5 Years of Jess Feldt Coaching!
Nothing like taking a coaching call with a one-month-old on board!
Five years ago.
Five years ago, it was August of 2018. I was two months into maternity leave and a year deep into my journey to become a Professional Coach.
At the time, my investment in coaching was part of a longer-term plan. I would become a Professional Coach, put the skills into use in my corporate job, and years and years down the line, I would start my own coaching practice.
I started Jess Feldt Coaching in August of 2018 to build experience and credibility as a “side hustle.”
But then two pretty incredible things happened.
1) I received A LOT of coaching. The amazing thing about becoming a coach is that you are required to receive a lot of coaching. I was forced (yes, at the time it felt like that) to reflect about who I was and what I wanted A LOT.
2) I became a working mom. I returned to work in October of 2018 with a four-month-old at home and quickly realized that being a working mom is HARD. I wasn’t enjoying work and I wasn’t enjoying momming. In fact, I was pretty exhausted and burnt out.
The culmination of these two events made me confront a couple of hard truths, the first being that I was so overwhelmed I was just going through the motions. That’s not an enjoyable feeling. The second being, that I could do something about it. WOAH – empowering, but scary.
My Working Mom Career Pivot
So, what gave me the courage to make some pretty radical life decisions? It was being intimately acquainted with my core values.
Back in 2019 in an article titled, 5 Ways to Discover Your Values I wrote, “Knowing your values can change your life.”
And I stick by that statement. Knowing my values changed my life. It’s the reason I’m here writing this article and celebrating five years in business.
Understanding my personal core values and the core values of my family allowed me to make decisions that I could trust would lead me in the right direction toward more contentment and fulfillment.
My core value of “Freedom To” gave me the courage to leave the world of working for others and to branch out on my own.
Our family’s core value of “Time” gave us the confidence to know that the time gained by my flexibility would be 10x more valuable than the stable salary we were losing.
Did I know whether any of these decisions would ultimately lead to success or failure? Nope! But I did know that my decision-making was intentional, and I trusted myself.
Five years later, I can happily report that I don’t regret a single decision. I am so proud of the business that I’ve built and, more importantly, I’m proud of the life we’ve built.
If there’s a lesson here in any of this, it’s lead with your values. If you don’t know your values, then create the space to discover them.
I would love to work with you to discover your values because I know how powerful a tool they are for making intentional decisions that are going to bring you closer to a life you love. Many of my clients, now years down the line as well, come back and say they return to their values often, because they are the source of truth when everything in life gets crazy.
They may say that as a working mother you “can’t have it all” but maybe you don’t need it all when you have what’s actually most important to you.
Happy Birthday to Jess Feldt Coaching!
This kid’s a bit bigger now!