We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jennifer Bauer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jennifer below.
Jennifer, thank you so much for joining us today and appreciate you talking about a sensitive topic. It’s unfortunately relevant to so many in the community as layoffs have been on the rise recently, and so we’d appreciate hearing your story and how you overcame being let go?
Over a period of ten years, I was laid off 6 times. Each for reasons beyond my control, leaving me feeling like the rug had been pulled out from underneath me. And each resulted in a period of time looking for the next opportunity while stressing about how I would afford to live off unemployment checks. During one of the periods of unemployment, I had to foreclose on my home.
The last time, I had only worked at that small tech startup for about 6 months before they couldn’t find the next round of investors, ran out of funding and laid off the entire staff. Once I got to the comfort of home, I screamed at the sky, “What do you want from me? If I’m not supposed to be doing marketing and communications, what am I supposed to be doing instead?”
Within moments, I heard a “new email ding.” It was a marketing email from Martha Beck, an author and life coach I’d followed for years. It was an invitation to register for their next training cohort.
Still not getting the hint, I thought to myself, “Well, maybe this training will make me more marketable on my resume.”
That night when my husband got home from work, we went for a run on the trail that follows the coastline in Huntington Beach. I brought up the idea of training to be a life coach for additional managerial skills. We discussed the expense, time commitment and the pros and cons of it. By the end of our run, we had decided I should move forward with it.
“Okay, then as soon as we get home, I’ll register,” I said as I stretched my calves against the curb and looked out over the ocean.
As soon as the words left my mouth, a small pod of dolphins lept, flipped, twirled and backflipped directly in front of us in the breaking waves. A jolt of electricity and chills went up my spine.
Now I realize that each layoff was a greater power shoving me out of the nest so that I could fly by doing what I was truly meant to do, not just what society told me was a solid career choice.
I was only two months into the training when I realized this is my purpose in life: to help others to navigate challenges, find their way forward, and cultivate joy, peace and freedom. I’ve never felt more at home within myself than doing this work. I can’t imagine ever going back.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Soon after certifying in that first life coach training program, I went on to receive my Master Certification. From there, I added certifications in Equus Coaching (which is coaching with a horse as co-facilitator), Reiki Master Teacher, Breathwork Meditation Healing, and Ho’ola Loa Energy Realignment. After offering one-on-one services for several years and integrating the modalities together in my business offerings, I was consistently being asked to teach and mentor others. I was then inspired to create the Institute for Nature Centered Coaching in 2021 to train and empower those seeking to be of service as life coaches and energy healers. It centers around connecting to nature to reconnect to our own true nature. We’ve since had three cohorts of students graduate, each sharing how transformative the experience was for them in their own personal development.
In parallel to founding this new business, I began working with the non-profit, Free Rein Foundation, which rescues and rehabilitates abused or neglected horses and utilizes them in Equine-Assisted Services. As an independent contractor for Free Rein, I started working with at-promise youth from Los Angeles’ inner city and the Sunburst Youth Academy. Free Rein has more recently asked me to serve on their leadership team.
I continue to offer one-on-one coaching and energy healing sessions, group and private workshops, as well as retreats while teaching at and running the Institute for Nature Centered Coaching. It’s a fulfilling career and lifestyle for which I feel honored and delighted to get to do in this lifetime!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The three qualities I’ve found most impactful in my journey are: Passion, Patience, and Persistance!
If we’re not passionate about what we’re pursuing, it will be challenging (if not impossible) to have the patience and persistence to navigate the inevitable ebbs and flows of creating anything new.
As the saying goes, “Rome was not built in a day.” As much as we’d love our vision to immediately manifest into reality, I’ve found that having patience and trusting that all will unfold in its right time is what keeps me taking the small steps each day toward my vision.
And finally, persistance to keep going even when we’re exhausted and the tenacity to believe whole-heartedly that our dream will manifest more wonderfully than we even imagined.
As for advice on how to best develop these…again, it starts with passion. If there isn’t an authentic and genuine passion for whatever your goal is, you will not be able to curate the patience and persistance necessary to acheive it. The second element is Pronoia: the belief that the universe is conspiring on your behalf.
If you follow your passion with TRUST that you are being held and guided by a benevolent power and that everything is working in your favor, everything else will come in perfect timing.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
“Loving What Is” by Byron Katie has been the single most impactful and valuable books I’ve ever read. It taught me that my thoughts (and thinking) are the root of my suffering, and resisting reality will only create pain. Therefore acceptance in what is, is where I can find freedom and peace.
My favorite nuggets of wisdom from this book include:
“Everything happens for me, not to me.”
“When we believe reality should be different than it is, we suffer. But only 100% of the time.”
“It’s not your job to like me — it’s mine.”
“All I have is all I need, and all I need is all I have in this moment.”
“Do you want to meet the love of your life? Look in the mirror.”
“Stress is an alarm clock that lets you know you’re attached to something that’s not true for you.”
“It’s not the problem that causes our suffering; it’s our thinking about the problem.”
“Would you rather be right or free?”
“We say to others only what we need to hear.”
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jennbauerhealing.com
- Instagram: @elationexplorer
- Facebook: @institutefornaturecenteredcoaching
- Other: www.naturecenteredcoaching.com
Image Credits
Laura Nieto Justine Makoff Deanne Weinberger Jessica Zucal
