Jocelyn Michelle Reaves, MPH, is a healthcare executive turned entrepreneur. Realizing her passion for healthcare stemmed from her desire to help people actualize their potential and provide tactical solutions to create transformative change, Reaves founded Fireside Insights and CoachedIt to develop people and help businesses reach their career goals.
Reaves’ dynamic approach reaches people on an intimate level as a certified life coach yet is powerful enough to have worked in business operations and consulting for successful companies such as CVS Health, GfK (now Ipsos), Kiehl’s, Steward Healthcare Network, Boston Public Schools, and the University of Illinois at Chicago.
In addition to her companies Fireside Insights, which provides strategic and operational support to businesses, and CoachedIt, which helps connect humans with highly qualified coaches and resources, she is also the host of Confidence Daily–a digital lifestyle magazine with the sole goal of helping women cultivate confidence in every aspect of self-care in life.
On paper, her life looked great.
She was quickly climbing the corporate ladder in healthcare, managing a large team, and earning a six-figure salary by the age of 25 but despite the professional accomplishments and accolades, it didn’t feel like enough. She felt adrift, disconnected, and unfulfilled.
After some intense soul-searching, she came to realize that her passion for healthcare was born from a desire to help people and work with them to actualize their full potential to create transformative change.
She had the desire to do more meaningful work, so she left the corporate world and founded Fireside Insights, a connections consultancy that offers cultural competency, equity, and strategic advising.
Over the course of her work, she found that one of the most critical barriers preventing people from accomplishing their goals isn’t just a lack of adequate resources and experience. A lack of confidence and a community of support proved to be critical barriers. Impassioned by this realization and knowing that she couldn’t work with everyone, she founded CoachedIt to bridge the gap by connecting people with life, business, and wellness coaches.
She had always thought of herself as a lifelong learner and student of the human condition and it was this introspection which led her to realize that she was facing her own challenging life situations that forced her to take time off and focus on her own mental health and wellbeing.
She left an abusive relationship and had to unpack childhood trauma which led to her own journey of healing, self-help and ultimately enhanced her interest in coaching.
Because of what she learned about herself and the huge transformation that “doing the work” had on her, she started Confidence Daily to tell the stories of other women to humanize the human experience through storytelling, community, and coaching.
A digital magazine dedicated to helping women cultivate confidence in every aspect of self-care in life, Confidence Daily’s core belief is that energy is everything and every decision we make is rooted in the confidence (or lack thereof) that we have in our actions and the outcomes they yield.
She believes this founding ideology underscores her shift from seeing herself as a business strategy consultant to a “ConSOULtant.”
She helps her clients find success in their businesses, but her real value-add is uncovering internal roadblocks that are preventing success across the board. She rides the fine line between coach and consultant because being successful in business is far more than having the right business strategy or operational plan.
As a “ConSOULtant,” she focuses on breaking down a wide range of barriers to success such as imposter syndrome and self-limiting beliefs. She also cultivates real-world wellness, advocates for professional growth and development, and strongly encourage entrepreneurs to prioritize their mental health.
“A successful leader is one that knows herself, understands her limitations, and pushes those limitations until they no longer exist and only abundance remains”, she said.
She’s often asked for advice from entrepreneurs starting their journey and the first thing she tells people is the importance of cultivating focus.
As an entrepreneur, it can be easy to get distracted by shiny objects and opportunities. Stay in your lane and focus on what you are doing. You can’t compare yourself to others because your journey isn’t theirs and you don’t know their full story.
In addition to focus, connections are invaluable in any line of business.
She understands that your business is like your baby and it’s common to want to do it all. You want to focus on growing your company and operating in your genius zone.
Don’t try to do it alone!
Get mentors and advisors who have been where you’ve been to help you along your path. Invest in coaches to help keep you accountable along your journey to success, and delegate tasks as soon as you’re able to.
Our virtual world makes online client acquisition a much easier process but there is tremendous value in getting to know people through networking – both in-person and online.
The old adage ‘It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,’ still rings true.
Make meaningful connections out of a genuine place of interest; you never know where it’ll take you.
If you would like to get in touch with Jocelyn Michelle Reaves or her company, you can do it through her – Linkedin Page
