Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Renfeldt

Hi Jessica, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I often think about my story and how I got to where I am. So many things fueled who I am and where I am, but it was about eight solid years of a horrifyingly beautiful health journey that truly influenced the me that I am now. As I write this, I’m actually in a hospital bed, admitted two days ago for an unexplained “rash all over my lower legs”–just two days before a set procedure to help fix my heart’s tricuspid regurgitation (leaking valve). For many people, a hospital stay like this would be something that may happen once in their lifetime, but for me–it’s a walk in the park.

In 2016, I was feeling horrible and exhausted, had severely swollen legs and abdomen, and was losing weight without trying (turns out this isn’t a good thing–haha). After several doctor visits and multiple misdiagnoses, I went back to my primary care doctor and insisted something was wrong with my heart–several tests later, a cardiologist uncovered a horrible disease called Cardiac AL Amyloidosis, which is at a very high-level is an abnormal protein (amyloid) that builds up in the heart, and other organs, and causes the organ to malfunction and go into organ failure in some instances, like mine.

This disease ravaged my body and was a kick-off to a stem-cell transplant, 10 months of outpatient chemotherapy, a major stroke, and, ultimately, a heart transplant. A lot of growth and transition occurred for me during this period and helped uncover things about me that I didn’t fully understand up to that point. 1). I was stronger than I ever imagined. 2). I was no longer scared to try new things 3). Corporate America was giving me incredible stress and unhappiness. 4). I deserved so much more out of life–a better marriage, more adventure, more joy, more passion, and the ability to seek out answers to everything I was curious about. Not everyone will understand this, but I’m so grateful I got sick because, for the first time in decades, I was truly alive!

I worked my corporate jobs, less some short-term disability time around my stem cell transplant (11 weeks) and my heart transplant (13 weeks), and a few PTO days here and there. Here I was, fighting for my life and still trying to be a good employee and climb the corporate ladder, so to speak. By the time I’d experienced 5 CEOs and 5 direct leadership changes in my last corporate position, I was really struggling to find any passion for my job, and I ultimately left it in September 2023 to explore what my next adventure would be. I interviewed with several other companies in my industry but ultimately felt more and more uneasy about going back down that road.

At about the same time I left my job, Ann Bennett of Ann Bennett Marketing reached out to me to see if I would like to participate in her workshop called Rebel Brand Formula, and because of the way she explained it, I bought it and was fully engaged. The workshop’s goal was to find who you are as a brand and then be true to it because, ultimately, people want to buy from authentic people. Logically, I knew this, but I had tried to fit the mold of Corporate America for so long that I wasn’t my authentic self in that environment, simply because that isn’t what got you the respect of others within a company. Ann designed a quiz to help us understand what archetype we were–really no surprise for me; I’m a nurturer with a little bit of geek tagging along for the ride. But something else happened during this workshop. The exercises uncovered that I didn’t like what I was doing from a career standpoint, and so I started roleplaying something that, up until that moment, I’d never spoken out loud to anyone.

While I spent months in hospital rooms, my mind was constantly daydreaming about what I would want my life to look like once I beat what was going on. The predominant feeling that kept coming back to me was that I was supposed to help people, so I began thinking of how this could happen. My plan to support this ultimately became coaching, writing a book, and motivational speaking. I’m finally doing what I’m passionate about: helping others get through tough times and come out happier than than they ever would have imagined.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Getting to where I’m at has not been smooth, and I’m sure there are many more rough gravel roads to travel.

Jumping into being an entrepreneur is the scariest thing I’ve ever done. She Rises Studios is publishing my book, but I still had/have a lot of brand-building and networking to do to get the engagement I need.

Plain and simple, I’m either looking for strategic partners that will help build my business through partnerships on workshops, retreats, podcasts, a stage, referrals, etc. or I’m looking for people that I can help. The struggle is getting in front of the right people at the right time and having enough time to share my story and really connecting with them at a emotional level.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I am the founder of Resilience Coaching by Jessica Anne. My organization was born out of my fight to live and ultimately finding myself happier than I’ve ever been through the discovery of skills and strategies I have used to get through my darkest days. I have taken these skills and strategies and created a simple equation to create radical resilience for my clients: Gratitude + Joy = Resilience. While the equation is simple, I understand that each individual is unique, and I customize each 1:1 coaching experience based on what is going on in their life, what they are grateful for, and what ultimately brings them joy. Sometimes, gratitude and joy don’t come easily for people, so I’ve created exercises to help them uncover what does, and we build on that.

My target audience is females aged 25 to 100 who have experienced a great loss, whether that be loss of health, loss of a loved one, loss of a career, loss of marriage, etc., and are looking for someone to support them in finding gratitude and joy that ultimately fuels unlimited resilience for anything thrown in their path.

I’m incredibly proud of what I’m doing because I’m helping others get through adversity through a very heart-centered practice, all while being true to myself, which fuels my own joy.

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Life makes me happy, plain and simple. I love being in my daughters’ lives; their strength is beautiful. I love that my heart can take me places like camping, fishing, backpacking, and even hiking a volcano in Guatemala. I love people, both those who have been my ride-or-die for years and all of the new people that I continue to meet along my journey. My ultimate happiness comes from when those I love are happy and healthy.

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