Today we’d like to introduce you to Jillian Lawrence

Hi Jillian, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?

Academics were never my strong suit. I found the education system I grew up in to be black and white, with little room for deviation from the traditional model. The majority of my grade school years were during the ’90s, a time that was thought of as rebellious, yet unbeknownst to us, we were taught what to think, not how to think. When I look back at career counselling, the concept of women owning a business wasn’t even entertained as an option. I was given guidance to become a teacher, secretary, or travel agent based on my skills and interests. While those are all reputable jobs, I find it curious how mainstream they are and I wonder how many of the boys were offered those options?

As I set off into the “real world”, my dream was to be an executive assistant to some big boss man. (Funny now to think that my conditioned mind imagined the boss had to be a man!) It never occurred to me that I could be the executive. As children, when we’re taught what to think, not how to think, we’re limited to a life based on preconceived notions and other people’s ideas. As we grow, we follow a trajectory based on someone else’s opinion of what we should be doing, regardless if it even feels right. If we are taught how to think, we can expand our imagination beyond the current reality to create whatever we want.

If you had told me back then that I would grow up to be an entrepreneur I wouldn’t have believed you. Owning a business fell into my lap in my early 30s when I was looking for a career that would give me the freedom to work around my kid’s school schedule. It was never something I was working towards. Since business has historically been a career path dominated by men, it has taken time to embrace my unique feminine way of showing up. Instead of pushing harder when things aren’t working, I back off. If I’m getting burned out, instead of powering through, I take time off. Best of all, I rely on my intuition to guide me to opportunities.

Almost nine years later, and after a lot of trial and error, I have owned three businesses and continue to grow and learn more about myself along the way. Entrepreneurship isn’t for the faint of heart, but it is for absolutely anyone with a big idea and a drive to succeed.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

People with a smooth road on their entrepreneurship journey usually aren’t being truthful. It’s like saying raising kids is a smooth road… there are plenty of joyful moments, but the road is anything but smooth! When people make business look overly easy, those who are struggling can end up feeling like there’s something wrong with the way they’re doing it. There’s nothing wrong with sharing wins, but only sharing part of the story isn’t being transparent, especially if someone is only sharing wins to make something they’re selling appear more appealing.

My obstacles came in the form of people pleasing. I’ve always believed being an entrepreneur is a conduit for self awareness; if you pay attention to how you show up in your business, it’s likely you show up in other places like that as well. Business brought my people pleasing to the forefront of my attention, but it wasn’t until I reached burned out that I realized what was happening. As the list of people in my life with expectations of me grew, I stretched myself thinner and thinner trying to keep everyone happy. In fact, I made myself and my needs so small that I had no time to take care of myself and I got really sick.

This showed up by not having boundaries around my time (answering calls and emails 24/7), giving away my time for free (scope creep: clients asking for things outside of the contract and me not charging for the extra time), and saying yes when I knew I didn’t have the energy (taking on too many clients and taking on projects with really short deadlines).

As I began meditating and bringing mindfulness into my daily practices I was able to slowly work on my boundaries and reclaim my time and energy. As a result, I realized I was trying to fit into my conditioned vision of what a business owner is and it didn’t match my values. I saw entrepreneurs around me who were burned out, didn’t take time off, and were always pushing themselves too hard, so that’s what I unconsciously thought business was. I can now see that I can create whatever I want, I just may have to swim against the current at times, but in doing so I get to create a business that’s unique to me and reflects my values.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?

I design websites for heart-led entrepreneurs with big ideas and a desire to make an impact in the world.
I also speak at conferences, sharing about mindfulness in marketing and business and how to calm our overthinking minds and make decisions aligned with our values.

My unique approach to business incorporates self-awareness through mindfulness and meditation, supporting my clients to create truly unique offerings. We don’t get more creative by thinking harder, we have to quiet the thinking mind to access the constant flow of creativity. From that place of stillness, where anything is possible, we find the answers to our deepest questions and clarity to our confusion.

I offer a co-creative process with my clients including copywriting support and powerful story-telling as a selling tool. Each site is thoughtfully designed from scratch. I use my Mindful Marketing Method, which includes getting in touch with your ‘why’; understanding ‘who’ you want to attract as your clients, so we can use language, colors, fonts, and images that will resonate with them; knowing ‘what’ your ideal clients are looking for, so we can place you as the solution; and exploring ‘where’ your ideal clients spend their time, so you can place yourself in front of them.

My clients not only receive a beautiful, responsive, search engine optimized site, but they also walk away with clarity on who they’re marketing to, how to market to them, and where to spend their valuable time marketing. When you’re clear on these things and rooted in your values you come across as more confident and people are more likely to want to work with you.

I believe the brighter you shine the easier it is for people to find you.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?

Entrepreneurship is a risk. In fact, nearly everything has a risk factor, we don’t usually consciously measure our decisions based on the risk though. Every time you get in your car it’s a risk. It’s a risk to leave your day job, but it’s also a risk to stay. Over-thinkers can get paralyzed by risk, weighing out the pros and cons, analyzing the data, and not wanting to “get it wrong”. Our thinking mind has great value and can help support us in examining risk, but it will always err on the side of caution. Your mind’s main function is to evaluate risk and keep you safe from fear.

Your heart, on the other hand, has access to so much more value than just risk assessment. Sometimes what the heart wants has no reasoning. We can’t think our way through it and the more we try to understand it, the less we do. Being heart-led means you have a calling inside you that is nudging you (or in some cases yelling at you!) towards something greater than yourself.

Risk-taking is finding the balance between your heart’s calling and your mind’s thinking. What I find super risky might seem like a breeze to you, which means my mind will be much louder with the potential dangers of the situation. Listening only to the mind may prevent us from ever taking risks, but listening only to the heart may cause us to miss possible red flags. For most of us in the modern world, we tend to be anchored too much in our thinking mind which is why introducing mindfulness and meditation can help you hear the calling of your heart. We can pretty much guarantee our minds will weigh in with the risk factors.

From there it’s up to you to find the balance within yourself to step into the amount of risk that you can handle without spiralling into too much fear. 10 times out of 10 I’ve found that the fear in my mind is always worse than actually taking the risk.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jillianlawrence.com/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mindfulnesswithjill
• Other: https://insighttimer.com/jillianlawrence

Image Credits

Images by Linda Mackie Creative (https://www.lindamackie.ca/)