#47 Featured Fempreneurs Jessica, Johnena and Carly (Interviewed by Selina Novello)

This episode is the first in a series called Featured Fempreneurs with Selina. Each week, Selina interviews a FempreneurLand member on Instagram Live and we share the recordings here on the podcast. In this episode you'll learn about three Fempreneurs, how and why each started her business, the greatest challenge she faced and how she overcame it and what she would tell her 10 year younger self. Click their names below to follow these #bossbabes on Instagram:

Jessica Velazquez, Interior Designer

Johnena Stenske, Personal Trainer

Carly Kolesnik, Athletic Therapist

Get ready to be inspired and learn new ways to market yourself effectively while adding a huge dose of passion and joy to your business building journey!

Connect with Selina, the host of this episode and FempreneurLand's Marketing Co-Manager, on Instagram @selina_novello.

If you are ready to dive into this amazing 6 week program you keep hearing about on the podcast called Fempreneur Marketing School, get all your questions answered at FempreneurLand.com!

My name is Lyndsie Barrie and the reason I create a new podcast episode for you each week is to give you the confidence and tools you need to build income streams doing things you love. If you have questions about leadership, marketing, writing your first book or building a niche community, get in touch with me at FempreneurLand.com/Lyndsie. See you next week!

Every Tuesday a new episode of the Fempreneur Marketing Podcast drops! Subscribe:

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Until next time, 

Lyndsie Barrie

Author and Founder, FempreneurLand.com

Selina Novello [0:06 - 0:58]

Hello. It's Selena here. The best part of my job as a marketing co manager of entrepreneur land is interviewing are featured for entrepreneur of the week, helping her get her story out to fend Preneurs Land and beyond is so much fun and I've seen firsthand the ripple effect these interviews have on not only women here in Calgary area, but women all across north America in this episode, I'll be interviewing Jessica who is an interior designer, Janina, who is a personal trainer and Carly, who is an athletic therapist. These from Preneurs all have so much inspiration and knowledge to share with you before we dive in. If we aren't connected on instagram, you can find me at salina underscore novello. The link to connect with me and all three featured from Preneurs is right here in the podcast. Show notes. Let's get started.

Jessica [0:58 - 1:31]

I am the first home design specialist. I think I'm the only one that has that title. Man, interior designer. But I specialize on uh serving first time homeowners, anyone who is just taking possession of their very first home with lots of dreams many times with a limited budget, but lots of dreams. So how do you take these streams, combine it with a limited budget and make that into a reality? It's what's, what I'm all about design strategies is what I call

Selina Novello [1:31 - 2:02]

it. That's awesome. Yeah, I've seen some of your reels on your page and that's why I've gotten to see your business and I love that you're all about how to save money and stick to your budget because I know when I go shopping for my room and stuff, I'm like, oh no, it's too expensive. So I definitely enjoy, enjoy watching your stuff. But so can you tell us a little bit more about the journey how it came to be and also how long you've been an entrepreneur for?

Jessica [2:03 - 4:06]

Um sure. I graduated in interior design in Toronto many years ago uh and then worked as an interior designer there. But then my my husband and I got married, had a baby and then we decided to move back to Panama where I am from. And while there I became disillusioned with the trades, the contractors and I stopped doing this inter design full time and went into real estate. So I combined into your design with real estate, mostly serving foreigners who were retiring in Panama. So I became known as the realtor designer sort of thing. I did that for a few years and I did it on my own. So I I opened up this company uh so I guess I could say I've been an entrepreneur entrepreneur since I was um probably 23 24. Yeah, so I've, I've had different businesses. I come from an entrepreneurial family, so I grew up listening to my dad telling stories of things that have gone really well and things have gone really bad. Yeah, I think it's in my blood moving back to Canada, I decided that it was time for me to go back full time and into interior design. And there was the question like, okay, who do I really want to serve, who do I, who do I feel connected with? And the answer was really very clear to me, I feel connected with first time homeowners, I was the first time homeowner once and I tell everyone the story that I, when I moved into my first home, I wanted to, I wanted to change the kitchen, I wanted to open the kitchen up to the bonus room, but as a designer, I had a lot of things I wanted to do and I kept telling myself if I'm gonna knock down that wall, I might as well change the floor. And if I'm changing the countertop, I got to the tiles and the cabinet and I should be delighting too. So but I didn't have the budget to do it. 

Jessica [4:07 - 5:29]

So I kept waiting and waiting five years past and I hadn't done a thing because I was waiting for the right time there right budget. And then what happened is that we decided to move sold the house and before we sold it, we upgraded it so we can sell it for the higher price. And that sort of broke my heart because I did all the things that I wanted to do for someone else, not for me. So I tell the story a lot because I I see this a lot Selena I see a lot of homeowners waiting for things to happen without an intent, without the intention, without the planning. And it's okay to wait. It's okay to plan, it's okay to budget. But when we do it with intention, so what I see a lot that happens is that people just wait without uh like the word again, without the intention of making it happen, things are not going to fall off the sky just because and there were at least expected, five years have gone by and your upgraded and you never really enjoyed that home that you had your very first home. So, so that's why I connect a lot with first time homeowners because I I know what it feels like to be in that position and I want to make it happen for them.

Selina Novello [5:29 - 6;30]

No, definitely. I can even relate to some of that and I still live in my parents' house, but like we keep saying, oh we're gonna do the renovations, we're going to do that, we just have to wait a little longer in different things, but I can definitely relate to your story and I think lots of other people can, so if you can relate, give us some heart, show us some love, you can relate to her story, maybe you are first time homeowner, maybe you've lived in your house for or multiple houses, just give us some hearts to see if you agree with that, so thank you for sharing that story and um it's kind of crazy. I I feel like I've got a lot of similarities with you because I feel like I've entrepreneurship in my blood, my parents, entrepreneurs and I've been, well yeah, they're kind of entrepreneurs, but I feel like I have it in my blood as well, so I think that we both can relate in that aspect. So it's just very cool to hear your story and I would have never thought that. So thank you for sharing the next thing I would love.

Jessica [6:30 - 7:10]

 I know you love your room. I see how you decorated according to the season. So you have that artistic side of you that for sure needs to have an outlet, right? And you want, I love, I can tell that you value your environment and that is great. I think we all need to realize that our environment especially now, but you know, before or now our environment really affects our mood. Our environment can make us be more productive or not, can help us, you know, be more efficient, be happier. Yeah, there's so many things that our environment can contribute to. For sure.

Selina Novello [7:10 - 8:07]

Oh yeah, absolutely. Like I finally got my own room, so I four siblings and I was always sharing. I shared, my older sister shared my younger sister and the room that you see on my instagram that is my own room. And so I was like, yeah, I'm so excited. And um, but like going from like really messy room, clothes all over the place to having a spot for everything where I could put it and I didn't have to like tell my siblings what to do. And so you're so right. Environment really does affect you because I feel so much more clear if I've got laundry all over the place, I'm just more scattered in general. So you're so right. And now with Covid, we're all home a lot more than we used to be. Even if we've gone back to work, we're still home way more than we used to be. And I think that it's so important that we like where we live and we enjoy coming home to that, it's just I feel like it's really important. So yeah, thank you for commenting on that. 

Jessica [8:07 - 9:36]

And there's so many things that we can do. Um you have several, we have several professional organizers in the group and they, I'm sure we'll add to this that, you know, if if we have a room, a space that it's Uncluttered that is organized, like our whole mood a whole, we're thinking our minds it's also cleared and we were able to enjoy our surroundings a lot more. I think it all starts with our mindset also. Yeah, I also have identified nine limiting beliefs that first time homeowners have and I'm sure that some of those applied to people who are upgrading or downgrading, but a lot of times um we let go of dreams, I'm going to talk about our home dream because we, we feel, oh I'm not really good at decorating, I'm not really good at choosing colors. I don't have the money to have the type of home I want. Some people would say this is not my forever home and some would say I have little kids and I can't have the house I want because I have little kids. So all those are limiting beliefs. So I encourage my clients to open up their opportunities with an abundant mindset and think what, you know, all the things, all the possibilities that they could do if they just plan with intention and even find ways of learning instead of thinking, oh, I'm not good and that's it.

Selina Novello [9:36 - 10:01]

Yeah, it's kind of like a perseverance piece, but yeah, like you said, mindset is so important and someone just said, I agree, I can't work with them in a messy space. Yeah, and I know a lot of people can relate to that. Um So that leads me to my next question for you. So what are some of the challenges that you've faced in your business that you've overcome and if you've learned a lesson from those, please share it with us.

Jessica [10:01 - 13:47]

Absolutely. I think my very first challenge was imposter syndrome. 100%. The feeling that I don't really have a lot to contribute and I, you know, what are people going to say? Who does she think she is? Why do we care about what others would say? Maybe it's me, but it's real. Yes, flu syndrome is real. Um and I just had to push myself, I have to put myself out there. I started, I had a coach who pushed me beyond my comfort zone. So that would be another thing that I would suggest any from premature to just push themselves a little bit outside their comfort zone and once their comfort comfortable then take that one more step and then and then it's gonna feel comfortable again and then take that one more step. But this coach push push me And I remember it was May 2019 and she said you guys need to do lives and I was like what what am I gonna say? And Selena the first fight, I did it for five minutes which felt to me like it was an hour. Yeah and when I told her she was like that was good but you need to do it longer. I was like Yeah but yeah I pushed myself and I kept doing it. I one thing I recommend everyone is to just let the world know what you're doing and that will make you accountable for that. So I just said to everyone, I'm doing lives every Wednesday. That was May 2019. This may, it's gonna be two years nonstop. I've taken a few two weeks here and there during Christmas or July for vacation, but otherwise it's just nonstop and there are some days I have to admit, some days that I that I feel like, oh maybe I shouldn't do anything today. But I number one, I've told my my list, I tell my subscribers I'm doing this. And then number two, um, I just know that it helps me, it just breaks me so much clarity because as I speak, as I tell my story as I give suggestions. Um, there's a lot of learning that we, we have that happens within us. We learn what our messages, we learned that there are people that relate, that gives us confidence. And then it's just like, it's like a domino effect once we start putting ourselves ourselves out there and telling people, but we think it just reinforces every good believe and it helps us push us push yourself again one more step. So that's really yeah, that would be something that I i a struggle that I had a challenge and the lesson behind it. Don't don't believe don't listen to the imposter syndrome. I mean, if you want to listen to it fine, but then just, you know, put it enough in a book, close said shelves, but don't don't base your decisions on imposter syndrome, because, like other coaches have said, imposter syndrome does not pay your mortgage, you have to get away from that and believe in yourself. That is that is definitely number one, um uh suggestion or lesson that I would tell everyone another would be to learn or really get to know who your audience is once and I have taken me time, it's taken me time. But if we wait until we have all the knowledge until it were perfect until we have all figured out, it's never gonna happen.

Selina Novello [13:47 - 13:47]

Yeah,

Jessica [13:47 - 14:08]

that Marie for leo says start before you're ready, so let's start before we're ready, and then as we do, we learn and I can testify that I've learned so much with the doing, it hasn't been perfect, it hasn't always been pretty, but I've been learning a lot and and I will continue learning for sure.

Selina Novello [14:08 - 15:31]

Yeah, I mean you just said so many things and I'm like, oh my God, this is so good. But I really think like, I just think that it's all work in progress, like you're not gonna wake up tomorrow and everything's gonna be perfect, like you really have to work on these things and like you said, you got to get out of your comfort zone, but then things are gonna start feeling comfortable again and you have to get out of that comfort zone again and you've got to keep doing that process because as soon as you keep doing them for a long period of time they're just going to start getting more and more comfortable. But I think a big thing that you mentioned that I struggled with recently was I was like, I want everything to be perfect before I start, I don't even know what I want to do, how can I start and all these things. But I was really pushed to take that leap with Lindsay and um with Lindsay with the conference actually because I was like I want to speak. So I signed up for that and then I was like, oh my God, what do I speak on now? But it kind of morphed into this thing where I'm teaching about instagram now and I was like I'm not ready. I like I felt like you said I didn't feel ready, everything wasn't perfect and ready to go and in place and it's been going really great and things are happening. So I think like your advice that you just gave all of it is very good and very excellent. So thank you for sharing.

Jessica [15:31 - 16:08]

So thank you because you're an inspiration. I mean you just said it the right way. You could have said no, I'm gonna wait until I have a website and a little going all this and then a lead magnet and what you know all those things. but I am sure that what you've learned from january or let's say december, it's just, you can't even put it in numbers. You would not have learned that if you wouldn't have put yourself out there. So you're an inspiration to every young people out there with entrepreneurial dreams and, and goals. Just act on them.

Selina Novello [16:08 - 16:27]

Yeah, thank you. That's so sweet. Um so one of my last questions that I asked everybody, but I feel like you've kind of already answered it, but I'm just gonna ask you again. So if you could give any piece of vice to a younger entrepreneur entrepreneurs in general, what would that be? Pick one thing,

Jessica [16:27 - 17:06]

Pick one thing. Um Don't wait, don't wait if you have a dream, don't wait until it's perfect. Don't wait until you have it figured out be intentional. The intentional about planning about making that dream into a reality. If we just wait, It's gonna happen, like it happened to me at my home, you know, wait five years, 10 years and you're still going to be at the same spot where you were five years ago. So start and don't wait. Believe in yourself.

Selina Novello [17:06 - 17:24]

Yes, that is such good advice. Thank you. I personally needed to hear that today. So thank you. Um, I wanted to, um, let's give you the opportunity to tell everybody where they can find you. If you have any courses or anything fun coming up, let us know. So you can take this time to tell us.

Jessica [17:24 - 18:56]

Thank you. Um, you can find me on instagram interiors by Jessica and I have a fun free class every month. It's called avoid decor fatigue. Um, and I call it that way because most of my clients come to me with the corn fatigue feeling, I'm frustrated, I'm frustrated that things don't fit. Things don't look good. I had this idea in my mind and I bought a few things and it just, it's not what I thought it was going to be. So I want to, I want to give the, I want to give everyone a 10 step process to do it right from the beginning and and just avoid what other my clients sell for 35 years after taking possession of their homes if you want to take possession now. No, that that's what most people suffer from 3 to 5 years if they don't plan it. So why not do it right from the beginning? And then there's the unfinished home syndrome where people just wait for things to happen and then feel like my house got finished. My house doesn't look the way I want. So that's the unfinished home syndrome. So this 10 10 step process is all about that. I'm giving those who attend the same process that I use with my clients is exactly the same process. So you come to the free class, you learn what to do, You avoid the court fatigue, you'll avoid going over budget, you'll avoid having an unfinished home and you'll start believing that it can happen for you.

Selina Novello [18:56 - 19:04]

Yes. And where can we join this free classes, their website or in your instagram bio? Where can we find that

Jessica [19:04 - 19:49]

recourse? It's in my bio. If everyone goes to my uh the instagram account, you'll find in the by your free class and then just register, it's the next one is March 4th, it's 35 minutes long and it will open up your mind. It will answer the top three questions that every first time homeowner renovating has number one question is how much is it going to cost? Second question? Why do I even start? You know people looking at empty rooms, where do I start in? The third question is will I like it? So the class, the steps, all the 10 steps will solve those three questions. So come and join me, hang out with me every Wednesday I have lives with different topics and yeah, I love hearing from all of you.

Selina Novello [19:49 - 20:19]

Yeah, so I am going to add your instagram in the caption. I really recommend going following her because she does like she said, she gives lives so much information in those. She's also started doing some reels which are so good, like I am so impressed. They're really, really good and the best part about them is they're also educational. So go follow her page, go give her some likes and some love, she's got lots of inspiration, lots of different things. So thank you for joining me

Jessica [20:19 - 20:21]

today.

Johnena  [20:27 - 22:21]

Like a lot of the other really amazing things that happened in my life, I kind of just like stumbled into it. Um, so I shared in the most recent post on my page, a little bit of a story about how I ended up with the temperatures and how that helped me start my business. So essentially, I know Lindsay for more than a decade. I used to babysit her son um when he was like in diapers, I'm sure Jake will love like talking about that. Yeah, Lindsey and I were chatting in maybe in March or April of 2020, so my gym had shut down. I was just like at home making exercise videos for my clients, like listening to podcasts, trying to keep myself busy. and she said, well you have some time why don't you join my next marketing school? And I was like, but I don't like, I don't have a business, what am I going to market? And I wasn't really excited about the idea because honestly, I was terrified of joining the entrepreneurs and joining the marketing school and had some overwhelming imposter syndrome that we've all experienced. Um so I literally had no excuse. I had no like thing to tell Lindsay, like, sorry, I can't because of this. So I joined and it was the best decision I've ever made because I met all these incredible women and I learned all these incredible skills and it was during marketing school that I actually started my business and I switched my instagram account to a business account. I started building my website and I was surrounded by entrepreneurs and I got really excited about it. Um so after the six week program, I went to the registered and I registered my business officially and uh started really taking things seriously. But yeah, I kind of stumbled into it. Selena like Lindsay just gave me like a little nudge and I didn't know where she was nudging me, but here we are, and I'm so glad that she did, I'm so grateful for everyone I've met through that process too. So

Selina Novello [22:21 - 22:45]

yeah, that's like so awesome. And I think that's so inspiring. And I think Lindsay did the same thing with me as well. She kind of just gives people those little pushes that they need to get to where they can get to. So when did you, when did you start this business? When? Because I know that you're you're all so young, just like me. So when did you start? How long have you been in business for?

Johnena [22:46 - 23:27]

Yeah, So I actually became a personal trainer officially, Just last january in 2020. So I was training people clients one on one in the gym for maybe 2, 2.5 months and then the gym shut down. Um so I started the business officially in june 2020 last year, this the self care trainer um before that I was just kind of like helping friends and doing zoom calls with them and seeing what I might want my business to look like. Things were really official just last spring. So it's been less than a year. I'll probably do a giveaway in june to celebrate kind of the one year anniversary of being official. Um Yeah.

Selina Novello [23:28 - 23:34]

Yeah, that's awesome. So can you tell us specifically what you do and what you help your clients with?

Johnena [23:35 - 25:20]

Totally. Yeah. So as a personal trainer, I spent most of my life um having this fitness message being presented to me in a certain way. So the idea that that we're all, we're all immersed in diet culture and it tells us that certain bodies um are healthier based on how they look and that the only reason we would want to exercise is to change our body. And I fell into the trap of of using exercise as a way to make my body smaller to try to make my body more muscular. And I learned how slippery of a slope it can become, um, when you're focusing on these outward goals and you're trying to accomplish something um physical, because all of our bodies are meant to be unique and our bodies are going to respond to things differently um that I've learned to pivot the focus toward feeling good and actually improving my total well being. So not just my physical health, my mental and emotional health and my connection to other people and using exercise um by doing things that I actually enjoy doing and I'm hoping other women to do that. Bring the focus away from what we look like and bring it back toward actually doing things that help you feel good and add to your life because that's going to be more sustainable. It's gonna be more rewarding and enjoyable and it really, it doesn't have to be this like using exercise to punish yourself mindset. I find that's not um not very beneficial honestly, there's just so many better ways to go about it. So I help them change their mindset, have some more compassion around exercise and build exercise habits into their life but are actually unique to them and help serve their needs.

Selina Novello [25:20 - 26:52]

Yeah. And you know, I think everything you said was bang on because like, so I, I have really struggled with like the way that I look at my body image towards myself. Like mentally, you know, I've always struggled with that and just recently I've started on this, I don't know program, but I'm really all about, I realized there's like a little change in my mindset and it's like what you said, I'm not focused on what I look like anymore. I'm focused on how I feel and I think that's really important. And as soon as I started to come to these realizations, just like you did, I'm like, why, why are we always being told this? Like it's like if you feel good and you're getting the exercise that you need to do just to feel good. I think that that's so important. and so I really, really, really love what you're doing because there's so many diets and so many things that only lasts for a little bit of time. Like I've tried to do things on my own to just lose weight and do things like that at a really young age and nothing sustainable because it really is about the mind as well. You have to connect those two pieces and also the tool of being patient with yourself. It's really, really hard. Like I still, I still can't do that fully, but I'm working towards it and I think that those skills are just really important to have as young women and older women as well. So I think what you're doing is absolutely amazing. So good

Johnena [26:52 - 27:12]

on you, Good job. Yeah, thank you so much and I'm excited to hear about the work that you're doing, Like you said, it's like a practice, there's not really this like endpoint of okay, I've got it all figured out, it's just figuring out what works for you and being curious and practicing that compassionate voice, right? So,

Selina Novello [27:13 - 27:45]

and it's like the other thing is like the cookie cutter thing, it's like everybody's body is different so everybody will approach this differently, right? And I think that in that diet client, like in that diet environment, it's just like one type of thing should fix every single body, but in reality that's not how it actually works. So I think that's pretty cool what you're doing. Um my next question for you is what is one of your greatest challenges that you faced, but you've overcome and how have you overcome this

Johnena [27:46 - 30:09]

man greatest challenge. Um other than like crippling self doubt and the imposter syndrome, I think like my biggest challenge would have been last spring. So when I first started out like the gym had shut down, I hadn't quite started my business. We're in that middle period, was listening to podcasts. I was actually when I discovered the anti diet movement, so before that when I was thinking about what kind of business I was going to run, I was like getting ready to set up like a summer fat loss boot camp because that's all I knew. That's all I knew. Exercise and fitness B that's all I had modeled around me and I hadn't even considered this anti diet alternative. Um so I read anti diet by Christie Harrison and the book changed my life in so many positive ways. But I'm gonna be honest with you Selena. Like I read that book and it challenged like everything I have ever been told in my life and took all these philosophies and these values and flip them on their head and I spent like two weeks to four weeks just trying to grapple with them and wrap my head around them and trying to figure out like how how can I run a personal training business that's not selling weight loss? Like I've never seen that before and I'm ready to throw in the towel. I was like that's it. I need to start a different business. I'm gonna like sell a product instead of like protein people. Um So it's really just been it's still a journey, it's still a process um figuring out the language around it and really solidifying my own philosophies and values in the anti diet space. Um But yeah, the past year has just been a journey of self growth and challenging these assumptions um and it was a little bit of emotional turmoil for maybe a month or so. Yeah, I think now that I'm out here and I'm talking to people and talking to other entrepreneurs and helping my clients, it's helping me feel a lot more grounded and like this is a thing, this can help people, this can work, I've seen it work for myself and for other women is just flipping that perspective and putting the focus on your well being and whatever that means for you. Um so yeah, that was my biggest challenge, like falling apart and building myself back up again, basically.

Selina Novello [30:09 - 30:35]

Yeah, and I think a lot of business owners feel the same way at certain times in their career, and for me, I'm still very at the beginning, just like you, and I'm feeling that imposter syndrome and I know a lot of people um a lot of entrepreneurs feel that, right? And I just, I was kind of wondering like how did you build yourself back up after that emotional turmoil? Was there certain strategies that helped you?

Johnena [30:36 - 32:02]

That's a really good question. Um I actually haven't reflected on that. I think one of the things that I should get back into doing, no, no shits, one of the things I'd like to get back into doing um is meditation. I was doing a lot of meditating um in 2020 when I was just like stuck in my apartment and I was I was stuck in my brain and I found studying a timer on my phone or with the headspace out and sitting down and just letting my thoughts go and not being in my head so much. I think that helped a lot um mixed with a little bit of therapy and journaling and all those really great things. But even more than that being part of the fun printer community. Uh, and having that like lindsey always says, build your tribe, find your tribe of women who are going to like help you when you're stuck. Uh, that, that was a key thing for me. If I didn't have this community, I really can't envision an alternate scenario where I would have pushed through. I wouldn't even known who to go to for help. I wouldn't have known who to uh, like share, share these challenges with and just knowing that there's other women out there with imposter syndrome, There's other women out there who are pivoting their business and it's not gonna be easy, but you're not alone, Right? Um, so yeah, having this community, having my tribe asking for help. That is a really big part of how, how I just worked through everything.

Selina Novello [32:02 - 33:46]

Yeah, I think you just brought up a lot of really important things. I just want to read a few of the comments here. They said Yates of therapy and Yates a community. Yes, and we have um like lots of like big arm muscles and like clapping hands and like your hands. So I think some people are definitely connecting with what you're saying here, but I really, I really want to just go back over what you said here with the community piece because I feel the same way. Like right now it is really, really hard to stay connected with people and like you said, this community has gone you through a lot and it has gotten me through a lot as well because I it's a little different situation for me. I'm in school right now, but it's really hard to make friends when it's all online and there's no screen. And what why do I see from Preneurs has done for me is it's been my social outlet, it's been a place where I can connect, but also where the people are going to lift you up and help you when you're down, like you said, and I know now more than ever that the people you surround yourself with is so important, because for me, I was actually surrounded by quite a few toxic people in my school and some of my best friends were actually not the greatest for me, and you don't you don't want to listen to the people that tell you this and you kind of just like, oh no, they're fine. And then when you're, when you're out you're like, and you reflect, you're like, oh my goodness, that might have not been the best thing for me And now that I'm around all these amazing entrepreneurial women with goals and ambitions just like me, I feel like I'm on fire all the time. So I definitely agree with what you said there.

Johnena [33:46 - 34:23]

Oh, man. Yeah, you said it perfectly. I, I didn't realize just the value of relationships until there was a lockdown and I was stuck in my apartment and I got a chance to really sit and think, who do I actually want to spend my time with? Who's giving me energy and who are the people where I'm like, oh, them again and requesting that like, I don't have to talk to that person if they're not making my life better. Um, so that's so great that you were able to get so much out of this community as well. I think that it's just, it's amazing Lindsay is. It is,

Selina Novello [34:23 - 34:45]

yeah, it absolutely is. And another thing that you brought up I wanted to mention, so you said that um, you know, everybody had to pivot during covid, but you said that you had, I didn't really understand. So did you lose your job or was it because of Covid? So what did Covid kind of duty? Was that, what kind of give you that extra little push?

Johnena [34:46 - 35:55]

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. Covid um is like, don't get me wrong, it's awful. But like in the grand scheme of things, one of the best things that happened to me because the metaphor I use is that it knocked me off my hamster wheel. I was stuck in this just kind of like go, go, go, go to work and do the things and I was an auto pilot and I was tired and overworked and miserable and always just kind of pushing for the next paycheck I think Kobe and knocked me off the wheel. It rip the rug out from under me. Um, So my gym closed. So yeah, I was just like stuck in my apartment not able to train anybody. Um, I wasn't there like in my customer service role in the gym either, so I was just like unserved with all the time in the world to really grow. Uh, it was just a really good opportunity for me to reflect not only on who I'm surrounding myself with, but like, what, what do I want to do with all this time? Yeah. I don't think a lot of people have that opportunity to just like stop what they're doing and reset, right? Yeah. In a way I would have just put my job and gone home and done the same thing, right? Like a,

Selina Novello [35:55 - 35:59]

yeah, it really forced us to do some some big changes I think.

Johnena [36:00 - 36:10]

Yeah. Yeah. So it was a really big pivot um, figuring out like what, what do I want my life to look like and what do I want to do with my time and who do I want to be with? So

Selina Novello [36:10 - 37:14]

yeah. And I love what you said about the hamster wheel reon said no more autopilot. Yeah, which I agree. I was definitely like, just like you except in school. I was just go, go, go and I've never heard it like said like that. But I think a lot of the time I look back and I'm like, oh man, I'm so grateful for what Covid like put us in lockdown because it really does force you, you have two options. You have two options. You can either sit and complain and feel bad about it or you could, well, you could break that down and meditate and dig deeper and develop yourself and ask yourself those really hard questions and I think that's exactly what you did which has led you to this beautiful business. So I I think, I think even I think sometimes Covid has been such a blessing in so many lives. Obviously there is the hard part to it and there's lots of difficulties that people have faced. But I do see there's quite a few positives from it. Be one being your business. So

Johnena [37:14 - 37:38]

I think that's so cool. Yeah, I'm definitely grateful for for that massive disruption to my life, right? Yeah. Sometimes the things that kind of feel really crappy and unfortunate, you don't see it until the end, like once you're out of the toxic relationship, but once you like stepped away and you can look that, I feel like I see it now.

Selina Novello [37:38 - 37:58]

Exactly. Um So next I want to ask you, do you have anything coming up in your business? Where can we find you, Where can we connect with you? I am going to add your instagram in the bio after this so they can connect with you. But if there is any other thing, any other way we can connect with you and what's happening with your business coming up

Johnena [37:59 - 39:09]

totally. Yeah. So if everybody goes to either the link in my bio at the self care trainer, um or you can go to the self care trainer dot com and right at the topic, we've gotten to check out my newest blog post. They've just launched my blog this month actually. And in that post is a link for free workbook for you to download and work on some of the three D. Minds that's that I've faced. And I see a lot of my clients facing um to help just use exercise for self care is a way to improve the life. So that's the first thing to check out, read the blog post, get your free workbook um and take those first steps to improving your minds that having some self passion um figuring those things out. And then I do have a couple of spots available um for my coaching program coming up in March. So if anybody has any questions for me or you want to learn a little bit more about what exercise yourself there means um get in touch with me, check out my instagram, peruse the website. I've got lots of information on there about what that kind of looks like and what I'm trying to, what I'm trying to do with the philosophy is yeah.

Selina Novello [39:09 - 39:39]

Okay awesome. Yeah, so go check that out. She's so amazing. As you can see from this interview already, given us so much information. Um the last thing I want to end our interview off with is I and the same one every single uh sorry english, I ended up the same time the same way every time. And that is if you could give yourself your younger self a piece of advice, what would that be? And if you can't think of yourself? What about a younger entrepreneur?

Johnena [39:39 - 40:37]

Oh man, that is such a great question. I actually have a post in my in my camera, like waiting that I'm sitting on. It's a message to my younger self and I can't remember what's in it right now. So I'm going to think I love this question Selena. Um for my younger self, I think the biggest lesson I've learned is that like it's okay to fail. You don't have to be perfect. Stop trying to impress other people or do what other people want you to do. Just actually say yes to things that energize you and say yes to things you think you're gonna be bad at and go try it because the worst thing that's gonna happen is you're gonna fail and you're going to learn something and every failure in my life, that's another instagram post that's coming up. Every failure in my life where I was like devastated and crush has turned out to lead to something else. That's wonderful. So yeah, that's that's the message to young Janina. Go try. I think

Selina Novello [40:38 - 41:04]

I love that. I think we all need to just try new things and not be afraid of failure. But I think sometimes that's easier said than done, but it's really pushing yourself outside of that comfort zone. So thank you so much for meeting with me today and telling us about your business and how we can connect with you. I've learned so much and I feel so inspired. I'm like, I'm ready to go. So thank you so much for coming and sharing your wisdom with us today.

Carly  [41:12 - 41:53]

Well, I feel like it's very loaded thing with Covid bean, kind of the spark of everything I would say uh other amazing girls and I decided that we weren't happy with where we were at and that we had a drive for so much bigger and we decided that Covid was kind of our push of going towards our vision. So we realized very quickly that there was a lot of things to do, but it has pushed us to create a clinic and I would like to say that it has been awesome so far, Like zero regrets uh still on cloud nine, I would say.

Selina Novello [41:54 - 42:00]

Yeah, that's so cool. So you started a clinic, what do you do? Give us a little bit about what you help people do?

Carly  [42:01 - 43:07]

Yes, I would say in the short form we kind of change people's approach to health from a service standpoint, we provide assessment and treatment that is targeting like pain injuries. We focus more so on tonic pains, meaning You had it for longer than six weeks. Uh but I would say are our biggest thing is we provide a positive environment for people to realize that they can take control of their health. And I would say that's the biggest thing we're very big into. You shouldn't feel like you need to rely on anyone or anything to be healthy. And I would say that's a big part of what revival is all about. And that is making people feel like they have a chance to live their best life through their health. And a big part of that is a lot of people are told that their, their age or their weight is forever or a big cause of their pain and they can't do anything about it and they need to live with it. So we're challenging that in making people fight back against it, I would say,

Selina Novello [43:07 - 43:18]

yeah, that's so awesome. So why did you choose to start in that direction? Like I know you said at the beginning, there were so many different things. So why did you feel there was a need for that?

Carly  [43:19 - 44:31]

I would say, from my own personal experience with it, uh, in health care, it can be very overwhelming. There's so many different options. Everyone kind of tells you like, oh, this really worked for me or this exercise really helped. And uh I have gone through a long history of chronic pain and knowing that it can be lonely, you could feel that you've tried everything and it's not working, or you can see all the specialists in the world and you start to feel like, is this in my head, like, am I am I making this up? Or uh you just feel like lost and frustrated. So I definitely have that fire and drive to make people realize that it's not you. It's how we're essentially approaching healthcare right now is trying to only address the typical things. And if you don't fit in this cookie cutter pathway, then oh, you must be making it up. So I would say a big part of that passion comes around the chronic pain and knowing what it feels like to feel feel lost and trying to create more opportunity for people to take back their health essentially.

Selina Novello [44:31 - 44:52]

Yeah, that's so awesome. I do really think it's important what you're doing. And I really loved how you said the cookie cutter thing. Like that is so true. We're all put into this cookie cutter environment when it's not like that. Everybody is so different. So I think that's amazing. So where are you located? And how old are you? I'm very curious.

Carly  [44:52 - 45:10]

That is a very common question, especially the 2nd 1. so we are located in Airdrie Alberta, uh not too far from Calgary. Um I am currently 26. Um but I like to think my experience goes past my years, but I'm biased.

Selina Novello [45:10 - 45:33]

No, I can definitely relate with that. I feel like I'm so much older than I actually am, but that's so amazing. And I think it's so awesome how you three came together to build such an important, um, such an important business. So um, thank you for sharing that now. My next question for you is what is one of your greatest challenges and how have you overcome it?

Carly  [45:35 - 46:55]

I would say one of the biggest challenges we face is we are all three of us are athletic therapist. And a lot of the times we get the, what is an athletic therapist? Is that a branch of something else? Do you just treat athletes like what is it? And I would say our biggest challenge is having to kind of explain that we're our own standalone thing and we can help you even if you're not an athlete, our name kind of um, essentially makes it where people automatically assume that we can't help them unless there's some high level athlete. So our biggest thing is through the client education. We're trying to provide more resources and opportunities for people to see that we can help you even if you're, you don't view yourself as an athlete. And we also try and argue that everyone's an athlete in their own sense. It depends on how you view it, whether you're maybe speed cleaning your dishes or However you want to view it. Yeah, the active for day to day things and we're training for the marathon of life and you need to be able to feel like you have someone in your corner that can provide you the tools to be successful and that I would say is an 80.

Selina Novello [46:55 - 47:18]

Yeah, I love that. I love how you said to be prepared for the Marathon of Life. That is amazing because you know, we've got to be able to live our lives and do things with energy and do them effectively. And so that's so awesome. So, um, how did you overcome as you like the miscommunication within the business? How have you overcome that or are you still working on it?

Carly  [47:19 - 48:16]

I would say it continues to be a work in progress as a whole. I would say overall a lot of people don't know what athletic therapy is even through through covid and lock down. A lot of even with um, being shut down for a bit, people are like, oh, I thought athletic therapy was just like specifically for athletes or with sports teams and stuff like that. So a big part of it is that education and talking with different health care practitioners, including doctors and a lot of it is our clients being our cheerleaders. We have a lot of very loyal clients that are going back to their doctor and going, hey, you know, that pain that you told me was because I was overweight. Well, I don't have it anymore. And I'm the same weight. So you need to understand that there was something else going on in my athletic therapist figured it out. So a lot of it is through our clients. Really pushing that. It helped a lot.

Selina Novello [48:16 - 48:44]

Yeah. And I think the awareness around it is just, it's amazing. I can already see the effect of the awareness. But I think it's it's just educating people in general more and more about what you do and how um just like you said with your customers and that's so amazing. I just think it's cool. So, another thing I want to ask you is, how long have you been in business? I I think you said that it started in Covid. So is it fairly new or?

Carly  [48:44 - 49:43]

Yes, so the three lovely girls and I, we have been working as a T S for a while, but through Covid, we actually decided to open up revival. So it started off as more of a, oh, we would love to do this. This is kind of our vision, our dream, but not having the confidence to kind of like, is can we make this real? So um coming up this summer is going to be our one year mark, and we were even reflecting on it um the other day of like, look how far we've come in such a short period of time, and this is just the beginning. Uh we're already, I mean, I'm biased, but we're already crushing it in my opinion. Um and I really am blown away with how much we've accomplished, especially from coming from that point of going, oh we can't do this, or it's going to be too scary, that kind of stuff. So yeah, I'm very excited, I would say,

Selina Novello [49:43 - 49:51]

Yeah, that sounds very exciting. So you mentioned that you kind of didn't have the confidence in yourself, How did you push through that?

Carly  [49:51 - 50:19]

It helped to have two other girls, I would say, we tried to kind of talk through different things. I'm very much like the logic person, like I need a plan, I need a vision seeing where we're going and then with the other girls, we provide a very nice dynamic brody. One of the other girls here, she's very good at creating like steps of like, okay, so you're wanting to fly to the moon and we need to do these steps

Selina Novello [50:19 - 50:21]

first. We

Carly  [50:21 - 51:06]

put a lot of balance for each other, which I really appreciate because I think that's why we're so successful already uh, is because of things like that, we were able to go, okay, we're scared to do this, but how about we make it less scary by looking at the individual tasks that we can do right now? And we were even saying that when we first incorporated that it was like, oh, like who knows, maybe we'll just like give up and not, not keep going if it's too scary, but then it just kept going and kept building and then you started to feel like, well I'm excited for this. Um so yeah, I would say it was breaking down into small steps and feeling like you address the less daunting task of the whole started business.

Selina Novello [51:06 - 51:37]

Yeah, I think that's so important for people to hear, because I know like me as a single entrepreneur, if I had other people around me that I was partners with that were like, oh no, it's okay, we'll just take baby steps. That would 100% help because when it's you and your own mind, you kind of get trapped in that space, like, oh my gosh, I can't do it, I'm not good enough, but having people around you and that's why community is so important just to be like, no, it's okay, we'll take one step at a time. I just think that's so inspiring to hear you say.

Carly  [51:38 - 52:13]

Yeah, well thank you for saying that. I was reading a little bit of the comments, Norrena, so sweet, thank you so much. Um yeah, I definitely think the community part really plays a huge role and with support and having those girls has been huge um in terms of feeling like you can really push yourself, but still feel like They're there for you, if it doesn't maybe go 100 how you wanted it to be and you're going to talk through it. So I think it's it's good to find a network that you can communicate with.

Selina Novello [52:13 - 52:25]

Yeah, I love that so much. So. I'm I'm curious for myself, how did you deal with all of like the covid restrictions and all the challenges covid presented in your business?

Carly  [52:25 - 53:35]

I would say very carefully. That's my typical answer. Um A lot of it was trying to be strategic and what do we want to accomplish and how do we provide the best care for our clients? I think we're very good as a team, always prioritizing the best experience for clients. So we created different things like having gaps in between appointments so that there was distancing that kind of thing, changing schedules a bit and also being able to modify to be online to virtual appointments. And we had quite a few clients that uh found that that was very valuable as well as you can see I can talk for hours. So yeah, my clients really like to even just like talk through things and listen and figure out how different things throughout their day is contributing to their pain. So a big part of with Covid was being able to switch online and we have a bunch of other stuff coming up online that's gonna make it more accessible and provide more opportunities for people to help themselves.

Selina Novello [53:35 - 54:03]

Yeah, that's awesome. I was going to say because starting a new business in Covid, like your type of business must have been very difficult since you're kind of more on that one on one in person environment. But I just think it's so amazing how you've been able to pivot and just completely roll with all the shots that have been coming. So, congratulations on that. My next question for you is like, what's coming up next for you? Where can we get in touch with you? Just those kind of things?

Carly  [54:03 - 55:20]

Yeah. Uh, the next kind of big couple things coming up is we have our boosting body and mind, which is of course, it's mostly tailored around the industrial athlete, which more so means like labor workers, people who are used to saying, oh, the pain is not that bad, I can deal with it and keep pushing through. And that is a self paced course that allows you to find out different things throughout your day that might be contributing to why you don't feel 100%. And then also different things that you can do to help address them on your own. As I mentioned before, a big part of what we do is provide you with tools to feel like you can help yourself and remove that reliance. So that's what a lot of the courses coming up, we're going to be uh, the boosting body and mind is looking to be done by the end of March, so that's gonna be our biggest one coming out right away. And then we have a couple of different smaller courses and webinars that are going to be posted shortly. You can find all of that on built by revival dot com and also through our instagram at built by Revival, but any questions you can feel free to reach out

Selina Novello [55:21 - 55:49]

awesome. Yeah, I'm going to take her account, definitely check it out. I've been watching some of your guys reels and they are amazing. I'm kind of obsessed with reels. That's why I bring it up. So um good job on those. Check out their page. They have lots of information on there, you won't regret going there. And so, thank you so much for coming. My last question. My last question, which I ask everybody is, if you can tell your younger self any piece of advice, what would that be?

Carly  [55:50 - 55:55]

A good question? Let me think about that one for a second.

Selina Novello [55:55 - 55:58]

Yeah, yeah,

Carly  [55:58 - 56:29]

I mean, I think the biggest part is don't chase someone else's definition of success and follow another, another person definition of success will not lead to your happiness. So I think that comes back to finding your, why, like, what drives you, what moves you? Hopefully you can feel that I get very passionate about chronic pain. Uh I would say don't chase other people's definition of happiness.

Selina Novello [56:30 - 56:51]

Yeah, wow, that is just so powerful, I love that because there's just so many different layers to that, but it's just do what makes you feel good and I think that a lot of us get trapped in that we see other people very successful when we need to focus on what will make us feel successful. So thank you for sharing that advice with everybody as well. I'm so grateful to be here and thank you so much for having Yeah.

Selina Novello [57:05 - 57:35]

Hey there, it's Selena again, I hope you love today's episode as much as I loved making it for you. Today's episode was brought to you by entrepreneur land. The place where female entrepreneurs come to learn and connect with like minded ladies, whether you want weekly marketing and education and leadership training with Lindsay and other experts or if you're simply looking for a place to feel seen, heard and understood by other women like you check out from your land dot com. Bye for now.