Jenn Mansell | Building a Business as a Breathwork Facilitator

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May 16

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Jenn Mansell
How to Build a Business as a Breathwork Facilitator
*(Great Listen for All Wellness Practitioners!)*

This week, I am interviewing Jenn Mansell who is a Breathwork Facilitator, Somatic Coach, and a passionate Business Owner.

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Today, I’m sitting down with Jenn Mansell.

Jenn Mansell is a Breathwork Facilitator, a Somatic Coach, and she’s someone who has been able to transform her passion into a Full Time Business.

I was first introduced to the art of breathwork and Jenn’s magical talents at a conference that I attended about 10 months ago, and even though I had never done breathwork, I realized after I posted an IG story mentioning the session with Jenn, that her work has actually impacted MANY of my friends and my peers.

Messages like …

“OMG Her Sessions are AMAZING”

“I’ve been doing breathwork for years and it’s helped me get through some really tough times”

Needless to say, I was pretty intrigued.

In this conversation, Jenn and I dive into…

How she found breathwork and ultimately ended up training as a breathwork facilitator,
The fears she came up against in taking the leap into launching her business,
How she’s been able to grow it into a 6 figure business,
The results that her clients experience.
& so much more

If you’d like to attend one of Jenn’s upcoming sessions, check her calendar at https://www.jennmansell.com/events

I think you’re going to really love this conversation with Jenn, so let’s dive right in!

Click the image to tune in to this weeks episode 🎙️

Want to take a peek at my “Prep Notes” for the show? 👇

These are totally unedited, and give you an idea of what I do to get ready for the interview.

Jenn -

I felt like it was only appropriate to do one of your online breathwork sessions right before this conversation, and I can tell you with certainty that I am feeling calm, a bit emotional, and focused. I felt like I went on a journey into a magical land I had never been, something about the music and your voice was very cinematic to me.

Is that normal?

Although I haven’t been a student of breathwork, many of my peers who are also business owners, sing the praises of it… and in particular, they sing your praises so I’ve been so curious to learn more about this practice and to dig into how it can support us on our journeys.

Let’s zoom the lens back…

At some point in your 20’s, you found yourself as a Digital Nomad - and part of that journey involved you living in California and finding out about Breathwork through your friend…
- Can you take us back to that chapter in your life: why were you travelling & what were you up to?
- Tell us about your first Breathwork Experience?
- I know that you mentioned on another podcast that you would see people come to these retreats where your friend was offering breathwork, and they would come one person and leave totally transformed - what were some of these transformations that you were witnessing?
- What did the certification process look like?
- Did you know that you’d be able to make breathwork into your career path, or were you more doing it out of interest

Starting your breathwork business…

Did you have any experience starting a business or brand prior to this
How did you start to promote your services? How did people hear about Breathwork
Resistance is often an emotion we come up against, especially as artistic and creative people trying to build structure around our gifts -- did you face any resistance in turning your passion into an income?
Speaking of income, I know you offer Sliding Scale Pricing - can you tell us about the decision to create a pricing model that’s accessible?
You describe your business as a Feminine Based Business, which I love. Can you share with our listeners what this means to you?
Is there anything that would be done in a traditional business, that doesn’t align with your Feminine Based Business Strategy?

Where you are today…

We have a lot of Nutritionists, Wellness Practitioners, Trainers, Coaches & Consultants who listen to this show… who are currently grappling with balancing life as a practitioner and entrepreneur…

What does a typical work week look like for you?
Since you are the facilitator of your business, have you encountered any struggles in feeling like marketing your business is self-promotion OR vice versa?
What are the ways that people tend to find out about you? What works in your “marketing plan”?
Your journey into Instagram began with a 30 day dance challenge, tell us about that.
- Were you resistant to Instagram as a social marketing platform?
- What has been your experience thus far?
- What do you see as the upside of using IG for business and what do you see as some of the downsides/ challenges?
- Is there a skill that you’re currently trying to upgrade, to take your business to the next level of growth
- Do you have a vision of where you want to be in 5 or 10 years time, or are you just taking it 1 day at a time?

Breathwork specifics...

I talk a lot about the inevitable “dips” or “peaks and valleys” of running a business. Can breathwork help us work through these dips and challenging days and/or weeks?
What about our listeners who are experiencing creative blocks? Maybe they feel a bit lost and aren’t sure where their next big idea is going to come from…
You say that breathwork helps you get beyond your mind and that it takes you an inner journey… is everyone ready and able to access this type of inner journey?

Finally, I picked up on something you said in another interview and that was that “It’s hard to make choices for your health, when you’re disconnected with your body”

That line is so profound and I think this is why we see so many people struggling with their health, living a meaningful life, and maintaining good relationships…

If you are disconnected from your body, you don’t realize that sugar makes you sleep

If you are disconnected from your body, you don’t realize how low you feel after hanging out with certain friends..

What are some of the key transformations someone could expect if they attend one of your breathwork sessions, or attend MULTIPLE sessions.

You're listening to the visionary life podcast. I'm your host, Kelsey Rydall each week. I'll bring you conversations with the most visionary humans on this earth in hopes that you'll be able to absorb their wisdom, avoid their failures and feel less alone on the rollercoaster ride that is entrepreneurship.
This season, I'll be chatting with creative things. Masterful marketers, brick and mortar shop owners, brand builders, and people just like you who have a story to share or a vision that inspires. If I can share one quick secret with you before we get into the episode, it's that we all have a little bit of visionary inside of us.
You know, that spark, that nudges us to pursue our full potential in this lifetime. But perhaps somewhere along the line, it got covered up. I'm here to tell you that it's never too late to explore that inner voice and access the brilliance deep down inside of you. It's in you. It's in all of us. Let's dive in.
Oh, I just wrapped up my chat with Jen Mansell, who is a breathwork facilitator based in Toronto, Canada, listen to this show for any amount of time. And I guarantee you'll feel calmer just by being in Jen's presence. I was first introduced to the art of breathwork and Jen's magical talents at a conference that I attended about 10 months ago.
And even though I had never done breath work, I realized after I posted an Instagram story, mentioning the session with Jen, that her work has actually impacted me. Many, many of my friends and my peers messages like, oh my God, her sessions are amazing. And I've been doing breath work with Jen for years and it's helped me get through really tough times.
Needless to say, I was pretty intrigued in this conversation, Jen and I dive into how she found breathwork and ultimately ended up training as a breathwork facilitator. The fears that came up when she decided to take the leap into launching her own. We talk about how she's been able to grow it into a six figure empire and the results that her clients experience.
If you'd like to attend one of Jen's upcoming sessions. After listening to this show, you've got to check out her events, calendar. It's just at Jen mansell.com/events. I think you're really going to love this convo with Jen. Um, I learned so much about breath work and I'm really keen to start making it a regular practice, even just in doing some of her free Breathworks that she gives away on her website.
I instantly felt calmer, more focused and just more dialed in on my work after I completed the breathwork session. So let's dive into this conversation with Jen and I will catch you on the other side for three key takeaways. Enjoy.
Jen Mansell, welcome to the visionary life podcast. Right before we started recording, I actually thought it would be appropriate to pull up one of your 20 minute breathwork sessions. Uh, and so I just completed it actually, and I'm feeling almost a bit emotional, a little bit calm, but also very focused.
And I felt personally, like I went on this journey to a magical land and your music was very cinematic. Your voice is very cinematic and it was just such a neat experience. Is that normal?
Great question. Um, yeah, that is normal breath work. Breath work is really just breathing in a rhythmic pattern over and over to music.
And it really helps us to drop into this kind of creative flow state, where our mind is not stuck in survival and fear. So we can actually start to, like you said, explore these magical lands and magical places within ourselves. And, um, you know, most of us are really good at holding our breath. And you saying that you are, you know, feeling some emotions and things.
When we start to breathe breathwork is really a gateway into, um, our feelings because we learned so early on in our lives to hold onto our breath so that we don't have to feel that welcoming and the breath helps us to feel. And then on the other side of the feelings, there's a magical abyss of.
Possibility and creation. So I'm happy that you had that experience and, um, thanks for giving it a try right before.
Yeah. And you know what? I haven't been a student of breathwork, but I was attending a virtual conference, the Archangel conference about six months ago. And you actually did kind of a mini session just to cue up the day.
And it was a conference about business and marketing. And then there was a breathwork session right at the start. And I was like, okay, like, I'm going to try this. And I actually did like a quick little Instagram story segment and I tagged you. And I actually had like three or four friends reach out right from that post saying, oh, I love Jen.
I go to her classes. And I just had no idea that this was happening. And I was like, wait, I thought I was in this realm of wellness and wellbeing. And I had never, and I still have not done a lot of breath work. So I'm just really excited. This open. And, um, one topic of interest I have too is kind of how it can support business owners, because we do have a lot of aspiring and early stage entrepreneurs.
So I just think there's so much for me to learn. And I'm excited that I get to bring the visionaries on board as I learn more about breathwork and really get to know why this practice can be so beneficial,
amazing, so much to share. I'm
excited. So at some point in your twenties, we're going to go back a little bit.
You found yourself, I think you describe it as a digital nomad and that part of your journey actually involved you living in California and finding out about breathwork through a friend. So can you take us back to that chapter in your life? Why were you traveling? What were you up to and then what was your first intro to breathwork.
Yeah, it's funny. Digital nomad is like a term. I think like we're all kind of digital nomads in some way right
now. Um, but it
was really, you know, like in the past decade it was really, um, new people were starting to work online and, um, and work from wherever in the world. And so I was at that time, um, between Toronto, California, Costa Rica, I was going to Croatia and Vancouver and, um, I was working with an amazing breathwork, uh, facilitator coach, amongst many things named Samantha Skelly, Samantha Skelly.
Now we're working together and we were running, uh, retreats for women. And so this was kind of my, she had a history of, um, facilitating breath work. And this was really my first experience that she kinda like tagged me in, um, and was like, Hey, can you co-facilitate with me? So I didn't even really know what I was getting myself into.
And before I knew it, I was in this room with 30 women, you know, crying, releasing, making sounds, you know, going through these epic, like journeys of, um, kind of reconnecting with themselves. And I just remember this very visceral feeling in my body of like, I don't know what that was, but that was really, really powerful.
And that connected me so deeply to my heart and to the humanity in each of us. And. And I just sort of like never forgot. I never forgot the practice. Um, and so, you know, I continued on my, my digital nomad journey, um, working from many, many coffee shops and random people's couches. Um, and then I eventually, you know, really I hit a rock bottom place in my life.
Um, the chapter after that one was really, my life fell apart. You could say, um, I left a business partnership. My health crashed, my relationship ended. Uh, I lost the home. I was living in like all of it just out from under me. And, you know, it was kinda like one of those dark nights of the soul where. I was left to ask myself, like, if, if I'm not all these things, then who am I in?
Why am I here? And, um, I was very sick at that time, very unwell and, you know, breath were cut and came back around to me. I was actually meditating on this couch that I'm sitting on. And, um, I just heard this voice and it was like, you need a tool, your tool is breath work, go. And I was like, I don't know.
Would that be, it took me like a year to kind of be like, okay, how do I explore this? But, um, it ended up being a tool that kind of helped me piece my life back together.
Um, that's such a cool story. And I think it's interesting. I'm excited to hear kind of what happened after that, because I think a lot of the listeners, they've probably had a similar moment where they are going through that dark night of the soul for lack of a better term.
And they're kind of in this place where they're like, I don't know what my purpose is. Like, why am I here? And oftentimes we get this inner voice that says you're supposed to travel, or maybe you have to quit your job, or you have to go pursue the violin, like you used to play. But we tend to just shove those thoughts aside because we think, oh, no, I don't have time for that.
Or there's no meaning behind this. So for you, when you kind of heard that voice of you have to go explore breath work, did you take immediate action and then like your life started improving, like, or what happened in between there to actually then. You know, study the practice and, um, devote a lot of your life
to it.
Yeah. I mean, what really happened was I was so stuck in my head at this time. I was like trying to figure out my life and I felt very lost because when you, you know, end a relationship and a business partnership, those types of things, you lose a part of your identity. And so anyone who's ever been in a transitionary period of their life knows that, um, in, in that time you just are trying to figure out like, what am I supposed to do?
Who am I supposed to be? You're trying to find your new identity. And so I really struggled. I had a really hard time and tried, I tried a lot of different things during that time. I, you know, dabbled with all sorts of projects and business coaching and all sorts of different things. And I, I think what, what ended up kind of bringing me back to breathwork was really,
I, I heard this quote, I'm going to mess it up, but it was like, sometimes you have to, um, give up the life. You, you think you're supposed to live to like, become who you really are. Yep. And I had this moment of like, I have to let go of trying to figure out who I'm supposed to be, and I need to just like drop into who am I right now?
Who am I right now? And from this place. What can this person bring to the world and what I realized. And I think a lot of people don't realize this is like, we want to, we want to go out into the world and we want to bring, you know, bring our vision to life and we want to help people and serve humanity.
And sometimes there's a big period of time before you do that. That's really deep and really internal and really, um, helping you to get to know what your, you know, when we talk about purpose to me, it's like your purpose is to be who you are, is to bring forward your own unique voice and creation to the world.
And so in order to do that, you have to take this journey to take this inner journey into like listening to those whispers and following the. So I certainly did not. Um, immediately lesson, I had a lot of indecision and eventually. As I always do. I always end up following my heart, but it's never, um,
that smooth never is.
And really, like you said, there's no timeline for how long this internal journey is going to last. Like, some people are probably in it for a couple of weeks and for other people, it's going to be a couple of years before you're really ready to share your gifts and share your super powers with the world.
But I really think the same as you. Um, I think there's a quote that says don't change who you are, be more of who you already are. And I think a lot of us, as we grow up, we feel like we have to morph ourselves into who our parents want us to be. And we download all these programs from the people we hang out with and the TV shows that we watch, but the journey is really in like taking away those programs and uninstalling them and really understand that.
Who am I? And once you get there, it's like, okay, now what gift can I share forward? But it starts as an internal journey, which it sounds like it really did for
you. Absolutely. And I think I've realized, you know, now that I'm like sort of three years into doing this work full time, I have realized that that journey never really ends.
It's like, you know, you, you eventually come to the courageous place of like, okay, I'm ready to really start something and create something in the world. And then, you know, you do it and you put things out there and then ultimately you come up against your own inner roadblocks and then, oh, it's like time to go back in and kind of like work through my own little stuff here and then come back out.
So it's. You know, I thought like I was going to get it all figured out and then I was just going to cruise. Um, and really it's this, it's this inner outer journey that, that you're on. If you're a person who wants to step into entrepreneurship, because in some way your work is, um, is coming from you. So therefore.
Are a part of your business moving forward and you get to keep doing that work. And that's like one of the gifts of being on that path.
It's funny. Cause one of my first business coaches told me like, you know, personal growth equals business growth. And I was like, what do you mean? Like it's totally separate.
But then you realize like, oh, I am the vehicle to make my business grow. And so the more I learned about myself, the more self-expressed I become, the more I discover who I am, of course it trickles into business. So it, the personal growth journey, it never ends. And sometimes when I'm feeling stagnant in business it's because personally I haven't been growing or evolving and then vice versa as well.
It's such an interesting relationship.
Yeah. We love to, uh, in this like Western world put everything in silos and really we're an ecosystem and it's all. Everything happening in our outer world is just a reflection of what's in our inner space. And, um, and I think seeing it that way gives you more permission to just keep, keep going and keep exploring.
Yeah.
So going back to that time, when you got the idea, like, I need to find breathwork again, um, that obviously was just an idea, but there was no action necessarily of like, I'm going to go get certified or I'm going to host my first workshop. So can you tell us how you eventually bridge the idea that you needed to find breathwork once again, to the actions that you took to actually advance this mission forward?
Because I think a lot of the listeners are there right now. Like they want to become a yoga teacher. They want to, you know, become a breathwork coach, but they don't have the tools or they're, you know, still waiting to figure out like, how do I take that next step? And they're just in this stagnant position.
So what did that look like for you? Yeah.
Great question. So for me, um, once you have some kind of clarity, whatever it is, It's so important to then put it into action too, to kind of test the waters, so to speak. So, um, what I did was I ended up, um, firstly exploring my own personal practice. So I was like, if this is something that I'm interested in facilitating, I should probably practice myself.
Right. So I started to do, um, work with many different practitioners and started to really see the effects of this practice in my life. So that really drove me forward in a big way, because I felt, uh, like personally impacted by it. Secondly, I mean, I'm a person who I think most of us really are at the end of the day, we're going to make a decision from our heart and from our gut knowing.
That means you have to take action before, you know, so the way that I actually ended up knowing that I was going to do a breathwork training was I reached out to a bunch of different, um, teachers and I had chats with them. And when I chatted with I've had many teachers now, but my first teacher, his name is Anthony.
And, um, when I first chatted with Anthony, I just had this like deep sense in my body of like, you know, he's like in his mid seventies, I was just like, I need what this guy has. Like, however, this guy is, I sat on a zoom call with this man. And he was so present. I felt like I just could cry the whole, the whole call.
It was, it was really beautiful. And I felt so seen by him and touched and. I just knew that like, he, he got something that I needed or that I was looking for in my life. And so that was ultimately, you know, I still struggled with like, holy, this is a big financial investment, you know, how do I even know if I'm going to be able to do this full-time or not?
I don't know. Um, I think ultimately you come to a place always where you have to take a leap and I've learned over the years that the leap is terrifying and the leap is also like such a beautiful lesson. It's like the leap is the gift. The leap is where you get to realize that, um, you're so fully supported.
And so I took the leap. I signed up for breathwork training and. It, uh, you know, Anthony said to me, it's going to be nine months and I was like nine months. Wow. Oh my God. Like, why so long? You know, I want to do it tomorrow. And he was like, you have to become the person. You have to become the person that can hold the space for people.
And that will take you nine months of your own practice. So, um, I did nine months of training and, um, grew a lot during that time, learned a lot during that time had a beautiful mentor who I went and met in Sedona. Um, and you know, I think that that transition after that. That was hard, you know, once you're in the training, you're like, okay, like, you know, there's momentum.
Things are in motion. Here we go. I'm learning, I'm growing. I'm immersing myself in this thing I'm passionate about. And then to go from there to like, I'm going to put this out in the world and I'm going to tell people that I'm doing this and I'm going to, I'm going to share this with people. That step was also so scary.
So scary. I remember I decided I was going to do one in person. Breathwork my goal was to have like 10 people and I was just terrified to book the space, to put it out there. And it took, I remember having to, like, I covered my eyes and I hit the send. On Instagram to post that I was going to do it. And within two hours, 30 people bought tickets on Eventbrite and I was like, oh, well, oh my goodness.
All these people are going to come.
They're really good to see that I don't know what I'm doing, you know?
Um, and so here's another piece of advice that I did that I think is really helpful. I gave myself a container and permission to experiment in that container. So as I was getting started, I didn't know how I was going to make money and I didn't know what I was really going to do, but I said, I'm going to do one group breath, work in person once a month for a whole year.
And I'm going to use this as a container to experiment and to try things on. And I don't know if people are going to come, but I'm going to commit to this. And, um, that ended up being such a gift to, to myself just saying that I was going to do that and to stay with it and to show up every month, even if there were only a few people there.
Um, and that, that's what I think started to build my confidence. And I gave myself permission to like, you know, try different things during that time. I wasn't trying to be an expert. I was just like, I'm going to do this. And this is my commitment to myself.
Coming up. I continue my conversation. We'll be right back.
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Welcome back. Let's get into the conversation once again. That's amazing and it's so relatable. Um, so I get to, uh, work with students at the Canadian school of natural nutrition. And I teach their business course right at the end of the program. And I know a lot of them listen to this podcast. And it's funny, you were saying like, you go through the training and you're like, this is the work like they're studying.
And they're like, I'm doing the things. And then they get to the end of the course and they're like, oh, you mean I have to start a business and get visible now. Cause like I've just been learning, reading all these awesome books on nutrition and health. And then all of a sudden they're faced with that, you know, reality that you have to put yourself out there, whether you are ready or not.
And I love that. You said like you gave yourself permission to experiment a time to just get some social proof, like will one person sign up or not? Will I get data that I'm the worst breathwork teacher or will somebody tell me. That was really powerful. Thank you so much. And I think where so many people.
Find themselves stuck is that they graduate and they have this gift, but they're working so hard behind the scenes to try and make sure that their business plan is perfect and that before they put themselves out there that they take 954 more certifications and trainings. But what they're missing is the fact that they need to just get themselves out there and commit to showing up and saying, I'm not going to be the best breathwork coach or holistic nutritionist in the world, but I am going to start sharing and start showing up for people, whether it's once a week or once a month, whatever it is that you set out as your goal.
And knowing that that's part of the journey is starting where you are and knowing that each time you do it, you're going to get better. You're going to grow your community while you grow your business. So, uh, I love that you shared that and I'm sure it was terrifying for you to host those first few classes, but look, you put yourself out there and then you've got 30 people sign up.
So it's really about just blindly hitting that publish button and being like, all right. You know, if nobody signs up, that's just data that maybe it was at the wrong time or that people didn't like what I was describing and I need to tweak it a little bit. Right. So, um, it's taken that
leap. I think you're totally right.
Yeah. And nothing can take the leap away. You have to take the leap. Like you can do a hundred trainings, you can get your PhD, you still have to take the leap. So it's like, you know, you might as well just cover your eyes and like dive in because you have to do it at some point. And I want people to know, like I built an entire business, I didn't have a website.
I, you know, people didn't even really know what the hell breathwork was because, you know, in the past year or so, it's really like grown a lot. Um, but before that, like nobody knew what I was even doing. Um, and I, you know, I didn't have a ton of followers, followers on social media, so I. I think we have it backwards, right?
We're like, oh, I've got to have the Instagram. I've got to have the branding. And I got to have the niche and I got to have all those things. And I think what I've learned is like, no, you don't, your business wants to grow like a baby. You know, it's like, you don't have a baby and say like little, Johnny's going to be a baseball player and he's going to do this when he's 25 and he's gonna live here.
You know, you, you let the child grow and evolve in the same as your business. If you are willing to take the risk to just say, I'm just going to start trying things and follow what feels good for me and what feels right. And what people respond to. Then I think, um, all of those things, your niche, your branding, your voice, your message.
Like to me, they all come out of that. And it was really the experimenting that helped me understand those things.
It's so true. I think so many people get caught up in having that perfect image online, but then when everything is said and done, they have zero people who are, you know, coming to look at that beautiful website or who are even on their social media.
So it's really about more of that grassroots strategy. Like you said, treating it like a baby. So I'm sure there are some people listening that are like, well, if you didn't have a website and if social media, wasn't your thing, how were people finding out about you? What were some of those early promotional efforts?
We'll call them that got you. Your first few raving clients.
Yeah. So. I mean, I was lucky to be plugged into communities of people in Toronto who were into these kinds of types of experiences. So I had spent a long time going to, you know, going to sound baths and going to, um, ecstatic dance and deejaying and things like that.
So, um, I was connected with people, but really the reason, or like what helped my business grow and build was, was referrals. People were coming to, um, my sessions and having transformational experiences. So when you have a powerful experience, you want to share, you want to tell people you want to bring people.
So a lot of it for me was people bringing friends, bringing friends, telling friends, um, And, and that would, that really grew because, you know, there's this thing of like, oh, we need thousands of people to build a business. You don't like, I still don't even have like 5,000 people on Instagram and I'm running a six figure business.
If you do good work and you do it from your heart and it impacts people in a real way. Um, I really think that there are a lot of ways that your business can grow. And, and a lot of it is, you know, people telling people and it passing through through the great vine in that kind of old school way or people, um, you know, even on social, like people sharing about your, your work and what you're up to because they feel impacted by you.
Yeah. It's like going back to the marketing strategy that has been around since the Dawn of time, which is word of mouth. Right. And I think where a lot of people try to skip ahead as they build the landing page, they have the perfect Instagram aesthetic, but they don't yet have a remarkable product, remarkable being, people remark about it.
Right. And I think that's where we need to. And for you, you were saying people were leaving your classes going. They had to tell a friend because something that I did in that class, something I created in this experience was memorable to them. It was an experience. They couldn't forget it transformed their life, right?
Maybe not everyone, but, you know, even if you get a few people per class that are remarking on how good you are, there's your whole marketing strategy, right. No website needed, like you said, and of course, yes, that the website, the social media that should come down the line as another channel for you to promote your services.
But I think it's like, step one, have a great product. And we often forget that because we're bombarded with all of these courses and messages that say, you know, invest in ClickFunnels, it's going to save your business. But if your product isn't good, then I don't know that a click funnel is really going to help.
So, um, I love that, you know, a lot of your business was built on something so simple as referrals.
Yeah, absolutely. It was referrals and it was also, um, me building relationships with people, you know, like old school, like one of the things that I did was I, I started teaching classes at, um, meditation studios and in yoga studios and just, you know, dropping into different communities where people were of the same kind of mindset and I would teach classes.
So there were periods of time where I was teaching, like, you know, 10 times a week. Um, And that also just made me, I was out there. I was visible and I spent a lot of time, honestly, just chatting with people like, Hey, like what came up for you in that class? Like, how are you doing this week? Like, I really took time to get to know people and to care about people's journeys and, and wellbeing.
I wasn't so focused on building the funnel and building the lakes. And I was like just focused on caring about humans. And so many of my, you know, future higher paying clients came from people that I just took that time to really like connect with and get to know about their.
Hmm. I love that. Yeah, it's really not about just shouting at people and just sending mass emails.
Like it's literally about the one person you talk to and make a connection and remember their dog's name. And those people will stick around forever. If they feel safe in your presence, if they feel like you actually care about the relationship at hand. And I also love that you brought up that you were getting visible in front of other people's audiences, like at a yoga studio, they probably already had a roster of people who loved yoga and came to them for classes.
And what you did was you showed up with your service and were able to tap into their audience it's collaboration. Right. We don't need to just sit in the four walls of our office and like, try to build this business alone. It's like, no, like there's amazing opportunities for partnership and, um, to go out and seek a community that already exists and to share your gift with them.
Absolutely. Yeah.
You mentioned, you know, at this point that you are doing breath work as your full time business. So can you kind of take us through at this point? Like what are the services that you offer and as a service provider, how do you stay sane while running this business full time, knowing that there are limited hours in the day that you can teach and give away your energy.
So how does that look for you right now?
Yeah, great question. So I work with people in lots of different ways. Um, I work with people one-on-one to do breathwork sessions. So what that looks like for those of you who don't really know even what breath work is, um, The practice that I facilitate is one that was created back in the sixties and seventies.
They originally called it breath therapy. So they were helping people to access what they call altered states of consciousness. So just if you've ever been in a meditative state or even a state where you're just like, you know, sitting outside and you're like, wow, like you just see the world in a different way, like flow
state kind of
flow state.
Yeah, exactly. Um, this is a practice that can help you to get into that place. And basically the people that created this modality, um, recognized that when, when we're able to get our minds out of our way, the body knows how to heal itself and knows what it needs and knows how to fix things. W it's just, we get in the way and think we need to control.
And so the breathwork sessions that I do, um, one-on-one with people they breathe for about 45 minutes. We get them set up beforehand and we unpack things after, and I, I kind of guide them along. So currently I do that mostly virtually, um, pre pandemic. I was in person with people and would do sort of like body work with them as they breathe.
Then this practice is really helpful to release tension and stress and trauma and things that you have held in your body for years and years. That's why, when you do breath work, you know, a few sessions or many sessions in a row, you start to kind of like peel some of the layers of your life that you're still holding on to, um, kind of like peel them off.
So I work with people in that capacity. And then I also do, um, somatic coaching, which is, is basically just kind of like it integrates breathwork breathwork is a sematic practice, meaning body-based. Um, my coaching work is really just to help people kind of dive even deeper into, you know, why are they feeling stuck?
Why can't they move forward? They help them understand how their mind works and how their mind and their feelings work together. And really, I help people get through the blocks that come up on their journey of growth, whether they're an entrepreneur or a person who's growing spiritually. Um, I work with them to get reconnected with their body and I, you know, my whole philosophy and I came to this place because I was, you know, I've been sick since I was a baby.
I've come to this place of knowing that the body has so much wisdom and so much knowing. And, um, if we can access that and tap into that body intelligence, uh, we don't really have to figure life out so much. So in my coaching practice, I kind of integrate a bunch of those things together. And then I also offer, um, you know, early pandemic days, I was just like, wow, like people need to do this work all the time.
So I made it on. I immediately, it was like, I was looking around on online and I was like, oh, everybody's doing an online class now. I was like, oh, I don't know if I want to be like everybody else. And then there was another voice in me that was like, Jen, This is your moment to lead. Like, are you going to lead?
Are you going to sit back and watch everybody else? And I was like, no, I'm going to lead. So I started doing a weekly free class and over the course of, I mean, I did it from last March until September, every week, twice a week. Sorry we had Fridays and Saturdays and all sorts of people came hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people came.
Everyone was just like bringing their aunts and uncles and grandparents and, um, And so I started doing community. I call them community classes. So I do community classes still, not every week, twice a week, but usually once or twice a month, where usually about a hundred of us gather online. And there's quite the light community around it now at school.
And we all do breathwork together and kind of just share like where we're at and where we're going, um, in our lives. And, um, I also have a, women's like an eight week women's breathwork journey. So we do breath work once a week for eight weeks. And we go through this whole journey of exploring, like really exploring our hearts, our resistance and our, um, you know, what do we need to forgive?
How do we access our desires and our longings and things like that. And so how do I balance all of this? Well, it's been hard. It's been really hard during COVID, um, because you know, it's been great because I can do all my work online for my computer, which is awesome. And also sometimes it's really difficult to balance, um, like living life and taking care of yourself and doing all those other things and running a business.
Um, I think some things that I've had to implement that have helped me a lot are, uh, I used to, I was working a lot of evenings and things, and I have sense booked at least like three or four evenings of the week, like weeknights, um, off I don't, I don't see clients then. And I was like, oh my God, I'm going to miss out on.
No, actually, they just booked earlier in the day, who was actually fine. And I was really scared about that. Um, and I take Saturdays and Sundays off of work. I, I only do like maybe half an hour on Sunday night just to prep for the week. And I also go off of tech a lot. So a way that I have, because you know, when you're an entrepreneur, your phone and your tech is also your business.
So sometimes I just need a straight up break from it. So I just put my phone on airplane mode and we'll sometimes take the whole day or, um, you know, the whole evening just off. And I've really had to learn, you know, about boundaries. It really sucked before I wanted to, you know, when you're first starting your, your business, you want to help everybody.
And you want to really like put yourself out there and it's important that you say yes to a lot of things. And as your business grows, I think it's important to start to have some healthy boundaries that are like, Hey, um, you know, I can't text back and forth with you all the time. If you want to do a session, let's do a session.
Um, and you know, just, just little things like that. Or even me saying to my clients like, Hey, I need you to know that it's going to take me at least 24 hours to get back to you and you need to give me that grace period. Cause I'm, you know, I'm holding a lot of space for a lot of people. Um, and so I think it's, it's important to set some of those parameters for yourself and.
I mean, being that I'm a service provider, I would say my experience has been that you can not, not that you can not, but it's very, um, it's a lot to do it five days of the week. Yeah. You know, especially if you're working one-on-one with people. Um, so it's very important for me that I have time to relieve, replenish myself and to receive my own medicine.
So I do breath work with myself at least once a week, usually as a daily practice. Um, and if I go too long and I don't do those things, it's like, I get disconnected from like, why am I doing what I'm doing? It just becomes like a grind. Uh, so I think that. It's really been helpful for me to make sure that I take the time to nourish myself and to, you know, live the things that I'm teaching to other people
coming up.
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Again, visionary marketing course.com. This is the visionary life podcast. Welcome back. Let's get into the conversation once. And like we were saying earlier, like as service providers, we are the vehicle for delivering our transformations to people. And so if we don't take care of ourselves and prioritize, um, balance in our life or whatever version that looks like for you, then we can't show up and serve our clients with our gift any longer.
And like you said, to be giving to people five days a week, and then on top of that to be doing the admin and the marketing and the answering the emails. You know, prepping for your tax season and all that stuff. Like it really does start to add up it's that balance between, you know, the client work, but also there's so many other pillars of running a business that have to be factored in.
And I think for a lot of people listening, like they're in that messy middle phase right now where it just feels like they're saying yes to everything working all the time. And I think for all of us, it is a personal journey of figuring out. When do I first establish boundaries because I can no longer wear all the hats or I can no longer say yes to everyone or, um, give everyone the expectation that I'm going to respond immediately and really finding out what those boundaries need to be so that you can protect your energy and not burn out, which means that you would have to, um, you know, go back and work a corporate job or not be able to show up and deliver breathwork to the clients who really need you.
So, um, thank you for sharing that. And I think, you know, we all have to kind of learn that on our own time. And it's interesting because one of the things, um, when filling. The, uh, calendar invite to be on the podcast. You wrote that one of the things that you are quite passionate about talking about is running a feminine based business.
And, you know, I can kind of crack open what that would be, but I'm curious to hear from you because it sounds like maybe having this balance is part of that, right? Not being 24 7, Gary Vaynerchuk, like hustle, hustle, hustle in order to be successful. What does running a feminine based business mean to you?
And what does that look like?
Yeah, good question. So I think this is something that I'm continuing to uncover. Um, I definitely am not an expert, but I think I knew because you know, a part of my health crash and my life crash was me really. Burning out. I had worked myself to the bone and I think I knew going into, uh, this new chapter of like running my own business that I needed to do things differently.
Like I was not interested in building a business where I was grinding and hustling and couldn't live my life. And couldn't, couldn't have the kind of like lifestyle that I really wanted to have, which was, you know, meant prioritizing my body and my health and my relationships and my community and all of those things.
So, um,
for me, it really has meant. How do I work from a place of flow instead of force? So flow flow state, if you don't understand what flow state is, flow state is a certain state of, of mind, um, where I like to describe it as like there's the, you, you find the perfect balance of discipline and surrender. So you get into flow when you I'll give you an example.
When you show up to a blank page, you clear your mind and you get super present and you just start right. And you just start writing, right? That's equal parts discipline because you're showing up and you have a container and flow and surrender because you're just, you're, you're not attached. You're just like letting stuff come through.
And so for me in my business, I'm not interested in, you know, back to what I said before about like, are you gonna let your kid become what it is or are you going to tell it who it's going to be? I'm not interested in, um, you know, trying to scale and trying to build my business to multi-million, whatever I'm really interested in letting my business become.
What it's going to become. And I recognize that because it's a reflection of me as I continue to grow and evolve in myself. Um, and in my ability to express myself and create new containers for people to experience things in, um, that my business will continue to grow. And so for me, um, you know, capitalism and the patriarchy tells us more and more and more and more, it's never enough.
You gotta make more money. You gotta have a bigger house, you got to do more and you gotta be more. And so for me, my kind of like flip on that and my, my feminine energy, you know, I don't mean like feminine female. I just mean like masculine energy is very like. Focused forward in one direction, set a goal.
Let's go get it. Take action for me. It's like, how can I lean back? Let go. Surrender trust, receive, allow, um, focus on building relationships, focus on building community, nurturing connections. Like how can I bring all of those principles of feminine energy, which feels so natural to me and use those to cultivate my business.
That way, you know, a part of the burnout I'm going to be really honest here is women pretending that we're men. Yes. We're pretending that, that we can work in the same way that a man can and we, and we can, you know, technically we can, but our bodies are. You know, we have a cycle, our hormones are changing.
We have different rhythms. So to me it makes so much sense to work from a place of flow instead of force because the female body does not like force. That's really stressful. Um, and when you tune into your own cycles and rhythms, uh, as a woman, you, you really start to realize that like, there is a whole, like there's a whole flow to your month.
There are periods of time where you're super productive. There's periods of time where you're super creative and there's time for rest. Yeah. And I think that honoring our cycles and honoring. That we need rest and that our bodies need nurturing and caring for is really what it means to run a business.
That's more based in the feminine. And for me, that feels nourishing and nurturing because I know what it's like to build a business from masculine energy. And it really in the past has depleted me instead of replenishing.
It's like, ah, you just gave us permission finally, to not, you know, take after the mentor that told us that you got to work 60 hours a week in order to make it work or that building a business can only look one way, like, I believe with 7 billion people on this planet, if everyone had a small business, there are literally 7 billion ways to build a successful profitable business.
And similar to you. I used to operate on the, even if I'm tired, even if I'm hormonal, I would just get up, go to the gym at 6:00 AM and then get to the office and work, work, work, work, work. And like now it's people like yourself who have awakened me to the fact that, oh my gosh, my body operates really differently.
And I used to just numb it by. Okay. Maybe it's like the day before my period. And I think I need to accomplish nine hours of work. I would just drink copious amounts of coffee. I'd probably end up at the drug store, getting a sugar hit. Like, I'd be like, where are the Skittles or mini eggs? Because I was exhausted.
Right. It was like, you know, that time of the month. And now it's like, oh yeah, I have so many role models who are. Female entrepreneurs or who were embodying that feminine energy who showed me that, Hey, it's okay to block off the days of the month. When you know, you're going to be low energy and you don't want to apply force and surprise, surprise my business.
Didn't fail. I didn't lose clients. In fact, because I'm now able to show up with really good energy on the days when I know I'm going to feel amazing. I just, you know, try to ride that wave and work hard when I can. And other days it means shutting down the laptop at 1:00 PM. And again, like there's so many ways to build an empire and it doesn't have to look like the way that maybe society has deemed the way or the path to success.
So thank you for sharing and opening up that conversation with us. It's something that I know I'd like to explore further too. And just continue to hear, um, stories like yours, of, um, applying less force yet still, um, seeing growth and still seeing success and knowing that it like the. The success is coming to you, right?
You don't have to push, push, push. You just have to wait. And of course, show up or show up consistently and frequently, but, um, let it flow.
Yeah, exactly. And you know, that doesn't mean that it's absent of action. There's still action. But the action, you know, like much like a river, it's like a river still moves in a direction.
It's just, it's just flowing it's way there. It may not be in a straight direction. And I think like that really is the truth of entrepreneurship. You're yes, you're moving forward, but it's not exactly a straight line, you know, it's kind of like, whoa, okay. I did that thing that worked really well. Ooh. This thing didn't go so well.
Okay. Like, you know, it's kind of like a weaving river, um, flowing towards, you know, more success and, and growth, but. Yeah, I think, I think creating, I wanted to create a business that felt like it was in alignment with my life and the way I wanted to live. And I didn't want those things to be separate and wanted them to be together.
Um, and so I get to continuously learn what it means to sink deeper into that, you know, to let go of what the world is telling me I need to do or have to do to be enough to have enough. Um, and it's been really cool much, like you said, um, you start to realize over time that as you let go more and more of your, your need to like, make things happen, that things will happen.
Um, you know, I took a week off last week and like had one of the most successful weeks in my business. Of the year. Right. Um, and I think like that's what I really think this is what the world needs right now. We need more people who are taking care of themselves, who are prioritizing doing their own inner work, to find their hearts, to find their empathy, to find their own, um, energy and ability to show up and support the world in this big, massive shift and change that we're all going through.
Yeah. And you know, if we're, if we're kept super busy hustling and grinding, there's no time. There's no time to take care of ourselves to take care of the people that we love, um, and to support like the change that, that wants to happen right now. So, um, I think that we get to rewrite. How we want the world to look.
There's an amazing book. I don't know who it's by. I will give it to you. You can put it in the show notes, but, um, it's about like how to build a feminine economy. What does it look like? What would it look like if we were running, you know, feminine model of business, where we prioritize things like intuition, nurturing, um, space care, um, those types of things, you know, what could that look like?
It's a beautiful little cute book, so I will. I'll drop that to you
would be very, very curious to read that. So I'll have to get the name from you. Yeah. So my goodness in kind of wrapping this up and in closing out, and of course I feel like we could talk forever, but, um, for the person listening who has not yet tried breath work and is now extremely intrigued after listening to your journey and, and just hearing how you've been able to grow this as a business.
Um, I'm curious, could you share what some of the benefits are for someone who's never experienced breath work like safe? They're an entrepreneur listening. What are some of the benefits of breathwork for this business owner? Who's maybe in a state right now where they feel a little stuck or maybe they're lacking creative energy?
What could they expect?
Yeah, I think. As an entrepreneur, you're always going to come up to these moments where it's like, I don't know how to move forward. I don't know what I'm supposed to do next. I don't know. You know, where you're seeking clarity. I always, always, you're always seeking clarity and, um, and breathwork is probably the best way I know how to find that clarity because clarity comes when we actually are not trying to find it.
That's the, that's the joke, right? Yeah. That's why, um, this happens to people all the time. It's like you're in the shower or you're blow drying your hair and you have a, an epiphany moment, right? It comes to you because you're not trying to find it. So breath work. I have so many entrepreneurs that come to my breath or classes because they always tell me, um, especially the guys they're like, wow, like I get the best business ideas when, what I do this practice.
So I think it's important for us to learn, to get out of our heads and into our bodies. And how do we do that? How do we work with our mind and understand how our mind works so that we can tune into our heart's wisdom, our body's wisdom. So we can use all of it in the creation of our business. A lot of times we come up against ourselves on the path, and the reason we can't move forward is because we've got some kind of internal block, you know, few weeks ago, a lot of things came up for me around my fear around expressing myself and being seen and sharing myself vulnerable.
So, yeah, that shows above them up in my business. It also shows up in my relationship and it also comes from like my past and my history. So breath we're kind of like clears the way in Claire's the channels for, um, so you can see things clearly and move forward. So whether you are a person who, um, is looking to find new creative ideas to move through blocks or just to like learn to let go.
I think that's what a lot of us, that's the difference between the flow and the force the force wants to control and make things happen. And the flow helps us to learn to like, let go and let things be with. And so this practice really, um, can, can guide you into that place also, just on a very like practical note, um, this is very helpful for regulating your nervous system.
So if you're really stressed out, really overwhelmed, um, carrying a lot of tension pain, those types of things, this is really, really helpful to kind of just like let it all release from your body. So there's something there for everyone. It's really a practice to reconnect you to you. And I call it the, I call it the doers meditation, because I was a person who could not sit still and just meditate.
I needed something to do. And this is. There's music, there's guidance. There's your breathing. You get so lost in those things that you don't really even realize that you're meditating. It's like, oh shit. I'm meditating. Cool. Um, so I kinda like it looking at it that way too, so it can offer you all of the benefits of, of meditating and, um, and just like doing a breathwork session is like a reset.
It's like a system reset. It's kind of like just boop, press the reset button, do the full shut down. You know, when like your computer starts getting glitchy. You just got to do the full shutdown, full reboot, full reboot, and clear all those cookies and all those caches and all the things that are are making things, not function.
Optimally, that's kind of what breathwork is. It's like that full reboot of your system so that you can like come back and everything works smoothly and nicely. And like, you can move on. I love that analogy.
And, you know, I can confirm from my mini experiences, but also from some friends who attend your Friday night sessions and they're entrepreneurs.
And they always say that, you know, some of their best ideas come from your session. So it's been cool to hear their testimonials. And you know, it just further validates that I'm showing up to a session soon. I had to be there. I can't wait. So if somebody does want to attend now you're teaching virtually.
So I'm assuming, you know, anyone globally could tune in, where do they find your calendar or your schedule?
Yeah, all my events are listed on my website, which is Jen mansell.com. So J E N N M a N S E L l.com. Um, I have everything that I'm doing over the next, you know, six months to a year is, is listed on there.
And the community classes are currently once or twice a month, sliding scale. And yeah, anyone, anyone can come and I always encourage people like reach out to me. If you're curious, if you want to know more, um, you can find me on Instagram and I'll give you my Instagram handle. You can send it to people, um, reach out to me and I'm happy to give you resources and, and sign you up for a class and go from there.
Amazing. I'm going to gather some of our fellow visionary method community, and we will be at one of your next one. So Jen, thank you so much for kind of unpacking the whole journey of how breath work found you and you know, where you are today doing this full-time I know it's going to be so inspiring to so many of our listeners, so thank you.
And I will see you in an upcoming session.
Thanks so much. Thanks for having me. There, you
have it. My conversation with Jen Mansell, isn't she incredible have you things I want to double tap on from this episode before I let you go. So number one is getting visible even when you're not ready. So instead of fearing that she didn't have it all together.
When she first launched her breathwork classes, Jen gave herself permission to experiment and to make mistakes. That's okay. It's the action that creates growth and momentum. And I think this serves as a great reminder, not to stay hidden until you think you have it all perfect, but rather to get out into the real world and get data on what's working and what isn't.
I see this in so many of my students and my clients that they really just need to get out there and start. Failing forward. Right. Um, as scary as it is, the second thing I want to double-tap on is the importance of paying attention to the inner voice, the heart, and in the gut in making decisions that feel scary.
It's easy to ignore that little voice that says you should try breathwork again, or go explore your love of woodworking or introduce yourself to that guy who you walk by every day. But when we are able to get quiet enough to listen and consider the next logical action, the path often starts to unfold.
So what next step have you been resisting? Visionary and can you tune into your inner voice, heart, and gut to get a decision? The third thing is having a remarkable product is one of the easiest ways to grow a business. Jen knew that she had a transformational service or product, and her clients were living proof, which meant they were bringing their friends back to Jen's classes.
So we know that word of mouth is still the most powerful form of advertising. So, you know, make sure you have the remarkable product first, deliver it, and then watch what follows it is truly the best marketing strategy that exists today. So I hope you enjoy this episode with Jen and I'll catch you at one of her breath work classes.
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of visionary life. I love bringing you these conversations on a weekly basis. So it would mean so much to me. If you could help me out by rating and reviewing the show in your iTunes app, you can also support the show by taking a quick screenshot of the episode and sharing it on your Instagram stories.
Tagging me at Kelsey Rydall. I'll catch you in the next episode. PS, whenever you're ready, if there's a couple of ways that I can support you. So, first thing, if you're ready to make your first or next $50,000 in the. Explore how the visionary method business coaching experience can accelerate your growth.
There'll be a link in the show notes. Also, if you're feeling lost, confused, or overwhelmed, when it comes to starting an online business, reach out and book a free revision call with me, I'll offer you customized recommendations on how to get unstuck so you can live a life filled with joy, happiness, and fulfillment.

Let’s recap 3 visionary takeaways from this episode…

Getting visible, even when you’re not ready.

Instead of fearing that she didn’t “have it all together” when she launched her first breathwork class, Jenn gave herself permission to experiment (and make mistakes!)

It’s the action that creates growth and momentum, and I think this serves as a great reminder not to stay hidden until you think you have it all perfect, but rather to get out into the real world and get data on what’s working and what isn’t.
The importance of paying attention to the inner voice, the heart, and the gut in making decisions that feel scary.

It’s easy to ignore that little voice that says “you should try breathwork again” or “go explore your love of woodworking” or “introduce yourself to that guy you walk by everyday” but when we are able to get quiet enough to listen, and then consider the next logical action - the path starts to unfold!

What next step have you been resisting, visionary?
Having a remarkable product is one of the easiest ways to grow a business.

Jenn knew she had a transformational product, and her clients were living proof, which meant they were bringing their friends to Jenn’s classes.

Word of mouth is incredible, so begin by making sure your product is amazing and watch what follows!