Episode 12 - Jenelle
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Today's episode, we'll be chatting with Janell Wakeman, who is a local mama near me. But this was my first time chatting with her and it was so nice to hear such a real story. About the challenges of life and moving during a pandemic. And having a job, [00:01:00] which she enjoys, but wasn't completely fulfilling all of her needs and what she does about that.
Janelle's a working mom of two young kids and she's chasing a dream of helping others. Gain strength, confidence. And I heard. Sense of self. She is a group fitness coach who works with the community focused on a holistic approach to overall wellbeing. And I've really loved this about her. Is that.
Her story does involve weight loss and it does involve getting fit and all of those things, but it's so much more than that. It's a really holistic approach. And she focuses on. Progress over perfection mindset shifts. And the importance of a balanced life that includes rest and socialization as well as physical movement. So it's really like the whole package.
And I really love hearing her story in this episode because she goes from [00:02:00] not feeling so great to attending her first fitness class and crying to. Realizing a dream that she didn't even know she had. So if you're intrigued by the idea of not knowing your big audacious dream and it kind of landing in your lap,
Then this is a one to listen to you. For you. All right, let's do this
Mel: Okay. Hi Janelle. Hi. It's so, so nice to have you here and to meet you. I know we live on the same island on Vancouver Island and I love meeting with other people who live in the same space, who are doing awesome
Jenelle: stuff. Yeah, it's a beautiful space to live, so we're pretty lucky.
Mel: We are. I feel grateful every day for, for being in this space for sure.
Awesome. So maybe just start with telling us a little bit about you.
Jenelle: Sure. So I am a mom of two. I've got a [00:03:00] little three-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl. They're pretty awesome. Ive only been on the island for about two years. We've moved a lot, but this is where, uh, we are now making home. We're here for the long haul.
So by, I guess, education, I'm a kinesiologist and a respiratory therapist, so I work at the couch and district hospital here. I run the pulmonary function lab, and my passion job is that I am a group fitness coach at Level Up Hub Fitness and Nutrition here in Duncan. So that is my passion job that I am currently doing, and.
That is way different than respiratory therapist kin. But, uh, it's kind of cool because I get to use my kinesiology a bit and my passion and it's been quite a cool [00:04:00] transition.
Mel: That's amazing. I love that that balances so many different things, the difference between those two roles, but still some little similarities in there.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So, tell us about how, how did you get to that point of where you are with, you've got the one job and you've got the passion job and what's that journey?
Jenelle: Yeah, so before we moved here, uh, we lived in the Okanagan and I worked in the hospital and a super high stress environment.
So 12 hours, days, nights, , lots of. Lots of trauma, lots of death, very high stress, , very emotionally taxing. , so with that job I had a lot of, , where you felt like you were making a difference. You felt like what you were doing was really important. We moved here, I took a different job, , way less stress.[00:05:00]
No more nights, no more weekends, no more trauma. And for some reason, that transition of job, I kind of lost that sense of feeling like I was helping people and that was really hard for me. I went through a big emotional switch with that, where I felt like that piece of needing to help people was all of a sudden gone.
And it was, um, it was really hard for me, so I also went through where I was used to a job, where I was moving all the time. Running off my feet for 12 hours and now I was sitting at a desk. Mm. And so that also took a toll on my body and my mental health. So the change in job the change in town, plus in the middle of Covid, it was just a really bad trifecta.
So all of a sudden I had no [00:06:00] energy. I was not my happy self anymore. I was. In a shell. I, I wasn't myself. And so I saw an ad on Facebook of all places for um, this new bootcamp that was opening up. And so I thought, oh, I'm just gonna go and give it a try. So I went, I cried the first day cause I was like, I'm, this is so hard.
Uh, but I went back. And I did it again and I kept going. And I, I fell in love with, , the class, but more so I fell in love with the process of taking care of myself and doing something for me. That was, was just for me. It was separate from my family. It was separate from my job. It was something I was doing for my own mental health and my own, um, overall health.
And I just, Fell in love with how I [00:07:00] felt every time I went. And the more I went the, I came outta my shell, I started feeling better, my energy came back, and then the owner actually approached me and she's like, look, I, I see something in you. I think you could be really good at this. And so she saw something in me that with the emotional and mindset and all of that, Where I had kind of lost myself.
I didn't see it in myself yet, but she did. And so I just started easing my way in. You know, I started showing up to class early and leading stretches and learning more and talking to her more. And then it just evolved, where now I'm a coach. Amazing. It was really just, um, yeah, the fact that I, I fell in love with the whole process of caring for myself again and, and.
I wanted to do that for other people, and [00:08:00] so now here I am.
Mel: I love that and what I love about that, well, there's a few things there. One is that like many moms, we, we lose ourself through the motherhood side, through the work side of just, just life in general and this kind of season of life, the various seasons that come with being mom and that you've found this space to, , kind of diversify what you were already doing and to.
Explore and start to, like you say, fall in love with this process of self-care, of taking care of you. Right,
Jenelle: exactly. That's really Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. That's really beautiful. I just really fell in love with it and I, I just, it's one of those things where I just felt like I want everyone to experience this and I want everyone to fall in love with themselves and taking care of themselves again, and how can I help?
And so, So I became a coach and that's what I feel like I'm doing now, is helping others in their journey to find themselves in something they love [00:09:00] again. So it's really cool. Brilliant.
Mel: Yeah, I love that. And, um, as much as you're willing to, can you share a little bit about the, what that journey was like leading up to this need for self-care?
Jenelle: Yeah, like, uh, like the move and transition.
Mel: Yeah, anything that, anything that comes up for you. I think so often we can talk about, you know, the real we can and it's so important to celebrate all these successes in our, in our lives. And, , and I love being in the space to do that. And I wanna do continue doing that throughout our conversation.
And I think it's important for moms to hear that things get hard. And that, that's real and that's life. And we don't just jump into that. I'm fit, I'm good. I'm a coach kind of world. Right?
Jenelle: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it was, it was a really big challenge, , for me when, when we moved, I know, I knew Job New Town, no friends.[00:10:00]
My husband has a ton of family here, but I don't, yeah. So for me, I felt very, my husband is very supportive and my kids are amazing, but I felt pretty isolated. Yeah. Well, and
Mel: a pandemic
Jenelle: two years ago. And the pandemic. Yeah. And the job even. , I don't work with anyone. I work by myself. So I run a lab, I go in, I see patients throughout the day.
, but I don't have really a, a group of coworkers that I can feed off of or talk to in your downtime. And so I, I felt, I felt really isolated, very isolated when we moved here, the combination of all those things. And I had always identified. As someone who helps people and also in my former life as, as an athlete, and, and I really let all of that go.
I [00:11:00] was no longer hiking. I was no longer doing sports. I was no longer, I wasn't even going for walks with the kids anymore because we are living on. A rental property. And so you didn't have to go and walk to the park. You just step outside your door and play, which was amazing. But all of a sudden I just, I just wasn't doing any of the things I liked to do.
I just really lost my, myself in the move. , it just all sort of fell apart. Yeah. And with that too, my relationship suffered a bit, you know, cuz I wasn't. I wasn't my normal self. I wasn't feeling all the usual joy and happiness. It was a lot of stress. , it was a lot of isolation. So it was a really hard time.
. But it feels like a long time ago. You know, it feels like a different, it feels like a different time altogether. , because we've just come so far since [00:12:00] then. It was very isolating. Yeah, I
Mel: can really identify with that. I, I don't know, uh, you probably don't know a lot of my story, but I moved here three years ago, so I moved here March, 2020 when things were like, shit was hitting the fan.
Right. Um, yeah, and I lived in England before that, so I literally had, I was far away from any. One that I knew really. , I did go to university on the island, but then we left to England and we were there for 14 years. So, um, all, all of what you're saying, I can really identify with just that and I think a lot of.
A lot of women and moms and people in general can identify with, whether it's a physical move or just a transition of some sort in their life or frankly just the pandemic cuz that forced a transition on so many of us and our wellbeing has definitely suffered for it. Um, and I love that you have been able to find, I wanna say that thing, but it's probably multiple things, but [00:13:00] definitely like the, yeah, the hub has helped.
Um, But that thing that, that has helped you come alive again is, that's my words for it. You might, yeah. Yeah.
Jenelle: No, a hundred percent. I just, I feel like it's, um, I found something outside of my family to be passionate about, cuz I love being a mom. I love my kids, I love my husband, but for me personally, I need something else as well.
Um, And it allows me to be a better mom and a better partner when I have something aside from just them. And I feel like I'm, yeah. Doing, doing more. Yeah. And, and for everyone. That's not necessarily for everyone. Some pe but, but for me, I find that, yeah.
Mel: Yeah. And I think, and, and a lot of people do, and it, like you say, everybody finds that in different places, but we are, we are ingrained to kind of want to serve as women and as moms.
And sometimes the serving [00:14:00] becomes so much that we forget to like, take that space for us, whatever that might look like for, uh, for you it's been fitness, but I actually say fitness very loosely because I actually think it's a lot more than that. Um, way more. Yes. Yeah. So because I, I follow your page. Um, or the, the page for, for where you work and, um, it's community is the word that actually comes
Jenelle: out to me.
Yes. That's our, our biggest thing is, uh, community mindset and then fitness and nutrition. Yeah. You know, and, and rest, and that makes sense,
Mel: right? If you were feeling, and it makes sense, if you were feeling isolated, that going to a space where you felt connected and community and, , encouraged to work on yourself in all the ways that that's possible, , it makes sense that that's what worked, right?
Just Yes, it just does. Yeah. Especially if you identified as an athlete in various [00:15:00] things before you're kind of going back to that identity.
Jenelle: Yeah. Going back to an earlier, earlier version of myself.
Mel: Yeah. But a new but a new earlier version of yourself.
Jenelle: Right. A new and grown. Yeah.
Mel: Yes, exactly. Cuz we do need to go through those hard times in order to get to a even better version of ourselves.
Right. Exactly. And a lot of moms, um, that I talked to myself included, those hard times can come in the, like younger years of kids as well, where we kind of, we lose ourselves within that. We love it and so, so much, but at the same time are like overwhelmed and feeling, um, uh, lots of different things in that moment and, , need something to get us back to ourselves again.
, that the new version of ourselves. Exactly. Yep. Yeah. That's amazing.
What would you say to the moms that are listening into this that are [00:16:00] maybe feeling in that darker place right now?
Jenelle: I think for a lot of moms, myself included, The first step is the hardest because we have this for some reason. I don't know why, but all the moms I talk to, we have that mom guilt where we feel that if we're doing something for ourselves, it's selfish.
Because all of a sudden we're taking this time that could be spent with our kids or with our husbands, or making sure the house is organized and we're doing something for ourselves. We all of a sudden feel selfish for that. But I think what we need to know and what we need to hear from other moms is that it's the exact opposite.
It's actually very much needed. To fill our own cups so that we can fill others. We can't continually pour [00:17:00] into our loved ones if we're not pouring into ourselves first, because we'll have nothing left to pour into them. So, as much as is we might be telling ourselves or we might be hearing from outside sources that it's selfish or that we ha should have different priorities, um, we need to shut down those limiting beliefs.
And we just need to take that first step. Yeah. That's amazing.
Mel: Thanks. And yeah, and I completely agree with that. And it leads me to a question I'm curious about. How has your, how have your relationships with your family and your kids shifted throughout this transition for you? Honestly,
Jenelle: one of the like proudest things is my daughter often comes with me.
And it's really cool to bond with her in this way and the way she [00:18:00] speaks now about health and physical activity and her self-love is so amazing. And I just, I couldn't be happier to see that. And it's a really neat way that her and I get to bond and, and to teach her the, you know, it's about, Taking care of ourselves, and it's about fun and, and it's about being strong.
And so that's been a really cool relationship change that we get this little thing we get to bond over. And, um, my husband, he's amazing. He's actually really proud. He, he tells me all the time, he's so happy for me and he's. So proud of me and I think it, it allows him to see me in, in a different light.
And, uh, yeah, things have been really good. Hmm. That's great. Yeah.[00:19:00]
Yeah.
Mel: And, and the word, I love that. I love that our relationships around us and with other people shift as we shift. Right? And, um, sometimes to be fair, that might go the other way if we realize that like, we're not compatible, the other person doesn't wanna grow with. Um, but a lot of times that connection comes back because we.
Have connected with ourselves and we have more to give because we've given to ourselves. Like you say, that bucket, we gotta, we gotta keep filling it for us too.
Jenelle: Yeah, exactly. I also find I just, I have more patience, , with my family when I am able to take some time for myself during the week. Yes. And it's different than my other job.
You know, my other job, it's different. I don't know why, but this, this just feels different cuz it, it doesn't feel like just a job. It feels like [00:20:00] all these connections with community, the community are being made and it just is so, um, fulfilling. Yeah. And so it just has helped me be a more patient, mother and wife.
Mel: Yeah. Yeah. And it makes sense that it would feel fulfilling, right? Like the science shows us that movement helps us connection and community is one of our highest needs. Like you've got all of these things put together, plus all the mindset stuff that, that you say you work on there. So, um, yeah. That's so, so great.
Yeah. And what's one thing that someone could do that is maybe feeling stuck? In that, in that space, like that's at that phase that you were at at the beginning.
Jenelle: Yeah. Even if you, you don't know what it is that's gonna set your heart on fire, try new things. Try something new. You never know what it might be that might [00:21:00] connect with you.
Uh, look around your community and just see what's going on. Start being part of that community and you never know what's going to hit home for you. For some people it might be a hobby, it might be. Something artistic, who knows? But the, the first step is just exploring where you are and what's available in your community.
Um, because you never know what's gonna set your heart on fire unless you go and try some
Mel: things. Yeah. How did it feel the first time you went to your, that boot camp? The,
Jenelle: the first time I went, I cried. Yeah.
, so hard, but in a good way. , I cried because I was just so amazed at how much [00:22:00] I, uh, couldn't do. Yeah. And that's okay. And, and what
Mel: made you go back then? Like how did you convince yourself to go back after that?
Jenelle: I knew I needed it. The fact that I, I struggled so much to get out the door and get there, and the fact that I hadn't, I hadn't met anyone, I hadn't done anything.
I just deep inside of me, I knew I needed it. I knew I needed to change something and. I can't believe I went back. I did. And every time it got a little bit easier. Yeah. And it, and it was just so welcoming and there was other people struggling alongside. With me, so that that made it
Mel: easier. Yeah. And that's, that's nice, right?
Because ideally, like we want some other beginners in there, [00:23:00] whatever the activity might be. But especially fitness, you know, I've been definitely in settings where everybody is like just a lot more fit than I am, and I'm like, oh, I just feel really bad. And then I go to a setting where I'm maybe like the middle ground and I'm like, oh.
Actually, maybe I could do this. You know, and it's a completely different vibe. And you could, you could translate that to anything, right? Like, let's say Exactly. I don't know. We wanna learn like some, an art skill, for example, and we feel like we can't draw. And like ideally some other people feel like they can't draw and it brings us together.
Exactly. Or you
Jenelle: know, oh, I've always wanted to learn pottery, but I don't. Everyone's, everyone starts off a beginner. Yeah. And so I think that's all in our own heads. Um, nobody starts off good at anything. Yeah. We all have to just take that first step and, and get
Mel: better. Yeah. The word that's coming to my mind is play, like when you say try different things and experiment, it's like [00:24:00] play with different things.
Yeah. Go in knowing that like you're gonna laugh at yourself.
Jenelle: Exactly. You either
Mel: laugh or you cry sometimes. Right. And crying's okay too. Sometimes you do both as long as you laugh afterwards, right? That's right. Um, yeah. Yeah. So play is definitely coming to mind there. It's just play with what's possible.
Jenelle: It's kind of like when we're kids, you know, and you don't know what, what activity you're gonna like, so your parents sign you up for a bunch of different things and sometimes it doesn't land. And eventually for most of us, something does. Yeah. And
Mel: and that's a really good point actually, because with kids, like our, my rule anyways with them is like, if we like agree, they have to agree, they wanna sign up for something and try it, and then.
It's like you need to, you need to put in X amount of time before you can quit. Right. If you don't like it at the end of this term or whatever it might be, [00:25:00] then yeah, that's fine. It wasn't for you. We can move on, but you might not like it at the beginning of anything.
Jenelle: Right. And it's funny because we all do that with our kids.
We all sign them up for things and encourage them to try something new and encourage them that it's okay to not be the best at something. Yeah. But then we tend to not do that with ourselves. Yeah. And why, why not? Why, why do we do
Mel: that? Yeah, exactly. Um, and then, so with this podcast is, is a lot about big, audacious dreams for moms, right?
And often it's, it's easy for us to get in this place where that's really serious. So, That's serious business. We gotta figure out what that is. And actually, if we just played with what it was like you went to your first, first bootcamp, you weren't thinking like, I think this is like my purpose in life here.
Right? No, you went because you're like, I need to do something. I need to get out. I need to see people, and I need to move. Exactly. I was like, okay, let's just go that [00:26:00] right. Yeah. ,
Jenelle: I just need to get outta my
Mel: house. Exactly. And this looks intriguing. Ok, let's go try. Yeah, exactly. So sometimes that, yeah, sometimes we just need to add that little bit of play factor into it and, um, when we're searching for that dream, sometimes it just comes to us instead of having to search as well.
Exactly. In fact, almost always, I think when people, like most people I talk to, it's like, I didn't know this is what I was gonna be. I didn't know this is what I was gonna do. It just kind of, these things happened and then I was like, oh, okay. Um, and we might search and search and search and then it's when we release that instead of striving, we just allow and enjoy and, and be that it comes.
But that's very difficult to do for most of us, but probably the most important.
Jenelle: Yeah. Sometimes it's hard to be patient. [00:27:00] Yeah. Uh, always
Mel: it's hard to be patient. Yeah. Which I remind myself frequently because my five-year-old is very much still learning that skill. And then I'm like, Mel, you're still learning that skill too.
It's okay. For sure. Same and just, yeah. And that, that slowing down to speed up kind of side of things. Right. Sometimes we just Yes. Need to slow down. Yeah. Yeah. So if I was to ask you what, what is your big audacious dream? What would you say?
Jenelle: Yeah. My, my dream is I want to inspire others the way I was inspired. I want to help others fall in love with the process of taking care of themselves so that they can. Feel the way I've, I felt I just, it changed my life so much [00:28:00] for the better.
That I wanna help be that driving force for as many lives as I can. I wanna help as many men, women, moms, all of them. I wanna help everyone. I want to help them find themselves. I wanna help them break down barriers. I wanna help people break generational cycles. I, I want to be that person who is just driving the change and impacting lives, and, and I see it happening already and it's just so motivating to keep going and keep growing and, uh, pushing because there's nothing cooler than someone coming up to you.
A few months in and saying, you've changed my life. I never knew I could do this. I am a new person, and as corny as it sounds, that's my dream is to just change as many [00:29:00] lives as possible. I love that.
Mel: I love that. Right, and that just makes so much sense. If, if we could all do that, right? If we can change our our own life and then.
In doing that, be changing all these other lives. Like just imagine that world, right? Just be, yeah. So, so amazing. Yeah. , and there's, there's, I like alliteration a lot, you'll realize in what I'm about to say. So in my work I have, uh, a few values that I follow to keep myself on the right track in terms of what I'm doing and, um, it's purpose, play, possibility, people and planet. And I actually think that the work that you're doing, And that you fell into here, essentially is meeting all of those, right?
You're meeting all of those things. There's play, there's this purpose cuz you just described a heck of a purpose in that [00:30:00] dream, right? And the possibility within that for yourself, but also the, the people that you're working with and Yeah, I just, I, I love all of it.
I can see on your face when you're talking about the role that you're doing that it is. Lighting you up, right? It is. It is sending you to the place like such a good space for you.
I've kind of already asked you my tip. I always finish on a tip that you would give. To moms who are listening, who are trying to connect with themself and trying to find that big a dream, , and just be more themselves and what tip you would give to them. , you've already mentioned that just experimenting and getting out and trying things. Is there any other tips you wanna give before we.
Jenelle: Go. I think, I think we just all need to, , shut down our [00:31:00] own limiting beliefs. Mm-hmm. We have these beliefs sometimes about ourselves. I can't do it. I'm not meant for that.
I don't have time. Whatever it may be. I think we all have these limiting beliefs and, , we need to start talking to ourselves the way we would talk to a friend. We're such big supporters of other people. You can do it, you can do anything. And we just need to practice the habit of talking to ourselves that way, talking to ourselves the way we would to our kids, the way we would to our spouse, the way we would to a friend.
And taking our own advice, which is the hardest thing, but it just like anything just takes practice.
Mel: Yeah. I love that. I, I love that. And it's, it takes practice is the key part of that, right? Because we have, like, our neural pathways are big and [00:32:00] strong in there about telling ourselves things that are not particularly serving us very much.
Right. So it will take a little while to, to shift that into something more positive or something more that just serves us better, right? Um, exactly. So I love, I love that as a, an example. Yeah. Oh, awesome. Um, normally I would ask, is there, so where can people find you? Say they, maybe they're local and they wanna go to that group, or, or anything that you'd like to say here?
Jenelle: Yeah, we're, we're writing Duncan. Um, we're on all the social media. Instagram, Facebook, uh, but yeah, so we're in Level Up hubs. Fitness and nutrition. We're just, uh, right across the bridge on the way outta town. On Chaster. We've got open doors, all levels. Welcome, all ages. Welcome. We had an 80 year [00:33:00] old last week and we've got a few, um, you know, teenagers that come.
We are all ages, all genders. All abilities and yeah, we're open six days a
Mel: week. Love that. Amazing. And with the, um, you said your daughter comes along with you sometimes. Do te do other kids tend to
Jenelle: come? Yeah, so on Fridays we do, uh, the class I led this morning, we do a kid friendly, so it's at 9:00 AM on Fridays and we encourage people to bring their kids.
We, so we do, um, No bad language. In the music, we turn the music levels down so it's a little bit quieter of a class. We've got a bunch of moms who bring their babies. We've got a bunch of kids who are older who come and participate, and so we call that our kid friendly class. Nice. I love that. And it's super fun.
And some of them just sit at the, we've [00:34:00] got a little smoothie bar that where people can sit and sometimes they just sit in color. So yeah, whatever, they're up for that day. And, uh, so that's our, our Friday morning 9:00 AM class. But we do say they're welcome anytime. Anytime people can. Can, you know, bring them if, if that's what works for them.
We want, we wanna build a really open, inclusive community and, and a big part of that is our kids. So, yeah.
Mel: Yeah. I love that. Reducing the barriers there. Right? There's no excuse. Just, yeah.
Jenelle: Yeah. Lots of them just sit it, sit in color, you know, or they participate. Yeah.
Mel: Amazing. Okay. Thank you so much, Janelle, for coming.
I hope that people have been inspired by that story of, you know, noticing that we have those hard times in our lives and that coming outta them isn't easy, but is well worth [00:35:00] it. And this is one way that you've managed to come out of it for you. So that's amazing. So thank you for sharing your
Jenelle: story.
Yeah, thank you for having me. That was great. It was so, so nice to chat with Janell. Wasn't it. And to hear her story, the themes that really stand out for me is self-compassion and. Surprising. Dreams, because we so often feel like we need to know what we really want to do. And I love that hers is such a surprise.
And wellbeing in the greater more holistic sense, which involves movement and eating habits and socializing and community. And. Taking time for ourselves and. Getting a dream and going for it. So I hope that was really useful for you. [00:36:00] The business that.
Jenelle works at if you just happened to be on the island at any point is called level up hub. In Duncan, BC on Vancouver island. And I know I'll be visiting it soon because it really does look like so much fun. And I think I might even take my daughter along to a hangout or maybe even join in. So.
You can find Janell over on Facebook. And you can also find LevelUpHubDuncan on Facebook. If you want to search on there as well as level up hub Dunkin on Instagram.
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