JACKI CARR
Goal Coach and Public Speaker
Home Base: Evergreen, CO
Jacki, what is your job?
I’m a goal coach, and a public speaker.
Public speaking is a common thing that makes people nervous - has it ever been scary?
It wasn’t always easy! But now I feel more comfortable on a stage than not. Once I clip in the mic, I’m so myself. It’s a zing of YES, this is what I’m meant to be doing. Plus, getting a little scared is good. If public speaking gets mundane it’s time to shake it up or try something new.
That’s an interesting take - getting scared is good.
We shy away from things that can create fear or failure , the two F’s. Or frustration, to add another.
But anything that triggers fear or frustration, is a place to learn and grow. So I’ve been welcoming those feelings. I want to be growing, not stagnant. Fear is part of the process.
Any faves from public speaking?
UC Health does an event, Evre. It’s a personal development day that has been amazing because I love the topics, and also I love how each year I’ve felt different on stage. It’s cool to do the same event, and see how YOU have changed.
How did you get into goal coaching and speaking?
I worked at Lululemon, and they had a huge culture in vision and goal setting. Someone’s title at the company was ‘Director of Possibility’! I met her and was like I want to do that.
I started to shadow her, and then lead workshops and goal coaching within the company, and then I was leading it globally. That’s how I got started.
What was your job at Lululemon when you found out about this?
Retail, I was selling spandex! Then I moved into headquarters on their brand team, and then the HR team.
I am a big believer in role models. It’s not about creating the same path, but seeing what’s possible, finding inspiration.
Who are some of your role models?
Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Brene Brown. Susanne Conrad, the woman that was the Director of Possibility. My mother and grandmothers.
I find something I admire, and make ‘I am’ statements about myself. Like, Ruth Bader Ginsberg stands for her values, so I say ‘I stand for my values’.
Huge RBG fan here. You’ve met Brene Brown, haven’t you?
Yes! We had her as a speaker at Lululemon before she was really huge, it was before she’d written her big three books but after “The Gifts of Imperfection” which is still my favorite of her books. The company flew me to Texas to meet her and dress her in spandex. She was so exactly who she says she is. At the big conference we had, the person that was supposed to introduce her got sick, so I introduced Brene Brown to our company, the board, the investors. I wasn’t even in my public speaking zone yet, so I stood on a podium nervous as hell!
You’ve had both the corporate experience and the experience of being an entrepreneur.
I really loved both. Being an entrepreneur is not easy. It’s terrifying, and also gratifying. It’s interesting to find out the ways you can make it succeed.
Do you consider yourself successful?
Absolutely. I love what I do. I’m able to live a life of my own design. Right now I’m able to be a sole provider for my family, it feels pretty cool to disrupt that status quo. It’s fun to be able to explore, to continue to get curious about what you want to be doing with your life.
Because ‘success’ doesn’t mean ‘done’. I am never ‘done’. It means staying in curiosity and inquiry.
What led to living in Colorado?
I just always knew I would live here. When I was traveling for work, whenever I got off planes here there was a response in my body, that was like ‘you will live here’. I’m an avid vision boarder, and I saw myself here, raising my kids in the trees, in flannel, going hiking, connected to nature. My husband loved Colorado too, so we did it. We moved from LA to Denver, and then we found Evergreen. It didn’t happen overnight, but we found a cute little log cabin and moved.
It’s really living the dream that I saw. Hiking from our backyard. My child talking to the trees, like having a conversation.
That’s cool that you made that bold move!
We left what could have been easy. But I think success follows, when you make bold choices. Those are usually our best decisions, when people look at us like we’re crazy.
Have you ever had times when things really went wrong spectacularly?
Right now! Chris and I are really re-evaluating our parenting style, because the shit has hitteth the fan.
The world looks monumentally different than last year. Our children don’t have school or a social interactive outlet. We are that for them, and it has not been easy.
We went camping and it was an absolute mess. My daughter woke up screaming and crying in the middle of the night, woke up all the other tents, she fell and cut her lip there was blood everywhere. That said, Chris and I were like wow camping was a disaster…but the kids loved it. For us, it was a disruption of our expectation of how things would go, but this is just a small example of how there is never certainty in life. Things don’t go how you thought they would.
Times of disruption are times to audit. We’re in a space of asking what we could do differently. We are ready to explore, and take the time to answer the question what’s next? How do we make this great?
Any thoughts for all of us dealing with the pandemic?
There will be days you’re angry, or sad, or mad, or disappointed.
My advice is to feel that. Instead of trying to ‘get to the good part already,’ allow all the emotions. Let yourself get mad… and maybe the next day you can get grateful. Find your personal journey. Allowing your emotions can lead to expansion, and seeing where to try something different.
How has the pandemic affected your work with speaking and goal coaching?
I’ve been speaking over Zoom, but I will not believe in a world where we will never be able to gather again. When we can, I will continue to lead goals hikes, and retreats where we meet in the mountains or on the river. Those are in the works.
Right now I’m building an online goals school. An online way of coaching women to elevate, update, and honor their own unique gifts.
What’s the first step to doing that?
The first step to goal setting or looking at how you’re living, is putting it in your own words. You have to define what words like ‘success’ or ‘goals’ mean, to you. You have to live your life on your own terms, not someone else’s.
Thank you for sharing, Jacki!
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