[00:00:00] Karlee: Welcome back, my loves. It is my pleasure to introduce to you our guest for the day, the magnificent Jennifer Spencer. Jenn is a co-founder of an online community called Pause and Expand. They are focused on personal growth and mental health in both the corporate landscape and also day-to-day interactions with their digital community.

She's a marketing maven, and before launching her new business, she previously worked in the corporate world as a marketing leader for companies including Wattpad, Holt Renfrew, and The Body Shop. What her bio will not tell you is that she has the voice of an angel, a heart of gold, and is an incredibly magical force in my life and I know the rest of the Pause and Expand community as well.

So, Jenn, welcome to Leave Room for the Magic, and it is such a pleasure to have you here. Thank you for joining.

[00:00:56] Jennifer: Thank you so much, Karlee it actually just is lighting my whole body up, being in this conversation with you, and I'm so excited to just see where this takes us, where we go.

[00:01:06] Karlee: Same. Absolutely. And you're joining us from Sedona, nonetheless, which is one of my favorite places.

[00:01:12] Jennifer: Yes.

[00:01:13] Karlee: So welcome. We're soaking in all of the magical Sedona vibes into this conversation.

[00:01:20] Jennifer: And anyone who doesn't know, what happens in Sedona, basically it amplifies whatever you are feeling.

So when you feel happy, you will feel exponentially happy, and when you feel challenging feelings, it will elevate those. So, it really reminds you to just be in the moment and try to always come back to, to happiness and love and presence.

[00:01:39] Karlee: Amazing. I actually did my Bachelorette in Sedona, which you know Jenn, and hilariously one of my friends who hadn't been to Sedona before [and she] didn't really know what it was about. I definitely did more of a meditative, chill, spiritual bachelorette than the party bachelorette. A friend of mine, we were having dinner after and she goes, "Something happened there!" and she Googled Sedona and the the motto is, "You will leave changed."

I was like, the fact that you actually had to Google that after our trip just shows the impact that Sedona has.

[00:02:15] Jennifer: Totally. Totally. I love that.

[00:02:18] Karlee: Yeah. You will leave changed.

[00:02:20] Jennifer: Yeah.

[00:02:20] Karlee: Wonderful. So, for everybody listening or watching today, Jenn and I met a few years ago through her partner Steve, who is also co-founder of the Pause and Expand community, and he will also be joining us as a guest later this season.

I will save my story of synchronicity of how I met Jenn and Steve for later on in our conversation, because it's definitely a fun and magical one. Since we met, and throughout our friendship over the last couple years, Jenn and I really realized that we had a lot of similarities in our path and definitely some parallels in our journeys.

While the circumstances are different, a lot of themes and lessons that we have gone through internally, we could really connect on and felt connected to each other in that way. As we dive into this [podcast], Jenn, we've both set intentions for our conversation today. So let's kick off there.

[00:03:19] Jennifer: Yeah. So, when you had shared with me that you wanted to have this conversation, I think one of the things that sort of came to my mind is this concept of, I hope that when people hear our conversation, they feel inspired to look at how their life is laid out right now, and potentially feel inspired to be curious about what could be possibly different or how could they continue to open their mind to something new that maybe they didn't know before they heard us chatting.

[00:03:51] Karlee: I love that.

[00:03:52] Jennifer: Yeah.

[00:03:52] Karlee: One of the themes from this season that'll keep coming up again and again is really around language and the language we use. So, I welcome you to use whatever language you're comfortable with today. I know one of the great things you do is bridge language in the Pause and Expand community, because you do work in more of a corporate world.

In the online space, you're able to use language that might be considered out of the norm in the corporate spaces.

[00:04:18] Jennifer: Yeah.

[00:04:18] Karlee: So, use whatever language you want to use here today is my invitation to you.

[00:04:23] Jennifer: Okay. Amazing.

[00:04:24] Karlee: Wonderful. And my intention, in addition and building on what you said, Jenn, is to also highlight your impact on the world and the light that you bring and share that light with this community.

And I know that's something that you get to share weekly in your community, but you create a lot of magic in this world, and utilizing [a variety of] tools and being able to share the tools that you've utilized throughout your journey, and hopefully that can help somebody in our community as well who is listening to this episode.

[00:04:54] Jennifer: I love that. I love that.

[00:04:55] Karlee: So, when you think of leave room for the magic in your life, what does that phrase bring up in you?

[00:05:04] Jennifer: Hmm. The word that comes to my mind right now is possibility. I think possibility is something that we learn when we're young and then as we get older as adults, we sort of forget what is possible because we think that we have to be a certain way. And the more that I'm stepping into the work I'm doing that is really, really giving me a deeper sense of purpose, it's reminding me of the power of possibility. And I think that is where the magic comes in. When we can let go of where the outcome is going to take us, and just stay open to the possibility that things are really, really powerful and the power of our thoughts will take us to incredible places. But the magic is in the process of possibility! Of letting it just happen the way that it's supposed to, and also taking inspired action at the same time.

[00:06:01] Karlee: Yeah, absolutely! I think one of the things you and I have talked about is remembering our own magic inside of us and our own gifts, which is also what you just said about, thinking of possibilities when we're younger and losing that along the way. I think even remembering our own innate gifts, you know? That kind of thing also falls off along the way. So, talk to me a little bit about in your journey, how did you start to remember those gifts and really live into them in your adult life?

[00:06:37] Jennifer: You know, I think life is just a series of these small moments that are always reminding us who we are and just to continuously come back to love.

I remember when I was younger, I grew up in a family where my, my dad was very much and in all the best ways, but really wanted us to be the best we could be. And so for him, that looked like staying in a career, the same career his entire life and becoming very successful in that. And there was a moment in my journey where I was on that trajectory.

I was the VP of marketing at The Body Shop, a very well known, purpose-driven organization, and I remember sitting in the office and getting to that place and then thinking to myself, "I don't think this is what I want to do. I'm not sure that this is where I want to be." From that moment, it was more of a question of I'm not sure if this is what I want.

It wasn't definitive, it was just kind of a curiosity. And from that place, all of these little moments and actions started happening. So when I put that moment of desire out, like, "I'm curious that maybe there's something more that I really want," my path started opening up. So I started being more willing to share the work that I do in the spiritual world, which, for me was always thought like, you can never tell and show someone who you are. Because that'll make them think that you're strange or there's something different about you. But then I started to realize that that is actually my gift, is the ability to be with people that actually are in the same world, that are curious about the same things as I am.

And then that place of letting go of who I thought I was supposed to be, felt like I didn't have to hold on so tightly to it anymore, and I could actually start building things like Pause and Expand, which is my true passion and my true purpose.

[00:08:34] Karlee: So you're sitting in this corporate seat. I always say one of the similarities in our story is that I still feel like I'm in this kind of corporate financial industry, very traditional setting. Yet [I have] this deep, vast, spiritual side of myself.

[00:08:54] Jennifer: Yeah.

[00:08:54] Karlee: So I always call it the closet spiritualist.

[00:08:57] Jennifer: Totally, totally!

[00:08:58] Karlee: Like we are in these spiritual closets, and then all of a sudden there's an invitation. All of a sudden you meet somebody where you're like, "I think they're into this stuff too!" Then you start talking about it and you just go there. Right?

[00:09:11] Jennifer: Yeah.

[00:09:11] Karlee: And so, how old roughly were you when that realization started to come? Because I think people also forget and have so much expectations of themselves, especially in their twenties, but sometimes that click doesn't happen right away, or the change doesn't happen right away from that first inkling in curiosity that you got of, "maybe something is different." It's not like, "Let's shift everything." So when did that start to unfold for you?

[00:09:41] Jennifer: Honestly, it was sort of in my early thirties where I started to kind of have this moment of, it was almost the moment where I achieved what I thought I was supposed to be, and then that was an inflection point of, "I'm not sure that this is who I actually am. The true version of me." I remember when I was in my twenties and working in different organizations, people would say to me, "Where are you going this weekend? You're going on some experience." And I would always tell people I'm going on a yoga retreat, because that was the safest thing I could possibly say, but I was going to meditation retreats the whole time and I was too scared to tell people that's what I was doing because I was worried about their perception. I think what's really powerful is when we start to step into who we are, and I feel like you've had a similar experience, we get to realize that it's okay to share more vulnerable things, and actually the vulnerable things are what bring us deeper, deeper connection to human beings and realize, wow, I can actually be myself, share all of my gifts, and there are people out there that are going to relate to my story.

[00:10:45] Karlee: Yeah, absolutely there are. When I first started talking about this, I found that a lot of people would say to me, "I don't get to talk about this with anybody," and I luckily was in the space - this is probably about seven years ago for me, that I started talking about this with people and not just my meditation guy or my healer that I was working with.

[00:11:09] Jennifer: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:11:10] Karlee: And, so having those conversations with people, you'd start to put breadcrumbs outside of our little spiritual closets and see if somebody would bite and then invite them in and have these beautiful conversations. But these are the conversations that I really love and that light me up so.

Well, in your life and your path, as you're making this realization and transition, I think one of the things to highlight, I think is a good point for people to understand is following that curiosity. It wasn't an immediate overnight thing.

[00:11:49] Jennifer: Yes.

[00:11:49] Karlee: So what were some of the curiosities and tools you utilized throughout that transition to your business? How long did that transition take for you specifically, and, what did that look like? Because I think so often people look for clarity, forgetting that sometimes it's the action - that taking that small inspired step - opens up new possible paths that we didn't see from our initial viewpoint and standpoint. Right?

[00:12:18] Jennifer: Yeah, for sure.

[00:12:19] Karlee: And so, On your journey? What did, those steps look like?

[00:12:24] Jennifer: I think for me, one of the, one of the interesting things, you know, looking back was I was very much a person that my career defined who I was.

So the fact that I could be the VP of marketing and people's eyes would get big and they'd want to have business meetings with me, that is what brought me life. That is brought, brought me joy, and I remember there was a moment where I was sort of in between jobs and I kept looking for new VP jobs, and I kid you not, Karlee, I applied to five roles as the VP of marketing and I was the runner up in every single one of those positions for five roles, which over the course of two years was devastating for me. There was this whole grief of, "I'm not good enough," and, "I can't do it," and, "Why does no one want me?" All of those negative feelings started to come in. But then there was a moment where - the power of having people in your life that support you is one of the biggest positive things that I've had as a part of my journey, because I think sometimes people can show you things that you can't even see yourself. But, there was a moment where I was sitting, it was either my sister or Steve that said to me, "Well, maybe this isn't what you're supposed to be doing. Have you ever actually thought of that?" and it completely tore me apart.

I was like, this can't be my truth. This can't not be what I'm supposed to do because that's what I thought I was always supposed to be. I ended up getting a job at this company called Wattpad, which is a tech company, completely not in the world that I was originally trained and had done my experience in, and the pandemic hit and they asked me, "Does anyone in the company know wellness experiences that could lead some things?"

And I'm sitting there scared to share that I'm a meditation guide, this is what I do in my secret spiritual closet over here. And Steve just said, "You know, why don't you just do it and see what happens if one person shows up, just do it!" And I did and it was the most freeing and exciting - I can feel it in my body right now - it was the most exciting moment of, oh my gosh, I actually don't have to hide who I am. I can actually be, Jennifer Spencer, the marketing person, and Jennifer Spencer, who loves spirituality and somehow wants to bridge these two worlds. And from there, it just kept progressing. So again, it was all these little breadcrumbs. You know, at one point I had to separate Jennifer, the marketing person from the person who was leading wellness, and so I had to go to my boss and say, "I'm happy to do this, but I need you to pay me. I need to actually have, have money coming from this," and she said, "Okay. Let's do it!" And then, I started realizing other companies wanted this in their world as well, and so we started getting more requests.

But I think the biggest thing, and everyone's going to have their own path, but the biggest thing I learned is as soon as you stay curious and say yes to something that probably feels very uncomfortable, it's not going to feel comfortable. And I know that you feel the same way too. Then the next sign and synchronicity will show up to say, "Oh, okay, I said yes to this, and now something else is showing up!"

And another opportunity. And another opportunity. And then all you, you know, before you realize it, you've built an entire company and people are calling you because what you do in the world is so important. So it's really cool, but it requires that aspect of curiosity and also the patience to let things show up in the time they're meant to show up and not feel like you have to let it all go and become this new person, because that's very scary for most people.

[00:15:52] Karlee: Yeah. Even in the transition, talking about the two years of interviewing before then you went to Wattpad. Even in that transition, did you still feel like this is a stepping stone? Did you, you obviously didn't see that path at Wattpad. That Wattpad would have asked for it? Or the pandemic - who could have predicted that ever.

[00:16:13] Jennifer: Exactly.

[00:16:13] Karlee: That made a massive demand on our mental health and put a corporate spotlight on that.

[00:16:19] Jennifer: Yeah.

[00:16:20] Karlee: transition, how long has that been for you now?

[00:16:25] Jennifer: You know, it's, it's one of those things, I finally think actually on this trip that we've been in, Sedona, I feel finally this sense of confidence in being and doing what I'm doing.

But I can tell you there are days still to this point where I have these moments of thinking what am I doing? Should I just go get a job? And those moments where you see the job posting come up and you think, well, I could get that job. I mean, should I just apply and see if, I could get it?

Something in me is always saying, no, don't do it. Don't do it. But it's, actually never ends the process of remembering to stay in alignment with what you're doing. Because for most of us, I think the fear of being who we really are is scarier than anything else that we do in our lives. But when we get to actually show up, because in my family, I'm the only, I'm the first entrepreneur from my family, so for me to take that risk, it, goes in the face of everything that I've been taught that I was supposed to do.

Now I look back and my family's so supportive of what I do, but it wasn't always like that there was a fear that they were worried that maybe I wouldn't be okay if I took this path. so I just think it's an ongoing journey and a reminder to yourself, I'm, on the right path.

I'm doing the things I should be doing.

[00:17:46] Karlee: Yeah. And speaking of that, you know one of the other things I know you and I have talked about as well, because there's still the corporate side of what you do, and I think what you and Steve do very well in the Pause and Expand community is you take these spiritual practices and principles and not even spiritual, but meditative, neuroscience, that kind of thing. And there's a spectrum of language you use from the hyper-spiritual, we'll call it "Woo Woo," to the corporate side, and being able to bridge and dance between that spectrum of language. I think you two do it very well. But if you and I are honest, we also love to talk on the very spiritual, woo-woo side too, right?

[00:18:28] Jennifer: Oh yeah!

[00:18:29] Karlee: And so if we can call in that for a second here. Because I think that's also something that is not super common in both of our families as well.

[00:18:39] Jennifer: Yeah.

[00:18:39] Karlee: And, like I said, sometimes you're saying the same things but in different words. So what are some tools you've used in navigating your spiritual life with your family?

If we talk about some of your gifts that you have, on the spiritual side. What is that like navigating with not only your family, but when you were in the corporate space as well, and even probably within your business when you get these intuitive hits.

[00:19:09] Jennifer: Yeah.

[00:19:09] Karlee: I don't know how to explain this, but, how do you navigate those things as they come up?

[00:19:16] Jennifer: So one of the things that I very rarely used to tell people is that I'm a medium so I can help, people to communicate with people that have passed away on the other side. And, That gift, I think, was very divine the way it came into my life because it's one of those things that will actually, people will say, "You have lost it, like you've actually lost it."

and, it can be very controversial for people in terms of what their beliefs are. It started coming to me actually when my mom passed away and I started to receive these really, really clear signs that she was around, that she was trying to communicate with me. And you know those, those moments where you hear a song and it reminds you of someone or you smell a perfume or you see an object, whether it's a car or something.

There were things that were so [clear], you couldn't deny them. She drove a black convertible Jaguar, a very specific one, and it showed up one day right in front of my sister's apartment as she was literally buying a new home for herself. And it was all these things, just, I could have a list of 20 things that happened during this time when it was my mom trying to communicate.

And I remember feeling really scared and also really excited about the possibility that there was something I didn't even realize was out there. At the same time, I remember being really worried to tell my family, and my friends because I thought, they're not going to believe me and they're going to think that I'm making all these stories up.

What I realized in that process was when I can share from my experience and I can tell people from my experience what's happening without telling someone, "Well, you need to do this too. And she wants to talk to you also." All of a sudden people start to realize, "I want to know what she's doing. I want to learn about that. I'm curious about what that is." and that's exactly what happened. My sister was the first one and she started receiving signs and she would come to me and say, "I have to tell you this really weird thing that happened to me. Do you think that's mom?" and I would turn to her and say, "Well, do you think it's mom?"

She's like, "I don't know." And then eventually, more and more things would happen. Then eventually, she just called me yesterday and said to me, "Oh, mom came to me and shared this thing. This really cool thing happened!" Then it happened to my brother and then it happened to my dad who's an accountant by trade who would never in a million years believe in this stuff.

And so, the biggest thing I'm realizing with all of this is no matter what your specific gift is, if you share from your experience what it's done for you and how it's impacted your life, then whoever is meant to also hear and be inspired by whatever it is that you're doing, it will start to ripple and open up their gifts, I think, in the same way.

But that was a really scary moment because it was something that is really out there. Like you can't really prove it. So you really just have to believe.

[00:22:22] Karlee: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. You know, my grandmother, when she passed away, she was really big into 11:11 and that's when our family started seeing it quite a bit.

So we'd get signs not just looking at the time, 11:11, but growing up I was a big competitive dancer and after a dance competition we'd go get ice cream and the cost of the ice cream was $11.11, or when my grandfather passed 11 years later - I was 11 when my grandmother passed and 11 years later I was 22, so 11+11, right? When I graduated university, the hotel we were staying at, I got the room number 1111 amongst all my family.

[00:23:03] Jennifer: Wow!

[00:23:04] Karlee: And so it's my one and only tattoo on my arm. It's so funny because recently I just thought, you know, because 1111, I'm not the only one who that's a sign from loved ones or just like a sign for people, and recently one of my family members messaged me and they sent me an article about 11:11 being a spiritual meaning and they said, "I just thought it was a you thing. I didn't realize it was this big spiritual thing!" And I laughed just because for more than half my life it's been a big thing, a big influence in my life, and I have known that it's not just me. But it's just so funny when all of a sudden you're like, "You didn't? You didn't realize that?" But then that really shows you the worlds we are steeped in, you know, not everybody has those perspectives as well. So it's always interesting.

[00:23:57] Jennifer: Well, it's interesting when we were chatting, before we decided to record this together, You were talking about this concept of synchronicity and I just went for a walk this morning and I was thinking about what does synchronicity mean to me? And I wrote it down on paper and I wrote, "It's a tool that helps us to remember that we're all connected and we're all supported."

So, what I reflected on was, why is it so cool when I see a car that reminds me of my mom? Why is it so cool when you get that 11:11 show up and it gives you that feeling in your body of, "Ooh, what's happening here?" Why is it so amazing when you meet someone or you're thinking of someone and then they call you right away and you think, oh my gosh.

What it's doing is it's reminding us that we are all connected to each other, right? That we're all here, that we're not alone, we're supported, and to trust in the path that we're taking. Right? To just ultimately come back to love. Because what I noticed sometimes is that people are getting caught up in the story and forgetting about what the reason is that you're seeing the signs.

So I remember when I used to get signs for my mom and I would tell the story and people's eyes would get big the way they did when I told them I was the VP of marketing. I forgot why that was actually important. It was like, I love the idea of them going, "Oh my gosh, that makes no sense. That's so cool!" But I forgot that actually my mom is just a symbol that I'm supported and that I'm loved and that I can pursue my dreams and I can have what I really desire. So, I'm curious for you, what does synchronicity mean to you?

[00:25:38] Karlee: Synchronicity to me, when I think about it, I think about how oftentimes another word for synchronicity is coincidence.

And so there's this, do you believe in coincidence and happenstance, or do you believe in the idea that we're connected, or everything happens for a reason, right? And it's not as simple as everything happens for a reason. So the reason I like synchronicity is there's a magical feel to it, so it FEELS like magic. I know you and I have talked about that. It's not necessarily magic per se, it just feels magical when you see stuff and you follow the breadcrumbs and it leads you to a better place than you could have ever predicted, you know? It feels like there's a supporting team on the other side that's helping.

[00:26:32] Jennifer: Yes.

[00:26:32] Karlee: I don't think there is the one be all end all, at least in my beliefs. I think there is a guiding supportive force for me. Yeah, is what I believe.

[00:26:46] Jennifer: Yeah. I love that. I love that concept of, you know, we get so caught up in our everyday lives and all of the things that we're worrying about and focused on, and when we really zoom out and look at the bigger picture, it's so much bigger.

Right? That's the feeling and that's what's cool about synchronicity is it's actually a feeling in your body when you get that tingling or that it always is the same for me when I feel. That moment of, "Whoa, what was that? What was that?!?" And the pieces of the puzzle kind of come together, right?

[00:27:17] Karlee: Yeah. So that feeling, talk to me about that feeling. Is there a difference? The reason I say it's different than everything happens for a reason. I think it's more of a different word for coincidence, right? Yes. So coincidence, to me, feels like you don't see the connections. You're maybe too busy thinking about your own life, your to-do list, your work. You miss the magical piece of it where you see that, oh, this could be intertwined or a nod in something you know, greater. What does that feel like in your body when you know this is the fun synchronicity that's happening?

[00:27:59] Jennifer: I think it's just this feeling of a knowing, it's a real deep knowing inside myself. It feels like a yes. You know when people will say it's either an eff no, or it's an eff yes? It's an eff Yes when that happens, because it's just a reminder. You don't even question yourself.

And, I think it's also a big tool to help us stay connected to our intuition, which is that inner knowing that all of us have and we spend so much time talking ourself out of it. When actually the synchronicities and the coincidence as are undeniable, right? It's an intuitive hit and an inner knowing that feels like a yes, keep going. Don't stop. You're on the right path. Even no matter what it is, you're on the right path. And actually, what I find also interesting is sometimes synchronicities can, if you're coming from the wrong place, they can actually take you to a wrong spot or they sort of redirect you. So, you know, I thought about moments in the past where I really liked a guy and I was looking for all the signs that he was interested in me, and I would look for signs and try to make them happen. And actually they were saying, Jenn, this is not the right person you need to be connected to. Reroute yourself. But you know, that's where the discernment and the real staying in your heart and staying in your knowing.

Because if I had stayed in my knowing during those moments, my intuition was telling me, this is not a sign. It's actually just you trying to make something that isn't actually here. So.

[00:29:37] Karlee: Mm-hmm. Interesting.

[00:29:39] Jennifer: That's also really powerful too.

[00:29:41] Karlee: Well, I feel like my definition of synchronicity is almost evolving as we're chatting, and I'm sure it'll evolve throughout the seasons.

But one of that evolution I'm hearing from you is that it's an outer symbol to help you confirm those inner voices that we try to ignore, not listen to.

[00:29:59] Jennifer: Oh, yes!

[00:30:00] Karlee: Because of what we think other people think we should do, what society thinks we should do. All of the outer noise that we get often it's hard to hear our inner noise, and at least I've had experience in my journey where sometimes it's hard to trust your inner noise because if you, or inner voice, I guess there's inner noise too. (Laughter)

[00:30:20] Jennifer: Oh, there's a lot of inner noise.

[00:30:21] Karlee: Yeah. But finding that clear voice and seeing those synchronicities come in that are like, oh, this is a good path versus a, and I don't want to say good or bad, but just like a...

[00:30:39] Jennifer: More aligned

[00:30:39] Karlee: Yeah, more aligned. I think alignment is a very good word. Thank you for that. So using it as an outer symbol to reconfirm that inner voice that's trying to guide you. I always say there's that inner voice, how do you distinguish it from the inner noise, let's say?

There is clarity to it. For me, there is actually quite a booming voice and recently I heard it say, "Look, you're in this experience and let's just say of life, right? You're in this experience. I'm just trying to make it easier on you. You get to choose. But you can choose if you follow my guidance, I'm going to try and make this whole thing a little smoother."

Right? Versus panicked and not great, right? Yeah. And so trying to continue to find and follow, that inner guidance that just says, "I'm still at choice here. How do I make this whole experience of life just a little less rocky?

[00:31:47] Jennifer: Yeah, and I think what's so interesting about that for people that are listening to this thinking and being critical about themselves, thinking about this - that's the five job, VP marketing exercise I went through. I had to do it five times to suddenly think, wait, what's going on here? This can't be the way that I'm supposed to keep going and going and going. But if it had happened after one, I probably wouldn't have got the lesson. So it's also that reminder that sometimes the hard lessons that we're learning are actually the ones that are the inflection points that are shifting the trajectory to go, wait a minute, there is an easier path, and I can trust that there is something bigger out there that's guiding me.

And if I lean into that and let go of the outcome, then the possibility of what's out there could be even bigger than I imagined was possible, right?

[00:32:36] Karlee: Yeah, and sometimes it's not a booming voice. Sometimes it's a whisper too.

[00:32:40] Jennifer: Totally!

[00:32:40] Karlee: And if we don't listen to the whispers, we keep ignoring it. . And sometimes there's a very good reason you go and apply to the five jobs, right?

[00:32:48] Jennifer: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:32:49] Karlee: And sometimes it's like, well, I had to walk that path just to realize it's not for me before I went and did this other thing. Because on another path, if you just went straight for entrepreneurship, you may have thought back to say, "Well, what if I took that VP job?" You still say that sometimes you look at job postings that are like, "Well, what if?" But if you hadn't had that experience to feel like, no, there was something guiding me towards this, and nudging me towards this path. Then maybe you would make another detour. And I say detour of feeling like, I feel like you're quite in alignment with what you're meant to do.

[00:33:26] Jennifer: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:33:27] Karlee: So why don't we end with a story of synchronicity. I don't know if you've got a favorite of yours. I know we've dabbled in a few. We'll do a story of synchronicity and then I'd love to hear about some of the stuff you're working on.

[00:33:39] Jennifer: actually, so one of the synchronicities just happened to me 20 minutes ago.

So Steve and I went out for a walk and we were. Deciding whether we were going to climb up this big mountain. it's called Sugarloaf. And I kept saying to Steve, I really want to go. And he said, well, I'm too tired. I don't want to, I don't really like hiking that much," and we're having this whole conversation.

Anyways, I said, "We're going, let's just start walking." So we got halfway up the trail and there was a man that was wearing a Niagara Falls shirt. And so Steve stopped him and said, "Oh, Niagara Falls, are you from there?" And he said, "No, but I've been there," and Steve said, "Oh, that's really close to where we're from."

And the man just had a double hip replacement surgery and he talked to us about the importance of fitness, of taking care of your body and of exercise. And as Steve and I are walking up the hill somewhat arguing with each other about why it's so important, and I'm trying to convince him, this man literally shows up on our path and appears and basically reminds us about the power of exercise of taking care of your body.

They were in their sixties and then they mirrored back to us - there was a story of the woman had basically said she'd been with him for 25 years, and at the four-year mark, which is exactly where Steve and I are in our relationship, she got into an argent with him and said, "I'm leaving!" And he turned to her and said, "Where are you going to go? Where are you going to, where are you going to go? Who are you going to be with? That's not a perfect match like me?" And I've actually had that exact experience happen with Steve and I, and so it was almost like we were looking at our future selves 20 years from now living in Sedona, exercising on this mountain and going, yup, this is our future selves literally appearing to us on the top of this mountain when we're like hemming and hawing of whether we should go up.

[00:35:32] Karlee: Oh, I love that.

[00:35:34] Jennifer: It was really, really amazing. And then I thought, well, this is funny, I'm going to do a conversation with Karlee about this exact topic.

[00:35:41] Karlee: That's a perfect story. I think those are the fun things where once again, it could be a coincidence that you just ran into these people, but it's fun to look at it and be like, that's like our future selves, and they said stuff that we talk about and all this stuff.

[00:35:57] Jennifer: Totally.

[00:35:57] Karlee: Like, oh my God, I love that.

[00:35:58] Jennifer: Yeah. Yeah. So it just, it was one of those moments where it just reminded me, you know what? Lean into the love that you have for Steve. Lean into this being your life. Let your physical exercise be a joy versus a burden, because look at yourself in 20 years, this is all going to pay off, and so just keep taking those small steps up the mountain because it's taking you somewhere good.

[00:36:23] Karlee: Yeah. I love that. Okay, wonderful. Well, I did promise people that I would tell them story of synchronicity. For you and I meeting, which actually also has to do with Sedona. So a good friend of mine had made these beautiful seashell earrings before I went to Sedona for my bachelorette and gave them to me as a gift. When I was in Sedona, I bought her a string of crystals to use for her jewelry making. And I was like, I don't know what you're going to use them for, but here you go. So when I got back from Sedona, I went over and gave them to her. She was like, oh, there's this really great sound bath happening tomorrow night. I was like, I love sound baths! Sign me up! Here we go.

So her and I went to the Sound Bath, and it was Jenn and Steve's sound bath. I didn't have my contacts in because we were going to be lying down with my eyes closed the whole time. So I didn't really pick up on the facilitators. I knew there was a guy and a girl, you know, I was in the moment, in the bliss, had just came back from Sedona. It was a magical, magical sound bath. And then the next night, Steve was DJing at my brother-in-law's 40th birthday party. And that's when Steve and I reconnected and I figured out he was one of the facilitators, I was like, "You are the guy that I didn't see yesterday. Cool!" Then we chatted about what each other did and had one of those closet spiritualist moments where I was like, this is who I am. I love sound baths, and I this is why and that kind of stuff, and I'm a financial planner and blah, blah, blah. He was like, "Wow, what a juxtaposition! You need to meet Jenn." And then we met, and yeah, the, the rest is, I say the rest is history, but actually it continues because then Jenn introduced me to an incredible community of women six months later, and they're a core part of my routine and my mental health and my life these days. So, yeah. Anyways, it was all the breadcrumbs

[00:38:30] Jennifer: Very divine. Yeah. Yeah. that's one of the reminders too, of when the same, thing or a person shows up multiple times, there's probably something there for you to either talk to them about or see or explore, but it's just that moment of, "oh, weird. I was just at this thing yesterday and here you are DJing my brother's birthday party."

[00:38:52] Karlee: Exactly! Wonderful. And then Jenn, you've got a lot of incredible opportunities for people to connect with you and some exciting stuff going on in your world, so please share.

[00:39:04] Jennifer: Yeah. So, you know, one of the things that I'm realizing more and more as we talk about this is the power of vulnerability. We have a meditation album that is out on Spotify and it's all about navigating tough emotions. And so, as we talk about the power of. Following your path and intuition and all these things, there's also these really tough emotions that come up along the way, like grief, anger, self-judgment, rejection, and all these different feelings. So, I created a meditation album that basically addresses each of these emotions in less than eight minutes. And it's a tool that we wanted to put out there in the world to help people in those moments where they're really tough and you're not really sure what to do to navigate.

So, it's on Spotify, it's on Apple Music and it's the first of many I think that I will put out into the world, but it's been a real joy to just be more in my purpose and actually take my experience and share it more fully with the world. So, yeah.

[00:40:08] Karlee: I love that. Well, as you can tell from this podcast, if you're listening or watching, Jenn's got a very soothing voice and I can attest to these meditations. They are lovely and a nice little reset if you ever need during the day. But Jenn, also, why don't you share, why did you choose the eight emotion?

[00:40:24] Jennifer: Hmm. They were the ones I knew more than any others. So they were the ones that, you know, have kind of taken me to the ground multiple times in my life and also given me a sense of real hope when I can get through them and realize I'm stronger than I realize.

So, I just, I know that they're universal and I know that they are things that have taken me a long time to work through and still come up every day in my life. So I thought to myself, you know what, these are the things I feel like I know the most about, and so I want to share those as my gift to others that are going through the same thing.

[00:41:01] Karlee: Yeah. Well, thank you for those. And I thought it was important to share that because my experience of you, I get to see you in a lot of magical moments, and I get to see what I see as a budding and brilliant community and entrepreneur, and the entrepreneur in you and what you're building and stuff like that. And it looks all seamless and flawless from my perspective. So, to have these background conversations and to know some of the other things that you're going through, I think it's important to remind people of these things that happen off of social media or offline and that kind of stuff are the things that everybody's working through. Even the people who are putting it out and it looks all seamless and coordinated and brilliant.

[00:41:45] Jennifer: Yeah. Yup!

[00:41:46] Karlee: There's a lot of that going on behind the scenes as well.

[00:41:49] Jennifer: Yeah, for sure. For sure.

[00:41:51] Karlee: And then your Pause and Expand community. How can people interact with that?

[00:41:58] Jennifer: Yeah, so we have a community, it's a meditation club, and Karlee is actually one of the members in the community we meet three times a week. So it's 8:30 am to 9:00 am Eastern Standard Time (EST). It's really inspired by this concept of we are better when we're in community and we're better when we get to do things in groups and realize that we actually have a lot of shared experience with other people. And so we meet for 30 minutes and we do a sound bath, we visualize something amazing to help set us into our day, and we journal and we just connect. Like the wisdom that comes from this group of hundred people is just mind-blowing. It's incredible. So, it's really just an invitation to start your day in a different frame of mind than maybe what you would've thought on your own you were capable of.

[00:42:49] Karlee: Mm-hmm. I love that. You know it's a nice 30-minute touchpoint, a good accountability group to have if you're trying to make meditation a part of your routine. Whether it's meditation, just sit and mindfulness, there's a lot of great sharing in the chat of these groups and wonderful connection in the Facebook group as well. So please check out Pause and Expand if you have some time. I think it's a great community and congrats Jenn to you and Steve on building a wonderful space for people to gather!

[00:43:20] Jennifer: Thank you! I'm always so inspired by Karlee's comments specifically. I always look for them. What's Karlee saying about this? What wisdom can I get from her today?

[00:43:28] Karlee: Well, likewise! Wonderful. Well, Jenn, thank you so much for being here. This is a wonderful conversation and I know people will value it. So thank you for your time.

[00:43:39] Jennifer: Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me and reminding me of the power of all the different sides of us that can come to life when we just talk from our hearts, right?

[00:43:48] Karlee: Yeah. My pleasure. My pleasure. Yeah.

[00:43:50] Jennifer: Thanks, Karlee.

[00:43:51] Karlee: All right, bye!

[00:43:52] Jennifer: Bye!