introduction: 0:03

Music you're listening to fascinating women with Mark Laurie and now, Mark Laurie,

Mark Laurie: 0:09

welcome everyone, and hope you enjoyed this show. We have Jennifer Keeble with us, and she is a interesting force of nature, all grins and happiness kind of stuff. So welcome.

Jennifer Keable: 0:21

Thank you. It's so good to be here.

Mark Laurie: 0:23

So we dig right in. We'll start right in. Let's start with, what are your three beliefs that guide you?

Jennifer Keable: 0:34

Three beliefs that guide me? Well, first of all, it is the number one that actually helps transform my life is my definition of success, and that my definition of success includes my personal well being. And I truly believe the more I incorporate my personal well being into my life, the more I enjoy it, and the more successful I am in my business. That'll be one of them. The other one is, is that don't wait, don't wait until retirement, and to have fun, to go on the adventures that you want to, because maybe that won't be an option or and I've seen that in my parents. So for me, it's about enjoying the journey along the way, and I'm waiting to see if there's time or might need to be able to do those. And the third is that work life balance is a real thing. It's not Bs, and it doesn't mean 5050, but it's unique to each individual. And for me, it's It's incorporating that into my life every day, regardless of where I might be in my business.

Mark Laurie: 1:37

That is wild. What kind of life balance you normally have.

Jennifer Keable: 1:41

Yeah, for me, it's so it started as, okay, I want to be done work at 330 because that's when my boys walk through the door. Okay, however, that felt like a little bit of a push. So it's, I'm more 430 now to me, that still feels good. It's about 830 to 430 Monday to Friday. Sometimes I have clients that start with me and they're like, oh, you know, I know we agreed to, like a weekday, but can we move it to a weekend or an evening? No, sorry, because I need I don't just preach it, right? I live it. And for me, that means having the time for me, not just for my family, but for me on weekends, on evenings, to go for hikes, to just to have time by myself, to sit down, read a book, whatever it might be. But yes, that's like a huge in my life. Is the balance saying

Mark Laurie: 2:25

no to people, it's hard. So as you get used to it's much easier. Yeah, thinking back to when you first started saying, I need boundaries. How did you feel? How was that to say that the first person said, Oh, we're gonna break through a little bit.

Jennifer Keable: 2:36

Oh, yeah. So previous to what I'm doing now, I used to be a project manager for another contractor, right? So, and I was also a part of the estimating. So when clients would come to us, we need this bid by this price or by this day, right? And it was just like, oh, yeah, okay. And I thought I needed to rearrange all my schedule, and it was a yes. Woman, yes. Woman, yes. Woman, right? I need to do this, because they need it by this time, right? And I started just becoming so overwhelmed with everybody else controlling my calendar and knowing that what they were requesting wasn't realistic, and yet somehow I would still say yes. And over time, what I really realized is that it's okay to say actually, I'm really busy right now. Is it okay if I get it to you by this date. And what I was amazed was that 95% of the time it was like, okay, yeah, sure. Three is the world, right? And so like, this thing, I was so afraid of saying no, or actually, that doesn't work for me, or can I do something else? Was so well received. And I think that was the biggest learning thing for me that really helped me with different areas of my life is that it's actually we make it into a bigger deal than what it actually is, if you're dealing with respectful individuals, yeah,

Mark Laurie: 3:48

yeah. And it's the goal is to deal with only respectful individuals. That is the goal. The firing of clients is a real thing. It really is,

Jennifer Keable: 3:57

yes. And it's not always just the clients, right? Sometimes it's closer people in their life who aren't necessarily respectful that we need to create distance from too it's

Mark Laurie: 4:06

it's important to be aware that, isn't it, that you're there's a circle, especially when it comes to being successful, because a lot of people don't want you to be successful because it looks it makes them look bad, and the feeling has been as if there's two ways to approach a successful person, either you can rise to their level, which is work, or you can tear them down, which is much easier. And so that's what most people default to. So it's a

Jennifer Keable: 4:30

sad thing. Create a lot of distance from those people that are that way. That is not my cup of tea, and I'm not willing to put up with that. It's

Mark Laurie: 4:40

amazing. As you get older, far less crap. It's not going to happen. What's, what are some of the three highlights of your life going back from a kid, you're sort of entrepreneur. Now you're on your own right, with some kind of business and all those things is that something that sort of showed up when you're a kid. Yeah, really tell us. So

Jennifer Keable: 5:01

my mom was actually an entrepreneur growing up. That's what I saw. So she used to be in the sewing business. So I remember, you'd go downstairs into our basement, and we'd literally have floor to ceiling piles of material. And Mom was always sewing, and she would go across Canada and all these different shows. And so that's what I saw. And so growing up, I always thought, well, I want to be an entrepreneur. One day. I want to be a business owner one day, right? And it was probably when I was about 30 or just after 30, where I was like, You know what? I don't think this is actually in my cards, because I don't want to become an entrepreneur just for the sake of it. I only want to do it if I can find something that I'm incredibly passionate about and although I'm a passionate person in general, I didn't find something that made sense to have a business for like, there was nothing that really stood out to me. And so it was like, I was okay with it. It was like, okay, that's not my thing. That's all right. But then I was actually meditating the one day, and this idea had bonded after I had gone through my own journey of, what if I could help other women live their most fulfilling version of success. And that's when I realized, holy crap, it's still in my deck of cards, still there. That's

Mark Laurie: 6:16

what that's been like, a real light bulb moment.

Jennifer Keable: 6:18

Oh my God, it was. That was the first time I think ever in my career that I felt my heart, wow, yeah, I was trained to be not trained. I don't think that's the right word, but I grew up in a household where I was around very strategic logical thinkers, right? And that's how you make decisions, and you take a look at the facts and and all that, right? And so I had gone through my entire life making my career decisions based off of what made sense, based off of getting up the corporate ladder and what made sense from a success perspective, when you when society tells you what success is. And so that was the path I had always followed, and I was doing damn good at it, right? I had achieved some pretty incredible things, but I was the least happy I'd ever been. It's so true, right? It's yeah, checked off all the boxes. Yay. Life looks glorious on the outside. On the inside, you're like, falling apart. But that day, sitting on the couch, it was like, you know the bridge at the end of the movie, when he's like, and my heart grew exponentially larger, like, three times larger. That's how I felt like, holy crap. There's a reason that bridge is my favorite movie.

Mark Laurie: 7:32

Your back brains going, there's a heart moment. We're waiting for you to hit the heart moment.

Jennifer Keable: 7:39

So, yeah, it was, it was huge that day. It was the biggest aha moment. But giving myself permission to explore that, I would say, was even bigger, right? Had I left out at that and been like, well, actually, or you already have, because there's a plan in place for me, basically, for the rest of my career, there was already a plan in place for me. So I could have just been like, okay, that felt really good. I'll keep that on the side, but keep doing this. But it was, I decided to listen to it and just, let's explore it. Let's just get curious with it.

Mark Laurie: 8:07

I suspect what happened the people you're surrounded with are strategic. When you're a child, you missed the part where they got into that passion. So the passion drives you to a place, which is what you probably didn't see those people get to, right? So once the passions got you there. Now it's yours. Y'all become strategic. Your passion still rides, but now you've got to make this thing work, which is a different headset, so you probably just didn't see them hit the passion point because you're young,

Jennifer Keable: 8:38

maybe one of them, okay,

Mark Laurie: 8:42

it was a good thing. Good theory. There is that straight, I got a friend like that. He works hard to try and become passionate, right? It's not in his genes, strategically thinking and seeing stuff analytically. I just can't grass Jack, because I'm very much a shiny object person. I learned to live with my intuition much stronger and stronger gotcha, which is hard a lot of stuff. When you intuition, your intuition knows that there's bright idea, messy, messy, and everything kind of comes together the last moment, like a murder mystery on a TV show, right? And your intuition knows that there's that third stage logic that you're gonna see the LEAP totally and so it dates a leap of faith, yeah,

Jennifer Keable: 9:28

and that's really how it was, you know, like growing up, it was jobs and careers weren't about pursuing passion, right? It was just a different way of being right. It was you do this to make an income, to take care of your family. And in my mind, was like, yeah, that's important, absolutely, right? I've got two boys, an amazing husband, but what if I can also enjoy the journey, right? What if I can love what I'm doing, not just be good at what I'm doing?

Mark Laurie: 9:53

What a concept,

Jennifer Keable: 9:54

what a concept. It's incredible.

Mark Laurie: 9:57

Do you have any, I guess, poster quotes? No. That you live by that drive you,

Jennifer Keable: 10:03

you know, the one by Helen Keller, where it's alone. We can do alone. We do so little together. We do so much. Okay, I've really been learning to embrace that. So when I first started as an entrepreneur, it was like, you know, I'm too busy to network. I'm too busy to go talk to other people, like, I just got to be in front of the computer trying to do this alone, all by myself, and just, you know, that's the path, right? And it was just such this lack mindset that kind of kept me there. And over the time, as I began to explore and make beautiful connections like yourself, I realized not only how good it feels because we are all heart centered people, even if we haven't discovered that yet, but also how much more we're able to accomplish when we do it with other people. And you know, especially this last year, which has just been transformative for the types of connections that I've made and those relationships. So I think that's my favorite quote, that's

Mark Laurie: 11:01

a struggle if you had a mentor that sort of helped you along. You

Jennifer Keable: 11:05

know, I've had a few in different segments, but not necessarily one that guided me through that entire journey. I was,

Mark Laurie: 11:12

I was amazed. A while back, I had a person who was one of my mentors, and she was top of the heap, like she was really striding with very, wealthy, accomplished people. So I figured that's what she was. She was a top end mentor, right? And then she let slip, she has her she goes through mentor actually out grows them. And she'd reached a point now where she had a mentor that was running $500,000 a year, and they'd meet twice for an hour each time, and that's what she is paying for her mentorship levels. I'm thinking, there's not a stop point, like, there's always somebody that's going to guide you, because I've been there, yeah,

Jennifer Keable: 11:47

what's the next level?

Mark Laurie: 11:49

So what three personality traits are you most proud of? Hmm, nice

Jennifer Keable: 11:53

little reflection. Well, I am. I'm just a really caring human being, like I just genuinely care about people, and I see the best in them. Right from the beginning, I've also been told that I create a very safe environment. So oftentimes I hear people saying to me, I don't know why I'm telling you this, or I can't believe I'm saying this right now, or I've never admitted this out loud to anybody before, and so I I take that as a huge compliment, that people feel safer around me to be able to do that. And also, I'm kind of goofy sometimes, like I noticed my my or my oldest this morning. He's like, Mom, did you seriously just say that? And I just give myself like a little pat on the back and do a weird little dance in the kitchen, because I'm proud of myself for saying something really

Mark Laurie: 12:50

weird. All to your kids. My

Jennifer Keable: 12:52

oldest turns 10 on Friday. My sorry. My youngest turns 10 on Friday. My oldest is 11.

Mark Laurie: 13:00

There's a show that just, it's called Children ruin everything, yeah, and it's just that it's really amazing. So third one, your last one, oh, I'm

Jennifer Keable: 13:12

pretty sure I said three. No,

Mark Laurie: 13:14

you got loving space, Goofy. Loving

Jennifer Keable: 13:17

space, Goofy. And just, like, just very caring, like I just care, and I see the best

Mark Laurie: 13:23

I felt, that felt loving space, but I understand that. We'll, we'll let you parse that so well. Thank you. Who inspires you?

Jennifer Keable: 13:31

There's a lot of people that inspire me.

Mark Laurie: 13:36

Yeah, where does the inspiration come from? Yeah, for you.

Jennifer Keable: 13:40

You know, it's interesting, because I actually it's two places, two fold. So I wouldn't say that there's one or two people that I always follow, but it's in these groups of communities that I find these people. So for example, actually one person I'm going to mention, John Eden. Do you know Jen? Yeah, she is an I don't know her a ton, but I've seen and experienced enough of her that she inspires me, and the events that she puts on inspires me as at one of her events last week, and this gentleman that was speaking, he's just an incredible soul. He's in charge of the arts and commons, new space that's being built in Calgary. And the journey that he's had to go through in terms of fundraising, I think it was something like $1.5 billion or something, and being told over and over, you're never gonna get that. And Calgary is not the place like that's just and, you know, governments different levels, they've never invested in something like that here. And for him, the no wasn't okay. Well, I guess this is in my journey, or I'll stop the conversation. Here. It was like, Oh, this is an opportunity to learn more. And why is it a no for them? And what can I learn about what their priorities are? And just hearing him talk, it really helped me bring some of those questions into my own life. And how can I use. Those as stepping stones. And so I found that really inspiring, and also honestly, not in a cocky way at all, but just finding, like true connected time with myself and connecting with my higher self and my intuition and my best knowing. I find that really inspiring at the same time too. How do you do that? It's providing myself the space to sit and have the quiet time. So meditation is huge for me, visualization, breath work, and a lot of people don't understand really what breath work means. When I tell my husband I'm doing breath work, he's like, really, you have to go to a class or do a video to learn how to breathe. I actually do that every day. Like, wow, but like, real, like, hour long sessions where you're using your breath to get to states of mind that you wouldn't think would be possible unless you actually took a substance. And those have been transformative moments for me, over and over, and I will, like, in the summer, I'll sit out on my back deck, on our on our furniture there, and I'll lay down for an hour, and I'll do this. And you, you know, when you open your eyes after the hour and all you see is, like the sky and the clouds. It's, it is. It's been honestly transformational. Wow, yeah, that

Mark Laurie: 16:17

is powerful. It is how long you've been doing yoga, and yoga meditation and breath work? Yeah,

Jennifer Keable: 16:24

so about probably four and a half years, and it was actually the meditation that got me to where I was with starting this business, right? That's when the idea had landed. And meditation wasn't something that I believed in before it was like, you know, is this a real thing? Does it actually work? Can I actually do it? But now I every day, it's a part of my everyday practice. Sometimes it might be a couple times a day, I crave it. I actually crave it.

Mark Laurie: 16:57

So what's something you failed at?

Jennifer Keable: 17:01

Well, there's a lot of things. What's the biggest thing that I feel that you know, what comes to mind is, actually, when my kids were young, is, is my definition of success. I filled up my definition of success, right? I thought success was solely my career, success, and I treated it that way. And so I forgot about myself. I forgot about my well being, my own happiness, my health, how to actually show up and be a mom, a partner that made me proud, because that was the one thing I always wanted my entire life. Instead, it was like they just got left my leftover energy, and that led to a massive burnout and a massive crisis, essentially in my life, and it was solely because I was chasing this external version of success. And so to me, that was my biggest failure, per se, was just seeing it in such a narrow light, not actually opening up my blinders and allowing me to see what else might be included in that, you know, talking about our values, versus actually living our values. Two very different things, and at the time, I didn't realize I wasn't living my values. I was saying how important my family was, but they were getting my leftovers.

Mark Laurie: 18:28

Now, the phrase is, watch what a person does, rather than listen to what they say, Right? Kind of get into it. What is your definition of success? Now, yeah,

Jennifer Keable: 18:35

for me, my definition of success is not about it's not about what I accomplish. It's about how I feel. And so for me, it's, yes, my professional success is important, but it's also about living a life where I feel excited every day, where I feel a sense of peace. And so for my definition of success is, do I feel fulfilled honestly? Do I feel failed personally? Do I fulfill professionally? And that's been transformative, and in terms of what success actually means and how I go about achieving and I've been a heck of a lot more effective in actually achieving my professional goals when I focus on my personal fulfillment and how I actually feel. How

Mark Laurie: 19:17

do you phrase or determine what a failure is,

Jennifer Keable: 19:22

you know, it's funny, because I don't actually, and I was careful, you know, careful about how I answered that last question. Because I don't know if there is such thing as a failure, because it might feel like that in the moment, but if you allow it to be a learning opportunity, then it can be a beautiful gift. It can be a beautiful transition that can allow you to completely negate or never have to experience something like that again, right? So for me, when I went through my burnout and I had these really hard days, moments, I didn't even think that I was capable of experiencing in terms of that depth of pain. Is I made that commitment? Meant to myself that I'm never willing to go through this again, and I was serious. And so for me, although that was the hardest thing I ever went through, and maybe it could be considered a failure of how I define success, it was a learning opportunity. And I believe that every failure in quotations can actually be a learning opportunity if we give ourselves the time and the compassion to be able to do that, and I think that's a difference. Oftentimes, we don't give ourselves the time to properly reflect on it, or the compassion to say, Hey, I'm human. We all make mistakes. I'm not perfect, and that's okay. But how can I use this to accelerate me forward?

Mark Laurie: 20:38

I've got my mantra has been it's everything's either learning experience or moving movement forward. So success is also needed. It doesn't become the pinnacle you rest on. It's simply one. It's a higher high point in the road, right? Everybody kind of amounts to right? What are you curious about? Right? Now, what's got your attention?

Jennifer Keable: 20:55

Oh, what am I curious about? Well, I mean, I had a conversation with you before, and I love what you do. I think that that's such inspiring work. There's a lot of things I'm curious about. I ask a lot of questions to everybody, but even this, you know, I'm meeting somebody this afternoon, who she's a psychotherapist. I met her two weeks at a workshop that I was facilitating, and we just really jived and typed some of our synergies, and she's starting this kind of therapeutic hiking group for people, and that really intrigues me. I love hiking. It's something I'm passionate about. It's part of where I find my inspiration is in nature and hiking, so I'm very intrigued to learn more about that and see where our conversation is going to go and and you know, even when I think about businesses, I often see a lot of burnout, a lot of stress amongst high performing professionals, But when I talk to the leadership in those organizations, they're often like, oh, well, Jennifer, you know, we're already investing in this app. Or, you know, they have, we have really good benefits. And so what I'm curious really about diving more into in these next year is like, is learning, is that a true belief that is held that that's enough for these individuals to be able to sustain or deal with their stress by having an app or having great benefits. Or is that? Is that a lack of understanding as to what is needed and how can you truly serve your employees to help them become their most thriving individuals? So just understanding and learning more about that corporate culture mindset, it

Mark Laurie: 22:47

must be frustrating, so you can probably see know what the difference would be with what you bring the table and look an organization go, we can double your income and double the happiness of your staff, right in two weeks. Right? Give them to me. Give them to me.

Jennifer Keable: 23:03

Let me just show you. Do

Mark Laurie: 23:12

people understand you? Do you find that people kind of look at you and go like, What the hell is she on about? It depends

Jennifer Keable: 23:18

who I meet. Yeah, quite frankly, right, there's, you know, it's funny, because, God bless him, like my husband, I love him to death. We've been together for, gosh, like 22 years. But does he understand certain part, like my more spiritual side? Does he understand that the breath work side that no, because he doesn't understand that in general, but he so. And then other people who I meet, they might be like, God. Like, what is this woman going on about? Right? So no, my people might not understand me. But then there's those certain individuals you meet, and they're like, oh my gosh, yes. Jennifer. Like, were you, you know what? I mean, we just, we meet, we have this synergetic energy. We just get each other. And you're able to get into these really meaningful conversations without even, like, trying. It's just you have, sometimes have to cut off the conversation because you're like, oh god. So yeah, I think that no matter who you are. Some people are gonna think that you're the most amazing, brilliant human on the place of the planet, and others are gonna be like, this is a waste of my time. Why are we talking about this? And I'm no different. So do

Mark Laurie: 24:33

you have any personal heroes?

Jennifer Keable: 24:36

Any personal heroes? You know, it's funny, because I look up to a number of people, but not one person necessarily comes to mind as my personal hero. Yeah,

Mark Laurie: 24:55

that's interesting, because I called it so make notes Good.

Jennifer Keable: 24:58

Do it. Let me know what you come up with. After finish your analysis.

Mark Laurie: 25:03

So what's the best advice you received? The advice that you still think, wow, that just changed my life.

Jennifer Keable: 25:11

You know, it might sound so Touche, but it's really just just be you. Just be you. You know, I spent so much of my career, of my life, trying to fit in, trying to fit into this box, trying to maybe be enough. And yeah, I did great, right? Yes, I was always one of the top employees, but when I truly started being me and allowing that to shine through that transformed all areas of my life. So, you know, I even think about my like, my relationships, especially, right? So I had always thought, man, like, I know I'm a really good human being, right? I know I really care, but sometimes it feels like the depths of my relationships are just at the surface. They don't feel very deep, and I don't understand it. Why is it that I can look at these other people and they have that and I don't like what's going on, right? And what I came to realize is that I never shared my vulnerabilities, I never shared my insecurities, I never shared my mistakes, what I wasn't doing right, and so because I never shared those, then the people who I was around didn't feel safe sharing them, either. It was like we had to keep up this perfect persona, that life is amazing and everything's incredible, and it's, you know, unicorns and butterflies. And when I started being okay sharing that and showing up in my weird and quirky ways, or laughing for five minutes at my own joke when nobody else is laughing. The depths of my relationships, personally and professionally, grew incredibly deep. I remember I had known this one client. I had served her for eight years, and we had a very professional relationship. She was very happy. But I remember the one day after I'd really, like, done that personal development, and we sat on the phone for 45 minutes laughing harder than like, we've ever laughed, and I had to close my office door because I was disrupting the office with how much laughing was happening. And that was just because it was I let myself go there. I didn't have to just, like, Haha, and then, like, shut it down, right? Like, just truly embodying it. And so, you know, the whole idea of just be yourself, as cliche as it can sound when you really take it to heart, and what does that mean to you? And what does that mean to me? And how would I actually show up to myself? And how would I let these guards down? Yeah, it's everything. Yeah,

Mark Laurie: 27:42

you have levels of vulnerability, like as you, as people, get to know the deeper they you start to expose more of yourself. For you to say, here's an open book. You can hit page 20 right now if you want.

Jennifer Keable: 27:52

Yeah, you know, it depends on the individual is the individual who I'm talking to you feel like a safe individual. I'm pretty good about being able to pick up cues and understand who or what somebody is like, but I mean how vulnerable I am now compared to what I used to be like. You know, I'll get up on a stage and talk about that moment where I completely just broke down, and how I was crying and pulling at my hair and doing all these things that there's knowing how I would have ever admitted to my best friend about before, right? So, yeah, my level of vulnerability is completely different now than what it used to be like, almost polar opposites. Do

Mark Laurie: 28:36

you find that makes you feel more honest to your communications? They've become more transparent, oh, yeah, 100%

Jennifer Keable: 28:42

and I'm more relatable, right? I think that is one of the big reasons why people feel safe sharing with me now, right? Is because, because they're like, you're not afraid of sharing your own struggles, and that gives them permission to know that I'm not going to judge them in there either.

Mark Laurie: 28:59

Kind of show them back to Yeah, that is really cool. Do you have any books that you've read that give you guidance or have sort of triggered something inside you? There's

Jennifer Keable: 29:10

so many books, so many books, you know, one, the first one that comes to mind is the Untethered Soul. Okay? It's a really thought provoking, very deep book. It's not one of those ones that you really want to listen to while you're driving or literally just because it makes you rethink about how you're looking at the world and how you're actually going about and I found that quite transformative for sure, for sure. Right now, the book that I'm reading is honestly just a fun a fun book. It's like this woman that goes on an adventure, and she lives out of her van, and it's all of her adventures. And I just love the I love adventure, so the sense of playfulness and light heartedness that comes with it, it's enjoyable, and it's a good reminder. To like, hey, where is the adventure in your life? Where are you bringing in the play? How are you embracing the light heartedness? You know, even though that's not what she's necessarily like saying it's not meant to be a personal development book, but I am extracting those messages from it.

Mark Laurie: 30:16

It's fun when you read a book that the intent was to amuse or inspire, you find these deep meanings and Pulp Fiction kind of thing totally, which is really neat. Where you're at today. Did you see remnants that in your childhood that are your sort of result of sort of nurture or environment? Oh, nurture

Jennifer Keable: 30:34

an environment? Yeah, you know, it's funny, because I think growing up, probably up into my young 30s, I was a lot of my dad, and then in the last probably eight years, I would say I'm a lot of my mom, right? My mom is just, she's that person who she meets, and she loves everybody. She's like, Oh my God, this person's amazing. And she just, she's so friendly, and everybody loves her, and she's just, she's so energetic, and just, you just can't not like her. She's just an incredible human being to be around. And it's because she shows up from the heart, just believing in the good in people, and, you know, putting down those walls and barriers and not coming up with any self, self limitations. I see that showing up more and more and more all the time and and it's, you know, as you get older, you didn't necessarily realize that you would respect that or appreciate that, and now I'm like, Wow, what an honor, a gift that I get to become part of the woman that she is

Mark Laurie: 31:49

that's wild, isn't it? It

Jennifer Keable: 31:51

is. It really is. And she would be so happy to have just heard me listen

Mark Laurie: 32:00

to this whole thing just for a little bit. One of the philosophy that I've got is that if you want to see belief the world to be successful, as you look at women who got children, because a woman would bring a child into a world, they don't think it's going to be good for them, right, right? What kind of world do you see for your kids?

Jennifer Keable: 32:21

Yeah, well, I'm a big believer in that we create our own opportunities, and so regardless of what might be going on out there, I truly believe that they, too, are going to create their own opportunities. And opportunities mean different things, right? It's not always about the career, but I'm also teaching them too, that you don't get everything given to you that hard work, yes, it is important. And, you know, I've really been teaching them to be little entrepreneurs out there, so that they're not afraid to ask for the jobs that they might want in the future, that maybe they don't think they're qualified for. But also them that importance of like, how do we treat other humans as decent human beings, and treat them with love and respect and just seeing the caring human beings that they are, and when I talk to the teachers at school, the things that they say about my kids, to me that's Everything. Their character is everything, and will go far beyond any of their grades ever will. And so for me, when we talk about the future, it's, it's, how can you make a difference in somebody's life, whether that just be on a personal level or not? And I see that in them every single day. And you know, it almost brings me to tears, because it makes me so damn proud of the little humans that they are like. It's my oldest. He is one of the most emotionally aware human beings, not just children, human beings I've ever met, and how in tune they are with my emotions, with other people's emotions, how they'll both go out of their way to be there for others. That's what I think to see in the future, is just, how do we lift each other up instead of turning each other down? And that's what they're both really great at.

Mark Laurie: 34:11

That's a full cup for you.

Jennifer Keable: 34:12

That's a full cup. They overflow my cup.

Mark Laurie: 34:19

So we married for 22 years. How? Because you're gone through a lot of changes, how's your husband rolled

Jennifer Keable: 34:25

with that God, he is like, I give him all the credit in the world, because holy, you know, with a with somebody like me, who is adventurous, who is brave and courageous and not afraid of taking big leaps of faith. That takes a really special human being to be with them and to be able to support them through that entire journey. You know, I've left jobs in the past where I was like, wow, this is not for me. I don't know what is. I'm just gonna go figure it out. I've got no job, no income, and you know what? Never. Once did he get mad at me? Never once did he not support me. Even when I left my last job, I was set up an incredibly comfortable place. I was the breadwinner in the house, right? You know? And I tell him, I'm doing this to follow my passion and to support people and to make a difference in this world. And I mean, as an entrepreneur, it's freaking hard the first couple years it is. It's hard, especially when you go from that lifestyle of being a breadwinner, bringing in really great income to let's figure this out. And honestly, he couldn't have been more supportive, like I am, forever grateful, forever grateful for how supportive he has been. And honestly, I like, I don't think I could have done it without him. Yeah, yeah, he's, he's an inspiration. Actually, you talked asked who was an inspiration earlier. My husband's an inspiration. Yeah, yeah. That is.

Mark Laurie: 35:55

That's impressive.

Jennifer Keable: 35:57

Yeah, it is.

Mark Laurie: 35:58

Did you expect that to happen?

Jennifer Keable: 36:02

I No, yeah, like, yes and no, but like to, you know, looking back at seeing how just darn hard some of the things have been, and to see that, he never put that on me, right? He never was like, Well, you know, maybe if, whatever, whatever, whatever, then we wouldn't be in this situation. It was okay. Like, what do you need to do? And how can we do this together? And, you know, it's gonna work out. I can see it. You're incredibly passionate, and people love what you do, and look at the results and all these things you just need to keep putting in, right? Like, whereas in our relationship, I'm the optimist and he's the pessimist, okay, so just from a pessimist perspective, I would have thought it's like, okay, you know, but it's been very much the opposite, right? Yeah, and

Mark Laurie: 36:57

as well. So you see the world as an optimist, sorry, you see the world as an optimist, yeah. How does that bridge when you come across really hard things?

Jennifer Keable: 37:09

Well, it provides hope. And I believe Hope is what gets us through hard times, right? So even though things might be challenging right now, for me, it means that it's not always going to be that way. That is just a chapter within the bigger book. And within the book, there's 99.99999% of the time, right? There's a happy ending, right? And so for me, that's what it is about, is, as an optimist, is this is just a chapter, and I can get through this, and I will get through this, and I wonder what it says for me on the other side, you know, I see each closed door as allowing another door to open.

Mark Laurie: 37:48

That's why I came across a phrase. It was how to go is in the end, it's gonna be all it's gonna be all right. If it's not all right now, then it's not the end.

Jennifer Keable: 37:56

Yes, and isn't that the truth? Sometimes, like when you're caught in those moments, or those time frames in our life where it is maybe really hard, it feels like the end, right? It feels like this is the end, all, be all. And yet, you know, if you look if you were to forecast your life, 135, years later, you might look back and be like, I almost barely remember that. Or, you know, why was I so stressed over that? Like just a chapter.

Mark Laurie: 38:22

The looking back is interesting sometimes, yeah, oh, my God, that did work out, right?

Jennifer Keable: 38:27

Yeah. Tell

Mark Laurie: 38:31

us a bit about what your job is now. You're transformed into it. Like, how do you change? Because you're basically changing people's lives. Is your is your main goal? What is the, what, how do you keep on track for that? And that's gotta be hard, because everyone's gonna come up, step in and suddenly go, Oh, yes, we're changed. Now, how does that process feel for you, to take people through it?

Jennifer Keable: 38:55

It's, it's why I do what I do, right? It? Having gone through those hardships, of having gone through the hardships and being completely burnt out and not feeling fulfilled in my own life and feeling like there's so much more. I understand the depth of pain, and I also understand how good it feels in me, or felt in me when things began to shift. And so being able to be a part of other people's journey and support them in creating something that they didn't know was possible or possible for them, or possible to achieve in that amount of time, to me, there's nothing more fulfilling, like there's no amount of money that can that is worth that feeling and to be a part of that experience. And, yeah, that's it like that is there's just it. Your words can't even speak like for me, I am such a heart centered person that when I see my clients going through this, it's. Like, almost going through it myself, right? Because I'm so damn proud for them, I'm so excited for them, I'm so, yeah, it's just, I'm just there for them and excited to see that. You know what? Life doesn't have to feel so heavy. Life doesn't have to feel the way it has been feeling. It can be different. And being a part of that is monumentous.

Mark Laurie: 40:23

Yeah, where are your clients at? Where do you find

Jennifer Keable: 40:27

them? Yeah, it's typically through word of mouth. So people that I meet, people that maybe that I've known for a while when I'm, you know, maybe at a networking event and I'm talking to somebody you asked earlier, I brought up the word curiosity. I tend to ask a lot of questions when I'm talking to people, and oftentimes those questions oftentimes those questions are really thought provoking. So for example, I met a gentleman last week at a networking event, and you know, he was talking about how he runs a few groups, and that I've been an amazing speaker to be a part of these groups. But then I started asking him questions too, wow. You know, like, this is a lot that you going on in your own life, and just some of those questions began to allow him to think about things differently. And he sent me a message just a couple days ago, and he was like, hey, you know, I'm actually in Toronto right now visiting my sister, but those questions you asked me has shifted. I've realized actually how close I am to burning out and that things gotta start shifting. And to me, that's huge. If I can just ask the right questions, that can allow people to see how it might change. That's really important. So, yeah, back to your question. Just different events, whether it's a networking event or just meeting people, right? It's just, it's meeting people. That's how I see it.

Mark Laurie: 41:35

Do you have, like, say, four go to questions that you start off with, or that you draw from?

Jennifer Keable: 41:41

It's not necessarily that I start off with, because it's understanding, well, where is that person right now, right, right? And how is that impacting their life, right? So really, using questions around and allowing people to understand, how is that impacting your life? Okay, so you've talked about, you know, 2025, is coming up, right? And a lot of people are, you know that I've talked oh, maybe I'm too busy to do anything with you right now. Jennifer, let's do something in the future. Okay, so what were your goals for 2024 and did you meet any of those goals? Okay, why or why not? Are you going to be okay if you don't meet any of your 2025 goals? Yes, no, okay, well, and just really understanding and allowing them to reflect, well, maybe it's not about checking off the box for the goal, but are you actually happy? Are you actually content in your life and okay with your journey, and are the steps that you're taking getting you one step closer or keeping you in the pain that you're currently at? And so just understanding where they're at and asking questions around that reality versus following a script. Per se, I guess, do

Mark Laurie: 42:50

you find that sometimes your questions or your curiosity spills into private life? Personal life? Oh, 100%

Jennifer Keable: 42:57

Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, I am working with both individuals, whether they meet me as an individual, or whether I'm working with employee teams. And sometimes when I'm working with the employee teams, if it's a workshop, a lot of the questions that I will ask it is diving into both personal and professional life. But that's the thing. We're human beings. We're not robots. We can't walk into the office and completely shut off our personal life as much as we might try to, right? So when we stop trying to separate those and acknowledge the fact that we are human beings, and how can we look at our life from a holistic view, then we're better able to set ourselves up for success. And I'm not afraid of diving into those personal questions, even if we meet on a professional basis, because if you continue to ignore them, you're not going to get the results. Get the results that you desire. And that's not what I'm here for. I'm here to help you get those results, whether you're a paying client or just we're having a conversation.

Mark Laurie: 43:51

Do you find your conversations with just average people sitting down, talking to their mom at school without realizing that you start to ask those kind of questions again? Yeah, yeah. Because

Jennifer Keable: 44:00

I'm passionate about it, right? It's, you know, actually was funny. So I was at one of my sons. It was, he plays soccer, and we were at an event where it says, you know, get the kids get to better know each other. It was the beginning of the season, allow the parents the same opportunity. And the women were kind of hanging out back, talking about one thing, I was actually gonna go to my car and get a sweater, but all the guys were in the garage, and they were around a propane fireplace. So like, oh, well, this is great. I'm gonna stand here for a while, right? So then I'm talking to the guys, and it's so funny, because as soon as I walked into this conversation, the conversation transformed from all these manly things to talking about therapy and guys opening up about, you know, believing and going to therapy, and how it's transformed them, and how they go to their kids. And honestly, that made me so darn happy, because you don't hear men talk about that enough, right? It's like, No, I have to pretend I'm okay. No, I can't show that I'm vulnerable, that I have emotions. And so, yes, it. Funny how when I walk into a room without even trying, somehow the conversation just transforms naturally. That's called Leadership.

Mark Laurie: 45:11

I'm trying to start building a cult. I can see, yes, I'm cheerful and happy, but really I'm going to own you all you I got your number. It's been like talking here today. It's really enjoyed. Jennifer, if you're interested in what she offers, what she does in our bio, you'll have contact with her bit more of her bio. Everyone. This is Mark. Mark for talking normally, I am photographing wonderful women and looking putting their story on film, but we love to do this. So tell your friends about us. Come and subscribe. We'll catch you next one.

Exit speaker: 45:51

This has been fascinating women with Mark Laurie join us on our website and subscribe@fascinatingwomen.ca fascinating women has been sponsored by inner spirit photography of Calgary, Alberta, and is produced in Calgary by Lee Ellis and my office media.