Behind the Scenes

From early on in my (Jessica's) life, I had the dream of being what is now termed a life-coach. However, back then, in my early 20s, I didn't have that language. Perhaps coaches were a thing, but I was not familiar with that type of work. Basically, I knew that somehow, I wanted to live my life with faithful excellence, integrity and responsibility to the best of my ability. Then, after hopefully learning a thing or two to share, I hoped to go public and "serve younger women." Mentor may have been my word back then.

The dream of being a "mentor" was low-resolution because I intuited that it was in the distant future and would only occur when (and if) I could manage to direct my own life in a way that may be helpful, informative or interesting for others to learn from. The distant reality was 20 years in the making and maybe it was best that I didn't know back then how far out it was.

It was really important to me that I lay the foundation of guiding others by first disciplining myself. Humans are visual creatures and we do best when we can see others doing the thing. This is why little kids do what mommy and daddy do. That is how we learn to do the thing. This focus came from my observation that it was hard for me to find examples of people I knew (especially women) who I would like to emulate. Of course, not everyone can do everything perfectly but I wanted to find strong women who were spiritually connected, physically fit, living healthy, in solid marriages, great friends, artistic creators, successful entrepreneurs, financially thriving, avid learners and joyful explorers.

These were the aims I had, but I didn't know where to start. With little guidance in these areas personally and relationally available to me, I turned to books. I have a degree in Communication but additionally, I have studied for decades, continued my education, and read hundreds of books on these life topics. I have additional University education in financial cost-accounting, art, interior decorating and was a licensed health insurance agent in Florida. I have completed post grad work in entomology and horticulture. It is important to me to smoke what I am selling (practice what I preach). I read about how to have a healthy body, heart and mind and lived into what I learned.

My coaching practice couldn't begin until years of life practice. I bought my first home, exercised regularly, worked hard and found my man. First, we were happily married for years, in excellent health, involved in our community, and flourishing spiritually. We met our financial goals with gazelle speed and thus retired from full time work by 38. This freed us from the grind of the rat race, hectic life and cultural pressures. We paid our debts and prioritized time with loved ones. We established our summer home in the woods and began our life as sun-birds. Our time had become our own to "give back" and fully explore our gifts and interests.

Therefore, I have been intentional about developing these areas of my life from way back. Transparency and honesty are key values of mine. After reaching a reasonable degree of "success", defined by my honest internal standards, I was confident that I had learned enough to begin to serve others in these areas.

Finally, in the midst of the COVID pandemic, I was given an opportunity to be a "coach" for a company that was looking for someone to help young ladies who had lost their way. The dream finally took high-resolution. When the opportunity found me, I knew this was the "yes" I had prepared for.

These days, I use the Enneagram Tool along with spirituality and other resources to serve my clients, who include men and women. Clients come from all walks of life, with diverse goals, unique hearts and varied spiritual backgrounds. What we all have in common is we are children of God, navigating through this wonderful life and aiming to be our best version of ourselves.

There are 2 takeaways from this little story

1. At first, when dreams are just being birthed, they are fuzzy and undefined. The words are not precise, the details are not at all decided and the whole idea seems difficult to articulate, let alone manifest. The dream starts with a Big Picture Idea, and as we live into it, day by day, year by year, decade by decade, the details become clearer. We make the road by taking that first step, though the fog is dense, and then it's baby steps all the way to the goal. When we near the completion, the story is progressively more defined and dialed in.

2. Because I want to know who I am receiving input from, I have included some personal stories in my blog so you can see who I am before you receive input from me (in other words, I need to know something about my coaches, teachers and spiritual directors and maybe you do to). Obviously, you are free to skip these if you are uninterested. I include them simply to share some of how I live behind the scenes, in case that is important to the people I serve.

   
   

Thank you,

Live Well and with Integrity,

Jessica