No Need To Ask with Amani Duncan
No Need To Ask with Amani Duncan
Redefining Influencer to Role Model with Jaclynn Brennan, Co-Founder FYLi
Welcome to another episode of No Need to Ask podcast. My name is Amani Duncan and I will be your host on this journey.
On today’s episode I had the pleasure of speaking with my good friend Jaclynn Brennan, Co-Founder of FYLi.
FYLi is a female master-mind group that focuses on bringing together female leaders, creating a tribe of diverse high level dreamers, thinkers and doers.
FYLi helps female leaders RISE (Renew, Inspire, Support, Empower) in all aspects of their lives. Fylí was created to bring together a room of diverse thinkers and dreamers who can shift conversations, contribute new opinions + feedback, and bring different perspectives with clarity and directness that moves the needle. Magic happens when you feel open, connected, present, vulnerable and safe. Jaclynn and her co-founder Summer Yi learned early on that success is only limited by our mindset, habits and the people we have access to within our network. They believe when you UPGRADE your thoughts, daily disciplines/habits and relationships, you begin to upgrade your life.
Jaclyn shared with me her favorite book, “The Power of Intention” by Dr. Wayne Dyer and her daily self-care routine of mediations, exercise and journaling which is so important. I have committed to myself to give back by exercising every morning before I start my day and doing meditation before I go bed. I use the self-guided meditation app Headspace and Jaclyn recommended Inscape and Japa Meditation with Dr. Wayne Dyer.
I highly encourage you to visit FYLi’s new website and subscribe today. You can also follow Jaclyn on Instagram and her self-titled blog. If you are enjoying No Need to Ask podcast, please leave a review. Thank you!
Until we meet again, please continue to be safe and be well.
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Speaker 2:Welcome to another episode of no need to ask podcast. My name is Amani Duncan, and I will be your host on this journey. On today's episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with someone who has become a fast and dear friend of mine, Jacquelyn Brennan, or she is the cofounder of bili mastermind. Now feely means tribe in Greek and their intention is to create a tribe of diverse high level dreamers, thinkers, and doers. Feely helps female leaders rise. That means renew inspire support and empower in all aspects of their lives. So without further ado, please welcome Jacquelyn Brenner to no need to ask podcast. Hi Jacquelyn. Thanks for having me. I'm so excited to be joining you today on this podcast. I have been looking forward to this episode for a really long time. And so friends, you know, I met Jacquelyn and the amazing group feely when they invited me to participate in one of their workshops in New York city. And of course I was like, Oh my gosh, empowering women supporting women count me in. And it was just such an incredible experience. And during that time we've become, like I said, fast friends and I consider myself an ambassador, a feely. I really do like I have joined the tribe and when the tribe, the tribe, you know what I mean? And it's like, it's so rewarding to be around such diverse and incredible female thought leaders. So thank you again for taking the time out of your busy schedule to join us today. So tell us a little bit about you and how did you come up with be with the idea of feely? Uh, well, first of all, Amani, thank you so much. You are a true powerhouse who actually walks the walk and doesn't just talk. So I'm very blessed and appreciate types of be here with you today. Um, feely is my baby along with my cofounder summer. One of my true great friends, soul sisters, who is from China and we launched feely a little bit over a year and a half ago. So this was a true passion project. We knew we wanted to create a mastermind that was substantial. A mastermind is a peer to peer mentorship group, coupled with accountability. The first term mastermind was coined
Speaker 3:Originally in 1925 by an author named Napoleon Hill. So he used to gather around these amazing entrepreneurs and inventors and creatives because he knew if he had a tribe of people, he would always be the smartest one in the room because he knew that he can learn information and share ideas with that community. So that's where the original term mastermind was coined, um, summer and I belong to so many different female organizations, groups we're always out and about. And we felt like there was a need for a group that really had action and accountability besides just networking and happy hours and panel discussions. So family was built out of our own personal need to be around women that want to do something bigger, better, and greater who are committed and leveling up and investing in themselves.
Speaker 2:I love it. Oh my gosh. And you guys really have built something pretty incredible. I mean, hearing from you, your intention behind starting this incredible, you know, group and seeing it in action, you are really living your truth. It's, it's so amazing. Like I met so many dynamic women at the workshop that I attended and it was in conjunction with international women's day. It was huge. And it was so well done. And I really encourage all of you guys to definitely check out feely. They just launched a beautiful website. I mean, it's incredible. And I will link to the website in the description for the podcast, so everyone can go check it out. And you know, they're taking new members. They want people to join the tribe. And what really resonated with me, um, was that clearly on the website, you listed five reasons why to join the tribe. And, and, you know, as a marketer, I firmly believe everything starts with why. And so it States very clearly that number one, it's about community. Number two, accountability. Confidence is three education so important because we can always learn from each other and they shared experience and elevation and elevation is so key because traditionally women, especially in, in, well, just in general, I should say I was going to say professional, but it's really personal too. In our lives. We are always the caregivers. We're always putting ourselves maybe second, third in line because we're too busy taking care of everyone else. And I find a lot of times when I'm mentoring young women, um, in the professional space, they don't sing their praises. They, they downplay them, you know, which is, I'm like why, you know, you have to be your biggest advocate. You have to be your biggest cheerleader. So having elevation as, um, it's really a tool that has to be learned, you know, we almost have to unlearn the behavior pattern that we were conscious or subconsciously taught as young girls. Um, so let's talk a little bit about those reasons, why and why you actually chose those tenants.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. And first of all, I'm so glad that you said that because something we do within our close cohort community or the feeling tribes subscription, cause we have two products that we're offering right now. We encourage women to ask for what they want and need. We are conditioned as women to be feminine and polite and soft-spoken, this is how society has costed women. And we're breaking that stereotype to teach women and the next generation of strong female leaders, how to ask for what they want need, because men are conditioned to ask. So it's important for us to be in a safe space and environment and say, Hey girl, I know something, can you help me? And I love the fact that your podcast is girlfriend, no need to ask because you're already like anticipating. You're like, yes, done. Got it. And we truly believe that when women come together, Amani, we move mountains all about that community. It's about accountability because, Hey girl, if you say, you're going to launch this podcast and you don't do it, I'm going to call you out. And then I'm going to say, why isn't it done? And what do you need help with? It's about networking. It's about elevation because we open the door and we lift our hand down to lift up the next generation. So it's all of those things and confidence is key. We need to feel good about what we're doing. Throw the imposter syndrome out the window. We all have fears, right? It's taking risks, being bold and staying true to who we are at our core.
Speaker 2:We have such similar core beliefs. And I loved what you just said about pulling up the next generation of female leaders. It's so important. It's something that I say all the time. Once we do get that seat at the corporate table, um, it is our responsibility to pull out a chair for others. It truly is. And I'm S I see that, you know, I see women advocating for other women speaking up for other women. Um, we are so powerful together and very, you know, it's, it's the corporate world is, you know, we still have challenges and even entrepreneurs, like we still have challenges as women leaders. And sometimes
Speaker 3:It gets a little lonely. You know, you just,
Speaker 2:I want a girlfriend that is invested in you, that you can just call up without any strings attached and just say, listen, help me problem solve this. Or let's just, let's just talk it out, you know? And it really helps, um, you feel less alone, um, and inspired.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. And I'm glad that you said that. So our community, as of right now, we are 80% female founders, 20%. C-suite so that's really what differentiates feely, let's say like from the wing or achieve, which are fabulous. And I'm a big supporter and fan of both organizations and communities feely caters to female entrepreneurs. We have so many solo founders who are lonely. They need someone to review their pitch, deck materials. They want to share VC contacts. We want to review that elevator pitch and what you're doing, or how you're mapping out your strategy plan or what lawyers you're using or planning your besting schedule for your employees. Nobody shares that information. So when I joined a startup, when I left the fashion corporate world, it was challenging for me. I was working with three male founders who were all great, but I didn't necessarily feel like I fit in. I didn't have that community of women to be like, Hey girl, how do I negotiate this? Or, Hey girl, what should I do when I'm at the table with the VC? And I'm not sure exactly what to say or how to come off in the right way. And that's where we're coming in to help add support.
Speaker 2:Wow, powerful. Again, I am going to highly encourage everyone to check out feely. They have so many amazing workshops and, you know, pre COVID when life changed a bit, um, there was a lot of in-person meetups, but being so smart, you guys swiftly transitioned. Let's talk about COVID and the impact it's had on your business.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. And just socially, I'm a social animal. I love to be out and about. So when covert hit, I was very grateful that we had our international women's day event because it was pre quarantine and shelter in place in New York city. So once that happened around March 20th, my partner and I summer, we called each other and we said, all right, girl, what are we going to do? We're going to cry and be upset, or we're going to take the next 24 hours, pivot everything online, take out the Rolodex, call all of our contacts and get this together. So we did five months of free programming for our entire community. We went from our little database, like 480 people to now over 6,000.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh. Congratulations.
Speaker 3:Thank you. And we just launched a new product. So a lot of women who were coming to us saying, we're not quite ready to commit to a year mastermind, but we love what you guys do. And we want something, you know, maybe very affordable. That's not a big commitment that we can join months to month. So we launched the feely tribe's subscription, a very cost, no commitment, monthly virtual subscription with four workshops per month, one groups coaching session per month, where you can troubleshoot, make your ass kind of talk to summer and myself and access to our full content library of all of our past events and workshops.
Speaker 2:Wow. I mean, this is why you guys are successful and, and why you and summer you're co-founder are like the, you guys have the perfect partnership. You are resilient.
Speaker 3:Thank you. And I'm so grateful for her. After working with many partners in my career, it's always quite a challenge to work with someone that can call you out. That can be honest with you, that loves and supports you. And I am very grateful for my partnership with her. We are a wonderful match together,
Speaker 2:Accountability, right? One of the core tenants. Amazing, amazing. Um, and I like how you guys, you know, made that Swift decision. It wasn't crying in your soup. It's like, okay, this is happening and it's happening in real time. So we will react in real time because we have a commitment to our partners and our subscribers and our members. And I'm telling you, I've attended some of your virtual events. I even spoke at a fireside chat. I mean, it's just, it's always such a rewarding experience for me. And I, you know, I just assume for your members, I mean, growing from what 400 to 6,000 in such a short period of time, you guys are, I mean, that's proof positive that you are identifying a need and making it actionable and real for people. So you have a such an interesting perspective on, um, the influencer, the word influencer, and you know, we've a lot of people have a diff a lot of different opinions about what an influencer is and the power of the influencer and the negative association with being an influencer. But you have a very interesting point of view that I would love to deep dive on. You want to redefine the word influencer to role model? How was that idea born?
Speaker 3:Absolutely. So some people might not know this, but I have been blogging for the past nine years. I launched my blog originally blazers and Bellini's in 2010, 2011. And I was one of the first original plus size curve models. At the time I was a size 16, 18. This was pre shopping in a normal section for your clothing. You were pushed to the side in the back and labeled as a fat girl. And that felt terrible for me. So I wanted to go out and find trends and styles that I could share with my community. And I was one of the first plus size curve models and bloggers to do that. And I had the wonderful opportunity to partner with addition L with ACS when they launched their curve line when forever 21 first launched their curve line. And I started getting all of these partnerships and deals to model and to become an influencer. And over the years, throughout my entire career, I have seen some very negative stereotypes on the term influencer. So my job right now as a woman and an entrepreneur and a role model for young women is to redefine that term to work and promote brands that align with my core values that align with the message of body positivity, inclusivity, and diversity in all shapes and forms. So the types of content that I now write about and post, by the way, I just relaunched my blog as Joe Brennan, you can visit it@jaclynbrennan.com. So it's confirmed. I'm very excited to start writing again. It's a huge passion of mine. So I speak about brands that I am passionate about. It's not just about a paid gig or deal that I throw up and I post and say, Hey, go buy this. I work with brands that mean something to me. So I have a very longterm partnership with Fabletics. They cater to all sizes and all body shapes. I work with female founders and small business owners to help promote their products that I believe in that are sustainable and hit that Mark for me. So everything I talk about on the blog events, workshops, different brands, they all mean something for me. And I love to share that. So it's about empowering and positive messaging and very core and body positivity. So I worked really hard to get to where I am now, and I'm not technically considered a curve model, but I'm always curvy. And in my heart, and I resonate with all women to feel good in your own skin.
Speaker 2:Oh, Bravo. I love, I could not love what you just said more. It's just impossible. So do you find in the, because you still are an influencer, but you're a role model, you know, and in this world of influencers as you, cause you've been in the business for a while, do you see any change towards more, um, accountability being more responsible? Um, or is it just business as usual?
Speaker 3:I think for the first time, in a very long time, especially as of June, things have started to change. People are getting called out. People are being held accountable and people need to take action and stick to, to do what they said they were going to do. If you said something, now you're going to be held to a higher standard. So it is slowly starting to change. I felt that influencers in general, during a certain point of my career, felt very artificial and inauthentic. And at that point I decided I was going to step away from my blog and focus more on my fashion, corporate role and partnerships in a different way. But now I'm coming back because I feel that there is a gap for influencers to be very authentic and to talk about things that are meaningful to their heart, like positivity, mindfulness, wellness, being conscious and political too, to speak about our views. And what's important for us to educate the next generation. Wow. That is
Speaker 2:Amazing. I mean, I would just naturally think that brands would want their influencers to move in this direction, like to be an authentic voice to, um, it's almost like to be about something. You know what I mean? And it's just because no one has the tolerance, like you said earlier,
Speaker 3:People are holding brands, leaders,
Speaker 2:Role models, account
Speaker 3:As they should. And it's really
Speaker 2:As simple as you just said, if you say you're going to do something, just, just do it. Because if you're doing it to tick a box, you're going to get called out and your brand will suffer. I mean, just with the social unrest, that's, you know, all around us that we
Speaker 3:Constantly living through. You see, and it's mostly the younger generation calling people out, calling brands out, like no more. I love it. It's the youth they're going to lead the change. They really,
Speaker 2:They are. And they're staring big businesses, social, uh, you know, um, political and social unrest, racism, you know, stereotypes,
Speaker 3:Everything. They're looking at,
Speaker 2:All of these things squarely in the eye and saying, we're not standing for it anymore. And I'm so proud of them. I'm so proud of their career
Speaker 3:And their resilience. I'm like, how can we not support them? Exactly. I mean, that generation, the future generation, they're going to change the world. And I'm excited and hopeful that brands, businesses and leaders are going to start paying attention even more. But the change and the shift has happened 2020 is the great awakening. And I truly believe that in so many different ways. I agree.
Speaker 2:I agree. Um, so speaking about, you know, we have an election coming up, we have still so many systemic problems in America. We're still dealing with COVID, you know, I know everybody wants to pretend that it's over it's it's unfortunately not. Um, and so as we try to live one day at a time, because it feels like that's all we can manage to do. We still have to look forward. So what does 2021, um, ha know, holds for you? And for feely
Speaker 3:2021 is going to be a phenomenal year. It's a year of taking big, bold risks and staying true to yourself. Feely will continue to grow. Our second cohort of our actual core mastermind opens November, 2020. So we've already have about six members fully committed. We'll keep our feely tribes subscription. And by 2021, we hope to have four cohorts of 12 running summer in myself or expanding cities. So I'm going to be back and forth from New York to Austin safely. Hopefully once we see what's happening and we do have future plans to take feely to China.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh. Amazing. Oh, wow. So incredible. So incredible. So while you're like being this phenomenal woman advocate, influencer role model, you're relocating, I mean your cup runneth over and you do it all with such a beautiful smile and demeanor. I like to share with our listeners, um, books, like what are you currently reading and what do you suggest that the readers check out?
Speaker 3:Yes. I just finished reading a game changer, the power of intention by dr. Wayne Dwyer. It is a life changing book. I am very much into, you know, not self-help, but improvement, consciousness and people make fun of me because I give two hours a day to myself care. And summer's always like, how do you do that, Jack? You're crazy. I wake up super early before I touch my cell phone or computer. I have two hours for myself to exercise, meditate, journal and read every single morning. So yes, my cup is full. My days are crazy. I pretty much worked seven days a week because I love what I do, but I take time for myself because if you don't pour into your own prep, you cannot pour in anyone else's cup. So I'm a big advocate of self care and taking care of yourself mentally and physically.
Speaker 2:I think what you, I mean, so many gyms. I hope we have a pen and paper. Um, everyone taking a copious notes, but what you just said, it's so important. And I am actually trying to incorporate that into my daily routine. So that eventually becomes a habit, the two hours of just you time. And it's so important. I've been trying to get up early and do my Peloton. Wow. Um, and just sit still for a moment and collect my thoughts before I touch the iPhone or open the computer. And it really helps center me. I feel like stronger and that I can, you know, I'm ready to greet whatever the day presents to me. Um, and I really think it's important for us to not make self care. Like one day, you know, we have self care Sunday and everyone tries their best to focus on that one day. But I do think there's such value in incorporating self care into your schedule every single day. And it doesn't have to be three hours. It could literally be 30 minutes to start and work your way up to an hour,
Speaker 3:15 minutes in the morning. Girl, give yourself a seven minute meditation and then write your intentions for the day. How are you going to show up? What do you want to accomplish? I give myself two hours because I need it an hour of that is exercise. Um, and I needed for myself because I know if I do that ritual my morning ritual, I'm going to show up as my best self for everyone else and radiate out good energy. If I miss that morning, I might not be my best self. So I really try to do it every day.
Speaker 2:It's amazing. And you know, meditation is, you know, a lot of people ask me like, how do I start? You know, they make it, I think a lot of people have this idea that it's this huge production and you know, how do I even get started? And, and I recommend, um, Headspace, I use Headspace a lot. Um, what do you, what do you recommend for us
Speaker 3:Harder? I started with Headspace and then I moved to Inscape. I love Inscape because they actually have physical locations in New York city pre COVID. You can go and meditate in this gorgeous Jome pod. And the energy of being there with other people is fabulous. Um, it's an app you can do literally four or five minute meditations to start. They go up to 45 minutes. It also has been really helping me go to sleep at night. I love their evening bedtime. Meditation's when I can't sleep. I fall asleep to it. And recently, after reading the power of intention, I have been practicing Joppa meditation, J a P a, which is uses your voice and the app sound, which helps you manifest through your third eye. And it sounds kooky and crazy, but you actually are physically making a sound. And I have already seen some fabulous manifestations happen, and I'm really enjoying that.
Speaker 2:Wow, everyone, I will continue to, uh, link in the, in the podcast description, all of these sites and apps and definitely the book I am going to order it as soon as, Oh my gosh. Look at you. Always having my back. I love it. Well, there's one thing that I like to ask all of my guests. Um, and it's, it's, I just love the answers because they're, they're never what I expect. So here it goes, it's called trading places. So if you trade places with anyone living or deceased, who would that person be and why? Oprah? My idol. I actually got to meet her this year, 2020 on her 2020 vision tour right before COVID. I am obsessed with her. I love her the way she sets her boundaries, the way she works. She's such a frigging boss. I would love to, which would come with a lot of pressure, but I'd love to trade places with Oprah for a day and just see how her mind thinks and does it all. I love it. I mean, you did not hesitate flair vision, so clear, speak it into existence. My dear Jacqueline, this has been so amazing. I just cannot thank you enough for taking the time and connecting with me and the listeners. I know there are so many takeaways that I hope will benefit the listeners lives, and I wish you continued success. And I cannot wait to lean in to the next feely event. So friends, I will, again, hyperlink everything in the product description in the podcast description. Please take the time to check out feelies, new website and subscribe and join. It will be one of the best things you can give to yourself. Jacqueline. Thank you again. Thank you so much, Amani. It was such a pleasure to be here with you today. You've made my entire day talk about a motivation Monday. Thank you so much. And like Amani mentioned, you can visit feely N Y c.com and join our tribe. Thank you. Please join everyone. So friends, that's the end of our conversation with Jacqueline Brenner co founder of bili until next time be safe and be well
Speaker 1:[inaudible].