finish this sentence.

More joys:

• Other people’s successes and victories are a major fuel for me. I love being a champion for people, especially those who are hurting or have been wronged or who feel alone. When I learned that a very special friend has the song “Cheerleader” set as my ringtone, I was moved to tears. Walking beside people gives me incredible fulfilment. My mom and sister would give their right arms for anyone… I learned it from them!
• Really good Kleenex. I give and love and feel deeply. For me, a big part of connecting with people can be actually feeling their highs and lows. Empathy is one of my strongest attributes. So: There could be tears, yours and/or mine! Fear not, the tears will end, and they will help.
• Rambunctious laughter that leads to loud snorts, tears, the inability to breathe, or a combination of the three. Thank you, Grandpa, for getting it all started.
• Thanksgiving. Not just the holiday, but the way my Grandma lived her life and inspired me to live mine.
• A sincere “thank you” or “I am sorry, I was wrong.” Both do my heart so much good. I don’t know why we sometimes neglect to say these things.
• Experiences that make me clap. You know it’s good when I start clapping.
• Pulling off surprises and making people feel really special and cherished, wondering, “You did that for ME?”
• Organizing spaces (closets, cabinets, drawers), and then revisiting the newly loved areas again and again. Clapping if the flow really makes sense.
• When the violins swell in the music of “Canon in D.” They are so beautiful; I can barely get through it with dry eyes. They take my heart to a place I don’t have words to describe.
• Genuine hugs. Fun fact: We need 13 good hugs a day! Two special friends call mine “nuclear hugs” and “flying tackle hugs.” Break out your hugs, people! You have the power to change lives!
• The freedom of jumping into the lake for the first time each summer and feeling like it’s the most beautiful day there ever was.
• The beach: Any day, any time, any season. It’s glorious and so peaceful! It’s got to be my favorite place. I cannot help getting caught up in the wonder of what God has made.