Meet Jess Feldt | Life and Leadership Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jess Feldt and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jess, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
I like to think of work-life balance as a verb rather than a noun. It is a constant act of balancing, not an end state to be reached. When I first started my business, I also had a newborn son. I ran my business during nap times and at night after he went to sleep. As he grew older and I felt more ready to take on more, that balance shifted. During COVID, that balance was thrown out the window because we had no childcare and I was pregnant with my second son. Throughout all of the shifts, I’ve kept my values out in front of me as my compass for what needs to be balanced. Where am I most needed today? What do I most need today? What does my family most need today? Those questions help keep me always in the act of balancing because the idea that the goal is a perfect 50-50 balance is a myth. It is a constant balance of intentional decisions that helps me determine where to best place my time and energy.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I am a Life and Leadership Coach. What sets me apart is that I specifically work with working parents. I support working parents throughout every phase in the intersection of career and family. Everything from, “I’m going out on parental leave, how do I navigate this transition and what happens to my job and career when I come back to work?” to “My company no longer supports me as a working parent, how do I find a career and an organizational culture that will?” to “I have a huge promotion coming my way and I don’t know how I’m going to manage the balance of leadership and parenting.”

While other leadership coaches may support You, The Employee, I’m going to support You, The Full Person with a Family at Home. There are too many “shoulds” out there in society that says it must look one way, and I’m going to help you find the way that works for you. Screw the shoulds!

I’m also unique in that my background is in Business Psychology with a 10+ career in leadership and organizational development to back up my coaching. I understand the dynamics at play in organizations, just as much as I understand the dynamics at play with being a parent in society and at home today.

Building this business has never been easy, but it’s always been fulfilling and I’ve never regretted my decision because I know it is so deeply rooted in my values and what I want. One of the biggest lessons I’ve had to embrace along the way is self-compassion. As a solopreneur, it’s really easy to beat myself up when things aren’t going the way I planned – there’s no one else giving me a different opinion! I’ve had to constantly remember to be self-compassionate in order to be resilient and keep going.

What I want people to know more than anything, is that it’s okay to accept help and to invest in yourself. It’s really easy as a parent to fall into the trap of sacrificing yourself for your work or your family. It’s part of why parental burnout is such an issue today. The cliche about “oxygen masks” is tired, but true. Investing in coaching to help you through these major life transitions or decisions will have a return on investment in energy, motivation, and actually feeling good about life.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live in Chicago, so I always recommend a combination of exploring downtown and venturing out into our unique neighborhoods. Assuming it’s summer, I would recommend a walk down the Riverwalk, stopping along the way for drinks or snacks and then doing a big dinner at one of the rooftop restaurants to get a view of the skyline and the lake. I’d recommend checking out a neighborhood street fest, there are always a couple of different ones each weekend, and then checking out Logan Square for its bars, West Town for its street art, grabbing a water taxi and taking it to China Town, and then heading back up to Wrigley for a Cubs game. Basically, eat your way through the city the whole weekend.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My husband deserves a HUGE shoutout. It was a huge change to our family dynamic and income when I decided to quit my job and start my business. He was nothing but supportive. We made the decision together about the type of life we wanted for our family and how we would achieve that with this as part of the picture. He continues to be my biggest supporter cheering me on as I grow and supporting me with love and encouragement whenever I need it.

I also have to shoutout Le Village Cowork in Chicago, IL. This unique co-working space with childcare is what allowed me to grow my business when I didn’t have a flexible or affordable childcare option. It gave me the physical space to build my business and coach, and the piece of mind to know my boys were in the next room over with their wonderful daycare teachers.

Website: www.jessfeldtcoaching.com

Instagram: @jessfeldtcoaching

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/jessicajaefeldt