We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer Palmer a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jennifer, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?
I own a large wellness center that was started in 2010. Approximately 8 years ago, I expanded my business and moved my location to start a cafe, add more treatment rooms and have a large studio to do more events and build community. It took about 2.5 years to make a profit, which was very good as most people estimated it could take 5 years with the level of expansion… it was like starting a new business.
However, shortly after we started to make a profit, we had to close down for COVID for 3 months. Of course, I still had the bills, but very little in income. Since then, it’s been a rollercoaster with a need to constantly pivot. Nothing is what it was, and the market changed for services, food and events… all things I was relying upon for business success. Every time I thought we had our feet under us, we had to pivot again.
I realized that I have been on my own version of the Hero’s Journey. The last 5 years have been very difficult, but I have learned so much along the way. I wanted to get back into my power and make my business successful again. I wanted to figure out why I was struggling so much and how I could change my circumstances. I had done so much healing and mindset work on myself, but I still wasn’t achieving what I wanted, and I was just barely making it from month to month. I knew that I was the only thing holding myself back, but I wasn’t sure what the problem was. So, I decided to really dive in last year to figure out how to get better with manifestation and then I decided to get certified as a manifestation coach. So much is finally shifting in my life and in my business and I finally see very positive results coming through… something I have prayed for many times.
Despite having such difficulty, I do not regret the expansion because I was forced to make a choice… to hide in fear or to grow into the person I needed to become. I feel that taking calculated risks and trusting your journey is very important and it is the only way to grow and become an even better version of you. We are not here to just make it from day to day. We are here to explore, expand, heal, grow, learn – and love.
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?
At the age of 18, I was working full time during the day and going to school full time at night. My parents couldn’t afford regular dental care when I was a child, so I didn’t get regular check-ups. I also wasn’t taking proper care of my teeth as a teenager. I thought I felt a cavity, so I went to the dentist. Turns out, I had 12 cavities and all of them were filled with amalgam fillings. I didn’t know at the time that these fillings were 50% mercury by weight. All I knew is that I never felt good after that.
By the time I was 28, I was married with 2 sons and getting sicker as the months went by. I was always fighting a cold, chemicals made me feel ill, I had chronic digestive issues, I kept gaining weight, I was in pain and my cholesterol was rising. I didn’t realize how sick I was becoming and just trying to function and be there for my husband and boys.
Both of my boys were having health issues. My oldest had somewhat severe learning difficulties and was put into a special ed preschool. By the time he was 9, he was finally diagnosed with PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder – not otherwise specified). My youngest son had asthma, eczema, and digestive issues. We weren’t well.
Nothing motivates a mom more than having children who aren’t thriving. I dove into studies, listened to podcasts, watched videos, read books… anything that could give me some answers. This is when I learned just how terrible heavy metals are for our health and that the amalgam fillings were greatly affecting me and my sons. I also learned so much about other medical practices that could be causing harm as well as chemical exposures in food, skin care products, cleaning products and more. I fell in love with the process of healing, and I started to see results for my kids.
I wasn’t seeing great results for myself though. I remember one time when I was in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber with both of my sons and I was crying to God. I promised to God that if He shows me how to heal, I will help others do the same. I was suddenly inspired to speak with the doctor who was helping my sons, and he said that I needed to address my emotional traumas and then I would probably see things get better. He was right. As I was healing my many traumas, I started getting better. I was healing in all ways, and it was like I was finding myself for the first time.
I decided to get trained in holistic healing so that I could help others. Around the same time, my oldest son started spontaneously and very naturally healing animals with hands on energy healing… literally saving their lives. I was already starting to get interested in Reiki and decided to get trained in it.
I decided to leave my IT career and in 2010 I opened up a wellness center. My goal was to have as much as possible under one roof to offer opportunities for healing and community. I’ve been blessed to be part of the healing journey for thousands of clients. The one thing I know for sure is that healing is an inside job. My approach to helping my clients is to help them heal/clear trauma with energy healing, shift their mindset so that it aligns with healing and to offer supportive services for the physical healing.
If you really want to shift your life (health, relationships, finances, career, etc…), you have to shift who you are on the inside first.
Have you ever had to pivot?
The first time I really had to pivot in my business was when COVID caused us to shut down for 3 months. Nothing was the same after we reopened. Nobody was coming into the cafe, so we had to join some delivery services. Our events had to shift to being mostly online and they just weren’t as well attended. Our services needed adjustment as well. Even my energy healing practice changed. To keep people comfortable, I would sit at the bottom of the massage table near their feet and give energy healing from there. That was actually really amazing as it helped me develop some new skills that I am still using today.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I wear many hats in my business… owner, practitioner, marketer, customer relations, bookkeeper, front desk staff, laundry tech and janitor, I thought that I needed to be everyone’s friend in my business. I thought that if I was kind and diligent and looked out for everyone’s best interest, people would respect my approach and be kind and diligent and look out for my interests in return. What I realized is that most people are advocating only for themselves and mostly don’t recognize all that I have to do to keep the business running. I wasn’t advocating enough for myself and my needs as a business owner. I had to develop the understanding of how to navigate that and to still feel appreciation instead of resentment when someone doesn’t understand my needs. Sometimes that is a lonely space to be in, but it is what is required of my role in my business. I had to realize that while I can understand their position because I am also a practitioner, they have no way to really understand my position because they have not built a business like this and do not understand what is involved in running it. I am in a unique position to lead the way so that we all can thrive.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nourishing-journey.com and www.jenn-palmer.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennpalmerhealer
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ascensionactivationhealing
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JennPalmerHealer
- Other: Soul Growth & Awakening Tribe on Skool: https://www.skool.com/soul-growth-awakening-tribe/about
