Ep. 33: Scarcity Mindset to Sustainable Growth - Jessica Earle’s ACTivate Vitality Story - The Brave OT Podcast

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
you know what?

(00:00):
If I'm slightly uncomfortable andit pushes me out of my comfort zone,
it's going to mean that I'm growing.
You can't grow if you'realways comfortable.
You have the luxury of beingcomfortable all the time.
Totally.
And I feel like, man, I've been ina lot of discomfort for a lot of
years, so I'm like, I must be growing.
So I take it like that.
every opportunity that's made meslightly uncomfortable, I've grown.

(00:21):
Ride the wave, go with itand see what comes out of it.
And I'm always like, I'mso glad I accepted that.
Or I did this, cause that led to this.
you're listening to the BraveOT Podcast with me, Carlyn Neek.
This podcast is all about empoweringoccupational therapists to step up,
level up, blaze some trails, and maybeengage in a little conscious rebellion.

(00:41):
In service of our profession, ourclients, our work, our businesses,
and living our mission wholeheartedly.
We are all about keepingit real, doing hard things.
Things unhustling, being curious,exploring, growing through our
challenges, and finding joy,fulfillment, and vitality as we do so.
Really, we're OT ingourselves, and each other.

(01:02):
I hope you love this episode!
Welcome back BRAVE OTs.
I'm really excited about this podcastconversation because it's going
to hit home for so many of you whohave been trying to balance personal
growth with running a business.
today I'm chatting with JessicaEarle, a participant in the ACTIVATE
VITALITY program and an incredibleoccupational therapist who's been on

(01:25):
quite a journey of transformation,both personally and professionally.
Jessica's story is all about navigatingsurvival mode, overcoming overfunctioning,
and finally, finding a sustainable wayto work that aligns with her values.
She talks about how the stress ofconstant transitions, moving across
the country to starting her privatepractice, pushed her to take on too much.

(01:46):
And how she reached a pointwhere something had to change.
In this episode, we dive into how Jessicarestructured her business, shifted her
mindset, and found a balance that allowsher to thrive without burning out.
If you've ever felt like you'reon the burnout train or struggling
to find that balance between yourpersonal growth and your business,
this conversation's for you.

(02:07):
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Hey, Jessica, welcome to the podcast.
I'm so excited that weare finally doing this.

(03:09):
Hi, thank you.
I've been listening to yourpodcast for quite some time
and this is a surreal moment.
Thank you.
we've been working together.
I looked it up.
August 2021 is when we first hadour first kind of meeting before
you joined ACTivate Vitality.
Wow, you really have that set aside.

(03:31):
I knew it was 2021, but
I had to go digging because I've usedmany different systems since then.
I knew it's 2021, but it just tells me.
In that moment, because of when I foundyou, because I had already been doing my
research, because I'm a research person.
You are.
I need to like, assess myoptions before I move forward.
And we had just moved across Canada.

(03:52):
Yeah.
and landed in Halifax, NovaScotia on the July 8th.
Wow.
So the fact that I reached outto you on the 21st, we still
hadn't bought a home yet.
I was like, I'm going to call Carlyn.
I remember there wereboxes on many of the calls.
You had babies in arms.
You're like, all I can do is work frommy phone with one hand at this point.

(04:15):
And I'm like, holy cow.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's true.
That's bananas when I think of that.
I'm like, what was I doing?
Survival
mode to its best.
You were totally in survivalmode and that was it.
There was that transition across country.
There was also your husbandtransitioning out of the military,
which is hugely disruptive in terms ofidentity and all of the things, right?

(04:37):
and then you going, okay.
I'm a military wife, I reestablishmyself everywhere I go, but you
were going back home too, right?
back to the maritimes after being away.
What was that like for you?
Highly stressful.
the excitement kind of takes over.
Mind you, this was, like,the heat of the pandemic.
to and, moving across countrywith three little ones, at the

(04:59):
time the baby was like two.
So the fear and the survival statewas very much real at the time.
So it was, it was almost like it washeightened, but I was used to the chaos.
Cause every time you relocatebeing from on the West coast and
then moving to Winnipeg and soforth, like it's just survival.
Like you just go with it andyou just take it day by day.
And.
when I think back at it, I'mlike, that's just crazy times.

(05:20):
Like, how did I even get through that?
it,
you had no choice.
What else would you have done?
Yeah.
It's you just sink or swim.
And it's obviously I can't sink.
I, we have a little kiddos.
We're trying to transition.
Yeah.
it was, Pretty stressful,moving a trailer,
buying a travel
trailer.
I remember distinctly, too, that whiletrying to navigate stress in your

(05:43):
nervous system, you were needing toco regulate for many other people.
There were your kids, your husband,your clients, that you were holding,
you were doing a lot of emotional work.
Yeah.
and it was fast forwarding, likeeverything was on fast forward.
Cause when you get the messagethat you're moving, it's not like
you're going to move in five months.
It's get ready.
It's maybe two months and thenyou have to get your house ready.

(06:05):
And I'm homeschooling at the time because,I just had a baby, I'm on mat leave and
the pandemic was pretty scary out there.
So in, in Manitoba at thetime, it was either you do your
own thing or you bring your.
And I was like, I guess I got to figureit out, which was great because it again,
it leads me in these different directions,not all the time that I want to go

(06:26):
in, when I come out of it, it's like,Oh, that was a really cool experience.
and it showed a different side of me.
Cause I know
I'm a fairly resilient person, have tobe, the lifestyle that I led so far.
Yeah.
but yeah.
Being able to lean on each other,like being with your husband and
He's going through it, so he knowshe's dealing with way more because
it's so much more impact on his end.

(06:48):
Yeah.
And then my fear was, luckily, eachtime we moved, I was on mat leave.
you have EI to feel like,okay, that's going to help me.
I can just keep going with this.
the flow, our
international people, so in Canada,we get, one year or a year and a half
of government paid leave, maternityleave, or we could split it, do

(07:09):
paternity and maternity, and we getpaid a portion of our income by the
federal government, which is lovely.
So that's the EI program.
Yeah.
Yeah.
and I just took the year part.
Yeah.
Cause.
depending, and we didn't know wewere moving, when I chose the year.
probably maybe I would have chosen alittle longer, but, it is what it is.
we moved, and then knowingly, okay,my MAT leave is, the EI is running

(07:32):
out soon, it was October 1st.
it's I need to, Get myducks lined up here.
I need to know what I'm doing.
And at the time, when you're outof province and you're applying for
jobs, it's almost like you have anX on your file already because it's
like, we don't want to bring somebodyfrom another province across, like
there were so many factors with that.
I almost couldn't get into themaritime bubble because of my vaccines.

(07:54):
so there's different layers of, Ithink I was two days prior to leaving
Winnipeg and I had my last vaccineand that's the vaccine I needed in
order to get through the border.
everything was just extremelytight and, the stress, crazy.
Yeah.
I just, I look back at all thatnow and I'm like, that is just
bananas that we all had to do that.

(08:16):
And, but, we got throughit and we're all together.
Thank you.
that was the major thing Iwanted to, we're all together.
We're traveling across Canada.
We have this little travel trailer.
We're moving in a bubble.
Yeah.
This bubble is moving.
It's crazy.
And moving toward your families, right?
Yes.
Yeah.
So
that was like another gratefulthing is that we weren't like
alone in our next destination.

(08:36):
We were even closer to people,but that in itself brought some
interesting feelings because it'slike I've been gone for so long.
Now I'm like this outsider coming in,because it's so foreign to me now.
I'm like, I think I know how it workshere, but I don't know how it works here.
So really starting from.
Scratch, like really, it'salmost like I have to reinvent
myself every time I had to move

(08:57):
and
make connections and talk topeople, but, which you're used
to, like you're used to that.
I am.
Yeah, but it was always in person.
Yeah.
All my interactions were always inperson, so when I landed here, you
can't just go out and meet people at thetime because it was still a pandemic.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it's how am I going to meet people?
How am I going to meet other OTs?

(09:17):
So then I was like thinking aboutit and I talked it over with some
people and they're like, oh, connectwith the society of OTs in the area.
And so it was always very email, virtualphone calls at the time, but it really
just forced me to, again, to get outof my comfort zone and really step out.
So then I would, I joined as a volunteerto the Nova Scotia Society of OTs here.
And then, yeah, and then I slowly startedmeeting people, but I've always heard,

(09:41):
yourself saying, or other people thatI listen to online, you plant the seed
and then you
wait for, things to grow.
So now I'm And in the meantime,
You think the seed's a dudbecause nothing's happening.
You're like, great, therewas some flooding, it's just
never gonna come to fruition.
It's what was that for, Oh gosh.
But they do, they take a long timeto sprout, though, a lot of these.

(10:04):
Oh, everything, yeah.
And because of my experience relocating,reinventing, I knew that don't say no
to opportunities, just be open to it,see what comes out of it, even if you
just have a really great conversation.
And I'm a social person anyways,so this was really great for me
to just, oh, I could talk to you.
This
is great.
I just want to like, have a
conversation.

(10:24):
Because you did feel a littlebit like you were received as
a, an outsider from away, right?
Like that sense of, you actuallyhad to convince people that no, I'm
actually from here, I'm coming home.
Which like, yeah, softened a
little bit, is, yeah, very much And Ithink, the demographics were changing so
much, especially with COVID and stuff.
So even having my license plate fromelsewhere could be triggering for people.

(10:46):
So it was very interesting, but theydon't know that I'm from New Brunswick.
And it's I grew up the road.
My husband's from hereand, We're from here.
don't be nervous from us.
that took time.
And again, like once, COVIDcould get looser and people were
a little bit more open to that.
So luckily that kind ofshifted, but it did feel very
lonely and I was really lost.

(11:07):
And that's where I was trying to find you.
Yeah.
And then that made sense for me,because I was like, you're an OT, you
get it, like you, you'll get this.
Yeah.
So it was like my clincher.
And then we had that conversation.
And I still tell people to thisday, I'm in private practice,
because I spoke with Carlyn.
that's originally stand there.
I was like, I could do this.

(11:28):
You could do this.
Of course you can.
I had zero doubt.
Like your tenacity and persistenceand ability to re establish yourself
in new cities gave me a lot of faiththat for sure you could do this, but
I think the biggest challenge wasthat this was a very stressful time.
And because it was hard, this is how Iremember the challenge, correct me if I'm

(11:50):
wrong, but that there was that confluenceof, like that, This is essentially
your nervous system on high alert.
You're in a perpetual traumaticexperience, really, with the pandemic
and all the transitions and holdingspace for loved ones and trying to
establish yourself and then not beingwarmly received, initially, which

(12:12):
was like a little bit destabilizing.
And so then.
There came this, as soon as,opportunities would land in your lap,
you're like, yep, let's do them all.
I've got, yep, for sure.
I'll do that.
I'll do it.
Why don't I do all the things?
Yeah, that was interesting.
originally I was really bad at knowing,okay, don't agree to too much because
then you're going to feel overwhelmed.
But again, like when I look back andthis is what led to our conversation

(12:35):
today is I look back and it was likesuch a scarcity survival, grittiness.
I was like, I just, I needto work and I want to work.
I love being an OT, but Ilike, I need to get on this.
I need to work.
And I was like, do I continue private?
Cause I was doing it over there.
or do I just stick it outand try to find something?
And, it's, and at the time, I don't thinkthere were very many public jobs open too.

(12:55):
yeah, the climate forcareers were pretty slim.
And, we didn't have a house.
We didn't really, I don'tthink we had this conversation.
I didn't have a house.
the stability point was I need mykids to go to school, like they
have to go to school in September.
And, we're having thisconversation on August.
21st?
Somewhere in

(13:16):
August
2021.
I don't remember the exact date.
Or around there.
Yeah.
The fact that I've moved in July andwe've already had this conversation in
August, I was like, wow, I was on it.
Like you were on it.
Lack of sleep.
I was on my phone.
With a baby sleeping in your arms.
Yes.
Cause he wouldn't letanyone else hold him.
So I
had
to
be the holder.
Cause his

(13:36):
world was disruptive.
You were his steady, right?
of course.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's fair.
Yeah.
So there's just a whole lot of, yeah.
And when I think back, it's even now it'sI'm only as happy as my unhappiest kiddo.
Like I read that somewhere andI was like, yeah, that's true.
Cause if they're having a reallybad day and it's my low point.
it's just, I could have had a great day,but then I feel like, I feel for them,

(13:59):
because I'm like, that's not the daysthat I want you to have kind of thing.
yeah.
Yeah.
not knowing is fearful enough.
Totally.
Totally.
And I can see where that scarcity was,like, it's just this sense of, okay, I
got to grab what I can, resources arenot necessarily going to come my way.
Let's do what I can.
And that often is how a lot of usstart our private practices, right?

(14:21):
We do the work that's available,and then we can start to prune some.
but I noticed you had a tendencyto, prefer to, create new buds.
All the
time.
You're like, I have a shiny new idea.
And they were great ideas, right?
Like you've got so much expertise.
You've got a different skill set too,than the local OTs had, were used to,

(14:44):
which was a little bit disruptive.
D at times too.
just nothing like, but a unique kind ofskillset that wasn't as common locally.
And you're like, okay, I can teach peoplethis stuff and it, create some programs
and I could create some parent educationand why don't I have an Instagram that's
educational and engaging and exciting.
And, what about maybe some PFdownloads and like many OTs full
of great ideas and willing to just.

(15:06):
Run with them, which I love about you.
Action taker, a little too much.
At times it was much for you could justsee there was just this engine, right?
Like you were almost presenting likesomebody with ADHD with that perpetual
motor, except I don't think you have ADHD.
I could, I will be,
I don't know.
But you're a question it.

(15:27):
Laughter.
But you're willing, you're persistent,you're willing to try, you're willing
to do it imperfect, see what happens.
And that's so much of what I'm oftentrying to nurture in the other OTs, right?
So where other OTs, I'm like, comeon, go try the, just give it a try.
See how it goes.
For you, I was like, maybe.
I said, just bring itback, Jess, just bring

(15:47):
it back.
I laugh now.
I'm like, oh yeah, that's true.
Cause you're like, okay, let'sput some boundaries, Jess.
I get it, but it was like stillyour reality, like that internal
drive was stronger than the logicof Maybe I should slow down.
Oh, and there was also a big giantfire where you were displaced

(16:09):
from your home for a long time.
yeah, that was last year but prior tothat year, we had this huge hurricane.
Hurricane.
Fiona came in and disrupted quitea bit, so there was a little
bit of a blip there for us.
But last year it was very suddenand it was the end of May, I think.
And it was sudden, it was just upthe road and a huge, the biggest
wildfire they've ever had here.

(16:31):
And we were evacuated well in oursubdivision for at least two weeks.
So we were like essentially,initially homeless.
We couldn't find a hometo 10 30 PM that day.
So again, I was explaining this to myhusband, I said, it's fascinating when I
look back, it's like survival mode, andthen I'm just trying to get my feet under

(16:52):
me, and then it goes into survival mode.
Like literal crisis.
Literally.
run.
There's a fire.
Yes.
My
family actually is threatened.
yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It was so sudden.
I didn't have any, I had a shirt.
And then once we knew we had all ourfamilies safe, then you could start
thinking like, Oh, yeah, I need diapers.

(17:14):
I don't have diapers.
then you start to kind of panic.
and I think I processed it.
okay at the time, but then I lookback and I guess, if I was treating
somebody and I heard these stories,I'd be like, that is so traumatic.
that's insane.
but then might have said those
things to you.
Yes.
You could have.
couldn't work, all my work stuff wasin the house that I didn't know at the

(17:36):
time could be potentially gone or, I'min the house, like we, we were lucky
enough to have our house, but like thestate of mind I was in, I don't, I never
viewed myself as a, oh, woe is me, Idon't know, it was just like, okay, this
is really bad and it's very upsetting.
And I did have my moments and stuff,but when I look back at it, I'm like,
yeah, I guess that is traumatic.
I, like I'll say that to somebody, thatwas really, Intense, but I'm not that kind

(18:00):
of myself as I would hope to be, But yeah.
Yeah.
I think the clencher too was likethe survival and the scarcity mindset
just went into overdrive becauseI was legit unable to make income.
I was like, this is not, thisis not long term sustainability.
not that you anticipate amassive evacuation, but it's I
need to think differently here.
I need to maybe do things differently.

(18:21):
And you're the breadwinner of the family.
certainly you have your husband'spension, I'm sure, but that
you're the one making the
money.
it's still in that rotation.
He's the primary person.
for me, it's I need to, I'mjust starting my career.
he's just finally, we're ableto be in a location where it's
this is your chance, Jess.
this is your time.
Because he felt for me every timebecause he's I had to end everything.
I always had to quit or, it'snever because I just, didn't

(18:44):
want to live there anymore.
It's because legit becausehis work required us to move.
So he would always feel terriblebecause he's man, you love your job
and now you have to end it and move.
And you don't know what's coming.
Like the quicksand,unstable ness kind of thing.
And it just felt interestinglyenough, moving in the last few years.
This transition has felt very, evenmore unsteady than all the others,

(19:06):
because of like the hurricanes andthe, You know, two week evacuation,
the madness that comes with all that.
It's jeez, like I just wanna,hang out and chill for a bit.
it's disruptive even in the stabilityof it too, that this isn't just a
couple years you're gonna be here orwho knows, but like the idea is that
we're settling down and when you'reaccustomed to Going to place, figuring

(19:29):
it out, surviving, like never havingto actually like fully settle in.
It's there's a little less pressurein some ways to sort it all out.
There is.
Yeah.
Now it's you, this is it.
You're supposed to stabilize.
Why aren't you stabilized?
and have that stable incomeand, do all these things that
your mind is telling you.
But it's like, But the financialclimate is so different.

(19:51):
It's not everybody, when you leavehigh school back in the day, it was
like, you leave high school, youget a job, you just stay there and
you get your pension and off you go.
It's that doesn't work anymore.
you still have to be adaptable andflexible and, roll with the punches
and then figure out, okay, thatsucks and that didn't work well.
Let's try this andlet's see if that works.
Okay, let's hang on to this for a bit.

(20:11):
Do you relate this at all to thething in clients who are accustomed
to a certain amount of chaos thatwhen there isn't chaos, That feels
scary, and so they might create some.
Definitely.
I had this conversation the otherday, I said, we, as a pediatric
therapist, that in children.
If their life has been total chaos, thisis all they know they're wired for chaos.

(20:34):
This is my comfort zone, unfortunately.
And then you throw them tooquickly into a regulated state.
Which, as a therapist, you need to beaware of, and you know their history and
all that, so you can't just throw theminto a regulated state, because then
you're going to create so much disruption,and they're going to, find a way to
get back to that chaos, or create, andthen it's just it's not the solution,
then you got to think differently, andI was like, that's totally That's us.

(20:59):
I think so.
We go into chaos ball and then we justroll with the chaos and then sometimes
we'll find it like, everything'sgoing well, like this was in the
past too, everything's going well.
And then it's let's just create alittle bit of chaos, up the ante, if
it's a quiet day, why not go to Costco?
Or start a new program or go aftera new, revenue source or Oh my gosh.
That's Yeah.

(21:19):
And you've got a full caseload, right?
Like you've got, you don't havemore time, but you're like,
Oh, but I got these ideas.
And whereas that's the productivityachiever version of that
kind of chaotic kid, right?
That sort of sense of,okay, my caseload is steady.
My caseload is full.
There's probably a little too much.
But I could throw this wrenchin by creating something new.

(21:40):
Still working
on that.
That's not something I fully
have solved.
No, but there has been abig breakthrough recently.
just I noticed you Backed out of socialmedia a couple months ago, you you took
a step back from the group as well.
Like you, you were coming, but youwere like a little bit, you weren't
on, because you weren't on Facebooktoo, you'd come to some group calls,

(22:03):
but there was this thing where youwere like, all right, like suddenly
there's this like much more zen Jessicawho's yeah, I let a bunch of shit go.
And I had to, and it wasn'tvolitional initially.
I was like, I hit a wall, andit's if anyone's listening,
they'd be like, duh, that was
me.

(22:23):
We didn't paint that picture,
but the picture looked like an achieverdoing great in business, right?
It looks
great.
It's like the duck on water.
She looks so good.
She's doing it all.
How could she do it?
She has three kids under nine.
She's a hero.
I got, and three jobs, threekids, I could do it, right?
no problem.
And then meanwhile, I'm like, justbinging, but it's not good because it

(22:45):
would, it came so much into my personallife and it made me very cranky and
dysregulated and just frazzled andsitting with my husband, he's what, this
is not who we wanted to be moving back.
this is not the point of moving back.
We want to be close to family.
We want to enjoy life,have a different lifestyle.
And so I was like, but I wasn'tliving the lifestyle I wanted
or seeking or thought of.

(23:06):
And I was like, this sucks.
this is not what I want to do.
And I was just like in the mentalload of, when you see more people, you
have to do more of the indirect stuffand it's heavy and it's backlogged.
And it just, you don't realizethe weight of it until you
actually finish the report.
You're like, ah, it's done.
It's great.
Now for the next one,And there's five more.

(23:27):
Yeah, like the hit that you get fromcrossing it off on the to do list, but
then you know the to do list is two pages.
Yeah.
And each point is minimum one houror two, like you already can see
the load and you just want to eitherprocrastinate to avoid it, distract
yourself with social media, and just.
not get it done.
Then obviously it getsheavier the next day.

(23:48):
So I hit, I got really busy in Julyand I'm trying to be cognizant,
I try to be physically presentwhen my kids are going on the bus.
I want to be there, if I haveto drive my little kiddo to
daycare, they're still very young.
So they still, physically enjoyhaving me around, they're just
like, okay, like once they're older.
Unlike my teenagers who here?
They don't want me aroundonce they're older.

(24:09):
And that's what I said.
I was like, why am I likedisregarding this time?
Unintentionally, like, why am I makingthis so much more chaotic now when
maybe later they want nothing to dowith me because they're older and then
I have all this time, compared to now?
so anyway, I hit a wall andI said, you know what, I.
I am done.
my worst point was like, Idon't want to be an OT anymore.

(24:30):
I'm done.
And I was like, who is this person?
I was like, I never saidthat for once in my career.
and now I'm done.
I don't want to do this anymore.
I know something has to change.
And then I was like, Ican't blame it on anybody.
I literally created this chaos,this ball of chaos is my doing.
So I was like, can'tplay the victim, Jess.
This is yours.
You did this.

(24:51):
So then I was like, Why am I doing this?
Why did I totally see three peoplethat day when I didn't need to see?
Nobody's telling me tosee three people that day.
I'm
not in the, I'm not inthe hospital setting.
I'm not in the, I work for myself.
that's the beauty of, you just, you hearthe romance of being an entrepreneur.
You work your own hours, you do allthese great things and you're supposed

(25:12):
to smile and drink your coffee.
And that's not me.
Like, why?
But that's what I want.
That's the whole purpose of being thedesign your lifestyle kind of thing.
we all left jobs that expected a lotof us to start private practices,
so that we didn't have to do that.
And then we do it
ourselves.
But then I went and did it to myselfbecause I knew it was the scarcity.

(25:33):
taking control.
And when you have the scarcitymindset, it was like, I should take
that client, plug them in right there.
I'll do that here and I'll get that done.
and that was my rhythm.
And just do more.
And then I'd crash and I get reallycranky at the end of the day.
And I that's not cool.
nobody wants this version of me.
this is no good.
So then I thought, huh, if I don't needto see so many people a day, then how

(25:53):
would that look if I wanted to change it?
So then I thought, okay, what drives you?
It's your income.
You essentially, everyone'sgotta work, you gotta make money.
This is why you get into maybestarting your own business, or you
work for somebody at the end ofthe day, you need to make money.
Yeah.
So I was like, all right,how much do I need monthly?
Like legit, like gross income.
Figure it out.
Yeah.
say you need 4,000, let's justgive or take without taking all

(26:16):
taxes and you're driving and stuff.
And then you're like, okay, 4,000 a month,that's a thousand dollars each week.
if I want to work five daysa week, that's 200 a day.
I'm like, I work private.
I can bill for 200 a day easily.
if you actually
break it down or if you
saw one client and did some adjacent taskto it, that's your 200 bucks right there.
or, you do one session andyou write your notes, or, and

(26:39):
that's just the bare minimum.
So you're like, okay, what if I did haveone client a day and I got the, The notes
done or the report done, like what wouldSo then I started adjusting my calendar.
All right, I'm gonna give this ago, because if I don't at least
give this a try, like I know theother road was gonna be I'm done.
Like I just want to do something else.
And that's like, why?

(27:00):
I work so hard and I enjoy what I do.
Do I really want to justwalk away kind of thing?
Because I know for sure I'll regret it.
I was like, okay, all right, I'mjust going to strive for 200 a day.
200, 250, 300.
You make your number, whatever,works in your mind kind of thing.
Yeah.
I was like, okay, Easy peasy.
I can do that.
One person a day.
I could do that.
And then I started doing it and thenit would be like, a full intake,

(27:22):
when you first initial assessment.
And then I did the report thatday and I did all my invoicing.
I followed up.
I, everything that you normallydo, but you've spread it out.
over
time.
And ineffectively task switchingbetween various clients and various
tasks that reduces efficiency, right?
Whereas you're like thinking aboutone person and all of these people.

(27:42):
I just thought about that
one family and I came home and Itried to plug, do my business in the
morning and I just plucked away and Ipretty much got 90 percent of it done.
I was like, all right.
And normally I don't sendoff stuff right away.
I review it a following day witha different set of So I did that
and I was like, I got this done.
I was like, this is a new feeling,like this is this lightness to it.

(28:06):
And I was like, check mark on my to dolist, and everything that was done, all
the pieces that went with that file.
And then I thought to myself,within 24 hours, this family
had everything they needed.
within that time span,within reason, right?
Sometimes things, waiting on resultsfrom an assessment or so forth.
But I was like, okay, the qualityof that, because quality was one of

(28:26):
my values for providing services.
Yeah.
Because
I was starting to see my quality godown and irking me, I don't like this.
This is not what I want to provide.
Yeah.
So then I was like, okay, Itotally gave them top quality.
And the fact that if I was therecipient of that, I would have think,
wow, she literally worked on my file,just thought about me in the last 12
hours or six hours or whatever andeverything was done and I forwarded that.

(28:50):
And I was like, that wouldfeel like a cool thing, like
being the recipient of that.
I was like, that's neat, that's what yougo for private services for, obviously
there's wait times for people and whatnot,but when you access a service, you're like
within time range, you expect it and thespeed is supposed to be a little bit more
efficient, but I'm like 24 hours in boom.
That feels good.
Build.
And some days I was billing 300 or 400.

(29:13):
So it was above.
the baseline I was looking for.
So I was like, this can work.
I can make this work.
And I just started.
And it was very intentional becauseevery time somebody wants to plug
in, you can't just go in yourcalendar and just be like, Oh, I'm
just going to add that to that day.
Cause then you go back to what were youdoing, what you were doing initially.
So then you really have to be likecognizant, like really aware, no, if

(29:36):
I'm seeing that new person, that'sa report for the rest of the day.
Because that needs to get done.
Yeah.
And it would, the speed of myreport writing was like, it was
just flowing so quickly becauseit was just legit right there.
It was fresh.
Yeah.
You didn't have to go look up.
Was this that family orthat look at my notes.
You know how you have to goback and look at your notes?
I didn't need to.
I had it all here because thebrain just registered it all that

(29:58):
day and it was just like boom.
And I was like, Wow.
I was so surprised at my own efficiency.
I can be that efficient?
Oh, wow.
And I legit, my hours were like, 930 in the morning till about 2 33.
Because that's theschool hours for my kids.
That's the dream.
Yeah.
Isn't that I was like, why am Icreating a life that I was trying

(30:19):
to potentially get away from or notenjoy, but I've created my own way.
So no, I'm an entrepreneur.
I can design my own schedule.
So why aren't I designing it better?
I'm in
my own way.
So again, like I'm at a point now whereI've been doing this for almost two
months, two and a half, give or take.
So I'm still dealing withthe mental load from.
I'm going to be talking about someof the other things that I'm tweaking

(30:41):
and finishing off, but legitimatelywhenever I'm seeing someone, at
least within a week, if I haven'tcompleted everything, at least within
a week, boom, done, kind of thing.
And whenever I'm pre planning things,I know it's like a report or anything
heavy that goes with that particularfile, I reserve an entire day.

(31:02):
And the bonus to that is ifI'm done, I'm like, okay, oh,
maybe I can, tweak my website.
Cause then it's I don't feel guilty.
It's
not oh, don't do that.
That's not an income driven task.
That's a 10 task.
Like I didn't need to thinkabout all these things that
you read about and hear about.
It's okay, so what if Canvais something I can delegate?
If I find joy in it.
Yeah, isn't that the whole purposeof designing your lifestyle?

(31:24):
It's who cares?
Like I got, I met my quota for the daybased on my own needs kind of thing.
but there's that shift too, that has.
you of a year or two ago wouldhave gone, wow, I got so much
done in a short amount of time.
Now I can take something more on.
Why don't I spend my afternoonson this other project?

(31:45):
or fill it with another contract.
And you did not do that this time.
Like you had made a clear decision that,Values alignment, needing to shift, like
you saw the burnout train coming, right?
You're, and I look at the 12 stagesof burnout and you're well halfway
through the list at least, reallystarting to like just letting go.

(32:06):
I probably was
in, I probably was in, I don't knowyour stages of the list kind of
thing, but I do remember Googlingit and I was like, am I burning out?
am I, is this what burnout feels like?
because there were daysI just had no drive.
And I didn't want to do anything.
I was maybe teary and I was like, what?
What's going on with me?
this is not me.
I don't like this person kind of thing.
And even my husband, he's what's going on?

(32:27):
this is not you and what canI do and how do we shift this?
But again, this is my doingsand I created this storm of
madness that I was like, this is.
and like to give you some graceand compassion for that, like that
was your nervous system, right?
that was the situation, and that waswhat you were accustomed to, right?

(32:50):
That this, and so shifting fromthat, I want to make sure that.
There's kindness and compassion foryour drive and that it has served
you well time and time again topick up and go and be willing to do
and thrive in a chaotic situation.
And so not blame me.
I'm not blamed.
There's no blame.

(33:11):
no, and I know people do it andthen I could see them and I see
me and I'm still fixing this.
It's not totally solved.
I can still fall into these little crookslike, Oh, why did I do that to myself?
But I'm very, I'm highly aware of mystuff now, like compared to before.
and I feel confident now knowing that,I know there's going to be work out
there because the numbers always tell me
Yes.
Isn't it amazing how math canactually be so comforting?

(33:34):
I use it all the time to gowhen I'm panicking, Oh no, it's
a slow week or a slow month.
Like I need to go back to my likescorecards and reports and pull out
and go, Oh, Still a great quarter.
Still a great year.
We're fine.
yeah.
Oh, I know.
Because I remember, I thinkwe had this discussion.
I was like, why am I thinkingI'm never going to make money.
I made money up until this point, likemaybe, it fluctuated kind of thing.

(33:57):
legit, the only time I did not makemoney was because I was evacuated.
I didn't have a home, likewe didn't have a home.
Yeah.
So I don't foresee that happening.
right now, I can do this, I, even ifit's like my, this little experiment
I'm doing and it gets really low, I'mvery fortunate, I feel very grateful
because my husband, he's very good with,covering everything, but knowing that

(34:18):
financially okay, maybe it is going tobe a little low, but I know, if I want
to do more, I can easily do more, andthat's usually my go to thing, right?
More chaos, I'll do more, I'll do more,I'll do more, I'll just do this extra
case, but then The action piece I love.
It's almost like a hit for me.
I love the action.
I love the communication,the in person stuff.
I love it.
Like I could be in a sessionfor hours and just thrive in it.

(34:41):
But come out of it and say, okay,now you got to write about it.
I don't really thrive in that.
Obviously, we don't be therapistsfor the documentation portion of it.
no.
So I knew that kind of shifted,but it was the mental load.
You know how we always talk aboutphysical load and our diet, our
bodies are tired, but like my mentalload was so beyond, that I was like,

(35:02):
this is bananas, this has to shift.
And if you have listeners thinking, okay,that's great because she's in a private
sector, she can control her schedule.
I spent it.
I work in a public sector in a hospital inthe francophone community where I'm from
and that's a place where you have to countyour stats, you have to show that you're
seeing people, you have to get your workdone, you only have a set amount of hours.

(35:23):
there's a different, format.
You can't just be like, Oh, I'mnot going to see anybody today.
It doesn't work that way.
Okay.
Like for example, last week I waslike, all right, let's test this out.
Let's test how I'm going to create,keep what I've been working on,
but in this type of environment.
So I said, okay, I'll see threepeople a day, which is, a good number.
But I was like, I just need theselittle bit of blocks in between.

(35:47):
I just, I got to getsome report stuff done.
I knew ahead of time, obviously,there's going to be report writing and
when you work in the public system,there's different programs you have
to enter and your stats and so forth.
So I think I cracked off becauseI only go for like short blitzes.
So I think I saw eightkiddos in four days.
Which, it's a fair bit and there waslike one or two no shows and stuff.

(36:11):
The fact that I walked away at the endof the week and I have a very minimal
load brought with me, normally in thepast I would have been like, I'll just
do the reports when I get back, and nota big deal, and I could do all that.
I'm like, nope.
I, first day in, first report done,second one in, notes done, my mindset
was like, I am walking away at theend of this day with something done.

(36:34):
Yeah.
So that, and then the no show happened,I was like, okay, I'm going to
write my report from the day prior.
So it was like, boom.
I wanted to see if it was possibleand I, some people may not be able
to do that in the environment,but it's you have to be realistic.
Yeah.
If you want me to see 10people, Do you even want any
reports from those 10 people?
Because that's actuallysomething I need to do.
Ethically, and like from atherapist's perspective, we have

(36:57):
to document what we've done.
Yeah.
So you can't ask me for one and notgive me compensation for the other.
In the public
system.
Totally.
So I was like, if I'm seeing thesepeople, I need, And they know, right?
They're really great about it.
They give me the time or whatever I need.
But I was like, no, I'm not walkingaway from this day with nothing written.
I was like, I'm gonna, and again,that's where it was so much

(37:18):
faster to write everything down.
And I give myself grace in thesense that, it's not going to be
a perfect report because I'm justgoing to put everything I know down.
And the next day I just tweak it andI formulize it and you make it, But at
least the weight, it's that mental weightthat I never knew I needed to release.
And I'm like, the moment I figured outhow to get rid of the mental weight was

(37:40):
like, this is what people are striving forwhen they talk about work life balance.
It
was like,
huh.
I was like, it was likea little like lightbulb.
actually I read a book a few yearsago cause the way you actually framed
like striving for work life balance,like that very, that there's this,
it's presented in this book I read.
I don't remember what it was called.

(38:01):
I think it was called the work of myth ofwork life balance or something like that.
or that was the subtitle, but thisidea that we do, we go through
seasons where we need to work more andseasons where we work less and that
essentially work is a part of life.
it's an important part of life.
We spend a lot of our time doingit and therefore it shouldn't
be put in opposition to life.

(38:22):
if the work column, and the life column,if you were to do it like a spreadsheet,
the way calling it work life balance isalmost putting a negative on the work,
like that's taking away from life, or it'stipping the scales, and so that idea that,
ultimately making work workable, right?
making work fit in, making work,especially like when we have a

(38:44):
business, it better be servingyour life rather than depleting it.
And if it feels like it needs tobe on a negative column compared to
your life, maybe that's when we needto do some work, but it wouldn't
arose by any other name, right?
Like this sense of you were out of feelingout of balance in whatever way, right?
You're, dysregulated and feeling stressedand not, and feeling like you just

(39:07):
needed to work more and then somethingswitched and you do feel, more regulated
in all of your roles, more in controlof your time, more control of your
choices, not driven by fear or scarcity.
No, cause I can feel it.
When it comes up, I'mvery aware of it now.
Yeah, there's always more.
There's always gonna be moreroom to do more, but I'm gonna

(39:29):
have more time to do that later.
Like when my kids arenot needing me so much.
Yeah.
Because I thought, when they tell youto put aside, what is your dream life
or what's on your vision board, youcan make it all fancy and pretty, you
want the finances to work, you wantthe nice car or whatever kind of thing.
And at the end of theday, I like the freedom.
That's what you go for, the flexibility,the freedom and more time with your kids.

(39:51):
Not necessarily I need to go on holidaysand do all these things, it's just
I want to spend more time with them.
the fact that I'm here every morning,almost every morning, I make the
breakfasts, I hang out with them.
there are times when I have to goaway from work and stuff, but when
I am here, even my husband hasnoted, he's you just seem different.
You seem less stressed, you seem happier,I'm smiling more, I'm not teary, like

(40:14):
these are all very, within the shortamount of time that I've done this switch,
I'm like, I feel like my shoulders,I can just, I can, I feel lighter.
And that's, there's otherthings that I need to fix.
And there's a lot of a lot of stuffthat I'm still working on that I
need to get that done so I can moveforward with even more efficiency.

(40:34):
But you know what, I'm like, I'mstill in this transition phase.
I'm still like working on it.
And the amount of, it was an eyeopener the other day because I was
sitting there and I thought, oh mygoodness, did I see that person?
I have to make sure I saw that person.
And I go in the file, my noteis very well done, and I was
like, oh, I did see this person.
And I was like, oh, I did do the report.
but my mind was so baffled that I'mlike, how could you not remember?

(40:58):
Because I always, Remember,because that's what you have to
do if you don't do your reports.
You just have to lock in thatinformation and hold on to it.
And then I didn't realize that I had doneeverything I needed to, and I let it go.
And that was my release.
I let it go.
I did my portion.
If they need to connect withme, I'm happy to connect.
But my brain was like, Didyou make sure to see them?

(41:19):
it was just like a panic mode, andI was like, oh, I did do my job.
I did do it, and wow, I did,feel lighter after that.
it was just like an epiphany for me,because then I felt wow, good for you.
That was a really good note, Jess.
you did a really good job that day.
it's really cool, too, to thinkabout this whole journey of yours.
you talked early on about planting seeds,when you're establishing your business.

(41:44):
And sometimes it seems likesome seeds don't, aren't growing
and then they sprout later.
I feel like that's a little bit of yourjourney with ACTivate Vitality that there
was this sense of you came because youknew you needed this intersection of
personal and professional development.
there was starting a business and you.
did your research, you could have goneto some people who were like straight

(42:04):
up business coaches, but you chose tocome to me, who's going to look at you
as a whole person in your business.
And I needed an OT.
Even though I'm actually not anOT in this role, but yes, totally.
No, but I needed your mindset of OT.
And but also there's OTs who do straightup business coaching too, right?
And so the difference withACTivate vitality is that.

(42:28):
in our program, we're really workingon where it is the internal stuff
is driving the habits, stuckness,fear, like all of those things that
are influences, influencing howwe're engaging in our businesses.
And so we're working on that outsidekind of product of the business, but
also a lot more on the inside stuff.

(42:50):
where that sort of, there was a couple,a few years of that hustle persisting.
And I was I'm dropping seeds, you'relearning, you're coming to calls,
like you're showing up and then boom,like you had an epiphany, right?
And it's not from not working onit all along, but something shifted
and like those seeds sprouted,that things research and be like,

(43:12):
you're not just doing this with me.
You're doing other things in yourlife to, to work on yourself.
But
yeah, it was one of those things.
And I read a lot of books, asI, and I do the self help books.
I just it's like skittles.
Like I just take it in.
And and it's not without knowingthat, not with it's not like I
just read it and I put it asideand I never think of it again.
It's just it's all in there.
It's just waiting for the momentto be like, no, that's fine.

(43:35):
Remember that thing you read?
Yeah, I can use that kind of thing.
and the repetition, right?
Sometimes we just need repetition.
It's you've heard it five times, butnow for whatever reason it clicks.
It's like on the sixth time it clicked.
It's okay.
I mean if everything workedthe first time, geez, we'd save
ourselves a lot of trouble.
But
there's readiness for change, there'scapacity for change, there's like the

(43:55):
environment you're in, there neededto be enough proof of concept that
could create some safety for youthat you could actually believe, and
then, things settling and your familysettling and your home settling and
now you actually have the mental spaceto shift how you like see the world.
Yeah, this is the thing I feel likethis is what they've been talking about

(44:17):
this whole time about the entrepreneurlifestyle and, and I get it, you
have to, it's not without hustle.
It's like you avoid working,you got to work for it.
And by all means, I don't feel like I'vereached a stage where it's I'm good now.
even though I work for a clinicdowntown here, I provide services in
another province that especially whereI'm from, in the hospital, so I still
very much enjoy all these hats I wear.

(44:40):
It's just I'm now in a better placeto being like, okay, those are
too many hats in one day, Jess.
You need to pick a hat, get thehat done, like over and done with,
and then move on to your next one.
yeah, it's a lot of, intention, selfcontrol, you have to be So again, I
was at a point where it's either Ido this, or I don't do this anymore.

(45:01):
I was at a point where thealternative was like, never again.
I I don't think I'mready for that quite yet.
So I have to, Try this road.
Try this other road that
I haven't tried yet.
And what's huge in that story isthat awareness where you couldn't
even see, what was going on fully.
you're looking, hindsight, youcan go, wow, like, how on earth?

(45:23):
And now you're like, ooh, I seewhere that's creeping back in.
I can feel where that's creeping back in.
Whereas before you're like,yeah, this drives me, let's go.
And now you're like, holdup, we don't want that.
And then you've also pulled Created somestructural boundaries within your time.
You're like, no, I see oneclient for an intake in a day so

(45:44):
that this process works for me.
I can't fit two clients in that day.
Certainly you could, but you'regoing to fit in the reports
in and all the stuff in it.
But it didn't work.
Yeah.
Yeah, I could, but it didn't.
Didn't work out.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Totally.
It's who are you kidding, Jess?
you want to see all these people,but you're not going to be able
to get all that other stuff done.
Yeah.
And we lose track because wealways think it's a session.

(46:04):
I got to be there, physically bethere, but we never block like three
hours a day for a report or which,some of them are pretty tedious.
It'll take you two, three hoursand it's for good reason because
we have a lot of value to provide.
Okay.
And, and it's good to show that.
I think our reports really showcase ourtalent and our skill set when we're out
there, even though we think nobody everreads it, but then you have this one

(46:27):
day where you have a doctor that says,this is such a great report, and you're
like, yes, this is exactly why I sitdown for hours on end to write them.
yeah.
It's just for that little bitof hit, that endorphin rush that
you're like, okay, but at the sametime, it's I have this information
and I need to write it somewhere.
And I need this family to know this.
But it's for the benefit of, that'sthe service you're providing.

(46:47):
It's so that, the schoolhas the information or,
the doctor can do things.
And if you're working with pediatriciansor other, like the best marketing
is to let the other professionalswho are seeing your ideal client
know the work you're doing.
And so I often encourage OTs who don'teven need to write reports to send a

(47:08):
report every so often to the doctor.
If so, that it's It's marketing, right?
don't even charge anyone forit if you don't want to, right?
but that idea of them knowingthat, wow, you do all that?
I have no idea.
I could send more people your way.
Oh, fair.
Yeah, no, fair.
I never even thought of it that way.
But, but when you've workedin the public system.
Like I did at West, it's youjust have to get the report done.

(47:30):
That's just part of thepackage deal, right?
And in the private sector,you were like, okay, I really
need to get this report done.
But also there's people don't wantto pay for the report and your time.
And, it's I want to see you.
That's why I'm coming to you.
I want to see you.
my college and, my rules of work isthat I need to document what I'm doing.
So then okay, how do I get more efficientwith documenting when you don't want the

(47:51):
report, but I still need to get paid.
I still have a family I still havebills and just like everybody else.
So it's just really being, it's alittle bit more like energy consuming
when you have to go down all that.
But you plan for it, if you canmake way in your calendar, but it's
again, it's like habit stacking.
I couldn't just do this and it's goingto work for me right from the get go and

(48:12):
it's going to be so great, like there'sgoing to be no hiccups, like that's
just la land and, that's unrealistic.
So I had to really everyday being like, nope.
Remember, you didn't finish thatreport within the 24 hour window.
Get on it.
Now, I'm trying to remember,did you come to the financial
workshop in ACTivate Vitality?

(48:33):
it
was, who was teaching it?
It was me.
Was it you?
You?
Okay.
I've been to a few, but Ican't remember that one.
So again, my shift is social media.
I took social media off my phone.
I'm not off of it, but it's offthe, I reduced the accessibility.
So now I have intentionallyhave to go into social media and
obviously I don't do that very much.
and I don't even rememberexactly when it was.

(48:55):
Oh, July.
it's, so if you go into KeepGrowing Together, it was, yes.
If you go into Keep Growing Together,and so for our listeners, ACTivate
Vitality is a six month program fortherapy business owners who want to
thrive as whole people within theirbusinesses, without the hustle.

(49:15):
And then some people choose to stayafter the six months and there's this
Keep Growing Together membership option.
I've.
I keep adding resources and workshops.
So we've been trying to do thesequarterly business reflections.
And, the last one I did, instead wecall it a financial workshop and it
was very much what you did, Jessica,that whole idea of let's break

(49:36):
it down to the math and how can Ifind comfort in knowing my numbers?
Cause I noticed that some.
members were not even looking atthe finances of their business.
Cause it felt too bleak and scary andhard to carry on or hard to see that, Oh
my gosh, I'm essentially getting paid myown wage when you break down how much I'm
working versus how much I'm being paid.

(49:57):
And so that's good to look at too.
But, One of the things is like strippingit back to, why did I start my business?
and usually there's some qualitativereasons about flexibility and control
and and some financial efficiency too.
Like for me, it was that I wanted tobe flexible enough to like volunteer
at school with kids, be home whenthey're home and be present when they're

(50:19):
home and still maybe earn the same.
I would have earned full time, butin part time hours, that was my goal.
And I lose sight of that goalsometimes when I'm like, Ooh, but.
But it could be all of this.
And then it's shiny.
Yeah.
I start to lose track of, Oh, I'm stillwinning if I'm meeting that initial
goal or approximating that initial goal.

(50:39):
But that idea of stripping it back towhat do I actually need financially?
What do the numbers tell me?
Like, how can I look at thenumbers and zoom out sometimes too?
so I created a basic spreadsheetfor us to, have a monthly breakdown
so that when we're panicking aboutthe phone not ringing for a while
or having a few discharges at once,we can go, Oh, but yeah, still good.

(51:03):
but so it was interesting becauseit was around the same time
you were doing similar work.
Interesting.
Yeah.
Because I'll pop in andout of the program, right?
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
I got time today.
And now that my schedule is alot different, that's going to
be a little bit different for me.
So I'll be able to pop in more.
But I think everything you justmentioned, you said that over the years.
It's not without me not listening.
It's it's in there.

(51:24):
So the fact that I was like, itjust needed me to hit that obvious
wall that I knew was coming.
I just need to hit that wall andthen I'll make those changes.
So that's unfortunate.
It was time.
It was time.
And we often do need that.
Like often it is a, burnout cansometimes create a health crisis that
makes us stop in our tracks, whichwe don't want to get there if we can

(51:47):
avoid it or a mental health crisisor, or just something external happens
and we're like, hold up, Life has awhole different meaning now, right?
I've lost somebody I loveor, something like that.
And what is all of this for?
Let's strip it back to my values.
And if you think of all the hiccups we'vehad, the hurricane and those are all
moments where I was like, what am I doing?

(52:09):
again, like the walls were put upfor me and it was like, Oh, I gotta
hit my head against, like, whydo you gotta learn the hard way?
Can't you just listen to me,kind of thing, those situations.
I'm sure there'll be more walls andthen I'll have more epiphanies and
I'll shift some things along the way.
in terms of your program, It's nicebecause I'm one of those, longstanding

(52:29):
participants, since 2021, August.
it brings me comfort knowing thatI can just come in, come out,
but I've learned along the way.
Just I needed to hit walls for me becausethat's just the style I'm learning
from kind of thing But it's good.
Like it's making me grow kind of thing.
So
yeah
I'm so grateful and then all theparticipants that are in there because

(52:50):
there's some people I still haven'tmet because I come at different Times.
Yeah, but there's the regulars who Iknow who they are and I'm like, oh,
okay I can connect and you know It wasjust not especially in the beginning
for me because it was just another wayto connect and talk to people Yeah It's
man, I feel so lonely, especially withthe pandemic, it's I just want to talk.
And when you're on mat leave, right?
Yeah.
You just want to havethis adult conversation.
Totally.

(53:10):
Totally.
I'm pretty sure I bought a time shareby mistake when I was on mat leave.
I was like, oh, somebody to talk to.
Great.
I had to get out of it.
But yeah.
Different.
when I think back of the 2021 me,2022 me, it's I You keep growing.
And do you know what?
I think that's why I call that extension,keep growing together is I don't like,
there's not going to be a time where youarrive and you're finished growing, right?

(53:33):
Like that it's just, we're aconstant work in progress and
we're always growing in new ways.
And this is you're coming into just anice pace era, That I can do this and
it doesn't throw my nervous system off.
I can stop.
it's again, I'll preach thesethings and I'll teach it.
And I was like, I need to turn itaround and I need to keep applying it.

(53:55):
which I do, I'm a parent.
Like we all have these strategiesand working in peds therapy.
Sometimes it's I know too much.
I just put my blinders on kind of thing.
But again, I was like, okay, I keep askingparents, like they're so dysregulated,
how do we find your triggers,stressors and find you solutions?
Cause if I need you regulated inorder to regulate your little one.

(54:15):
So I'm like, it's very much my life.
Like I need to find some regulationhere because I'm going nuts.
I need to switch thisbecause it's not good.
And I didn't like my moods.
I didn't like, I justwanted to feel lighter.
So I feel like I'm headed inthe right direction right now.
One of the things that, I loved whatyou were saying there about, the group
being really helpful, because I thinka lot of people, and if I remember too,

(54:40):
when you started, you were tending tosend me a lot of DMs, what about this?
And what about that?
And I'm like, go put it in the group.
Like that, go, or can we chat about this?
bring it to the group call.
And you're like, yes.
Yeah.
And I was like, bring it to the group.
And cause no, I need one on oneand, and now you're fully like,
Oh my gosh, these are my people.
These are my supports.
This is my network.

(55:00):
they're here to help me solve problems.
I learned from the things,the way they've made changes.
What, can you tell me alittle bit about that?
Cause I'm sure those peoplelistening who are like, Oh, I'd
love to get coaching from Carlyn,but I don't want to join a group.
what would you say about your own journey?
Which, you know, my initial intentwas like, I just need to talk to you.
I need to pick your brain.

(55:21):
You need to help me here because Iwas in survival mode kind of thing.
I wasn't necessarily looking fora group at the time, but I knew
that's where you were headingand it made sense kind of thing.
And then I would slowly branch out andthrow, but I think it helps being on the
calls because then I was like, Oh, okay.
Listening to, what they're going through.
I was like, Oh yeah, I couldtotally relate to that.
I might not speak up rightaway or I'm just here to.

(55:42):
Watch and learn thing.
But I've been doing this since 2021.
I show up and I don't need,I don't know new people.
I like it because I'm like, Oh,okay, where's this person from?
And what are they doing?
And how did that, howdoes that work in the UK?
Or, like kind of thing.
So I enjoy it and whenever I'm talking,I'm like, gosh, are they, Is this helpful
for anyone or is this purely for me?
Because I just need to like bounce, throwthis out there and just even DMing some

(56:06):
of the members just one on one sometimes.
I'm being like, Hey, I know youdo peds, like I want to pick
your brain for a quick sec.
So that's good.
it's just, I feel like there's just acommon ground because I know those people
sought you out for such and such reason.
Yeah.
And it probably relates to what I'm doing.
And then I also see like yourposts, burnout or, people like
me when I saw the go, go and yes.

(56:28):
And I was like, oh yeah, that's, thatlines up perfectly with me kind of thing.
So then, yeah, it just felt likeyour own little tribe and people
that you knew coming around.
But there's no judgment.
That's the neat, the nicest thing.
Yeah.
Because you can go, there's, you can gosocial media, it's all full of judgment.
But once you enter this kind ofworld, it's like a little protected
bubble.

(56:49):
Do you know what?
I found something.
I know you dig some polyvagal theory.
so this book, Deb Dana Anchored.
Do you have this one?
No, I do listen about a lotof stuff from Deb Dana, but.
page 41, anchored.
Page 41?
Or 49.
so she says, "ExplorationFilling Your Autonomic Tank.

(57:09):
but halfway down the page itsays, From Lonely to Connected.
Pablo Neruda, Ode to Burgeonings, wrote,'And one by one the knights between our
separated cities are joined to the knightthat unites us.' In today's world, we
seem to be more focused on individualityand often assign more significance to
our separateness than our connections.

(57:29):
We need to remember that ourcapacity to flourish on our
own is built on a foundation offirst being safely connected.
And even as we move from co regulationto self regulation, we never lose the
need to be safely connected with others.
As long as we're alive, moments ofboth co regulation and self regulation
are necessary for well being."

(57:52):
this is why ACTivateVitality works, right?
And we keep, we need to keepgoing with this stuff, right?
we need community.
We need to not be alone.
We need connection.
And that creates the safety from which wecan be creative and do innovative things.
And, it just hit me like a lightbulb too, because when I was
at West, I had an amazing team.
this is who I wasconnected with every day.
It was in person.

(58:12):
It was just my people, kind of thing.
And it was all from different backgrounds,different trades, But Those people
made me feel so regulated and that'swhere like I could be creative.
I had no judgment and it's just,free to provide a service and
you want to focus on quality.
And then as I moved I had to losemy trusted community every time.
Like I'd find one and thenI'd have to let it go.

(58:32):
And then I'd find one and let it go.
So the fact that I came here and thepandemic always made it different,
but I think that's what made it forthe program was like, I found it.
It's just a different format, butI found it, I was so disappointed
I couldn't go to the retreat.
I was like, ah, this is what I need.
I need to be in person, But I was like,all right, I gotta just plan the next one.
Next

(58:52):
year.
We'll do it again next year.
We just, just for the listeners,ACTivate Vitality now has an
annual fall retreat here in theRockies, somewhere west of Calgary.
And this year I went to Kimberly.
It was actually just last week,Kimberly BC with, a couple
Activate Vitality members.
And it was just lovely and like itwas a smaller group than last year.

(59:12):
but in that way it brought new waysof that being like, it was actually
like really a retreat for me too,because I didn't feel like I was trying
to manage a lot of people and yeah.
differing needs and, herdingpeople up or anything like that.
We're just all of us in a cabin.
Oh, no, it's beautiful.
And the fact that you're on the WestCoast, I'm just itching to I can

(59:33):
just see it again, smell it again.
Wow.
So yeah, I'll have to plan the next one.
But again, like that's, Even thoughI don't have the in person one like
I used to, on the West Coast andManitoba, it's okay, I found it.
I just, I found it in a different way,but it still meets the need kind of thing.
And then obviously you sweeten the piebecause you have the in person stuff,

(59:56):
but it's just, yeah, it's been good.
Cause now every now and again, I'mlike, you know who to talk to about
what, but it's like, who do I, whoam I going to talk to about that?
Ah, I got my group.
I know the timings, Ihave it in my calendar.
I can pop in, pop out, kind of thing.
it's quite,
And it might be nice to start tothink about, a regular rhythm to come,
even if you don't have a question.

(01:00:17):
Because, you're identifying in herethis need that that Community was a gap.
And and naturally you've been aroundfor years, so you don't necessarily need
to be on all the calls or anything, butmaybe there's a rhythm of twice a month
or something that might just maintain thatsense of connection and community for you.
And it's good that you've mentioned thatbecause now with me really clearing,
like I'm legitly clearing my calendar.

(01:00:38):
You got time.
I got time.
And I'm the type of personthat, like I do this to myself.
I think I was like this as a kid.
It's I can't get to thatcall unless I finish this.
So then you feel like, if Ifinish my note, then I can get to,
then I can go do something fun,finish work and do something fun.
So it sweetens the deal for me.
Cause I'll be like,I'll be super efficient.
Cause I was like, I got onehour before this call starts.

(01:01:00):
So then you just put your blinders on.
Might as
well finish this thing.
Yep.
Totally.
Exactly.
So we got to meet in person in Halifaxthis year, which was so exciting.
So I was at the CAOT conference andyou were able to come for one day.
And we, yeah, we got to meet in person.
It was so good.
And what I didn't expect, I thoughtwas hilarious, as we're walking

(01:01:22):
around the displays and talkingto people, you were like, oh my
gosh, do you know what Carlyn does?
And then you were this wingmanwhere I was like, oh, like I
probably wouldn't have even noticed.
Unintentionally.
Yeah.
Do you listen to the BRAVE OT Podcast?
Because, oh, here's, she's got stickers.
Yeah.
I'm like, Carly, where's your stickers?

(01:01:42):
I was like, wow, I need to bringa Jessica everywhere with me.
It was too funny, right?
So impromptu.
I was like, let's just walk around.
And it was, again, conversational.
I'm so conversational.
Cause I'd be like, just jabber,jabbering and everything.
And obviously, you introducethe person next to you, right?
And I'm like, oh, this is, Carlyn,and then just snowballed from there.

(01:02:03):
It's hilarious.
because most people want toknow why you're connected.
Yeah.
How do you know Carlyn?
She's in Calgary, like you're over here.
And it's ah, let me tell you,let me tell you, let me tell
you all about our history.
It's very unusual.
It's not the typical road, but yeah, Iwas really glad I could make it that day.
So

(01:02:24):
yeah, I'm so grateful.
I'm so grateful.
It's so funny to meet peoplethat we've spent so much time
and had deep conversation withand then meet them in person.
I found too, I met so many people inthe last year or so where I'm like,
Oh, like I expected our heights to bedifferent than I expected to be shorter
or taller or than you or whatever.

(01:02:44):
Yeah.
It's so funny.
Oh yeah.
It is true.
It's true.
Cause it's true.
Yeah, it's such a weird feeling,like you're just so used to
the digital version of you.
oh, you are real.
of course you're real, but your mind isjust like processing it for a minute.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, but you're the type of person where,I do that a lot of times with people.
If I find my people, and I could just,Jump into a conversation, but it feels

(01:03:06):
like I've known you for a long time.
it's just one of the, oh yeah, and thenthis, and then it's just so casual.
So
totally.
Yeah.
I certainly didn't task you with that.
Like it was an organic, yes.
Cause you told me later,you're like, Oh my goodness.
Should I pay?
Oh my gosh, you're a walking billboard.
the funniest was like,where's your stickers?

(01:03:27):
I need more of your stickers.
I didn't print enough.
I did not expect mystickers to be so popular.
it's the scanner, the scancode, use the scan code.
So what I did for people listening,I, Printed stickers, just like a
circle sticker of The BRAVE OT Podcastthinking, okay, that's the thing that
more people will recognize me for.

(01:03:48):
but that could be like a business card.
So what I did was I put my name, maybemy email address and then a QR code,
and I just got I ordered another set ofstickers as address labels with that, and
I just stuck them on the backs of all ofthe stickers so that I could give out the
sticker and it had me on the flip side.
That was
good.
Good
timing.

(01:04:09):
Very last minute though, orderingit, like fixing it all up on Canva,
then sending it to Staples inHalifax while I'm on the other coast.
And
Oh my gosh.
Yeah.
that's intense.
Not knowing I was going togive them out so freely.
More next time.
If I'm around, you needa few more, Carlyn.
thank you for sharing your story andyour journey and all of the ups and downs

(01:04:32):
and what you've learned along the way.
I'm sure it's going to make adifference for somebody who's listening
right now and going, Oh, that's me.
Okay.
I need to listen up.
I feel like I'm a different, alot of different versions of me
because I'm always changing andI get bored easily and I need to,
you know, find the next challenge.
Like many OTs, I'm the same, right?

(01:04:52):
And I'm also coming from this placeof I don't have it all figured out.
And every once in a while Inotice myself hustle up too.
And I'm like, what is thisautomatic thing that happens?
and sometimes I relate it a little bit tomy ADHD that I do need a certain amount of
pressure to get things done.
so then I go and create the pressure,but similar chaos thing too.
there certainly didn't havean easy childhood and there's

(01:05:15):
lots of stuff in there.
Yeah.
Yeah.
when I find being an entrepreneur,it's all your stuff comes up and
you're like, and it was alreadycoming up as a peds therapist.
if there's any other pedstherapists listening, yeah, you
start evaluating your stuff.
Like you, you just think everythingthrough and you're like, Oh
yeah, I am a little bit moresensitive or I am, you'd start.
not teasing but not in a judgmental way.

(01:05:36):
More like I'm a curiosity.
Oh yeah, that is like me.
But whether or not, I say likemaybe I have tendencies of ADHD,
but I don't see that as a bad thing.
I think, wow, like say if I truly do, Ifeel very proud because like I've been
able to become resilient and use mystrengths and understand my challenges
and kind of work with what I got
And I mean, obviously.

(01:05:57):
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Life is hard, and you have to be flexibleand adaptable, and that's not easy either.
Yeah.
Sometimes you just don't want tobe flexible, and I don't want to be
adaptable, I just want to be left alone.
Yeah, totally.
Totally.
I had my own epiphany the otherday, and where I'm often, it was
about ACTivate Vitality, but one ofthe places where I tend to hustle.
Actually, it feels likeobsessive overthinking.

(01:06:19):
so it's an internal hustle.
It's gosh, I gottafigure out my messaging.
what do people need to understandabout ACTivate Vitality to understand
that this is what they need?
because often it's oh,it's mindset coaching.
I'm like, no, it's not mindset coaching.
there is some of that, but trulyWe will find our personal cracks
when we make a professional move.

(01:06:40):
And so if that's going into privatepractice or going into a big promotion or
something like that, and it's Ooh, I'm wayout of my comfort zone, then we see all
the places we need to do personal work.
And so we work on both of those, right?
We're a community of OT businessowners who can collaborate and co
conspire and bring more brilliantideas and life experiences together.

(01:07:03):
But we have to do a lot to do thework of the inside stuff, because
we can't separate out our personaland professional development.
We'll find the cracks, whetherit's avoidance, fear, stuckness, or
overdoing, and perfectionism or burnout,like that's all kind of pointing
to the inner work we need to do.
So we, as therapy business owners,as a community, are doing the inner

(01:07:25):
work in conjunction with the outside.
The, how does that look in my day, in myperformance, in my business structure?
and how do I match those things up better?
Yeah.
Oh, it's never ending really.
No, it's never ending.
You just chip away and you founda new chip and you're just going
to
keep
going.
Now that we worked that thing out,look at this other thing here.

(01:07:47):
Oh my God,
yeah, it's very shiny.
And then you can, you wantto go in that direction.
Totally.
Totally.
Do you remember, what was that movie?
what was it?
Fight Club?
There was, a person who was,like, a support group junkie.
she was a character and she pretendedshe had all of these ailments because
she loved going to support groups.

(01:08:08):
oh, dear.
When I think about it, I meeta lot of OTs who are personal
development junkies, right?
True.
Yes, I can't do that.
I need to do a certificate orI need to read the book before
I even contemplate talking.
yeah.
it's not a crux, it's not a hindrancebecause it's like, you wouldn't
have gotten to where you are unlessyou were that type of person being
like, no, I should do a course andlearn more, which is good, right?

(01:08:30):
You need to know what you're doingand you need to be certified to
legit private provider service.
Yeah.
Just sometimes it's like, wheredoes the line, where do we end that?
Yeah.
knowing moving forward kind of thing.
But I think, OTs are reallygood at figuring that out too.
Yeah, I do know it.
It's just a confidence thing andthat's where I lacked so much,
right?
And then the confidence didn't happenbecause I was in such a scarcity mode.

(01:08:53):
How can I be super steady andconfident when I'm living in chaos?
it's been nice to see you like this.
It's been nice to see you all along.
Do you see the difference?
I do.
You probably see the
difference because you'relike, she's smiling,
she's here.
Huge.
Because it presents as achievement, itpresents as tenacity, it presents as

(01:09:13):
courage, it presents like all of that.
When you're hustling, there'sso many good things about it.
Yeah, way to go you.
It's worked for you so many times.
It's been reinforced as a behavior, right?
It's what's been necessary toget the job done so many times.
and, often it presented with,yeah, I know, but, yeah, but,

(01:09:34):
like a lot of, yeah, but, so it'soh, what about this other thing?
And maybe, and I'd say, butyou have a full caseload.
do you actually need more clients?
And you'd be like, yeah, butthere's this other thing and that's
not, and this could be better.
And I was like, yeah, I get it.
Like you just, therewas just this urgency.
about everything, and it was hard topause and think about the possibility of

(01:09:55):
something that's a little more settled foryou, because it wasn't possible at that
time, perhaps, and now it just, it is.
Yeah, it's certainly with all thehard work and the connecting and,
I'm very proud of myself becauseeverything like blends together
I got here because I made that connectionand that blossomed into this and like

(01:10:16):
it all has these connect the dots kindof thing and it always tells me like
I'm really good, I just gave it a goand I tried this even though I thought
This might not go very well or, nothingcomes from it or, you just jump.
You jump is what you do.
You just take action.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Where you're like, slow itdown, Jess, bring it back.

(01:10:37):
And now
you're
taking new action, right?
Like you're just reorienting that energydifferently into a different priority.
And it's not without me sayinglike, Oh, I just never take on
new things or I don't get caught.
It's just recently it's Ihave this new opportunity and
I'm really curious about it.
Yeah.
But I understand that maybe I have toslim down something else to make room
for this new adventure that I haveno idea from, because, if I look back

(01:11:00):
at all the history, it's if I wouldhave never jumped or at least said
yes, or been curious about anything,I would never be sitting here.
I don't know what I'd be doing.
So I'm like, okay, I got to give itsome room to grow and see where that
stems and if it doesn't go well, then.
I know what to do.
Like, history tells methat I know what to do.
I just have to like, justtrust myself kind of thing.

(01:11:22):
which is not
easy to do.
No, totally not.
One of our recurring posts inACTivate Vitality in the Facebook
group is like celebrating boundaries.
And so I changed the graphicfor it from time to time.
and.
for a long time, it wasno makes way for yes.
and so like, yes, like it'sgreat to take on the new things.
What did you say no to?

(01:11:43):
Or what are you going to sayno to make room for that?
Yeah.
Yeah.
And that's the, a no now that if I keepsaying yes and I don't make any other
shifts, then obviously I'm going tohit that wall again that I keep talking
about, I don't really want to hit a wall.
Let's just, you know, skim it back.
But that's the whole point of being.
In an entrepreneurial, side piece,it's just knowing that you do have
more control than you think you do.

(01:12:03):
Yeah.
Totally.
And just give way to, your schedule.
And just having, and I think you mighthave mentioned it too, but just, take
a look at it from the, a bigger lens.
totally step away.
If you have to put it on postits, just take a bigger lens
and then, make sense of it.
And figure out what is the true stressor.
Like for the longesttime, it's money, right?
And I have really big post its.
Oh my gosh!

(01:12:24):
Those are huge!
Where did you get those?
Amazon.
Of course.
Amazon 11x11 post its.
Okay, that scares me.
But I will, when I'm working stuff out,I will have these all over the wall,
or I'll lay them out in my bonus roomwith these, and all the other times
I've done this deep dive reflectionand whiteboards and my family walks
in, they're like, This is scary.

(01:12:47):
You're like the person on the MurderMystery who's connected to the dots.
Did you connect the dots with the pins?
Almost.
In my head, I certainly did.
There were arrows.
That one's on the wall over here now.
Oh my gosh.
I'd have like wall to wall withlike connected dots if I did that.
Yeah.
And there is that innerdrive and excitement
and passion for our profession, for ourcareers, for the connections we're seeing.

(01:13:10):
We've got all of these possibilitiesdue to the nature of our profession.
And, when we can use that power forgood, and not deplete ourselves,
we can do really cool things.
and just,
yeah.
even just being in the group, say, forexample, if you're not even going to
say anything, it's I hear what someone'sworking on or what they're doing.
It's like blows my mind because,growing up, it's not something

(01:13:33):
that was like a possibility.
You just, you get the typicaljob and then you stick with that
typical job and don't mess it up.
Don't screw it up and then keep it.
the fact that, I can write an ebook and I did write an e book and
I
did put it out on my site.
It's Huh, I didn't know I could do that.
And it's just like the slow builds,like the slow confidence builders

(01:13:53):
I think it's a fun way for peoplewho are wanting to, start something
and don't know where to start.
Like once you have a way to make money,once you can accept money, maybe you've
set yourself up as a sole proprietorship,maybe you've got a website, maybe a social
media platform, and you could be like,okay, Why don't I try creating something?
Is it a workshop?
Is it an e book?

(01:14:14):
Is it a something?
I can put it out in the world.
I have a way to accept payment andeven like sometimes that can simply
be like signing up with somethinglike Calendly where you can set
up appointment people to book anappointment and they have to pay for it.
That's like a simple way whereyou don't even have to have
a landing page or a website.
You could just be sharing thatlink for this one workshop or

(01:14:35):
session and once they do that, theycan start to experiment and see.
Mhm.
See what grows.
I don't have to be like, okay, aprivate practice must have a building,
a website, business cards, yeah, juststart seeing where, if I could make a
little money, take that one client thatcomes up that maybe I'll see them on a
Saturday, like just to get started and go,

(01:14:56):
okay, maybe I could do this.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Test the waters.
if you don't do it, you never know.
Totally we should wrap this up.
I have some last questionsthat I ask everybody.
What does being brave mean to you?
Being able to do hard things.
. But being able to recover from it.
But not just like your onus ofyour own recovery, but having

(01:15:18):
the support system around you.
Because if I think back of all the bravethings that I feel like I've done, I'm
extremely proud of them, but terrified me.
Absolutely terrified me.
All the easy things.
I don't really remember those.
I just remember, you make thehard decisions and you're like,
deciding to go, from Francophonehigh school to English university.

(01:15:41):
Okay,
let's do that.
And then deciding, okay,undergrad in English.
I want to do my master's in French.
That's not going to be easy, butit was a bloody hard decision.
Like I was like, it's going to be so hard.
And I know it's going to be hard.
It's going to really like, test me kind ofthing, but I'm extremely proud I did it.
And I'll always remember those,the hard decisions kind of thing.

(01:16:02):
And usually the hardest ones is becauseit's going to make you uncomfortable.
Yes.
Yes.
And that's such an important themebecause so many of us encounter the scary
part and go, Oh, because it's scary.
I'm not brave.
I don't have the couragebecause look at all my fear.
And it's actually, that'sthe defining factor.

(01:16:23):
If there isn't fear, it's not
brave.
But it's also being able toreflect on you did do hard things.
Yeah.
So you're capable of it.
And was that thing harder thanwhat I'm trying to decide to now?
no, that was way harder what I didtwo months ago than what this is.
So this is a no brainer.
just building your self efficacy.
It's I can do these hard thingsbecause I, That all, you can list it.

(01:16:45):
big, boom.
I said this to my husband one day.
I was like, you know what?
I gave birth and it was threedifferent types of labors and delivery.
I can handle anything.
I was like, this is going to be easy.
Easy case.
Like from a, I never thought I could go,thinking of labor and delivery, right?
You just terrify yourself.
And knowing that it was like, now I lookback, it was very different, C section and

(01:17:09):
VBAC, everyone never went the same way.
I was like, if I can handle that,I think I can post something
on social media or, you know,like, is it going to really work?
Yeah, I did it and I got throughit and it's if I can get through
that, I can put a website together.
You can do hard things.
I can do a website.

(01:17:30):
Come on.
Again, it's just you think back Noteveryone has the same okay, it's
labor delivery for them or maybe it'sjust another scenario in their minds
that it was like super hard to do.
Yeah, but they overcame it.
It's like we'll use that as a stepbuilder, like you can do hard things.
Kind of makes me like GlennonDoyle, Glennon Doyle, I think

(01:17:52):
the book, Do Hard Things.
It just, it sticks in my head because it'slike, yeah, you don't remember the easy.
The easy doesn't make you feel as proud.
Yeah,
it's so true.
what's something braveyou've done recently?
Brave that I've done, I feel likeI've done a lot of things recently,
but I think, reinventing myself here.

(01:18:14):
Because it
hasn't just been once,it's been many times.
I put myself out there.
I don't just provideservice in one province.
I do it in another, provideit in another language.
these are all things thatmake me uncomfortable,
in
slight ways, presenting, doing webinars,like everything, those things, it's just
it's I almost use it as a barometer now,If I should do if something comes up and

(01:18:36):
I feel extremely uncomfortable or oh,this stresses me out, but I'm excited
about it and it stresses me, but I justdon't like your mind is don't do it.
Your mind's going to keep youin the safe, survive, keep safe.
Don't accept these present,don't do these crazy things.
It's no, because in the past I've donethese things and they turned out to be
pretty exciting and I'm very proud of it.
And, the self advocacy of I could do it.

(01:18:56):
So that kind of overrides itnow being like, you know what?
If I'm slightly uncomfortable andit pushes me out of my comfort zone,
it's going to mean that I'm growing.
You can't grow if you'realways comfortable.
You have the luxury of beingcomfortable all the time.
Totally.
And I feel man, I've been in a lotof discomfort for a lot of years,
so I'm like, I must be growing.
Yes, totally.

(01:19:17):
So I'm just growing all the time.
So I take it like that.
every opportunity that's made meslightly uncomfortable, I've grown.
Ride the wave, go with itand see what comes out of it.
And I'm always like, I'mso glad I accepted that.
Or I did this, cause that led to this.
And I wouldn't even have, havinga conversation with my mother the
other day saying, I bet you didn'tthink I'd be doing this, right?
Like you're doing allthese different things.

(01:19:38):
You're like, no, I didn't.
2021 me.
No, I really.
What are you crazy, Carlyn?
I'm not doing all that.
I love it.
But then again,
it led me here.
And if I wouldn't have madethose hard decisions, Who knows?
Totally.
I think you made every move along theway, none of it was a mistake, right?

(01:20:00):
Like if even as we reflected on someof those things where it felt chaotic,
you were doing exactly what youneeded to do to get through that time.
it wasn't a mistake.
It added to you being here.
and I, especially when my oldestson, when I did my first ever
podcast and it was terrifying me,Oh my gosh, I don't know what to do.
and it was downtown and Isaid, you want to come with me?

(01:20:20):
Mommy's really nervous.
He's like, why are you nervous?
And I was explaining, the premise of this.
He's oh, okay.
And he says to me, mommy,you can do hard things.
I know you can do this.
And I thought, oh my gosh,gonna break my heart here.
And so I did it and I come out and I said,I'm all done and he's seeing me smiling.
He's mommy, he's you did a hard thing.

(01:20:41):
He's you did it.
And I was like, Oh my gosh, if Icould just model, like you could
tell your kids, like you can dohard stuff and you could do it.
But if you don't say okay,this is a very big obstacle for
mommy, but I'm going to do it.
thanks for coming with me.
And then they seen it.
And he was like, click.
And he's super aware and observant,but it interesting that he flipped it.
And he's you're doing hardthings, mommy, so proud of you.

(01:21:02):
And truly your actions speak somuch more loudly than your words.
So by actually doing and communicatingthat, so many people think they need
to hide their pain from their kids.
And no, when you can show them, likethat's the stuff that he's going to
remember that part, he had already clearlyintegrated it because he was able to
pull that out as appropriate resource.
I know.
It's like a photo I seen on socialmedia eons ago, and I'm a big

(01:21:23):
reader, and the kids see me read.
I've always got a book in myhand, and they're like, oh, I
wish I'd get my kids to read more.
And one of the captionswas, don't say it, do it.
basically, just read all thetime, and they'll see you reading.
They'll be like, maybe I should.
join in or at least, recognize it.
It's in their face.
I'm not telling you to do it.
It's just something I doand then it sticks longer.
So it's

(01:21:44):
Yeah,
I love
that.
And because a lot of us do readon our phones or listen on our
phones, but it doesn't have the samemodeling effect because we could
just as well be scrolling on TikTok.
They don't know.
Yeah, it could be a social media hit.
yeah.
They physically
see the book and they're like, Oh, she's
at it again.
she's reading again.
My mom sure likes to learn.
Yeah.
But I use it as a regulatorystrategy too, right?

(01:22:06):
Reading brings calm.
So if you see me reading a lot, it'sbecause I'm calming myself down.
Good, good.
That's perfect.
That's a good,
great strategy.
How would you like to see OTsget a little bit more brave?
By working together, being, andbringing the awareness of that, like we

(01:22:26):
don't all have to be in our own silo.
Like we have so many cool things, likeOTs have such amazing creative minds and
to be like, it's like the group, I wouldnever have known that, like who's doing
what over here and who's like chatting,with someone in Australia or, like never
in my life would I've been thinking, I'lljust chat with OTs all over the world.
never would I have known, but just beingthe openness, like the willingness, even

(01:22:49):
if you're not going to learn anythingor you're not going to change your way
of doing it, it's just being open toit and being like, Oh, that's so cool
that you're doing that over there.
Because if I didn't have that mindset,then how would I have been able to
adapt to every different province?
Because I have to adapt.
I have to learn how they work here andwhat they do here and meet other OTs and
other physios and other speech therapistsand, like the gamut is just so large.

(01:23:11):
So it's just being opento learn from each other.
I think that's a really big one.
And
Just take your ego could get up, you meetsome people and the ego is really strong.
You're like, I just hear,I just want to know more.
I just want to learn.
I just want to connect.
if you let go of needing to be thebest or the winner or the one with
the best idea, and just be thereto be open, yeah, exactly, and

(01:23:34):
just go, what can I learn here?
How can I grow here?
How can I contribute toother people's growth?
Like how can this be acollective experience?
Then we're all better.
Our profession's better for it.
Because every time I'veopened myself up, which.
It's always worked to my benefitbecause it's good to just meet other
people and new things, but it's openedme up and learned from each of them.

(01:23:54):
I have unofficial mentors everywhere.
They don't like, I've just soakedeverything they've had because
they've been doing it for so longand I just want to learn from you.
I don't know at all.
I still feel like I, I justcracked the itty bitty surface of
pediatrics and, this realm of things.
if I meet someone who's got30 years experience, I'm like,
can I take you out for coffee?
just a chat, just want to know a littlebit about what you're doing And it

(01:24:17):
seems really strange to even just saythat, but it's we don't do that enough.
We don't just want to like connectfor the sake of connecting.
Yeah, I like that.
And I like even how you framed itas, can I take you out for coffee?
because so many people arelike, can I pick your brain?
And to me, that always feels so yucky.
Like you just want to take from me,like that idea of can I buy you coffee?
I really love what you're doing.

(01:24:38):
and the different framework,they're completely different, same
outcome, but it's yeah, one kindof is a little bit more generous.
And the onus too, if I'm taking someoneout, I want to buy their coffee.
Yeah.
Yeah.
it's just something minutiae.
there's a set amount of people thatI know that I've bought their coffee
for and I wrote it down on my phone sothat, if I see them again, I'll have it

(01:24:58):
ready and I already know what they have.
So it's just something that I've causeit's and I felt it the other way around.
I took out a new grad and she'sOh, can I buy your coffee?
And I was like, Youwant to buy me a coffee?
Oh, sure, this is straight.
But I was like, wow, like, that's reallykind of you to want to buy my coffee.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But then right away, you're opento hanging out with this person.

(01:25:19):
You're like, wow, you really put me beforeyou just slightly, just for a tiny bit.
Yeah.
Because you reallytruly just want to help.
You just want to connect isbasically the premise behind it.
Totally.
Totally.
And I also encourage people to charge aconsultation fee sometimes too, right?
If that's if that feelslike a stretch for you.
And, I think that's a thing too, butI would probably be more inclined

(01:25:41):
to send a person my, here's how tobook a paid session with me if a
person said, can I pick your brain?
yeah, it's straight like professional,like purely, like I just do it cause I'm
like, yeah, I want to hang out for a bit.
Yeah, totally.
Yeah, totally.
I love it.
And my last question is, Wherecan people connect with you?

(01:26:02):
I know you've stepped back a bitfrom social media, but if somebody
had a question or something,what's the best way to find you?
I would say the easiestway now is just my website.
It'd bewww.newleafoccupationaltherapy.com.
Okay.
I have all just basic info, butthere's like a booking, chat with me
for, just a free chat kind of thing.
And anyone can just book a timeand then it's already set up.

(01:26:24):
They pick the date and time and,
they could send you aStarbucks gift card by email,
buy you a coffee.
I'm putting it out there to the universe.
like my coffee.
we will chat again soon, but docome to a call sometime soon.
Yes, I have it on my calendar.
Thank you so much for having me.
Thank you.
This is fun.

(01:26:45):
I enjoyed it.
Thank you so much for joining me andJessica On this episode of The BRAVE
OT Podcast, if her story resonated withyou and you're struggling with over
functioning, burnout, or simply feelinglike there's not enough time in the
day to do it all, I want to remind youthat you don't have to do it alone.
ACTivate Vitality isnow open for enrollment,

(01:27:07):
and recently we've shifted away fromalways being open to only accepting
new clients during specific periods.
Right now, you can book a noobligation clarity call through to
the end of October to see if thisprogram is the right fit for you.
ACTivate Vitality is all aboutsupporting OT business owners
to thrive, both personally andprofessionally, without the hustle.

(01:27:27):
We focus on aligning your business withyour values and building a sustainable,
fulfilling career that adds to yourlife, rather than puts it in opposition
where it seems to be taking from it.
If you're ready to make that shiftand find the support you need,
book your Clarity Call now beforeenrollment closes on October 30th.
The link is in the shownotes to schedule your call.

(01:27:49):
Let's work together to createa business and a life that
truly aligns with who you are.
As always, be brave, OTs.

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Ep. 33: Scarcity Mindset to Sustainable Growth - Jessica Earle’s ACTivate Vitality Story

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Ep. 33: Scarcity Mindset to Sustainable Growth - Jessica Earle’s ACTivate Vitality Story