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August 21, 2024 28 mins

In this episode of the Mom Owned and Operated podcast, Rita Suzanne and Janna Kerr discuss raising a family, running a business and remembering yourself.

Janna Kerr is an IAHC Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and founder of At The Well Coaching. She serves exhausted Christian moms by meeting them “at the well” — in the midst of their day-to-day — and empowers them to love and care for their bodies so they can fulfill their God-given mission in this world.

As a mom of three, Janna knows the struggle of not having enough energy to make dinner, let alone "find balance". In 2016, Janna was able to shift her focus from the nonprofit world to the health and wellness industry. Personal connection with her clients is the best part of her day and she's passionate about giving them simple, realistic, and actionable tools.

You can connect with Janna on her website, on Instagram, Facebook, or in her Facebook Group


Send a text message! Email, if you want a reply though. ;)

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P.S. You can find more interviews at momownedandoperated.com and learn about working with Rita at ritasuzanne.com/apply/




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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Rita Suzanne (00:01):
Hi, this is Mom Owned and Operated.
I am Rita, suzanne, and today Ihave my guest, jana, with me.
Jana, I'm so excited to haveyou on.
Please tell everyone all aboutyou, your business and your
family, sure.

Janna Kerr (00:15):
Thanks, rita, I'm really excited to be here.
Your podcast is just awesome.
So yeah, my name is Jana Kerr.
I am wife, mom of three.
They are 11, 8, and 6.
And, as of this recording, twoof them are still in school.
We go so late here inPennsylvania so I have only one
home right now.
But summer is just beginning andI hate using the word mission

(00:41):
sometimes because it sounds verycorporate or, conversely, to
like fluffy.
But what I'm really passionateabout is helping exhausted
Christian moms because we're alltired.
It doesn't matter how young orhow old our kids are.
Momming is tough, andespecially momming running a
business.
So I love to support moms atwhatever state they're in,

(01:05):
whether they have babies ormiddle schoolers or even grown
children, to learn how toprioritize their self-care and
not feel guilty about it, notfeel like they're doing it for
some vain or selfish reason, butto really give them simple and
doable tools, not this like bigdo a 180.
You have to work out for anhour every day.

(01:27):
Redesign your pantry, you know,throw out all the junk food.
We have to do simple, babysteps and that is where I help
moms.
Just do those simple steps sowe get towards that long-term
change, to make those lifestylechanges and make them into
habits, and to keep it easy,because, again, when we're tired
and overwhelmed, our brainsdon't have room to process big,

(01:50):
long to-do lists or lots ofresearch or things like that.
We need simple and we need easy, and so that is what I do with
my health coaching.

Rita Suzanne (01:58):
So what started?
What made you decide to startyour own business?

Janna Kerr (02:09):
started?
What made you decide to startyour own business?
Well, I kind of got intoentrepreneurship not in a way I
was expecting when my oldest wasone.
I was introduced to the networkmarketing world and really had
a horrible opinion of it and Ionly hopped on Borg.
So I was like you know what, ifI could make a tiny bit of
money, why not?
So I did that.

(02:29):
I mean, I still do it actually.
And again there's I've seen alot of great companies out there
and I've seen a lot of horriblecompanies.
So I've been kind of on bothsides and that it took me a
couple of years to be like ohyou know what?
Network marketing is a business.
You can choose to run it like abusiness or it can be a hobby.
So for me that side has kind ofbeen a hobby.

(02:54):
But it introduced me to thatworld and all of the education I
got about what it means to bean entrepreneur and what it
means to run a business and howyou can actually do that with
kids at home.
I don't think I would havestarted my coaching business if
I hadn't first kind of dipped mytoes in the water there and
gotten that, because networkmarketing there's a lot of
handholding, a lot of support,at least in my company, and it

(03:15):
really laid the foundation forme of oh, I kind of know a
little bit what it's like to bean entrepreneur and it's in the
health and wellness world andall the education I got really
lit up my mind, my heart, justeverything I was learning.

(03:36):
And because of my networkingand connections I was making, I
learned about health coaching.
I didn't even know that was ajob, I didn't know it was a
thing, and so then I went downthat path because my favorite
part of my business is with thatcustomer care and getting to
walk alongside people and when Irealized that that could be my

(03:57):
primary job getting to coachpeople I was like I'm done, I'm
in, like let's go.
I went back to school, startedmy coaching business and I love
it.
So I still do both, but thecoaching is my primary.

Rita Suzanne (04:12):
So and you focus on helping with reducing stress.
Tell me a little bit more aboutthat.

Janna Kerr (04:20):
Yeah, I am the queen of stress, maya.
I went to see anendocrinologist a couple of
years ago and he was like Idon't have any problems, you're
just an A plus plus personality.
Like, oh, thanks.
So that's, it's a big challengefor me, and so I've had to
learn for my own health how totake care of myself.

(04:43):
Being a mom when I was workingfull-time, when I was home
running the one business, nowrunning two Again, just dealing
with life and kids.
No matter what your vocation is, we live in a very stressful
world.
So it is so important to methat I give moms and myself

(05:03):
again it started with having totake care of me simple tools to
not just manage stress becausethat is to me, managing feels
like a flat line but to be ableto master it, to make it work
for us, because it's never goingto go away.
You know I can't.
When someone sits down andmeets with me, I'm never going

(05:25):
to tell you you're going to haveno stress.
You know it's always going tobe there.
So, helping myself, helpingother moms learn how to assess
their stress, to appreciate itand then to adjust, and those
are like the three steps tostress mastery versus stress

(05:46):
management.

Rita Suzanne (05:48):
So what are some techniques that you like to
recommend or use to managestress, because I know that a
lot of moms are stressed andoverwhelmed and exhausted.

Janna Kerr (06:01):
And they have to be simple, right?
These tips and tools have to bereally simple.
Yep, and they have to be simple, right?
These tips and tools have to bereally simple.
The first one that I love isjust redefining what stress
means.
Redefining it, and thedefinition that I love the most
is that stress is the gapbetween the demand on your life
and your capacity to handle it.
So when demand is really highyou've got kids with a million
activities you have thismarketing plan that you have to

(06:21):
put together.
You've got kids with a millionactivities.
You have this marketing planthat you have to put together.
You've got a launch coming up,but you are so sleep deprived
you're not feeding yourself well.
You can't remember the lasttime you went out with
girlfriends.
Your capacity is really low,and so you're going to be in a
lot of stress.
That gap is really big.
But if you're able to go outwith some girlfriends, if you're

(06:43):
able to get a good night'ssleep, able to go out with some
girlfriends, if you're able toget a good night's sleep, if you
can feed yourself well, you'reincreasing your capacity to deal
with all that demand and so youdon't feel as stressed.
And so one thing I love to havepeople do is just to write down,
like, just write down all thedemands on your life and look
and see which ones you might beable to reduce.

(07:05):
And it's always kind of funnybecause I'm like you can't give
away your kids, you can't pickup and move, you can't randomly
quit a job.
There's some big demands thatwe can't always change, that we
don't always have control over.
But could you decrease yourdemand by going out for pizza?
Maybe it's not the healthiestoption, but if you don't have to

(07:26):
cook dinner on a really crazynight, that is a way to decrease
your demand.
You have an older kid who couldmaybe make pancakes, you know,
so that you don't have to cookdinner.
What are some of these waysthat you could decrease demand?
Ask people to carpool so you'renot running, you know, back and
forth one extra time.
And then there are so many waysto increase capacity and we can

(07:47):
spend a ton of time on this, butlittle ways to just recharge.
For some women it's prayer, forsome women it's meditation
exercise.
It could just be putting onreally nice lotion and just
feeling yourself rub the lotioninto your hands.
That could be just like thatmoment you need of, like I'm
taking care of myself right now.

(08:09):
It could be eating a good meal,not skipping lunch, you know,
not going for that extra cup ofcoffee, instead trying to get
some water and some fresh air.
There's so many differentthings, and those can be simple
and free.
Self-care doesn't always haveto be blocking out an hour for a
massage or getting a pedicure,going on a spa retreat.
All these little, simple thingscan really increase your

(08:33):
capacity so that you're notfeeling that huge gap.
That's probably the biggest one.

Rita Suzanne (08:40):
Yeah, I was before we got on the call.
I was mentioning how I went outof town to a wedding over this
past weekend and I ran into oneof my cousins who I haven't seen
in probably six or seven yearsand now she has three children
small children and you knowtalking to her about, you know

(09:03):
what it's like having all thelittle ones, and I know how
overwhelming it is because she'sworking and they're at home and
you know how there's a lotgoing on, and she just kept
saying you know, it's good, it'sgood, it's good.
And I and I just kept sayingyou know, just make sure you're
asking for help, make sureyou're asking, because I

(09:25):
remember just feeling like I cando it.
I can do it all you know like,and never, and I still have a
problem asking for help.
I'm getting better, but I justknew that it's not that I felt
like I can do it all, it's justthat I hated to burden somebody

(09:45):
else with my issues or my thingsand so I would never really ask
for help, and so I was justtelling her how important it is,
especially with young kids.
Just ask for help or, you know,seek out help, especially from
your partner help or, you know,seek out help, especially from
your partner, even when you feellike you know they.

(10:07):
Maybe they they're also tired,but you also deserve a break.

Janna Kerr (10:19):
Oh yeah, asking for help is huge and again we have
this like super mom mentality,like I'm expected to cook and
clean and feed everyone and workand have, you know, a
presentable house and not havemy car look like trash and all
these things.
But we absolutely cannot do itby ourselves and that's a great
way that I encourage a lot ofmoms to increase their capacity
is to ask for help.
Even if you just swap, like ifyou already have kids at home,

(10:42):
it's not that hard to watch acouple more.
So can your neighbor, can youdrop your kids off at her house.
She can run errands by herselfand then can she take your kids
so you can run errands byyourself, even little things
like that, just not being afraidto ask for the help.

Rita Suzanne (10:58):
Well, one thing that I want to mention that me
and my ex-husband used to dowhen my kids were younger is
that a lot of people will belike, oh, when my husband comes
home or my partner comes home,they take over watching the kids
and then I'm able to work.
But they stay in the home whilethey're working and then they

(11:20):
continue to get bombarded withthe requests.
Right, the kids continue tocome to them because that's
their go-to.
They know that they have to goto mom.
So when I was with myex-husband, what I would do if
it was my turn, I would actuallyjust leave and go around the
corner to the coffee shop orwherever, to the library and do

(11:43):
work from there, because I knewI wasn't going to be able to
focus.
And, yes, it took me a littlebit longer to like get there,
set up and do all of the things,but I was actually able to get
more done, even though I and soI think that a lot of people
think, oh, it's such a it's sucha hassle to leave.
So I think that a lot of peoplethink, oh, it's such a hassle to

(12:08):
leave.

Janna Kerr (12:09):
But it's actually, I think it fills you up more to
leave.
Yeah, sure, and again to yourpoint, like when you are in a
different physical space, youfocus differently and
concentrate differently, becauseour mom ears never turn off,
you know, even if we've gotheadsets on or anything, you
know we're always kind oflistening and you're in the same
house, they're going to come toyou, right or?

Rita Suzanne (12:29):
your partner is going to come to you default.
Come to you and ask you, whatabout this and what about that?
And then you know you're goingto feel like taking over,
because that's what we do.

Janna Kerr (12:45):
I use visual cues with my kids, so right now the
door is closed.
They know if the door is closedunless something is flooding on
fire or there's blood somewhere.
Like they're not supposed tointerrupt me.
Dad's downstairs and if he's ina meeting he'll tell them what
the parameters are.
Right, yeah.

Rita Suzanne (13:02):
Visual cue.
I think that you have to teachyour kids how to adjust when
you're, especially when you'reworking from home, like I
started working from home 10years ago, and so for my kids
they understand what it's likewhen I'm working from home.
And you know, they're teenagersnow.
But when I got custody of mynieces they were used to my

(13:26):
sister, like if my sister's home, like she's there for them,
right, she's not working, and soI had to then in turn teach
them how, if I'm working, don't,it's not, it's not talk time,
you know.
And so I think that it justgoes hand in hand of you know,
it just takes that one littlestep and then that can, you know

(13:49):
, alleviate some of the stressoff of your plate.
Like, just give me a minute,let me focus on this, I'm
working, and then I will comeback to you when I'm not working
.
And I think that sometimes foryounger kids it's harder to
understand, but they will, theywill get it.

Janna Kerr (14:06):
Yeah, there's a Montessori trick that I learned,
where the the kid knows thatthey just put their hand on
mom's shoulder or leg, whateverthey can reach.
And as mom's busy and all momhas to do is put her hand on top
of theirs to acknowledge I seeyou, I know you're there, but

(14:27):
I'm not ready to talk to you yet, Okay, and then the kids know
okay, like I've been seen, I'mgoing to wait my turn and it
doesn't always work.
I haven't really reinforced ita lot with my youngest, but the
times that she does it it'sincredible, because I'll be on a

(14:49):
call and she'll just kind ofcome and tap my leg and I just
put my hand on top of her handand she just hangs out until I
can put myself on mute andanswer her questions.

Rita Suzanne (14:54):
So I like that.
That's.
That's good, because you'reacknowledging, but you're also
just letting her know I'm notready yet, and then she knows um
, that's a wonderful tip andit's interesting too, because,
you know, the whole reason why Istarted this podcast was
because I had stoppedcommunicating and I had with

(15:18):
other moms specifically, and Ihad stopped taking care of
myself, and, you know, during avery traumatic period of my life
.
And so I just was in, you know,a depressive state and I came
up with this name and I said Idon't, I don't know what I'm
going to do with this name.
And then I thought I've alwayswanted to have a podcast.

(15:41):
You know what I'm going to do.
I'm going to ask other moms howthey're able to do this, how
they're able to raise theirfamilies, run their businesses,
but, most importantly, how arethey able to take care of
themselves as well as doing allof these things?
Because we get so caught up inthese other two things, right,

(16:05):
like, first, as a woman, our newidentity becomes a mom, and
then, when we have a business,you know, add that on and we
become a.
Now we're a business owner, andthen we start to stop taking
care of ourselves sometimes,right, some people do, and so I
always ask moms, like my mostimportant, I guess.

(16:28):
The question I never fail toask is how are you taking care
of yourself?
And when I first started this,a lot of the answers were around
getting your hair done.
You know, talked about morethings that are less around

(16:55):
those.
I guess.
Services, which they are, theyare still like their form of
self-care, but these are notyour everyday self-care.
So what are you doing, jana, totake care of yourself?
What do you do?

Janna Kerr (17:12):
First, I exercise and I will be very honest, I do
not really enjoy exercise.
I was never like a super sportykid.
I don't like going to the gym.
But I recognize the need tomove my body and so I try to get

(17:32):
intentional movement everysingle day.
Whether sometimes it's been areally rough day, it is
literally squats as I'm brushingmy teeth and that's all I do.
But on a good day, yeah, likesomething, you have to do
something.
And honestly, I have some backissues and I know if I don't
move my body I'm going to beable to move a lot less because

(17:52):
my back will start hurting.
So I would say the movement isprobably the biggest and I'm
talking like five to 15 minutes.
You know I don't go to the gymfor an hour.
That's not my speed, but forsome people that might be what
they need.
Some people exercise as stressrelief.
For me it's just a way to kindof check in with my body.

(18:16):
I so often we are so busy andfrenetic and go, go, go that
almost we're out of touch, Ithink, with our bodies.
So the program I do every oncein a while the trainers be like
oh, hello, body.
Like yes, that's so true, likewhen was the last time I checked
in with my breathing andfeeling certain muscles?
And like coming back into myown body, um, and I know like I

(18:41):
can sound a little odd or woo,woo or whatever, but um, it's.
I just find it so helpful to dothat every day, um, and I
there's a lot of other things Ido, but I would say that's
probably for me.
It's very recharging.
It boosts my capacity to beable to handle whatever the day
is going to throw at me or didthrow at me, depending on when I

(19:02):
get it done.

Rita Suzanne (19:05):
And I think it's so important.
I am one of those like gym nuts, um, but it helps me recharge
and I think that you knowwhatever way that you're able to
recharge and de-stress and youknow you just have to do it.
And, like we've talked about,like some of the things that

(19:26):
we've talked about, like when Ifirst started doing this to me,
one of the things that I woulddo would be like taking a bath,
you know like, or sitting in mycar for an extra five minutes
alone, or in the bathroom, likeby myself, you know like.
These are things that I wouldjust like.
I just need a minute, like justa minute to myself, because

(19:51):
there's four of them and there'sone of me, and I am just
feeling bombarded.
And I would tell my kids all thetime, like, just imagine your
one thing, and it's like you,somebody is pulling on you,
there's something pulling on youat all times, as, like that's
the way I feel sometimes whenyou guys put me in these

(20:15):
situations, and it can be veryoverwhelming.
And so you know, I was tryingto help them to understand, like
, the emotions that come behindit, because it's not personal,
it's not you, yeah, it's justyour nervous system.
Yeah, I'm overwhelmed.

Janna Kerr (20:34):
Our brains don't know the difference between
bombs going off around us andkids being noisy.
Yeah, like, our brain is like,oh, you're in danger, and it
flips on the fight or flight andyou're stressed.
It's okay, brain, calm yourselfdown.
Just the kids being loud.
We actually are safe.

(20:55):
You know.
Nothing is wrong.
Our brains are really good atkeeping us safe, so true.

Rita Suzanne (21:01):
I love um, especially for so, um, one thing
that I like to do is just askif another mom was to come to
you and uh, and talk to youabout starting her own business,
would you recommend like MLMs,or would you say, like, jump
straight into your own business?

(21:22):
I I usually don't ask thatquestion, but since you are and
have experience with MLM, I'mcurious to know your thoughts,
just because I am not an MLMlover, so I would love to know
your thoughts.

Janna Kerr (21:38):
I think it really depends on the company.
I really think you have to doresearch there because, again,
there are some great ones outthere that help a lot of people
and take very good care of theirdistributors and their
customers, but there are somereally sleazy ones out there who

(21:58):
aren't going to take good careof you as a distributor, aren't
going to support you in takingcare of your customers, and so I
think that first you have to doyour research and find a really
solid, reputable company with asolid, reputable product.
Yeah, and the nice thing aboutthe network marketing world is

(22:22):
that all the resources are kindof there for you.
So, my own business I have toput together all of my own
social media images.
I have to write all my ownbusiness.
I have to put together all ofmy own social media images.
I have to write all my own copy.
In the network marketing world,they're going to give you
templates or images that you canshare and they'll have maybe a
promo schedule or something like.
You don't have to come up withthat side.

(22:43):
They might even email yourcustomers for you.
So it is like a nice little dipyour toe in the water.
But again, if it's not with agood company, you re, I've seen
so many people just damagerelationships.
Um, I've seen the ugly side ofit and I've also seen the really

(23:06):
, really amazing side, like I've.
I was able to leave myfull-time job when our son was
born our middle and I knew thatI was going to have some money
coming in from my side gig andit was enough to help keep us
going, that I didn't have to goback and get my part-time job
that I thought I was going tohave to get and then that kept
us going.

(23:26):
Enough that then I could say,oh, I want to go back to school
to become a health coach, and Iwas able to do that.
So there's definitely upsides toit.
So it really depends.
If you're feeling that call tostart your own business, I would
just again look at it.
How much do you want to berunning absolutely everything?

(23:48):
So you have control ofabsolutely everything, but it
means you're doing absolutelyeverything to start your own
business, versus finding a goodnetwork marketing company that
is going to take a lot of thatoff your plate and you know you
just share the product or theservice or whatever it is.

Rita Suzanne (24:06):
Yeah, it can be so questionable because a lot of
people invest in the MLM ornetwork marketing company and
then they see nothing from it.
But you know it could be thatthey don't have a big enough
network themselves in order tomake the profits or you know
they're not able to, you know,bring in enough customers or

(24:29):
people under them.
I think there's so many factorsto that.
And really finding and maybejust not believing like the
person online, just notbelieving like you can't just
believe just a person on theinternet who looks like they're
successful, you know you have toactually do a little bit of
research and due diligence justto make sure that they're

(24:53):
trustworthy versus like I mean,if you're going to invest your
money in them, you want to makesure that they're a reputable
person who's going to be like agood, good resource for your
upline right.

Janna Kerr (25:06):
Yeah.

Rita Suzanne (25:07):
Yeah, I think that that's helpful.

Janna Kerr (25:09):
Well, and a red flag for me with a lot of network
marketing companies is how muchyou have to put in up front.
That's immediately like if Ihave to put in over $100, I'm
out.

Rita Suzanne (25:22):
Yeah.

Janna Kerr (25:23):
And I know there's so many out there where it's
really expensive.
You have to have a lot ofinventory.

Rita Suzanne (25:29):
And you have to maintain it every single month,
yeah, and those are red flags.
Yeah, you have to maintain thepurchases too, and I'm like,
wait a minute, you're not evenmaking any money and I got to
still buy.
Yeah, it's crazy, it's crazy.
So, what type of services?
Before we move on to like thelast little bit, what kind of

(25:53):
services do you offer to clients?
Do you do have like one-on-one,or do you offer group programs?
Like, what do you do?

Janna Kerr (25:59):
I do a little bit of everything, so I love
one-on-one coaching because wecan dive really into what your
specific needs are and yourspecific goals.
I love doing that.
I also have a group programcalled the Exhausted Mom
Solution and that's a 12-weekprogram, so there's an online
component that you can dowhenever you want, and then six

(26:22):
group calls.
And group coaching is so greatbecause everyone ends up
learning from each other andit's just really beautiful how
the women connect.
I just I love group coaching.
And then I do have an optionwhere moms can buy the exhausted
mom solution and just totallydo it on their own.
Like, if they don't feelcomfortable with coaching, don't

(26:43):
feel like they've got the time,they can just get the program
and go through it on their ownPerfect.

Rita Suzanne (26:49):
Yeah, I think that group coaching is important too
, because they get support fromyou and from each other and they
can really, you know, get somuch from that.
And I think, as the, as theprovider, as the facilitator,
it's good for you becausethere's less time right, so

(27:10):
you're able to scale and makebetter, make more money, so I
think that that's great.
So where can we find you online?
Where are you at?

Janna Kerr (27:22):
So my website is at thewellcoachingcom.
Everything's on there.
The work with me button hasinfo about Exhausted Mom
Solution one-on-one.
All the things I do on there.
The work with me button hasinfo about exhausted mom
solution one-on-one.
All the things I do and I'm on.

Rita Suzanne (27:38):
Instagram and Facebook at the well coaching.
Do you have a Facebook group orno?

Janna Kerr (27:41):
I do.
It is called the fatigue freemom community.

Rita Suzanne (27:45):
Love it All right.
Well, thank you so much, Shanna.
It's been such a pleasurechatting with you Love it Great.

Janna Kerr (27:54):
Thank you for having me.
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Crime Junkie

Crime Junkie

Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.

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