From Stuck To Success | Special Podcast Episode

✨ Hello, I’m Fran, Your NLP & Business Coach. I’m exploring a wide range of business ideas and money-making paths, with practical takeaways you can apply.

From Stuck to Success! 

Ready to break free from old career habits and step into your true potential? 

In this episode, I'm interviewing Jennifer Bouley.

Jennifer Bouley is a certified coach and yoga teacher with a deep background in HR, career development, and social service work. 

Discover Jennifer’s innovative, strategies designed to help you look past standard job titles, overcome professional roadblocks, and intentionally design your dream career.

You can connect to Jennifer in the following ways⬇️
https://www.instagram.com/blissplusyou
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-bouley
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2214563015582754/?ref=share
https://www.BlissPlusYou.ca

Find me @ https://melancholyment...

As a coach, I listen without judgment, understanding that others views may differ from my own.

#nlpcoach #nlpcoaching #inspiration #careerdevelopment

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Background

Fran 0:27

Hello and welcome to Melancholy Coaching Podcast. I'm Fran, your NLP and business coach, and I'm delighted to welcome a motivational guest. Jennifer holds credentials in career development, human resources, labour relations, and social service work. In addition to this, she holds a 200-hour teaching certificate in yoga, which is quite an accomplishment, and a coaching certification. Jennifer has worked with countless individuals to discover their dream careers and set achievable goals. Jennifer, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. Yeah, that's quite a bio you've got there. Yeah. I've got a couple of questions for you, and we'll have a chat around that if that's okay with you. That works for me. I'm a curious being, so and I like to prepare. So here's the first question that I've got for you.

Outdated Advice To Ignore

Fran 1:20

You're known for taking a highly innovative approach to career development. So, what outdated career advice should job seekers completely ignore today?

Jennifer 1:32

Uh, the first one is about the resume. A lot of people think they should just list what they've done now with the rise of AI. First of all, take out the objective or the summary statement at the top and put in your quantifiable things that you've done. So put in things that you've done and how you've brought about achievements. So those would be the main things for the resume. When it comes to networking, people think that they should just go around and meet everybody possible. It's about building relationships and building sustainable relationships and ongoing trust with the people that you meet. So scrap the going around and just meeting everybody and handing out your business card. Focus on building really strong relationships. And another one that a lot of people I see a lot on social media, especially on threads for job seekers, is they're applying for everything and not hearing anything. Apply two to three really well-crafted jobs, really well-crafted resumes and cover letters a day. And less is more. The more focused you are on what you're trying to achieve and what kind of job you want, and the more clear you are, then the better it is. And the other thing I have is a lot of people think they should just take the highest salary. You should always focus on a job that aligns with your values because chances are you're going to stay there longer and you're going to feel more fulfillment in life. Those would be my top four things.

Fran 3:10

That's

Values Fit And Healthy Boundaries

Fran 3:11

very interesting. And also knowing that you're a coach, you'll be able to coach people with values and elicitation. You'll be able to coach people about boundaries as well. Because what I'm hearing from what you've just said is that a lot of people, myself included, no doubt, in the past, you've got no boundaries in place of what would work for you and what aligns with your values. So you think that you've got to grab every every opportunity, you know, and that's where you net you can network with the, and it's not that they're the n necessarily the wrong people, they're the wrong people for you. It's the wrong career for you.

Jennifer 3:49

Yes. So what you want to do is think about it this way: you're spending 40 hours a week there. You probably spend more time with your coworkers than your family in some cases. So you want to make sure that you're spending time with people that align with what you really value. You want to make sure that the work that you're doing you truly enjoy. And not saying that every job, we're going to go through seasons where we have jobs that we just don't like. And that's okay.

Safer Entrepreneurship And Skill Building

Jennifer 4:19

While you're in those jobs, continue looking for another job that aligns with your values. And if you're in a more rural area like I live, where there's less opportunities, find things outside of work. Build something outside of work. Consider entrepreneurship. That's another thing that you can do. I would never tell somebody just to quit their job and start a company, but I did that, but I don't recommend that. I would recommend that people, if you can't find something in your area that really aligns with what you're looking for, create something, slowly create it, and then jump into it full time when the season presents itself.

Fran 5:00

Yeah. And again, that's where coaching can come into it because if somebody's interested in entrepreneurship, there's there's a lot to learn beforehand, isn't there? You know, so possibly you've got gaps in your skill set, possibly there are things that you need to learn. And that's the sort of thing that you can start building with support and with your boundaries in place. You can start building while you're in a career to transition.

Jennifer 5:24

Yes, like a lot of things that people don't think about when they're building entrepreneurship is like bookkeeping and taxes and accounting and marketing. And they think that if I just go on Chat GTP or Claude, that I can just find all the information. But you really need to go around and talk to people and your boundaries, and you also have to know how to say no. Not every opportunity is going to be the right kind of opportunity, especially in the workplace. But if you're looking to build your skills, consider joining like a board of directors or volunteering and something that you really care about because there could be a job opportunity that comes up that could apply to that you could what I'm trying to say is that you could apply for that you already have your foot in the door with that organization, and you could be the first in line for that job, you don't know.

Fran 6:18

Yeah, so there's lots of different ways of finding that career, isn't there? And that's where you can come in to help people. I've got another specific question for you

Day In The Life Career Clarity

Fran 6:28

here. So when clients come to you feeling completely stuck, which let's face it, it's gonna happen. It's happened to me as well. What's your go-to strategy to help them uncover what their dream career looks like, you know, beyond just the job title?

Jennifer 6:47

I do want to call a day in the life exercise. So a lot of people come to me and they're like, I have like five different ideas what they want to do. So I go to them and I say, let's write out, pick your top three or top four, and write out what a day in the life would look like in that career. And then we analyze those. And then I get them to have informational interviews with people in those industries before they go time and spending money on credentials and spending a whole bunch of time or even applying for that career and getting into that career and being like, man, this is not what I thought it would be. So really researching it beforehand, not over-researching, but researching to a point where you know it feels right for you. You have that gut feeling. So when they're stuck, it's about looking at the different options and doing your research. So, and we also uncover the values. And I have like a set of questions that I do with every single client at the beginning so we can really go through their values and their goals and really what they're looking to do.

Fran 7:55

Yeah, I love that. I'm I'm very value-centric as well. So I do love that.

Global Clients Book And Free Resources

Fran 8:00

Just out of interest, do you work with people on an international level? Is it locations? So it can be anywhere because uh presumably a lot of it's remote work.

Jennifer 8:10

Yeah, like I have clients in the UK, I have clients in the United States, of course, Canada, Toronto, because I'm from Toronto. I have clients in Thailand, and I've worked with people in China and Brazil, so a lot of different countries.

Fran 8:26

Yeah, so it's amazing being able to connect like that, isn't it? And it's how we're doing it today because I'm actually based in the UK, so I'm in England currently.

Jennifer 8:34

Yeah, I mean New Brunswick, Canada.

Fran 8:38

What I'd like to ask you again, because I I love this question, it's just really simple is what's next for you?

Jennifer 8:45

What's next for me is I have a book that I'm writing.

Fran 8:49

Uh, here we go. So tell me about it.

Jennifer 8:53

It's called Your Blissful Career. I think it's called Your Blissful Career. I haven't totally decided on a name, but it's about the previous work life before COVID and what the new world of work looks like, and then tons of career strategies, and then gig work, and basically where the where the world of work is going and what you can do with what we have now to move yourself forward in a nutshell. That's what the book's about.

Fran 9:21

Yeah, I love that. And that will work as a beautiful lead magnet for you, and also as value for anybody that purchases that because they can get a lot of information beforehand, can't they?

Jennifer 9:31

Yeah, and you can find a lot of information on my blog on my website. I have about 70 different articles on there about anything to do with careers. So if you're looking just for regular stuff, you can always go to my website and look at my blog.

Fran 9:47

That's the next bit I was going to get to. So thank you for sharing your insights there, Jennifer. For those of you interested in Jennifer and her work, you can find her here. So you're on Instagram, aren't you? As a Bliss Plus You on Instagram. Yeah. LinkedIn is Jennifer Boulay on LinkedIn. I've got a LinkedIn profile with nothing on it. So very guilty of like creating that LinkedIn profile, and now I don't know what to do with it. So, you know. Facebook, it's Bliss plus you coaching. Yes. On Facebook. And then your website that you've just mentioned. So that's www.bliss plus you.ca. And what was it? You said you've got blog. Have you got blogs on there? Yeah, I've got about 70 different blogs on there. Oh, amazing. Yeah. So lots of lots of complimentary information for people as well.

Jennifer 10:43

Yeah, like if you're just looking to read, go to my website, check it out, and you can get anything from networking to stress to career strategies to how to interview, how to create this a resume. There's so much on there that I've written, even about job scams, though my most recent one.

Fran 11:04

There

Job Scams On LinkedIn

Fran 11:05

has been job scams highlighted in the UK as well. And on actually some recruitment websites, there were job scams as well. Yeah. So that's that's quite an interesting topic for people to learn about, isn't it?

Jennifer 11:19

Yeah, there's a lot of job scams there, and they're really getting really crafty and really smart, and they're really utilizing LinkedIn right now for that.

Fran 11:28

Oh, interesting. Now, see, this isn't to um scare people, is it? This is to arm with information. Yeah, information and education, because that's how you're gonna make informed decisions about what you apply for or what or links that you follow up on, isn't it? Yeah, or who you interact with and who you're giving your information to. Yeah, yeah, very good. Right, there was something else that I was curious about and it's gone out of my head. I was gonna ask you. Oh my goodness, oh I know.

Who Jennifer Helps Most

Fran 12:03

Right, just really simply again as well. Now you work internationally and you can work remotely. Is there any specific kind of demographic or you know, avatar or anything like that ideal client that you you work with, or is it anybody?

Jennifer 12:17

I've always typically I've worked with anybody, but my best clients that I've really worked with have been recent graduates to mid-level career professionals, both men and women. It's mostly people, and I've worked with a lot of Canadian newcomers. So if you're new to Canada, I can help you. If you're international, it's mostly recent graduates, people just entering their careers, or people getting mid into their careers who are looking to go to the next level.

Fran 12:51

Yeah, okay, I hear you on that. And like with, you know, because I'm a coach myself, and yes, I can coach anybody, although I'm specifically suited to certain people, you know, in a certain demographic. So um, but there's I have a lot of complimentary information as well. So I think it's a lovely thing for people to come to you for your book and for your blogs, you know, and and get lots of information, and then possibly you're the right fit for them to work with, or maybe not, but they've got all of this lovely information and education to take themselves forward.

Jennifer 13:23

Yeah, exactly. So they can make informed decisions about whether or not they want to work with me because not every coach is going to be your fit, but I have a lot of information and I will like to focus on being accessible. So, what I mean by that is allowing people to have like it's not a secret about how to find the best job. I'm going to help you find the best job, and I also have information on my website about how to find the best job for you.

Wellness At Work And Wrap Up

Fran 13:56

Yeah. And the yoga as well, though you thinkfulness. Uh, okay, so that's really important as well because I truly believe that mindfulness can blend beautifully with coaching. It can it can blend beautifully with helping people to move forward, you know, because as as a coach, generally we kind of tidy up the past, center people in and out, don't we? And move them forward. It's all about that moving forward. Um I should imagine that there's a lot of stress involved in people getting the right career, or they can have a lot of workplace-based anxiety already.

Jennifer 14:33

Yeah, exactly. Like I focus on wellness in your career too. That's my big thing you'll see on my website. So, wellness in your career means finding a job and managing stress. There's stress with every job, but it's about managing stress and being able to put in that work-life balance, being able to enjoy yourself at work or being able to enjoy yourself at home and having that disconnect time is basically what I focus on, and putting mindful strategies into the job search and seeing the job search as an opportunity, not as a setback. Because we all get laid off at some point in our life. So it's about looking at the job search and seeing planned happen since making things happen for you that are the right fit for you.

Fran 15:21

Yeah, thank you very much for sharing that as well. Yeah, no problem. If I'm gonna wrap this up now, so thank you very much for being my guest. I feel that we as coaches we complement each other beautifully as well. Yes, because I don't necessarily do careers, but I like the business building stage. So we're kind of we've we've taken it in different directions, you know, with with the information that we've got to share. If you're interested in more content like this, then be sure to visit www.melancolyventor.com. So that's me. Follow for the latest updates, and the podcast and information about Jennifer will also be there. So until next time, stay curious, keep igniting your creative potential, and go and find Jennifer Belay. Thank you. That's okay, thank you very much. Bye. Have a great have a great day. Thank you for listening. I'd love you to subscribe and visit www.melancolymentor.com for the latest updates. Until next time, stay curious and keep ignited all creative potential.