June 2, 2025 • 27 mins
In this episode of the Leap to Success Podcast, Mary Gaul welcomes Coach Jessica Rickert, who shares her journey from education to life coaching. Jessica discusses her transformative sabbatical, exploring possibilities and the impact of coaching on personal growth. They highlight the importance of habits, personal development, and support systems in fostering change. Listeners are encouraged to explore possibilities, embrace self-reflection, and face fears. Jessica emphasizes habit-building for sustained growth and shares how to connect with her.
Connect with Jessica: Jessica Rickert
Jessica Rickert Coaching
Life Coach | Helping Women Uncover Solutions to Their Life Challenges
linkedin.com/in/coachrickert
coachrickert.com
Learn More about the LEAP for Ladies Community: visit the website: https://successmagnified.com/leap-for-ladies
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Hello.
Welcome to the leap to success podcast where wehighlight incredible women entrepreneurs who
are taking bold leaps in business and life.
I'm your host, Mary Gahl, and I believe thatsuccess is built through connection,
contribution, and celebration.
In each episode, we bring you inspiringstories, expert insights, and actionable
(00:24):
strategies to help you grow and thrive as anentrepreneur.
Let's dive into today's conversation.
I am so excited to introduce our listeners tothe LEAP community member, Jessica Rickert.
And I've known Jessica for a number of years,and I'm excited for her to get to tell her
story.
She brings such amazing gifts to the world.
(00:46):
So welcome to the show, Jessica.
We're gonna start out by having you tell ourlisteners a little bit about your story and
what makes you so awesome.
Sure.
Thanks for having me.
I'm really excited about this.
My story is that I was in education for twentyyears before this.
So I was a first and second grade teacher forhalf of my career, and then the second half of
(01:09):
my career, I coached teachers.
And the last year, especially in my career, Iremember just sitting in my office and
thinking, am not living my best life.
Miserable.
I'm frustrated.
I'm angry.
I'm trying all the things.
I'm trying the gratitude and really focusing onwhat's good.
And every day, I would go home and I'd have aglass of wine.
(01:31):
I would watch Netflix, and I would just go tobed and think, gosh.
I have to just face another day.
And so this kept building up throughout theschool year, and finally, I came to a point
where it was like, I can't do this anymore.
Like, this is this is not healthy for me.
I'm not living a healthy life.
And so I looked at my different options, like,can I stay in education if I did?
(01:53):
Because this was my dream.
This was what I was gonna do since I was alittle girl.
And the prospect of not doing it anymore wasreally scary because, like, okay.
What am I gonna do then?
I have no idea what I would do.
But as I kept thinking about it, it was like, II can't stay here and live a healthy life.
So I decided to take a year leave of absence,and I just let myself kind of figure out what
(02:21):
does that mean for me.
And it was funny because everybody I told waslike, oh my gosh.
What are you gonna do?
Felt so free.
Like, everybody else was freaking out becausethey're thinking, actually, what are you gonna
do?
And, like, none of that mattered because I hadbeen so miserable and so unhappy.
(02:41):
And so this idea of life coaching just keptcoming up and coming up.
And, you know, life coaching used to be, like,a joke.
So I was like, do I really wanna be a lifecoach?
Yeah.
I loved coaching teachers.
Like, I love the coaching aspect of it.
Mhmm.
And I love personal development.
And so I started doing some more personaldevelopment to get my life in order and decided
(03:02):
to open a life coaching business.
So that was my leap, and it was really scary,but it was so at the same time.
I think what makes me awesome is that I wentthrough it.
Like, I struggled, and I went through all thesteps that I take my clients through now.
So I think that I can identify.
(03:24):
I can be empathetic and understanding.
I equate it to, like, when you go to a personaltrainer and they're so fit and they're like,
okay.
We're gonna do 25 burpees, and you've neverexercised.
You're like, yeah.
Can expect You
do that.
I'll watch.
Yeah.
Thank you.
So it's I just really enjoy helping women getout of that rut, get out of that stuck place,
(03:48):
or do whatever they need to do.
And I've been there, and I'm still there.
Like, we all struggle through different thingsin life, and so I just wanna help women live
their best life.
Nice.
I love that.
I love that.
So many things to dive into.
Thank you, first of all, for all of your workin the classroom and then for helping teachers
(04:09):
show up better in their classrooms.
Right?
So that's such important work, and, it'sinteresting.
The podcast interview I did just before thisone, she also was in education for twenty seven
years and then has now moved on to have her ownbusiness.
But, you know, there are that is such animpactful role in and affects so many families.
(04:31):
Right?
The kids, and then the kids go home and sharethat experience with their siblings and their
parents and all that kind of stuff.
It's such an impactful role.
And you can do that with your coaching as wellnow, which I love that you get to keep that
piece of yourself, your giftedness in that, andhelp other people through whatever it is
(04:52):
they're they're dealing with, and help themhave those moments of learning something about
themselves.
Right?
So not learning a curriculum per se, butlearning about themselves and having those
moments, which is so special.
It's what I love being a I I love being a coachfor that reason as well.
So I wanna dive in a little bit about you know,I thank you for sharing what your life was
(05:14):
like, you know, coming home, having a glass ofwine, and, you know, chilling out to Netflix,
and then just going to bed, and repeat on thatcycle over and over again.
Right?
So many people are in that cycle and maybedon't realize it because it happens gradually,
and you just kind of you know, then you're it'sjust part of your normal experience of life.
(05:38):
But we all get these little nudges or theselittle, you know, feelings about there's gotta
be more than this.
Right?
I shouldn't I I deserve to be happy, and I'mnot happy.
Right?
So how did you start to realize that that washappening?
Right?
Because I'm sure it probably happenedgradually, didn't happen overnight.
(05:59):
Know?
Sometimes it does, where the universe is justlike, this is happening to you, and you're
gonna be miserable until you make a change.
Right?
So so sometimes it is sudden like that.
But but how did that happen for you?
You know, two different so in in my career, ithad been building for a long time, and I think
I stayed because it was comfortable, it waseasy, and it was safe.
(06:22):
And I didn't know what else I could do.
And I honestly, it was that thought of I'm notliving my best life that crept like you said,
it just crept into my head, and then it keptgoing on repeat and repeat and repeat.
And it was just like, you know, this is this isnot a healthy situation.
And I think we also like, we think thatdrinking the wine will make us feel better.
(06:46):
And I'm I'm not against drinking wine.
I love to drink wine.
Right.
Yeah.
When you do it to self soothe all the time,that's a problem.
Yes.
Yeah.
You feel better.
Or when we just kind of lose ourself in TV.
Like, that I'm not against watching TV, but,again, it's when you take these things and then
you expand them.
(07:07):
So I think, like, that just the I'm not livingmy best life just shouted out at me.
And then I also tell people, like, after I quitmy job, you know, I thought, oh, it's just
gonna turn around and be a miracle.
And it wasn't because I kept doing thosehabits.
It actually I remember my father we're we're avery honest family, and he sat me down after
(07:28):
about four months of, like, I had taken mybreak.
And I think sometimes after that, you do needto just kind of chill and
Yeah.
Be sad and kind of release stuff.
But he was like, you've had this time to dothis.
It's time to get your life together.
And I just needed to have somebody say, it'stime.
And for whatever reason, it clicked.
(07:52):
I took a Tony Robbins seminar, and then I juststarted building off of that.
And so I the idea of habits is huge with me.
I read James Clear's Atomic Habits book, wentthrough the Tony Robbins seminar because I did
need support.
I mean, I'll Yeah.
Just need some kind of support.
There's all the information out there.
(08:12):
You just have to find what connects with you.
So Tony Robbins is all about goal setting andhabits, and so I wrote down my goals, and I
really focused on those baby steps and thosebaby habits.
And so one thing was just exercising, and itsounds and I I was an athlete, and I exercised,
but I'm not one that's like, I'm all intoexercise.
(08:34):
Like
Yeah.
The first thing I wanna do.
But just starting walking and just getting intothat habit of just walking, and then I
increased And so just leveling up on thosedifferent things, I began to realize I felt
better and actually felt better when I did thatinstead of sitting on the couch for two hours
(08:54):
watching television.
So that's kind of where I started with thattransformation.
Nice.
I love that.
I love that.
And, you know, for those people that are outthere, it does take sometimes, you know, you
said your dad kind of talked to have thatconversation with you.
If you don't have somebody that's saying thatto you, it's harder to say that to yourself and
(09:18):
get up off the couch.
Right?
And then it you do need to have that happenover and over again because you might do it one
day and then you for a month, you go back tothe couch.
Right?
So so it is important to try and find thoseoutside sources to be able to encourage us.
And there is so much information out thereavailable for free.
Right?
But then there it's also beneficial to hire acoach like one of us.
(09:41):
Right?
So I'm more business coach.
Jessica's more life stuff, but we kind of cancross over a little bit into each other's
realms.
But, you know, that's where I think the humanconversation can really be so helpful is to we
need to be have that little kind of kick in thepants, but also the encouragement for all those
little wins along the way, which, you know,working with a coach can really make a
(10:06):
difference in that in that model.
I do wanna go back to you taking a year off.
I love that idea.
And for most people, they're like, I couldnever do that.
What would I do?
Right?
My my husband just retired last fall at age 60.
And when he told people, they were like, whatare you gonna do?
(10:28):
What what do you mean?
What what you're gonna get another job.
Right?
You know what mean?
Not maybe, but not necessarily.
Right?
And so I think people just freak out if wedon't have a plan or we don't have a what's the
next thing?
And you've gotta have all these goals.
Right?
We we're both firm believers in goals as youjust mentioned.
(10:48):
It helped get you off the couch.
But if we don't have a plan all the time,people think you're crazy.
Right?
So so tell me a little bit about thatexperience.
Well, I think it was again, like, I was somiserable, and I was trying to make a plan
through different edge like, do I wanna be aprincipal?
Could I move different school?
(11:09):
Could I move to a different school district?
And so when I thought through all those thingsbecause I am a planner, and I do intentionally
think through things.
It was a hard no for all of them.
And so it it helped that I had had savings.
So that is one thing because I I like to livein reality.
I can't just quit the job and have no money.
(11:30):
Right.
Exactly.
I had the luxury of being able to do thatbecause I had put enough savings away that I
could live for a year without getting apaycheck.
Yes.
So I I think that helped.
The other thing was the school district I wasin, I could take a year leave of absence and
come back to my same job.
So I did Okay.
(11:51):
Have a little bit of that safety and security.
In my mind, that didn't matter because I knew Iwasn't coming back.
But Right.
Parents.
Just in case.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So people don't think you've totally gone offthe deep end.
Yes.
Yeah.
And I was more the I'm gonna burn the boats andso what there.
And so then I just kind of had fun and playedaround.
(12:12):
Like, for those four or five months, I wouldjust look at all different like, it was kind of
exciting to see, okay.
What's new?
Like, do
want to
open a brewery?
I mean, just silly things like that, but justtrying to look at different things.
And it was fun for me because I had been sofocused on education and it was all consuming
that I never thought, what else would I do?
(12:35):
So Right.
I think giving yourself time and permission toexplore and not like, okay.
Now I need to find another job.
And if if you don't have the means to totallyquit your job or quit whatever you're doing,
you know, at least give yourself permission tostart playing around with some different ideas.
(12:55):
Like, what I do?
What would I be interested in?
I worked with a client that really was stuck ina rut and hated her job.
And so we kind of played around like, well,what are you interested in?
And just Yeah.
Making a list of what would be fun.
Like, if you could just dream and money was noobject because then we can always go back to
(13:15):
the how and the reality.
Right.
You have to start dreaming big first and thenfiguring out, is this really what I wanna do?
And all the different logical pieces, okay,what would that entail?
And then can I make money at this?
Yes.
Yes.
I have I had that conversation just this weekwith a client.
(13:36):
So I love that conversation.
It's fun for us, right, to just help them thinkbigger and think outside the box.
Right?
When when I was ready to leave the law firmthat I was running for ten years, I knew it was
time for me to leave.
I'd done everything I could do there.
Right?
And I had a friend give me this question andjust said, start asking yourself this question
(13:56):
and then listen and pay attention to what'sshowing up around you.
And the question was, I wonder.
He's like, just ask I wonder questions all daylong in your mind.
Right?
Like, I wonder what my next job will be.
I wonder if I'll have a commute.
I wonder if I have a window in my office.
I wonder what my desk will look like.
Right?
I wonder what kind of people I'll work with.
And I just started asking myself, I wonder,which opened up so many possibilities to, I
(14:19):
wonder if I could work in that building.
I wonder what kind of businesses are in thatbuilding.
Right?
And and then I ended up starting my owncompany, which was not even on my radar.
I was planning to go get another job.
Right?
But that I wonder question really did open upso many things, and then I started seeing all
of these things about virtual assistants.
And I was in the corporate world where we hadstaffing agencies.
(14:41):
We didn't hire virtual assistants.
So I didn't know what that was, and it justkept randomly showing up because I was asking,
I wonder what's possible.
What what kind of business could I run?
Right?
And and then I started that I launched thevirtual assistant company, and so and ran it
for eleven years.
So, you know, it's it's that I wonder questioncan really change your life when you start to
(15:02):
open up and ask what else is possible, and whatdo I want more of in my life and then listening
for the answers.
That's the other thing is we are very good atputting on our little earbuds and not listening
to the universe around us by by, you know,drinking the wine and check chilling out on
Netflix and not giving ourselves that space toeven hear the messages coming through.
(15:27):
So how do you how do you help your clients kindof create that quiet space so they can listen
to what's what the answers are coming through?
Yeah.
Because we're so surrounded.
Like, we could be listening to something twentyfour hours a day, and that's not good because I
love that idea of I wonder and opening thepossibilities.
(15:49):
So I always encourage people to take some timeduring the day because a lot of people come to
me for self care, and they're usually busy momsand mostly entrepreneurs, and so they don't
schedule time for themselves ever.
And so they just keep spinning and spinning andspinning until like, we were talking about
you're on the floor in a pub.
(16:10):
Yeah.
So I really encourage them to time block.
You know, maybe it's just five minutes, and youtake time to just sit in silence or journal
your thoughts because a lot of people like towrite things down and find a place where you
can do that.
Or maybe it's walking.
I love to walk and be active because a lot ofgood thoughts happen.
(16:33):
Honestly, I have a lot of great thoughts in theshower when it's quiet.
But, again, it's you gotta turn off your phonebecause I can always listen to a podcast.
I can always listen to a book on tape.
But then it's then when do you absorb thatinformation?
Right.
Giving yourself permission to at least startout with five minutes and just take some time
(16:55):
and dedicate five minutes.
I have started with two hours in I mean, Ididn't start.
I am now at two hours in the morning where I amin silence.
So I walk in the morning, and I used to walkand put my earbuds in and listen to a podcast
because I'm always trying to learn and listen.
But I realized that, like, I'm never giving myspace, and that's such a great time in the
(17:18):
morning to walk and be silent.
So I would encourage people, like, when you goon a walk, you know, leave your phone off and
just, like, meditate and breathe.
Yeah.
Think.
Listen to the birds.
The birds are back out.
It's springtime.
Right?
So it's just a fun thing to hear nature aroundyou.
(17:38):
Yeah.
Yes.
And just notice what's going on.
And like you said, ask those I wonder questionsbecause whether you believe in God, the
universe, something is going to talk to you andgive you the answers you but you need to be
open to that, whatever it is in your life.
So that would be the main thing.
Start with five minutes.
If you're not in silence ever, put your phoneaway and build on that and kind of shut off
(18:04):
noise and really be intentional about when areyou putting noise on that you could shut it
off.
Yes.
Yes.
I know.
Sometimes I I just love to take a long car rideand just have no turn the radio off and just
it's just silent.
Right?
You just go into this hopefully, still payingattention, but you can get into your head and
(18:24):
you can think about things.
Right?
And just having that quiet time because we justthere's so much noise around us all day long,
and there's opportunities for things to fillour heads.
But we do need that quiet space so that we canhear the answers to the questions that we're
asking.
Right?
So, I think that's that's a great a great tip.
(18:47):
Many of the listeners out there might be kindof getting these little nudges or, you know,
these whispers or these feelings like somethingelse is supposed to be going on in my life.
Right?
They're on the edge of that big leap.
So what's what's the best piece of advice thatyou can give them for taking some bold action
with confidence?
Yes.
(19:08):
I would say that face your fears because that'swhat holds all of us back.
Yeah.
And really think about, you know, again, doingjust a pros and cons list of, okay.
If I'm gonna take this big leap, how's it goingto improve my life?
How would it make it better?
Or if I did take this leap, how would it notmake my life better?
(19:32):
And kind of weigh that.
Like, is this gonna improve my life?
And not just your life, but the people aroundyou too.
Because I know that when I was in that badplace, it affected my family.
It affected my friends because I wasn't showingup as the best version of myself.
And so really just digging into, okay.
(19:53):
This is scary, and why is it scary?
And, I mean, mostly, it's around money usuallywhere we're taking this big leap, but maybe
it's not.
Maybe it's just this really hard thing that wedon't wanna do.
We're avoiding because it's uncomfortable.
It's hard.
It's gonna be difficult now.
But if it was difficult now, how would it makeyour life easier in the future?
(20:18):
I listened to this Rob Dial, the mindset mentorpodcast, and he always says, easy easy now,
hard later, hard now, easy later.
And so that's kind of in my mind.
Like, okay.
Your life might be easy right now, and that'swhy you're getting this nudge because you're
thinking, but I could do more.
And Mhmm.
(20:38):
Even though you might be miserable or in a rut,like, was miserable in a rut, but my life was
easy ish.
Right.
Had this constant paycheck, and I had security.
But it was also hard, and it was gettingharder.
So the hard part was leaving my job.
And now it's I mean, it's not easy.
(20:58):
It being an Right.
Not easy, as you know too.
But my life is significantly better.
So these other parts are better for that.
So I just think really deep analysis of how canthis improve your life, and then is it worth it
to make the leap, and what can you dedicate todo to make that leap.
(21:19):
Nice.
I love that.
I love that.
And, you know, taking those small steps.
You don't have to quit your job tomorrow.
Right?
If you know you're uncomfortable or you'reyou're realizing just how miserable you are,
put a plan together.
And if you have the means to, yes, take sometime off and decompress, you know, that's
(21:40):
really important, especially if you've been inthat stress level for a long time.
Mhmm.
Having that that space to just decompress for awhile.
But if you don't, then, you know, how can youbuild in that five minutes of silence?
How can you start to build in some self careroutines that will help you as you make your
transition plan?
(22:01):
Right?
Yes.
All about I'm all about baby steps.
Like Yeah.
And what James Clear talks about in his habitbooks, which I love, it's not about, you know,
the thirty days or the ninety days.
It's that small step and then build on that.
So if you've never exercised, just put yourshoes on one day, your walking shoes, and then
(22:21):
start walking for two minutes and then fiveminutes and building up to it.
Because I do think all of us go of the all ornothing mentality.
So I'm gonna quit my job, or I'm gonna stay inmy job.
I'm going to exercise for two hours a day, orI'm not gonna exercise at all.
So,
like Right.
Like what you said, what are those small habitsthat you can start, and what are you going to
(22:43):
stick to?
And then how do you layer that on to build up?
And eventually, it will turn your life around.
It'll it'll feel like it takes forever, butit'll stick so much more if you do it in that
way.
Yes.
And not feeling like we have to have the wholeplan mapped out step by step by step by step.
Right?
(23:03):
You it's great to have a direction of where youwanna go, but sometimes people don't make the
move because they don't know the whole plan,and they don't know exactly how it's gonna turn
out.
And so it's not worth the risk because theydon't wanna take that step.
Right?
So I have I bought this URL after I heard it ona on a webinar I was on years ago, and I just
love this phrase so much.
(23:24):
I don't know what I'm gonna do with it, butI'll do something with it someday.
But it's action creates clarity.
And so really just taking that next step willhelp you create clarity for the next step and
the next step and the next step.
Right?
And and maybe it turns out that, you know,those those one degree navigation puts you
(23:45):
somewhere else, right, that you didn't evenknow was possible.
I wonder what's possible.
Right?
You weren't even thinking of that when you tookthat first step.
But if you didn't take the first step, younever would have ended up there.
Right?
So I I love that, just taking that first stepand trusting that the next step will be there
and you can keep going.
(24:05):
Yeah.
Well, that, that podcaster Rob Dial says,inaction creates more inaction.
Action creates action.
So I know that a lot of us, we dread thisthing, so we just sit and we stew and we think
about it.
And we think that avoiding it is better, but ifwe actually just do it Yeah.
Feel better too.
And when I started I mean, I came fromeducation.
(24:27):
I have no idea or I had no idea what entailed,like, running a business.
And so you said I just did those baby steps.
I sought out people to help me along.
You helped me with my pricing.
Like, you've gotta know who you can reach outto.
I had a friend that had a business.
So when I started, I'm like, hey.
What do I do?
And so he said, okay.
(24:48):
You need to start a website.
Like, all the things I no idea about.
And now, like, looking back four years in thepast, I'm like, oh my gosh.
Like Yeah.
I have done all this stuff.
But, yeah, it was baby steps.
Like, you start with this thing, and then yougo to the next thing.
Yes.
Yes.
Good.
I love that advice, and it's good reminders.
(25:09):
We hear that sometimes, but sometimes hearingpeople's story and how that played out, that's
really exciting to be able to, you know, sharethat story, and I think we need to hear that
message over and over again as we as we goalong.
So how is the best way for people to connectwith you, Jessica?
We're gonna put your all your contactinformation will be in the show notes.
(25:31):
However, people are either listening orwatching the podcast.
You can find all of Jessica's information.
But I always like to have you say it just ifpeople are listening while they're out walking
their dogs or something like that.
Right?
So what's the best way for people to find youonline?
I think the best thing is to go to my website.
It's coachricker.com.
Very easy.
That's just all the information about me.
(25:52):
You can link to my email newsletter because Isend it out once or twice a month, just
different habits, different tips that I'vegotten from different podcasts or different
books.
So I just love to share information that reallyhas affected me.
So that would be the best way to connect withme.
Awesome.
Awesome.
I love it.
(26:12):
And that is a wrap.
I could keep talking to you for a long time,but we have to close these things down
sometimes.
Right?
So that is a wrap on today's episode of theleap to success podcast.
I hope if you're listening, you foundinspiration, motivation, and a few golden
nuggets to take with you on your journey.
If you love this conversation, be sure tosubscribe on whatever platform you're listening
(26:35):
on so that you never miss an episode.
If today's guest, Jessica, resonated with you,please show her some love by sharing this
episode with your community and your friends.
Remember, you can find all of Jessica's contactinformation and reach out to her, in the
information show notes, wherever you'relistening or watching.
(26:56):
If you want to learn more about the LEAPcommunity, you can join us inside the LEAP
community where you'll find even moreresources, connections, and opportunities to
show up and grow.
You can visit successmagnified.com backslashleap for ladies to learn more.
And until next time, keep taking bold leaps,contributing your gifts, and celebrating your
(27:18):
successes.
Thanks so much, Jessica.
Thank you, Mary.
Hello.
Welcome to the leap to success podcast where wehighlight incredible women entrepreneurs who
are taking bold leaps in business and life.
I'm your host, Mary Gahl, and I believe thatsuccess is built through connection,
contribution, and celebration.
In each episode, we bring you inspiringstories, expert insights, and actionable
(00:24):
strategies to help you grow and thrive as anentrepreneur.
Let's dive into today's conversation.
I am so excited to introduce our listeners tothe LEAP community member, Jessica Rickert.
And I've known Jessica for a number of years,and I'm excited for her to get to tell her
story.
She brings such amazing gifts to the world.
(00:46):
So welcome to the show, Jessica.
We're gonna start out by having you tell ourlisteners a little bit about your story and
what makes you so awesome.
Sure.
Thanks for having me.
I'm really excited about this.
My story is that I was in education for twentyyears before this.
So I was a first and second grade teacher forhalf of my career, and then the second half of
(01:09):
my career, I coached teachers.
And the last year, especially in my career, Iremember just sitting in my office and
thinking, am not living my best life.
Miserable.
I'm frustrated.
I'm angry.
I'm trying all the things.
I'm trying the gratitude and really focusing onwhat's good.
And every day, I would go home and I'd have aglass of wine.
(01:31):
I would watch Netflix, and I would just go tobed and think, gosh.
I have to just face another day.
And so this kept building up throughout theschool year, and finally, I came to a point
where it was like, I can't do this anymore.
Like, this is this is not healthy for me.
I'm not living a healthy life.
And so I looked at my different options, like,can I stay in education if I did?
(01:53):
Because this was my dream.
This was what I was gonna do since I was alittle girl.
And the prospect of not doing it anymore wasreally scary because, like, okay.
What am I gonna do then?
I have no idea what I would do.
But as I kept thinking about it, it was like, II can't stay here and live a healthy life.
So I decided to take a year leave of absence,and I just let myself kind of figure out what
(02:21):
does that mean for me.
And it was funny because everybody I told waslike, oh my gosh.
What are you gonna do?
Felt so free.
Like, everybody else was freaking out becausethey're thinking, actually, what are you gonna
do?
And, like, none of that mattered because I hadbeen so miserable and so unhappy.
(02:41):
And so this idea of life coaching just keptcoming up and coming up.
And, you know, life coaching used to be, like,a joke.
So I was like, do I really wanna be a lifecoach?
Yeah.
I loved coaching teachers.
Like, I love the coaching aspect of it.
Mhmm.
And I love personal development.
And so I started doing some more personaldevelopment to get my life in order and decided
(03:02):
to open a life coaching business.
So that was my leap, and it was really scary,but it was so at the same time.
I think what makes me awesome is that I wentthrough it.
Like, I struggled, and I went through all thesteps that I take my clients through now.
So I think that I can identify.
(03:24):
I can be empathetic and understanding.
I equate it to, like, when you go to a personaltrainer and they're so fit and they're like,
okay.
We're gonna do 25 burpees, and you've neverexercised.
You're like, yeah.
Can expect You
do that.
I'll watch.
Yeah.
Thank you.
So it's I just really enjoy helping women getout of that rut, get out of that stuck place,
(03:48):
or do whatever they need to do.
And I've been there, and I'm still there.
Like, we all struggle through different thingsin life, and so I just wanna help women live
their best life.
Nice.
I love that.
I love that.
So many things to dive into.
Thank you, first of all, for all of your workin the classroom and then for helping teachers
(04:09):
show up better in their classrooms.
Right?
So that's such important work, and, it'sinteresting.
The podcast interview I did just before thisone, she also was in education for twenty seven
years and then has now moved on to have her ownbusiness.
But, you know, there are that is such animpactful role in and affects so many families.
(04:31):
Right?
The kids, and then the kids go home and sharethat experience with their siblings and their
parents and all that kind of stuff.
It's such an impactful role.
And you can do that with your coaching as wellnow, which I love that you get to keep that
piece of yourself, your giftedness in that, andhelp other people through whatever it is
(04:52):
they're they're dealing with, and help themhave those moments of learning something about
themselves.
Right?
So not learning a curriculum per se, butlearning about themselves and having those
moments, which is so special.
It's what I love being a I I love being a coachfor that reason as well.
So I wanna dive in a little bit about you know,I thank you for sharing what your life was
(05:14):
like, you know, coming home, having a glass ofwine, and, you know, chilling out to Netflix,
and then just going to bed, and repeat on thatcycle over and over again.
Right?
So many people are in that cycle and maybedon't realize it because it happens gradually,
and you just kind of you know, then you're it'sjust part of your normal experience of life.
(05:38):
But we all get these little nudges or theselittle, you know, feelings about there's gotta
be more than this.
Right?
I shouldn't I I deserve to be happy, and I'mnot happy.
Right?
So how did you start to realize that that washappening?
Right?
Because I'm sure it probably happenedgradually, didn't happen overnight.
(05:59):
Know?
Sometimes it does, where the universe is justlike, this is happening to you, and you're
gonna be miserable until you make a change.
Right?
So so sometimes it is sudden like that.
But but how did that happen for you?
You know, two different so in in my career, ithad been building for a long time, and I think
I stayed because it was comfortable, it waseasy, and it was safe.
(06:22):
And I didn't know what else I could do.
And I honestly, it was that thought of I'm notliving my best life that crept like you said,
it just crept into my head, and then it keptgoing on repeat and repeat and repeat.
And it was just like, you know, this is this isnot a healthy situation.
And I think we also like, we think thatdrinking the wine will make us feel better.
(06:46):
And I'm I'm not against drinking wine.
I love to drink wine.
Right.
Yeah.
When you do it to self soothe all the time,that's a problem.
Yes.
Yeah.
You feel better.
Or when we just kind of lose ourself in TV.
Like, that I'm not against watching TV, but,again, it's when you take these things and then
you expand them.
(07:07):
So I think, like, that just the I'm not livingmy best life just shouted out at me.
And then I also tell people, like, after I quitmy job, you know, I thought, oh, it's just
gonna turn around and be a miracle.
And it wasn't because I kept doing thosehabits.
It actually I remember my father we're we're avery honest family, and he sat me down after
(07:28):
about four months of, like, I had taken mybreak.
And I think sometimes after that, you do needto just kind of chill and
Yeah.
Be sad and kind of release stuff.
But he was like, you've had this time to dothis.
It's time to get your life together.
And I just needed to have somebody say, it'stime.
And for whatever reason, it clicked.
(07:52):
I took a Tony Robbins seminar, and then I juststarted building off of that.
And so I the idea of habits is huge with me.
I read James Clear's Atomic Habits book, wentthrough the Tony Robbins seminar because I did
need support.
I mean, I'll Yeah.
Just need some kind of support.
There's all the information out there.
(08:12):
You just have to find what connects with you.
So Tony Robbins is all about goal setting andhabits, and so I wrote down my goals, and I
really focused on those baby steps and thosebaby habits.
And so one thing was just exercising, and itsounds and I I was an athlete, and I exercised,
but I'm not one that's like, I'm all intoexercise.
(08:34):
Like
Yeah.
The first thing I wanna do.
But just starting walking and just getting intothat habit of just walking, and then I
increased And so just leveling up on thosedifferent things, I began to realize I felt
better and actually felt better when I did thatinstead of sitting on the couch for two hours
(08:54):
watching television.
So that's kind of where I started with thattransformation.
Nice.
I love that.
I love that.
And, you know, for those people that are outthere, it does take sometimes, you know, you
said your dad kind of talked to have thatconversation with you.
If you don't have somebody that's saying thatto you, it's harder to say that to yourself and
(09:18):
get up off the couch.
Right?
And then it you do need to have that happenover and over again because you might do it one
day and then you for a month, you go back tothe couch.
Right?
So so it is important to try and find thoseoutside sources to be able to encourage us.
And there is so much information out thereavailable for free.
Right?
But then there it's also beneficial to hire acoach like one of us.
(09:41):
Right?
So I'm more business coach.
Jessica's more life stuff, but we kind of cancross over a little bit into each other's
realms.
But, you know, that's where I think the humanconversation can really be so helpful is to we
need to be have that little kind of kick in thepants, but also the encouragement for all those
little wins along the way, which, you know,working with a coach can really make a
(10:06):
difference in that in that model.
I do wanna go back to you taking a year off.
I love that idea.
And for most people, they're like, I couldnever do that.
What would I do?
Right?
My my husband just retired last fall at age 60.
And when he told people, they were like, whatare you gonna do?
(10:28):
What what do you mean?
What what you're gonna get another job.
Right?
You know what mean?
Not maybe, but not necessarily.
Right?
And so I think people just freak out if wedon't have a plan or we don't have a what's the
next thing?
And you've gotta have all these goals.
Right?
We we're both firm believers in goals as youjust mentioned.
(10:48):
It helped get you off the couch.
But if we don't have a plan all the time,people think you're crazy.
Right?
So so tell me a little bit about thatexperience.
Well, I think it was again, like, I was somiserable, and I was trying to make a plan
through different edge like, do I wanna be aprincipal?
Could I move different school?
(11:09):
Could I move to a different school district?
And so when I thought through all those thingsbecause I am a planner, and I do intentionally
think through things.
It was a hard no for all of them.
And so it it helped that I had had savings.
So that is one thing because I I like to livein reality.
I can't just quit the job and have no money.
(11:30):
Right.
Exactly.
I had the luxury of being able to do thatbecause I had put enough savings away that I
could live for a year without getting apaycheck.
Yes.
So I I think that helped.
The other thing was the school district I wasin, I could take a year leave of absence and
come back to my same job.
So I did Okay.
(11:51):
Have a little bit of that safety and security.
In my mind, that didn't matter because I knew Iwasn't coming back.
But Right.
Parents.
Just in case.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So people don't think you've totally gone offthe deep end.
Yes.
Yeah.
And I was more the I'm gonna burn the boats andso what there.
And so then I just kind of had fun and playedaround.
(12:12):
Like, for those four or five months, I wouldjust look at all different like, it was kind of
exciting to see, okay.
What's new?
Like, do
want to
open a brewery?
I mean, just silly things like that, but justtrying to look at different things.
And it was fun for me because I had been sofocused on education and it was all consuming
that I never thought, what else would I do?
(12:35):
So Right.
I think giving yourself time and permission toexplore and not like, okay.
Now I need to find another job.
And if if you don't have the means to totallyquit your job or quit whatever you're doing,
you know, at least give yourself permission tostart playing around with some different ideas.
(12:55):
Like, what I do?
What would I be interested in?
I worked with a client that really was stuck ina rut and hated her job.
And so we kind of played around like, well,what are you interested in?
And just Yeah.
Making a list of what would be fun.
Like, if you could just dream and money was noobject because then we can always go back to
(13:15):
the how and the reality.
Right.
You have to start dreaming big first and thenfiguring out, is this really what I wanna do?
And all the different logical pieces, okay,what would that entail?
And then can I make money at this?
Yes.
Yes.
I have I had that conversation just this weekwith a client.
(13:36):
So I love that conversation.
It's fun for us, right, to just help them thinkbigger and think outside the box.
Right?
When when I was ready to leave the law firmthat I was running for ten years, I knew it was
time for me to leave.
I'd done everything I could do there.
Right?
And I had a friend give me this question andjust said, start asking yourself this question
(13:56):
and then listen and pay attention to what'sshowing up around you.
And the question was, I wonder.
He's like, just ask I wonder questions all daylong in your mind.
Right?
Like, I wonder what my next job will be.
I wonder if I'll have a commute.
I wonder if I have a window in my office.
I wonder what my desk will look like.
Right?
I wonder what kind of people I'll work with.
And I just started asking myself, I wonder,which opened up so many possibilities to, I
(14:19):
wonder if I could work in that building.
I wonder what kind of businesses are in thatbuilding.
Right?
And and then I ended up starting my owncompany, which was not even on my radar.
I was planning to go get another job.
Right?
But that I wonder question really did open upso many things, and then I started seeing all
of these things about virtual assistants.
And I was in the corporate world where we hadstaffing agencies.
(14:41):
We didn't hire virtual assistants.
So I didn't know what that was, and it justkept randomly showing up because I was asking,
I wonder what's possible.
What what kind of business could I run?
Right?
And and then I started that I launched thevirtual assistant company, and so and ran it
for eleven years.
So, you know, it's it's that I wonder questioncan really change your life when you start to
(15:02):
open up and ask what else is possible, and whatdo I want more of in my life and then listening
for the answers.
That's the other thing is we are very good atputting on our little earbuds and not listening
to the universe around us by by, you know,drinking the wine and check chilling out on
Netflix and not giving ourselves that space toeven hear the messages coming through.
(15:27):
So how do you how do you help your clients kindof create that quiet space so they can listen
to what's what the answers are coming through?
Yeah.
Because we're so surrounded.
Like, we could be listening to something twentyfour hours a day, and that's not good because I
love that idea of I wonder and opening thepossibilities.
(15:49):
So I always encourage people to take some timeduring the day because a lot of people come to
me for self care, and they're usually busy momsand mostly entrepreneurs, and so they don't
schedule time for themselves ever.
And so they just keep spinning and spinning andspinning until like, we were talking about
you're on the floor in a pub.
(16:10):
Yeah.
So I really encourage them to time block.
You know, maybe it's just five minutes, and youtake time to just sit in silence or journal
your thoughts because a lot of people like towrite things down and find a place where you
can do that.
Or maybe it's walking.
I love to walk and be active because a lot ofgood thoughts happen.
(16:33):
Honestly, I have a lot of great thoughts in theshower when it's quiet.
But, again, it's you gotta turn off your phonebecause I can always listen to a podcast.
I can always listen to a book on tape.
But then it's then when do you absorb thatinformation?
Right.
Giving yourself permission to at least startout with five minutes and just take some time
(16:55):
and dedicate five minutes.
I have started with two hours in I mean, Ididn't start.
I am now at two hours in the morning where I amin silence.
So I walk in the morning, and I used to walkand put my earbuds in and listen to a podcast
because I'm always trying to learn and listen.
But I realized that, like, I'm never giving myspace, and that's such a great time in the
(17:18):
morning to walk and be silent.
So I would encourage people, like, when you goon a walk, you know, leave your phone off and
just, like, meditate and breathe.
Yeah.
Think.
Listen to the birds.
The birds are back out.
It's springtime.
Right?
So it's just a fun thing to hear nature aroundyou.
(17:38):
Yeah.
Yes.
And just notice what's going on.
And like you said, ask those I wonder questionsbecause whether you believe in God, the
universe, something is going to talk to you andgive you the answers you but you need to be
open to that, whatever it is in your life.
So that would be the main thing.
Start with five minutes.
If you're not in silence ever, put your phoneaway and build on that and kind of shut off
(18:04):
noise and really be intentional about when areyou putting noise on that you could shut it
off.
Yes.
Yes.
I know.
Sometimes I I just love to take a long car rideand just have no turn the radio off and just
it's just silent.
Right?
You just go into this hopefully, still payingattention, but you can get into your head and
(18:24):
you can think about things.
Right?
And just having that quiet time because we justthere's so much noise around us all day long,
and there's opportunities for things to fillour heads.
But we do need that quiet space so that we canhear the answers to the questions that we're
asking.
Right?
So, I think that's that's a great a great tip.
(18:47):
Many of the listeners out there might be kindof getting these little nudges or, you know,
these whispers or these feelings like somethingelse is supposed to be going on in my life.
Right?
They're on the edge of that big leap.
So what's what's the best piece of advice thatyou can give them for taking some bold action
with confidence?
Yes.
(19:08):
I would say that face your fears because that'swhat holds all of us back.
Yeah.
And really think about, you know, again, doingjust a pros and cons list of, okay.
If I'm gonna take this big leap, how's it goingto improve my life?
How would it make it better?
Or if I did take this leap, how would it notmake my life better?
(19:32):
And kind of weigh that.
Like, is this gonna improve my life?
And not just your life, but the people aroundyou too.
Because I know that when I was in that badplace, it affected my family.
It affected my friends because I wasn't showingup as the best version of myself.
And so really just digging into, okay.
(19:53):
This is scary, and why is it scary?
And, I mean, mostly, it's around money usuallywhere we're taking this big leap, but maybe
it's not.
Maybe it's just this really hard thing that wedon't wanna do.
We're avoiding because it's uncomfortable.
It's hard.
It's gonna be difficult now.
But if it was difficult now, how would it makeyour life easier in the future?
(20:18):
I listened to this Rob Dial, the mindset mentorpodcast, and he always says, easy easy now,
hard later, hard now, easy later.
And so that's kind of in my mind.
Like, okay.
Your life might be easy right now, and that'swhy you're getting this nudge because you're
thinking, but I could do more.
And Mhmm.
(20:38):
Even though you might be miserable or in a rut,like, was miserable in a rut, but my life was
easy ish.
Right.
Had this constant paycheck, and I had security.
But it was also hard, and it was gettingharder.
So the hard part was leaving my job.
And now it's I mean, it's not easy.
(20:58):
It being an Right.
Not easy, as you know too.
But my life is significantly better.
So these other parts are better for that.
So I just think really deep analysis of how canthis improve your life, and then is it worth it
to make the leap, and what can you dedicate todo to make that leap.
(21:19):
Nice.
I love that.
I love that.
And, you know, taking those small steps.
You don't have to quit your job tomorrow.
Right?
If you know you're uncomfortable or you'reyou're realizing just how miserable you are,
put a plan together.
And if you have the means to, yes, take sometime off and decompress, you know, that's
(21:40):
really important, especially if you've been inthat stress level for a long time.
Mhmm.
Having that that space to just decompress for awhile.
But if you don't, then, you know, how can youbuild in that five minutes of silence?
How can you start to build in some self careroutines that will help you as you make your
transition plan?
(22:01):
Right?
Yes.
All about I'm all about baby steps.
Like Yeah.
And what James Clear talks about in his habitbooks, which I love, it's not about, you know,
the thirty days or the ninety days.
It's that small step and then build on that.
So if you've never exercised, just put yourshoes on one day, your walking shoes, and then
(22:21):
start walking for two minutes and then fiveminutes and building up to it.
Because I do think all of us go of the all ornothing mentality.
So I'm gonna quit my job, or I'm gonna stay inmy job.
I'm going to exercise for two hours a day, orI'm not gonna exercise at all.
So,
like Right.
Like what you said, what are those small habitsthat you can start, and what are you going to
(22:43):
stick to?
And then how do you layer that on to build up?
And eventually, it will turn your life around.
It'll it'll feel like it takes forever, butit'll stick so much more if you do it in that
way.
Yes.
And not feeling like we have to have the wholeplan mapped out step by step by step by step.
Right?
(23:03):
You it's great to have a direction of where youwanna go, but sometimes people don't make the
move because they don't know the whole plan,and they don't know exactly how it's gonna turn
out.
And so it's not worth the risk because theydon't wanna take that step.
Right?
So I have I bought this URL after I heard it ona on a webinar I was on years ago, and I just
love this phrase so much.
(23:24):
I don't know what I'm gonna do with it, butI'll do something with it someday.
But it's action creates clarity.
And so really just taking that next step willhelp you create clarity for the next step and
the next step and the next step.
Right?
And and maybe it turns out that, you know,those those one degree navigation puts you
(23:45):
somewhere else, right, that you didn't evenknow was possible.
I wonder what's possible.
Right?
You weren't even thinking of that when you tookthat first step.
But if you didn't take the first step, younever would have ended up there.
Right?
So I I love that, just taking that first stepand trusting that the next step will be there
and you can keep going.
(24:05):
Yeah.
Well, that, that podcaster Rob Dial says,inaction creates more inaction.
Action creates action.
So I know that a lot of us, we dread thisthing, so we just sit and we stew and we think
about it.
And we think that avoiding it is better, but ifwe actually just do it Yeah.
Feel better too.
And when I started I mean, I came fromeducation.
(24:27):
I have no idea or I had no idea what entailed,like, running a business.
And so you said I just did those baby steps.
I sought out people to help me along.
You helped me with my pricing.
Like, you've gotta know who you can reach outto.
I had a friend that had a business.
So when I started, I'm like, hey.
What do I do?
And so he said, okay.
(24:48):
You need to start a website.
Like, all the things I no idea about.
And now, like, looking back four years in thepast, I'm like, oh my gosh.
Like Yeah.
I have done all this stuff.
But, yeah, it was baby steps.
Like, you start with this thing, and then yougo to the next thing.
Yes.
Yes.
Good.
I love that advice, and it's good reminders.
(25:09):
We hear that sometimes, but sometimes hearingpeople's story and how that played out, that's
really exciting to be able to, you know, sharethat story, and I think we need to hear that
message over and over again as we as we goalong.
So how is the best way for people to connectwith you, Jessica?
We're gonna put your all your contactinformation will be in the show notes.
(25:31):
However, people are either listening orwatching the podcast.
You can find all of Jessica's information.
But I always like to have you say it just ifpeople are listening while they're out walking
their dogs or something like that.
Right?
So what's the best way for people to find youonline?
I think the best thing is to go to my website.
It's coachricker.com.
Very easy.
That's just all the information about me.
(25:52):
You can link to my email newsletter because Isend it out once or twice a month, just
different habits, different tips that I'vegotten from different podcasts or different
books.
So I just love to share information that reallyhas affected me.
So that would be the best way to connect withme.
Awesome.
Awesome.
I love it.
(26:12):
And that is a wrap.
I could keep talking to you for a long time,but we have to close these things down
sometimes.
Right?
So that is a wrap on today's episode of theleap to success podcast.
I hope if you're listening, you foundinspiration, motivation, and a few golden
nuggets to take with you on your journey.
If you love this conversation, be sure tosubscribe on whatever platform you're listening
(26:35):
on so that you never miss an episode.
If today's guest, Jessica, resonated with you,please show her some love by sharing this
episode with your community and your friends.
Remember, you can find all of Jessica's contactinformation and reach out to her, in the
information show notes, wherever you'relistening or watching.
(26:56):
If you want to learn more about the LEAPcommunity, you can join us inside the LEAP
community where you'll find even moreresources, connections, and opportunities to
show up and grow.
You can visit successmagnified.com backslashleap for ladies to learn more.
And until next time, keep taking bold leaps,contributing your gifts, and celebrating your
(27:18):
successes.
Thanks so much, Jessica.
Thank you, Mary.
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