We were lucky to catch up with Renae Mansfield recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Renae , thanks for joining us today. Can you share an important lesson you learned in a prior job that’s helped you in your career afterwards?

I would say my biggest lesson came while at my job as a Paramedic and Career Firefighter over the last decade . “Just keep pushing – You’re stronger than you think”. When I went to the fire academy, not only was my physical strength put to the test, but my mental strength as well. While all the fires were controlled, they really do throw you right into the fire! There were many times when I wanted to give up, tap out, call it quits, told myself I wasn’t cut out for this – especially when it was 100 degrees outside, wearing 70 pounds of gear and breathing equipment, pulling 200ft of 2.5 inch hose filled with water (which weighs a lot! haha) up 2 flights of stairs feeling like I was about to throw up in my mask. I learned how truly strong my mental strength had to be to overcome the desire to give up when things got difficult, which has carried me through the unforeseen difficult times that came in more recent years. Often times we limit ourselves in many different ways and excuses, but anything can be overcome with the right mindset – you just gotta keep pushing.

Renae , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Well, I would say it all started when I took a risk and moved from Buffalo, NY to Boston, MA with $400 in my pocket, my violin, without any family. After attending a spiritual retreat, I had met a musician that said he would show me the ropes of the music industry in MA if I ever decided to move there. I had also met an elderly couple that offered a bedroom in their house, so I took them up on it and made the decision to move. Because I was a fresh transplant, the musician I met allowed me to tag along at his gigs, recommended to check out some open mics to network, and gave me some pointers to grow as a musician.

At the same time, I wanted to become a volunteer firefighter, but I had no idea that firefighters in Massachusetts weren’t volunteer and were most often paramedics as well. Long story short, while working full-time at Target (the first job I knew I could get), I put myself through paramedic school and ultimately was hired on a Fire Department.

My career as a Paramedic Firefighter ended up giving me a lot of freedom to explore my creative, musical side. My schedule allowed me the availability to attend open mics on my off nights or weekends so that I could meet others and network. I remember my very first open mic. I wasn’t very good at the guitar, didn’t know many songs, and really only sang in my car! So I learned one song and off I went to the open mic, bringing my violin along with me just in case I could play along with someone. Let’s just say there was some awkward silence after my one and only song because apparently the crowd expected more haha. But they were very supportive and I ended up getting to play my violin with someone else, which really allowed me to settle into what I was comfortable in – being a wallflower musician.

I ended up meeting another man at an open mic who introduced me to a country band to play in which opened up a lot of other opportunities. At the time, I enjoyed being the wallflower of the country groups…playing violin and singing harmonies now and then. After growing as a musician during that time, I met my partner who plays bass, we decided to take a risk and start our own band together with me as the front woman – the Rene Ann Band. We had a great time as a band, but when covid happened, the future of live music was so up in the air and we didn’t know what to expect in the coming years. Ultimately, the band split up, but when music came back, my partner and I decided to come back as a duo where I would sing, play guitar and violin, and he would play bass and control the prerecorded triggers, which is what I believe sets us apart from other local musicians. I mean, who sees a bass and violinist as the main instruments playing a trap violin version of Billie Jean?

I guess that was a pretty long version of the story, but ultimately, I had to learn how to come into my own. I’m very proud of myself when I reflect back and see where I started when I first moved and then everything I have accomplished along the way. I was never a front person and have grown to be an introvert in my adulthood, so becoming a front woman of my own band was incredibly daunting! But through the rollercoaster of life, I found the confidence and desire deep within myself to create all different types of arrangements of cover songs and lead the band in entertaining the crowd. With that confidence, I have been led to start my own Life and Wellness Coaching business (Wayward Wellness Coaching) to help empower others to transform their own lives as well. So if I could say anything to anyone reading this, take that risk, you never know where it will lead you!

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Most recently, I had to make the biggest pivot of my life. As mentioned, I was working as a career Paramedic Firefighter. While I loved this job, I was feeling the burnout set in, especially post-covid. I set an intention of wanting to help people in a different way that didn’t drain me physically and mentally, and boy, did I receive my answer. I’m stubborn, so every time I would feel led away from my current career, I would bargain and tell myself I could still do it all – even though I was miserable where I was working and who I had become in order to fit into a mold I just wasn’t meant for. It was also causing me to question my desire to continue music. Burnout can affect you in so many ways, including your passions.

Slowly, I felt a pull trying to divert me off the path of security and comfort by introducing unexpected health issues in a domino effect. After a near death experience and 3 major surgeries, I FINALLY listened, and made the decision to leave the fire service to pursue my own life and wellness coaching business to help people understand their own power and transform their lives. This was a major pivot in my life that has not only helped me find my true passion for a career, but also helped me find my passion again with music and being an entertainer.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I mentioned earlier about learning to just keep pushing while in the fire academy. That really demonstrated how strong my mental strength had grown to be, which was necessary during the recent health issues I encountered. A couple of years ago, I had a near death experience where I needed an emergency surgery. That was a pivotal moment in my life because it was the beginning of a huge change in my life’s trajectory. I remained pretty resilient throughout this recovery and when I was ready to go back to work, a complication from the surgery occurred causing me to need another surgery. While this was a bummer, I still had high hopes that I would return back to work after recovery and everything would go “back to normal”.

Little did I know, these surgeries were brewing a massive back issue where I had 3 herniated discs, one of them being ruptured and unknowingly putting pressure on my spinal cord. One night, I woke up and when I went to stand out of bed, I lost complete function of my right leg while my left leg had the most pain I had ever experienced in my life. All I could think of was that I was never going to walk again, that my body had failed me after having spent so much time in recovery. Any mental strength I had developed was out of the window while my partner was helping me into a wheelchair, waiting in the ER. How was I going to work as a Firefighter? How was I going to stand at gigs and play music? Dance with the crowd? Load in equipment? I had no idea what the future would hold. This all led to my final surgery. During this time was when I realized how much physical pain and ailments can really affect your mental strength.

At this point, I knew my career as a Firefighter was over. After these 3 surgeries, my body was no longer able to withstand the physical demands the profession requires. Honestly, I was terrified. It felt like punch after punch after punch. I was broken physically and mentally. I had no idea what I was going to do as a career and I was barely able to last the 3 hours of playing music at gigs because of the pain and physical exhaustion. But with the support of my partner, reminding me of my strength and resilience, I was able to keep my head floating above all the what ifs and self doubts and “just keep pushing” through the recoveries. Through all that, I was able to find my true passion in helping people find their own power and transform their lives, leading me to start my own business as a Life and Wellness Coach. Instead of breaking me down completely, maintaining my resilience throughout some of the darkest moments of my life has really broken down the limitations I had placed on myself, opening up opportunities I didn’t think existed.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://reneannband.com
• Instagram: rene.ann.band
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reneannband?_rdr
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@reneannband
• Other: waywardwellnesscoaching.org
  FB for Wayward Wellness Coaching – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?viewas=100000686899395&id=61566792351111

Image Credits

Stephanie C. Olsen Photography