Jenna Barbosa shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Jenna, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
I really love a slow morning! When I wake up, I’m typically heading straight to make some creamy coffee. I jokingly say if it’s my skin color, it’s the perfect ratio of coffee to cream. The comfy corner on my favorite couch then calls my name and I spend time with said coffee reading the Bible, a book, or journaling and praying. I’ve had an internal boundary for the past decade; no work before 10am. I fiercely protect my mornings with me and Jesus; whether it’s doing the above or sleeping in to get some rest, I’m free to meet me where I’m at for the morning and it’s one of my favorite parts of my day.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Jenna Barbosa – soon to be Mrs. White. I absolutely love helping others build resilience within themselves and to be inspired to live a healthy and full life. I believe we are at our healthiest when all the angles of our lives are bravely looked at and met with compassion and accountability. As a christian life coach and counselor I journey with my clients to do just that. Trauma, identity, codependency, attachment, coping skills, purpose, anxiety and depression are just a handful of areas I focus on in my practice. My practice is called Inspired Resilience and my goal is to build a team of coaches that can step in the pain points of their clients with a blend of counseling, coaching, and christian principles. What makes our approach unique is just that; the blend of the three. Many time people need help looking back in order to go forward, but other times a few steps forward helps clear the way for them to look back and heal. Each is undergirded with the Christian faith that brings hope and healing.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
I held a belief about myself that I was not allowed to be my true authentic self and take up space emotionally and physically. I believed the focus always needed to be about the other people in my life. I thought that if I made them happy and everything about how they felt I would be happy because who doesn’t like someone who worships the ground they walk on? I no longer believe that about myself, and through years of working and healing those childish ineffective coping beliefs, I now walk through life knowing that the best approach to being happy and fulfilled in relationships is to be exactly my authentic self. It allows a baseline for how to find balance in interpersonal relationships and all that come with them.
When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
After a decade of going from one abusive relationship to another, carrying old trauma and experiencing new trauma, I finally surrendered. I gave up trying to be the savior in my own story and also gave up trying to make people the saviors as well. I was about 30 and finally gave the power of my healing and growth and purpose over to Jesus and started trusting Him to fill the voids of my pain. Slowly I began to heal and became certified as a life coach and counselor and started walking out the purpose that was birthed from my pain. I’ve known that so often your biggest platform comes from your biggest pain. I knew that if I could teach other what was working for me and learn how to help them from a coaching and counseling perspective it would give meaning to the pain I went through. I took a stubborn stand and told my pain that I would make it mean something. It wasn’t going to just haunt me and my memories. It would be repurposed for other’s good. Because God is a good God and wastes nothing – including our pain, He used the years of coaching and counseling my clients to do so much more healing in me. I’ve learned so much with my clients and I’m forever grateful!
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? Is the public version of you the real you?
Absolutely! One thing I focused on in my own healing journey was to stop playing the chameleon card. Chameleon’s don’t really change color, but more so reflect the colors in front of them. God showed me I was reflecting anyone in front of me and never knew my own true color. I removed my chameleon reflective scales little by little and learned who I was authentically. I came to rather like the woman I was uncovering. I’m still on that journey and I believe we truly will always be as humans uncovering the layers of ourselves the world around us has build up for us to hide behind.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. Could you give everything your best, even if no one ever praised you for it?
Oh, this one is a challenging one for me. I’ve learned I enjoy achieving things and being recognized for that achievement as an affirmation of my competency. It is connected to my sense of value as a human in my relationships. When I don’t get the recognition I struggle to feel valued for my gifting. I have to always realign my work ethic with my perspective ethic. If I’m giving my best to something with the wrong perspective that it will gain me the results I want, I am playing a virtual reality game thinking I know the future and that just because I do certain things, certain outcomes will happen. I have to keep that in check and remind myself that I want to and am a woman of character that does things because they are the right things and the healthy things to do; no matter who sees them, God and I see them!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jennabarbosa.com
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/jennarhae
- Other: [email protected]
Image Credits
John Harder, Lyndsey Sales, Jessica Lauren
