Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Jen Cui, Founder of Jen Cui Coaching, located in North Hollywood, CA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

I'm a soul whisperer, certified life coach, and intuitive tarot card reader. The people who come to me are all sick and tired of being stuck or confused about how to live their lives. They have the goal to know who they really are and to clear the mental, emotional, and spiritual blockers that have kept them frustrated or fearful, and they are ready to live freely and be authentic in their relationships, careers/ businesses, and overall lives.

Tell us about yourself

I'm Jen Cui, and my soul-self is named The Child of Wonderment. I live in LA with my partner and two beautiful cats, Cleo and Cornelius, and I get to wake up every day to live a life I never thought I'd actually be living because since I was in 5th grade, I struggled with suicidal ideation.

Becoming is a long, painful, but interesting and necessary story, but in a nutshell, I was 18, a freshman in college, and had two choices- die or find a will to live (and quickly). So I decided, even with my really depressed, traumatized, and burnt-out brain, that I would find out what the hell the point of my life was- not just life in general, but MY life. And through that came the next level of life and a completely new me who learned how to accept, like, and even love parts of myself. I learned how to be a friend to myself, to stop living according to rules society feeds you, to stop believing I had to follow a certain path like parents and professors impress on you, to have fun- real fun, the shit that's fun for you not for other people, and to feel all the feelings and embrace the human experience to connect with my divine soul-self. By the time I was 20, I was a completely different person and had newly started my coaching business, helping others do what I did in just health and wellness. Now, I've expanded to helping others in every area of life create a path to find their own way back home to themselves.

Quite often, people who I've worked with and people who have come across my content tell me about how one thing I said completely changed their life or how they felt really seen by me. Whether it was a tarot card reading that gave them the permission they needed to really feel their feelings and stop holding back or a coaching session that finally made things click on the real reason why they hustle so hard but can't seem to feel successful, or a TikTok that really validated someone's human experience and helped them feel more at peace with themselves. Being recognized for my gifts and seeing the impact I have on an individual level really is so fulfilling- it makes me feel so alive and fuels my desire to keep showing up.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Definitely creating a business that's fully in alignment with me and my values, that never leaves me burnt out, that is fueled by fun and authenticity, and that feels at home to me.

I know what start-up culture is like and how difficult being a new solo entrepreneur is (especially as a coach, trainer, healer, or psychic), and how you're bombarded with a multitude of business and marketing ideologies, struggling with what the "best" or "fastest" way to get to $100K is, never feeling like you know enough and being fed this narrative that you need 17 different certifications to be legit or to get started. I had to learn that it's okay to go against the grain, to undo what I learned in business school, what marketing gurus teach, and especially let go of what I thought other people would think (or what society tells you to think), in order to build a solid foundation for a business that could grow with me and support the type of work environment I wanted to experience for myself.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Keeping your own inner peace. This goes along with my answer to the last question, but I've seen it in literally hundreds of new coaches and dozens of start-up founders. There are just so many opinions now on how you "should" do things that it's super easy to lose touch with your own intuition and act from your own integrity (not just ethically, but even as simple as "I want to write longer copy on my website, but I shouldn't because this person said it needs to be short and simple or else I'll lose people!"). Entrepreneurs are almost trained to constantly be in scarcity and lack mindset (way more than the general public) because there is no guaranteed paycheck, there's no one else who can do your work for you, and you don't have endless capital just to keep throwing money at your problems. Obviously, when you're feeling the financial pressure build up, it can become overwhelming and difficult to make aligned decisions, but it doesn't have to be, and in order to be resourceful, you have to learn to keep your own inner peace, trust your own judgment, stop outsourcing your authority, and cultivate the mindset to be a sovereign steward of your business.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Don't overthink it, just take a guess and get going because there's always going to be shit that comes up that you didn't anticipate or something that you didn't think would work but is a huge hit. You'll never know the how until you get there, so just keep experimenting.
  2. Find a coach that you feel seen by that has what you have (outside of $$$!!!!), and that will encourage you to make your own decisions. I would not have grown as quickly as I did if it weren't for my coach, who always modeled what it looked like to have a simple and fun business that was fueled by love, joy, and trust. There were plenty of other coaches making millions of dollars, and it felt like that was their entire personality and business marketing strategy, but my coach (who at the time had made maybe $200K and, within a year of that, $3+ million) talked about integrity, having fun in your business, being who you really are, helping people ahead of time, etc. and money was always a bonus result. I learned a lot from her, and she woke up something deep inside of me that empowered me to no longer need her or anyone else to run a successful business. Find someone who sparks that in you.
  3. Never doubt your desires or your genius. Do you want to be a stand-up comic? Do you want to have a social-media-free business? Do you want to help people through mediumship and palm readings? Go for it. Your desires are sacred, and following them will only unlock your genius and make it that much easier for your people to find you and pay you.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.jencui.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jencuicoaching/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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