Jump Start Your Joy®

Host Paula Jenkins takes a look at the top lessons, aha moments, and unexpected learnings of having been podcasting now for four years. There are tips, tricks, and lots of mindset and inspiration discussed in this Season 4 Finale.

Sister Michelle L'Allier is a Franciscan Sister from Minnesota, and I've had the absolute pleasure of getting to know her through leading retreats at San Damiano Retreat here in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sister Michelle and I got to know each other over the course of several years, when she was the adviser for the retreat team I led. She's a person that I feel so very lucky to know; she's deeply spiritual and also approachable, meeting each person she encounters where they are. I'm really excited to have her on as the last guest of Season 4.

One of the things that I love about our discussion is that we dive into the question of "how do I be myself?" It's a question that embodies the inspiration, intention, and action that have been the focus of this season. For Sister Michelle, the question of being herself led to the Franciscan faith, and an understanding of love, and what divine love means. For myself, I think that being myself means saying yes to Joy, listening to it, looking for it, and living by it.

In this episode, Sister Michelle L'Allier and I talk about:

• Growing up in Minnesota
• Finding love
• The story of St Francis and Clare of Assisi
• Loving all parts of yourself
• How we can begin to break down walls and dismantle things like human trafficking
• Working through trauma is important for everyone, and how to do it
• How you can learn to talk about emotions even if it wasn't something you did growing up
• How people bundle a wider range of emotions under a single word, and why that doesn't serve them
• The gifts of joy and compassion and how they are needed by every person
• How to jumpstart your joy: letting go of the addiction that fuels perfectionism, finding connection and love, and living a life of adventure.

Resources The Wisdom Jesus:Transforming Heart and Mind -- A New Perspective on Christ and His Message by Cynthia Bourgeault on Amazon Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Saint Francis by Richard Rohr John Duns Scotus on Wikipedia A Franciscan Moral Vision on Amazon The Dark Side of the Light Chasers by Debbie Ford on Amazon Catholic Means Universal: Integrating Spirituality and Religion by David Richo

Christy Tending is back for her sixth visit, and this time we're talking about how our lives and businesses have recently evolved. It's a living discussion, and one that started when we met to co-work at a cafe this summer and found ourselves diving into a conversation about how we'd recently had a very mindful and impactful experience of making decisions that have intrinsically changed who we are, and how we approach things.

In this episode, Christy Tending and I talk about:

• How things can reach a point where it's no longer possible for you to continue doing what once worked for you
• How Christy quit drinking and the reasons why she chose to make that change
• The intrinsic connection between making decisions as a consumer, capitalism, and politics
• How I called bullshit on the idea that "the other shoe was about to drop" in my personal life and marriage
• How nagging is a choice, and how to stop nagging (zen moment: just stop)
• How you can create a business or an offering, or a podcast, by focusing on the things that seem easy to you
• What's easy for you is not necessarily easy for anyone else (and how that leads you to discount the power of what comes easily)
• Why it's important to talk about the role of racism, alcoholism, climate, and other pieces of our heritage that we don't find acceptable with our children
• Why and how stating what your business stands for, and how it has evolved helps you find your true audience (and why that's OK)
• How we evolve and become more comfortable with stating what words fit us (anarchist, Buddhist, etc)
• The roles of studentship and conversely, being a "guru"
• Studentship: What it looks like to be a student of your own process, and of learning new things as you go
• The possible role of self doubt and the inner critic when you complicate things
• The balance of really not knowing the outcome of any situation, and finding our way to be confident and share our expertise around something
• The wisdom of leaning on others in your community for knowledge and leadership, instead of acting like one person knows everything (which they don't)
• The importance of having community in business
• We all have access to the divine any time we want it, and we all have access to politics and power whenever we want it
• That capitalism tells us that if we are good at something and it is lucrative: we're supposed to do that thing until we drop

Resources Christy Tending's beautiful new website

Christy Tending's podcast: Tending Your Life

Learn the 7 things to consider when you're looking to follow your joy, passion, or bliss in creating a business or coaching practice. You CAN build a business that feels easy, you just need to take some key things into consideration.

In this episode, I talk about:

• How to embrace letting things be easy
• Why you tend to add complexity to something
• The change in vibe and acceptance when you keep things simple and focused on what comes naturally to you
• How you can create a business or an offering, or a podcast, by focusing on the things that seem easy to you
• What's easy for you is not necessarily easy for anyone else (and how that leads you to discount the power of what comes easily)
• Your zone of genius as explained by Gay Hendricks
• Don't shy away from doing whatever feels easy for you
• The possible role of self doubt and the inner critic when you complicate things
• How to jumpstart your joy: petting puppies, listening more than you talk, and "eat the ice cream"

Resources Join me at "She Podcasts Live" in Atlanta, October 11-13 How to Be Everything: A Guide For Those Who (Still) Don't Know What They Want To Be When They Grow Up by Emilie Wapnick on Amazon The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to The Next Level by Gay Hendricks on Amazon

In this episode, I'm overjoyed to have EB Sanders joining me to talk about her work as a career coach, and how to design a career and a life that works for you. She has an amazing background of being a teacher, then a staffing and recruiting professional, and now she is a full time career coach helping creative people discover work that makes them happy. EB and I hit it off from the moment we said hello, and it was such a treat getting to pick her brain about how people design a career, as both a full time employee in a corporation, or as an entrepreneur.

In this episode, EB Sanders and I talk about:

• Her joys of creating a book about being strong as a little girl
• Working with creative people to help them get to the next level of whatever they are working on in their lives
• The various definitions of what it means to be creative, from engineers to CPAs, to those trained in the traditional arts
• Her road to becoming a business coach: from teaching, to staffing and recruiting, to coaching
• How people approach wanting to change careers, or look for something new in their job, and what else is usually going on in their lives
• Being creative is not being lazy
• Taking a nap can be a creative reboot
• Why keeping a salaried job may be the best choice for you
• Why being challenged at work is so key to your enjoyment
• How defined roles and responsibilities play a role in your job satisfaction
• Defining your values to help lead the way in discovering what you want and need from a job
• How to have the difficult conversations you need to have, to keep a healthy working environment alive (and why it's not just up to management to create that environment)
• How to turn around a toxic working environment yourself
• How to structure a successful one on one meeting with your manager or supervisor
• Don't shy away from doing whatever feels easy for you
• How to jumpstart your joy: petting puppies, listening more than you talk, and "eat the ice cream"

Resources EB Sander's Website Use the code "FRIENDFAM" to get 15% off any of EB's programs EB Sanders on Instagram The Artists Way by Julia Cameron on Amazon

This week on Jump Start Your Joy - I'm sharing all about how you can be both a planner, and allow room for creativity and spontaneity to play a role in your life or your business. As a planner at heart, I feel a sense of calm and "everything is right with the world" when I'm able to make a list, or, plan a trip.

What I've come to discover after doing a podcast for awhile is that the magic of any creative process happens, though, when you make the plan and then don't cling to it too tightly. I struggled with doing that for a really long time - of planning, but not needing to control the outcome once I'd figured out the plan.

This week on the podcast I'm sharing how:

• You can make a plan, start working towards it, and leave yourself the space for creativity to take hold
• Set aside purposeful space to allow creativity to show up
• Become comfortable with releasing control of a situation
• Joy shows up when you leave room for it
• Artists Dates and how they can give you new ideas
• Trusting others can help you get your work done, and aid in further trusting yourself
• Rethinking what success looks like for you may shift how you approach what you "need" to do

Franny Burkey is a baker, shop co-owner, and pastry maker at the dreamy "Franny's Cup and Saucer" in Point Arena, California. She whips up gorgeous cakes, delicious donuts, some amazing gluten free treats, all while working with her mom (and co-owner), Barbara. The shop itself feels like the embodiment of joy, with it's sweet gifts, tasty treats, and loving atmosphere. When I started creating my list of who I wanted to interview for Jump Start Your Joy, Franny Burkey was definitely one of the first names I wrote down.

And, Franny herself is really one of the most joyous and endearing folks I've ever met, and so it was a real treat to get to chat with her for a bit about her childhood, her outlook on life (and business), and what she loves about her work.

In this interview, you'll hear about: – Franny's childhood, growing up in Northern California, and having two parents in the food industry – How Franny comes up with flavors for her delicious Friday donuts – How Franny and her Mom work together, and run the bakery – The secret of how Franny gets up early, and her positive outlook on why it's not "so bad" – What she does to relax, including mixed martial arts and running – How they've established what to buy for their shop in a small town, and what their ideal price point is – How many wedding cakes Franny makes in a year, and why she loves working on wedding cakes – My own wedding cake and how Franny designed the cake for our four year old son (with a robot, rabbit, Yoda, and Lightning McQueen)

Resources Franny's Cup and Saucer website Franny's Cup and Saucer Facebook page (check out the donuts here) Sunset Eating Up the West Coast from Amazon (Franny has two recipes in this 2015 book)

In this solocast episode, I'm exploring the topic of finding joy in uncertain times. In the midst of the shifting world events, I've felt weighed down recently. In this episode, I'll talk about how it takes real courage to follow a muse like Joy in hard times, and following joy, and love, and our own hearts is more important now, than ever before. I've spent a lot of time mulling over why joy has felt so awkward recently, and why it still beckons me on. And, I've found a lot of uplifting quotes and thoughts from others to share with you, too.

The six ways ways of finding joy in uncertain times I share in this episode are: 1. Define what's true for you – regardless of what else may feel uncertain, what do you know is true for you, right now? 2. Take comfort that it's perfectly OK (and natural) to grieve or feel sadness at the same time as you feel excitement or joy. 3. Take action: joy is an act of defiance and self care 4. Take action: caring for others spreads joy 5. Baby steps: Joy builds more joy. Little Bits of joy brought to life make room for more joy in your life 6. Look at joy in a new way: explore what joy looks like at the crossroads of whatever else you're feeling

Resources Helen McLaughlin's delightful "Weekly Findings" Newsletter Laura Simms post on "Finding Purpose in Uncertain Times" Laura Simms in episode 34 Molly Larkin in episode 10 (where we talk about Byron Katie) Jennifer Ching's inspiring CAKEooh Blog

Jenny Mahan is a registered nurse and certified health and wellness coach, owner of Pine Creek Wellness, and a soap maker. Jenny works with people to help them reclaim their health in a way that invites them to reconnect with what delights and nourishes them. She lives on a farm in far northern Wisconsin and she is truly a multipassionate person - she's also a singer and songwriter, author, jogger, and hammocker. It's really a pleasure to have her on the podcast this week.

In this episode, Jenny Mahan and I talk about:

• Her earliest sparks of joy as a child: music, being outdoors, and making things with her hands
• The role Outdoor Education played in her life
• Ecological design, and how she has looked for a reliable way to support her family
• The nurturing and comforting properties of plants and animals
• Therapeutic Communication and being a home care nurse
• What motivates people to make changes in their health
• How to plan for the challenges of life
• How to jump start your joy: by keeping what really matters in mind and by "letting it rip," or giving it your all

Resources Jenny Mahan's website The 5 day "Nourish" mini course Order soaps made by Jenny

If you're starting a podcast, or another creative pursuit, you'll come across three things: Fear once you've said yes to the thing, Commitment to yourself, and, you'll run into a Nellie Oleson Moment. Mine just happened to be with Nellie herself!

You can read the whole show notes here: www.jumpstartyourjoy.com/meangirl