The Power of Truly Listening

Have you ever considered how intimately connected your personal experiences and emotions are to your business? I certainly was reminded when I took an unplanned detour on September 11th, sharing some deeply personal reflections and the lessons they brought. Let me take you through a poignant tale of losing a childhood friend in the Twin Towers, and how she helped to shape who I am in business and life. This unexpected episode, will strike a chord in your heart and will serve as a potent reminder of the value of every moment we are blessed with. 

Buckle up, as we navigate the profound impact of emotional intelligence in business, and how the art of truly listening can transform your connections. We'll explore how these essential skills can enhance your business, making it more human and more impactful. I’ll share insights on why I believe everyone, including you, is capable of achieving their dreams if they dare to pursue them without hesitation. It's a heartfelt and empowering discussion that will inspire you to seize the day and live life to its fullest. Prepare for a journey that will leave you moved, motivated, and ready to conquer your world.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Welcome to the she's On Fire podcast.
I'm your host, jen Gaines.
I'm a mom, wife and serialentrepreneur with a serious
passion for helping womenup-level their lives.
I went from having barely anyconfidence and broke to bringing
out a fierce fire inside of meand crushing my goals.
If you're a woman who'smotivated to follow your dreams,

(00:35):
find that fire inside of you,stand up, stand out and be
freaking fierce in your life andbusiness, then tune in because
I'm going to bring you allthings marketing and mindset
with a no BS approach proven tohelp you crush your goals and
up-level your life.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
All right, welcome back to the she's On Fire
podcast.
Today is a little bit differentbecause I had not planned to
record this episode.
All right, I had taken sometime off.
Long story short, my brothercame home and so we've been kind
of trying to settle in witheverything that's going on.

(01:19):
So I took a little bit of timeoff from podcasting.
But it's September 11th andsomething really struck a chord
in me, so I felt that it wasimportant to talk about this.
I was at the gym this morningand as I was leaving I was
outside my car and I watched oneof the town workers putting a

(01:43):
crisp new flag, like he hadtaken the flag maybe from the
previous week down.
It was kind of grungy and stuff, but he had a crisp new flag
that he was putting up to halfstaff.
It's September 11th, so I satthere and I watched it and most
likely, like me, you probablyremember exactly where you were

(02:07):
on that faithful day.
I'm not going to go into allthat, but it's probably burned
into your memory.
And I remember I was working inCity Place in Hartford,
connecticut.
We were evacuated as aprecaution because it was this
huge tall building right, Ithink it was at the time it was
the tallest one in Hartford notanything like the trade center,

(02:28):
but our trade center, but wewere evacuated as a precaution.
But anyways, something I'mnever going to forget, right?
But also on that day I lost afriend in the Twin Towers.
She was working in the TwinTowers.
She was somebody that I grew upwith down at my grandparents

(02:49):
cottage along the Connecticutshore and we spent summers as
kids.
Her grandparents had a cottageon there.
She would go down there.
We spent summers walking thebeach and picking up shells and
swimming in the ocean, beingstung by jellyfish.

(03:10):
But the thing that I remembermost is and I'm going to get to
what this has to do with yourbusiness, because I think it's
really important but the thingthat I remember most was she was
like a beacon of light andinspiration and she really
strived to be that we were kids.

(03:32):
It was so evident she lovedlife and she had like the best
smile and she was just so warmand the way she listened was
just amazing to me.
So we were about five yearsapart.
She was five years older than meand I remember the last summer
we spent together before sheleft for college and which,

(03:55):
basically, you know, changedeverything.
You know I was a lot youngerthan her, but I remembered how
intently she listened to me andall the dreams I had for when I
grew up.
She never made me feel like Iwas just a kid or she didn't
want to hang out because I wasso much younger than her.
She listened to everything Isaid, like I was the only person

(04:21):
in the world talking at thetime, and I remember her saying
to me remember clears day?
She said to me, jenny, becauseeverybody called me Jenny at the
time growing up.
That was my nickname, jenny, orJenny bug, and she said Jenny,
you can be anything you set yourmind to and follow those dreams
without letting anyone tell youotherwise.

(04:44):
She said I believe in you evenwhen you don't believe in
yourself.
It's going to make me tear up alittle bit because I just I
remember that so clearly andthose of you that are in my
world, whether you're on myemail list or you're in one of
my programs, my membership,whatever it is you know I always

(05:06):
say those words.
I always say that, I alwaysremind you that I believe in you
because that's the truth and Iwant you to feel like I felt,
when she said that to me, that Ifelt like I was the only person

(05:26):
there, like she didn't have.
She wasn't thinking about10,000 other things.
And the lesson that I want youto realize is that people want
to be heard.
They want you to really listenand they want you to hear them.
You need to make them feel likethey're the only ones there

(05:48):
when you're speaking to them andwhen they're talking to you.
I strive to do this in mybusiness.
I really do, and I think that,for the most part, my clients
feel that when I'm on the phonewith them, when I'm on a zoom
with them, you know we're allgoing to make mistakes, we're
all going to trip up, we're allgoing to do things wrong.
Right, that's just the name ofthe game.
It really is.
But when you try to do that asmuch as possible, your customers

(06:15):
and your clients are going tofeel that.
All right, it's so crucial tobe human with them and let them
be human with you too.
Right, there's so much in theway of robots and AI or whatever
, but the one thing that AIcannot do is bring your

(06:37):
emotional intelligence into yourbusiness.
All right, and that's the mostimportant thing right now it
really really is.
I feel like at the time, likemy friend was so far ahead of
her time and I am truly, trulyblessed for what she taught me.
I'm truly blessed that I hadthat time with her, because it

(07:03):
really has become a part of whoI am and my business.
So don't waste debt today, allright, don't waste it.
It's not a week.
Literally, this life is amiracle.
Not everybody gets to live it,not everybody gets to keep going
, and you truly can do anythingthat you set your mind to.

(07:27):
You really can, and I believein you.
There is not one person I'veever met through my business
that literally cannot create thelife and dreams that they want
to.
So don't waste it.
Go after it now.
All right, I'll talk to youlater.

(07:47):
Bye, bye, bye.