Jenn Adamson Podcast Interview
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Melissa Kellogg Lueck: [00:00:00] Welcome. I am marketing expert and business coach Melissa Kellogg Leuck, and this is the Doing Business like a woman podcast, where we are exploring and teaching you how women are reinventing the way business is done and money is made to help you create greater impact and financial freedom, one business at a time.
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: hello. Hello ladies. How are you? It is so great to be with you today and thank you for being here. I have a really special guest that I can't wait to introduce you to. Her name is Jenn Adamson and we worked together. She was a client of mine for quite a while, and, I haven't seen her in a few months, so I'm really excited to have a catchup session and introduce you to her.
And I'll give a little bio and then invite her to add any details that I missed. So I, I read this bio and I'm like, [00:01:00] oh my gosh, you are so amazing and you are a client of mine. I feel so honored. Jenn is a leadership and organizational development expert. With 17 years of experience spanning Fortune 500 consulting, healthcare leadership, and national PR campaigns, a TEDx speaker and former RN leader, she guided 75 nurses through the COVID crisis earning national recognition for retention and outcomes, Jenn now partners with organizations to elevate culture, performance and innovation, helping clients achieve multimillion dollar growth certified in neuro quantum wiring. She provides executive coaching, leadership development, and high performance team programs. Welcome, Jenn.
We're so excited to have you here.
Jenn Adamson: Oh, Melissa, I'm so excited to be here. Thank you. And you did fabulous. I knew you would.
You don't need to fill any gaps. [00:02:00]
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: So as I'm reading it, I'm so interested about neuro quantum wiring. Tell me about that real quick.
Jenn Adamson: Yeah, of course. Neuro quantum wiring is a program I took about four years ago.
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: Have you ever, it's now it's. Have you ever heard of Magnetic Mind or Neurolinguistic programming? Yeah. Or, yes.
Jenn Adamson: Okay. Okay. So I don't know if you've ever been the recipient of neurolinguistic programming or NLPI am in no way an expert, but it definitely has its roots and its connections to NLP. NLP in a lot of ways really transformed my life. I had a mentor, a few mentors before you, Melissa, who helped me to heal a lot of trauma related to and revolved around like relationships and feelings of unworthiness in relationship. And what it does is it, in the best way that I can describe it, is our subconscious [00:03:00] mind is doing about 90% of the driving in our life.
And about 10% is our awareness, our conscious mind. But what we don't realize, and you've taught me this a lot too in our time of you mentoring me, is that our subconscious minded is where we can hold a lot of the limiting belief that we have about ourselves or viewpoints of ourselves that can hold us back from taking things to the next level and reaching our goals and nLP, the best way that I like to describe it is we open up the subconscious mind. To bring some of those thoughts into the awareness so that we can start to clear those out and heal them. And so neuro quantum wiring is very much in a similar sense. It doesn't take you to we integrate NLP practices, but the whole kind of premise is we get you very relaxed.
You could almost describe it as like a moment of when you're getting hypnosis. And we start [00:04:00] to open up that subconscious mind. And sometimes I have clients who we even fall asleep in the process. But what's so interesting is sometimes within days or even weeks, not always. I have clients that are just like, I don't feel that way anymore.
I don't feel limited. I don't feel scared to speak up or share my voice in the meeting, or I don't feel scared to, to be and play at my fullest power in, the board meeting. And so it's just so exciting to see how we can. Not even open or re-traumatize ourselves. Yes, talk therapy is so important and other modalities are so important.
We don't even need to know what the origin or the source is. We don't have to relive it. We can just relax enough to let that come to the surface to be cleared. And it's just a, it's a beautiful transformation.
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: I love that. So cool. yeah, I can imagine how that work would be really amazing to do and especially with professionals so tell me who you are working with these days. Tell me about your clients.
Jenn Adamson: Yeah. So [00:05:00] historically, as but your audience members don't know this, is I've been in practice now for almost six years and what I have found to be the thing that lights me up the most is helping leaders to, like I had said before, banning in their fullest and most genuine power, and knowing that when you play to your natural strength, talents, and abilities, you can get more stuff done and go further along.
Than if you were to be ruled by all the mental gymnastics of I'm not good enough, or I'm unworthy of receiving this good thing, or I have imposter syndrome or imposter monster. And so for much of my business I was a coach for leaders and executives, but I have been making a pivot in the last year to help, now that I see, it's you have your own personal experience, but then once you have a really beautiful book of clients that have experienced massive [00:06:00] transformations and wonderful outcomes and things that they never even thought would be possible in this lifetime. You wanna start to scale up and you want to make a bigger impact.
And so I have been making the pivot to not just executive leadership coaching in the B2C model, but moving into the B2B model where I can help leaders and organizations and their teams from moving into a high functioning, into a high performing flow state and that's what I love doing.
So that's who my audience is.
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: Yeah. And what a classroom you have come from with being an rn Yes. A nurse for so many years. And so tell us a little bit about that journey and how that really has informed how you now coach.
Jenn Adamson: I love this question. I love this question. Because I'm gonna bottom line it first and then I'll share more [00:07:00] info.
I believe that the only way that we will ever be able to not just reach our goals, but to sustain them is when we are regulated. Our nervous systems are regulated and we feel safe. And safe in the inner sense of the way, first and foremost. And I know that sounds wild. A lot of it you could call trauma informed as well.
we will make decision based on things that we aren't even aware of because we just can be on autopilot for so long. And so what I learned as a registered nurse. Of being a nurse for nine years now, and that was my second career. I went into corporate. I would comment up that corporate ladder so fast, hitting all my benchmarks, all my milestones, and thinking in the background because one of the beliefs that I had held for a really long time since I was a child was the only way you're worth anything as if you achieve and hit your [00:08:00] result. And the only way to be happy is to be super successful, and successful with everything I had. The money, the titles, the accolade, the car the achievements, a mile long. And I love those things. Don't get me wrong. I think all of those things are beautiful.
They're like, but they're cherries on top of an already beautiful life. They're not what define us, because those are things that are outside of us. But what I found is that. Every time I hit my next benchmark or my next goal, I would be happy for a moment in time, and then I would just come crashing down.
And I'd feel empty and almost hollow. It was hollow. It was like this feeling of hollowness. Yeah. And I just couldn't shake off this feeling of what's going on? Why do I look so successful on paper? But I don't feel fulfilled. Why don't I feel this success that I have on paper? Yeah. And that began.
The journey that continues up to this point and will continue on to this point of it all starts [00:09:00] within. We have to learn. We cannot create anything sustainable until we first know how create that sense of peace and inner liberation and fulfillment within ourselves because we can call in a lot of things, but we will burn ourselves out.
We will lose interest, we will get distracted. We will procrastinate. We'll do all the things that will keep us from either getting to the goal or sustaining that goal. And so learning then, going to India and spending six months there and learning more about human performance and gaining a deeper understanding of resilience, I realized that, oh, it's our body.
It's how we feel in our bodies. Do I feel safe to show up authentically and genuine? Do I feel safe to say the thing and know that I might stumble my words? Do I feel safe to show up in this room and [00:10:00] be me not hide behind a mask? I have found that when we feel safe in our bodies, first and foremost,
It's just I could give you all the example, the anecdotal evidence of myself and clients, and I'm sure you can too, of just how beautiful and fulfilling and luscious life feels, and why wouldn't we wanna feel that way? Because I just think life is too short and not feel really great in the process of moving through our lives and our paths.
Yeah.
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: Yeah. And I think that's really a huge challenge that we as women entrepreneurs have, right? Yeah. Because we do strive, we want, we have big visions and big dreams but at the same time, we have to, or we want to, at least I want to enjoy the journey, right? Yeah. And I think that's a lot of the work that we did together, right?
Yes. Is like learning to enjoy the journey, but also being able to want the big things.
Jenn Adamson: [00:11:00] Amen. And I still find myself getting, with every new level. I had a mentor who once said, what was once a ceiling is now the ground that you walk upon as you move to the next thing to shed like the next ceiling that you're here to shatter. And you really taught me that, Melissa, is that this is so funny. Gen 1.0 and then Gen 2.0 once I was being mentored by you. Truly it's a vast different because even though I was coaching on the same things, I had my own blind spot and I realized when bottom lining it, like at its most basic essence, I was not enjoying the process anymore.
And you really helped me to reframe a lot of that and say, listen, like maybe you haven't hit your goals yet, but you said something and I, this is so interesting that it's coming up. It's always stuck with me. You said, I remember one of the first things you said to me when we first started coaching was, [00:12:00] how can you expect yourself to be the multimillion dollar business owner before you actually become it?
Before, and what I got from that is, and I don't think you said that exactly, I can't say it as eloquently as you did, but what I got from that, how I interpreted it, was that I needed to feel what it was that I needed to feel on the inside in order for me to see it happen. On the outside you, you can't create anything in your outwardly world.
Unless you first feel that same way on the inside. And so it made me realize it's you on the journey, Jenn, to being a multimillion dollar owner, business owner. It's the journey. It's not one day you wake up and you're there. It's what did that person do? Think, act, and behave right now?
That gets her to that place. Yeah. Yeah. And part of that was joy. It was the. recognizing that I wanna have [00:13:00] fun in this process 'cause I will lose interest really fast.
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: Yeah, totally. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. The creation of our big vision always starts inside. The vision, it comes to us inside in our, we hold it in our hearts, but yeah, we have to become her before we actually create her on the outside.
Jenn Adamson: Yeah. And it's true, right? It's with anything in life, you have an idea. Maybe it's like just in the simplest analogy of an artist or a painter who has an idea and then he or she goes to the canvas and it's a blank canvas but the idea is inside until you actually start to take the steps. Yeah. To paint that picture or to paint that image that's on the inside.
And it doesn't maybe, and I think this, I would, I guess it's coming to me, so if I may share. I think one thing I've learned in that process is like, maybe I have this vision inside and maybe then I take it to the canvas, so to say, the proverbial [00:14:00] canvas. And maybe it doesn't come out quite as much as perfect.
Air quotations of Yeah. Around perfect. Of how it felt on the vision, but it felt beautiful. And it's still that thing.
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: Yeah. I mean it is such a miracle if you think about it, to be able to envision a life. I was just talking with a client earlier today about, we were talking about her year and how this was a non-revenue growth year for her.
She didn't make a lot more money, but she had a lot of internal growth. Yeah. And she, like you saw her eyes light up. Because, as business people we're like I didn't make any more money. So it was a worthless year is sometimes the way our brain will think. And, but we started to think about, I asked her, what, are there, there's a lot of other ways of growth or a lot of other markers of growth and just money.
What other ways have you grown? And so we talk through that. And then I saw her eyes light up and she's wait a second. She picked up her laptop and I'm [00:15:00] on the Zoom, and she walked around to her vision board, and on her vision board were like five words that were the exact words that she had just said to me were her growth for the year.
Jenn Adamson: Wow. Oh, I love that.
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: Isn't that crazy?
Jenn Adamson: And that starts it never occur to me. Yeah. And that's how it starts. But we, yeah. I catch myself as a high achieving, logical left brain driven woman. Most of the time we I guess I'll only speak on behalf of me. I forget that's so crucial. Yeah. You can't grow a garden that's going to thrive and flourish and create beautiful flowers if you don't First tend to the soil. Yeah. And make it as fertile as possible. And a lot of that growth you don't see. A lot of that growth happens underneath the surface.
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: Yeah.
Jenn Adamson: [00:16:00] Beautiful.
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: Yeah. So good. So in thinking about this year, 'cause I know it's been a big year for you in terms of, just thinking about your own growth this year has been massive and so many big things have happened.
And since you're on the doing business like a woman podcast, what does that mean to you today? Like doing business like a woman, how has that changed for you this year over your career? Yeah. How have you how have you grown this year?
Jenn Adamson: If I can zoom out for a moment in time, I think about my time in corporate and how I was so unaware.
That was before, I had coaches of my own and mentors of my own,I wish I knew what I knew back then, but such is life and there are no regrets, just learning [00:17:00] lessons. But when I think about my time in corporate, how I, whether it was from my own family or society, or my own premi, mis notions of how I needed or should show up.
I very much felt this immense pressure to conform and to fit some kind of mold. Like I have to show up smart. I have to show up the best. I have to show up knowing everything I have to show up. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect. And what that lended itself to was a lot of disconnection. It lended itself to a lot of stress, of course, and burnout and internal pressure and strife. It led to a lack of being genuine. Because I didn't even know who I was at the time. I wasn't even [00:18:00] connected to myself. Yeah. Let alone could connect to other people in a really heart-centered way and I realized that's what I thought business was like. That's what I had to do. I had to show up. It was ego-driven. And now that I think about it, it was very ego-driven, very much and the ego is not bad, right? It keeps us safe. There's this beautiful integration between head and heart, I believe, but it was very much the ego within the, in the drive-in that steering wheel, much of the time, and what I've learned over the years is that I am my most successful, and successful in the sense that I'm my healthiest, I am my most flourishing, and I am my wealthiest when I am connecting to almost like those softer skills, right? Harvard Business Review would call them the soft guilt when I'm connecting more to my heart when I am present to the people or the [00:19:00] person I'm speaking to or with in front of me when I'm present at the networking events, when I'm present with my client, when I am not thinking about what am I gonna say next, but really listening and being curious when I am leading with those qualities and more, I can't tell you how significant the outcomes are compared to when I'm leading with just my head or just my ego. It's just, it's a whole new way of being. It's a whole new paradigm. And it's a lot more fun and it's a lot softer in a sense of the way too, and I don't say that in a, and I know some people might hear that word softer and think weak, but I think it's strategic.
I think our present. Softening to our own selves is what helps us to be more relatable and helps us to stand [00:20:00] out and all of the noise and distractions that we have in the world today, people are starving for connection. People are hungry for real, authentic connection. They don't care if you're perfect, they just care that you're present.
That you're here with them right now, not thinking about your to-do. And that's easier said than done. Of course I do that too. But coming back to that, it's the practice. People can feel that. And to me, people do business with people they know and trust. And that trust is the biggest piece because people can know and like you, but if they don't trust you, they're not gonna part with their dollars for you. And invest in you. Yeah. So it's the trust. Do you create safety with your employees? Do you create safety with your clients? You create safety with people who may never be your clients. Do you create safety within them? Are you consistent? Do you show up in a regulated way? Consistently so that people are [00:21:00] like, wow, I can trust Melissa. Wow. She is genuine. I wanna be her client. That is what I have found to be the biggest transformation in doing business like a woman.
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: Yeah. Yeah. I love that. It's so good because, and I think this is something that and I know you can relate that we as women and as entrepreneurs, we struggle with, right?
Because there's so much, so much noise out there of you have to do it this way or do it that way, or use this five step process or that, three steps to your first million or whatever. And so we end up getting very wrapped up in consuming all of these things. But what that does, and it's great to learn, I love to learn.
Yes, I'm a huge student and I love that, but at the same time, it. Like you said, it creates that disconnection. We get disconnected from who we are, and if we're not connected to ourselves, then we can't connect to other people. [00:22:00] It's true. And that comes from that regulated state you're talking about. And yeah, and you know that's, I know we talked about that a lot, but also around marketing and showing up in the world that, perfection. I just wrote a post about this today, so it's like really fresh in my mind that perfection doesn't create connection. Being real does, but you can't be real if you don't know what real is for you. Yes.
Jenn Adamson: Yes. Yes. Because then it's so easy, right? We're getting bombarded by messages left and right on social media alone of this is the way, this is the strategy, this is the tool.
And again, and I totally appreciate what you said, because I'm the same way too. I am a student for life and love learning new things and love understanding new concepts and how that can pertain to my business. But when it comes down to it, business is about relationships. It really is, it's about the human to human relationship.
Someone will not refer you if they don't [00:23:00] feel a connection to you. They just won't. And we've all experienced that either on the receiving end or the giving end. I've done it many times myself where I've made mistakes in the past and came across, salesy and then I've done, and I've been on the receiving end of it too, and it makes me wanna run away.
It's this person doesn't care who I am as a person. They just. The dollar signs with me. And then you've experienced it with other people where, and it can this and this, whether it's business or business owners or your own team, right? You could do this too with your own team. If you're just trying to push your agenda on your team all the time and you're not trying to connect with your team, do you really think that they're gonna go above and beyond?
Do they, do you think that they're invested in your vision and mission and values as a business? Probably not. Yeah, they're probably just coming for a paycheck and looking for somewhere else to go in the meantime. It just, it, I can't tell you how much it applied. Like it, I'll just share this little story, anecdotal story in [00:24:00] nursing, and this is something I was like, such an aha moment for me when I realized though, I was a charge nurse. This was my first time as a charge nurse. I felt like I didn't know what I was doing, but obviously my leaders thought they saw something in me that at the time I maybe didn't see. And I just remember having some of my nurses come to me and complain and say, oh, this patient is just they're so annoying.
They're so annoying. They just, they're just so needy and annoying. And I was like, that's interesting. Tell me more. And they'd give me examples. And it doesn't matter what the specifics were, but I remember. I can't tell you, Melissa. Nine times outta 10, of course there will be that one person that you'll never make happy, of course, and that's, that's not for you to try and weigh them. But nine times outta 10, I would go into a patient's room and they just wanted to feel heard and seen. Wanted to know that they were being heard and seen. And you have to understand that they're in the hospital. That's a highly stressful situation to be. We can apply this and translate it to people are there, people are battling battles. We don't even know, right? Invisible battles [00:25:00] that we don't even know as bosses, as business owners, as leaders. But anyway, they just wanted to feel seen and heard. And I remember thinking, I sat down, I pulled up a chair and I said, talk to me. What's going on?
What can I do to help you? And nine times out its 10. It was like, actually I'm good. I don't need to talk to the house supervisor. I don't need to talk to the doctor again. And if they did, of course I would allow that. Because that's my job too. But nine times outta 10 they felt okay, I'm good. I can exhale.
And I realized, I started telling my nurses this. Give them 10 minutes of your time upfront. We'll save you 12 hours later, 12 hours of your shift later down the road. Wow. You can invest 10 minutes of your time, of your undivided attention. Just listening to them and asking them, truly being genuine about it and asking, what can I do to serve and support you right now?
I will swear to you the rest of your 12 and a half hour shift will go pretty darn smoothly.
And it was true. It was proven time and time again. Those nurses [00:26:00] who did it versus those who didn't, it was a big difference in their outcomes and their shift in how they left their workday.
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: Yeah.
Yeah. So as you're talking, I'm thinking. How do you make time and space to slow down and connect back with yourself first?
Jenn Adamson: Are you asking me personally or more of
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: both. I, okay. What works for you? Because I think I'm thinking about I'm always thinking about the woman I used to be, right?
Yeah. When I am. Having these conversations and questions come up. So before, having this awareness and I'm just on this hamster wheel, just trying to learn all the things and trying to do everything perfectly and it's not working great, whatever how do I step out of that? And, we make space for connecting back to who [00:27:00] I am so that.
Then I can connect with others as a leader, as an entrepreneur. Like how do you counsel your clients?
Jenn Adamson: I love that.
Oh, there's so many different things that come to mind, like different stuff. And I love that you said, 'cause I think about that too. I'm like, the person I was 10 years ago, 20 years ago, two years ago is vastly different than the person I am now.
And I sometimes wonder what was that first step? Or what were those first initial beginner steps? I think what's coming to me, so I'm just gonna trust it. I'm gonna trust my intuition here. I think not, I think I know that the power of giving ourselves some grace is, can do wonders in our life, yes. We are all highly skilled. Yes. We all are highly intelligent. I know that the listeners listening in right now are highly skilled, highly intelligent, [00:28:00] and are bad asses. I just know this. I hope it's okay that I say that. I just sometimes we need to give ourselves the grace to understand that not everything is necessarily going to be excellent the first few times. You can strive for excellence. I think it's great to strive for excellence, but don't minimize all the little steps it takes to get to that. It's a constant and consistent coming back home to ourselves. It's a constant and consistent course, correcting ourselves, course correcting, whatever it is.
It's a constant and consistent. Oh. I did the wrong thing or I said the wrong thing, or I wasn't very present, or I picked up my phone while my employee was talking to me and it coming back and not beating yourself up over it, but recognizing that you are a human too, and you have [00:29:00] your own things that you're dealing with too.
But then what are you going to do to repair the situation? What can you do to repair a situation with either for yourself or for maybe the people that were affected? So I think it's a, I think that's the initial step that I take with myself is connecting with myself. It's just saying, okay, Jenn, you've made it this far.
Now you're ma. Now you're, now you are, you've made it to this field goal. Now you're gonna push the field goal out further. And in some ways. I'm beginning again. In some ways, yes, I am learning again, and in some ways I'm not. I have a lot of expertise and foundational skills and things that, that I've built upon over the years, but don't be afraid to take the ego out and say, I am learning and I am growing and I am a beginner to don't be afraid to be in that beginner's mindset a little bit.
You'll be surprised that if you do that, [00:30:00] and I am saying this for my own benefit now, taking my own advice how quickly you can get to that field goal if you are able to take the ego out a little bit and be a little more loving to yourself of and accepting of where you are in the process.
Yeah. I love that.
What do you think about that?
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: it's really important, and I love how you said that we have to keep coming back. Like it's not, you're gonna do one, some magic practice and, one time and then voila. You never feel disconnected, you never spend too much time up in your head.
Or like you said earlier, you're never overthinking everything, right? Yeah. So we're always, dealing with our humanness. Yes. Even when we know better. We still are humans with a human mind. And so I love that. Yeah. Giving yourself grace and really that's the first step. And coming back to, it's okay, I'm doing the best I [00:31:00] can with the thoughts that I have.
And believing and making it safe. 'cause that really is what creates safety right. For with yourself.
Jenn Adamson: So then you can create safety with others. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I, something else was coming to me and it just slipped my mind. But if it comes back, I'll trust that it will to add on to that.
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: So does that look like a daily practice for you, or is this kind of as needed in the moment?
Jenn Adamson: I remember what I was gonna say and then I'll answer your question. It's a lot like going to the gym. I love to use analogies and metaphors because it's a way that our subconscious can understand things like bigger concepts that would be really abstract for us to try and puzzle piece together.
Love it. So to me, what you were saying is about the constant, going back to it, it's if you have a certain health goal, you are not maybe my goal is to buff up my arms. I want those arms to stay buff. So now they're buff. [00:32:00] Do I just stop going to the gym? No, you keep going. You keep going before they're buff and you keep going.
Once you've reached that goal, you keep going to maintain and stay consistent. You don't stop going to the gym just because you have done it once or have achieved it once. So there's a lot. I think there's a lot of wisdom in that analogy. And I'll let that one go now and move on to your next question.
I do. I realize that this is a luxury and I'm full transparency. I'm coming to, how do I reckon with this? So I'll speak to where I am right now, but that I recognize not everyone has this luxury. I have designed my life and intentionally to have time and white space. I've done that intentionally back in 2014 when I realized that having time was really important for me.
For these deeper thoughts. This deeper work. So I intentionally designed my life to be one where I could have time. [00:33:00] So I will say that. So maybe that's it. And maybe that is my advice. Now that I say it is time. Even a little bit of white space. I, you've taught me this too, Melissa and I, as I'm going and getting bigger and growing and scaling, I cannot tell you how important that white time is.
White space is now. It's necessary. It's necessary because as a visionary, CEO need to have my feet on the ground, but a very clear path of where I'm headed and a very clear view of the horizon and so my white space is my time to get back and be centered and be that visionary, CEO who is executing and implementing with her own team.
It's a hundred percent. even if it's just 15 minutes. If it's just 15 minutes, set the damn timer. Set a goal two to three days a week and just get in the [00:34:00] practice of it. Will you have deep thoughts in 15 minutes? I don't know. I'm not gonna promise you, maybe you'll, and maybe you won't, but get in the practice of it so that you can start to have deeper thoughts, get in the practice of it, that you can start having deeper thoughts.
If you want, again, gym analogy, maybe you put the shoes by the front door first and you put 'em on, and maybe the next day you go to the gym and you stand in the parking lot, but you don't go in. Then the next day you walk into the gym and maybe you do five minutes of work and then you go back, keep that structure alive, and watch how things transform and evolve for you.
So white space is, yeah, I stand by that.
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: Yeah, I love that. And how did you come to really treasure or really prioritize, I guess is the word? Yeah. How did you come to prioritize that? [00:35:00] Because you can probably relate. Most of us are very production oriented and we don't feel like we're worth anything unless we're in production mode.
So tell me a little bit about your thinking around. Having white space versus productivity, like what are your thoughts that really get you there to prioritize it? Yeah.
Jenn Adamson: Yeah. There's a real big difference between busy work and work that moves the needle forward. There was a version of me, and I'm still learning this though, I would not say that I have mastered this, but there was a version of me that said if I work eight hours a day. Then I can count it as a really great day and hang my hat up and be proud and be, and of course I would be right and be proud of myself.
But then I realized, is it really? Am I moving the needle forward? Is this work that's important in getting me to [00:36:00] my goals? Or is this just busy work? So for me. I focus on high impact action. I focus on the things that I know are going to generate revenue in my business. That often means, here's the caveat or the disclaimer.
That often means it's the scariest, the more scarier thing to do. So that means that I might be the chapter president for a local networking organization. That might mean that I say yes to an event where there's all CEOs sitting at the table and I, that might mean that I practice a little bit of my elevator pitch beforehand so that I can, feel confident in front of these CEOs before I, connect with them and then have coffee with them later, because I absolutely would do that too, as opposed to, Ooh, let me spend five hours thinking and overthinking my logo right now.
Ooh, let me spend five hours overthinking the copy on my website. Not saying that's not important. It is [00:37:00] important to a certain degree, but my question is always, is this a high impact or busy work? And that's what decides, because I am a solopreneur. Yes, I do have a small team of three, some freelance freelancers, they're not doing everything I am right now the forward facing. Entity, person of my business. At some point in time, I'd love to have multiple coaches and that will happen. But right now my thing is what's gonna move the needle forward? Is it going to that networking event or is it me analyzing pages and pages of a class or a book, and maybe it is sometimes maybe the time calls for me to immerse myself.
I'm actually in a little bit of that season myself where I'm learning new skills myself, so I'm immersing myself in some courses and classes, but I'm not giving up or losing sight of still being in rooms of still going to organizations where the decision makers and the team leaders are. I can start to build visibility, connection, and [00:38:00] trust, because over time, that's what leads to business.
So I would just always ask is if you're contending with, oh my gosh, this long list of things to do, which by the way everyone, I get it, everyone has that long list. What are the things that are gonna generate? What are the high impact actions that are gonna move the needle forward and generate money in your business faster and greater?
And then focus on those first. Just focus on those first.
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: Yeah. I love that. So good. So looking back across this year, since we are near the end of the year about thinking about 2025, what do you see as greatest growth this year? Your greatest growth that we worked on together. Just what you're really celebrating.
I really wanna celebrate you. You have come so far and it's been such an honor to get to be part of your journey and it's so great to get to chat with you and catch up today. And I just love this. So yeah, what can we [00:39:00] celebrate?
Jenn Adamson: Thank you for that by the way. I fully receive that. I think the first thing to celebrate is something that you have helped me is to just deepen my own connection to myself. There's, we, I feel like learning and growing is like layers of an onion. We peel back different layers and it's never, one and done. It's an ongoing thing. We might find ourselves. Bumping up something that you thought you were healed in like years ago, but now it's coming again to be, to the surface, to be looked at again. And I think it's like that ascending staircase, spiral staircase where you hit the same place but you're at a higher level. And that's where I feel like I am. This last year was a big, the last year and a half, to be quite honest with you, was a big. Internal growth year for me and you.
One of the things that you really taught me that I lean into that gives me my superpower, like truly that gives me the courage to show up and do that. High [00:40:00] impact action is always cultivating a sense of deep self-trust and belief in my skills and the impact I'm here to make in the world.
It is knowing and just even just having a little. Highlight reel of all the clients I've helped in one way or the other. Just that's what helps give me the courage to show up in my fullest expression. That's what helps me to show up is the connection to my service and my impact and my mission.
And you've really helped me because that has really pushed the needle forward in so many ways. And I think for this year, and I, and that continues and that deepens, I think for this year. The big word for me was. Feeling alive, and I didn't know what that meant at first, but I just, I felt like things were a little dull around this time last year, like things were a little muted in my life and I wanted to feel this sense of aliveness that I was missing and craving.[00:41:00]
So I started running, which is crazy 'cause I am not a runner by any means. But I was running more for the sake of feeling my heart beating, like to feel my heart pulsing through my body, to feel that connection again with my body's Interesting, that connection back to our bodies again. I realize that aliveness to me is to be fully engaged with life and both the ups and the downs.
To not shut down. To not mute myself. To not numb out. And when I do find myself doing that to come back. So to come back because man, life is so freaking beautiful if we let ourselves see it. And it is also painstakingly heartbreaking too. It's like that duality. It's like it is all of that together.
Yeah. And so I just wanna be in that and I wanna play in it and I wanna be engaged in it and I'm committing, [00:42:00] and I've committed to that. And that's a continuation of this next year too, into 2026.
That's where I'm at and that's the growth I'm celebrating. I have done some pretty darn big things this year. Pretty darn big things, like some still in development, but it's like things that I never would've imagined could be possible for me because at the time I didn't have that level of self-belief that I do now.
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: I love it. That's a huge celebration.
Jenn Adamson: Thank you.
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: I think it is. There's nowhere to go but up when you have that self-trust and that self-acceptance.
Jenn Adamson: It is because it's what, Hey, gosh, I was just giving a talk this past summer. It's not necessarily confidence, it's the courage. It's the ability to hold the freaked out feelings that I have inside of me and still show up.
Still say, I'm worth being here. I belong here because I know what I'm here to do and who I'm here to serve, and the mission I'm [00:43:00] here to make. And that's really freaking important because a lot of people need that right now. And to stand by that with such conviction and still feel scared, I think there's a lot of power in that.
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: A lot of power. Yeah. Because most people don't get what they want in life, or don't go after what they want in life because they're afraid to feel the feelings that are associated with it.
Jenn Adamson: Yep. I just had that happen recently. Yep. I was like, oh, that's what's been under the surface that I was too afraid to feel.
Now I feel like what are avoid now? Yeah, you're right. Yeah, a hundred percent. I agree with you on that.
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: Which is the power of coaching, right?
Jenn Adamson: Yes, a hundred percent. The power of coaching and I think just I wanna generalize men versus women. I think it's a me we have. Like the world needs more well-resourced, healthy men and women in this world, really, truly.
One of our superpowers as women is the ability to be connected [00:44:00] to our emotions. It's not to necessarily say what's being driven and ruled by our emotions every single day, but let yourself feel the feeling. Don't get stuck there, right? Keep moving forward, but let yourself feel the feeling so you can process it, clear it out, and keep moving forward.
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: I love that. I love that. So what would you say to a woman listening right now that is considering coaching? Hiring a coach, hiring me, potentially finding a coach that works, is the best fit for them. What has coaching meant to you in your journey that you think she needs to know?
Jenn Adamson: I find in the last six years of coaching primarily women, I find that more often than not they're coming to me because they [00:45:00] are saying, enough is enough. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired, and they've tried everything else. They've often, more often than not, tried it on their own and it didn't work.
And I'm not saying that it can't happen and you can't do things, amazing things on your own, but I came to a realization about a year ago, like, why would I want to do this all alone? Why carry this immense emotional burden of stress that I have by myself? Aren't I worthy? To ask for the help and to receive the support.
Aren't I worthy to have the accountability? Because what I'm here to do is really big and here to serve a lot of people and help a lot of people. So why wouldn't I invest in myself? Why wouldn't I take a chance on myself and bet on me? And the return on investment, both [00:46:00] physically and both tangibly and intangibly has been.
Quantum leap compared to if I were to just do things on my own. Quantum leap. If you are serious about your dream, if you are serious about whatever it is that's calling to you, that is your soul really trying to get you to say yes and nudge you along and to be alive. So say yes. Say Yes. I know it's scary and it's often scary because it's maybe the first time you've ever done something, but anything new is always going to be unfamiliar and scary.
But be willing to try something differently because that's the only way that we are going to achieve our goals. Because if you did do what you were doing, you would be there by now. You would be there by now. And I think you've told me that before. [00:47:00] Yeah. You would be there by now. Be willing to be open and ask for help and support, and know that you are worthy to receive that support.
It's a whole lot more fun and easier and simpler than trying to be everything to yourself and be all things to yourself, let alone to other people too.
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: Yeah, especially as moms and Yeah. Partners and, yeah. All the other things. Yeah. Yeah. So good. I love it. It's been so good to catch up with you and have you here.
I really have loved this conversation. It really is so special to me. so what is the best way for people to connect with you? I do have to put a little plug in for your social media. I know you hang out mainly on Instagram and Facebook, yes, you're probably on, are you on LinkedIn too?
Jenn Adamson: I am on LinkedIn now too. Yep. Yep.
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: But Jenn produces amazing content and so I highly recommend you connect with her on the socials. But tell us where are the best places to connect with you?
Jenn Adamson: Yeah, you can find [00:48:00] me, like you said on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. It's Jennn, J-E-N-N-A-D-A-M-S-O-N, or you can also visit me on my website, which is also Jenn adamson.com.
And feel free to send a message if there's anything that resonated with you. Melissa, I know you have probably feel the same way too, is message both of us tell us what, what felt really good or what really landed with you, because we just love to have these conversations and It's also nice to know it is landing, it is resonating with people. So I would love to hear your insight and your feedback to anyone who's listening just to say, Hey, I listened to your podcast. And I'll just say, thanks.
Melissa Kellogg Lueck: I love that. Great idea. Yes. We'll definitely link all of that in the show notes.
So if you're driving right now, I don't feel like you have to remember or write it down. But thank you so much for being here and for your thank you time and your generosity. I really appreciate you and feel so honored to know you. So thank you. Yeah.
Jenn Adamson: Thank you, Melissa. The feeling is [00:49:00] completely mutual.
Thank you so much. It's an honor to, to be your guest today. Thank you.
Yay. Hey, if you like this podcast, I wanna invite you to become part of my community by signing up for my Friday Celly The link is in the show notes. Each Friday, I'm gonna deliver to your inbox my weekly celebration, as well as my thoughts on the latest and business and marketing. I wanna keep you in the know about my upcoming events.
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