We recently connected with Jen Fontanilla and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jen, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

At the last corporate job I had in 2001 working for a Fortune 500 publishing company, I felt frustrated and knew that my skills weren’t being leveraged and I began the hunt for something better. A phone call from a former boss from a small mom and pop print shop came through. “Hey Jen! We were just thinking about you. What if you came back and we offered you one third of the partnership?” Of course that sounded intriguing and being in my early 20s it definitely was appealing. I put in my two-week notice. “I’m outta here!” Unfortunately, within three weeks, I couldn’t ignore that gut instinct that was whispering to me, “This isn’t the environment you want to be in and they said it was going to take five years to get to $70,000 in an annual income.” With a new mortgage, new condo, and knowing it wouldn’t be smart to stay, I left on very good terms.

So there I was, sitting in my living room thinking, “Uhhmmm… what next?!” The funny thing is, I don’t even remember freaking out, maybe for about 30 seconds. I told myself, “I will figure this out.” Within a few days, another phone call came through.

“Jen, I have a vendor whose company is on a hiring freeze, but they definitely need a freelancer. Do you got a couple days?”

“Yes, of course!” I replied.

Later on, I got the details and realized it was in a very specialized area of design – corrugated packaging and displays. I had only done one display project by that point in time, but that didn’t stop me. I knew I would learn on the job or find someone to show me the ropes. What I had going for me was grit, skills, belief in myself, and the boldness to just go after it. Don’t get me wrong, yah I was a little nervous, but I knew I was going to make this work.

The company loved me; I got along with everyone, and I discovered what I needed to do within two days. And because this was my first contract gig, I quickly learned how to price my hourly rate and create invoices. Talk about a crash course in being self-employed. Those two days turned into seven months and I had surpassed that $70,000 mark with the short time I was there. It definitely didn’t take five years.

This experience taught me three of the biggest lessons that I hold on to dearly.

The first one is to change your environment or situation as fast as possible if you are not happy or feeling undervalued. Nothing will destroy your spirit faster than not having satisfaction and fulfillment where you spend most of your days. Too many people wake up miserable and complaining and yet are not taking even the smallest of actions each day to nudge them in a different direction. Make the choice to create a plan to alter your situation for the better and say yes to yourself. Stop worrying about what everyone else is going to say or think because you’re trying to do what’s best for you.

The second lesson is to dare to be bold, even when it’s scary as hell. Listen, I had bills and a mortgage to pay and other responsibilities and yet I knew that taking that leap of faith and action was the only way I was going to make some massive changes. I believe that God and the Universe always provides and creates a way for us, but we need to be bold enough to step through those doors of opportunities when they present themselves to us. I’m not saying to be careless. We need to be calculated in some of our decisions, but I’m especially speaking to those who want to play it extremely safe and are waiting and waiting for the stars and planets to align. You will wait forever and life will pass you by. Taking this risk has taught me to be comfortable taking risks. Do they always work out? Of course not. But I will say I rather take risks and see that things worked out or just course correct when they don’t versus never having taken that bet on myself at all. And finally, the third lesson is to know your worth and value and charge for it accordingly. This is something that has continued to become more and more refined over the years, and I have learned to gain more confidence through my experience. When we increase our belief in ourselves, know of self-worth, our confidence increases and we value what we offer to the world and how we help others. When you remember that there is a value exchange that takes place, you learn that your self worth has value and you shouldn’t feel ashamed or feel bad about asking for what you deserve and stand by it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

As you already know, I started as a graphic designer and specialized in displays and packaging for the movie entertainment and video gaming industry and that started about 25 years ago. But in 2005, I remember sitting in my office, thinking about what a lucrative career I had as a designer, but realized that I didn’t really know much about what to do with my money and that really bothered me. I ended up becoming a financial advisor and loved the idea of helping others understand their money in a simple way and because we’re never taught any of this stuff in school.

In the more recent years I moved into a coaching role and found that I really love helping creatives with their money mindset understanding the subconscious patterns they’re repeating that get in the way of making money. In the end it’s all about feeling amazing about using our core genius and talent to thrive, make the money we deserve, and live a life that we absolutely love.

I help creatives who need help with pricing their services or how to package and market that. From a money mindset perspective, the creatives I work with learn how to develop a better relationship with themselves and their money as they increase their self worth. This includes looking at past patterns, our relationship with our parents, what they taught us about money and how all of these things affect how we make our financial decisions today.

The biggest thing that separates me from others is that I come from both the creative and financial world and have a deep understanding of what creatives go through – balancing the development of ideas to a finished product to running the business side of it. As a former financial advisor, I have the technical experience and understanding of logistics. But as a money coach that understands how universal laws and energies work when it comes to money mindset and how we view money and how it affects us and how we show up, I have that different perspective, too. So when I work with someone I’m helping them from different angles that gets to the core of their money stories and we work together to rewrite those.

I am most proud of the changes I have seen in the people that I have worked with. Many of them ended up making more money, some of them finally fulfilled their dream of moving to another state, a few pursued a different career that allowed them to really step into their full potential and bring in more creative aspects to their work or life. At the end of the day, they are grateful for the changes and improvement they see in their finances, but the entire experience just makes a massive impact on their entire life overall. That is something to be excited about.

I would say the main thing I would want people to know about me is that I have been doing this long enough to not judge you or your past decisions. I have messed up big time and know what it’s like to make major and costly mistakes. But the hope is that everything is fixable over time and that requires someone that is compassionate, has the experience, and takes a different approach when it comes to your money and your dreams. Finance is emotional and money is energy and you can’t just only look at the numbers. My approach is unique and most of all caring from a deep, empathetic level.

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

I went through a divorce in 2009 and because everything was in my name; I lost it all while my ex walked away scot-free. I dealt with IRS issues, a bankruptcy I had to claim, lost millions of dollars in real estate, all during the economic crisis phrased as “The Great Recession” – the economic downturn after the bursting of the U.S. housing bubble and the global financial crisis. And as if that wasn’t enough, the following year, I became pregnant with my son and became a single parent. So, I say all that to say I know what it’s like to go through crazy stuff, cry, pick up the pieces, continue to make mistakes, but keep pushing forward and count every blessing and win along the way. Life is crazy! We’re humans and we live on planet earth. But like I said, everything is fixable and you always have the power to say yes to yourself and you always have a choice to change the way things are and design it how you want it to be. There was a time when I was afraid to share all of that. Sigh! People might judge me and think I’m not qualified to help them because of how much I have messed things up! Well, I shifted my perspective. Because I have seen almost every crazy scenario, I am qualified to guide someone through the things that cause stress and confusion. I get it, I’ve been there, and this can be figured out. I don’t live in a bubble and I’m not perfect (nor am I trying to be!), but I know what needs to be done to make things better.

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

Hands down it’s building strong, genuine, mutual relationships with your other entrepreneurial friends. These particular friends understand the grind and know how to hype you up and what you do to help others. If you get really good at building relationships, your trust and credibility factor go up. Of course you got to be really good at what you do to back it up, but when all of these components are combined, it becomes easy for your friends to send people they care about your way. Your job from there is to deliver and make sure that person has the greatest experience and transformational breakthrough with you.

In addition, I would say in the more recent times, creating collaborations not only has been highly effective, but I find them incredibly fun. You have to be very careful who you pick to do this with and make sure you and the other person are on the same page, you vibe together and the energy is good – don’t just say yes because someone asked you to do something together. Vet the person and make sure you feel good about what’s being proposed, the outcomes, the goals, etc. Most of all, make sure you are clear on what’s expected of each of you! Otherwise you could potentially run into the case of the 4th-grade-group-project! You know when your teacher made you get into an assigned group and you were the only one doing all of the work? Yah, we ain’t trying to do that again. So make sure you know what and who you’re getting involved with. But other than that, it can be very rewarding in many ways and you get to reach more people to help, you draw on each other’s strengths, hold each other accountable, and of course, grow your business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jenmoneycoach.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/jenmoneycoach
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/jenmoneycoach
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/jenmoneycoach

Image Credits
Caitlin Baker, Wreiko Dawson, Tracy Disbrow