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

Jess, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

Many people hope to be “the best” at what they do. I get it, being the best at something comes with all sorts of recognition and usually lots of success which for business translates to wealth. However, I have no desire to be the best at what I do. I believe success should be a byproduct, a happy coincidence of my career, not the overall goal. Most of the time when being the best is our main focus its because our ego is too wrapped up in what we are doing. We’ve forgotten that it’s about more than just ourselves. Instead I strive to be the most impactful. I want to change the hearts of those around me for the better. I want to leave a legacy of love, and compassion, and fearlessness unlike anyone has ever seen. Do I still strive to be successful? To create time freedom and generational wealth of some sort for my four children… Of course I do! I just don’t believe that it has to be one or the other.

Jess, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I like to say my speaking career began “accidentally on purpose”, which was clearly exactly how it was meant to happen because I never had huge aspirations to do what I am doing now. Almost six years ago when my ex-husband, and father of my two oldest children, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for almost killing his second wife in an act of domestic violence, my world shifted forever. My oldest children and I had also been victims of his abuse for years, unfortunately we were never able to have him held accountable criminally. All of the sudden I found myself with the freedom to start using my voice and sharing my story publicly. What began as mostly awareness around domestic violence, has blossomed into something far bigger than I could have imagined!

Through sharing my story of survival, I teach men and women to let go of the shame surrounding life’s low moments and instead use them as fuel to ignite the future of their dreams. I encourage people to remember that we can truly create our own credentials by not allowing society to tell us we aren’t good enough or qualified enough to fulfill our purpose. I get to do this though my keynotes, hosting my podcast, and my advocacy work. This past year I launched my own summit, Igniting Hope, which is going on tour later this year. So remember, you have the power to redefine life’s challenges simply by allowing them to build you instead of break you!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I know social media can seem like a big scary place, but it truly can be an incredible asset to your business. There are hundreds of philosophies on how to best utilize social media and they differ depending on which platform you are using. When is the best time to post, how often should you post, should you post pictures or videos, should you write long or short copy, the list goes on and on. One of the biggest things to remember with social media is to be yourself! I know that can seem absolutely terrifying, but trying to show up as some altered version of yourself will kill your following before you even grow one I promise. Social media is so much more than a marketing strategy. It is a magnificent way to build your authentic market and create real human connection with people. Whether you have three followers or three million followers, treat them as you would your best friends. Share your real, unfiltered, everyday life. Talk about the current challenges or wins you’re experiencing. Take them along for the ride with you while you grow your business. Oh and you do NOT need to be a master of every social media platform all and once. Especially when you first start, stick with what feels most comfortable and where you get the largest engagement. I built my Facebook following from just over a thousand to almost 45 thousand by doing these exact things.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

First of all, if you aren’t willing to pivot then you need to reevaluate what you’re doing and your true purpose. I’m not saying it’s easy but it is 100% necessary. When I had my fourth baby with my now husband I really thought I had it all figured out. I had found my soulmate who was the best possible parenting partner. I’d been a mom three times before, what’s one more? I can absolutely keep my business running in the exact same way because I’ve got this mastered. Wow was I wrong! After having an almost 12 pound baby, I experienced extreme postpartum depression for the first time and had two additional abdominal surgeries within a year of her being being born. Pivoting for me at this point meant understanding that my business needed to be put on the back burner.

Don’t get me wrong I tried not avoid it. I pushed through to launch my summit “Igniting Hope’ but after hitting this huge career high, I crashed and I crashed big time. Pressing pause when all you want to do is run is incredibly hard. I felt like I was failing. I watched others land big gigs, launch new businesses, travel all over the world and here I was barely keeping it together. If I’m being totally honest I am still working my way out of all that fog, but now I can almost see clearly again. I gained so much clarity and perspective that I didn’t even know I needed. It allowed me the time to properly launch my podcast, All the Things with Jess Patz, and see my business from a new perspective. If I would have continue forward with “business as usual”, I can’t even imagine what would have happened. Pivoting for the pause was a huge blessing in disguise.      

Contact Info:

• Website: jesspatz.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/_jesspatz
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jpatzell
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jess-patz