Ep #6: How Entrepreneurship Made Me Woo
Many of you are hiding out in some way. You are dimming yourself and hiding from your choices; it is something I can relate to in my own business, but it is so important to own your truth, your choices, and your uniqueness, even when it feels uncomfortable. If you want to really live your uncommon way, you need to show up for yourself and your beliefs unapologetically. And this is exactly what I’m modeling for you this week.
Being willing to stand out from the crowd and even bring on some criticism is of critical importance. It’s what separates a life fully lived from a life where you show up and just do what’s expected. So this week, I’m modeling showing up unapologetically in your business by sharing a story of what led me from being fully logical, rational, and science-based to what I have become: a true believer in and practitioner of what I would have once believed to be some very woo concepts.
What I’m revealing this week might just blow your mind and open you up to seeing your business and the world in a completely different way. I’m sharing a story that led to my belief in energetics, how I learned to get out of my own way and start showing up unapologetically, and how you can do the same in your life and business.
What You’ll Learn From This Episode:
How I realized what I was really called to help people with.
The barometer I use with my clients to help them decide where to pivot in their own businesses.
How to step into your most resilient, grounded, knowing self.
Why being unapologetic is the work we are all here to do.
How much of a role energetics has played in my business.
Some tips to help you attract your soul-aligned clients and the lifestyle you’ve been longing for.
Listen to the Full Episode:
Featured on the Show:
Want to work with me? Click here to find out how!
Click here to sign up for my newsletter and find out how the Connect The Dots Method has helped clients in all stages of their business.
If you would like help getting clear on what you are offering and how to talk about it, you have to join us in The Clarity Accelerator. It’s 60 of the best-spent days you’ll ever have, and you’ll get my eyes on your business and your messaging helping you dial all this in. There’s a spot available for September, so click here to schedule a call with me as soon as possible to learn more.
Click here to get the most comfortable pants ever!
Tag or DM me on Instagram and let me know how this episode has helped you - I can’t wait to be your loudest, proudest cheerleader!
Full Episode Transcript:
I'm just going to tell it to you straight. I have seen some crazy things over the last five years, since I've been in this whole entrepreneurship game. Now, the causes of the events that I'm about to share with you, are totally open to interpretation. Of course, you get to and should form your own opinions.
But I'm going to give you my take. And I'm deciding to share these things, that I've never shared publicly, because I want to model showing up unapologetically. And also, what I'm going to reveal might just blow your mind. It might open you to seeing your business and the world completely differently, which is what it did for me.
This is the story of what led me from being fully logical, rational science-based, to what I have become; a true believer in and practitioner of what I once would have considered to be some very woo concepts.
You're listening to The Uncommon Way Business and Life Coaching Podcast, the only podcast that helps you unlock your next level in business and life, by prioritizing your clarity and your own Uncommon Way. You will learn to maximize your mindset, mission, messaging, and strategy in order to create a true legacy. Here's your host, top ranked business coach and reformed over analyzer turned queen of clarity, Jenna Harrison.
Welcome back to The Uncommon Way. I have got an important episode for you today, and I want to dive right in. Because yesterday, I realized that I've been hiding out and that I wasn't going to waste even one more minute doing so. I've been hiding myself from you, from the public; with a capital P.
Not from my clients, I consider my clients soulmates, right? It's my duty and also my honor, to just serve them with everything I have, all the knowledge I've gleaned through experience or investments. That's given to them with a pretty bow.
And to the people on my newsletter list, I've been opening up to you too, right? In fact, last week, I shared how I'd been interviewed on another podcast about the energetics behind what had me creating $130,000 in six months. Even with a new offer that's a lower price point.
And, I'm purposely restricting the number of people I bring through right now. One would expect my revenue to decline, and I was prepared for that. It was a strategic decision. But it didn’t. And I purposely sent that email to my entire list, rather than just my most engaged readers, because I decided I wanted to have people unsubscribe if they were uncomfortable with me talking frankly about my experiences or my perceptions. But nobody really did.
So, you might be sitting here thinking, Jenna, “Of course, there's universal energy at play. This is such a non-issue.” But here's how the issue relates to you. I know that many of you, probably all of you, are hiding out in some way; you're dimming yourself in some way. And I want a model owning your truth, even when it feels uncomfortable.
I had a client who was a lesbian, and she told me, “It's so crazy that I can be totally out of the closet about my sexuality, but I'm still closet woo.” Yeah, I get it. So, here I am coming out. Now for you, following your uncommon way may not have anything to do with woo concepts. It just means doing your thing, whatever that is.
But for people who follow their own path, by definition we're going to make some unexpected decisions. And there will be times when those decisions are guided by nudges that we can’t explain logically. Now afterwards, when they work out in your favor, other people are like, “That was a stroke of genius. How did you know?”
I'm thinking of Amazon selling clothes online. I remember that, and thinking; how could that ever be successful? What if the clothes didn't fit? Who would want to give up the fun experience of shopping? But of course, now I buy clothes from Amazon all the time. I just got, seriously, the most comfortable pants ever; I'll link to those in the show notes.
So, following these nudges, and being willing to stand out from the crowd, and even bring on some criticism, is of critical importance. It's what separates a life fully lived from the life where you just do what's expected. I believe that's why we're here; to find our path.
But a lot of us do that very quietly. Maybe in our heads, without actually taking action. Or, taking action, but only in the ways that feel safest. But next level, and really, the reason why you're here listening to this podcast, is you need to own your choices and your uniqueness. You've got to stand for them unapologetically, if you're really fully living your uncommon way.
The full expression of your uncommon way is never going to be you hiding out. Even for introverts. Even for people like me, that are introverts and have a two-profile line, which is the hermit in human design. You get to choose the realms that you want to play in. For the last couple of years, I haven't played in social media. I haven't played on a podcast.
But the ones that you do play in, you need to own your truth. Now, I know it comes as no surprise to you that our brains can be very sneaky. The primitive part does not want us to cast out from the tribe and take risks. And since the brain knows us better than anyone, it creates the perfect arguments to sway our decisions towards safety in the status quo, without us even realizing what's going on.
Which is why everyone benefits from a coach. I mean, if I had car payments, I would forego one of them rather than forgoing a coach; the car isn't going to help me get out from under having to make car payments for the rest of my life, but the coach will. And it's also important to surround yourself with people that can help you coach yourself to the highest level.
Which is what happened yesterday. I was having a workshop call with the Clarity Collective; which is the larger group comprised of both the Clarity Accelerator Boot Camp clients, and the clients that continue on with me, either privately or in a group. And, I realized my brain had been doing something sneaky.
Now, I knew when I decided to move forward with this podcast that I would need to speak my truth. And a whole bunch of people were therefore, going to see a different side of me than they'd seen previously. But what my brain had been doing was delaying. So clever.
It had been telling me, “Yeah, Jenna, we'll get to that. But first, it's really important that I introduce this new audience to key concepts like; know yourself, know your people, speak to how the two connect, or connecting the dots up through your mission, to your people, to your offer, to your messaging.”
And, and, and, right? The list kept growing and growing and growing, of things I just had to get out to you first, before I can talk about this. Who knows how long that would have gone on? Some of us can stay in that delaying space for years; I did for two decades. Especially if you're smart and you have a particularly sneaky brain, and don't have a coach.
And once you're onto yourself about something like this, it is critical, both energetically and from a psychological point of view, that you take action on that clarity; sooner rather than later. Which is why I halted production on other episodes, and I'm recording this one, now.
Some of you like to hang out in the space of ‘getting up the nerve.’ I have clients who get the clarity, but then taking action is scary, so they delay. And all they're doing is giving the brain more and more opportunities to create the perfect argument, or to make things feel 10 times worse and scarier.
Like, if you're dreading the next dentist's appointment, six months away, and all you're doing is ruining those six months beforehand. The inevitable is going to happen; you are going to go to the dentist, and you are going to take action and you are eventually going to speak your truth. Because all of those are good for you, right? They're healthy. It's where you're going, because it's always what you've had the potential of being. And, we are not here to squash our potential.
To give you some context on my story. I come from a very logical, scientific group of critical thinkers. And not only that, I used to be the black sheep. I used to be the spiritual one. And through events in my life and observing the world, I lost trust. And then, I started bringing myself evidence for this new belief, right? For all the ways I'd been misguided.
Have you ever met former smokers who now are so vehemently against smoking? That was me, when it came to anything that couldn't be explained scientifically. Looking back, I felt a lot of shame, I think, for, as I perceived it, very naive and magical thinking beforehand. And I felt resentful, true, like my heart had been broken.
So, the journey, from that point to where I am now, I can break into three stages once I started entrepreneurship. So, there was denial, curiosity, and finally mastery.
I started out in full denial, right? When I decide to hire a coach, I hired the most left-brain coach I could possibly find; like very gifted in quantitative analysis. I just knew that the entrepreneurship game had to be about the funnels; I'm convinced.
I worked with her for probably six months building trust, when she said, “You know, Jenna, you're doing all the things right. And, we should be seeing more clients for you now. I think it's a mindset thing. I think you should hire a mindset coach.”
Well, I was in full money scarcity back then. The thought of plopping more investment onto a credit card, when I was already paying $20,000 a year for this mastermind I was in, was definitely not palatable. But neither was not getting the results. So, I did it, of course. Of course, I did it.
Something interesting happened; when this coach helped me see some ways in which my beliefs were interfering with how I was showing up, and I released those limiting beliefs lurking there, I became a booked-out coach within a month or two.
Now, that's not particularly woo; I didn't see it that way, right? That's just basic psychology; whatever you think and believe will alter your actions. But in hindsight, I remember that I came across a guide, in my business coaches course materials, that I had never seen before. Now, I had gone through the entire curriculum, but never seen it.
But it inspired a tactic for initiating conversations with people, that led to me getting all these discovery calls. And then, of course, showing up to them in a new way, which led to clients. That's an amazing coincidence. Still, I dismissed it. You know, maybe it was like some psychological self-sabotage. Like, I had, in fact, seen that guide and it just didn't register, or something like that.
But after this, my business coach started to open up more and more to me. Instead of just talking about mindset, she was talking about energetics. She was telling me that these are really the kinds of things they talk about in these high-level masterminds for seven-figures plus earners. Where you pay $100,000, and you just meet up a few times a year, with like hundreds of other people. And yet, they think it's worth it because understanding this stuff is what's most important.
She started telling me about the real work she'd been doing to create her very successful company, mindset and energetics work. And, how there was no rational reason for her to be bringing in that much money, with the type of business she had and the size of her list, if it weren't for these other things she was focusing on.
So, that is when the curiosity started, right? I let myself open the door, just a crack, because I trusted her so much. And she seemed a lot like me, you know, with both feet on the ground. So, then my client load went back down a bit, and I kind of hit this plateau, so I dove more fully into this work, specifically around money.
I uncovered another block, and right after started hitting those mythical five-figure months. But that wouldn't continue forever, because I had an awakening. When the pandemic hit, I realized that what I was really being called to help people with, was not exactly what I was helping people with.
And if my business is an expression of my purpose, I'm not going to give my time and gifts to something unless it's a ‘hell yes’. I did that for too long in corporate. And that's the barometer that I use now, to help my clients decide when to pivot their own businesses.
You know, don't pivot because the grass is greener, because you think that niche will be more lucrative or easier to sell to, or you're getting frustrated figuring out how to talk to them, right? Pivot, because you realize it's bringing you more fully into your mission. Which, is what was going on for me.
So, I shut my business down. I was hitting 17k plus months. I was charging $10,000 for my services, and I shut it all down. And I poured myself into service, knowing that this global shock would be the catalyst to wake up so many people, and have them question what they were really devoting their lives to.
And I was literally, the best person to help them through this clarity crisis. At a time, when I really just wanted to curl up into a ball and watch the news, I started putting out daily content, which was a stretch for me, and creating a funnel to this super low-priced accessible course that I put together. Knowing it would help people get true clarity and understand how to move into action.
I did this all within, I think, a month or six weeks, I don't remember. But it was a big stretch at the time. I just knew it was urgent, right? Not just for entrepreneurs, for everyone. Quick aside; obviously, I did go back to working with entrepreneurs exclusively, but now, focusing on clarity. Because I quickly saw how it aligned with my mission.
And I want to walk you through this quickly, in case you are also at a decision point. But if I'm here to help people live uncommon lives of their choosing, it makes sense to work with entrepreneurs who have already decided that's important to them, right?
They moved away from corporate jobs for a reason, rather than trying to convince people, that are following the rulebook, that they don't actually have to follow that rulebook. So, these are the kinds of decisions that we make in the decision tree. Go ahead and listen to Episode 2. That's theuncommonway.com/two, if you want more on that tool.
So, right in the middle of delivering that course, the army told us that we need to move in a little over a month, during a pandemic. And then, would have to go on ahead, and I'd have to sell the house and move two houses across country, because my mom lives nearby and always follows us when we move.
And then, when we got to Pennsylvania, we'd be hanging out in a hotel room for over two months, with my very unsettled two-year-old acting out in all sorts of creative ways. Because the house that we needed to move into on base, wouldn't be ready yet.
So, I took some time off from the business. I went off social media. And, something very strange started happening. A client booked in and said that she'd found me on Google®. I asked her; did she consider herself an abstract thinker? Because I do have several posts on my site, that do very well, about abstract thinkers.
But no, no, she said she was looking for a business coach, and she couldn't remember the search term. And, she said she'd instantly resonated with my site. Now, I had heard that before. But usually, people found my site because I was posting in Groups™ or on Facebook®, and they'd hop over there to check me out, right? And then, book a call. This had never happened through Google.
Now, mind you, I hadn't done anything to my website, right? I wasn't adding new keywords or anything, it was the same as it had been for years. So, in my mind, being a business coach meant I'd also be spending a lot of time writing copy, with and for my people.
But I took a gamble and offered her something different. Something aligned with my new awareness, right? This clarity, mindset, strategy, at a very low price, because I honestly didn't know how this would work out and what kinds of results she'd achieve. And she said, yes; she was my first client, in this present form of my business.
And then, another one booked in, and she told me the exact search term. She said, she Googled “business coach for female entrepreneurs”. Now, I'd been a travel blogger, I understood that that would be a highly competitive search term. I doubted what she was saying, completely. As soon as we hung up, I googled it thinking, you know, maybe I'd be on page five or something. I wasn't; I was on the first page.
I saw my domain authority there, compared to everyone else's, and I was floored. So, I believe this happened at this time, because of all the service and value I'd created during the onset of the pandemic. It is good juju, but also my own feelings of deservedness were in play. Because I had a story that you had to work hard and go through a lot to deserve good things. And once I finally felt deserving, through all of this service, the Universe could finally meet me there.
Plus, I had another, what I call, “belief opportunities”, right? I believed it was possible to rank highly on Google. I'd been on the first page already with my travel blog; always for kind of obscure travel destinations though, nothing as competitive as this. And of course, for the abstract thinker posts, which again, is a narrow niche.
So, I was able to receive this because it wasn't outside the realm of possibility. I'd never tried to make it happen. I specifically, you know, I thought that you rank well on blog posts that are structured in a certain way, not on my ‘work with me’ page. I'd never set it up in that way, to be compatible for SEO. But still, it was semi-believable in my realm of possibility. It wasn't a pink elephant appearing out of nowhere.
Plus, this was work I needed to do. If I look back, I see this reason very clearly. And I know what you're probably thinking, you're thinking, “What work? You're just sitting back and receiving consults; you lucky B.” But for a person whose identity had always been caught up in what I was doing and what I was achieving, to do the difficult work of not working, and letting myself earn less, and unpacking what my true worth really was, outside of all of that, and then letting myself receive from there, oh, that was, by far, the hardest, most important work I've ever done.
Luckily, I was going through coach certification training at the Life Coach School at that time, so I had wonderful tools for observing and questioning my thoughts. It was a perfect laboratory for deep work. And, I realized it was also a perfect laboratory to practice these energetics that my coach had been talking about.
None of my copy was changing. I wasn't showing up differently, in a way that could influence my results. No, I was just doing my own mindset work. Testing out different energetic states for myself each month, and then seeing how it influenced what was happening in the business.
For instance, I'd heard people talking about manifesting by making the goal non-negotiable. Well, that sent me into a tailspin of action and frantic neediness and attachment, bringing in a whopping $0 that month. So, that was not helpful. Okay, check; on to the next.
And so it went, month after month. Not only was it a question of the number of people coming in, it was different kinds of people. So, I mentioned that I had previously worked on the copy with my clients. And, there was a big part of me in disbelief that I would be able to help people get results, without doing that piece for them.
And so, I was spending a lot of time on belief work; that they would not need that, right? That people don't really need that. And then, I couldn't believe it, I started bringing in people... I looked at their intake form, and they would say things like; you know, I'm a marketing manager at my day job, but I really just need help getting out of my own way. Or, I really just need help getting clear on what kind of business I wanted to start.
I mean, perfectly aligned, and not needing any help with copy whatsoever. But I just need to stop here and clarify that this is not how you should start your business. I've had some clients that really wanted me to teach them magic. Who wanted me to teach them how to bring in money, without lifting a finger. And, it doesn't work that way.
I had done all the heavy lifting before, to create that messaging on the site. And now, I was just putting it to work for me. I do think that understanding energetics will expedite the journey for new entrepreneurs, for sure. That's why I teach it in the Clarity Accelerator. But it's not going to get you out of doing work and experiencing discomfort.
Entrepreneurship will make you feel terrible. Not because it's so difficult, but because as humans, and especially as women, we perceive extreme difficulty. We make a lot of meaning out of all the ups and downs. Our nervous systems are so triggered by failure and taking up space, and charging appropriately, asking for money, all the things. And, I believe that it's designed this way.
These are the triggers that are going to help us finally heal all that bullshit, and help us step into… Almost said, our magnificence; that sounds so woo, scratch that. An earlier me just would have cringed. But what I really mean to say is, help us step into our best selves; our most resilient, grounded, knowing selves.
So, I hired another coach that could help me specifically with energetics. My previous coach was no longer taking clients. And this, is where the mastery stage of my journey begins.
There I was, just kind of watching all this and experimenting. Raising my prices again, bit by bit, as I saw my people were, in fact, still getting results. And I don't know how long that would have continued, but my Higher Self was like, “Nuh-uh, time to uplevel,” and threw something else in my path.
I applied to a well-known mastermind, and was turned down. I honestly never expected that; I was so surprised. And I was really disappointed, too. Crushed, even; like the wind knocked out of you kind of crushed. And I gave myself a day to feel crushed, which is so important for us to do.
And then, I took my dog for a walk. And, I started asking myself; why? Why was I disappointed? And, I realized that my thoughts about joining the mastermind were, “And then, I'll be one of those elite coaches. You know, the kind who deserves to be on the first page of Google.”
But immediately, I realized that thought was totally available to me now. I was the one making it dependent on something outside of myself, this silly mastermind. But I could go to work showing my brain the evidence of how it was already true; I was an elite coach. I did belong right there on Google. Nobody else offers what I offer. I've created a totally blue ocean. And my clients’ lives change because of it.
I've had so many people tell me that they've been in therapy for years and never gotten the transformation that they have with me. I have pages and pages of testimonials. Yes, business results, but also life results; changing cities, ditching the loser boyfriend, losing weight, repairing relationships. You can’t step into your power in business and not transform your life.
The only one who was thinking Google was a fluke, was me. I was not seeing that. I was only seeing all the ways that I was insufficient. By the way, an earlier me never could have talked about myself favorably, like I just did, without buckets of shame. That took concerted effort to rewrite all that patriarchal programming. And, extreme discomfort to start posting that on social media and desensitizing myself to it.
But I started a little movement of women who were like, “Hell yeah, we need to do this work and encourage each other.” We used the #not sorry. It was a trip; it was so empowering. So yes, it was time for me to stop getting in my way, own what I do and start getting the word out.
Because too many people were suffering, because they were only given half the story. Either the tactics or the mindset. Or, their own inner knowing was suppressed in favor of ‘just market to these people who are most likely to say yes’. Or, they were left to flounder for years, as they figured out their path on their own and reached a certain revenue, and then other coaches would finally work with them.
I became filled with all this certainty. And also, I'll admit, a good dose of proving energy towards anyone who would say I wasn't a good bet for that mastermind. I kept hearing Beyoncé in my head singing, “Oh, you must not know about me.”
Proving energy is a shadow aspect, but it can fuel you in the short-term. And, that's when I had my first $25,000 month. It was as if the Universe were saying, “Finally she gets it. Now she can step into the work that she's here to do.”
Everything that I'd wanted from that six-month mastermind, I got it within one month; the 25k month. I created a hybrid group one-to-one program, and I seriously up-leveled my thought leadership, meaning the way I was explaining my teachings to people.
Fast forward several months… Of course, I'm skipping over tons of ups and downs, but let's just go to the end of the year. And, I'm wanting to hit my yearly goal, this is now last December. I have another coach for energetics, by this point, who teaches through the lens of human design. And, I was very committed to not reverting to hustling up the clients, which was hard. I really wanted to reach that goal.
But instead, I'm waiting for inspiration or signs rather than trying to make things happen. And, I'm holding the expectation that this is going to work up until the end of the month, but also without attachment. Very difficult. Such hard work, especially when you're up against a deadline like that.
But things happened in ways that seem to defy logic. Like, I would overhear a podcast episode that led to me writing a post, that just happened to be right up the wheelhouse of someone who had never even heard of me. And just happened to be on social media at that moment, who then decided to check me out, and then saw my site and knew she had to book in.
It's just hard to explain empirically. And, I was really doing my mindset work. I was examining all the thoughts and emotions that were getting triggered, and I was looking for the lessons. I realized how much resentment I was feeling towards the Universe. I uncovered the story that I get so close to my goals, but then I don't quite get what I want. As if the Universe is toying with me. A lot of victim energy here.
I uncovered how much I wanted recognition. But once again, the one who wasn't recognizing my accomplishments, was me. I held myself back from taking any kind of reactive actions, from my, like low-vibe moments. But I took quick action after my epiphanies and any of my pings.
In the end, I ended up well-surpassing my goal, and bringing in great soulmate clients through all sorts of different ways. After December, I knew I could never turn back, and I haven't. I've continued to practice and hone this. This is the work that has led to that $130,000 in the last six months.
But more importantly, I'm completely rebuilding my trust with the Universe. And with my Higher Self, who's a presence that I never recognized. She guides me so precisely into what's next for me. She represents the parent, sage, lover that you want to rely on and externalize, when you haven't yet recognized your own power; how powerful we all are with creating.
She's me, right? She's who I really am, who I've always been through lifetimes, I'm pretty sure. But also, who I'm becoming. Not because I have to go anywhere, but because of what I don't yet recognize in myself. She is me, without the illusion of the mind.
When I used to talk about these things, even with my clients, I always delivered it with something like, “Look, I don't know how this all works. But here's what does work. And, you can come to your own conclusions.” I'll still tell people to come to their own conclusions, of course.
But I'm going to step further to say, “Here's how I interpret it. Here's what I see going on. Scarcity is a lie. Our own limitations are lies. And this is the work of uncovering our truth. I believe our souls are here for a reason. They came with a purpose, and the Universe wants us to fulfill our purpose. It wants us to connect with the souls we're meant to help evolve, and who in return, help us evolve. We all teach what we need to learn. And all the obstacles, all the tears, are opportunities to help us more deeply recognize our true worth, our abundance, our power.”
Like, back when I had a string of clients who didn't feel that clarity was that important. They just wanted the results they saw on my testimonials page. Like yesterday; someone stopped working with me, she broke her contract. She wanted instant clients, and someone to tell her exactly what her people wanted, and what to do to captivate them. She wasn't willing to work through the aligned, deeply resonant messaging that requires more of you.
And I knew that was so bad for her own psychology and energetics, to pull back from what her Higher Self decided she wanted, when she first agreed to work with me. But to me, it was a gift. Because it hurt like hell, don't get me wrong. I have a human brain; I have perfectionist tendencies. And this was the first time this had happened. I made it mean terrible things about myself, at first.
But after the emotional storm of that Zoom® call, where I sat there crying big crocodile tears in front of my mastermind sisters. After all that, it ignited something. I said to myself, “Man, I would have paid anything for this clarity. I would have made a deal with Rumpelstiltskin and trade in my future child if he'd said, ‘Not only will I help you find your purpose, so you're not in the torment of watching your life slip by without ever reaching your potential or even knowing what it is you're here to do.’
‘And then, I'll help you turn that purpose into physical, tangible form. Into a business that's a full expression of you, and therefore, attracts the soul aligned clients and the lifestyle you've been longing for. And as you build that business up, you see all the pitfalls you can't see, and exactly how everything is happening for you specifically, so that you can evolve into something that you can't even see for yourself yet.’
‘But I can see it clearly. Because my gift is seeing people’s superpowers and what's ahead for them.’” Oh, my God, I would have been like, “Where do I sign? And whatever you tell me I have to do, I'll do it.”
And that is the moment when I felt everything goes still. And my Higher Self was like, “Finally, a yes. That's exactly what we've been trying to show you, Jenna. And now, you don't ever have to doubt it. Or, downplay what you offer again.” Which is when I started marketing specifically to clarity. I changed all my website copy.
Even though my ego was like, “No, you're going to lose your Google rank if you change a word.” But I knew it was inevitable. Clarity is like that; it empowers you to do bold things. And my rank didn't slip. I started turning people away.
My clients are surprised that I choose not to extend invitations to about 50% of the people that apply to work with me through Google. Usually, if they come from other sources, they're a better match. But yeah, I got willing to turn away a lot of money, to ensure that I was bringing on the clients that deeply wanted this. And, would be committed and up to the task.
Which is why the Collective is such a special place to be. We are all very capable women, who are specifically choosing this discovery, because we're called to not just build any old business, that's not what we want. So, it's a slight shift to go from, ‘I don't know why these events happen this way’ to, ‘here's why I believe these things happen’. But it's an important one.
You feel that shift, right? There's an ownership underlying it. It's unapologetic, and there's risk and vulnerability and commitment to authentic expression. This is where I am, at this point in my evolution.
I'm willing to be wrong. And if something comes along to disprove or improve my perspective, you'll be the first to know. But I'm not going to tiptoe around with my words, even in the most public places like this one. I grew up in a very regimented military community, where there were clear lines between acceptable and not acceptable.
When my mom married in, her “performance”, was rated on my dad's yearly performance report. Because it was assumed that the officer wouldn't be a good candidate for commander, if he didn't have the supportive wifey willing to do all the unpaid commander’s wife work.
And he certainly couldn't be effective if his own kids were out of line. Obviously, he lacked leadership. And I say he, because there were hardly any women officers. So, we all learned how to play the roles for optimal approval.
Now, I rejected that early on. I did anything I could to get myself on exchange trips, or college far away, and to live my life differently. But our conditioning runs deep, doesn't it? And as women, most of us have been conditioned this way, to some extent. It feels very wrong to risk blowback and to not please everyone. But we can't please everybody, can we?
So, this is me coming back to that work, once again; new level new devil. And saying, “What you hear, is what you get.” I'm willing to have some people roll their eyes or unsubscribe, because being unapologetic about where I am and who I am, is the work that we're all here to do.
If you haven't listened to Episode 3: Finding Your Voice, you can find that in your podcast player, or at theuncommonway.com/three. It goes into this in more detail, and it gives some tactics for you to try out, too, for finding your voice and your convictions.
So, I want to say with gratitude, thank you for having been here with me as I did the scary thing, and I shared publicly for the first time, just how much of a role energetics has played in my business. And now, it's your turn friend.
Where have you been hiding? Are you saying one thing but thinking another? Are you trying to look good? Or conversely, are you not owning your gifts, because it's easier to hide them and lay low? What is the discrepancy between when you're most fully yourself and how you show up to your audience? And, what would you have to believe in order to come out from hiding? What would you have to believe?
I'll leave you with those questions to ponder, because they have clarified so much for me. And if you feel moved to do anything with them, I would love to support you as you've supported me. Tag me or DM me on Instagram® @theuncommonway, and I will be your loudest, proudest cheerleader.
We have all got to stick together through this uncomfortable work, for the sake of the other women that might be watching or the younger generations who will soon be watching.
Alright friends, until next week. On a certain level, you know who you are. And each day, you're stepping further into what you're here to create.
Thanks for joining us here at The Uncommon Way. If you want more tips and resources for developing clarity in your business and life, including the Clarity for Strategy for Growing and Scaling Your Business, visit TheUncommonWay.com. See you next time.
Enjoy the Show?
Don’t miss an episode, follow the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher.
