Transcript: Ditching Competition and Embracing Collaboration with Jennifer Keller

Joanne Bolt  (Intro)

The power of a podcast extends well beyond plugging in the mind. So if you're ready to learn how it can help you build a big business and your best friend, Hi, I'm Joanne Bolt and I am obsessed with all things podcasting, and creating an unapologetically big revenue business with it. From podcast guesting to podcast hosting and everything in between. We're gonna dive into it all and show you step by awesome step. How using a podcast can and will grow your business to grab a glass of wine and pop your headphones on. Cuz, Girlfriend, Happy Hour has begun here on the B word.

 

Joanne Bolt  00:50

Hey, ladies, welcome back to the B word. Today's guest I found that this cutie pie at a conference a couple of months ago. And a I'm obsessed with her headbands. You gotta watch her on Instagram because she's always got a different one on. She's bought on with her like looks and the whole thing. But more importantly, her heart is spot on. And she serves women in such a way that I knew I had to bring her on, introduce her to you. So Jennifer Keller is the I guess founder of red bird press, which I you guys know, you've seen on my Instagram stories. I bought her planner when I was at the conference. If you're watching this on YouTube, then you can see it's called Project You of course, it's bright paint, so I had to have it in my life. But I tried it out. And I use it almost every single day every single week. So you can even tell I've got lipstick stains on the corner. One of the things I love Jennifer about this planner in particular is it adds in not only the what do you need to do every day and every month, but you can put your own daily devotion and daily gratitude in it, which I think really, really gonna get your mindset going. So tell us more about the planners to start off with.

 

Jennifer Keller  02:02

Well, thank you so much for the introduction, I will tell you all you already know how amazing this woman is. But she literally sought me out in a room full of women helped me feel so welcome. And just like immediately went into, like, how can I help you. And so you're just you are so special. And I love what you're putting out there, you're always trying to add value and bring people women in particularly closer to to who they want to be and where they're going. I just think you deserve a shout out first.

 

Joanne Bolt  02:34

Well, bless your heart. Thank you.

 

Jennifer Keller  02:36

So project do you is is truly a guide that has been spiritually and scientifically put together to help women be their best version. So there are so many different routine things out there. But what I did was truly step out of a spiritual journey. And really let God lead me in different ways. And you know, what I learned was, yeah, we can have the gratitude, practice the habits, the planer, and feel really organized and like we're checking some good boxes. But if we don't have that devotion, in our day, every single day, you know, we're really missing an opportunity to step into who we were created to be. So I took all of the things that I was doing in my morning routine and made one book because what I found is that when we have all of the chaos and all the different things to keep up with, it's a lot harder to really create a routine and to build habits. And if we keep it simple, and everything's in one spot, then you know, we have a better a better guarantee for a great outcome. And for me, like, every morning, I get up and I sit still and I get in prayer and I do my routine. But what I find sometimes is that by lunchtime, I've lost the Scripture. And you know, all the chaos is is definitely not helping me be my best version. So having my book with me everywhere I go, I can reference back to my scripture from that morning I can look at my To Do lists and stay organized. And doing those things really helps me just clear out my mental bandwidth and create more resilience, which I think we all need in today's world.

 

Joanne Bolt  04:22

Amen. Sister preach that.

 

Jennifer Keller  04:25

Not much going on out there.

 

Joanne Bolt  04:27

Well, here's what I personally also like about it is, you know, I grew up in the Baptist Church and we always had the devotional, you know, sitting by the bed and what I found as I got older is I would either be super tired in the morning or I would fall asleep doing it at night and so it it kind of got to be that routine piece for me that wasn't maybe follow me throughout the day because it was a bedtime thing or it was a morning thing by the bed but it still it was like that practice it didn't come into my business world and so This planner for me because it does condense it all together, I actually keep it on my office desk. So when I sit down in the morning, it's like staring me in the face. And so before I start the emails, or do all the things that the work requires, I'm reminded, like, Oh, let me take 10 minutes and fill this out and do this piece of my day. And so now it's become a piece of the business world as well as the personal world. And I am actually way more consistent with it.

 

Jennifer Keller  05:27

We love that. I love that. And it's just figuring out, where's that spot that this needs to be? So all you have to do is get in front of it. And I love that you've made that a part of of your day in a way that that works free, right? Yeah. You know, one of the bigger things that I hear is that the to do list. I mean, it's a planer. But it's obviously it's undated. A lot of times when we get up to get into our routine, wherever that might be, we keep our cell phones close to us. And we get into our cell phones, and then we get down a rabbit hole. And then we've lost the HoH, stillness of the moment. And so you know, what a lot of women do is just jot like as these a million like things to do comes to mind. There's a spot for it. And that's the thing, there's a spot for everything in the book. And it truly, I mean, it goes right in your pocket, and you can take it everywhere you want to go travel. And that's another thing with it being summer, so many times I hear well, it's summer, so I'm off my routine. Well, I don't know about you, but I really want to be my best version in the summer to not even though thing for me.

 

Joanne Bolt  06:36

I'm proud of that version of me and this summer, because my kids are not in school and all that craziness isn't happening.

 

Jennifer Keller  06:41

No, I  hear that. Yeah. And that's another thing is like there's less routine, usually in the summer, because kids are out of school. And this just really keeps us grounded, right. Like, if we have a place for everything, we really create the space to do the work on ourselves, right? It's that it's that old strategy of like, you can't just work in the business all the time, you have to have time to work on the business. So whether you're a businesswoman or not, like you gotta make time to work on you in order to fulfill, you know, whatever goals you have.

 

Joanne Bolt  07:14

And here's what I also want, everyone listening to really like latch on to is you created something because you needed it. You know, like you needed to put all the things in one face. And so you created it, and then looked around and said, I think other women need this too. And that's how businesses are born most of the time, it's because we need to fill a need, that we were seeking and searching for. And you had the courage to do that. So kudos to you.

 

Jennifer Keller  07:44

Well, thank you. And I think a big part of this, too, is having time to be still enough to either hear where you're being led or have ideas. Yeah, like had I not created the space that morning that this idea came to me, I probably would have been on the hamster wheel not present enough to capture the idea and to take action on it. You know, and you know, they say, if there's something you need or want and can't find, you're being called to create it.

 

Joanne Bolt  08:15

Mm hmm. I feel that way about podcast heard network. You know, like, I started the podcast. And yes, you can take a digital course and it can get you started on plugging the microphone in. But then I kept seeking groups and other ways to learn more, get better, faster, and quite frankly, seek community because a lot of times when you're podcasting, it is lonely behind the microphone. I mean, it's and quite frankly, when I do solo episodes, it's awkward, like you're just talking to yourself. And so I couldn't find any leadership in the podcasting world that was women led women based and kind of thought like we do. And so I had to create it myself. You know, like, that's why I actually created that, that network and that community system.

 

Jennifer Keller  09:04

Well, and there's so much to be said about community, right? Like, yes, we can sit behind a screen in today's world and basically teach ourselves to do anything. But without that support. And without that accountability, like how far do we get, you know, how how, how ignited is our fire? Right. And so I think that's so beautiful. Because, yeah, you also, you know, probably pull some genius out of the women that you're helping in their podcasts, right? Like host though, do I guarantee it? So that community piece is so important. And I think that having the courage to take action on something that you needed, as you're saying, like, there's something in every single one of us. Yeah, and a lot of times it's about who you get around and bringing that out.

 

Joanne Bolt  09:56

Yeah, put yourself in the rooms. So you have got a roundtable Well, coming up in August, why don't we dive a little bit into that? Since we're talking about community and put yourself in a room?

 

Jennifer Keller  10:06

Yeah. Well, thank you for that. So I really have a desire on my heart that's much bigger than this roundtable. And honestly, I'm just fear has literally slowed me down. If I'm 1,000% real, the doubt the fear, you know, the worry, what will people think, you know, I've got another business, I'm in the insurance business I've been with, you know, Aflac. As an agency owner for you know, 16 years.

 

Joanne Bolt  10:36

Wait, pause, because you I know everyone just mentally did the duck Aflac in their head. So circle back around ladies circle bananas. Okay, good.

 

Jennifer Keller  10:45

All right. Well, so yeah, and I have a team of people that are out, you know, doing the deal with Aflac. And so I've just been so worried, like, what will they think you know, is this going to take away from this business is this going to stunt this growth, and it's just often the enemy on my back, you know, because really, what I'm trying to do is just impact women and unlock potential and put them in a space where they can, they can be, you know, in a growth environment, right, they can be around the table with other women who want to be there that want to support them. And really, like, it's, it's a connector thing, right. And so I want to do one on one coaching, I want to have this mastermind, I want to do retreat, like all of that is to come. But I'm starting with something smaller, just so that I can really just maybe build build my belief a little bit more. But also just that impact, that intimate impact, I want to create that right. And so this, this roundtable is like a mini mastermind, 90 day program, it's all virtual, so that, you know, everyone can come in from, you know, really the comfort of their own home if they want to, but have an opportunity to be in a community of women that are growth minded, have that proximity have access to tools and resources, and women like you that will come and speak. Hopefully, that is I just manifested that I just kind of put that out there. So I had her for it, let's do it. You know, and just help us step into our next best version. Because here's the reality, as we go into July, we're stepping into the second half of the year. Yeah, in this mastermind, mini mastermind, this roundtable, I'm still playing around with the wording but you know, is really going to launch us into the last quarter of 2023, which really sets the framework for 2020 24. You didn't win. So it's very strategic and the timing, but also I feel like God is going to put the right women around that table to help each of us step into the next best version. And that's the coolest part of it is just being faith LED. You know, it's it's hard, because surrendering that being someone that used to just, I gotta call my own shots, I gotta do my own thing. I miss independent, and then really surrendering things and ideas to him, it takes a lot longer. It does, which creates patience, but also it creates the confidence because when you when you surrender it, and it's laid out in front of you, you know, that's the right path. And you know, you're stepping into this huge journey of impact. And that's what I'm here.

 

Joanne Bolt  13:29

Yeah. So I love one of the things that you said was, you're starting small now, you said maybe it's to build your own confidence. But if you really look from a business standpoint, we all have the big visions, you know, we want to get to the bigger than more, not from a financial standpoint, because we but because we truly just want to help that many people. And people that fail actually tried to go from small to large too quickly without taking those baby steps along the way. And that's something I heard Laurie harder, say one time was you got to get the small steps firmly put in place before you can take the next big leap. So this small roundtable, mini mastermind, whatever you do end up calling it I think is the right move for you. Because then you can learn you can grow, your community will build and maybe the next one is a little bit bigger, and then you can leap into those bigger visions that you want to you want to fulfill.

 

Jennifer Keller  14:26

Yeah, I appreciate that. Coaching and feedback. That's so true.

 

Joanne Bolt  14:29

Yeah, I mean it’s husband's always like Joe, can you take the coat off for a second? And I'm like, I really, I actually don't know how like I can't pause that button in me.

 

Jennifer Keller  14:39

It's so good, though. And it's so true, right? Like we got to keep it simple and it just goes back to really what project to you is all about building those habits that then become the routine that become the behavior and then you have your lifestyle so I love that and we didn't even play in that. So this is this is divan, I love it.

 

Joanne Bolt  14:57

Alright, so I'm sure you have arted planning the round table, in your mind, what are some of the things that you want to get the women talking about?

 

Jennifer Keller  15:07

Yeah, so I really want to talk about dreams on on their hearts, right? I want to talk about, you know, maybe the limiting beliefs, right? Get those things out on the table so that we can name them, and then, you know, put boundaries up around them. Because in my mind, you know, these masterminds are so important because of what you hear another woman speak about, right, the woman that is brave enough to be vulnerable and share what's on her heart. So really, like the power is what she says, right? In so sometimes it's not necessarily the topic, right? It's just a conversation that spares off. That's what I've learned in the masterminds that I'm in, it's like, yes, the coach, the facilitator comes in with an idea. But once someone shares something, like, we can go in a totally different direction. And that was, that's the divine conversation of the session. But for me, it really is, it's, it's connecting women, it's the proximity, right, like putting other speakers in the group so that they can, they can meet other women outside of just this circle. But then just the worthiness, like we just lack that as women just across the board, right. And so having an opportunity to build that, and then just like, have that wholesome growth, right, not just business talk, not just personal talk, but have that wholesome growth, to really step into that next best version of ourselves.

 

Joanne Bolt  16:40

I am so here for this. And I'll tell you my number one reason is I've done a lot of masterminds over the course of my career. Many of them when I was in the real estate world, I thought a mastermind was really where you sit at tables of people at about your business level, and then you listen to someone kind of preach at you and coach you and tell you what to do to get to the next level. That was the mastermind, right. And then I entered into this podcasting and entrepreneurial world in a different way. And the best mastermind I've ever been to, I went last February, in Phoenix, Arizona with Lindsey Swartz. And she, you know, she had the stuff out on the desk, like she had a whole workbook of, I guess, in her mind. Like, if conversation doesn't flow, this is what we're going to talk about, we never open the books ever, because she allow the conversation to flow, and the community building to occur. And all that accountability. And I'm still really good friends with a lot of those women now, months later. And so that was a completely like, eye opening moment for me on what a mastermind really could look like. And that's kind of what it seems to me like you're building and I just think that I can't, I cannot encourage people enough to get into those kind of masterminds.

 

Jennifer Keller  17:57

Where Yeah, I love that. Yeah, I mean, that's been some of the most powerful conversations I've ever been in. And I think sometimes it's just getting in the room when I had my my, my big conference in January, which our next one is the first Saturday in January. So hopefully, you'll be making a trip to Kentucky.

 

Joanne Bolt  18:15

Let me write that down right now. Or Saturday of January.

 

Jennifer Keller  18:21

You know, I just I really wanted women to get in the room and just feel that vibes, you know, like, I think sometimes it's not even about the content. Like, sometimes it's, it's being the woman in the room, like you, that helps other women so comfortable being there. And really passionately wanting to connect them. You wanted to know all about project to you. Like you just, I was so taken aback by that, because, um, you know.

 

Joanne Bolt  18:57

I actually didn't tell the girls with, um, like, I think that just scared her.

 

Jennifer Keller  19:00

Well, I was like, Dude, this is amazing. Because as women, I think sometimes we're so insecure to run up to other women, because we're like, what are they going to think about us? Right? But we need that that's the community I want to build women supporting women community over competition, like you will see me hashtag that a million times. And that's you, right? And putting ourselves in a room where there are other women like that, like that's a contagious thing, right, like a model to me what that looked like,

 

Joanne Bolt  19:35

All right, well, thank see and to me, you model putting together the opportunities for those women to do just that, you know, from the book, to the roundtables to the big event in January like you're giving so many opportunities to create the space for women to stop the Collaborate I mean competition and and lean in and collaboration. Absolutely, man, that is where then magic happens.

 

Jennifer Keller  20:01

Truly better together, like you hear that you see that, but we are and we're so I think a lot of a lot of my life I've, I grew up as an athlete, like so that competitive nature is in me and like losing is just, ah, it kills me. But you know, stepping into to the version of myself that I am today, like you get so much further by bringing others along, collaborating, connecting, you know, maybe playing behind the scenes of the things, you know. And so it's just, it's such a beautiful thing to really step into collaboration and in genuine, authentic collaboration, right, because there's plenty of room for all of us to shine. And none of us were created to shine in the same way.

 

Joanne Bolt  20:54

Now, and I think that's what is so critical is we can all share our message and what we're called to do in this world and have a fear that someone else has got the same message, or someone else is already doing this. But the truth is, someone's going to respond to the way I present it differently than they would respond to the same way someone else presents it. And so I think God puts us all here to be that person for someone. Because the the way the messages are delivered, we as different human beings need it differently from different people, too.

 

Jennifer Keller  21:28

Yeah, and I read this morning, so I'm gonna start here. With great gifts comes great responsibility. We've heard that so many times. And I think that, you know, one of the things that I really just keep over my head every day is that you are gifted with the abilities that you have. It's your responsibility to exercise those every day, no matter how you feel, no matter what's going on in your world. And I feel very responsible to that, because that's the best gift that we can give him back. Yeah, is exercising the gifts He's given us in being who he created us to be. And what that does for other women, even even other men, like when we step out, and we truly exercise our gifts, and we share the messages or we build the platforms or the groups, we are literally modeling what courage looks like. And we're we're we're putting confidence out there for other women to borrow. And that's a very important thing.

 

Joanne Bolt  22:34

I agree. I really do. And kind of speaking back to the, you know, you had a lot of fear and vulnerability in starting the roundtable. Because what will people think of, you know, I can remember, as I started to shift out of the real estate world, there, I stayed in it longer than I should have. Because there was that fear of everyone knows me as a top producing agent. Everyone knows me as this, what will they think? When I quit selling homes and start speaking to women through a podcast, you know, like, what does that look like? And do I want to put up with it? And, you know, during that transition, I found some people didn't come with me. And that's okay. I lost some friends along the way. Or people I thought were friends. And turns out, you know, they were just there for the real estate ride. But I picked up an entirely new network of women and my tribe is actually stronger than it's ever been. And I couldn't have done that if I didn't have the support of some of the women I met in some of these masterminds or roundtables.

 

Jennifer Keller  23:30

Yeah, and one of my missions is really to prove that the multi passionate thing is real, if you can, I love the work that I do in math like business, I love the work that we do in our health care health insurance business. Right? And that just because I have this doesn't mean I can't have this exactly. That's a message that needs to go viral. Because we put ourselves in this box and I was doing it like I'm setting you're talking about it, but that was me two weeks ago, right? Like, what don't have to just be Jennifer Keller with Aflac. I am for Keller and God gave me these gifts, God's given me this platform. And I'm to use it with all of my gifts, not just one. And I want to teach people that when you want to be an entrepreneur, and you want to step out and be multi passionate and have different businesses, like you can do that. It's all about managing your time. Right and, and having great people around you. And I just I want to I want to prove that because I have had so much of my identity tied up in Jennifer with Aflac. And in my world of insurance. I think so many people are shocked by it because they're like, she's got this hugely successful business. What is she doing? Like she's gonna lose over here by focusing over there. And there is this whole startup time where you're trying to figure things out and will you fail Feel Yes, Abba, yes. But those are the best lessons in so for me, it's like, sometimes my fuel comes from proving it can be true. And right now I need to dig deep in that, because I don't have to be tied up. And just this one segment of my life, like, I'm a mom, I'm a wife, you know, I'm a learner.

 

Joanne Bolt  25:20

A lot of different headbands, and hats. And then I was like, no headband, let's hear. And they're all beautifully appointed to you. And part of the reason that you can step into both is you have your athletic business. So well established that now you have the capacity and the bandwidth to start something else, you know, I chose to come out of real estate because my passions were no longer there. years are still in both places. And that that's a beautiful thing. And I think that's the message a lot of women need to know is, yeah, you can do more than one thing. I don't have to be defined by the one thing that I do.

 

Jennifer Keller  25:56

Yeah. And I think as a mom, like, if we can kind of go there for a second, or we put ourselves in this box of like, being being a mom has to be the most important thing. The first thing that I do, like I can't do anything else until I'm like the perfect mom. Like, I know a lot of

 

Joanne Bolt  26:14

I fail at that on a daily basis.

 

Jennifer Keller  26:16

But don't you put that pressure on yourself? Sometimes? Yes, yes, it's very much. Because we want to be the perfect mom already means that we're a good mom. Right?

 

Joanne Bolt  26:28

Because we say so yeah, I'm gonna, like write that down and blow it up on a wall somewhere, especially so that my kids can read it. Because especially in the summer, when they're like, Mom, we want to do all of this stuff. And you're just working. And I'm like, but I, that's fine. I am saving space for you. I am doing all the things you just don't realize it now.

 

Jennifer Keller  26:47

And it's so hard for them to see. And if they if they only knew what those comments did to our hearts, I know they wouldn't say oh, you know, yeah, today out like, so normally, like my daughter, she's doing swim. And my niece and nephew are two and we carpool. But usually our Nene which is my oldest daughter, she will do or my sister in law. So this morning, I was like, You know what I can take to swim. And that felt so accomplished that I like made space to do that. And we pull into the parking lot. And my daughter says, I really wish you could stay. And he was like,

 

Joanne Bolt  27:21

No, yeah, twist.

 

Jennifer Keller  27:23

Yeah. But then I just kind of looked at her. And I said, Well, Mommy was just so happy to just be able to bring you baby. And she said, you'll be there tomorrow at my meet. And then it was like, Okay, we're all good. Now, you know, I know, they don't mean to do that. But it's like, that doesn't have to be all that we are because we're alone. And I think so many times, we need to hear that it's okay. And in fact, when we step out into our gifts, we are letting them see what that looks like. And I think the thing we need to start taking home to our children is that they already have gifts from God, they're already within them. And we need to start inspiring and talking to them more about what they believe their God given gifts are, so we can start helping that bloom. You know, think about how long it took us to get into masterminds, and go to the conferences to start working on ourselves. If we can take this and take it to them. That resistance is not going to be there for them when they get to the age of building their businesses or building an app.

 

Joanne Bolt  28:26

Okay, I received this so much from you because, and the irony of it is my husband, I were having a similar conversation a few nights ago that, you know, part of why I'm so passionate about what I'm doing is to show my daughter that it's possible because I have a son and a daughter. I grew up in an era where you go to school, you go to college, you get a corporate job, and my husband grew up in that same era. And we're looking at our kids going, You know what, my son? Yeah, he's gonna follow that path, like the way his brain works. He'll go to some engineering school, and then he'll get a corporate job and he'll be happy as toast, you know, doing that mug girl, she's a creative, let's be honest, she may go to college, or she may find some other path that just lights her up inside and keeps her fired up. And I want her to see that there's such possibilities out there that I didn't have, you know, a doorway to but I'm going to create those for her and give her the bandwidth to walk through that door.

 

Jennifer Keller  29:28

No of that. And that is a purpose that nothing will get in the way of.

 

Joanne Bolt  29:34

No, because let's be honest, you know, being an entrepreneur, you can have a college degree, but it doesn't always help me

 

Jennifer Keller  29:42

I have an associate's degree, you know, and

 

Joanne Bolt  29:45

two bachelor degrees and I tap into them, but I tap into way other stuff as well.

 

Jennifer Keller  29:51

Yeah, it's the street smarts that really make the entrepreneur in my opinion.

 

Joanne Bolt  29:56

And she's got that So alright, let's go ahead and make sure that the women listening to this today fully know how to get a hold of you get in your world I'm sure your your round table, you're gonna cap it like you said and keep it small. So if they want in or they want to get a planner a book like how, how do they find you?

 

Jennifer Keller  30:18

Yes, awesome. Thank you for that. Our website is redbirdpress.net So you can find all the things there. We'd love to connect with you on social media @jenkeller3 and at redbirdpress.net

 

Joanne Bolt  30:32

Alright. And when will you be putting out registrations for your round table? Or is there like a list that they can get on or?

 

Jennifer Keller  30:40

Well I did. So today I posted a video and said if you're interested DM me, so that's going to be like the start of the list, but we're going to launch the ability to sign up right after the fourth of July. So before the weekend. So excited.

 

Joanne Bolt  30:56

Are right. Awesome. Thanks, Jen. I appreciate it. You just finished another episode of the V word podcast. Cheers to you. If I were with you, I would literally pop a big old bottle of Prosecco and for you glass since I'm not, why don't you do the next best thing and share this episode with one of your besties because we all know you've got that one girlfriend that needs to hear it. Thanks friends.

 

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