Get Gutsy: Understanding Our Journey To Our Present Moment With Jenny Fenig

Are you looking to understand how your journey has evolved and where to go next? This episode is best for you! Jenny Fenig, the author of Get Gutsy, focuses on how we manage our energy in looking back at our journey to understand how we evolved to our present moment. There’s an infinite way to do business and a model to operate. The Energy Queen’s powerful presence and natural storytelling abilities allowed her to implore others to trust their impulses because of the wonderful tools available and the technologies that are at our fingertips which help to create anything! So, if you are finding your path to clarity, don’t miss this interview with Jenny Fenig.

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Get Gutsy: Understanding Our Journey To Our Present Moment With Jenny Fenig

I’m so excited to have this interview with Jenny Fenig. Jenny and I have known each other for a few years. We are both coaches. We cross paths through events and have done interviews in the past but I’m looking forward to catching up with Jenny on what has transpired since COVID and where is her business now.

Jenny’s a women’s leadership coach helping you be confident, joyful and paid to do what you love without burnout. As a successful business leader for more than two decades, Jenny offers astute counsel and masterful coaching to bring out the best in her clients. She is passionate about taking people on a journey inward and upward. Don’t miss this interview with Jenny Fenig.

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Jenny, I’m so excited about this conversation. You’ve done such amazing work with the ladies that you work with. Let’s start at the beginning. I always joke because I’ll let you tell me about your clarity journey and you’ll say, “There was not a lot of clarity for times. It’s not linear,” but how did you get to now?

Out into my woods, I have this surrounded by trees and forest here in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, which is where I live and it’s so not the scene of my earlier life growing up in Florida and Georgia and living in New York City, which is where I started my career. It did not look like this. The question of how I got to where I am is filled with twists and turns. It’s filled with, “I never thought that would happen. I didn’t know I’d be in this room. I didn’t know I’d be having these kinds of conversations.” It was about me learning to trust those nudges and the inner voice and knowing that it was a thing. It was a partner to me and understanding that energy.

A big piece of my journey has been harnessing the energy and seeing that my energy and everyone’s energy is a gift but if you’re not sure what it is or it freaks you out, which it did for me for a long time, it’s very easy to try to push it away or try to numb it, which I did. It becomes like you’re in this battle with the voice with this energy. That has been the path for me. It’s to recognize that myself and this force that I have and the force that is around is we’re in a partnership.

From an early age, I had gifts and talents. I was recognized for those. I was fortunate that my gifts and talents were appreciated by the system. In school, I was labeled as gifted. I was in the gifted class. That led me to be a very good student, be able to go to college on a full-ride academic scholarship and keep that scholarship because my grades were good.

I learned how to work hard and play hard. I partied a lot but I also was able to show up for my classes. It was a game to me to get the best grades as possible but also have as much fun as possible. I did all of that. Eventually, I made it to New York City to pursue a career in public relations thinking that was it. I hit the jackpot. I’m in the media capital of the world, New York City, working at this major public relations agency, traveling around the world working with these big clients and big projects, campaigns and launches and then recognizing because that voice spoke to me saying, “Jenny, this is not it.” I was like, “What do you mean this is not it?”

I know because it wasn’t right. A lot of my journey has been about pursuing the thing I think I’m meant to pursue because the path led me there. It felt right at the time and then you outgrow it. You’ve learned everything there is to learn. You realize it was a stepping stone. It was like this stepping stone to get me to the next gig. The next gig was I was producing conferences and creating something out of thin air like doing research with executives, asking them about their biggest challenges and turning that into something that these corporate leaders and the vendors who sold to the corporate leaders would want to buy.

That taught me to be an entrepreneur and think like an entrepreneur because I had to create a product in the way of an experience. I started getting a cut of profits from those creations. That was my first taste of like, “This is what it’s like to make good money.” Not just a salary, which when I was in PR, it’d only get you so far and it wasn’t that far. That taught me, “This is nice.” This is what it’s like to make some money based on my success, understanding the market and being able to serve that market. The same thing happened in that position, which was I outgrew it.

I learned everything I was meant to learn and then I eventually quit and discovered very soon after the field of coaching, which is where I’ve been ever since. Once I learned that it was a thing, I realized I’d been doing this my whole life. I didn’t know that this was a vocation or I could do this. This would be the job and the thing. I’ve been doing this since 2008. I’d been doing it much longer before I knew that I was doing it. As a vocation and a craft, I’ve been honing this, investing in this and celebrating this since 2008.

It’s taken on so many different looks and feels from one-on-one coaching to group coaching and in-person. In New York City, it was support groups that I was leading for new moms because I was a new mom. The whole way, it’s been following my instincts and seeing where there was a need that wasn’t being served in the market, getting in there and serving it. Filling it and being able to help people.

I was always driven by helping people and that’s still what I do. I help women see how they can use these gifts and talents, do great work, be paid well and not burn out in the process. That’s why my work is dedicated to private clients that are in my group programs. I have some wonderful corporate contracts that have been a newer piece of my work in the last few years.

That was one of the gifts of COVID, honestly, where a lot of these companies realize that they could have people working remotely. Whole businesses change the face of how things have looked. That’s been a newer piece of my work that I’m very happy about. I like having various revenue streams. It’s like that feeling of you have a few things going and it’s nice. I’m a Gemini so I like to have a few things going. It serves me. It works well for me.

 

I love how you’ve walked through this journey. I want to unpack a few things because it’s important. Otherwise, we’ll move to the next question but I want to go deeper. You were very intentional about the wording you used. You and I have known each other for a while and I can’t wait to catch up and understand what are you up to in 2022. I’m noticing your intentionality in the word that you choose and it matters. That’s part of our evolution as we become leaders in our field and more intentional about the creation that we bring forth.

You talked about energy and also partnering with your energy and your inner voice or inner consciousness versus the judging like, “I did this and that wasn’t it so that was a mistake.” No, what I heard loud and clear is my journey was following and partnering with my inner voice. Sometimes grudgingly. Sometimes not. I can only assume. Sometimes filled with self-doubt and sometimes not but never from a place looking back at that was a wrong term.

You and I are in a place where we understand that the train station that we are standing at is we came here through the train that brought us here. Whatever stops that train did in the way we welcome them whether they were fun, beautiful train station stops or not so good. Ultimately, we are celebrating where we are. Thank you for that because there’s a lot of misconception about looking back and judging the journey we’ve been on versus celebrating the journey we’ve been on. The difference is whether we are happy with the station or the moment we are in.

Every experience gets you to where you are.

In some ways, it brings you full circle. You incorporate from a different lens.

I’m serving that population and I have such empathy and understanding because I was there. I know that world. It was interesting because when I left and when I discovered coaching, I was like, “You can be an entrepreneur. You can serve like your entrepreneur population or those people who are self-employed.” There was this feeling at one point of like, “Bye, see you. Good luck.” It doesn’t have to be either/or. That’s been a remembrance for me. It can be on both ends. You don’t have to pick one or the other. These full-circle moments are so special. We’re fortunate enough to be able to live long enough to have those moments you want to pause and appreciate.

Let’s dig into your work. You are working with corporate. We can talk about what you’re doing there but your heart has been in helping, specifically women to find, craft, package and sell. They’re brilliant.

I was always like that from the beginning. I don’t think I would’ve said that when I first started as a coach because you don’t know. You’re just trying to find your way forward. You’re grasping. I know I’m coaching. I always was clear I was coaching women in transition. I did have a few men who worked with me at the beginning too and we did great work together but I had this desire to help women.

Once I got further along on my entrepreneurial journey and was building out my business, I got very fascinated with online marketing which I know you can appreciate. I started investing time, money and energy into these masterminds and traveling to California and Arizona. I live out East. I wrapped my head around all of those tactics and strategies and it worked.

My business was growing. I was hosting this and that. People were coming to me like, “Can I do that? Help me do that. How do you coach? Can you help me coach?” You follow those breadcrumbs. You evolve and evolve. Eventually, I created my own coach certification program because I saw a gap in the market there.

It’s been about listening to my market. Even more than that, listening to that inner voice because there are things that I sense and know. That is so important for people to trust themselves. Be a visionary and a leader of things before other people. It can be hard and feel a bit lonely at times because it’s like, “Does anyone else get this? I’m getting and seeing this.” That’s your gift and you have these flashes. It’s your job to sit with that. Build that out. Figure out what you can do with that. What does that idea want to become?

The idea has picked you for a reason. It sees you as a worthy candidate to make the idea real out in the world. A big piece of this process for me is trusting the ideas. I don’t take action on every idea because that would be nuts but there are some solid ideas that I have received over time that I build out into whatever it’s meant to become.

My community sees that in me and they’re drawn to work with me in various programs and retreats. A big part of my job essentially is to be brave, courageous and gutsy. That was the name of my first book, Get Gutsy. Trust those impulses and know that because of all these wonderful tools that exist with technology and everything that’s at our fingertips, you can create anything.

We are very aligned on this. Have you read What Do You Do With an Idea?

No, I don’t know that book. That sounds cool.

I’ll mail it to you as a thank you for joining me. This is the gift all of my clients get when they start working with me. When I found this book in a bookstore, I was like, “This book was written for me,” I thought. It’s also written for you, Jenny because it has this concept that ideas peak vehicles or channels. You probably have experienced this. I have experienced this. I have an idea and I don’t take action. 2 or 3 years later, I see it in the market.

That idea picked a few channels and one of them took action on it. That is such a huge part of misunderstanding, misconception and a mindset of lack because people feel. We are visionaries so we operate a little differently. I live in a world where ideas are abundant. I know that when I am touched by an idea, I will let it simmer. Unless it bugs me for days, weeks or months, I won’t take action.

My husband will watch me or people will say, “Why would you give your ideas away?” I will be with someone and say, “I have this idea.” I’m not called to do anything with it but I hold this idea in my head and I’m called to give it to you. It could be a random person on the street. It doesn’t have to be a client. There’s this opportunity for all of us to be in this collective consciousness to take action on those that are your ideas and the rest. By all means, share them with the world.

I say to my clients, “Listen to the ideas that won’t leave you alone.” Those ideas that bug you and wake you up in the middle of the night like, “I dreamt about that.” I’m sitting in the bathtub and the idea’s coming to me. I’m driving, the idea’s still there. It keeps knocking on the door of your heart. Eventually, if you don’t take action on it, it’s going to go someplace else. It’s not a stalker and that is never going to leave you alone. Your job as the visionary and as the person who can help bring it into form is to pay attention to the ones that won’t leave you alone because that’s the key to your next chapter. It’s the key to your next level of expression.

Pay attention to the ones that won't leave you alone. That is the key to your next chapter. Share on X

Much of this is building out your body of work. It’s one thing. That’s taken me some time to grasp. It’s something that you create over time. That’s great news because I do get bored. I don’t want to do this one thing forever. I do the thing as long as I’m meant to do the thing and then I know. That’s been a journey too of like, “I’m complete here. I’ve taken this as far as I want to take it and it’s time to let it go.” The hard part there sometimes is letting it go before you have the next thing.

It’s funny you mentioned that because it’s also my experience. It’s because we are creators and visionaries. I’m taking this conversation on a limb but there are one of the things I’ve started to create and I’ve already had success with. There are a lot of ideas that I know either start and say I’m done or I know that I will start and will not grow so I am packaging and selling ideas.

Part of the work that I’m doing with clients is helping my clients exit their idea. Start an idea, take action, create something in the world and then look to move it away. Have that idea or project be adopted by someone else. You can call it an exit strategy or selling your business. This is one of the things I’ve done in the last few years. I had a product. I didn’t create a product. I created a solution for myself and then my clients wanted whatever I was doing to solve my problem. This was specifically on getting on stages.

I met someone who wanted to offer that product under their business. I sold it. I didn’t sell my business. I just sold a product. It has its own form. It’s a multimillion-dollar business with a team of 30. For anybody reading, it’s this concept of flow, idea and creation. There are infinite ways to do business. There are also infinite business models in which you can operate.

There’s another way that I’ve embraced this too. I love working up close and personal with people like live where you’re facilitating a program and leading a program in real time. You have calls. You’re maybe in-person retreats and all that. I only do a few of those a year because they require a lot of energy. They’re at a higher price point. I have all these creations or ideas from the past of programs or courses that I, at one point, led live but I’m not leading live anymore.

They’re done. They completed but they still are amazing. They still can serve so you can have these evergreen horses and bundles for people to buy. I’ve had all of that on the back end of my business but we didn’t yet have this polished page where we could send people. We got that done and it feels so good. It’s not even like all of the work I’ve ever done. It’s a sliver but it’s the sliver that we want to put out. I look at it and it’s like, “My team and I did that together and people can be served by it. It’s done.”

It’s part of what you were saying. It’s the body of work. Why would you put the body of work in a drawer when you can sell it? I suspect there’s a Black Friday coming.

You would suspect right and not just on that Friday. I’m a trend booker. I’m like, “Not just the Friday. Everyone does Black Friday. I’m going to have it a little bit different.” You feel that energy. For the first time in a long time, I’m going to have something up and out with many options and have a good time with it because why not?

Don’t put it in the drawer if it can help people and you can do your part to have it all dialed in using this great technology that’s available and someone can get your stuff and go through it on their time. It gives them an easier experience with you like a taste of your stuff. Not everyone wants or is able to come in at a higher level straight away. It’s a wise move for those who can do it across the board. I’m excited about that.

You are a pattern disrupter and an energy queen. What’s coming your way?

It’s always a mystery. If I were to tell you, everything was going to happen. I don’t know but I do know it’s going to be good. Even the stuff that’s hard, I will know how to work through it because I have these wonderful tools that I have developed over time. I have a great team in place that I can go to for support. I am running a program called Energy Queen.

This is a great example of being able to take an idea and take it further. I developed that program earlier in 2021. It was great. I had the idea. It was so funny because I had the name. I was like, “Energy queen.” It came through and I asked a colleague whom I respect, who’s very creative. She’s like, “No, that’s not the name. Don’t call it that.” I’m like, “I have to come up with a new name.”

It took me weeks and I go, “Screw that. That is the name. Why are you listening to her more than me? I love her but her audience wouldn’t resonate with that. Her audience is not my audience. I know my audience and I know me and I know this idea.” That’s what it’s called. I had a blast bringing it into form. We ran it twice under a pretty similar format. It was 6 or 7 weeks. It was my way of sharing what I knew about knowing the highest and best use of you. Not everything is worth your time.

As you get further in life, you learn that. You start mastering the game when you recognize, “That is not a good use of my time. I’m not doing it anymore.” I put together this framework of being able to see what that is, know your boundaries and take your work to a whole new level without burnout, overextending yourself, underpricing and all of it.

Not everything is worth your time, and as you get further in life, you learn that, and you start mastering the game when you recognize that it is not a good use of your time. Share on X

We ran it twice. I loved it. The next time I was thinking about it, I was like, “I can’t do it like that again.” It needs more and a different approach. I listened to that and we extended it. It was a way to take the idea and make it bigger. The framework was there but we made it bigger. I love branding and I said, “It’s still Energy Queen but there’s something else to it. How can we show that it is more?” It’s Energy Queen The Experience. All the content was already created so that’s our core content library. That existed. I don’t need to redo or recreate it. It’s there and the women who join get access to that core content library.

What we did was we extended it into a three-month program. I created different kinds of calls which we called Activation Calls one per month. We had four of these calls and they set the theme. We went deep into having them do work on these calls. We had these other kinds of calls called Amplification Calls that are shorter in length and they’re looking out how you’re laser focusing your time. What’s working well to a whole new level?

There were some other elements but it’s the that this is the idea that would leave me alone. I wasn’t planning to include an in-person retreat with this. It was an online program. What was interesting was I was leading a course at that time, the first time I’d ever led this course called Retreat Leader. I was teaching my audience how to create and lead retreats because I had done that lots of times in my business. I had never had a straight-up course on it. I was like, “I have to include a retreat.”

I surrendered to that and made it happen so fast. I found this place where I had hosted retreats years back in my community. With COVID, everything shifted. We were on this hiatus and I was like, “We’re going back to the red line.” I went down. I was like, “Here are the dates I want.” We ask our clients when they signed up, “Why did you sign up?” We have an application for this program too. Most of them include retreats.

It’s so interesting. If I would’ve ignored that idea, those clients might not have joined because it was that piece that was the magnetic part for them. I’m excited about that particular program. That’ll take us into 2023. I have a longer-term mastermind that I will be re-enrolling for. We had a retreat to Costa Rica in one of our higher levels in that mastermind. I’m conceiving like, “What does that look like?” I dance with the ideas. Nothing is set in stone.

 

I like to be fluid. I like to listen and respond because it has to be exciting for me. If I’m not excited by it then I’m not going to do it. I’ve got my work that I do a lot of speaking. I have a connection with a corporate wellness company and a contract with them. They bring me on to speak to a lot of their clients. My main topics are extinguishing burnout and balance and boundaries so I do a lot of speaking with them.

They’re my client, technically. It’s this company called Chief and I am a guide for their members. They have a lot of guides like me, like hundreds of us. They have thousands of members. I have several groups with my work with Chief and I love their senior executive women at the top of their game. I come in and bring my facilitation skills. I’m excited about what 2023 we’re bringing. There are going to be a lot of shifts within my family. My oldest son is going to be moving into high school so that brings some shifts and changes. I’m in the mystery of it all.

In 2022, I’ve been reflecting on this and I’m very grateful. The last few years have been nuts. We’ve all been in it. No one’s been immune. We’ve all been hit with these punches and vials. It was hard. 2020 and 2021 were very challenging. With the ways that I had been doing this, I couldn’t do it that way anymore because I had been having some retreats. I love retreats. To me, that’s some of the most special work I do. I couldn’t do that or put those on confidently. I had one before things happened. It was in January 2020. I got one out of the gate and I had one in October 2021 at my home.

I felt like I could do that because I can pull that off but a lot of changes happened. It was challenging. 2022 to me was the year where I was able to put things into place again like put it down and feel confident with that. Me starting to get some of that contract felt so good because that is this consistent stream that comes in and there’s no marketing or sales required. That is liberating for me.

I love marketing sales. It’s creative but it’s a lot. It’s like another job. You have to do that just to do your job. That was my goal. In 2021, I was like, “Something’s got to give. I’ve been doing this a long time and I’m not interested and keep doing it like this. I laser-focused. My goal was to get myself in rooms with people who inspire me. I wanted to align with organizations that represented the value system that I felt was solid and growing and going places.

I’ve been able to do that. I feel very fortunate. When I do my programs and projects, they’re from a place of pure creativity and joy like, “This is what I want to do.” For anyone who wants to come with me, come on. We’re going to have a fun time. I want to double down on that for 2023 and see where it takes me and my community.

We’re going to wrap up but one of the things I’m hearing is that don’t judge how the work shows up. Be open to evolution. No judgment because someone is doing this or that over there on what feels right to you. I love that you found your balance, especially through COVID. We all had to find a new way of doing our work. Where can people find you and your last thoughts?

My home base is JennyFenig.com. I’m also on Instagram and Facebook. If you follow me on Facebook, follow my personal. You can convert your personal page into a professional one. On Facebook, you’ll find me at Jenny Amon Fenig. My maiden name is Amon and I’m much more present there than on my business page. You’ll be able to see more of my thoughts and what’s going on and invitations and things like that. I’d love also, Dolores, if it’s okay with you to offer your audience a free resource.

It’s our Reclaim Your Time template and that is something based on what we were talking about. I’m making sure that this link works because we went through a major shift. We shifted over. That’s another piece too. Sometimes you realize you outgrow tools. You’re like, “I don’t need this tool anymore. Why are we paying for this tool?” You have to get smart about your expenses because so much can go out. If you’re oblivious to it, you’re like, “I know I made money but where is it?”

We made a major shift by consolidating tools and letting go of tools that were good at one point but now we don’t need anymore. This is a great tool for helping you reclaim your time. That’s my big thing, my people live big lives. We have a lot of things going on and we want to be able to do great work but also have time for all the other areas of our life. ReclaimTimeNow.com is where you all can grab that tool.

Thank you so much for having me, Dolores. It was so awesome. I loved being able to connect with you. I’m sending good vibes to everyone. We’re creating this world. Thank goodness for the younger generation too because they’re on top of things. I’m feeling good because I have kids and I feel that that generation got it going. They’re like, “I’m not afraid.” I’m like, “I’m not going to live my life afraid.”

I do know that those of us who’ve been called to this work are called for a reason so keep trusting. You got to keep trusting yourself. Don’t compare yourself to others. That is a big issue in this space, especially. No one can do it like you. No one is you. No one has your unique vibration, your fingerprint or your voice. Please, get out there and do your work.

Keep trusting yourself and don’t compare yourself to others. Share on X

Jenny, thank you so much for your time.

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Jenny and I had a great conversation. We were not thinking we were going to go there but our conversation focused on how we manage our energy and how we look back at our journey and understand whatever experiences we’ve had in the past, what brought us to our present moment and how we make the most of each one of them. If you are finding your path to clarity and you are looking to understand how your journey has evolved and where to go next, make sure you read this episode with Jenny Fenig.

 

Important Links

• Jenny Fenig
• Get Gutsy
• What Do You Do With an Idea?
• Chief
• Instagram – Jenny Fenig
• Jenny Amon Fenig – Facebook
• ReclaimTimeNow.com

 

About Jenny Fenig

Jenny Fenig is a women’s leadership coach helping you be confident, joyful and paid doing what you love — without burnout. A successful business leader for more than 2 decades, Jenny offers astute counsel and masterful coaching to bring out the best in her clients. She’s passionate about taking people on a journey inward and upward.

Jenny is delighted to serve as a Guide at CHIEF (fastest women-founded company to achieve unicorn valuation status!), harnessing her dynamic skillset to create leadership development and connection experiences for senior executive women committed to their growth. She is the proud recipient of a Silver Stevie Award for Women in Business for “Coach of the Year” and the author of “Get Gutsy.”

She loves celebrating with her clients as they > sell out online programs, lead retreats, book speaking engagements + corporate contracts, get promoted, make more money, deepen relationships, free up time to focus on what matters most, get healthier, and feel good as they do good.

Her powerful presence and natural storytelling abilities makes her an in-demand speaker. In her work as a corporate workshop leader and motivational speaker, Jenny helps forward-thinking organizations solve challenges around balance, boundaries and burnout.

Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Jenny was a public relations executive and business conference producer elevating the visibility and message of the biggest brands and thought leaders in the world.

She lives in the woods with her family in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. She loves running, riding on her Peloton, drinking tea, spending time in nature, traveling, and cheering on her kids at their many sporting events.