BADASS WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

Name: Brenna Joelle/Brenna Joelle Coaching. Communication & Charisma Coach http://brennajoelle.com/

Were you always badass or did you have to learn it?  Not at all. I was a bookworm turned jock, turned faux hippy, turned into who I am today. 

Three habits that have contributed to your success:

1. Gratitude. Puts everything in perspective and creates a powerful state that attracts resources, people, and opportunities to you with ease and joy.

2. Being your #1 fan – believing in yourself and your dreams no matter what is EVERYTHING.

3. Asking for help. No one rises to the top alone.

One thing you wish you had known in your early days: That someone’s doubts, judgments, and fears are a reflection of their own beliefs and limitations, not yours.

What did you think was necessary in the beginning but now doesn't feel like a big deal: Having to know everything or have it be “perfect,” before starting. When you stop wondering if you have/are “enough” and just get begin, you build momentum, self-certainty, and confidence. One coach I greatly respect says, “Confidence is a result of action, not a requirement.” I agree.

How do you deal with fear: I embrace it, and ask myself: What is the lesson or gift in this experience? What do I need to learn?

What's the one thing you find the hardest to do: Keep dreaming bigger than I ever thought possible. When people say, shoot for the moon and you’ll land amongst the stars, it’s true. Keep aiming higher, always.

What's the WHY behind what you do: I believe that showing others what is possible for them, by creating it yourself is the most powerful way to influence, lead, and inspire others to their own greatness. I wish that for every single person, in her own way.

Do you, or did you, suffer imposter syndrome (aka feeling like a fraud)? I suffered imposter syndrome when I hadn’t landed on what was true for me, and was trying to sell products and services I wasn’t wholeheartedly behind. When I started listening to what was true for me and following that, there was nothing left to hide behind and I could just be myself, which is more fun and easier.

How do you inspire, or seek to inspire, other women to be a Badass entrepreneur? I believe every woman has innate talents and skills unique to her, that when she taps into them they become her superpowers to a successful and fulfilling life and business. My vision is to inspire women to remember who they really are, and craft an intentional life around being and doing what comes naturally, joyfully, and easily to them, and as a result, thrive in all ways.

Brenna has a clear message on life: “Life is short and no matter what your circumstances you always have a choice.”

Oftentimes, that choice is how you view a situation, do you accept it or do you fight it. Oddly enough, Brenna is now the second person that I have met in the past two weeks who has had a near death experience which profoundly changed her life.

In Brenna's case, she was traveling on a cruise ship as a student abroad when there was an electrical issue and their boat was poised between two hurricane weather systems. Brenna thought she was going to die and wasn't ready to accept that. So she sat down closed her eyes – and had a conversation with God. She asked herself some tough questions like “Do you really want to live and why? What does it mean to get another chance? What will you do with this life?” Eventually, it became clear that she only had one choice – one single choice, accept or resist her circumstances.

She came to the conclusion that she wanted to live but that she could accept death if that was her fate. At that very moment of surrender, a wave of calm washed over her and she could see herself “on the boat, in the ocean, in the ocean of the world, in the galaxies.”   Then came the realization that the world is in perfect balance and that we as humans are insignificant. At that moment she knew that she would live.

Over the next ten years Brenna would study everything she could get her hands on, physical, spiritual, science and metaphysical to try and understand this world that she now knew she was such a tiny spark of. The culmination of all this learning was for her to craft a career empowering other women with not only her knowledge, but to believe in their own knowledge, to speak her truth and to show others how to speak their own truth.

This coming weekend Brenna is in fact hosting a workshop entitled just that – Speak Your Truth. A workshop to get women to answer the hard questions of their lives, without having to go through their own near death experience. To pass on her knowledge in a way that is understandable and transferable to all. To help women use their voice to ask for what they want and say “no” to what they don't. To empower women to align all aspects of how we communicate – from our confidence, setting and holding of boundaries, saying no powerfully, asking what you want directly, allowing your emotions to support, not hinder, you, and by using your own personal magnetism to attract what you want. Brenna believes that “your voice is the vehicle to your power” supporting you and giving you the tools to merge actions with words and energy.

When you are little you try on different roles, learn to act a certain way to “fit in”, wear a mask that looks just like everyone else. But until you drop the mask and be true to yourself, you will never truly be yourself. You can try and emulate any number of CEO's, public figures, celebrities, political leaders, etc. but you will never feel comfortable in that skin because it is not your skin to wear.  Until you are comfortable with you, you will never feel fulfilled, you will always feel like a fraud. You can only do you. So use these people that you admire to help shape the way you want to be, but allow your own voice, your own truth, be the one that you live. May we not have to feel the close brush of death before we realize that we are enough, our voice is special, our voice needs to be heard.

In this same vein, Brenna and a co-founder have developed a program to help support women called Girl 2 Guru [https://www.girl2guru.com/] – a group of women entrepreneurs who meet monthly for support to get things accomplished and share resources. A place for women to put aside comparison mode and instead go into collaborative competition – raising the bar for each individual person by seeing the group raise their collective bar. A space for all women to share their greatness, a space for each woman to share their unique gifts and to learn from one another, knowing that depending on the day we all vacillate between being the guru and being the girl. Girl to Guru will meet monthly in person, but also offers an ancillary 24/7 online access and community. A place that women can be their own unique selves but better.

Brenna's version of the entrepreneurs mantra is “get shit done”. Get out and do something.  The search for perfection will keep you closed off, so start doing something now, start figuring out what works and what doesn't and just do something.  She's also a big fan of the Pomodoro Technique, which I took a page from her book and utilized for this post.  This method has you set a task and a timer for 25 minutes, during that time you focus solely on the task at hand - allowing for no disturbances during this time.  If at the end of 25 minutes you still are not done, take a quick 5 minute break then set the timer back to 25 minutes.  At the end of 4 of these 25 minute cycles you may then take a 15-20 minute longer break.  This allows you to focus on the task to complete and allows you to knock out your to-do list and some wins.  Brenna envisions her Girl 2 Guru offering collective in-person pomodoro's in which each woman would be working on her own task, but in community and with the mindset of that collaborative competition, in order to get shit done... 

When Brenna and I were wrapping up our conversation, she asked if I could sum up in three words what I heard as her message. For me what I heard was collaboration - with women she works with and those she leads; spiritual – both of self but also easing others into this sphere of knowledge; empowerment – empowering women in order to empower themselves and I have to add a fourth, which is sisterhood.  Sisterhood to me is when comparison, jealousy and cattiness slip away... and what is left is trust, honor and support.

Brenna doesn't want you to have to die in order to speak your truth. She wants you to speak your truth now and if you can't find it on your own, she can help you get there.