Preserving Privacy while Writing about Family

a guest post by Cheryl Schuberth, author of Measure, Mix & Marinate: Embracing the Key Ingredients to a More Fulfilling Life

With the widespread use of social media, we know that being intentional about which parts of our lives we share and which we keep private is important to our security and safety. The same goes for writing a book about yourself and your family.

The idea for my book’ Measure, Mix & Marinate, was born from me posting photos on Facebook of my family and me in the kitchen during the global shutdown. My husband’s friend made the suggestion on a post and I ran with it. Not only do I share the stories and recipes from our regional dinners, I also bring in other anecdotes from our lives that represent lessons I’ve learned on my journey. Trying to keep my family safe in sharing our stories was definitely top of mind. I tackled this starting from the desired result and working backwards.

As I wrote and identified experiences from our lives that would support the message I was trying to communicate, I focused on the feeling or takeaway I wanted the reader to have first. Then I backed into the minimum information that was necessary to accomplish that goal and if it was something I was comfortable sharing. That helped me determine if the story was viable or not.

The next step was to look at the story from the perspective of the person I was writing about to gauge what to share. How would they feel about me sharing the information? How did I need to adjust or reframe the content to ensure it didn’t paint the wrong or possibly a misleading picture? Then I brought it all together during my end to end reviews of the manuscript considering the content again in context to inspect holistically what information I was communicating about each person and what it could be used for. I also asked my husband to inspect the manuscript as a second opinion and to validate that no one would be unhappy with how I portrayed them.

For most of my life, I had kept my failures, challenges and other weaknesses very close to me. I didn’t share it much because I didn’t want people to think I wasn’t good enough. I hadn’t considered that only sharing the good stuff, would shut off connection with people because no one can relate to perfection. I encourage my kids to be their authentic selves so that they can find their people. With this book, I change course and put myself out there, too. I hope it inspires others to share their real selves.

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As a wife, mom and former corporate go-getter, Cheryl knows firsthand the frustration of trying to do it all and feeling that none of it is good enough. As the world slowed down for a global pandemic, Cheryl inspected her own life and who she wanted to become—who she needed to become—to serve at her highest level. Much of this discovery occurred in the kitchen during playful evenings side-by-side with her sons, husband, and mother. Their time together led Cheryl to realize that how you measure your priorities, mix them in with your life experiences, and marinate on and adjust to the results determines the direction of your life.
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Meet the Author

Cheryl Schuberth is a graduate of the University of California San Diego and a respected corporate leader.

As a wife, mom, and former corporate go-getter, Cheryl knows firsthand the frustration of trying to do it all and feeling that none of it is good enough. After twenty-five years leading and coaching teams in the male-dominated technology space, she stepped away from that world and embarked on a mission to enhance her relationships with her teenage sons and, at the same time, empower other working women to become more curious about their options and reevaluate their priorities.

She now coaches women to help them feel their best, increase their confidence, and put themselves at the top of the list. Cheryl lives outside Boulder, CO, where she enjoys hiking, skiing, and all things outdoors.

connect with the author: website ~ facebook ~ instagram ~ goodreads

MEASURE MIX AND MARINATE Book Tour Giveaway