Welcome Jenny, thank you for taking the time to share your story with us, can you introduce yourself to us as a vision coach?
My name is Jenny Medrano and above all, I strive to be authentic. This is why I have to be extra, and rather than call myself a “life coach” or “career coach,” I use the phrase “vision coach.” This title is the closest fit to my true passion: helping people make their visions a reality.
To be honest, this is a fairly new title I’ve been using for myself. The idea came to me one day as I was randomly helping my friend’s roommate come up with a business plan for her crafting hobby. It was like she sensed something in me that might be able to help her, because, within just 48 hours of getting to know each other, she decided to tell me about a business she was thinking of creating and then asked me directly, “can you help me with my vision?” Of course, being the easily-inspired, vision-casting person that I am, I wasted no time saying, “yes, yes I can.”
We ended up spending a couple of hours talking through every aspect of her business and the “why” behind it, and how it would connect to other aspects of her life like her hobbies and finances. A fun fact about all this is that there had to be at least a 30-year age gap between us, but we still had a blast. By the end of our informal session together, a friend happened to call her and ask what she was doing. She said, “Oh, I’m meeting with my… what do you call yourself, Jenny?” And that’s when I first said, “Vision Coach.” I can’t tell you how good it felt to say those words and own this new identity.
Since then, I’ve continued to grow my business as a vision coach. I’m learning that the more you speak something into existence, especially with confidence and power, the more you see it take shape in your reality.
Can you give us a little back story on your journey so far and how you launched Renaissance Visions?
Sure! Should I start at the part where I was the most depressed I have ever been in my life and knew that I needed a major change? Or, at the part where I finally started feeling inspired again and it almost felt like I went through a rebirth process in California? Or maybe, I can fast forward to the part where I was back on my feet, working a low-key job at a bookstore, and sneakily reading books about business during my shift? I’ll start there.
The initial idea of Renaissance Visions didn’t come to me right away, what came to me instead was a fit of inspiration during my 30-minute lunch break at the bookstore where I started planning my whole life. But the thing is, I didn’t try to plan my life in the usual sense of trying to think through a short-term or long-term plan, or even setting goals. Instead, I started planning my life in a way that I never had before. I just started writing down every one of the visions or dreams I had for my life. And the cool thing was, instead of being stressful or tense, as usual, life-planning can be, it was fun, expansive and easy!
I didn’t limit myself to any categories and just wrote down all hobbies, side-jobs, big business ideas and community collaboration ideas I wanted for my life. I didn’t think at all about the practicality of each vision, I just wrote down anything and everything that I wanted to do. For the first time, I admitted to myself that I wanted to start a business, and I also wanted to be a DJ, and I wanted to deepen a practice of writing poetry and create funny youtube videos. In the end, I mapped out at least 17 different visions, and it was one of the most liberating experiences of my life. And then, my lunch break was over.
I came home that day, full of more light and joy then I had felt in a long time, and I knew I had just done something radical for myself. Yet, I had no idea that it would lead to radical changes in the lives of those around me.
Since that day, I have been developing a skill and practice of vision coaching.” This involves creating a vision map with people, and having an in-depth conversation around strengths, roadblocks, motivational factors and timelines for each vision.
After working with all different types of people, I’m realising that many of the skills that make me a great coach are actually just inherent to my personality. I’m naturally a super curious, intuitive, strategic and excitable person and I’ve always seen the world through the lens of connectedness and big-picture. So when I work with clients in a session, it feels nothing like work, it feels more like play! And I believe that’s how you know you’re in the right field.
What is a typical day like?
A day in the life of Jenny Medrano. Do you want all the details of the day? Including singing in the car to a song on repeat, and the hurried frying of an egg for lunch? Or, just the stuff that pertains to Renaissance Visions? I’m guessing the last one so.
I wish I could say that I’m able to spend all my time on my blooming business, but that’s not the case right now. However, I am grateful that I have been able to work other jobs with Renaissance Visions that have helped me stay financially stable and fuel money into my business.
Currently, I’m also working with an organisation called Building Bridges where I develop youth and adults in diversity, equity and inclusion by means of communication and empathy. I spend most of the day working at Building Bridges, training and facilitating organisations and businesses in DEI, and then I spend weeknights and weekends growing Renaissance Visions.
Luckily, it still works out, because a lot of my Renaissance Visions clients have busy lives and work 9-5 jobs like me, so the only time they have to meet are weeknights and weekends!
In terms of a typical Renaissance Visions session, it’s usually an hour and a half long and includes three key components: guided manifestation, vision mapping, and strategic planning. I spend the first part of the session working with my client around what they bring to the table, who they are as a person and what kind of life they want to live. And then, for the second half of the session, I coach a client to freely map out all of the visions they have for their life and then help them figure out a strategic plan that fits with their lifestyle and schedule.
My hope for the near future is to be self-employed at Renaissance Visions and able to work full-time in this endeavour. The more I lean into this work, the more I feel like that reality is sooner than I think!
Can you talk us through guided manifestation and how are you using this with your clients to drive results?
Definitely, a guided manifestation is my favourite part! There are many ways to manifest a vision into reality, but I have spent the last year researching, reading and learning to be able to find the best process that works for me. Some of the most integral sources that have led me to understand the art of manifestation have been books like, ‘The Law of Attraction,’ and ‘The Seat of the Soul.’ And, I also follow many guides on Youtube and Instagram that have mastered the art of manifestation and teach others how to do the same.
My version of guided manifestation is kind of like a meditative visualization. In simple terms, I talk you through a process of imagining a vision coming into reality. It sounds like it might not be that powerful, but trust me it is. Guided Manifestation taps into all six of your senses, yes I said six, and challenges you to create an image that is so vivid in your mind that it starts to feel like reality. By imagining what the vision would smell, sound and taste like, and even connecting to your intuition or 3rd eye as some would call it, you start to experience the first tastes of your vision. The power lies in sustaining this excited, joyful energy around your vision for an extended period of time, and then being able to release or surrender the vision to the universe; trusting that the universe has no choice but to respond and make your vision a reality.
I’ve seen this process of guided manifestation lead to results in both my life and the lives of clients by watching the visions move from just being on paper, to being an actual part of their lives. For example, I have a client who chose to do a guided manifestation around a vision for making dancing part of her life and doing a dancing-focused trip in 2020. The last time I talked to her, she has already created a plan for that road-trip and now she is dancing as part of her daily routine.
If you’d like a more scientific explanation of manifestation, involving physics, frequency and universal law, I would love to nerd out and tell you more! Or you can follow my blog here. I expand more about what manifesting looks like and how it works.
What has been the most challenging yet rewarding barrier you faced and how did overcome it?
Without a doubt, the hardest part has been starting. I’ve been cultivating this business idea for years but it has taken me up until the spring of 2019 to actually launch my business!
When I finally started my business, I felt like it was less about overcoming external obstacles around finances, resources, and time, and more about overcoming the biggest internal obstacle, myself. I am naturally an over-thinker, over-analyzer, and perfectionist that tends to think through all the worse case scenarios before I start something new. So beginning Renaissance Visions required me to really wrestle with those parts of myself and figure out which of those habits were actually serving me. I also had to do a lot of deep work around self-love and self-talk to make sure that the person inside my mind was acting as my greatest cheerleader, rather than my greatest critic.
I found much more ease and inspiration to work on my business after I started viewing it less as a serious endeavour that could change my life, and more like a fun project that would lead me somewhere new. In creating my Instagram and website and writing blogs, I try to set the intention of creativity and enjoyment rather than making anything perfect or legit.
I’m so relieved that I finally just decided to create rather than over-think or plan, and I feel more and more fulfilled as I continue to let myself have fun with this business!
What support networks do you personally love and can recommend to other aspiring vision coaches out there to become part of?
One of my biggest support networks has been having a key group of friends around me that are also running their own businesses. I have cultivated friendships were other like-minded people who have different strengths and expertise than I do, and we are constantly learning from each other and encouraging one another. I know I can’t exactly share those people with you all, but I would encourage you to find those friends in your life! The smaller, the merrier.
Other resources that might be of support to you would be to follow some of my favourite manifestation guides on Instagram and Youtube, @philgoodlife, and @aaron_doughty44! Phil Good spits wisdom on awakening and living your best life like it’s a walk in the park, and Aaron Doughty spells out abstract concepts like manifestation in super simple terms.
The last support network I would look into is like-minded groups on Facebook or Instagram. I am part of several groups on Facebook like Woman Entrepreneurs in Community, Human Design Projectors and Latino Scholars and they all help encourage different unique aspects of myself and provide awesome networking opportunities!
How are you working on your own personal development?
I don’t know if I’m a therapy-junkie or maybe just a really messed-up person, but I definitely would say that counselling has been a huge part of my personal development. After I say that out loud, I think I’m going to go with another reason. I really do love deepening my self-awareness and becoming my best self.
I’ve had three different counsellors in the past six years and each counsellor has served a different purpose in my personal development journey. I’d like to share a little about each one and the role they played because I want to let people know that there are many different types of counsellors to best fit your specific needs for any specific season of your life.
My first counsellor was very skilled in helping people work through past trauma and she did practices like EMDR, that really helped me through a rough time in my life. I had no idea how much past traumas and recent traumas had been playing a part in the depression I was experiencing in my life until I met her. I experienced some much-needed healing in those sessions and she helped me persevere during one of the roughest times in my life.
After a much-needed break from counselling, I decided to go to a new counsellor with the intention of working on my self-confidence. My second counsellor was very skilled in “tough love” and she helped me learn how building up your self-concept, and self-awareness can help you set better boundaries. She was the person who helped me truly change my self-talk and learn what self-love actually looks and sounds like.
My current counsellor is also awesome! I met him by way of a synchronistic google search of his tarot deck, @fountaintarot, and was so excited to see that we have similar beliefs and values around energy and the universe. Even though I feel much more mentally, emotionally and spiritually stable than I have ever been, I still go to him to help me stay grounded. His way of asking questions and laughing with me helps me take life less seriously and see the wonder in it. I also have learned that I need to act preventively when it comes to depression, so having this space to share my ideas and concerns openly has really helped me maintain mental health.
The last thing I’ll say is that if you’re out there and you’re struggling with whether or not you should go to counselling or switch counsellors, I get you! I hope the experiences I shared around my journey can encourage you to keep trying and looking for the right fit.
One hard lesson in business you have learned so far?
I would say the hardest lesson has been realising that remaining authentic to who you truly are in your business is much harder than I thought it would be.
It feels like the more I build Renaissance Visions, the more that I’m tempted to compare myself to other similar businesses and then to want to conform to be like them. Especially in the Instagram world, it seems like there’s all these tried-and-true methods and formulas that can quickly get you a lot of followers, but they also require you to submit to the status quo. I could do that and follow the crowd, but I don’t want to be another life coach or Instagram sensation, I want to be a real person that others can deeply relate to.
I’m learning that authenticity can be the greatest driver of your business, but it may mean that your path to success looks different from other peoples’ paths. In the meantime, as I grow my business, I’m trying to stay patient and keep my vision alive.
What does #BEYOUROWN mean to you?
To me, #BEYOUROWN, is a little different than the cliché, “be yourself.” It’s more about the process of becoming yourself, owning yourself and doing your own thing rather than just being who you’ve always been. I try to “be my own” by staying true to my values and beliefs, especially when it comes to valuing all human lives equally and working to make this world a more accepting and inclusive place for all. I also live out #BEYOUROWN by working daily to love and accept myself more so that I can best serve others and show them what inner joy and radiance looks like! I know I have a lot of quirks, weird attributes and still have room for improvement, but these are the things that make me beautiful and unique. I choose authenticity above perfection, always.
In which areas are you looking to grow and expand Renaissance Visions throughout the rest of 2019?
I’m expecting to manifest a lot of abundances soon! I’m thinking that the rest of 2019 is going to be focused more on preparing for harvest, rather than experiencing the actual harvest. I plan on growing my Instagram following with a crew of like-minded people who believe in what I’m doing and vibe with my style. I hope to do this by continuing to post about my real process around starting a business and making visions a reality. So if you’re interested in that or you like what you read here, I’d love to have you follow and join that crew!
I’m also planning to get more consistent at writing and sharing blogs around some of my favourite topics: manifestation, intuition, vision and awakening! You can subscribe to my website on the link mentioned above to get updates of those blogs.
Currently, I’m growing my clientele to include both local people to Denver and other people around the world! If you’d like to learn more about my vision coaching and talk through the kind of support you need around your visions, I’d love to set up a free, 15-minute call with you. Or, if you’re ready to start making those visions a reality and you want to book a session with me, we can do that too! Either way, you can email me to get that process started.
Thanks for reading and taking the time to learn more about me! I can’t wait to see the ways in which abundance will manifest in my life and many others as I continue to share this beautiful gift of vision coaching that the universe has given me.
Instagram: @renaissance_visions
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/renaissancevisions2019/
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