We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Heather Jones. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Heather below.

Hi Heather, thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

In the work that I do, I serve mompreneurs, but more recently I’ve honed my focus in on military spouse mompreneurs. The thing is, I’m a military spouse (retiree now) and a mompreneur. I know first hand the unique experience of a military spouse trying to find space for herself in the equation. From my point of view, coaching is a wonderful asset for just about anyone, but for someone who constantly needs to shift, then shift again, and yet again, it’s so important to have someone in your corner who understands the frustrations and challenges that go hand in hand with that kind of lifestyle. It’s my mission to help the military spouse mompreneur find her version of balance and flow so she can successfully run the business she dreams of while maintaining harmony in her home life and her own personal life.

Heather, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

About 5 years ago on kind of a whim I opened my first Etsy shop. I was creating handmade goods and selling them in my shop. Along the way I introduced new product types and experimented a lot. Along the way, the damage to my spine and hips became a major inhibitor to me doing the work I was doing and to the idea of scaling it in the way I would have liked.

I came to realize that what I was doing wasn’t going to be sustainable for me long-term. I needed to find a new direction, so I did what any curious entrepreneur does. I asked Google where I should go next in my endeavor. In my search for something new I came across life coaching as an option. I did a little digging there, and realized very quickly that it was right up my alley. I found that it offered me the opportunity to do everything I wanted to do, and was attempting in my other endeavors. It offered me an opportunity to bring joy to others, to empower and uplift others, and to leave them better than I found them. Yes! That was exactly where I wanted to make my fresh start, so I researched certification programs, picked one that aligned with me and my household’s schedules, and I dove right in.

Over the last few years, my focus around what and how I want to coach has shifted here and there, but ultimately, I have always wanted to serve other moms. I know how much of a woman can get lost in motherhood, and in all the other ways she shows up for others. I know how far away she can get from caring for herself, fulfilling her own needs, and pursuing her own passions. If I could serve all moms in pursuing the thing that calls to them, I would, but where I have landed is supporting military spouses who are also small business owners.

One of the toughest things about being a military spouse is, every few years we have to pick up and move to a new location. While our service members are arriving at that new location with their assignment already laid out before them, we often have to search for something new if we are working outside of the house. That becomes exhausting and frustrating. I learned this pretty early on. I think if a military spouse has the desire to do so, starting her own business is an amazing answer to this problem. When she can create a business that works for her lifestyle, she gets to pursue something that she is passionate about. She doesn’t have to find a new job every few years when her service member is reassigned to a new location. On that note, if being a stay at home, mom serves her well that’s amazing, but I know there’s so many of us are searching for something that allows us to be fulfilled on another level.

Of course, that doesn’t come without its own challenges. Military spouses have to be very flexible. When her service member is gone, all of the household duties full on her. Even when her service member isn’t way, this can often time become the case. This is where I come in. I help her to find her version of balance and flow. I help her learn to remain flexible, and to give herself grace when things don’t lineup the way that she expected. I help her to reclaim her power and start to make herself a priority once again.

Through my work, I support her in a number of ways. I offer one on one coaching with my clients, but many women get so busy that they need options that are available for them on their schedule. That’s why I have also created memberships and pre-recorded courses. They all have an element of coaching available within them where they do have communication with me as their coach, but they get to have the resources available to them on demand.

One of the most important things I want followers to know is I don’t subscribe to a one size fits all in any area of life. With everything that I do for or with a client, there is an opportunity for her to shift it and shape it into what he needs it to be, so that it speaks to her as an individual.

One of the things I pride myself on is creating a safe environment for women to show up as they are, no shame. I’ve often been told that people immediately feel very safe and seen with me. That means the world to me because building trust is essential to what I do, and when a person can feel safe in the space I provide for her, that allows me to serve her on the level that she needs and deserves.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I’ve always been a perfectionist. Growing up, my mom always told people that I was a perfectionist like it was a badge of honor. I know that she meant well and said it in that way because she was so proud of the pride that I took in all that I did. What she didn’t understand, and what I didn’t understand until a few years ago was that perfectionism was driving me into anxiety. Perfectionism had my inner critic, voice running wild and keeping me from doing the bold and courageous things that I wanted to do. Perfectionism had me questioning my every move, then beating myself up when things weren’t just right.

I would like to say that I was able to unlearn perfectionism, but the reality is that tendency for the perfectionist voice to creep up will likely always be there. What I had to do, was learn to quiet it, and overcome the tendencies to get stuck in perfectionism. I had to learn that perfectionism is fear-based, and it is my brain trying to keep me safe, but what it perceives as unsafe is really just the unknown. I had to learn to recognize that in order to not get stuck in it.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I touched on this a bit already, but it was a very important lesson that I continue to return to. When I decided to become a coach, I had already created several Etsy shops. 3 to be specific. Within those Etsy shops, I had started new lines of products, closed out a line in one shop and opened a new shop so that line would have its own space. I closed one of the shops that wasn’t serving me while keeping the other 2 going. I turned one of those into a digital products shop. You get the point. There were quite a few times when I pivoted.

The most impactful of these, though, came with the realization that everything I had built and put into creating a handmade business was going to need to come to an end. While I loved what I was doing, it was causing me physical pain. With the decision to close my remaining handmade shop, I worried about my identity. I was a wood sign maker, that is who I was. If I close my shop, and once again announce that I’m shifting directions, who am I now? The words flaky, unreliable, and other unkind names came to mind. What I needed to learn was that these are completely normal steps in entrepreneurship. We start, we grow, we shift, and we learn that these are all stepping stones. These are all opportunities to learn about running a business and to learn about who we are as individuals. individual Now when I pivot, I offer myself grace and reassurance instead of hurling insults at myself.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.heatherjonescoaching.com/
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/heather_jones_coaching
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeatherJonesCoaching/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-jones-coaching/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@heatherjonescoaching
• Other: https://www.amazon.com/author/heatherrozyjones

Image Credits
Heidi Shurtz Photography