From Award Winning TV Exec to Life Coach with Jackie de Crinis

[00:00:00] Jamie: Hey everyone, welcome back. I have a special guest for you today who is a dear friend and a coach, and I’m excited to share our story about how we met. There’s so many synchronicities, but first I want to read you her bio. I don’t normally read bios, but Jackie’s bio is legit and I think it’s worthy of reading.

[00:00:22] Jamie: So I’m going to share a little bit more about her and then we’re going to dive into the interview. Jackie Dukranis is a life coach who helps overthinkers, people pleasers, and perfectionists manage their anxiety so that they can be more productive and feel happier in their lives. Prior to becoming a life coach, Jackie spent over 30 years in the television.

[00:00:43] Jamie: Let me say that one more time. Prior to becoming a life coach, Jackie spent over 30 years in the television industry as an executive for NBCUniversal, ABC, 20th Century Fox, and Sony Television. As a creative [00:01:00] executive, she developed and oversaw dozens of Emmy and Golden Globe award winning series. In addition to her coaching practice, Jackie hosts the Overthinker’s Guide to Joy podcast.

[00:01:12] Jamie: Overthinker’s Guide to Joy podcast. Wait, let me say that again. In addition to her coaching practice, Jackie hosts the Overthinkers Guide to Joy podcast. Jackie has three adult children and lives in Maui with her husband and dog. She plays tennis and pickleball in her spare time, practices yoga and meditation and loves board games.

[00:01:33] Jamie: I didn’t know you love board games. I do too. We’re going to have to play together one time. I love board 

[00:01:41] Jackie: games. 

[00:01:41] Jamie: Okay. Next time I’m in Maui. Here is Jackie. Welcome Jackie. Thank you for being here. I’m so excited to have you. And I want to dive into all the things I want to hear about your story. I want to hear about your coaching [00:02:00] practice, but first I thought it would be fun to share with listeners, our synchronicities, and how we met, and you’re such a good storyteller.

[00:02:10] Jamie: I’m wondering if you want to share our little kind of backstory. 

[00:02:15] Jackie: Yeah. So it’s, I mean, it’s truly serendipitous in so many ways, but, um, I have been living both in Maui and Los Angeles for the last 15 years and, um, owned homes in both places. And, and, About eight years ago, we decided to sell our main home in Los Angeles and we were moving back to Maui for the second time and Our house was for sale and you guys you and your then fiance now husband we’re coming to look at houses and You had come a couple of times to tour it or to inspect it or what have you and we met and we just you know Spoke a few words My husband and I adored you both because you [00:03:00] were a new couple about to get married We share a very similar wedding anniversary.

[00:03:05] Jackie: I think the month of April. 

[00:03:06] Jamie: Yes, that’s right And 

[00:03:08] Jackie: we had bought that house when we were newlyweds. So there was just like this It’s lovely serendipity to it all and, and we really hoped that you would buy the house because we thought you’d be very happy there. And that was kind of the end of the story.

[00:03:21] Jackie: You, you got married and you bought the house and we moved back to Maui and that was that. Many years later, like I think three years later. 

[00:03:30] Jamie: Um, 

[00:03:31] Jackie: I was at the end of my executive, um, role in television. I was leaving television in 2016 and, uh, I wasn’t exactly sure what my second career was going to be. I took a pit stop and was a producer for a few years.

[00:03:44] Jackie: And then I moved back to Maui and I’m like, okay, now what? What’s my chapter two? And I had just started taking my coaching certification courses and my daughter’s best friend who grew up across the street from us where you live now, um, [00:04:00] she came to visit As she always does, if she can, and we adore her and her name is Jamie too, and we’re sitting talking and she says, do you ever talk, I heard you’re, you know, in coaching, um, certification, do you ever talk to the woman who bought your house?

[00:04:15] Jackie: Jamie, she’s a coach. And I was like, she’s a coach. And she’s like, yeah, you should totally talk to her. And I’m like, I don’t have her phone number. I mean, all I had was escrow papers and I knew your name. 

[00:04:29] Jamie: We may have communicated like once or twice like hey some mail came or something like maybe between you and yeah but we didn’t we weren’t in contact 

[00:04:37] Jackie: not at all and and so I’m like give me her phone number so I called you up and I was like can I pick your brain about starting your coaching career.

[00:04:46] Jackie: And you’re like, sure. And you gave me all this incredible information. And then that was kind of the end of it. 

[00:04:53] Jamie: Yep. 

[00:04:53] Jackie: And then you contacted me and you said, we’re going to buy a house in Maui. Can I pick your brain [00:05:00] about Maui? And I was like, course. And then you came to our house for dinner, you and Josh, and We became, you know, friendly and friends and then it turns out over the period I’ve been a coach for about five years.

[00:05:14] Jackie: You’ve been a few years longer than me We have now about a million friends in common from all of our coaching courses retreats off sites What have you because it’s not a huge it. Well, then it wasn’t a huge industry industry. It might be now Yeah. And we even went on a retreat together last February. 

[00:05:33] Jamie: It was so fun.

[00:05:34] Jackie: It was so fun. And so we You got to come back 

[00:05:37] Jamie: to the house and see the house. 

[00:05:40] Jackie: And it looks gorgeous. And that’s really how we became friends. So we have all this like sort of strange coincidentals. Serendipity. Yeah. And now a really lovely friendship and coaching, a relationship. 

[00:05:56] Jamie: It’s amazing. It’s got me thinking [00:06:00] like if we were to go into kind of the woo part of this, of like the energy of a home, right?

[00:06:05] Jamie: Like I’ve heard of there’s numerology with homes. You can look up like, What is the meaning of a house or what is the energy of a house? And it’s kind of wild because you moved in whenever you were newlyweds. Yes. You were very successful through it, like you grew so much through this. I moved in when I was literally, that’s probably why you didn’t know I was a coach, because I was just starting, didn’t have any clients, like I was just starting my coaching business.

[00:06:31] Jamie: And through it, like my business has grown through these eight years at this home, you know? And like, of course we have dogs that look so much like each other. I got my dog whenever I moved here. And the wild thing is like, I remember back, I remember like talking to you guys and, um, you saying, yeah, we’re moving to Maui.

[00:06:50] Jamie: I was like, that’s where we’re moving after this. Like, I just kind of claimed it. I’m like, I know we’re going to move there. And it’s just wild how Yeah. Now we both, yeah, it’s, it’s just, it’s [00:07:00] wild. And I love it so much. I do too. All the synchronicities. Yeah. I do 

[00:07:03] Jackie: too. Yeah. And it’s also, you know, it’s an interesting thing about the seeds that you plant and, and that you don’t even know you’re planting.

[00:07:12] Jackie: Right. Yes. Um. Thank you. Sort of paying attention to clues because like if it if not for this then that right, you know So like had we not met because it’s possible to sell a home and never beat the people Who are buying it most of the time? Yeah, totally Sometimes just the agents, um, do everything and you never see the people who buy your home.

[00:07:36] Jackie: So that’s a possibility. We didn’t see the person who bought our 

[00:07:37] Jamie: last house at all. Like not, but we, we happened to accidentally run into each other, I think. So 

[00:07:44] Jackie: yeah. Yeah. So there’s that, or the fact that, you know, my neighbor, my former neighbor or my daughter’s best friend would come to visit and even mention you that you’d have the same name, like just, just all this sort of crazy stuff.

[00:07:58] Jackie: And then. The [00:08:00] information that you gave me when I first became a coach, the recommendations you made led me to meeting so many of my coaching friends, which happened to overlap with so many of your coaching friends. 

[00:08:13] Jamie: So meant to be, right? It’s like wild. I know. So meant to be. So meant to be. And the weird thing is like, I would, it’s thinking back to whenever you’re trying to manifest something.

[00:08:25] Jamie: I was trying to manifest a house, right? Me and Josh both. And we were looking for a year and a half and we were in that place where we were just so frustrated because we had put. We had put like, you know, we had tried for like two other houses. They fell through. We were, we almost got another house in Encino that completely unlike, literally on the last day when we were about to get the house, we found out the retaining wall was a mess and that felt, and so I was just frustrated, but it’s crazy how so many times that’s why you really have to like, Surrender to the universe, give it over, believe in the timing [00:09:00] because so many amazing things happened and this house is 10 times better than any of those.

[00:09:04] Jamie: And then we met and yeah, it’s like everything’s meant to be. So there’s something to surrendering and like, yeah, believing that one thing will lead to another. It’s so cool. I love it. Yes. 

[00:09:16] Jackie: And, and being patient, which is something that I probably I’m not historically great at, but being patient that every day that you get up and you make a choice, like even to brush your teeth or open your blinds or make your bed, like you’re choosing to Plant a seed for your future self or your identity of how you self identify 

[00:09:42] Jamie: Yes.

[00:09:42] Jamie: Yes. I love that and I want to actually yeah, I want to dive into that further I want to dive into your business further and you planted the seed to start a business and we had a conversation and now look at you you have a business and You have an [00:10:00] amazing one on one high touch, you know one on one practice and you’ve How many years has it been now?

[00:10:08] Jackie: Uh, five. 

[00:10:09] Jamie: Yeah. Amazing. Five years this month. Yes. Okay. So I’m curious about the shift from becoming an executive to a coach. How did that all unfold? 

[00:10:23] Jackie: So again, never linear. Nothing’s ever linear. Right. Right. So my journey, um, was circuitous at best. And that is, so my intention when I went to college was to go to medical school.

[00:10:40] Jackie: kind of just got overwhelmed by a very specific OCHEM lab at UCLA. And I was like, Oh, it’s a sign from the universe. I shouldn’t be a doctor. I’m beating my head against the wall. I was literally done with my credits and ready to apply. Oh 

[00:10:53] Jamie: my gosh. 

[00:10:54] Jackie: Um, or I would have applied in my senior year. And I was like, I shouldn’t be a doctor.

[00:10:59] Jackie: I’m, [00:11:00] I’m just not as good as the other, you know, science students and what have you. But I loved medicine and I loved people and I loved solving problems and I loved solving problems. Holistically, I was very interested in both western and eastern medicine even back then this is a long time ago So I out of guilt shame Ego, i’m not sure which all three Um, I answered a job at the ucla jaw on the ucla job board to apply for an assistant job in For a television producer because I had taken a bunch of electives while beating my head against the wall being a pre med major.

[00:11:37] Jackie: Um, I had taken a bunch of production, TV production courses and writing courses and things just to kind of like give myself a break from the intensity of chemistry and physics and calculus and all the things. And so I was like, I don’t know what else I’m going to do. But, um, I know a little bit about film and TV and.

[00:11:56] Jackie: Maybe i’ll just park myself there for a little while till I figure out what [00:12:00] i’m really gonna do when I grow up And I kind of fell into that job didn’t last it only lasted like six weeks Um, I quit because the producer was a horrible human being and then I got another job. Um, working for the two very young people who went on to create the Wonder Years, the original Wonder Years, which was a huge monster hit in the 1980s.

[00:12:21] Jamie: Yes. I loved that show. 

[00:12:24] Jackie: And that kind of catapulted my career because what happens is if you are even literally dog walking for the executive producers or, you know, ordering their lunch or reading their scripts or watching director reels, whatever you’re doing, you get the halo effect of their success.

[00:12:44] Jackie: Right? You don’t get the credit for creating the show, but you get, you’re in the milieu of greatness in a moment. 

[00:12:50] Jamie: Yep. 

[00:12:50] Jackie: Um, 

[00:12:51] Jamie: you’re a part of it. So, 

[00:12:53] Jackie: so that led to another job, which then led to my first executive job at ABC, where I ended up [00:13:00] becoming the creative exec on the Wonder Years, which is weird. So from assistant to, you know, in charge for ABC.

[00:13:07] Jackie: Of that show and then that led to many other jobs And so so all of a sudden i’m on this television track and I like television very much and I loved writers and um, but I didn’t love the industry the industry like most industries and you know this because your husband is a composer 

[00:13:26] Jamie: yep, 

[00:13:27] Jackie: um entertainment industry related fields are extremely Dreamly toxic.

[00:13:35] Jackie: Uh, the creative part is not toxic. It’s beautiful what they manifest and create but the the day to day business is so dog eat dog and so I know other industries are like that too politics is like that sales is like that. It’s not the only industry like that But it was so not in alignment as you would say with my core [00:14:00] values If I could have just gone to work and worked with writers and artists I had a fabulous team in the last half of my career at USA Network, but if I could have just gone to work with people I liked and people who were just good, I would have stayed in that industry for another 30 years.

[00:14:17] Jamie: Yeah. 

[00:14:18] Jackie: But the problem is that’s like a fraction of your time spent. Totally. The rest of your time, all you’re doing is putting out fires and arguing with people left, right, and center. And it’s a lot of rough elbows and it’s a lot of people throwing each other under the bus. And like ethically it’s just it felt exhausting and toxic and yeah I was always looking for my exit strategy.

[00:14:44] Jackie: And so when I met my second husband who is called The one you met when we sold your house. Um, He was always like I don’t think you can stay in hollywood forever And at this point I had been in about 25 years. He 

[00:14:55] Jamie: could see it. Yeah. 

[00:14:57] Jackie: Yeah, he’s like I 

[00:14:58] Jamie: just I 

[00:14:59] Jackie: just [00:15:00] don’t think this is a long term strategy and i’m like, what are you 

[00:15:02] Jamie: talking about?

[00:15:02] Jamie: I’ve 

[00:15:02] Jackie: been doing this for 25 years, right? 

[00:15:04] Jamie: That’s a scary like that. Yeah a scary reflection that sometimes we don’t want to hear Well, and 

[00:15:09] Jackie: I wanted to get out. I just didn’t know how to get out of it Yeah, um, I 

[00:15:13] Jamie: didn’t 

[00:15:13] Jackie: want to stop making tv shows I just wanted to get out of the Day to day, yeah, politic part of it.

[00:15:20] Jackie: Yeah politics part of it. So anyway, my sister was an executive coach And she was in the silicon valley. She had worked for hewlett packard She had her mba and so she went that route right of coaching other mbas and other engineers and marketing people And and she had said to me a long long time ago.

[00:15:41] Jackie: You should Do coaching like you’d be great at it. You’d love it. It would mesh with your psychology degree and you know, all the things and I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I want to do that. I want to do that. But I just couldn’t find my exit strategy. So my second round in moving to Maui. And I had this opportunity finally.

[00:15:59] Jackie: I finally [00:16:00] left my executive desk. 

[00:16:01] Jamie: I was 

[00:16:01] Jackie: like, well now I get to do whatever I want 

[00:16:04] Jamie: Yeah and 

[00:16:04] Jackie: that’s when I said I’m gonna really go all in on coaching and that’s when I went for my coaching certification the year I Called you five years ago. And And I just said I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve never been an entrepreneur I’ve never sold anything in my life into the degree that like you’re selling You know packages or your time Um, i’ve always been a buyer.

[00:16:26] Jackie: Yeah um and But what I do know that i’m good at is i’m really good at listening and i’m really good at problem solving And i’m really good at what makes people tick 

[00:16:39] Jamie: Yeah, 

[00:16:40] Jackie: and I thought oh if I could take my 30 plus years in television and apply the human nature aspect of it and listen to people’s stories like I did as a buyer of scripts and help them analyze where the holes are, where’s the problems, where’s the roadblocks, where can we [00:17:00] prop you up to give your story legs, right?

[00:17:04] Jackie: Whether it’s a TV show or just legs in your career or legs in your relationship. I could take those same skill sets and apply it. to coaching. And that’s what I did. And then I was not ever targeting the film business or television business, 

[00:17:17] Jamie: but 

[00:17:17] Jackie: it kind of came to me because that was where my reputation was.

[00:17:21] Jackie: So all of a sudden I’m getting calls from former colleagues, writers, producers, directors, actors. Um, will you coach me? I, I, I loved working with you as an executive. I would love to work with you as a coach. So that’s where my clients mostly came from. 

[00:17:35] Jamie: Yes. Oh my gosh. Talk about full circle too. Cause you went to school for, you know, you were going to be a doctor cause you were like, I love wellness.

[00:17:42] Jamie: I love healing all of that. And then. It’s like, you’re, it’s like coming full circle, doing it in a different way, but that’s the intention with it. So that’s, that’s incredible. Were you scared? Well, that’s why I say 

[00:17:56] Jackie: you don’t know where you’re planting the seeds. So when I graduated UCLA, I’m [00:18:00] thinking, Oh my God, I wasted.

[00:18:03] Jackie: 15 years of my life telling everybody I’m going to be a doctor and No, I didn’t because I learned analytical skills and I learned science and math and psychology and all of these things And I just took that analytical brain and put it into television And then when I took that television career, I put it into coaching.

[00:18:23] Jackie: So it’s all kind of like you said Interconnected. It was just a very circuitous path to my calling 

[00:18:28] Jamie: could have never predicted it, but nothing’s ever Ever Like, yeah, nothing’s ever not meant to be. I say this a lot with coaches. Cause they’re, I work with a lot of coaches. I work with all entrepreneurs, but many coaches and they’ll get their certification and coaching cause they felt called to do it, but maybe they’re like, ah, but I don’t really want to build a business.

[00:18:48] Jamie: Or I really kind of am liking my career that I had before even better, or I want to do something else, but I just got certified and I put all this time into this. And I was picturing being a coach. And I’m always like, [00:19:00] That was not a mistake. That was always meant to be, right? And, like, you can bring those skills into anything that you do.

[00:19:08] Jamie: So, I love you sharing that. I’m curious, were you scared taking, was it taking a leap? Or, like, whenever you left being an executive, how did you feel? 

[00:19:20] Jackie: Okay. So I was not scared of being, leaving, being an executive. Everyone thought that I would be, like, they’re like, there’s no way she’s going to walk away at the pinnacle of her career.

[00:19:30] Jackie: Cause I was literally like at the top, top of my career. It was the job I always wanted. We had just won a golden globe for Mr. Robot. We had, the network had, like 12 hit series. Um, it was really, it was everything I worked hard for. And I was like, no, I’m going to leave on top. And my, and you know, part of it was my husband really wanted to go back to Maui.

[00:19:53] Jackie: And at that time there was no tell I was an early telecommuter in 2009. Um, and this is now [00:20:00] 2016 and they were still not open to another round of telecommuting. And, and I was like, that’s okay. And i’ll figure out something else, but I didn’t have any qualms about leaving my executive role. Um, I was very nervous about leaving A very good paycheck.

[00:20:16] Jackie: I was very nervous about that, but I had saved for it. I saved for that. 

[00:20:20] Jamie: Yeah 

[00:20:21] Jackie: experience um Starting coaching. I was nervous about everything so I wasn’t nervous about coaching that I felt like I could do in spades Because i’ve been doing it as an executive my whole life. 

[00:20:31] Jamie: Yeah, 

[00:20:32] Jackie: but like how to market Um, how to run my own business, how to use all the software that we use, whether it’s zoom calls or, um, podcasting recording equipment or, um, social media to self promote.

[00:20:48] Jackie: Like that was so foreign to me because as a television executive, you have departments that do all of that. 

[00:20:55] Jamie: Right. 

[00:20:56] Jackie: You just pick up the phone. You’re like, my computer’s broken. They bring you [00:21:00] a new one. You’re marketing a new series. There is a team of brilliant people in New York who come out with posters and trailers and promos and marketing things and tie ins.

[00:21:13] Jackie: And now all of a sudden, like, wait, I’m the business. I’m the brand. I’m the marketing executive. I’m the it support. I’m the financial advisor. I’m the. And I’m the coach and I’m the secretary. I’m everything. Yes. That was really scary. How did you work through that fear? Kind of one step at a time. I just kept taking course after course after course so that I was more and more confident in my coaching.

[00:21:42] Jackie: And then I would meet people who were more confident in my courses in sales, social media, marketing, and I would just pick their brains relentlessly. I’m like, how do you do this? How do you do that? Um, I had a great assistant when I was a television executive when I was a television producer [00:22:00] after my executive career Who showed me?

[00:22:03] Jackie: A million different like pieces of software so that I could start my blog on my own And so that I could learn to podcast so she taught me a lot. Yeah, um when she was still working for me, um But it’s really every time I do it, it’s like a new thing. I’m like, do I know how to do this? I don’t know 

[00:22:25] Jamie: And that never goes away I feel like it’s always like there’s another thing I mean at least for me it’s like because i’m always wanting to evolve and grow it and So I know I think that’s just a part of the job but I think The key is like you said at the beginning you just went all in and I think when you have that attitude It’s like well all in is all in so Am I going to work through this?

[00:22:49] Jamie: Am I going to work through the fear? Am I going to learn this? And if you’re all in, you do it. And the effect is now you have a wonderful practice with amazing clients. And I’d love to [00:23:00] dive more into like what specifically you help with. People with. 

[00:23:05] Jackie: So, um, people come to me, I mean, when I say that I coach a lot of people in entertainment, that’s just the people that know me, so that’s kind of the low hanging fruit.

[00:23:13] Jackie: Yeah. They, they’ve had a prior experience with me professionally, or maybe their friend or colleague has. 

[00:23:18] Jamie: Yeah. 

[00:23:18] Jackie: But I coach also, you know, people in all other industries. I’ve coached interior designers and real estate agents, um, lawyers, doctors, uh, financial people, all kinds of things. And so. Everybody comes to me with something different Most of the time they want to change something in their life.

[00:23:40] Jackie: So it’s very specific. They either Want to they’ve lost Their job and they want to find another one and their mindset is Bad or they’re worried. They’ve lost their mojo. We might work on that I had a girlfriend who came to me who wanted to meet her a significant other [00:24:00] and you know, eight weeks later she did Um, i’ve had people come to me for weight loss, which is something I have a lot of experience with I’m, not a weight loss coach, but I because I coach holistically I do a lot, I help a lot of women with weight loss.

[00:24:14] Jackie: Um, I’ve coached people on money mindset. Again, not a money mindset coach, but it just comes in the purview of general life coaching. But I would say predominantly it’s limiting beliefs that are stuck from an old wound. Some childhood And it could be trauma with a big T or trauma with a little T. It doesn’t have to be something so significant or outrageous, but it’s just kind of an old story in which maybe their primary caregiver or their first boyfriend or their first boss really did a number on them and they don’t think they’re deserving of what they have.

[00:24:56] Jackie: And we work a lot on healthy [00:25:00] habits and mindset to course correct their belief in themselves. 

[00:25:05] Jamie: Amazing. And one of the things that I’m just gathering from this is you have a general life coaching practice. Of course, a lot of your clients tend to have Maybe similar patterns or habits, or maybe you attract similar people, but 

[00:25:19] Jackie: Yes, 

[00:25:19] Jamie: like I feel like so many people I’ve heard this so many times I’ve coached on this so many times people are like I just want a general life Life coaching practice, but it’s not allowed.

[00:25:28] Jamie: I have to pick a niche. I have to pick a specific niche And look at you, you have a successful business and you don’t have, you have a general life coaching practice. 

[00:25:38] Jackie: Yeah. 

[00:25:38] Jamie: I’m curious, did you ever get any other conditioning that said that you have to pick a niche? And if so, I 

[00:25:45] Jackie: probably took six, seven, eight courses where somebody said the most important thing you need is your niche.

[00:25:52] Jackie: And I kept trying to shoe horn in a niche and people just kept coming to me with different issues. And [00:26:00] I’m like, That doesn’t make sense for me. You know, so you have to remember I came from ABC television when there were three networks. Fox was not a network when I started at ABC. They were just a channel that produced like two nights a week.

[00:26:14] Jackie: So I came from what’s called a general broadcasting network, which meant we had family programming, adult programming, drama, comedy, reality. Specials, news. And so I sort of cut my teeth on learning what the general population liked and doesn’t like. And then I went to a cabler like USA, which was also a general population network.

[00:26:43] Jackie: Kids watched it. Adults watched it. Older people watched it. Men, women, all the things. So I think that the issues that I coach on. Perfectionism, overthinking, people pleasing, those are ubiquitous and they start at an early [00:27:00] age and they sometimes haunt you all the way up until way late in life. True. So to rule out somebody, now, what I don’t coach on is I don’t coach on active addiction.

[00:27:11] Jackie: So there’s an example. So somebody says to me, I’m suffering with alcoholism, I’m not your coach. There are coaches to do that and there’s AA programs and there’s all kinds of things. Um, if somebody is. clinically, um, manic depressive, like non functioning. I’m not that coach, but if somebody has had bipolarity but is under a psychiatric care and they just want good healthy habits, I am their coach.

[00:27:36] Jamie: Totally. 

[00:27:37] Jackie: Cause I understand that mindset and there’s a lot of them in the entertainment business. 

[00:27:41] Jamie: Yeah. 

[00:27:43] Jackie: So I do have my boundaries as a general coach. Um, I don’t coach kids. I don’t coach teens. 

[00:27:50] Jamie: Yeah. 

[00:27:50] Jackie: Like it’s just not what I do. Yep. So, um, I, I love the variety. I love having just the big [00:28:00] canvas to paint from.

[00:28:01] Jamie: Yeah. 

[00:28:02] Jackie: And I love all the colors on the canvas. 

[00:28:06] Jamie: I love it. 

[00:28:07] Jackie: Yeah. 

[00:28:07] Jamie: And I don’t know why not. I mean, and I always tell my clients, like, I remember, um, my first coach, I hired her because she was a general life coach and she didn’t have a niche because I was like, I want to be coached on whatever I want to be coached on.

[00:28:20] Jamie: I don’t want it to have to be one specific thing. So I hired her because of that. And I think, you know, I just love that you’re a beautiful example of giving yourself permission to do that. Yeah. And to know what it is you do love coaching on and the type of people you like to coach on, who you don’t, but giving yourself permission to do general life coaching, because that is a thing and you can have a successful business doing it.

[00:28:44] Jackie: Yeah. It’s 

[00:28:44] Jamie: so good. 

[00:28:45] Jackie: I think so. 

[00:28:46] Jamie: Well, and 

[00:28:46] Jackie: also I’m, I’m a one on one coach, which is also, I guess, more rarefied now than it used to be. 

[00:28:52] Jamie: Yeah. 

[00:28:52] Jackie: But so many people do groups and things like that. And that’s not the business model that I’m interested in doing at this stage in my [00:29:00] life. 

[00:29:00] Jamie: Yeah. So good to know that. I really love getting, 

[00:29:02] Jackie: getting to know people.

[00:29:03] Jackie: Yeah, I love getting into it with an individual and really holding that space for them and them only at this point I might change my mind at some point. I might do group someday, but at this point, I just love the one on one 

[00:29:16] Jamie: Yeah, so since this podcast we talk a lot about abundance I’m curious if your definition of abundance has shifted of what your definition of abundance might have been back when you were an executive and what your definition of abundance is now.

[00:29:36] Jamie: Has that shifted over time? 

[00:29:40] Jackie: Um, let me answer that in a little bit of a circuitous way. My father, who was so lovely and just the one of the warmest human beings on the planet, He would, he was like the most optimistic person I knew. I, I am not generally [00:30:00] that, like I’m, I’m very pragmatic more than I am optimistic.

[00:30:03] Jackie: I have my moments of optimism and I also have my moments of like, oh, let’s look at that, you know. Yep. Um, but he was just almost blindly optimistic in his approach to life. And it worked for him. He lived to 91. He loved his life. He, you know, all the things. But when people would ask him, what is your secret to your relentless, by the way, genuine optimism?

[00:30:32] Jackie: He would always say, I come from abundance that was like ingrained in me and I don’t know if I do but he certainly did and the man that I was raised by Was but he just says I come from abundance I just feel that love begets love and if you do what you love for a living money will come and And you kind of [00:31:00] attract what you basically you reap what you sow, but you attract What you want to attract and he says so i’m Abundant and I feel abundant.

[00:31:10] Jamie: Wow, 

[00:31:10] Jackie: that just profoundly stuck with me. So, well, I, again, I can’t, I can’t claim that I have his level of blind optimism. I wish I did. Um, I do carry that abundant mentality. I do believe there is always enough and that I come from having enough. 

[00:31:34] Jamie: Yes. Even 

[00:31:35] Jackie: when I didn’t. 

[00:31:37] Jamie: Wow. Wow. That reminds, he reminds me of Josh.

[00:31:41] Jamie: That’s, that’s totally, it’s like Josh’s natural state. And so many, like, same thoughts, same kind of feeling, and not my natural actually, which some people might be surprised by because I might appear to be very optimistic, but it’s because it’s something I have to work on and I have to like remind myself of abundance.

[00:31:59] Jamie: I [00:32:00] don’t come from that naturally, but it’s just like the most beautiful teaching. 

[00:32:04] Jackie: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And my father didn’t grow up in a abundant household. Like his parents were, um, immigrants from Ukraine and Romania and dirt poor when they arrived in this country, um, in the 19, late 19, 19 teens. So he was born in 27.

[00:32:24] Jackie: So maybe early 1920s. 

[00:32:26] Jamie: Yeah. 

[00:32:26] Jackie: Um, so it’s not like he came from wealth or privilege. Um, Yeah. Although he considered his life a privilege, but he did not come from privilege and it was all earned hard work and But he just chose an abundant mentality 

[00:32:44] Jamie: And I love that it’s a choice and I love that he gave that gift to you, too Yeah, so awesome, I love it Okay, so I have a lot of clients who are like, you know you know, want to obviously hire a coach, but I have a [00:33:00] lot who are like, I love the group, but I want a good one on one coach.

[00:33:03] Jamie: And right in front of me, I have an amazing one on one coach. So Jackie, can you tell Listeners who might be looking for a one on one coach like you, um, where they can find you, follow you, get in touch with you, all the things. 

[00:33:18] Jackie: Absolutely. So, um, my website is JackieDeCrentis. com, J A C K I E D E C R I N I S.

[00:33:27] Jackie: com. They can reach me through my website. And then, um, I also have a podcast there on the website called The Overthinker’s Guide to Joy, and there will be a companion book, uh, The Overthinker’s Guide to Joy, uh, in the fall that’s coming out. And then they can follow me on Instagram at Jackie DeCrentis.

[00:33:47] Jackie: They can follow me on my Facebook page, Jackie DeCrentis Life Coach, or on LinkedIn, Jackie DeCrentis. 

[00:33:53] Jamie: So good. Yes. Go follow Jackie and you’ll have to read her blog every week. It’s so good. [00:34:00] Thank you for being here, Jackie. We definitely, yeah, when we’re in Hawaii next time, we’re going to have to play a board game, get together, do another hike, but.

[00:34:08] Jamie: So wait, 

[00:34:08] Jackie: what’s your favorite board game? I need to know. 

[00:34:11] Jamie: Oh my gosh. Well, I’m actually a big checkers fan. Josh have this thing with checkers, but I like all games. Like I’m just a game person. So it doesn’t even have to be board game. I just like games. I think they’re so fun. I get competitive, but in a, in a fun spirit.

[00:34:28] Jackie: What’s your favorite? Totally me too. Um, with Kurt, we play Scrabble like every other night. Yeah. So that’s our favorite. Um. We like that. With my kids, I love Rummy Tile. Um, and then, um, I’m learning Mahjong. How 

[00:34:43] Jamie: fun! I love it. 

[00:34:45] Jackie: Amazing. Yeah. 

[00:34:46] Jamie: Thank you. But I’m a total 

[00:34:47] Jackie: beginner. 

[00:34:48] Jamie: So good. Well, thank you, Jackie. I appreciate you being here and sharing all of your wisdom.

[00:34:55] Jamie: Talk soon. Thank 

[00:34:56] Jackie: you. Loved it.