Is Anything Real?

What if leadership stopped rewarding loudness and started rewarding truth?

In this exclusive drop, Sharon Hurley Hall (journalist, author, anti-racism educator, and Co-Founder of The Introvert Sisters) joins Adam W. Barney to unpack impact without exhaustion: introverts as powerful leaders, boundaries that protect your best work, why “resilience” gets misused, and how to build communities that care while you still care for yourself.

You’ll leave with a humane playbook and one EnergyOS move you can run today.  

Links

Work with Adam
👉 20-min Exploration Call: https://calendly.com/adamwbarney/explorationplugin-20min

Creators and Guests

Host
Adam W. Barney
Adam W. Barney helps transitioning leaders navigate career and leadership inflection points with clarity and momentum. Author of Make Your Own Glass Half Full and creator of EnergyOS. Based in Boston, fueled by family and music.

What is Is Anything Real??

Is Anything Real? is the Reality-First Leadership podcast for builder-leaders who want outcomes, not optics. Each week, Adam W. Barney sits down with founders and operators to unpack positioning, marketing, community, energy management, and influence - plus the numbers behind what actually worked.

You’ll hear: a quick Reality Check, a practical Proof Stack (inputs → actions → outcomes), and one EnergyOS habit you can run this week. Specifics over slogans; humane systems over hustle cosplay.

New episodes every Wednesday at 12:00 PM ET.

👉 Book your 20-min Exploration Call: https://calendly.com/adamwbarney/explorationplugin-20min

[00:06.6]
What happens when a lifelong journalist, DEI educator, and introvert decides to flip the script on performative activism, and chooses energy over exhaustion? Today's guest has built her career around truth with tact. From journalism and Coventry to anti-racism work in Barbados, to co-hosting the hit show "The Introvert Sisters", we're unplugging from the noise and recharging with Sharon Hurley Hall.

[00:33.4]
Welcome back to "Is Anything Real?", the show where we filter the noise, challenge the hype, and talk with leaders who are actually walking the talk. I'm Adam W. Barney, coach, author of Make Your Own Glass Half Full. Today we're diving into something a little different. Energy, allyship, and authenticity with a guest whose writing and voice have inspired thousands around the world.

[00:54.5]
Sharon Hurley Hall, again is a journalist turned anti-racism educator, co-host of "The Introvert Sisters", and creator of that thriving anti-racism newsletter and community. She's been published across continents. She's taught again at Coventry University, and she's using her platform to make inclusion real, not just aspirational.

[01:13.9]
Sharon, welcome. Thank you, Adam. I'm so delighted to be here. Excited to have you. You know, Sharon, you've had such a fascinating path from trade journalism to teaching, to now leading anti-racism and DEI education.

[01:30.5]
What was the turning point that pushed you from marketing and content into meaning and change? Well, two words or three? George Floyd. George Floyd's murder. I, you know, as you said, I've been a journalist, I was an educator.

[01:50.2]
And, you know, I'm a person who experienced racism, in different places that I lived, you know, in the, in the Caribbean, in France, visiting the US, living in England. And something happened to me. It wasn't the first time I had written about anti racism.

[02:08.9]
I had done it before. I did a whole book on colorism based on research I did in the 90's. But I was exhausted in that moment. And so I wrote two essays back to back. One of them was called "While Black: Thoughts on the Assumption of Wrongness".

[02:27.1]
The idea that you being in your own skin in any place is deemed to be wrong. And the other was "I'm Tired of Racism", which became the title of my book. And yeah, I was just exhausted, and I was annoyed.

[02:44.1]
And I thought these gifts that I have, you know, for teaching, for writing, for education, they cannot be just to tell people how to put a pop-up on a website. There has to be more to it than that. There has to be a higher purpose. And I started doing this writing, and before I knew it, the purpose had kind of hit me.

[03:04.7]
Yeah, well, you know, and that's something. It's interesting that you bring that back to George Floyd, right in the conversation. Because those uncomfortable times or those challenging times can actively, actually turn to be the ones that cause us to act and make change in the world.

[03:22.5]
But how would you say you keep your work rooted in optimism when the DEI and anti-racism space can be so emotionally heavy and also shifting very significantly over time? I'm not going to lie, Adam.

[03:39.5]
Sometimes it is hard, sometimes it is really difficult. I was having a conversation only today. And one of the ways I do that is by being selective about input, about how I get it, about what I see, what I read.

[03:55.9]
Because at this point, okay, and as a person, and a black person, right. Racism is not news to me. It has never been news to me. There are different experiences that happen, there are different things that happen, but they're all part of that same terrible system which has been going on for centuries.

[04:12.5]
So, you know, there's a way in which there are certain things I don't need all the details of, to understand what is at play. Okay. So there is that. And then the other thing that gives me hope and allows me to have some optimism is the many, many people who are continuing to work on this, who are continuing to advocate and agitate for a better world, who are continuing to act.

[04:37.2]
People within my community, people within other communities, people who are having important conversations and making that possible, like yourself. Yeah. And I think you and I will both agree in that, Sharon, sometimes true impact isn't about being louder, it's about being truer.

[04:55.5]
Right? Absolutely. Absolutely. In that sort of vein, you know, I know you've built a platform that celebrates introverted leaders. And I actually would argue that introverted leaders are probably some of the most impactful in the world. What are some of the biggest, though, misconceptions people still have about introverts from your perspective in both business, as well as activism?

[05:19.2]
Well, one of the things is that introversion is the same as shyness or social anxiety and therefore that, you know, introverts are always hiding in a corner and able to get out and do things. Well, I'm here to say that is absolutely wrong.

[05:35.6]
I am an introvert. I've always been an introvert. I knew I was an introvert before I had the language of introversion, even. Right. And so, yeah, it's, it's a case of not assuming that introverted people can't lead, understanding that some of the strengths we bring, you know.

[05:56.2]
The deep listening, some of the processing strengths we have because of that, because we are listening to understand and not just talking to be heard. Right. Some of those help us to arrive at good solutions. It enables us to work well with people who need to be heard as well.

[06:14.7]
So it's really, really important to do that. Right. Right. Well, and then I guess, Sharon, I'd be curious, how do you personally protect your energy as a creator, teacher, and leader, especially in work that demands so much emotional labor? I think others learn from how you do that.

[06:31.8]
Both the folks who are introverts, as well as some of maybe even the quieter extroverts in the world, for sure. And I know also a lot of neurodivergent people also benefit from taking the time to recharge.

[06:47.4]
That is my thing. Take time to recharge, build it in. You know, that, like today, for example, is a day where I happen to have a lot of calls. I generally tend not to have more than a couple in a day. But today happens to be an exception, so I have none booked tomorrow.

[07:04.7]
I'll be doing absolutely nothing for the next couple of days. So it's about building in that time, and it's also about finding moments of joy and doing the things that make you feel happy, whether that's a walk outside, some sort of activity, going to the beach.

[07:22.3]
In my case, I spend most of my time in the Caribbean. So, you know, a dip in the ocean is a great way to literally wash away the glums. Right, right. Being in the middle of a chilly Boston day today, I can appreciate that.

[07:39.6]
I would love to be able to teleport to a beach somewhere. But, tell us about "The Introvert Sisters". You know, how did that begin? And what have you learned about leadership and rest also in recharging through that journey? "The Introvert Sisters" is a passion project for me and my sister, Lisa Hurley.

[08:01.4]
And it started during the pandemic. We had always planned to work together, but our work path, even though we're both writers, had taken us in different directions. But all of a sudden, there we are. Everybody was home. We said, okay, now's the time. And we wanted to talk about it from the point of view of how does.

[08:18.5]
We started with how does an introvert experience something like this pandemic where everyone's at home and, you know, it was a terrible thing. But from the point of view of energy management, it wasn't that bad for introverts. Right. Because we enjoyed being at home.

[08:34.9]
But we soon realized that we couldn't separate the rest of our identity as black women. And so we started talking of it. We launched that, I believe, in April 2020. George Floyd was murdered in May 2020. We had to start talking about things.

[08:51.0]
And so we covered the gamut, you know, everything from activism and the toll that it takes on us as introverts, to what people were doing about it, to the ways that we find joy, the range. In other words, we wanted to portray introverts and black women introverts as whole people, not just one identity or another.

[09:16.8]
The totality of who we are. And we brought that. And the interesting thing is people really responded to that. You know, our, podcast won an Anthem award in the DEI podcast category, and we're actually bringing it back as a live show later this year, a couple of times.

[09:34.9]
We honored our introversion. Thank you. We honored our introversion, and we took a hiatus when it got to be too much, and now we're coming back. Oh, my gosh, that's amazing. Going back to something you said earlier.

[09:52.8]
You know, I love how you bring introversion into the fact that maybe we're not just shy, but we're quiet because we're listening. You also. You did make an extremely powerful point in one of our earlier conversations that resilience can be overused when talking about marginalized groups.

[10:10.6]
Can you unpack kind of what you mean by that as well? Yeah, because there's a way in which, the expectation that particularly black people, particularly black women, can somehow bear more is rooted in racist ideology.

[10:28.6]
So resilience can also be used. The expectation of resilience can be used as a weapon. And it is not that we are not resilient because of our history. We have had to be right. But we don't always want to be resilient.

[10:43.6]
We were like everybody else. We, you know, we want a soft life sometimes. We want joy as a right. We want rest as a right. We don't want to have to bear the weight of everything that is going on in the world. And in fact, in the last year, particularly in the US, a lot of people have just.

[11:01.3]
A lot of black women, particularly, have just opted out. They have blackexed it. They have left. They've gone to other countries. They've said, I can't do this anymore. And I can understand why, because, you know, it's outrageous to expect a group that is already bearing the weight of history to do even more.

[11:17.6]
And that expectation is almost always there. Well, and I know obviously in your work, Sharon, and the work that you do, you teach recharge, recharging or charging up as resistance. And I think that helps to reframe resilience, actually, so that resilience doesn't become that heavy burden that we can wear.

[11:36.6]
Because it's a deeply misunderstood and heavily weighted term. I love you shared some of those go-to rituals, you know, that help you refill your cup so that you can continue to show up with grace and power. Because the world doesn't need us to be resilient all the time.

[11:54.2]
It needs to stop really burning us out. Right. And that's, we get into. Absolutely, absolutely. For sure. I think one of the things that's really key in my work is setting boundaries for your time, for your energy, and putting in those protections early.

[12:12.7]
Right, protections like blocking out time in your calendar. You know what I did at the end of last year, I went into my calendar, and every quarter I booked out a full week where I would take no meetings. I have one day a week where I take no meetings. Right. I actually, because it's something I'd forgotten to do, I made sure that I blocked out my local public holidays, even though I'm working with people in the US and the UK so that I could spend time with my family.

[12:40.0]
And so that went into my calendar, before the start of 2026. So it is not bookable. So that's my way of putting in boundaries around my time. And then the other thing that I did is where I knew I had big events coming up, I booked a rest day, blocked it out afterwards.

[12:56.5]
So it's, you know, and you know, having the discernment to know when to say no to things. Right, right. That's so important, you know, to be able to say no. And there's agency, there's our autonomy that comes from the power of being able to say no.

[13:15.2]
But something you just kind of, you mentioned here, family and the focus there. I know you and I also bonded earlier, in a previous conversation overvwhat I call
"the sandwich generation". You know, caring for children while building meaningful, impactful careers.

[13:32.1]
What does leadership look like when you're in the middle of that reality? Giving yourself grace is what it looks like. Because every journey in this is somewhat individual. Yes, there are experiences that are common to parenting, there are experiences that are common to elder care.

[13:50.9]
But you know, every person is different. And so you don't know what exactly it's going to look like. You don't know what it's going to demand of you. And I think it's important to give yourself some grace while you navigate that and work it out. So one of the things that I did this year is I said, okay, I have a relative that needs a little more of my time.

[14:11.3]
I'm going to put that in, I'm going to put that in the calendar up front. Last year, I was kind of fitting it in because things were already in, and the situation changed suddenly. This year, I'm able to plan for it. Right. And just, you know, having that awareness and building it in, you know, you can build it into things like deadlines.

[14:31.8]
You know, you can build, you know, the time that you plan to do something. You say, well, I know that there are things that might come up, give myself a little extra time. Right. You know, and I believe in transparency. So just be honest with people. You know, you tell them exactly where you are with things.

[14:49.5]
And I find that most people are very understanding of that. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. And I think so. And it's, it's about, sometimes it's probably asking for forgiveness, not asking for permission. Right. There's a piece of that. But how would you, from your perspective and the work that you've done, you know, how do we create entrepreneurial spaces that make room for these complex lives, especially for women and founders of color?

[15:18.9]
I think it's all about setting that intention and saying it up front. Right. I started a community, a polycultural, anti racism community towards the end of 2024. And we have certain guidelines.

[15:36.6]
We want people to be in there, we want them to be taking action, we want them to be accountable. And that is part of our weekly practice. But at the same time, we recognize that things happen. So it's about always being human-centered and recognizing that things happen. You know, you might have great intentions, you might be the most consistent person in the world and then, you know, you have a bereavement or an accident or something and, you know, we have to adjust.

[16:02.6]
I think bringing back that human-centeredness to all our communities and all our spaces is what makes the difference. Right. It makes people feel cared for. Right. And really leaning on each other.

[16:18.6]
Right. Leaning on each other. Speaking of that same community, I had to have a little time off in the middle of last year. People in the community stepped in. Right. In the same way as when they've had to have time off for things, I will step in.

[16:34.1]
Right. And also getting away from those hierarchical systems. My idea with the community is that it would be our community. And, so, yes, I'm the person that started it, but everybody has a say in what are the learning topics we cover, what's important to us, what are the discussions we're bringing to the table.

[16:52.1]
That's something for all of us to be involved in. Right. That's incredible. And I think that's one great example the community you built, of what I like to call intentionality when you build a community. Right. And also realizing, you know, it's not about getting 15 million people around the world to sign up for it.

[17:11.0]
If you have a tribe within that of even 100 people, that can change the world. And that's the, that's still the magic and the beauty that the connectedness of the Internet brings, even in the midst of so much negativity, breakdown of systems, you know, in the last couple years, or just the way people view the Internet as being a negative thing.

[17:36.1]
There are positive threads throughout it. Oh, for sure. And actually, that brings two things to mind, Adam. You know, there are a lot of platforms that have lots of failings that we all know about, but they're also the means by which we have been able to connect.

[17:53.1]
Right. And the people that I've connected with are, you know, change makers who are really actively taking steps to make the world better. And the other thing is something that I said last year, which is that we can be the drops. I think of us in this fight as drops of water.

[18:10.9]
Right. Like drops of water created the Grand Canyon. And we're all working together, and we're doing the bit that we can do. And, you know, if one drop has to move aside for a bit, there are other drops still working, and then you can come back and rejoin the mainstream. And so I think of us as being the drops.

[18:27.1]
I think of it as being a ripple effect reaching who you can reach so they can reach other people. Right. That's a beautiful way to look at it because I very much agree that, you know, if you've got a pond of water and there's a there's a drop into it, the ripples emanate out from the center.

[18:43.4]
And I think that's also a piece of personal identity that we all have inside of ourselves to understand that we can be. We can be that drop of water that drips down. Right. You know, we're not part of this ocean that we maybe feel like we're a part of. We can make an impact in that ocean by just moving a little bit or doing something a little bit different.

[19:03.7]
We can all do something. And purpose without pace is really, you know, possible. And I love going back to grace. You just have to let grace lead. Right. The grace of self, others, and the grace of communities around us.

[19:20.2]
Yes. In my particular way of phrasing that is impact without exhaustion. Right. You know, that's my introvert-friendly approach. Right. We could do things, we could be out there. You know, many people are surprised to learn that I'm an introvert because they see me on podcasts and out there and talking on social media and doing events and so on.

[19:42.7]
They don't see the recharge time I take afterwards. But I think that the way the world is going, you know, it's too important to let the people who want to remake it in a terrible fashion to let them have it all their own way.

[19:59.7]
We have to do what we can. We have to do what we can. Right. I give you a virtual hug in that vein, Sharon. Sharon, this was an absolute masterclass in authenticity and alignment. And I think it's a great reminder that our energy and values truly belong at the center of the work that we do in this world.

[20:21.2]
Where can listeners connect with you and keep learning from your writing and teaching? Right. Lots of places. There's my anti-racism newsletter, antiracismnewsletter.com my website, sharonhh.com, and I'm most active on LinkedIn.

[20:37.7]
I'm Sharon HH on LinkedIn. And From now on, I'm also on Hiyer, a little shout-out to Hiyer. Founded by Louis and Arlene Byrd, which is an algorithm-free, platform where we can connect.

[20:56.5]
You know, they say if you don't have the platform you want, build it. And that's exactly what they did. I hope you don't mind me giving them a little plug there. I will drop links to Hiyer, which just for our listeners here, that's H I Y E R. You can find both Sharon and I on that platform.

[21:13.5]
But we're really excited for what Louis and Arlene have brought with that new platform because...we won't talk about the impact of algorithms here in this conversation, but I'm sure a lot of our listeners are part of that world as well.

[21:31.5]
For sure, for sure. And for our listeners, here's what I truly take away from Sharon's work in the conversation today: Impact doesn't always come from volume or visibility. It truly comes from clarity. It comes from alignment. And it comes from honoring your energy inside yourself, as much as your ambition.

[21:51.1]
Because when you protect your energy, you truly protect your impact in the world. Amazing. Sharon, thanks for joining. And thanks everyone for listening to "Is Anything Real?", where we keep exploring what's real in growth, leadership, and human energy.

[22:07.5]
If this episode refueled you, please share it, tag us, and join the conversation. And until next time, plug in, power up, and keep finding what's real. But thanks again, Sharon.