Boss Your Business - The Podcast

Yvonne Heimann [00:00:01]:
Have you ever thought about how to maintain balance in your life while still being productive and successful? Today, we're diving into the real struggles many face when trying to shift from the hustle-and-grind mentality to a life of intentional work and self-care. First, there's the challenge of breaking free from unproductive routines. Then, dealing with disruptions like the travel that throw you off your regular schedule. And finally, finding the courage to follow your intuition, even when others doubt your choices.

Joining us to shed light on these issues is Jen Heller, a wellness expert and the voice behind the "Homes that Heal" podcast. Jen left a high-powered job at Coca-Cola to follow her passion for health and wellness. She's here to share her journey, how she overcame personal and professional obstacles, and the practice that helped her thrive.

In this episode, we’ll talk about setting boundaries, creating routines, and embracing self-care. Get ready to discover the tips that might just change how you approach your life and work.

Yvonne Heimann [00:01:10]:
And with that, we are back to another episode of boss your business where we are also bossing our mindset. And today I have a feeling we're gonna be, we're gonna be having a lot of fun because we already talked behind the scenes about taking multiple weeks just off just unplugging. Yeah, we check some emails once in a while, but we plug off. So before we get into all of the nitty gritty, how Jen made that all happen, my favorite question. I start literally every episode out with that. My favorite question, did little Jen think she's going to be where you are today or did she think she, I don't know, become a nurse, a teacher? I don't even know. How did you get here?

Jen Heller [00:02:00]:
Great question. First of all, thanks for having me. It's a pleasure. I would say, Yeah, I would say that little Jen probably had some foresight on this. I was climbing trees when I was three and crawling out of my. Jumping out of my crib before I could walk, according to my mom. So I've always been on the move and doing some sort of trailblazing activity that didn't follow the norms, so to speak. But I mean, if you asked me when I was a child if I would be running my own business, working from home, traveling the world, teaching health and wellness, I probably would have said no.

Jen Heller [00:02:34]:
I probably would have thought, you know, I was in a corporate job for many years prior to this, so that seemed to be the most logical thing to do until it wasn't. And it took me 14 years to figure that out. But I always knew that I was going to be doing something fun because if I'm not having fun, I'm not interested in doing it for very long. So I'm a mover and a shaker and I, yeah, I don't, I don't have a crystal ball, but I certainly don't think that little Jen knew I'd be right here having this conversation.

Yvonne Heimann [00:03:07]:
How did you get here? So I'm like, health and wellness is often, as I have experienced in the past, often a personal subject to get into. So I'm curious, how did you get here? How did you get to your business, where it is today?

Jen Heller [00:03:25]:
Yeah, great question. And you're right. I think the health and wellness space, nine out of 10 people have landed in it because of a personal health journey or something that they were cannonballed into and not typically on their own doing. Right. Like some sort of warning shot health crisis. Something has come up which has forced them down a path and a journey and in that process, a transformation happens, and then you turn around and you're like, how can I help other people? So that's my story. But how I. How to go back? You know, I.

Jen Heller [00:04:00]:
I've always aspired to be an entrepreneur. I've always aspired to be my own boss. I got a job when I was 14 and started saving money for my own, you know, my own car, all the things. And so I got into the workforce pretty young, like right out of. Right out of high school. I got into college, got a corporate job, hr, finance, sales, just a ton of things. I worked for Coca Cola for many years.

Yvonne Heimann [00:04:20]:
How does HR and finance align with health and wellness? That's like, they don't total.

Jen Heller [00:04:30]:
They don't at all. Yeah, it's like this direction and this direction. So. But what's fun is that on the background, to throw a curveball at you. I actually flip homes and do real estate type stuff. So that was always kind of in the back. And that's more of a creative edge for me as to the transformation process of a, say, of a home, like transforming it through a flip process. But, you know, I worked in a small town or I lived in a small town in northern Wisconsin, and there weren't, I don't say a ton of job opportunity, but there wasn't a ton of job opportunity.

Jen Heller [00:05:00]:
And so Coca Cola was a great company. And, you know, so it just made sense. I went to business school and just worked in alignment with that, with the college and the business opportunity, and I learned a ton. I learned a ton. Now, granted, my program was great, my college, but I learned the majority of life through basically throwing in the ring of fire in my job. So. But, you know, as time shifted, unfortunately, the background, my health was not ideal. And so I started gaining a ton of weight.

Jen Heller [00:05:35]:
I struggled with weight my whole life, like in teenage years, but throughout my 20s, I very much. I was gaining weight. I was not well. I found myself in a marriage that I didn't feel very fulfilled in. Not a terrible situation, just more like a partnership roommate situation where you're like, oh, we don't really have a lot in common. And as you get older, you know, right out of high school, it seemed like a good idea to get married, but it really wasn't. So I found myself in a spot, I would say mid to late 20s, where I started asking myself some questions about what is it that I really want to do? And I could have stayed in that job, but it wasn't like fulfilling my life and my heart And I also was really overweight and really wanted to figure out how I could reverse and go in the right direction. And so through a series of some blood work and some testing, actually through some holistic testing called NRT or nutrition response testing, I discovered I was heavy metal, toxic.

Jen Heller [00:06:36]:
Toxic with mercury and lead, actually, specifically. Yeah. Not idea, not ideal.

Yvonne Heimann [00:06:45]:
Like that. Toxic is never a good idea, but that's like a bad idea.

Jen Heller [00:06:50]:
Very bad. Yeah. So in my situation was pretty terrible. It had crossed the blood brain barrier. I ultimately actually had a stroke and became crippled on the left side of my body for about three, four years. Yeah. So it was like this whole tumbleweed of like, what is going on? I've got to figure this out. So again, going back to the crisis, it's like now I'm kind of forced to go down this path and figure this out.

Jen Heller [00:07:20]:
And so I got into the first order. Business was, how do I get these metals out of my body? Like, what is going on? Where are they coming from? How do I get them out? I found infrared heat, infrared saunas. Started working with a practitioner in a sauna and some supplements to start basically a detox process. So that took about a year. And during that year, I completely, just literally started. Was literally sitting in my sauna on a daily basis thinking, where am I going? What am I doing? What is my vision? Like, you get pretty raw and real with yourself when you're sitting naked, sweating, and you're thinking about the fact that this could take my life. Like, I could die from this. And that's kind of serious.

Jen Heller [00:08:07]:
So one by one, I just started chipping away at the things that put me in that position. And that was unhealthy marriage, job I didn't feel fulfilled in anymore, some other relationships that were no longer serving me. And I just started making shifts and changes. And over that, I would say it was a course of about a year or two at this point. I lost 125 pounds, detoxed all the metals completely. I left my husband, my then husband at the time, started looking inward at some other things I enjoyed, got into more reading, doing some public speaking.

Jen Heller [00:08:45]:
I started working with a small group of women that wanted to learn how to read labels and get into nutrition. Like, how could they lose the weight? Like, where are their root causes coming from? Like, where is their weight gain? Sugar, metals, whatever. And we started meeting weekly and I started helping my friend at her clinic with her program. And I just became intoxicated with, like, the thought of being able to help other people transform their life because I completely did a 180. So I hit the reset button. I went back to school into nutrition detoxification and just kind of did that behind the scenes for a bit. And then one day I was like, I'm just going to quit my job. Like, I just don't want to do this anymore.

Jen Heller [00:09:30]:
Like, this isn't fun for me. I want to help other people know that infrared saunas and infrared heat and these types of therapies are available. I got really passionate about teaching other women how to nurture and take care of their bodies. And then I got real serious about creating a business plan in and around the things that I love and how I could, like, have more of a desire to go to work every day. And so I quit my job and I opened a wellness center and sauna studio. And that's what I did.

Yvonne Heimann [00:10:00]:
Now and for everybody that's just listening and not watching the video, you hop over to YouTube because Jen's face at the end, they was like, yeah, just quit my job. And like, just go, done. Yeah, I'm out.

Jen Heller [00:10:18]:
Everybody thought I was nuts. My mom was like, what are you doing? I mean, do you really know what you're doing? And I'm like, I've never been more sure of anything in my life. Like, when you get. I just got goosebumps, actually, like, every time I talk about this, like, alignment mindset, when you know, you're. When you're listening to your gut intuition and use that as your guiding system. Like, there's no way you can't do it, right? There's just no way. And so the more I thought about it, the more I just checked out. And then I found myself, you know, like, I'm Coca Cola again.

Jen Heller [00:10:50]:
Great. Grateful for the opportunity and the time, but they deserve to have somebody in that role that was fully dialed in and checked in. I was checked out. I wanted to go do other things. And so I just quit. Quit and moved. I actually moved out of my hometown. I left.

Jen Heller [00:11:06]:
I moved to a different area, completely hit the reset button, sold all my real estate on my properties. Like, everything was done. I packed up a moving truck and moved about three hours south. And you get really clear on the things you need in life when you're paying movers by the pound for your stuff. You're like, I don't really need that anymore. Don't really need that anymore.

Yvonne Heimann [00:11:28]:
Oh, yeah, I did that coming to the States. Two suitcases and a dog. I do miss my shoes. But I did replace them over time.

Jen Heller [00:11:35]:
Yeah, shoes and Handbags. I had quite the collection. I'm not going to lie. I was like, this is going to hurt. Hurt and sting. But I really use the same, the same three every time. So it doesn't matter a whole ton. But I just got, I just got some serious clarity in and around what lights my fire and what drives me.

Jen Heller [00:11:53]:
And it's, it's been a runaway train since. So that's how I got to health and wellness. And that was 15 years ago. 14 years ago.

Yvonne Heimann [00:12:04]:
No, I think, I think it's, it's always interesting when our passion shows up. We are so clear, we are so strong. Straight on. And then we have family and people close to us who are like, are you sure about that? Where it's like, I appreciate it. I so appreciate it. Because they are coming from their experience, they just want the best for us. They want us to be safe, they want us to be taken care of. I completely get where it's coming from.

Yvonne Heimann [00:12:36]:
But I also can see where some, that I might not so secure in their passion. What they want to do could be like maybe I don't want to do it. Maybe I. Yeah, so it's, it's nice to see when somebody is like, no, that's just it. I am so sure in it. This is done. Not even a question.

Jen Heller [00:12:58]:
Yeah, I would say my mom, who's one of my biggest fans for sure, she's always been so kind and supportive and knows that I'm just a free spirited person and she's usually just like scared as a mom would be, but she's like, okay, you know, cheering me on. She was the one that was the most concerned just from like, you know, is this, you know, asking the questions and of course I care about her and her opinions and her thoughts but I really didn't care about anybody else else's thoughts because part of me was, I was so sure. But also some of the people actually, to be totally transparent, coming at me, asking me these questions and this was not my, my family, my inner circle but like former co workers and things are like, what are you doing? Why are you doing this? It's like you're just, I just feel like you're pissed off. Like you wish you like why are you doing.

Yvonne Heimann [00:13:50]:
Because you got the balls to do it and they still don't like, yeah.

Jen Heller [00:13:55]:
Like why are you questioning me if you've ever been so sure of anything in your life? Like I knew there was a fire burning in me and it wasn't in a 9 to 5 anymore. I had to Go and figure it out. And so. But it was an interesting transition and an interesting move because you kind of got. You kind of got an awareness of. Some people were like, man, I wish I could do that. Like, just do it. What's holding you back? You know, that's one of the most common things people say, you know, late in their life or if, you know, heaven forbid.

Jen Heller [00:14:25]:
And I talk to people every day that have really serious diagnoses, Right. Like, God, I wish I would have done this, and I wish I would have done that. And I've lived this whole life doing these things. It's like, we were not meant to be here for a pile of things in a mediocre life. Like, we're here to thrive and enjoy and love and experience. Like, And I always knew if it didn't work out, I just pivot. Like, people are hiring all the time. Like, you can get another job.

Jen Heller [00:14:50]:
Like, it's not that big of a deal. I was like, in my early 30s. It really didn't. It wasn't a life sentence. Right? Doesn't need to be. Anyway, so. Yeah. Yeah.

Jen Heller [00:14:58]:
I knew nobody was talking me out of it. I was like, I'm out of here.

Yvonne Heimann [00:15:05]:
Love that. So how did you turn? I'm doing this. Moving away, sizing down, cleaning up, doing all the things to just recently taking a month off. I'm like, when I look at entrepreneurship, the message is finally changing. The whole hustle culture BS is finally getting washed out. But it's like, still, especially in health and wellness, we have the tendency to take care of a lot of other people and forget ourselves. And you were able to, like, as I know from chatting behind the scenes, pretty much completely unplug, other than checking a couple of emails here and there and just take a break. For you.

Yvonne Heimann [00:15:55]:
How did you get from. Okay, we are doing this to be able to put your business on pause.

Jen Heller [00:16:03]:
Yeah, great question. It's important to know that I opened a wellness center and back in 2013, unfortunately, I did close the brick and mortar Wellness center in 2020 during COVID We were closed for many months, and I had to make a decision to let it go. And it's okay. I'm grateful for those years. It was a tremendous experience and a wild ride, and I met a million people and it really grew my network and my community. But I've been consulting from home now since. And so what I've done since then in the last few years because of that experience and understanding that we are the creators of our life and anything can come along at Any point in time and sweep it away. So I don't take that for granted.

Jen Heller [00:16:46]:
It's also important to note that I've healed from the stroke and I'm no longer paralyzed. And so I put my body back together through a lot of help, a lot of inner work, a lot of mindset, and a lot of understanding that there needs to be balance. If I don't nurture myself, if I don't stick to my routines and take care of myself, there's no way I can show up for anybody else, you know, And I learned that through not just work, but even in my former marriage. Like I said, there were things that I look back on. It's like, yeah, I could have done that differently. I could have been. I was working too much. Right.

Jen Heller [00:17:20]:
And so just lessons, you know, I'm a huge advocate for life happens for us, not to us. So over the last few years, I have really cultivated and narrowed down the type of people I enjoy working with and the things I enjoy. And the consulting that I do is in and around very specific. I don't say a blueprint, but I have a very specific schedule that's very boundaried. Certain days I do certain things. Mondays and Fridays are gen days. I don't take meetings, I don't do podcasts. I don't do anything unless it's, you know, some admin stuff and some other things that are for me on both Monday and Friday.

Jen Heller [00:18:00]:
So coming into the weekend and out of the weekend, they're catch ups. Right.

Yvonne Heimann [00:18:05]:
So I'm like, like my brain is like, oh my God. Yeah, it's Thursday. Thank God. I have Thursday and Friday open for podcast recordings because those are my days when I record and be creative.

Jen Heller [00:18:17]:
Yeah, and I appreciated getting your notes too. You're like, this is what we're doing. This is the schedule. This is the regimen. And so you have to do that. You have have some boundaries. And so it was getting really clear on the days that I want to be on and talking and doing the things. And then there are other days where it's like, I need to be doing these other behind the scenes things.

Jen Heller [00:18:33]:
And so it was just creating clear boundaries. I have a team of people, you know, around me that really help and support my systems. We did a lot of recording and things in the month is months of June, or, excuse me, July and August in preparation for me to take basically September off and be completely unplugged. So, yeah, I mean, there's work on the front end. It's just like going on Vacation. There's work on the front end, there's work on the back end. But I just, I just, I mean the first week I was off, I took my mom on an annual trip that we do every year. Completely unplug.

Jen Heller [00:19:06]:
I mean, my husband and emergencies are really the only people that should be interrupting that time. So I just set a set of thing on my email letting everybody know that I was not available. Then they could contact, my assistant. There isn't anything that I do that's so time sensitive and urgent that it can't wait. So of course I was checking in from time to time. I had a couple days here and a couple of days there, but I went to Banff with a bunch of ladies on a ladies retreat, a week long retreat and I didn't work at all. I just completely unplugged and just decided when I get back I will figure it out. And I'll be honest, I'm still weeding through some emails and through some things.

Jen Heller [00:19:48]:
But it's okay, you know, it really, we have to, we have to be the creators of this life. Otherwise it's going to overrun us. It's going to take over. And you know, I sell saunas, I sell tangible products. So I've got saunas shipping and receiving all across the country at any given time. Logistically that can be challenging. But I have people and systems in place making sure that everybody's all hands on deck when you're gone. Call me if something's on fire.

Jen Heller [00:20:16]:
Nobody called me. So just having a good support system of people that understand what your priorities are, that's key. Having the clear boundaries, having the discipline to not jump on social medias or emails, you know, that's a whole other job in of itself.

Yvonne Heimann [00:20:34]:
Oh my God. Yes. And I think, I think part of that might also be some, some mindset work where it's like, first of all, we are not heart surgeons or in a trauma unit.

Yvonne Heimann [00:20:50]:
Second of all, at least with me, I'm working right now on my helper syndrome where it's like, love my partner, when he calls me out and he's like, you don't need to save me. I'm like, God damn it, where is, where it's this. You don't have to be in the business, you don't have to fix somebody's problems. You don't have to micromanage your team. So when we do that mindset work now, suddenly we also allow our team to take charge. They know if really hits the fan, they know. But before that you got the keys?

Jen Heller [00:21:30]:
Yeah.

Yvonne Heimann [00:21:31]:
I trust you.

Jen Heller [00:21:32]:
I think probably some of the most work, the best work I've done in the last few years has been on myself. And I'm a control freak. I like to have my hands and all things I like to be doing. My husband's like, you don't like simplicity. I say, I like simplicity, but he's like, you don't. You like to be spinning 75 plates at a time? And if you're not, I don't feel like I'm doing enough, but I've managed it. I feel called out, but it's really in and around, like managing the mindset of when I'm in the business, when I walk into my office, I'm intentional and I'm doing the things, but when I'm not, I have to empower my team. I've hired them to do a job, and if I'm constantly sticking my hands in that, it doesn't feel good for anyone.

Jen Heller [00:22:17]:
And I honestly learned that the most in my HR role when I worked at Coke because I could see supervisors trying to micromanage their people. And the leaders who actually stepped back and allowed their people to do their job and be there to communicate and actually engage in, like, solutions and conversation. They're the ones that had the most sound people and ethical people, as well as the ones that showed up for work every day because they wanted to do a good job and they wanted to have high performance because they respected their boss. And so I had a front row seat to that for over a decade to see these different teams in different departments. And the managers that were constantly nagging or on people are the ones that had the most turnover, for one. But also they're the ones that had the, like. I don't say mediocre, because that sounds terrible, but, like, they weren't elevating their people. And so it has allowed me.

Jen Heller [00:23:15]:
And I also worked for a really great boss. I worked for a really shitty boss, actually. When I first stepped into Coke, there was a lady who worked, I worked for, and she was not. She wasn't. She was a horrible micromanager and very petty on a lot of things. And then she left. And I fortunately worked for a boss, a woman who was fabulous and just a tremendous leader. She taught me these skills and I respected her for it.

Jen Heller [00:23:38]:
And she also showed me how to manage and be an observer of other managers and supervisors. And so you could see these common threads. And so that's what I took into my own business from leaving that was to try not to get myself involved because I want to feel important. And everywhere it was like, let these people do their job. I've hired them to do it. And now let me tell you, I've got a podcast team now. I'm like.

Yvonne Heimann [00:24:01]:
Oh, my God, that is. That is one of the best things where it's like, I literally click three buttons. That's all I do in my podcast process. I'm like, okay, who do I want to have on? The rest is automated, the editing is done, the team is taking care of everything. And I'm like, this stuff is actually finally happening and I don't procrastinate on it.

Jen Heller [00:24:28]:
I know. I just actually spotlight my, my podcast producer yesterday. Her name is Jordan and her team because I was like, I'm so grateful. The fact that all I get to do is this and hit record. And of course, there's more to it. It's not just all, you know, unicorns and rainbows, so to speak, but I have a fabulous team full of people where this is their wheelhouse, this is their expertise. I actually don't even know. I'm not that tech savvy, as I said earlier to you, I don't want to learn that.

Jen Heller [00:24:56]:
I don't want to know how to do that. I know infrared and wellness and health and can help people detox their body. I don't need to know how to upload a podcast. Let them manage it, and if they have an issue, they can let me know. They just let me know every week. Things are rolling, things are good. Okay, great, everyone's happy. So to go back to your comment about mindset, though, that's actually a ton of the inner work that I've done on myself.

Jen Heller [00:25:20]:
And that goes. That is credited to a pretty tight, non negotiable morning routine that I stick to, which involves grounding, gratitude, a bit of journaling, what I call mindful moments, or some people call meditation, but just getting like, centered on what do I need to do today, what needs to happen that only I can do. Those are priorities, right? I don't need to be involved in a thousand other things as well as I need to be really focused and intentional on not allowing distractions to hit me. So I don't check emails at certain times. My phone's face down, so I don't see socials and pings, and I actually don't allow my phone to ping me unless it's a text. So just some interesting boundary stuff is the key for me.

Yvonne Heimann [00:26:13]:
How is that? My audience. My audience knows podcasts happen. Certain podcast guests are coming to me at specific times, and I'm like, fine, I heard you. I just got called out again. Yeah, yeah. I've been slacking on my morning routine, and I see it on my mental health, where it's like, God damn it, I know better. I know better yet. Here we are.

Yvonne Heimann [00:26:40]:
Here we are.

Jen Heller [00:26:44]:
There's a reason we're chatting today.

Yvonne Heimann [00:26:46]:
Thank you, Universe and Jen, for calling me out. I hear you.

Jen Heller [00:26:50]:
Yeah, that's what it is, though. And what I love about this whole world, too, is, like, we can call each other out. We. We see things and we allow the universe to show us the things we need to know. And again, that's life happening for us, not to us. When I hear somebody saying something, I'm like, oh, shit, that's totally my issue right now. I've got to take care of that. That's totally.

Jen Heller [00:27:10]:
Yeah, I got it. I got it. So receiving that message is powerful. And also when you're asking for help, you know, a lot of the times in the morning, I'm like, all right, where do I'm supposed to go today? Show me what I'm supposed to do. Asking where. Where you're supposed to show up. But having the courage then to actually move into action or make those changes or do those things or get back into routine or let go of some unhealthy habits, like coffee at 4:00 for me, you know, things like that. Things that aren't serving us well when I get back on my routines.

Jen Heller [00:27:46]:
And I love traveling, but I will tell you, I couldn't wait to actually come back home so that I could get back into my routine. My food, my nutrition, my yoga, like, all the things. So it's just. It's a balance to give and a take.

Yvonne Heimann[00:28:05]:
Oh, yeah. And sometimes it's just seasons where it's like, you know what? Cool. We had. We had a winter season of hiding. Let's. Let's get back into the spring. Let's get back into my rhythm. Yes, I heard you, Jen and Universe.

Yvonne Heimann [00:28:20]:
Got it. Message received. Message received.

Jen Heller [00:28:25]:
I'll send you a voice text to be like, all right.

Yvonne Heimann [00:28:28]:
Did you actually do it? Did you actually do it?

Jen Heller [00:28:30]:
I think it's important to go back to your note, too, about the hustle. I totally agree. The hustle and grind mentality is moving on out. And I was chatting with a girlfriend of mine this morning. Not on a podcast, just on Zoom. And, you know, she's been in the wellness world and corporate world for many years as well, and she, she agreed. She said we need to spend more time nourishing and nurturing and go back to some core basics and not feel like we need to be so hard on ourselves and think that we gotta do it all and show up in a thousand different ways. And with that it's just, you know, taking care of ourselves a little bit, doing a little bit more self love or self care and not thinking we need to work 24/7.

Jen Heller [00:29:15]:
So I, I've completely changed my priorities this year in and around intentional work, not more work.

Yvonne Heimann [00:29:25]:
Yeah, yeah, I received that. That is, that is my homework to clean up and do for 2025 and intentional.

Jen Heller [00:29:36]:
Yeah, that's my gift to you and everybody listening.

Yvonne Heimann [00:29:41]:
It is well received. With that, let my audience know where can they find you? Where can they connect with you? Where can they learn even more about you?

Jen Heller [00:29:51]:
Yeah. So probably the best place to land is my website, jenhellerlifestyle.com. you can find me on Instagram as well as Facebook under that name as well. And then my podcast is Homes that Heal. And it's in and around, basically just creating a home and a harmonious space. Like I said, now I work from home and so creating the most vibrant, healthy, harmonious place to work and feel my best. And so you can find me on all the major platforms, Spotify, Apple, all the things.

Yvonne Heimann [00:30:18]:
Love that. Thanks so much for coming on. For everybody listening and watching, remember to hit that like and follow button because we got a whole bunch of more amazing women joining me. And with that, Jen, thanks so much for joining me and see you later, everybody. Bye.

Jen Heller [00:30:33]:
My pleasure. Thank you.