We recently connected with Lynn Lessell and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Lynn, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
Work ethic is an interesting term. Does it pertain to work as a profession or work that’s applied to caring for your family? For me, it applies to both. The effort it takes to manage a home and the people that live in it is work. Sometimes it may be more difficult than the work you do on a job. I say this because this is a big part of my story and how I became who I am today. The lessons I learned started at age four and carried me through much of my lifetime. What I learned was not the foundation of my ethics, which comes from deep within; however, what I was taught and what I witnessed throughout my life provided the information that allowed me to make the best choices over time.
You may say how could you learn lessons about ethics at four years old? Consider the definition of ethics- the moral principles that govern a person’s behavior. I believe we’re born with an ethical foundation in our “emotional DNA™”. What happens as we age can be influenced by those around us if we let it.
I was the oldest of three siblings. When my brother was born, it wasn’t hard for me to understand at four years old that my existence no longer mattered to my mother. As I got older, the rules were that it was my “job” to take care of everyone. Self-focus was not an option or important. If I tried to do what was good for me there were consequences. That said, I spent most of my childhood befriending my dad who suffered a similar kind of emotional abuse and I was raised mostly by my grandparents. What I learned from my childhood “job” was that this existence was not normal, not right, and not ethical so internally I chose to be as good as good could be. What did that look like? It meant I couldn’t break a rule, I couldn’t do anything wrong, and everything must be clean and organized; in other words, everything had to be “perfect” which is impossible. I lived in constant fear of consequences.
At age 16, I got my first job working retail and applied what I had learned at my ‘home’ job. My dad set a great example for me when it came to business. He taught me about customer service and how to treat others the way you would want to be treated. I knew he was on to something because his consistently returning customers paid him more in tips than he made in his weekly paycheck. I took that lesson throughout every job I had from then on by putting 100% on the job and at home.
You may think that I had already overcome the challenge but the challenge was first to come and I didn’t recognize it. You see, you can have wonderful ethics and a great moral compass yet you’ll always face more challenges if you don’t recognize two things. First, not everyone is the same and thinks like you. Second, when you do everything for everyone else and sacrifice yourself because that’s the way you think it’s supposed to be, you find all the bosses that take advantage of that. The result is the challenge of never feeling good enough anywhere and finally realizing that only you can stop allowing others to make you feel that way.
You can only get beaten down so many times until you hit rock bottom as I did. It’s at that moment when you discover that the fear of doing something different and facing change is better than remaining lost. So, overcoming the challenge of not feeling like I was enough at work or home meant making some painfully difficult choices. I had to learn to respect and love myself for who I wanted to be not who I thought others wanted me to be. I had to stay strong and emphasize the integrity with which I want to live my life. As stated in Wikipedia, “Integrity is the practice of being honest and showing a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or earnestness of one’s actions. Integrity can stand in opposition to hypocrisy”. This is the way I’ve lived my life because it’s part of my “emotional DNA™”, the foundation that you’re born with. The challenge was to understand that I had to choose to hide it or to wear it proudly.
Today, I’m CEO of Itz Why® LLC, certified in health, life mastery, and hypnotherapy helping individuals take back control of their “emotional DNA™” to discover who they were meant to be.
I founded IPP Inner Power Partners® to create a community for professionals who want to do the same. When you’re who you’re truly meant to be success is imminent and your work ethic and integrity stay strong.
It’s not easy by any means, maintaining the integrity of your work ethic on the job or at home is a job in itself; however, it’s the most rewarding job you can ever take on. I believe this because putting in the work changed my life and it’s an amazing one.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My story is a long, difficult one and I’ve already shared that it led me to hit rock bottom. No one should have to get to that point. Getting to that point means you have to make some intense, life-changing decisions and when I realized what it took to overcome the issues, I also realized that I might be someone who could help others the way I wish someone would have helped me. You see, you can’t do anything about what you don’t know you don’t know. If you don’t know what’s broken, how can someone help you fix it? I now know how to help others that don’t know what they don’t know and this is my ongoing mission.
As the Identity Coach™, one thing that sets me apart from other coaches, I believe, is what I like to refer to as my “Spidey sense”. I’ve always had this innate ability to hear multiple layers below the surface of what someone says to help them. I’m not clairvoyant just a fine-tuned listener. I hear the things that are deeply buried within, the things they don’t hear themselves say out loud, and ask the right questions that provide the door that opens to a file that’s been stored long ago and possibly forgotten. I use a customized technique within my coaching that creates a trusted bond with anyone I work with. That comfort level becomes a priceless tool that invites the client to explore inward and reveal what they didn’t know they didn’t know about themselves.
Clients thank me for changing their lives in remarkable ways. Our work together helps them simply experience the self-awareness that may have been ignored for a while.
I’m known for transforming lives. As the founder of IPP®, I’ve been told I’m revolutionizing the networking industry so professionals can get back to humanizing relationship-building. Many IPP® members openly share the great amount of personal growth and business advancement they’ve experienced from being part of this community. Our community is growing continuously with our 2024 expansion from the southeast coast of Florida to the west coast in Sarasota, Florida, as well as, our newest group IPP® Global. In March, I will be expanding my practice and partnering with Forum, facilitating supportive peer groups for women.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
What I want anyone to know about me is what is most important to me above all else; honesty, integrity, and trustworthiness. I believe without those three things everything else is mediocre at best. I say this because all of the segments of my journey involved interaction with several people with less integrity and honesty. I always had a gift for communicating with others in a special, helpful way. Over the years, I was often asked if I was a therapist, not that I tried to be one; however, I suppose becoming a coach was a calling I wasn’t aware of yet. Eventually, the opportunity arose to consider this path and once I began training I realized how important having training is. From there I’ve embarked on many certifications and each one helped me become better as a person not only successful in my profession.
As the founder of Itz Why® LLC, “ME” Monday®, and IPP Inner Power Partners®, I’m passionate about having as many tools as possible to help my clients and colleagues. I’m certified in health, life mastery, and Hypnotherapy, a facilitator of Compassionate Integrity Training, trained in Functional Body Systems, trained under the National Board of Health and Wellness Coaches (NBHWC), and have a degree in business management and marketing. All this and I’m continuing to research, train, and learn to be the best I can be at what I do.
For those folks who are early in their journey to create a career around their expertise, I would say always remember there’s more to learn about your industry, as well as yourself. The best way to develop and improve your skills and knowledge is to acknowledge that you can’t know everything and can always learn and evolve to keep up with the changes that inevitably will happen around you. I don’t have all the answers. I do have all the questions!
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
For the past two years since the inception of IPP®, the business has wanted to grow faster than it should. It’s been a challenge to slow it down a bit to maintain the integrity of the model so the benefits members want would not be compromised. Too much growth too quickly can be detrimental if not handled properly and rushed, especially if you’re a solopreneur. I’m able to expand into Sarasota Florida because I have amazing long-term members who will become part of my volunteer team and will step in as facilitators of the group. Many connections I’ve maintained in the global space due to the lockdown of 2020 have cultivated an interest in bringing IPP® into the virtual space which led to the upcoming launch of IPP® Global in March of 2024. As I’m still navigating the challenge of growth as a solopreneur, the biggest challenge I’m facing is how and when to outsource certain tasks to free up the time needed to forge forward. Answers to this challenge are beginning to cultivate as a few members of this powerful community are stepping up with enthusiasm to become part of my team of volunteers. When you have a supportive community, no challenge is too big to face. It won’t be too far off in the future that this solopreneur will become an entrepreneur with a team!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://innerpowerpartners.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itzwhycoach/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/itzwhyIPP
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynn-lessell-chwc-clc-cht-bba-speaker-writer-05656b37/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8ZMCGnq0pnpFvFZC9PHJP0GVKvW0Yu0G
- Other: https://feeds.transistor.fm/itz-why-with-lynn-lessell-managing-stress-to-be-your-true-self
