Bring the Joy with Jessica Janzen

This is the Entrepreneur School Podcast where we believe you can run a thriving business and still make your family a priority. This show is all about supporting you the emerging or early stage Entrepreneur on your journey from solopreneur to CEO while wearing all of the other hats in your life. My name is Kelly Sinclair and I'm a brand and marketing strategist who started a business with two kids under 3am, a corporate PR girl turned entrepreneur after I learned the hard way that life is too short to waste doing things that burn you out. On this show. You'll hear inspiring stories from other business owners on their journey, and learn strategies to help you grow a profitable business while making it all fit into the life that you want. Welcome to entrepreneur school. Hey, Jessica, I'm so excited to have you on entrepreneur school today.

I'm excited to be here. Thanks for having me.

This is the bring the joy author of the book, bring the joy and I have to tell you, I've seen you speak now a couple times in person. And definitely, it just you just get right to the heart with everybody. So I would love if you could literally just start off by sharing your story about how you got to where you are, why you're here why you're speaker, why I've seen you in such a in an inspirational motivational position a couple of times and I think that our listeners will really connect with your story. So I'm so excited that you can share it here today.

Okay, so that's like, a lot, obviously, you're very obviously have recited this story so many times. And I just want to acknowledge so many things there. One, the amazing work that you've done to actually make a measurable impact on this treatment and screening and things that did not exist in our healthcare system. And as somebody who lives in the same province in the same countries, you appreciate that so so much. And that's just amazing that you are able to so quickly even turn your perspective from, you know, the bad news to the how we're going to live every day. And I just want to acknowledge you for that that's like you, you, you know that it's hard, everyone listening knows that it's hard. And you just brushed over how hard it really was to actually go through and walked through that I have not the same story but a similar experience in that I lost my mom to cancer seven years ago, and nothing. This is why I like connected so much when I heard the first time from stage because you put yourself back into your own experience of your hospital room. What I saw how I felt all of it, and then the same. The perspective shift afterwards that I think is it's true that life is short is it is a cliche, right? And that people don't really understand what that means until they experience it. And I just really love the way that you stepped into it, especially in the moment when you were dealing with The when is the end.

It was a wild wild journey. And it's easy now, you know, with the 20,000 foot perspective to see Oh, yeah. And then you know, there are those moments where you're like, I just want to shrivel up and die. I don't want to go on another day like how is this my life? So I hope whoever's on the other side of this like yes, I can. I mean, I for a living I share this story from a stage I make it relatable. So some days are really easy for me to navigate the story and other days like it ripped me to shreds and you know, we were just on ecoult family vacation. We were on a trip with our kids. It is not a vacation and you're like going guns blazing. But we were on a trip with our kids at my husband's grandma's cabin. And any person that had three kids, man, I was so pissed. I was just like, fu Why did they get their three babies like in their arms at the beach? Each and so I still to this day wrestle with, you know, certain aspects of loss and of the heartache and of the grief. And I don't know why like, if you're a mom of three walking around with your three kids, right now I want to punch you in the face. So, beware maybe keep a 10 foot radius from me, I've never punch anyone in the face to be very clear. But like that, that's what I'm processing. And there's definitely those bits and pieces of it, that you know, ebb and flow, as I know, you know, with your mom, like, we lost my husband's dad and I, all of a sudden hit me, you're just grieving. You're like, oh, man, he doesn't get to grow up and see our kids thrive and take them to hockey practice and get them dirty and take them fishing like, and there's moments that are just crippling, but I think not I think what I know is so important. It's like, what's the so now what? Will you stay crippled? Will you stay in the herd? Or will you acknowledge it radically accept it, and then know that you have a choice? And the choice is what's your so now what? So rather than sitting in the pity party of I mean, you've heard this from stage before of why me? Like, that's often I think, why so many people, especially some of your listeners, are maybe stuck in their business in their personal life in a relationship. Why me? Why is this happening? Why can I break this barrier? Blah, blah, blah. And it's like, he's got to stop asking why me and ask so now what? And that's what I get really good at. It's like, oh, this is going wrong in your business. This is going wrong in your life. Your marriage is on, you know, D railing. Like why is this happening? Why is he such a dick? Why doesn't he cared? No, no, what's your son? Now? What? Okay, what's my so now what my son now what is I'm in control, I get a choice. So what am I choosing to do? I can't fix anyone else, I can just work on me. So I'm going to do these things. And I think if you can get really good at processing emotion processing, grief, processing, the hurt the anger, the frustration, and then flipping the script and saying, Okay, I've crossed it, I'm hurting. This sucks. It isn't fun. And it often can be both and but then saying, Okay, what's my so now what my So nowadays, I'm just going to press into the two babies that I do have, even though I don't want to get up from the stand in one chair and push my son for the 900th time on the swing, and I just want to soak up since then. I'm just gonna go do that, because I get to do that. So there's a lot to unpack there. But there's a lot of goodness there.

60,000 thoughts a day and over 2 million bits of data that your brain sorts through day, like think about that. And 60,000 thoughts, like some of them are great, and some of them are really crappy. So just hook on to the good ones. And know that of course with 60,000 thoughts, not all of them will serve you.

Yeah, yeah. And this is just something that we are all navigating differently. And it's not to say that, like, you're not going to feel the feeling that's part of the experience, right? And part of the experience is just figuring out how to handle them and shift them. Like how do you how did you feel? Going back to, like, really bad news. Obviously, the worst possible news I can actually imagine, as a mother is that your child is not going to see their first birthday, oh, my God. And taking that in and then turning it around into we're gonna have a dance party every day in this hospital.

When I look back at it, I think it was really like for me shifting the perspective of like, if that was me in that bed, and I had this conversation with a friend. Her name's Brooke her little guy was having brain surgery the day after Lewiston passed, and we've remained good friends and I absolutely adore her and her her son is, uh, you know, fighting his own battle. He's had like a quarter of his brain removed, like distancing, insane learning how to walk again, and all these things. But we had this conversation and I said, my son who's lying in the bed doesn't need a crappy version of me. And that for me was like, if I was Lewiston, I wouldn't want useless, down sad people. I think we talk often about energy. I don't like being in a room full of people that are like, that's not possible can't do that. Like, I was like, I just had this conversation with my kids. I'm like, we are family that leans into what is possible. And so it was like, Okay, kids dying, no treatment. Cool. I'm not a doctor. I'm not super smart. Like now I'm like, Man, I should have been a scientist. Of course, there's a cure, you can figure it out, like, just replaced the gene that he's missing. He's missing a gene, how hard is it go find a gene from somebody and implanted in his body. Like I was like, Can it be that hard? Science is way more difficult than that. And so I just leaned into like, Okay, what is possible? And what was possible was for me to shift my energy of not just being like, Woe is me. And I think when you start to observe your environment, when you start to observe your own energy and how it impacts others, like Hi, I'm a mom and when I lose my ever loving mind and my marbles and I'm sure my kids become Um, you know, short and agitated and irritated and they lose their minds quicker. When I'm, I can bend down and slow things down. And you know, whoa, hey, let's talk about this. They are better versions of themselves. And so I just knew I wanted the energy, the environment, what he did have around them to be the best. And so that really shifted. And so, yeah, if you got bad energy, I will not spend time with you. I will be like Sia, I'm out, like next. So I think just aware of those, like, really small, simple choices in your everyday life can make a huge difference.

Yeah, totally. I actually have a tattoo on my wrist in my mom's printing that says own it, which means exactly that was when I realized too, that the only thing that I can control is my own attitude. And my looking at things. Huge, right? So like, they're like in applying this into business, right? There's no point in being like, well, somebody else said that I couldn't do it, or, you know, other people think this or that. It's like, well, what do you think? And what do you want? And how do you want to live your life, and it is going to be unique and different for every individual. And it is also going to be challenging to step into that.

And the biggest thing that I know to be true is that if you have an idea in your business, if there's something that you're going after, if you have insatiable, relentless belief, it is possible. And insatiable, and relentless belief mean, like, Man, I have this idea, okay, I'm gonna write my second book, I'm gonna go do this. This is something I'm working on in my business. And I've been, you know, not taking action on it. Because I'm like, is it really possible? Oh, I don't know. Like, you know what I mean. But when I show up with things with this insatiable, relentless belief that it is possible, that gives your brain the evidence, and there's scientific evidence of how this works. That because you can see the evidence, your brain is like, Oh, wait, it is possible, it looks for that. And then you start to take that small, consistent action. What often happens is we want it now we want the Amazon Prime, we want prime days where it's like delivered the next day. It was so funny, my girlfriend orders I, you know, I'm posting you can call me influencer says, But I'm posting things. You know, I'm an Amazon affiliate. So it's prime days, you're like, I'm gonna make some money by posting links. And I posted this lip gloss that I absolutely swear by. And it's like, my favorite thing. And my girlfriend adds it to cart. But by the time because it was one of the most popular items on Amazon that day, it was like, oh, it's not shipping till September. And my girlfriend's like, after she pressed the order. She's like, Oh, my gosh, it's not shipping this camera, like I'm not waiting that long. Because we want to prime and when I ordered mine, I got it. Literally, I'm not joking. 16 hours later, like I was like, it was Amazon waiting in the bushes like what happened. And because she couldn't get it within the 24 hour window, she canceled the order. I ordered a second batch the after she ordered hers. And that might look was it wasn't supposed to come until September showed up last week in August. But I think it's so easy to be like, pulling out not going to do it not staying committed. Because it's like if it doesn't happen, the timeframe that you originally think it's going to happen, you know, it's too hard. No, I have to wait too long. And that's where people get thrown off in business. It's like, oh, well, I want to happen now. And then it's like, what didn't happen now. So it's not meant to be or it's not happening now. Like I'm, what's the point or like, I've hit another roadblock, you know, the mean, or like, Oh, this is delayed. And you will see those who are successful in business are the ones that will not quit that do not stop and show up with insatiable, relentless belief. That's what it is.

Oh, yeah. Amen. To that, for sure. I absolutely believe it like and it's like, it's a statement of fact, if I don't quit, I won't fail. If the only way, right, the only way to fail is to quit.

In my love. Yeah. Totally.

Yeah. So what are some of the tools and like mindset, steps that you suggest and or like to help people through like going through navigating these challenges, and I'm like, let's like, zoom out for a second and say that everything that you're going through is challenging, like, and we're not here to compare somebody's heart is different than your heart. Everything is hard, right? And it's hard to run a business and be a mom, and it's hard to deal with health issues and grieving and all of it is hard. So what are some of your tips around that?

Well, let's first of all recognize if you are a woman in business, kudos, that in itself, it's hard. Then if you want to add into the mix, like you're you have a partner, then you want to add to the mix kids, and then you're also trying to take care of yourself and be the best version of yourself. It's next love. Like I love the memes that come out where it's like, Oh, it's fine. I'm just trying to eat the kale salad workout. Have the kids you know, eat organic foods, make sure that clauses are perfectly organized and be out the door by 9am. Like, like what we're doing is wild and crazy. And I'm a very intense full person. And I've got to remind myself slow down, pump the brakes, give yourself some grace. So I'm recognizing it's hard for me that's just like this like, okay, radical acceptance, like what I'm trying to do is probably not like the typical path. Like a lot of people were like, sorry, you do what you do when How do you But and so it doesn't make sense other people. So I've radically accepted that I'm not in there very traditional, you know, stay at home, mom do what you do. And I love that we're redefining what it looks like, you know, for women and business for families for how, you know, partners are coming together and doing all of that. So a few things that I focus on one is being the best version of myself. And that means like mentally and physically. And I know that if I take really good care of myself, I'm bringing the best version to be able to take care of my children, my husband, my business, my clients. And so I'd say if you're doing anything, it is take care of yourself, saying things like, I don't have time to work out, I can't eat healthy and not prioritizing your mental and physical well being is the dumbest thing that you can do. Like that has to be at the top of your list. I recently lost 30 pounds, some of that was supported through medicated weight loss. So just so there's no like, how did you do it? I there was medication involved for portion of it. But I've also gotten on to a really good, very healthy regime that two days a week I go to this really cool spot here in Calgary called eon. And I'm in different technologies red light therapy, infrared sauna. But if that's not the case for you, like are you getting outside and walking? Are you doing a workout? are you lifting weights? Like how are you utilizing your body like there's free workouts, you can figure out anything, get a cold plunge, we got a coal plant, we do that in the backyard, but I prioritize my health. And the second part of that, for me is the mental health is journaling. And having a coach and a therapist, I always say a therapist is to help you deal with your past, having a coach is to help deal with your either. And for me, I, she's now become one of my close friends. We're actually related, but Heather Boersma was a really good friend of mine slash, we're like distantly related third cousins or something. She was my very first coach. And she changed my world in terms of learning how to process thoughts, and how those thoughts affect me. And so from her coaching, and from all the work, I grew up coaching, cheerleading, and being a leader in school and all that, I realized how much I love, bringing out the best in people and helping them discover their belief. And I think if you watch TED, last year, you'll see that because les is not the best, you know, football player, soccer player, he was best at helping people believe in themselves. And I think like when you have people in your world, whether it's a coach, whether it's a community of women, whether it's your partner, but when you have people that are bringing out the best in you and cheering you on and picking you up, when you fall down, that is the difference for Will you succeed, or will you fail? Will you keep going? Or will you quit? And I think that's what happens in businesses, people get tired, they get burnt out, and they don't have the tools and they're scared to ask for help and admit that they're a bit of a mess, because it's vulnerable, and it's scary, and you don't know what people are gonna think. But if you can do those things, take care of yourself both physically and mentally. I think that's the very first thing and getting that for momentum, if you've been stuck for a while.

Yeah, and one thing that you sort of alluded to there to like the power of community and having people around you who are going through similar things, because like I think even for me in I've been in my business now for seven years. Actually, today, it's my anniversary, totally forgot. Yeah, so seven years. And a part of that is like, acknowledging that this is actually like you said, you radically accepted that this is not a normal path, like, quote, normal, right? And somehow, you know, I think a lot of the times, entrepreneurs were really ambitious and we just feel like we can tackle everything at least when we're like super excited about things and at the beginning, and then you don't realize that you're actually like, climbing the biggest mountain that there actually is. And not just taking a different path and not like try and compare yourself to other people. But like, start there and know that that you're, you're already doing something really challenging. So who around you understand that like in their blood and understands it in their soul, and has gone through some of the things that you know, even if you have a super supportive partner, they probably don't get it?

Totally, like I surround myself with women and I love using mags go simplified. Her name is Megan Golightly. She's the first one in a room to put my name forward when it comes to speaking. And she got offered an opportunity to speak at this big women's conference you know full fare not just like oh, like we hope we can you do this for free. Like you know, just I'm like we're women in business, but we all help each other make money so we can all be successful, stop doing ship for free. And she's the woman in a room that will have mentioned my name first and she's done it time and time and time again. And I'm just blown away. weighed by that. And I'm like, imagine if more women did that, like, and it would be competitors necessarily or considered, you know, similar. So like, and she's like, Oh my gosh, you don't just need me you need my friend Jess, she did this and this and this. I was like, imagine if more women did that for each other. And she doesn't live in a scarcity mindset, we will talk about an abundant mindset, like oh my gosh, a billion people on the planet, a bajillion companies, like there's room for all of us. You're not the only podcast, like, we're not the only business coach, there's a lot of us. And I always say, I might not be the right coach for you. So if I'm not let me recommend three others are gonna do the work because I can't serve as 8 billion people. And that has been such a powerful piece is finding women who will be the very first to shout your name, put you forward recommend you. And when you start to find that table community, that's when you're like, chugga, chugga, chugga chugga. And when you're down, they'll pull you up, and when they're down, you'll have the strength to pull them up.

So good. Oh, my gosh, thank you for all of this. Jessica, I want to give you an opportunity to just do a little plug for the love for Lewiston Foundation, let us know about how people can get involved what you guys do, and where people can go and find you online and donate and all the good things.

Totally. So if you're interested in the work that we do, or want to check out how we support and the kind of work how we've been able to shift healthcare and some really exciting things you can check out loveforlewiston.com. Love For Lewiston. And if you Google it, it's usually the first thing to come up, which is amazing. And if you feel moved or even nudged I wrote that book, Bring The Joy and it talks about following the nudges of your heart. If you feel nudged in this podcast or found this helpful making a donation to love for Louis, even if it's 20 bucks, 25 bucks, it makes such a difference. And then that enables us to continue to honor Lewiston and keep his legacy alive and have great impact. And then if anyone wants to connect with me all of my information, I'm sure you'll put in the show notes but it's also just find me on social media. Instagram is kind of my my favor. My favorite one to be on the flavor that I like the most and easiest for me to be on. I'm like, Am I on threads? Am I on Twitter? Like I cannot keep up there's tick tock. Like there's a lot out there. But Instagram is where I mainly live. So you can send me a DM or find my email address on there. And I'm always happy to connect with great women that are wanting to do big and beautiful things.

Amazing. Thank you so much.

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