We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jeanette Yates a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jeanette, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

My mission is to help caregivers take back their time without feeling guilty, even if caregiving is all on them. I have been a caregiver most of my life, beginning when I was eight years old. Over the last 15 years, as her needs became more complex, I started to feel more and more stretched thin, worn out, inadequate, and guilty, not only about myself as a caregiver but as a wife, mother, employee, and woman. The more I learned about caregiving, especially the complexities of how family dynamics can affect one’s ability to make healthy choices, I felt it very important to delve deep into my misconceptions, trauma, and dysfunctional patterns that had developed over the years of my caregiving journey. As I began to see the relationship between my healing journey and the increased confidence I was feeling as a caregiver and in other areas of my life, I knew that I wanted to help other women who struggled with caregiver guilt to break free from it once and for all. As more and more people become caregivers daily, I believe we are at a crucial point in the caregiving landscape where we must develop healthy boundaries, effective communication, and outspoken advocacy for caregivers and those for whom they care.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have been caring for my mom, in some way, most of my life after she was diagnosed with an illness in 1984 when I was eight years old. The backdrop of my childhood and teen years was her illness, though I did go to college, get married, and have two amazing children. As my mom’s conditions worsened and got more complicated, her needs became greater and I became increasingly burned out by trying to care for her, my kids, and all the other things and people in my life. When the pandemic hit, I realized that my attempts to care for her the way she needed and wanted were leaving me feeling emotionally and physically exhausted as well as the feeling of a growing disconnection with my family and my life outside of caregiving. Despite my best efforts at practicing “self-care,” I found it still wasn’t helping me feel any better about myself and my life. I felt guilty or insecure about my caregiving, especially as I began to try to find ways to tend to myself and my life. With no relief from the traditional self-help and self-care approaches, I used my background in teaching, fitness, and education to find a way to care for myself without feeling guilty and still care for my mom. I

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

My most effective strategy is to create connections through social media and, in turn, build my email list. Being able to connect with people through their emails, which is more reliable than hoping a social media post reaches your audience, helps me nurture, engage with, encourage, and support potential clients.

Have you ever had to pivot?

As I have been in business for two years, I have learned that nothing is set in stone except my mission. How I serve my clients depends on where they feel the most need, so I have pivoted from cohort-based coaching, 1:1 coaching, and community-focused coaching based on what my potential clients seem to need. As the adage says, sell them what they want, give them what they need!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theselfcaregiver.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theselfcaregiver/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556188502873
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jnetteyates/
• Twitter: https://x.com/JnetteYates
• Other: Substack: https://selfcaregiver.substack.com/

Image Credits

Emily Singleton (@emiilymade)