For season 2 of the Hope Motivates Action podcast, the transcript of each episode is available for your reading pleasure! This transcripts will also include links to tools, resources and tips I think you’d be interested in, some of these links will be affiliate links where earn a small commission if you click through to purchase. Thank you so much in advance for supporting my small business!
My interview with the wonderful Jodie Rogers is below…enjoy!
LINDSAY:
Hello. My name is Lindsay Recknell and this is the Hope Motivates Action podcast. Super excited to bring you season two – conversations with inspiring people, reframing the way we’ve traditionally thought about hope and its connection to our lives. In today’s episode, I had the opportunity to meet Jodie Rogers, a dynamic and hopeful personality from Ontario. Jodie will share with us how she used her hope to motivate action after being let go from her corporate jail and used that time as an opportunity to thrive in both her personal and her professional life.
If you’re interested in any of the books, resources, and tools I mentioned in this episode, all the links you’ll ever need can be found in the show notes on your favorite podcast player or head to the blog and pod page on my website, Expert in Hope, and you’ll find them all there too. My message and my work is all about using the Science of Hope to motivate action in your life because without action, hope is just a wish.
Hello everyone. Welcome back to the Hope Motivates Action podcast. I am Lindsay Recknell. I am so thrilled to introduce you to my guest today, Jodie Rogers. Welcome Jodie.
JODIE:
Hi. Thanks for having me.
LINDSAY:
Oh, so thrilled to have you here. When we met a few, I guess a few weeks ago, I was totally intrigued by your story of how you’ve gotten to where you are and the life that you and your family are living, and I really think that people are going to resonate really well with your story.
JODIE:
All right, awesome.
LINDSAY:
So I like to introduce our guests to you and what you’re all about. Just briefly. So Jodie Rogers is an essential oil educator and wellness advocate with doTERRA. After 13 years in sales and marketing, the family breadwinner was downsized out of her career. Well, for many, this news would be devastating. Jodie and her husband, Dave, saw this as a sign that their side gig, it should become their main GIG.
Jodie loves educating people in the benefits of essential oils and how families can be empowered to live a holistic, healthy lifestyle. Jodie and Dave live in Mississauga, Ontario with their three children. They’ve been blessed to have their dad as a stay at home parent for over 10 years. We have stay at home moms and we have stay at home dads, but we don’t often have stay at home dads. What does that look like for your family?
JODIE:
Wow. Well yeah, it’s been awesome. Like I think my husband, he’s always been sort of more of a home body. He’s comfortable at home. He used to be a chef, so he was a trained chef. So falling into that role of being responsible for cooking the meals was a really nice fit. But it came about also not in the best way where he’d been working , re-educated and went back to school and was working as a graphic designer. And after about a year and a half, I was just finishing my mat leave with our second child. He was laid off and you know, he’d always kind of wanted to maybe do a bit of entrepreneurship, do a little freelance stuff, but I would never have said, Hey, why don’t you quit your job and try that? And instead he was not given the choice and he was laid off and we said, Hmm, maybe you know, we’ve got two kids now I’m going back to work two kids under the age of you know, school. So daycare and nannies or what have you. It was like, why don’t we just see if we can make this work?
That was, well I guess 12 years ago now, maybe 11 years ago now. And it’s been awesome.
LINDSAY:
Stay-at-home Dad wouldn’t even have been as sort of socially acceptable as it is now. You know, good on him for sort of blazing the trail for other dads. I think that’s just awesome.
JODIE:
Yeah. Yeah, it’s been great. It was not always accepted even within our own families. Right. Cause that’s not the traditional role of the male. But I myself was a little more of the career driven person in the relationship and I knew that I could achieve what I put my mind to and it, it just sort of worked out for us. So it’s been great.
LINDSAY:
It sounds like you guys had a real great conversation and sort of looked at what worked for your family and he was supportive of you achieving your goals and you were supportive of him, you know, and what he desires. And I love that. It seems like a really good partnership that you guys have. I think that’s just great.
JODIE:
Yeah, you don’t always realize it, right? You never really often look at your own life and think, Oh, isn’t this great or I’m so blessed, but I, I take it for granted. He’s been the stay at home rock, the chauffer, the grocery shopper, the cook, the nurse, the everything. And you know, when I would talk with my coworkers in the corporate world about my husband’s role, they were like, wow, you are so lucky. You know? Obviously financially we weren’t two income family, so we had to live a different lifestyle, but we still have made it work and I don’t think my kids feel different and neither do we.
LINDSAY:
Yeah. That’s awesome. My husband was a stay at home puppy parent for a long time and I really liked that he didn’t have to work outside of the home because you know like the exactly the same. I could count on the home being clean and dinner to be prepared. All of those things that you take for granted as you know, two working parents with two working people in the household that you have things to do in the evenings. It was so nice to have the ability to have that at home and I think that mindset is really different and really important and a cool message for other people to share because you took a bit of a risk and you guys took a risk in that age, that time, but now you can kind of further the conversation and make it feel okay for other people to make those choices as well. Especially now that you have made a big career switch. What impact has your recent career or circumstances, has it been affected positively or negatively based on your experience from 10 or 12 years ago?
JODIE:
Yeah. Well, maybe just two things. I just wanted to add on the whole stay at home Dad trend. I recently met a young working couple with school age children and the wife is a chiropractor, you know, does quite well and the husband has a job as well. And she said, you know, that’s his dream to be a stay at home dad but then we look at, well he’s only got, you know, 17 more years and he’ll get a full pension. And I’m thinking like in 17 years he won’t need to be a stay at home dad because the kids won’t be at home anymore if it’s something you want to do. You just need to be bold and take action. And I mean for me it’s easy to say now because I didn’t make the decision to change my career right now. Neither did my husband, but you know, it would’ve been easy to just turn around and go back and get another job.
And so for me, after 13 years in the corporate role and then being escorted out of the building, essentially being downsized, restructured, fired, however you want to look at it, it wasn’t a choice that obviously I made at that time, but I was working towards that. And so the impact it’s had on our family is given me the freedom to be at home and to really focus on what it is that I want to create in my business, to be present more in the lives of my children. You know, as I sit back and think about it, it fires me up inside and it makes me want to shake people when they share their dreams and their hopes and to say like, just do it. It’ll work out if it’s meant to be. It’ll work out, you know, if you put to your goals into action, um, you know, earlier this year we sat in on a series of sermons really on, you know, what are your gifts, what are your dreams and where are you really meant to be?
What’s your purpose in this life, this precious life that you have to live? And I sat there thinking, if I had heard that message a year before when I was still trapped in my corporate jail cell, I would have felt almost angry. Right? Like easy for you to say, pastor Richard, that I should just quit my job if I’m not happy and go find something that feeds my passion. But fast forward a year when I’m now in something that is feeding my passion to think what a shift in my mindset, what a shift in our family time and sure it’s hard work and it’s stressful if you know, we still go through the motions, but I think the impact it’s had on me the most is just to say like, it’s possible. Whatever you put your mind to, it really is possible and you can just do whatever you need to get to get it done.
LINDSAY:
I love so much of what you just said. I want to comment on the first thing. I truly believe that you are where you’re supposed to be until you learn the lessons you’re supposed to learn. You know, like say a year ago, had you heard that same message? It might not have resonated in the same way. It might have been a negative message. Instead of motivating you to continue to do the actions that you’re doing now. And you hear the message when you’re meant to hear it. And I really, I’m probably the least woo woo person you can think of. But you are where you’re supposed to be. And I love that.
JODIE:
Yeah, I like that.
LINDSAY:
And I also love what you said about possibility versus impossibility. I learned this thing that said, the only difference between impossible, impossible is the “I’m” at the front. “I am” at the front. Right. And that denotes action to me. You know, you can turn the impossible into possible if you just do the things, but you need to be in the proper mindset to be there. I really love what you said.
JODIE:
Thank you.
LINDSAY:
So tell me more…you were downsized or whatever language you want to put around that. What did that look and feel like for you?
JODIE:
It felt good for a number of reasons. I was feeling kind of hopeless in my job. I had these big aspirations and these dreams and they weren’t coming through. And so I had discovered, you know, a passion on the side and if you can’t work your passion, live it somewhere else in your life. Right? Like maybe if I always dreamed about being a ballerina, but hey, I’m a MBA working in a corporate world, I could still see do a ballet class. And so that’s what I was doing and feeling like any aspirations and goals were out of reach, they were falling out of reach in my day to day. So I was creating that space to have passions and grow on the side. And so when I was ambushed, I called it, it feels like an ambush, right? Your boss and HR are all sitting in a room when you’re thinking you’re walking into like a meeting.
I knew it was coming right away. It’s obvious. Here’s the, you know, the brown paper envelope. But thankfully for me, yes, I was feeling hopeless. I was miserable at work. I’d been in a new role for six months. I was feeling overworked and underappreciated and well paid, but miserable. I used the word hate a lot. I banned that word in my home with my kids, but I said, but mommy can say it about her job because it’s true.
And so there I was in the room and I really felt a sense of peace. Like, Oh, I think I just got it, my wish come true. You know, like here’s the door, please walk through it. And it gave me that opportunity to just, you know, think about what I wanted to do. Now the irony is my dad, who’s always been a workaholic driven, said to me, this is great, you know, take a few weeks, give yourself a month or six weeks and go get a recruiter.
And I thought, wow, I’ve just been released from jail and you are telling me to go and find a new cell. And you know, when I called my husband and one of my mentors, they were excited for me. They first understood I could be in shock and maybe I was feeling, you know, scared, overwhelmed. But when they said, how are you feeling? And I said, I think I’m okay. They were like jumping up and down on the phone and clapping their hands and saying, Oh my gosh, this is the greatest thing that’s ever happened. You know, it’s so amazing. So I think my situation might be a little unique in that regard because I know people, when they’re restructured, it can be devastating, right? And scary. And it was scary for sure, but it was also really freeing.
But I think like it comes back to mindset again. Like you talk about it, it’s turning it into an opportunity to do something new and cool. If that thing is to go and find another opportunity in a corporate environment, that’s what works for you. Cool. But what worked for you was give you the opportunity to explore this entrepreneurial venture full time. And I think it’s about mindset and I think that’s just awesome.
LINDSAY:
Yeah. Yeah. Do you think your dad’s response was a generational response?
JODIE:
Yeah, absolutely. I think he was scared. You know, he was scared and he doesn’t share my vision maybe for what I can do. He believes in me because I said, I feel like you don’t believe in me and what I’m doing. And he said, no, no, no. That’s not it at all. But it is a bit of like a scary thing. And ironically he’s been an entrepreneur and he’s an entrepreneur now. And so yeah, I think it’s generational. And also probably coming from his own story of being underappreciated, he actually quit a job after 27 years. He wanted to be let go, but they wouldn’t let him go. So he actually quit a job, went out on his own and sometimes regretted what he gave up in terms of pension security and things like that, which it doesn’t hold the same weight for us today in the corporate world. So yeah, I think it’s a bit of both.
LINDSAY:
As parent, I would imagine that he wants what’s best for you. He wants comfort and security and an easy path and that kind of thing. So I imagine it must come from there as well as the lived experience of being an entrepreneur and going like, this is the most awesome but also awful job to be doing. And he’s, you know, parents want to put us in a bowl. Right? And you want to protect us.
Yeah. It’s nice that he loves you that much. I like that a lot. Yeah.
So you and your husband are running this business together. Tell me, tell me more about the business you’re running.
JODIE:
So basically, we empower families, particularly moms because moms, the gatekeeper of what comes into the home in terms of taking care of the family. We educate people on how to use natural solutions for alternatives to health care. So essential oils is the bulk of what we educate on and how they can use them. Really just to deal with the day to day stuff that families come across like cough and cold and headaches and tummy aches and bruises and scrapes and boo-boos and things like that.
LINDSAY:
Oh, very, very cool. I like that. The natural approach. Is that, again, back to mindset, is the natural mindset something you have always lived your life by?
JODIE:
Ironically, no being a very rational person who kind of, you know, went with the flow. I think I was very much in line with just the modern medicine. You know, the way that our modern medicine industry works. And it was about, well probably about six or seven years ago that my husband got strep throat three times in a year and was on antibiotics each time. And one time was when we were driving through the night to take our kids to Disney world. And he was like, okay, I got to go to the hospital in the States. And they gave him some steroid and said, we don’t even know if you’ve got it, but we’ll give you the steroid cause it’ll, you know, keep it at bay so it doesn’t ruin your holiday. And when we returned to Canada, he got checked out at our local doctor and she’s like, now that you’ve been on so much antibiotics, you’re going to need another round of probiotics, which does sound a little more kind of holistic, you know, based.
And we were like probiotic, you know, this was sort of a foreign thing. And what it alerted us to is one, our doctor, you know, cares about our gut and our health and is more informed maybe of the harm that antibiotics can do. And two things that we take on a regular basis can actually be so harmful as to ruin our gut or our digestive system.
So being a mom with, you know, three kids, the walk in clinic or the hospital at night was a common place to visit. Right? Kids get fever, a gosh, I had a newborn, you know, at the hospital with x-rays and fevers and trying to take a urine sample and all of these archaic things. And yeah, so we were very much reliant on, on sort of modern medicine. But once we had that revelation, I guess as to the harm that really could be coming with the good, not that there’s no good in modern medicine and in maybe there’s a case for antibiotics at times, but just to know then and we need to look at how do we repair the body.
Afterwards we were introduced to oils over a long period of time. We were quite resistant. We were like, this seems weird like hippie medicine and snake oils and we’re not sure you know what this is all about. But slowly got exposed to them maybe in more relevant ways and saw their benefits and over the past five years completely changed how we take care of our own health in our family. And when you see something good, you want to share it. So that’s really how the business came about for us.
LINDSAY:
Well, and I bet that some of the learning that you’ve had and the experiences that you’ve had and then being able to share that with others, I bet you see that you’ve given hope back to your customers.
JODIE:
Yeah, that’s really what we love about it. I wouldn’t really care if there was a business or not. I mean it’s nice that we can make this our livelihood, but when you have something so beneficial and see someone with a problem and you have this solution, you want to share it. So we do bring hope for sure. And I know like even in our own family, my mother has got a history of fibromyalgia and it comes with many symptoms and we’ve given her hope to feel good, better now in her seventies than she did in her fifties so it’s definitely for sure a message of hope that we bring and not only the people’s health, but then to those who, when a partner with us in the business, just like we’ve seen it, we’ve seen the hope come to fruition in terms of our finances as well.
LINDSAY:
Tell me about being an entrepreneur. Do you love it? Do you hate it? You know, what keeps you going as far as being an entrepreneur goes?
JODIE:
I would say I love it. There’s times when I don’t enjoy it. No, I would say I love it. It’s definitely a labor of love requires discipline, requires flexibility. I love it because I get to get out and meet new people and I get to look for ways to collaborate with others. I’m always learning. I think as an entrepreneur that’s been the biggest benefit is the personal development that comes because now you realize you’re the thing that’s getting in your way and if you want to move forward, you’ve got to make some changes maybe or figure out some tools or some new ways.
LINDSAY:
What’s your number one best practice in keeping the motivation going?
JODIE:
Well, having a clear goal or two or three and we have created a family vision board, which is quite beautiful. It’s framed in our basement and it’s kind of long term. It’s got long term goals that even right now might seem unrealistic, but they keep us reminded of what’s possible. I think just having those visual cues as to why we’re doing what we’re doing keeps us motivated.
LINDSAY:
I love that it’s a family vision board. Did your kids help you as well?
JODIE:
Yeah. So one, I think it was 2018 the end of the year we actually all made family boards and then we made one that sort of represented as a family where we were going.
Yeah.
So it is fun and it’s fun for the kids to, to dream. They have a goal. So we’re getting a dog as soon as I hit my next level in my business. And so they remind me, is it going to be this Christmas? When are we going to get the dog? And so I think having that goal obviously motivates me. I’m motivated anyway towards that goal. But it also helps them to accept that maybe mommy’s not going to be around this night or I’m going to miss this event because I’m working. But they know that there is a gift that comes at the end of that.
LINDSAY:
Oh, that’s so, so cool. So I do a lot of work around motivation and what motivates us and why we’re motivated and the different ways that we’re motivated. And I love that you’ve connected like your whole life. Two better your whole life. You know, all types are evolved and all people are involved and you guys are sort of centered and shifting together. I don’t believe that work life balance is a thing, but I really believe that if you have these kind of supports and all the pieces working together, it’s, that’s huge. And I feel like you guys are working that magic.
JODIE:
I think having a combined vision for the family helps us to stay aligned and helps us to just kind of go through the motions. Cause the other part of the entrepreneurship is flexibility and adaptability. And so when they know we’re working towards a goal together, we have this collective vision. It makes them more accepting of things, of, of when we’re away, when we’re here. I mean I’ve traveled a lot in the last year and a half, but I traveled before as well. So that’s wasn’t a huge thing that they had to adapt to. But I think when they can see that there’s a real purpose and they don’t always see it, I mean they’re children, they don’t always get it, but at least it is something that they can be looking forward to as well. I love that. Even my 14 year old, she’s starting to catch a vision for, you know, working in the area of social justice and she dreaming about turning 18 and starting her own doTERRA business.
And so to see that, you know, even though I’m not sort of suggesting, Hey, this is what you should do, it’s a desire she has. Funnily enough, my son once said, when he grew up, he wants to be a stay at home dad. And I thought that was so sweet because you know, if your dad’s a fireman, you want to be a fireman and if your dad’s a businessman you want to be a business man. And he said, I want to be a stay at home dad. And I was like, you’re going to have to find the right girl.
LINDSAY:
Well I love that. That’s so good. It’s also cool because you’re clearly modeling behavior that your kids are looking up to. You know, and I don’t have any kids, but I just imagine that I would want to be that role model for the kids in my life and have them look up to me. You must have a lot of pride in that. I think it’s just awesome. I know you mentioned social justice and I know that that’s a cause near and dear to your heart as well. It’s more about what you’re doing in that space.
JODIE:
Yeah, it’s been on my heart for a little while now to just get involved into this topic of human trafficking. So I’m currently taking just a local government course. Really it’s a free course. Anyone could take it just to understand what happens in this, you know, horrible commercialized trade really here in Canada and relevant to Canada and even Ontario. What kind of programs are available and then from there I’m going to be working with a nonprofit and really starting in education and prevention. So I love to teach, I love to present, I think I’m gifted in that area. That goes along with what I do with my business. I educate people. So being a mom, obviously this is a topic that is near and dear to me. And so how they go about it as they teach in high schools and middle schools, um, middle schools, the message is really about your value and your worth as a human being.
Which I love because I don’t know that kids always get that message. They certainly don’t get it from bullies. They don’t always get it from teachers or even home their home life. So I love that message. And then in high schools it’s the same message, but then they actually do alert them to the realities of the risks of what happens and how, how young girls can be lured into this. Totally unaware. So it’s a heavy topic, but the more I learn, I am refueled as to the fact that I’m on the right path. And it is something that the family, my husband particularly is definitely right alongside and something my daughters really passionate about as well.
LINDSAY:
I bet you see a lot of hope in the work that you’re doing.
JODIE:
Absolutely. I want to start with prevention and there’s hope right there. If I can help one girl avoid being lured into that, there’s a lot of hope in that. I think education for me was a starting point. Partly selfishly, I want to be informed, so I want to learn more about it. And the best way to learn is often to teach. And then seeing obviously the other kind of strands of how help is offered through services, through rehabilitation. And I think it’s totally a story of hope. It’s like talk about coming from a place of, utter hopelessness where you have no power over your own body, you have no dignity to a place where you can be restored and healed. So I think it’s a long journey and I’m totally naive to what that takes, but it’s definitely, yeah, a story of hope for sure.
LINDSAY:
So powerful. I’m inspired and motivated by what’s clearly a very passionate topic for you. And yeah, really internal and integral too, who you are and who you want to be. And again, back to the modeling behavior. You know, you’re doing something with your hope and you’re actioning it and yeah, that’s really motivating for me, and I’m sure the people listening to this as well, like you have a lot going on and as a mom, as a business partner, someone who’s learning about human trafficking, how do you manage it all? Is there, what’s the secret to your success?
JODIE:
Yeah, there’s no secret. I’m always learning, right? I’m always seeking wisdom from those who have gone the path and succeeded in different areas. And I think the number one takeaway for me recently is really to just be intentional, be intentional about my time, be intentional about what I want to be involved with. It sounds like a lot, right? I want to be involved with, I do a lot and I want to be involved with a lot, but there really is a theme I think that sort of threads it all together and it’s really about empowering people, empowering women. So if I look at my business, I get to empower women and families in their health, in their finances. If I look at it, my work that I’m going to be doing with human trafficking, it’s about empowering girls to make bright choices and to be smart and empowering victims to get proper care and healing and even, you know, other areas like I lead some small groups through an organization called leader impact. That’s all over the world, really bringing business leaders together to just grow professionally, personally, spiritually. And so again, it’s about leading and empowering people to be their best self. I do see a theme through it all and so that’s why I can stay focused.
LINDSAY:
Yeah, it sounds like a bit of the structure and a bit of leading with your heart and I really liked that message of empowerment. You know, it does in our whole conversation, I can you walk the talk of empowerment and it’s really refreshing to hear and seeing the joy in your face as well and bring in your voice. So you know, I really appreciate those messages a lot. I asked the same question of my guests at the end of every podcast. And I know we’ve talked about a lot of this throughout the whole episode, but maybe you can summarize for us what gives you hope?
JODIE:
What gives me hope is just the belief that there’s gotta be a better way. There’s got to be a better way to do something, a better way to be a better way to live, a better you that you can pull out of yourself. And so I think knowing that nothing is impossible, just believing, believing that there really can be a better way and you can make a change.
LINDSAY:
That’s awesome. Hope matters. I truly believe that hope matters and you live and breathe that. I so appreciate your time, Jodie, your messages, your, your stories and your passion is truly inspirational. So I so, so, so appreciate you being here with us today. Thank you so much.
JODIE:
Thank you so much for having me.
LINDSAY:
Thanks so much for listening to another episode of the Hope Motivates Action podcast. These conversations have been so inspiring and motivating to so many people, and it’s my absolute pleasure to produce them for you.
This show thrives on your feedback, so if you find value in this podcast, it goes a really long way. If you’ll give me a five star rating on Apple podcasts, the next step in your journey to action your hope is to check out my virtual mastermind program, the flagship series, which is called Hope for Caregivers. These are 12-week group accountability programs designed to support those of us who are caregiving for others, likely at the expense of ourselves and our own personal goals.
As with all the tools and resources we discussed on the show, you can find links to this program in the show notes on your favorite podcast player or on my Expert in Hope. Also, when you’re visiting the website, check out the Shop page where you can take Hope home. This show is all about making hope tangible and practical because without action, hope is just a wish.