Hi Jodi! Thank you very much for your time. It's really admirable and inspiring to see how you're so positive and full of energy, but also able to be vulnerable and open and show your feelings to the world. It's really, really beautiful. And to start with, do you mind just telling us - who is Jodi? Anything that comes to mind.
Who am I? I think I am somebody who cares a lot, and I probably wear my heart on my sleeve. I've come to realise that my ultimate purpose is to empower people, and I've just learned to do that through many different ways - from coaching to counselling, from boudoir photography to tarot readings. I think I've been through a lot of different things in my life, which has led me to become who I am. One of the biggest things was losing my dad to suicide. He was my person... Then I was in a toxic relationship with my daughter's father, which ended with him having an affair. And I was left to raise my child on my own, didn’t really have much support, and he didn’t really help at all.
So yeah, I think all the things that I’ve overcome lead me to the understanding of how important it is to help other people. Counselling helped me, so I became a counsellor to help others. Coaching helped me, so now I coach to help other people. Reading other stories helped me, so I wrote my book to put my own story out there helping others as well.
You have a book!
Two books.
Oh, how cool. I want to read that.
I can send you a copy.
Oh yes, please send me one. That would be amazing. And we will leave the link below the interview too. How do you do so many beautiful things?
It’s been more of a journey - they weren't all at once. I became the counsellor, and then transitioned into the coaching. And then I had surgery on my hip, so I was stuck in bed for two months recovering, that's when I finished writing my book. So I think everything has happened in stages as opposed to all at once. That makes sense? Just kind of gone into something else and then something else.
Yes, sure! I love how you seem to be flowing from one thing to another.
Yeah. Sometimes it gets confusing, though, because I ask myself, should I be doing one thing? But I think that’s where I come back to that knowing that my purpose is to empower. It doesn’t really matter what I do or where I’m at. That’s ultimately what I’m doing. I just do it in many different forms.
Brilliant. What has been the main challenge on your journey so far?
The loss of my dad. It felt like my safe place was gone. I think that's probably the hardest thing, because when going through all the other things - going through the abuse from my ex, going through him not being there as a dad, going through mine and my mum's up and down stuff, and all the other stuff I've gone through - I think it made everything ten times harder, because I didn’t have my rock there to fall back on.
So when I had hard times financially, or when I was struggling with my daughter, or struggled even just knowing where to go - because he was my go-to, I guess he was my home, in the sense that wherever he was, that was where I felt safe.
It was like there was no safe space anymore, so I had to create my own, become my own go-to person. But sometimes that's hard, you know, because you can't do it all on your own. So I found other places and spaces, that were supportive, I seeked out counsellors and different groups. And I think that's also what led me on a journey to help people. Because I know what it's like when I’ve needed it...
This is truly beautiful. What are you most proud of about yourself and your journey?
Always proud of… probably, the mum that I became. I had everything stacked against me, my girl's dad tried to make my life more hell than anything. I didn’t have the support of a mum like others may have. I didn’t have family to have her. And I think I really could have gone off the rails - but I didn’t get into drugs or alcohol. Instead, I turned to getting help through counselling, and then becoming a counsellor myself, and trying to do positive things with everything I’d gone through, as opposed to getting drawn in it.
So as hard as it was and has been, I think I still tried to make something of myself and be as much of a role model to my daughter as I could, and be there for her as much as possible. I didn’t always have the money, and I didn’t always have everything, but I tried to do things to make sure that I was there for her as much as I could be.
Because she didn’t have a dad around, and she didn’t really have other close people. So I guess I just tried to make myself the best version of myself that I could be - as a mum.
I think we’ve touched on that already, but what are your strengths and weaknesses?
I think I'm very resilient - I can go through things and come out the other side of them. Even though when I'm in them, I can feel sorry for myself, or just feel like the world's ending, but I seem to always know how to come out the other side, or somehow see the good in things, or see the lessons and the blessings and what I've been able to gain from those experiences, even though they've not been the nicest to go through.
My weaknesses... I think sometimes I still get caught up in the way I've been treated by other people or how much I've been judged. I still struggle with what other people think about me, or more so how they've been towards me. And, to be honest, it’s more the people from my past and the things that I've gone through with them.
It’s like the frustration of just… the unfairness. I get frustrated with injustice (laughs), and I think, how can people get away with what they do? That's my weakness - I can just get too frustrated with how people have treated me or how they treat others - I like to stick up for the underdog. I used to want to be a lawyer, and it’s because I always wanted to fight the baddies (laughs). But yeah, I guess I have to just try and believe in karma somehow. And there's a reason why these shitty people exist...
Can you tell us more about your business and what you do? You already mentioned it, but you do so many amazing things, we need to talk about it a bit more.
Well, I do life and business coaching, and I do tarot readings, which is for guidance. I’ve started out as a counsellor. I wanted to help people, but I also wanted to be on that journey myself, because I wanted to learn a lot about myself and understand myself and grow from it.
And then after a few years, I decided I wanted to become a coach, because I felt like I could be more myself - like online and stuff - and share my story more and do my thing.
I’ve been doing life and business coaching for the last...I don’t even know how long it’s been now. I think maybe seven years ago I started out as a counsellor, and then maybe it’s been the last five years - or four years - that I’ve been coaching. And then probably the last three years I’ve been doing readings.
And then I found a development of a passion for helping business owners. And I think it’s because I’ve become one myself, and I kind of understand those challenges as well - so I’ve wanted to help people with that.
I’ve worked with a lot of people, and I’ve watched a lot of people completely transform their whole lives. And it’s really cool to see, you know, people going from not being able to do things, and being scared of doing things, to doing them without fear - and really breaking through their own barriers and blocks. Watching people grow - it’s really cool.
I can imagine. And how did the tarot come into play?
I’m not too sure. I know that I often, like, had a tarot card pack and I’d done them with friends and stuff. I don’t know if I saw someone else that I knew doing them online and thought, “Oh yeah, cool.” I think I started out by just doing card pulls for people, and then I started doing them in a group. And then I thought, “Oh yeah, I could do them live.” So I started doing them live in the group, and then live on my Facebook. And then I think it just happened - I started doing readings for people. And yeah, just kept going.
I think, again, from losing my dad, I’ve probably moved more into my spiritual side. Into believing that there’s obviously life after death kind of thing. I think that we’re all on a journey. I feel like Spirit is guiding us. And there’s more -I believe in a higher power and the universe and all that sort of thing.
I love it. Let’s circle back to your personality. What do you value in people the most?
Probably loyalty, honesty and authenticity - because I think the best connections are from those who are authentic or loyal and honest. Without that, you kind of have nothing, you know? I don’t think you can build connections with fake people, with people that aren’t honest and real.
What is love to you?
Um, good question. I think love is just caring about others - or someone. Love, I think, is when you come from a genuine, authentic space of just wanting the best for somebody.
Beautiful. And what is happiness?
It’s probably just allowing yourself to be, I think - and to feel joy and… to not care what people think (laughs).
Nice one! What brings you the greatest joy?
Seeing others happy, I think. I even thought the other day -do I really love what I do, you know, like in coaching and stuff? Sometimes it can get a bit draining. And I thought, What do I actually really love about it? And I thought, it's weird. What I really love is the transformation that I see, and when others succeed, and the results in what people get from it.
Like when someone messages me or says, Yay, I was able to do this! Or, you know, when I watch other people succeed or doing good. Or even with my daughter - when she finally got the manager’s job, I was just so happy for her.
So yeah, I think I get happiness from seeing others and in helping others to succeed.
That’s amazing. How do you deal with moments when you feel down?
Cry (laughs). I think I’ve learned to allow myself to be in those spaces without trying to force myself out of them. I think that’s something I’ve learned through my grief journey - just to let it be. Otherwise, it just builds up...mine would build up and come out in panic attacks. And then the only way to relieve my panic attack was to cry. And I feel like it’s because my body was holding so much, and it just needed to release it - and I wasn’t releasing (laughs) - and so I was just all bound up and I was panicking.
I think I grew up not being allowed to cry. And when my dad died, I held so much, and I couldn’t cry. My ex wasn’t supportive, so I don’t think I really cried around him either.
So I’ve learned I need to cry. I’ve learned to just cry, and just to not be okay when I’m not okay, and know that it all comes and goes.
And how do you recharge?
Spending time on my own - at the beach, in nature.. Music, exercise, I think, can help me recharge too.
If you could give a bit of advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Fu*k what they think (laughs).
Oh gosh, I am so on board with that (laughs).
They’re gonna judge you anyway - it doesn't fu*king matter. Like, no matter what you do with your life, you're going to be judged. So you're better off just doing what you want to do.
And also, I think I’d want my younger self to know that how people treat you has nothing to do with you. I think for so long in life, I took that on. Even lately, I was thinking that those who have judged me never ever have been doing better than me. You know, like my girl’s dad for example would judge me for my parenting but he would not be around for five years at a time.
I think I’d just want myself to know that how people treat you is not about you. It’s all to do with them. And to not take that on. I think I took on way too much of everyone else’s bullshit. That was the long version! (both laugh)
Do you have a motto in life, or a quote that you really love?
One I used to love was: “A ship is safe in the harbour, but that’s not what ships are built for.”
I just think, if you don’t take risks, you’re not actually living. You know, feel the fear and do it anyway, kind of thing. If we just stayed still and didn’t try things, we’d sit around doing nothing.
So I guess it’s just a reminder that we should put ourselves out there and actually give things a go.
I love it. That’s very inspiring. Thank you so much.
To learn more about what Jodi does and to download her books follow the link below:
