Meet Jenna Colelli | Registered Nurse, Energetic Alchemist, Spiritual Healer, & Author

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

Hi Jenna, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
I’ve been in the healthcare industry for over 12 years and I was always taught to put the patients first before anyone or anything else. I’ve learned over the past 1 1/2 years through personal experience that this is simply not sustainable. We spend so much time focusing on others that we forget the importance of pouring into ourselves. This is where work life balance comes in.

Until recently, I didn’t give much thought to my needs on a regular basis. My job was always to serve my patients – to give them everything that they needed – care, empathy, compassion… I’ve since learned that the old cliche’ is true – You can’t pour from an empty cup. In fact, you must pour into yourself so much, that you simply flow on to the others around you.

Now, I spend more time thinking about what I can give myself first. I look at the things I need to feel fulfilled and happy so that I can show up as the best version of myself. This includes things like getting enough sleep, spending ample time with those I love, staying hydrated, taking my allotted breaks at work, and resting when my body is asking me to rest. I’ve also become more consciously aware of when my stress level is becoming elevated and I call “timeouts” on myself. These timeouts consist of me pausing, taking several slow deep breaths, and getting grounded.

I’ve learned how important it is to shift the old paradigm of ‘everyone else before me.’ When you begin to pour into yourself and really look at what lights you up and sets your soul on fire, not only can you begin to make this shift, but you will also begin attracting the things that are right for you and repelling what isn’t. As you begin attracting your ideal work environment, it stops feeling like work as much because you’re truly enjoying what you do, who you work with, and thriving both personally and professionally. And, as the saying goes, “When you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life!”

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Presently, I serve as the Director of Staff Development for a local hospital. As a nurse leader, I bring consciousness and emotional intelligence into my role. Whenever possible, I maintain a sense of calm in my role and, instead of focusing on the problem itself, I strive to be a solution seeker. I don’t let fear guide my decisions or how I behave – I recognize my own divinity and the power I possess to shift the energy of a space at any give moment. I leverage this power to keep my employees in an energetic space where they are lit up and excited about their work and what they are contributing to our organization and the collective as a whole. I help my employees and those we support to discover their own power and the beautiful gifts they possess so that they can share them with the world to make it a better place.

Getting to this space wasn’t easy and yet, at the same time, it was. I’ve served as a clinical nurse educator for the better part of 3 years. However, it’s only in the last year and half that I’ve done the work to shift in to a completely different space emotionally and energetically. An episode of severe burnout a little over a year ago forced me to take a deep dive into discovering the truth of who I am. I had to look deeply into any trauma or wounding I was carrying and do the healing work around that. I had to examine the things in life that would trigger me, look at why they would trigger me, and do the healing work around them. I had to be honest with myself about what excites me and what doesn’t and lean more into the things that excite me. This is where transformation began to take place.

As I was doing the healing work and leaning more in to the things that excite me and light me up, I began to realize that I was completely out of alignment. Life is not meant to be hard, but for me, a lot of it felt like I was swimming upstream against the current. I felt like I had to push and force and claw and fight my way to what I thought was the ultimate goal or destination. What I realized was that once I began to heal, things that were meant for me would flow to me with grace and ease. When I began to release and alchemize the dense energies within, I became an energetic match for bigger and better things. In other words, I’ve been employed at my current organization for less than a year and I’ve already been promoted to lead my department. When I was hired, I was a clinical nurse educator just like my colleagues. Now, I’m their leader. I didn’t get there by doing anything “special”. I got there by showing up as the best version of myself every day. (Emphasis on being myself!) I didn’t do anything I wasn’t in alignment with or behave like anyone else. I’ve simply grown in to a higher version of myself and became an energetic match to the role. It came easily. That’s how life is supposed to be. I didn’t try to force it. I trusted that the Universe would bring this role to me in divine timing.

What I want people to know is that if you are willing to do the “hard work” of healing yourself and discovering the truth of who you are and what your mission is on this planet, you can reach new levels of success, too. This is what I teach my employees, the colleagues we serve, and my clients. I guide you to become more conscious – to discover the shadow aspects of yourself that require healing, to discover your strengths so that you can leverage them in your work, and to discover your weaknesses so you can work on improving them. I hold space for you and support you energetically as you go through these transitions because I know what’s on the other side of looking at those things in your life that are hard to look at. I help you alchemize the density within so that you can shift your energy to become the energetic match of all that you dream of and desire!

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?
My favorite things to do in Miami to this point has been to take in an athletic event. My husband and I are originally from the Philly area. We love our Philly sports and we love that we can catch all our sports teams down in Miami. We would hop the Brightline from West Palm Beach into the city and head to Marlins Stadium or to go catch a Heat game agains the 76’ers. There’s this great shopping area near the arena that has food, so if we have time, we’ll hit up a restaurant there. Honestly, that’s what we’ve done in Miami so far… but one of these days we’re going to spend a weekend on South Beach or something. We definitely need to spend more time in Miami… but, always going by train and ride share… because driving is a nightmare! Haha!

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 friend, leader, & mentor Echo Summer Hill has been my guidepost through it all. I owe so much of where I am now to her loving guidance. Additionally, during this massive transition in my life, I had many family members and friends who supported me and gave me the space I needed to figure out what my path was meant to be. They include my husband, Anthony, my parents, Pete & Sandi, and my dear friends Lindsay, Amanda, Patsy and so many others. I’m grateful to have such a solid tribe of people around me who gave me the courage to make some difficult decisions and tough changes.

Website: www.jennacolelli.com

Instagram: @jenna_colelli

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenna-colelli-msn-bsed-rn-ccrn-k-ab59bb55/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennakcolelli/

Image Credits
Halle Alessia Photography