The Dark Truth About Scaling to 7 Figures (and Why Jenna Kennedy Walked Away)

Hey legend,

If you’ve ever stared at your “dream” life and quietly thought, why don’t I feel how I thought I would… this one’s for you.

This week on The Mind School Podcast, I sit down with Jenna Kennedy,my American mirror, truly - to pull back the curtain on the coaching industry, success, and what it actually costs to build a life that feels like yours.

In this episode, Jenna shares:

• The hidden side of “making it”... why hitting 6 or 7 figures can still feel empty if you’re chasing the wrong thing
• How to build a brand that’s magnetic without falling into the luxury persona trap or performative success
• What no one tells you about walking away from a thriving business,  and rebuilding from self-trust, not burnout
• Practical money and mindset shifts to grow your income and your inner peace
• A grounded definition of success for the next generation of coaches, simple, present, and actually fulfilling

If you’re scaling, pivoting, or just tired of performing “CEO” on the internet, this conversation will bring you back to self, service, and sanity.

Share it with the coach bestie who’s been hustling herself numb — and then text me your aha moment. I want to hear it.

(a hard reset on what matters),

B

As always, please don't forget to hit Subscribe! xxx

Transcript

Unknown: 0:04

Jenna Kennedy, I am so excited to have my American version or mirror of me on this podcast. Thank you so much for being here. It's like we exist on opposite sides of the world. It's perfect. I want to start with something that you've put on your Instagram recently, which was, I lived a successful life on paper, crushing it, seven figure business, growing team behind the scenes. I felt a low grade lull, like I was going through the motions. I want to start there, and I want to understand what it feels like and what position you were in to wake up one day with this version of success that everyone aims for in the business world, you've built a seven figure business, and you've got this realization that, like, I don't even know if I'm happy. Could we start there? And can you explain what that was like for you? Yeah, yeah, I Well, it was trippy, because I grew up with nothing, like I grew up with a single mom, and we struggle with money our entire lives. And so I really built a complex from a very young age of like, if I can be successful, then I can escape all this pain, and I can help my mom, and I can give back to my family, and, like, I can build a different life. And so I chased that for a long time, even when I was a teacher, I know you and I have that I had my postgraduate degrees, I wanted to become a principal. I wanted to become a superintendent, like I always wanted to become the most successful that I could become. It whatever it was that I was doing, as long as it was tied to helping people. And so when I became a coach, and I would look around, you know, when I was became a coach in 2018 and see these like seven figure business owners. And I was like, that feels like the biggest accomplishment. If I do that in my life, like in 10 years, I want to make a million dollars. And it happened in my first million dollar year, was in 2021 and my first year, I will say my first year, I would cry. I wake up crying. I was so excited. I was blown away. I was like, oh my god, I did it. I'm helping all these people. Like, it was truly, like, I felt every ounce of being proud and excited. And then the next year is when, is when that post really happened? You know, I would wake up. I had consistent I had 18 months in a row of six figure or more cash months. So I'm going to preface this that my numbers. I didn't skew them. I don't do what a lot of people do in the coaching industry, because I've been a part of the coaching industry for a very long time. Like those were very real cash months like that was a very real thing that I was experiencing every single month. And I woke up one day. It was 2022 I had celebrated the million dollars again. You know, I think it was September of that year, and I woke up and I was like, I should be happy like I was last year. I should be proud of myself. Like, look at what I'm doing. I mean, this was on my vision board. I bought the million dollar home. I was driving the cool car, and, you know, living this life. But I woke up and I just had that feeling of like, why am I not feeling the way that I thought that I would feel when this is the life that I've worked my tail off for years to build. And at the time, I didn't realize that I wasn't happy because I had so many defense mechanisms up that was like, No, you are happy. Like you work so hard for this, you'll be happy. But when I got really honest with myself, I'm like, I just kind of feel empty. I was going through the motions. I fit myself in this box that I thought I needed to be fit into in order to be successful. So I was dimming a lot of me and what it was that I wanted to be expressing and what I wanted to be doing. And I started to just realize that money, it does buy happiness. Okay, I'm going to say it does, and studies do prove that it does buy happiness up to a certain point. But I was past the point of that, and it just was like, becoming just another thing. And I was like, there has to be something more to life than me, waking up, getting on coaching calls, creating content, making money. There's got to be something more to life than this. And again, it was shocking, because I'm like, but I've worked so hard, like, my entire existence. I got two jobs a day that I turned 14, like it was survival mode with money. And I was like, why am I not feeling the way that I want to feel? And it was truly because, you know, there was something else in life that I was meant to be doing. But, yeah, it was a, it was a sobering time that I and I was shocked because I heard that like, you know, you hear like, the stars that are like, money doesn't buy happiness, and you're like, you're an idiot. Yes, it does. And to be living that, you know, it was, it was confusing. I was very confused. And I also was terrified, because I'm like, Well, who am I without this success? You know, I've been doing this for, you know, 18 months now. It's now a part of my identity. I'm now a seven figure business coach, you know, on my Instagram bio. And so then it was this whole terrifying feeling of like, well, if there is something more, and it's not this, and I let this go. Then what does that mean about me? And then was that mean about my life? So it was a it was a confusing time. Is what it was, holy shit. There is so much to unpack. There so much. And I think I'm so interested in you said, like that first year, I think 2021, or that, when you start. It. It was like I'm crying. I'm impacting people. I feel so grateful. This is amazing. And something shifted. So I'm so intrigued by, what was the recipe, I suppose, if you look back now, what had contributed to that feeling in the beginning of, I love this. This is amazing. I'm so grateful. I'm lit up. What was that about? I think it was a couple things. Number one, it was this newness, like, it was like, oh my god, I'm doing it, you know, like you set to achieve this massive goal, and you're like, Can I do it? Can I not? And it was like, oh my god, I'm doing it, like I'm becoming that person that I've been wanting to become. So there was that newness, which we actually know in neuroscience, like, that's dopamine on dopamine on dopamine. And so there was, I definitely was being fueled by that set a goal, achieve it bigger, keep going. There also was the fact that that year, my husband and I lived a very different life. So I don't know if you know this or not, because we're kind of newer in each other's worlds, but from January to October of that year, my husband and I lived in an RV. We did covid in an RV. We were just like, right now and and so we just traveled across the US, like it literally was, we'd wake up and it was like my heart is calling me to the mountains. Let's go to the mountains, and then we would make our way to like Montana or Idaho. And so there was just this feeling of like we literally were living a life of complete freedom with just us. Now, there was a lot that came with that that was difficult, but that there was this feeling of like the world is your oyster and you can do anything with it. And so I think those two things together were like the truly, the perfect recipe for like, how new and exciting and happy I was. I also think that, you know, my entire life, I I I really struggle with self confidence. I really struggled with a, let's just call it self love, like, I really, truly struggled with it. I mean, nobody would ever be able to tell on the outside, I was always this happy goal. I've always been this happy go lucky, like life of the party. You know, really good friend to people. I love people. But on the inside there was this feeling of like, but I Why don't I love myself the way that I love others. And so I think that also in that first year, I was seeing myself striving at something that I was setting my heart out to work so hard to do, and when I was achieving those levels that I had wanted to achieve at it really was feeding the self love that I had never felt before. What I didn't realize at the time was that my self love was then tied to achievements, which was a whole unraveling later on. But I think with those three together was really why it was just so cool and so exciting. And you know, I received messages every single day that was like, You're changing my life. This, this quote that you said this program, you know, like you're helping me live my life of freedom. And you know, you know, because you are a teacher, and in the coaching world as well. There's this feeling of like, wow, I'm literally helping people change their lives, you know? And so it just, it was so it was so cool. It was so amazing. It was just this world that I never even knew that I was capable of living. And yeah, I was so proud of that. Wow, I actually have just had my own aha moment. As you were talking, you said, it was it was novel, it was novel, it was dopamine. I know both of us have been diagnosed with ADHD again, another reason. I'm like, fuck. We're the same person, but I'm I have had, when were you diagnosed? Two, three years ago? Okay, okay. And it really showed itself when I left teaching, all my structures were gone. All of those routines were gone, and having to be your own boss, I was like, Wow, I'm scattered. I'm so scattered. But the novelty is similar to you, the novelty, the excitement, the dopamine, was so exciting. And the last probably year or so, I've gone, like, where's that gone? We were also traveling. We were living in Europe. A lot of the time. We were living on bicycles. And I actually am, as you're talking, I'm like, Oh, my God, same, same, same. So then you found yourself waking up unhappy. Had your freedom dissipated a little bit. Did you find, I know you've talked about the shadow side of personal development, you've talked about some toxic dynamics that play out in the coaching industry. What had sort of shifted that you think contributed to that feeling of, oh, this actually isn't it anymore? Yeah, yeah. Gosh, that's a great question. It I think it was a slow burn. It wasn't like, I woke up one day it'd be so easy, you know, it's like, so easy when you wake up, when you're like, this person's not for me, and I'm gonna end it. But it was like, this slow burn over the course of the year where I started to, you know, from the moment that I became entrepreneur, I invested in myself. Like, all the time. I was always in a mastermind. I was always had a coach, like, so I was very involved. I never did it by myself. I was very inundated within the industry. Yeah, and I started throughout that second year in 2022 I was still traveling. It was just on airplane. I, you know, we had a home, we were traveling, and so I still had that freedom. I was like, You I could just make up my schedule, which half of the time I literally didn't do. Much like I wasn't working a ton at that year because a lot of my stuff was already set and structure was there, and I just started to that year, I actually started to go deeper on my own healing journey. So I'm a big fan of plant medicine. I'm a big fan of therapy, like those are the huge modalities that I've utilized for my own growth and my own healing. And I was really pulled into those worlds. And I wasn't really quite sure, because at that point, I'm like, I'm happy. I'm like, What do you mean? Like, I have nothing to heal, you know? And I started to do a lot of healing in therapy and in plant medicine, more so in plant medicine in 2022 and I started, the more that you heal your stuff, and the more that you have awareness around your patterns and your parts and your nervous system, the more that you can't see things through the same lens. One of the healers I worked with said, once you know, you can't unknow, and you wish sometimes you could go back to the naivety, but you can never go back once you see what you've seen. And I started to see that over and over and over again in the industry. And I'm not going to be like it was the industry, like I was a part of the industry. So I saw it in the industry, and then I saw it mirrored in me. And I'm like, wait, I don't like this about me. I don't this is not me. Like, that's not the Jenna that I that I've always been and what part, what part is not you, sorry, so this part, the part that's not me, which part was that, that you're referring to? That part was this, like, this flashy, luxurious, like, show your seven figure lifestyle to people, so then people will love they'll fall in love with the lifestyle, and then they're going to want to work with you, because you drive a Porsche and you have a Louis Vuitton bag. And it like, like, that type of, that type of part of the industry where it's very much like, show the private jet. I've never been on a private jet. I just like to fly first class, right? But like, show that, because people are going to want to see that. People want that. And it's like, Listen, I'm from, I know that we're not in the same country, but I'm from what a place in the States called the Midwest, and the Midwest, people are just like, salt of the earth, like, like, my husband and I joke like, This sums up the Midwest where, like, we get, we'll go sometimes, and we'll get, like, grocery pickup, and we'll pull up our cars and we sit there, and then they bring the groceries out. My husband and I cannot, for the life of us, just let them load the groceries. We're like, no, let me help you. You know, like, we hold doors open for people, like, we just, and I was working with a mentor at the time, and she told me, she said, this whole Midwest girl next door like you're the girl next door that nobody realizes is a millionaire. That's sweet, and that's cute, and that got you to seven figures, but it's not going to get you to eight figures. It's not going to get you to multiple seven figures. You have to start to become untouchable. You have to start to, like, not answer your DMS and let your team do it. Like, you have to start, like, being embodying this eight figure CEO. And of course, when you hire somebody for a lot of money that has made eight figures and they're telling you this, you're like, Okay, well, that must be what I need to do, right? Like, I put a lot of my trust in other people that I was hiring because I didn't have that trust in myself, but I didn't know it at the time. I was just like, well, look at what I'm doing, you know? And so there was that piece of the industry that I started to see a lot of, let's just call it masks, right? I like these personas and these masks that people put on when they come online, and then they're a completely different person behind the scenes. And I'm like, I don't I don't like that. I don't want to build a brand and a business that is centered around helping people and making my life better and changing my family's lives. Like, I don't want to have to wear a mask and and create new masks to get new levels of success. And I don't want to be inauthentic in this. And I didn't realize that I was doing that, like I bought the Louis Vuitton purse. I literally hate the thing. I'm like, can I just, like, give it away? Like, I hate this thing, it's in my closet. And I'm like, What do I do with this? Do I burn it? Like, I don't know, you know. And so it's like, those. But I also started seeing a lot of just things that were out of integrity. I started seeing people claiming, you know, that they were making X amount of money, and, like, I was in a mastermind with them. And I'm like, No, you're not like, I actually know what you're dealing with behind the scenes. You know, in even outside of the business coaching, I started people, I started seeing people, you know, like, look at my perfect marriage, and look at my amazing family, and then, you know, behind the scenes, they're talking to me about getting a divorce, and I'm like, well, then what, like, what is, what is this that we're seeing? It's like, this whole feeling that we need to become someone that we're not in order to get what it is that we want to get. Want to get in the world. And I just started waking up to it. And I also started waking up to, you know, a lot, because that took on, you know, some of that was my brand. A lot of my clients came to me, and the only thing that they wanted was to learn how to make money. And it was like, tell me how to get seven figures, and tell me how to get a six figure month, and tell me this. And I was like, Yeah, I'll help you with those things. But like, what about all of these other things that are equally as important and who it is that you're becoming, and the leadership and the impact in your teaching style? But nobody wanted to learn those things. They just wanted the quick and easy way to make seven figures and make it now, you know? And so all of that was just, you know, I started to see these things, and I'm like, this. Sucks. Yeah. Like, this is not a fun thing. I'm not enjoying this. I'm not waking up being grateful for what it is that I'm that I'm able to do. And slowly, I think that just started to chip away at me. And there was a lot of other things in that. Like, I didn't have very good boundaries with my clients. I didn't have very good boundaries with social media. I didn't have very good boundaries with content in my life. Like, there were so many other things in that. But you know, that year, it was just kind of like a culmination of all of it, that I was like, I gotta, I gotta stop this. Wow, there is so much there that I can see in the industry, that I also have experienced myself and thought similar to you, I'm from a small country town. I love people. I got in this industry to help people, and there's so much rhetoric around become more exclusive. People should have to pay more to make more and to be in your high proximity, close proximity spaces. And I was like, What the fuck I'll hang around anyone like I love people. And there was that you have to pay to be in proximity to you, yeah? We understand that this is, like, rooted in narcissism. That is wanky, yeah? And that's what like in that year, when I started to do my healing, and I started to understand mental health, and a lot of then I started to see people in in the industry and brands through the lens of mental health, and I'm like, Oh, we are unwell. We are not, well, yeah, like, yeah. Often those, some of those people who will charge huge amounts of money, huge six figures and beyond for, you know, a mastermind or something. And I've been in very high level masterminds myself, where I've gotten in and thought to myself, I'm not actually receiving any structured because I'm a teacher. I'm also looking at like, where are you scaffolding this? Where are you teaching me a skill? Where are you actually helping me with an actual strategy and skill, as opposed to get in the energy, be the vibe, feel the vibe and pay lots of money to be an energetic match for lots of money. And I similarly was like, but this isn't teaching anyone an actual skill to become that person. Yes, you can be an energetic match, but you also need to be a match in skill set and all of these frameworks and things that need to be taught. Did you have that experience, too, where you were like, Oh, am I spending money? Because I've bought the lie, not the lie. There might be some truth to it. I've bought into to be a match to making money. I just need to spend lots. Yeah, completely, yeah. I mean, I invested hundreds of 1000s of dollars, hundreds of 1000s of dollars, with one coach. And, you know, almost, probably 50, 6070, with another one that in a very similar, you know, crew that I was, that I was in, and, yeah, it was very much, and that's actually one of the things I talked about this in my podcast. And, you know, I talked about, like, the elephant in the room, why I really shut my company down, and it's I was working with a coach, and she told me, you know, I was stuck. I'm using air quotes, right? I just told you I had, like, 18 months in a row of six figure months, right? Like, and I couldn't appreciate I couldn't see how cool that was. I couldn't see how beautiful that was anymore, because it was normal. And when things become normalized to the human brain, we become desensitized to them, unless we start to value something different. And at that time, I didn't value that. And so, you know, I was talking to her, and she's like, You know what? I think the reason why you are stuck is because you haven't made a big investment in yourself. And the more money that I spend, the more money that I make. And if you spend more, then you'll make more. And I think that you should start investing in one on one, coaching with me next for next year, and start paying me$30,000 a month in order to push past your financial edge. And I say this out loud because I have this recorded, and it is verbatim what happens. So I just want to preface that for legal purposes, and I remember literally falling for it. And I was like, okay, she's right. Like, she's super successful, she's right. And, you know, it's like, thinking back, oh God, the self abandonment that it didn't realize that I was experiencing, because my whole body was like, anxious, dude. Like, I was like, oh my god, I can't do that. Like, I didn't want to tell my husband, even though I had been like, you know, been investing in myself for a long time, and I didn't realize that it was abandoning myself for this belief system that actually wasn't mine. And then when I removed myself from the world and went through all my healing, I realized that that is a lot of what is happening within the coaching industry. But also, let's just take this to the health industry, the education industry. This is what's happening in our world, because the coaching industry is a microcosm of the macrocosm of what we're experiencing in this whole entire world, right? Yeah. And so when I started to realize this, I was like, Wait, everyone is trying to instill belief systems in us. Everyone is trying to get us to override our own inner knowing and our own like self belief and our own self love. And everyone is trying to do that for their own profit. We're seeing it literally everywhere right now. And so when I started to just. See it, the world through that lens, and then I started to see the coaching industry through that lens. I was like, okay, so you know what my work is, because this is happening everywhere. This isn't just a couple, like, this is happening literally everywhere. I'm like, What? What the problem is is I'm not going to blame because I think it's wrong and and I was a part of it, and I'm not going to be like, well, that's this person or that person, or everyone else. I'm like, what is the antidote to this? It's all of us coming back home to ourselves and believing in ourselves and actually becoming fortified in our own selves and our own beliefs and our own self expression to really, truly know what is best for me. Because high ticket masterminds, it could be, I mean, I was in a couple that were phenomenal and literally helped shape me as a business owner. It helped me so much. And then I was in others that I'm like, is this, am I being punked? Like, where's the Candid Camera? Like, what's going on here? Right? Yeah. And so I just think it's the more that we know ourselves, the better we can make these decisions for our own growth and our own evolution and and really truly make decisions in a way that we're not going to regret. I would be willing to bet I'd be so curious what your thoughts are on this, that the majority of people who have ever invested in something in the coaching industry, whether they're coaches or not, have been left disappointed, and it's, I think, often because we're not making decisions that are really aligned with what we actually need. Absolutely, I think we're sold a problem. We're sold which I don't have a problem with, pain point marketing. I think it's clever, it's fine, but it is an industry that feeds off people's insecurities with a undercurrent of, you're broken and you can pay me to fix it, and that's where my problem lies with I don't believe anyone's inherently broken. I don't believe anyone can be fixed by someone else. We can be supported, but an industry that feeds off showing you another way that you're broken actually, to me, is detrimental to what you spoke about in the beginning, self love, self expression, self healing, all of these things I've definitely similar to you, I've had negative experience, but I also see that as a mirror to my own. I gave a lot of my power away, and that's on me. And I've also had my life changed by coaches, so it's kind of similar to teaching. There's problems with every industry, but I love that you said, like it's all just a mirror for us to look back at our own truth, and so you woke up with this, I'm sure, like harrowing new truth that I'm not happy this success that I've created, isn't it? What was the process and the ego death like to shut down a seven figure business. Like, my mind goes, Wow, did scarcity come up. Did ego? Did things around money? What was that decision like? Was it a slow process? Was it overnight, like, how? How did you make that decision and what did you have to contend with internally? Everything it was, it was slow, you know? It was a slower over the course of, like, what probably I had, because I had a container that was, like, a year long. So I was like, Okay, I'm not going to enroll anyone new in this. The people that were in it were in it for like, another 10 months. So I'm like, Okay, I'm going to shut down the other things, and then I'm going to keep this, you know, I'm going to keep this container open. And so then it was, like, over those course of 10 months, I wasn't running the other things, and I was running this thing, and I would randomly, I'm like, Well, do I want to try this? And I would try something, and I'm like, that doesn't feel good. That's like, no, that doesn't, I don't like that. And, yeah, there was, I mean, goodness gracious, that's what I want to make sure that every like, it was not like I shut down my seven figure business and I found myself, and I found myself, and now I'm happy. You know, that's not what happened. It was excruciating, like it truly was. I slipped into depression for a solid three months. I, like, literally, could barely I left my house to go to therapy. I was, you know, as my entire identity was wrapped up in being a high achiever my entire life, even when I was a teacher, I ran the school right. Like, it's not like I always was like, Okay, well, where can I climb up to? Like, how high can I make it and and when you literally have that your entire life and your entire system is used to working and helping people and making money, even as a teacher, I was tutoring 12 to 20 hours a week to make more money, on top of tutoring. And then I was in grad school, right? So, like I was always had so much on my plate, my nervous system was just attuned to a lot into bigger because, again, it was a survival pattern. And so when you just shut that down and you stop that, my entire identity was I unraveling? You know, I wasn't a seven figure entrepreneur anymore. I wasn't helping people anymore. I wasn't making money anymore, you know, like my my husband and I, like my husband, came into my business also, and my company, majority of my the people in my company, were my family members. So then I had to look at my family and be like, I'm not paying you anymore. Oh. And you, yeah, you have all that wrapped up into it, right? Then I'm ruining people, my family's life, right? Like, we had my husband that had had a thriving career, and then we had a miscarriage, and then covid happened, and during all of that, he was, like, your business is, you know, we made the joint decision. My business is exploding. Come in, we'll figure out what you could want to do with your life, you know, like, like your passions are, and then all of a sudden, you know, it's like, you've got to get a job, like, you have to go back into the career world and figure this out to support our family. And, you know, we had a very nice lifestyle. We adjusted our lifestyle to how much money we were making. And so then our lifestyle was being like, Nope, we got to stop doing that. We can't do that. We can't do this anymore, you know. And it was, it was terrifying. You know, no never in my life, not even as a kid. You know, two jobs a day. I turned 14, I couldn't count on my family to provide for me financially, like we had a home, we had food, but anything else like that was on me. You know, I had student loans to go to school. I had to pay my way through grad school with all the tutoring that I was doing. And so, you know, debt was a part of my entire life, until I became a successful business owner. And then here I was looking at my entire life being like, it felt like it was slipping, you know, I like, couldn't grasp onto it. It was just it was going and I was battling, yeah, depression, ego, deaths. Who am I without this? Who am I without a thriving brand? You know, significance, value, belonging, community. I mean, all of it was in there, you know. And it was wild too, because I was, you know, ending some friendships during that time that were not strong at all, that were really rooted in those, those talk, you know, toxic dynamics. And it was just a really, really, really hard time. And there were times that, you know, I would be on the couch, and my husband would be like, Come on, let's go take the dogs for a walk. And I was like, I literally can't, like, I can't, I can't get up, I can't move. And you know, he would, poor man, he would try to, like, help and make me happier. And you've been through hell and back with your spouse, you know, you know what that's like when they want to fix it, but they just can't. And, like, I have to be in this by myself. And you know, it was a depth and level of healing that I never knew I needed. You know, I never knew that I'd have to look at some of those childhood patterns that literally were keeping me alive and meet them and try to find safety and nothing. It's easy to feel abundant and safe and happy when you're successful, it's easy, it's so easy. But what happens when all of those things go away? Well, then you really have to do the work, you know? And I told my husband, I said, I feel like I have to fight for my happiness. And like, it's not fair I would. I remember one time I was crying to him, and I was like, Babe, like, I'm like, a good person, like, why am I going through this? Like, why am I experiencing this? You know? And he's like, I don't know, Jen, like, I don't know why you are, but we'll see what's on the other side of it. And I had to fight every single day to truly even be apathetic about life. Wow, wow. Looking back from the lens that you're at now, do you see how it may be possible? Maybe it's not what you want, but can you see a potential where it's possible to have a seven figure business and maintain that sense of self, that freedom? Are you seeing looking back how maybe Mistakes were made that you would do differently, or if you were to give a recipe to someone who went, Okay, Jen, but I still do want the seven figure business, and I still do want the freedom, and I still do want to feel like I'm crying every day with gratitude for my clients, and I'm staying true to myself. Like, do you see that as a potential or a different path that could be taken in the future. I do. I do. Yeah, I do. And the reason why I do is because I have, I know a couple people that are doing it like that. I that I know deeply well that are doing it. And the only, the only, like common denominator with everyone is that they know themselves and they're making an impact, that their heart and their soul is like I am here to help in this way. And they're literally, you know, just having the time of their lives, living and impacting and leading the way that their heart and their soul are meant to. I I think without that, I don't think we can, you know, and we see this too, like in the the influencer industry, like this is coming out a lot with, like, actual influencers, not coaches, where, like, they've, you know, they built this whole brand on brand deals, you know, it's like, you know, spindrift pays them 50 grand to promote it. And then this company and that company, and we're seeing the same thing. There's a couple women that are speaking out against it over there, where they're like, I, I literally just became this walking billboard. And I don't care about all these things, like it doesn't mean anything. And I know this about happiness, is that we need to live a life of meaning in order to really, truly be happy and fulfilled. And I they've proven this in happiness studies as well. Is that that. Meaning is tied to helping people and making this world a better place, even if it's the smallest of ways. So I do think that we can do this, but they also in happiness, like we have to be true to ourselves. We've got to love ourselves like self confidence, self love, self belief. And so I think if you merge those together and you build a business that is really like your strengths, your passions, your like, whatever it is that you love. If you're courageous enough to say, I'm not looking at any of these people, and I'm doing what my heart and my soul love, and it's helping people, I do think it's, I know it's possible. It's, it's just, it's, it's going to be a heart, it's going to be just a longer, harder journey you've really got to fight to maintain your sense of self, and it's so what's the word? It happens slowly and without realizing that you've even kind of lost yourself along the way. And I've loved watching you. You know, I can tell you're so lit up by your podcast. I can tell motherhood has shaped you in ways that I'm sure you didn't even anticipate. And now it seems like you're finding this beautiful balance where it's like, This is who I am. This is how I get meaning. This is how I help people. How did you sort of come to discover this beautiful place where you now feel like you've got purpose and meaning, and maybe I'm projecting here, this is what I see in you. Are you now in that place where you feel like you've grounded back in yourself? And how did you get to this place? Yeah, such a good question, because this is, like, something that anyone right? You don't have to shut down a seven figure company to like, be here, you know, but this is what so many of us want. You know, I went back long ways away, and I was like, what used to bring me happiness and like, what used to make me feel joyful and like. Why did I even become an entrepreneur? You know? Because I became an entrepreneur because I healed myself of an eating disorder, and for the first time in my entire life, I loved my body, and I wasn't terrified eat carbs and I wasn't exercising myself. Then, like, literally, for the first time since I was, like, 14, I found this, like, love for myself and my body. And I said to my husband, I actually accidentally started my first business. I didn't plan on leaving teaching. I planned on becoming a principal. And so I went back to there, and I was like, Well, why did you even leave teaching to begin with, you know, like, why was it? And I was like, I wanted to help people be happy and healthy and love their body and love their life. Like, that was why I became a nutrition coach. And that's why that business was so successful. Like, I didn't even plan on becoming a business coach. It's just that business was successful. Then people were like, Well, can you teach me? And I was like, Can you pay me? And then I, you know, and then I let That's literally how I became that. And then I lost myself, you know, in that business coaching space. And so I started to go back to that where I'm like, what do I really love to like with my friends? Like, no screens. What do I love to talk about? What do I like? What lights me up in my everyday life, and what am I doing in my life that's making my life better? And when I share it with people, and they do it, it makes their life better. What are the conversations I'm having in therapy that I'm like, Oh my God, that literally changed everything for me. Or what's the realization I had in a ceremony that I'm like, Oh my God, I feel like, I feel like people need to know this. Or, you know, something that I discovered in my life, you know, like, this is, this is ridiculously silly. But like, instead of dry shampoo. I have dark hair, so I use cocoa powder. I know it sounds absolutely ridiculous. I do smell like chocolate, but like it's I'm super non toxic. I love non I'm non toxic because I healed myself from an entire, you know, adult life of hormone issues, of very painful periods and hormone and hormonal acne, and so I started to fall in love with, not more, more non toxic living and just finding these, like, cheaper, crunchy alternatives to like things that, like, how much do you pay for dry shampoo? Stupid amount of money, right? Yeah. Well, my cocoa powder is, like, $3 you know? And so I love sharing those things with people. And I love people being like, thank you so much. Like, I love this. Like, I love, I love learning about mental health and dopamine and happiness and in overcoming addiction. And I just started to go back to the basics of like, What do I love in life? And if I and this is literally how I became an a nutrition and fat loss coach. I just started to share my journey and healing myself, healing my gut, overcoming, you know, struggles with food, and finally, for the first time, being educated and understanding food hormones in my body. And when you get all that together, your life will change. And I used to say when I help women lose weight, I would say when your body is thriving and you have energy and you feel incredible in your mind, and your body weight loss becomes a natural byproduct of it. That was my belief with weight loss, and it still is. And so I just started to go back to, like, the things that I absolutely love. And I was like, wait, I can talk about that. It's like, I slowly started to break myself out of this box that I didn't even realize I was in. I was like, wait, I can talk about that. I can talk about that. And so I just started giving myself permission to just document and share the things that that light me up and that I know help people. And. Yeah, I'm going to say this slowly I got there. What would you say to the people who are listening, who maybe are like, but Jenna, I need to make money. Like I actually have to. This is a practical factual thing. I need to make money. So if I just show up, sharing from my heart, is that going to meet the niches needs and speak to pain points and convert and where's that fine line between people where it's actually like, but I actually need to put food on the table, I need to make rent, I need to pay my bills. I know lots of listeners are sort of in that place where they're like, business is actually feeling like it has to work. And I think that's what leads a lot of people to kind of losing themselves. Ironically, what's been your experience of potentially, I'm thinking like, the more lit up you are, the more of service you are, the more money you make. Can you see there's truth to that. Like, where's your opinion on all of that? I think there that is a piece of it, but that is also being, like, just the vibrations and then the money will come right? Like, we definitely need the structure. And the way that I say, the way that I look at it, is, what is something that you have in your life that you can truly help somebody with because my first business, my first business, coaching business, was called impact to income, and it was the more impact that we can make in someone's life, the more income that we can make as a result. And so with anything that we're doing, what is the impact that you're giving in someone's life? If someone's going to scroll and they're going to stop on your Instagram and they see a post that you have, what impact is that having in someone's life? And if we can start to look at our brands and our businesses as lenses of how I can help people, if you have a company that literally can help someone solve problems and support them in bettering their lives, of course you're going to be able to be successful. Then you then you have to learn the business skills, the messaging, the marketing, the sales, all that stuff. But if you if you have a company that's rooted in changing someone's life in some way, shape or form, then you can, you can be successful. It's just you have to keep your pulse on the impact and trust that the income will come as a result. The problem is that we get so engulfed and obsessed with the money. And a lot of my business coaching work was actually helping people heal their relationship with money. It was, it was like looking at our deep conditioning around money, looking at our scarcity with money. I actually never like to use that word, but it's what industry used. So I used it. But like helping people understand, like I actually have to be safe and secure financially in order to actually have a thriving business. Because if you have a business that you need the person on the other end of the DMS to pay you. That's not fair for them. That's literally not fair for them. And whether it's survival, like, I have to make five grand this month for my overhead and like, whether that's survival, like, I have to make this much money in order to survive. And then it gets to egoic, where it's I have to make$50,000 because if I don't make$50,000 and I don't like myself, either one is not fair to the person that's paying you. And so we have to get to a point of safety. And this is the disgusting work that nobody wants to do, because it's not sexy, right? But like, when I would when I was going through this, and even when I was a business coach, I would say, when people would like, I need to make this much money, and I'm like, you're making 30 grand a month. Like, this is a lot of money. You're not in scarcity, okay? You're not You're not scarce right now. And so what I would have people do is an exercise, and I had to do it myself, and I was shutting everything down, which was, look at your entire life. What is the bare minimum that you need to survive? How much do you spend on groceries? How much do you spend on your car, your insurance, your house. What is the bare minimum? 90% of time the bare minimum was way less than people perceived that. It was because what happens is, let's say that you make $10,000 a month in your business, then all of a sudden your point of safety goes to 10 grand. And anything below that is like danger. But if you only need three grand to survive, like you're really not in danger. So this is asking us to become, like financially, more empowered as women and as coaches and as business owners, to realize, hold on, my bare minimum is five grand a month. Do, can I? Can I go through a season where I'm stacking up money so that I have six months in the bank just in case I want to pivot, just in case I want to change, just in case I want to, you know, shift, or whatever it is. And then you actually legitimately have real, true safety, not perceived safety of the psyche. And then you can actually do what it is that you want to do. But I highly recommend anyone doing that. And then, because you know this, like if you want to help somebody, and you want to spend, let's say you want to make$10,000 a month, you've got to be a known and trusted leader in order for people to pay you. That doesn't happen with one month of Instagram strategy. That happens over the course of months in a brand. So you we also, I think we've also become so inundated with this flash, like flashy fast money. Yeah. Like, you can make 10 grand yesterday. And so again, our dopamine systems are like, it should happen really fast, and when the reality is like, no, it's gonna it's gonna take time. And so we just have to be aware of all of that and get ourselves as much as we can out of that scarcity feeling and that scarcity embodiment and mindset, so that we actually can come from a place of service and come from a place of belief in ourself. Yeah, I love that. I love that you mentioned that my number one piece of advice to people when they start business is actually have a part time job. I always say, have a part time job. Get that minimum amount met, and then you're not operating from scarcity, because that's when the weird dynamics play out, where people have these weird, independent, yeah, there's so many things that happen when it's not coming from a grounded, stable place. I would love to know with where you're at now. You've got your 10 month old daughter, you've moved home, I believe you've got your podcast. You're working. I know I read something where it was like I used to feel every moment with, like, more personal development and goal setting and listening to, like self help books and blah, blah, like it was always this productivity, productivity goal. And now you're sort of enjoying the slower things. What is your definition of success now, and what actually brings you fulfillment now? So good. What is my definition of success? I want to say this. I am not against making a lot of money. Yeah, I am not against somebody being like, I want to be a seven figure entrepreneur. I am not against it at all. I believe that entrepreneurship is so cool because you take somebody who came from one part of life and through the lens of helping and creating, you literally can create money and live a different life. And I think it's the coolest thing ever. And it's not even just the coaching industry. It's like right now, if I had a product, I could literally create it, and if it solved people's problems, I could sell it. I would definitely go on Shark Tank, because I love Shark Tank. And I could literally change my entire life, right? Like, how cool is that? So I want to preface with that, that I'm not saying, like, and then I don't care about money anymore. Like, you know, like, I'm so pumped for the day that I have a seven figure business again, I'm so excited for that day, because I'm going to be honest, I love having money. I love spending money. I love doing good things with my money. I'm a huge fan of like, local like, I go to the farmer's market. I buy all my gifts for people local. Like, I love supporting local economy. And I believe that money in the hands of conscious people with big hearts is how we really, truly change this world. I believe that when we have women that have big hearts, have money and they're doing something that helps people, this is, this is like, my big global brain. This is like, my, like, dream big brain, but like, like, trafficking drugs, like, all of these issues that we have when money shifts into the hands of conscious women, those will not that will not be a reality like it is right now. You know, that's a big audacious like, oh my gosh, we're talking about, like, global wealth, but I do believe in that, and I believe in empowering women to say, like, you can do this, just do it the right way, so that you don't go down the path that I went down. So I want to first say that, like, financial success is a huge piece of it. It's massive. Also, so is being a mom, you know, like, my, like, I, I love motherhood. I'm not like, it's the best thing that's ever happened to me. Of course, it's phenomenal. But I also believe in me living out my goals and my potential and what I what I my heart and my soul are here and so I, but I want to be a present mom. I don't want to sacrifice my daughter's, you know, presence with her in these first few years of her life for something else. And so it's a huge aspect of success. Also, yeah, I found that I really love simplicity, you know. I want to, I want to be that Millionaire Next Door that nobody realizes is a millionaire that I was first became a millionaire. I love her and, you know. And so I want to have I but I also love living a simple life. You know, when you they say it, I said this all the time, where, you know, money doesn't take away your problems, it just amplifies everything. And when you start to build a bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger, bigger life, it just it amplifies everything. And so I love this simple life. I love cooking my own food. I love not outsourcing my my life to other people. I love my chickens. I love, you know, taking care of them and going out and getting their eggs, you know. So that is a huge piece of of success for me, is living the life that feels true to me and my husband and spending a lot of time, you know, outside doing that and success is waking up and recognizing that whatever it is that I'm doing in this world, it has a ripple effect on other people's lives, you know, like that. So that would be holistic success for me, and then my own body, like me, thriving in my mind and my body. So it would be me, it would be my daughter and my my marriage, you know, financial and making an impact in this world. And that would that is success for me. And. Fulfillment, I think, comes from that. Fulfillment comes from knowing that you're living your fullest potential, knowing that you're living whatever your you know, God, universe, source, whatever someone's listening believes in, like you're living out whatever it is that that you have been put here to do in this world, far out, where you are, just such a breath of fresh air. And when you're explaining that vision, it's so it all comes back to the stuff that we learned in day one of coaching. Right know your highest values and build a life and business around those things. And I love how clear you are and how beautiful that vision is. It's just it's so nice. I wanted to wrap this conversation up with a couple rapid fire questions. Before I start the rapid fire, I want to say thank you. Honestly. I think I found you about six months ago, and I was like, I love this woman. There's a bit of like, Shadow Work for me to do there. It was like, Oh, look. It's a mirror. She's me. I love her. But honestly, I think you're just such a breath of fresh air. I love what you're doing. I can't wait to watch your journey. I can't wait to see you as the girl next door millionaire like I fucking love that about you. I think the way that you bring nuance and consciousness and conversation to your podcast is amazing. So I want to say to everyone listening, hope you're well. The podcast, it's bloody brilliant. I love it. It's one of the only ones. Honestly, I don't really listen, similar to you. I don't listen to podcasts much anymore. If I'm going to, it'll usually be yours or one other one, and then I'm back to my music. So guys, go have a listen. Hope you're well. It's a great podcast. Is there anything you want to say before we wrap up with these rapid fire questions? No, let's go. I'm pumped for rapid fire. Okay, let's go. It's like Whack a Mole. What? Which one do I want to start with? What is the one book that changed your life? What impacted you the most? Oh, the Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, love, I love him. Good. One such a goodie. What has motherhood taught you in one sentence? Oh, my God, how to live. Oh, oh, I love that. What is something that you will never do again in business? Oh, that's a toughy. What is something I will never do again. I'll never put somebody's I'll never let somebody have an influence on my vision and my connection to myself and my connection to spirit, well, that's so strong. What is one word to describe your life now? Oh, my gosh. Oh my goodness. One word. It's joyful. Yeah, it's joyful, but like, not in the ways that you'd think, I know it's one word. It's like, I think we think joyful. It's like, oh my god, so much fun and play. And this is just like, it's joyful because it's because it's just so aligned and true to me, so good. What would you tell someone who is listening, who is chasing seven figures today? Put something else in front of the chase, you know, like Chase it good. Go. Do it. Make yourself like, blow yourself away at what you can accomplish and what you can do. But put something of higher value, like your peace and your joy and your love for yourself and your love for your work, like let something lead and let that seven figure be the byproduct of that. Oh so good. I love that. This is so great. Okay, last one, finish this sentence, true power is within you. So amazing. So good. Jenna Kennedy, thank you so much for coming on the mind school podcast. I love everything you're doing. We will put all of your links in the show notes. Thank you so so much. Thank you, babe. Thank you for tuning in to the mind school podcast. It is a massive intention of mine to continue to grow this show, because the more the show grows, the better the guests get, and I know that is going to be so powerful for you listening. So if I could ask this massive favor, it would mean the world if you could please leave a review, hit the Follow button, or leave a rating on Spotify so that we can continue to grow this show and bring you the juiciest, most thought provoking and expansive conversations through incredible guests. Thank you so much for tuning in. I'll see you next week. You. You.