Jenn’s Perspective (With Insights from Kelly S. Smith)

Edition Sixteen- Week Sixteen:

Written By: Mercedes Barreto

#DivintasticalLiving #jenndrakes #youareworthmore #lifestrategist #influencer #lifecoach #hope #selfcare #mindfulness 

What do you consider is the most crucial part of Jenn Drakes’ work? 

Jenn Drakes- “The most crucial part of my work is always ensuring I am mentally in “the zone” to help others. I know my help of others is contingent on having first helped myself. That intent becomes magnified when one’s mission is to help many, and knowing the achievement of the intent cannot be draining on me.  Afterall, my readers, viewers, subscribers, followers, and supporters are generally seeking guidance. How can I guide them if I cannot guide myself? Therefore, my cup must be overflowing to extend help of that nature to others. I am accountable to ensure I am showing up with abundance in intent, energy, tools, and resources to truly serve and to optimally function.  Functioning optimally equates to striking a balance with a range of human experiences, which can be subject to good and bad days. In my work, I strive to embrace that full spectrum of living, and I do so by accepting all that unfolds along with the lessons they carry.”

Kelly S. Smith- “Jenn helps guide people looking to make a change in their lives.” 

 Could you describe a specific situation in which you believe Jenn Drakes was helpful in finding a better outcome? Why do you believe she was helpful in this situation?

Jenn Drakes- “I recently had a situation where two women lived together. One was older than the other and had a significant role in raising the younger lady. However, the younger one was now dismissive and supposedly hurtful to the older one, and the home itself had become toxic. I spent time with the younger lady and managed to show that the stories she had landed on, which were that the older lady had no love for her, had no basis in reality. Moreso, I had her realize the story she had landed on had managed to turn what had been a home into a rooming house. As a result, she had to decide how she wished to live out her senior years. The outcome was that the change in perspective truly changed behaviors. Such that the younger lady could improve her relationship with the older lady, who was a parental figure in every sense. This has minimized the home’s toxicity to a negligible level that all can tolerate.

I was helpful in this situation because I listened and guided mindset shifts by letting the younger lady see how their emotional state was playing out. I then aligned that reality back to their values and beliefs, and in seeing the gap, they decided to close it. Closing that gap meant changing their behavior, which resulted in a pattern interrupt and using new strategies to reconnect to the older lady as a deservingly respected parental figure.”

Kelly S. Smith- “Jenn brought me on board when no one else would take me seriously. She helped me break the glass ceiling, perpetuating a massive change in my life.”

What are Jenn Drakes’ best practices and abilities, and why should people know their value/relevance?

Jenn Drakes- “I am a nurturer and a leader. My practice guides an understanding that we only have one life to live, and when we pursue our careers and businesses, we do so to build a life. That life includes all aspects of who we are – personal and professional – to ensure we make our life journey whole and non-fragmented. Now layer on my philosophy to lead with love based on knowing that:

     1.We were all born with at least one gift.

     2.We are responsible to embrace and use our innate gifts to establish worth and fulfillment, and achieve perpetual happiness within ourselves and in serving others.

Those underpinning beliefs means I hold a mission to:

• improve how people feel about themselves; 
• empower their sense of self-worth (amour de soi); and 
• help them achieve more personally and professionally than they ever imagined

As such, my approach fathoms a future to reach for and anchors you in the present to take the necessary actions forward. Where we start depends on where we are when we begin. Various best practice techniques, including NLP, will be used in our nurturing sessions. Together, we overcome perceived limitations, progress forward one achievement at a time, and positively contribute to ourselves, the life we strive to achieve, and our communities.”

Kelly S. Smith- “Jenn is a person of action. Her actions show others that she is capable, competent, and decisive. Those traits are necessary for anyone wanting to make changes in their own lives, and by exhibiting these characteristics, she can help others determine and achieve their goals. In addition, Jenn’s vast experience has given her insight that matters when needed. She is more capable of clear, productive thought than many people I know. She responds to situations without undue emotion but with an analytical approach, and the result is fascinating.

In many cases during our time on the CNEO project, she had to step in and redirect people’s thinking to achieve the results needed to progress the project’s outcomes. Jenn intuitively understands people. A brief conversation will give her great insight into a person’s abilities and interests. This ability provides her with invaluable awareness of what motivates and helps people to understand themselves, thus perpetuating their self-worth, which is empowering.”

If you could say a thing or two about your experience with Jenn Drakes and her work, what would you say?

Jenn Drakes- “I love this question because many would immediately think, how can she answer a question about herself? Except, in having an intimate self-relationship with the person you are always with 24/7, I can answer this question and any others like it. Jenn Drakes has grown and continues to strive for more growth in herself and her mission to serve. She has addressed her SHITES head-on. As difficult as that has been, she now knows something unique and miraculous on the other side makes the difficult moments worthwhile. As a result, she knows she can pass on those learnings through her work. That responsibility is not only accepted, it is treasured.”

Kelly S. Smith- “Jenn and I spent some time on personal development activities together. She is bold and unafraid to ask questions, which ensures that her acquisition of knowledge is thorough and feeds her inquisitive nature.”

What describes your history working with Jenn Drakes, and your initial impression of her in this particular regard?

Jenn Drakes- “My history has collectively been seeking meaning and purpose related to why I’m here and driving towards a legacy that confirms I existed and stood for something substantial. Jenn’s earliest memories were of anger.  I was naive, and filled with limiting beliefs. That meant getting over myself, so my work with Jenn Drakes has been primarily about acceptance. Acceptance of self in capability and reach. Doing that work was along a trajectory to stop fighting myself, stop blowing up my life, and quit choosing the rugged roads. Simply by understanding that all the pain and all the SHITES had meaning and that they were my cocoon of sorts. When we see a cocooned caterpillar, we can never really know what struggles it experiences to transform into a butterfly. We only know they unquestionably come out beautiful, graceful, and with the strength to endure a harrowing migration journey when the cold weather arrives. Even after that, some survive, and some don’t. So, why should I be any different? I cocooned for years upon years. My insistence on dismissing my divinity led to harsher lessons until I finally listened. Listening led me to seek new ways to get tasks done, which meant progressing forward in blind faith. Listening got me to embrace the innate aspects of me – my gifts, and it got me to commit to resolving my SHITES. I was no longer running away, I was running towards, and I had hectares to traverse. Listening has me knowing I’m needed, and actions have me ready and able to answer the calls for help and guidance.”

Kelly S. Smith- “When we worked together a few years ago, I recognized Jenn’s acceptance and a strong desire to help people reach their most significant potential. These abilities in her allowed me to become the strong, independent, and ridiculously confident person I am today. This nurturing side of her has brought us to be very close friends, the kind of friends that bond for life.”

How did you first meet Jenn, and is the first encounter a memorable one? Does it have a direct relation to her work today?

Jenn Drakes- “Jenn’s been with me my whole life. However, my memories start around five years old when with my grandmother. For sure, those times were memorable. However, the memories are now primarily good because I have been schooled. I now know the purpose of that aspect of my life, and they have shaped the Jenn you are reading about here. The collective history of Jenn guides the work she undertakes today in the interest of her growth and the growth of clients; however, they interact with her.”

Kelly S. Smith- “My first interaction with Jenn was a telephone conversation that started as a phone interview for my position at CNEO. In the process of her trying to eke out what I was able to offer the team, she quickly realized that I was knowledgeable and would be a great team member. Her realization that I had been hampered by the proverbial “glass ceiling” led her to take me on (take a chance on me) and lead me into a massive personal growth experience. My comments to her one day about how great she is at motivating and coaching people on a personal level led her to make the career choice she now enjoys immensely. She did not believe me when I told her she would make a great life coach or motivational speaker but look at her now.”