We recently connected with Jill Freestone and have shared our conversation below.

Jill , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you share a customer success story with us?

I recently coached a family of 6 from the United States while they were traveling through South America and Europe for a few months. They reached out to me to help their family communicate better and handle big emotions without so much conflict. They knew that traveling, homeschooling and spending so much time together would amplify these struggles. We met over zoom before they left on their trip, getting to know each other and learning some basic skills. Each time we met over zoom, the family would join in groups of two in three different rooms. I would teach a concept and we’d apply it to situations that had come up that week or that they were anticipating in the future. Sometimes I would coach a family member in front of the others and then bring others on to hear their sides of the story and facilitate a healthier conversation between them or an apology. Other times I would coach 1 or 2 family members privately. Each week they would share a question or problem they were dealing with and we’d discuss it together, learn a skill and apply it. Then, they would practice between sessions and come back to report on progress and get more help.

Here is what the Dad said about the experience, “Jill really helped our family learn how to process our feelings. For years we’ve either ignored them or had destructive outbursts. Both led to distant superficial relationships with my kids and spouse. I am now able to listen and validate instead of “fix”. I am much closer to my kids and they aren’t afraid to share feelings with me. Jill, taught me the tools I need to navigate difficult emotions and develop a close relationship with my teens.” The Mother said, “Jill helped me see what we needed to fix in our family. Our family has been able to create a safe space for everyone to feel heard and validated. I expect my family to grow closer together as we make space for feelings and validation. Our family was caught up in “fixing” each other and this led to hurt feelings and distance. I wasn’t sure my family would get on board, but now I tell people all the time “each family/individual needs a coach.” Having a coach is so beneficial because they can see the situation objectively and can pinpoint what needs fixing. I had been looking for a coach and needed someone that specializes in helping families learn to process feelings. So glad I found Jill! She really helped our family navigate our feelings and create closer relationships with each other by listening and validating.” The four teens shared different skills they found the most helpful, how they learned a lot about emotions and communicating.

I found working with this family delightful, just like my other clients. I love helping families improve the safety and peace in their homes starting with their emotional regulation and ability to talk about big emotions in healthy respectful ways. I thrive teaching skills and answering their hard questions and coaching them through challenging thoughts, feelings and situations.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Many life coaches focus on thoughts, identifying and changing your thoughts. I’m very skilled at this and it’s very important, but I’ve learned the hard way that the most effective way to make lasting change is through emotion work in the body, not just thought work in the head. This is especially true in small trauma or big emotions when we “flip our lid” and lose access to our thinking and problem solving brain in that moment to protect ourselves. The body is experiencing the situation more than the brain is, so the way to unwind or heal that moment is by accessing the body first. Afterwards, it’s helpful to choose how to think about it as well. Often, I teach clients how to watch and be aware of their thoughts, understanding they are separate from their thoughts, then move into the deeper emotional work and then back to thought work. 15 years ago I had done therapy and gone to specialists to find relief from depression, anxiety, difficult teens, and multiple chronic health problems and pains. I wasn’t getting solutions and ended up finding relief through Mindfulness Meditation, basically saving my life. This was the first time I found joy again and the ability to pause and not yell at my kids and relief from daily physical pain and more. This led to rewiring my body and brain and healing relationships in my family.

Many years later I wanted to help others find similar success personally and in their families. My college degree was in Elementary Education and I had been teaching piano and flute lessons for 25 years, where I instinctively became a life coach helping with performance anxiety skills and managing their mind around actually getting to the piano to practice and how to effectively practice. I love working with kids and families and love teaching. Instead of going back to the classroom as a teacher, I decided to get certified as a Life Coach and help kids better handle school and life itself and help parents create a safe place for kids to process their emotions. This starts with helping to normalize emotions and for parents to model healthy emotional regulation and communication about it.

I’m a compulsive researcher (literal OCD) and continue to take many courses and trainings including many trauma informed and somatic practitioner trainings that help me create safety with clients and in their bodies so they can heal and make lasting changes. I bring many different kinds of tools to help my clients find what works for them, creating a very personalized approach. My faith expansion and journey to heal feminine wounds shows up in my marketing and coaching, as anxiety, ocd and depression collide with these.

I found great healing at a women’s drum circle in the mountains a couple years ago. Since then I’ve made my own Buffalo hide drum, mallets, acquired many different kinds of drums, have taken a drum circle facilitator training, and now lead drum circles to help facilitate healing, processing of emotions, and further connecting to the body. I spend a lot of time in the mountains practicing mindfulness and the anxiety and emotion tools I teach. It’s a deep form of healing personally and a way for me to teach deeper connection to the moment and the body with my clients.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Creating meaningful interactions and relationships with people has proven to be the most effective strategy for growing my clientele, along with providing quality content through instagram and guesting on podcasts. The biggest way I receive clients is through referrals from past clients and other people who know me through in person relationships or through other interactions online or in person. It was a slow way to grow my business, but the more clients I coached who had a good experience, the more they talked about me naturally to their friends and family and that has continued to bring clients to me that are ready to work with me already. Showing up as a real person online and in person instead of trying to sell has been part of creating meaningful interactions. People know when you are trying to sell and I learned it wasn’t very effective. Real relationships and providing quality service and content works.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

The first year and a half of my business was very slow and so frustrating that I almost gave up. I had so much to learn about marketing, sales and running a bigger business than my music studio. I tried dutifully to learn the methods taught to me. I believed what they told me, that their methods worked for them and were the best. Slowly I realized that it wasn’t how I wanted to run my business and when I finally let go and allowed my personality and ethics to lead, my business took off. This was a really difficult time and a switch that was scary. Learning to trust my instincts and desires was really hard, but so rewarding.

In the beginning I didn’t know how to market to families struggling with big emotions, but I kept trying for many years until I had the experience in marketing and coaching real people that helped me do exactly what I wanted. Lots of time, failures, patience, and over 5 years later I’m loving my business and my ideal clients have been coming to me without much marketing work on my part for the last 2 years.

Over 2 years ago I had another moment when I almost gave up my business when I was diagnosed with Scrupulosity OCD. Getting really good at coaching my own thoughts and repeatedly getting coached on similar issues actually led to my diagnosis and a time of identity crisis and fear that I couldn’t coach anymore without possibly causing harm like had happened to me. Some great therapy and coaching helped me through this and helped me find the strength of my diagnosis and helped me become a more powerful coach. I’ve been able to identify and refer many people to get the correct help and know how to best help them myself when appropriate.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jillfreestone.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jillfreestonecoaching/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coachjillfreestone/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jill-freestone-161ab05/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jillfreestonecoaching5597
• Other: podcasts: https://jillfreestone.com/podcasts/

Image Credits
Shay Kay Photography