Jennifer Pennell: Play

Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.

Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Jennifer Pannell with us. She's the founder of Shine Levity where she helps people relearn to play and optimize their life. So welcome to the show, Jennifer.

Thanks, Tyler. It's great to be here.

Of course, great to have you on. We'll dive in. The first question I have for you, Jennifer, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?

Spanish? You know, I would say best story is about 10 years ago. I had everything. I had a loving husband, two wonderful kids, a really successful corporate career in executive search, a newly remodeled home, and I was miserable. And I didn't know why. And I thought I was going to have to implode my life. And what I did instead, I got lucky. I found meditation. And from there, my relationship to my life completely changed. So I still have the same husband, same kids, same neighborhood, but my experience of my life is completely different from how it was 10 years ago.

And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that is within your expertise or industry?

Sure. So what I do is a combination of meditative therapy and teaching people how to play. And what I would say is that play— and this is really a sense of play rather than, you know, play can be anything. So what you feel like when you are in a sense of play, when you are feeling playful, that right there is the most underrepresented quality to a fulfilling life and career success. Because when we are in play, We're immersed. We're not distracted. We're open to lateral thinking. We're open to new opportunities, experimentation. We're not self-conscious. We're not in fear.

I want to chime in here, actually. So I am so in alignment with you. It's actually crazy. I literally— one of my main purposes in life is to show people that work can be fun and playful. So I— I love what you're doing and we'll get back to the interview. But after, yeah, I mean, it's a really interesting thing because as we've been brought up, I feel like we've been taught to like, you work to then be able to use that money from work to play. But I always kind of challenge people's perspective on that and I'm like, well, what if every moment was actually fun? Even the work, wouldn't that be something interesting? Yes, right?

That is so much better than saving yourself for like your 2-week vacation to Hawaii where maybe you'll play.

Exactly. Yeah. So I, yeah, I love it. I just, I had to chime in because once I saw the synergy there, I was like, wow, she's, she's in alignment with me. So the next question I have for you is what is your best piece of overall business advice?

Sure. I would say at least once a year, revisit why you're doing what you're doing. Is this still what you want? Does it still fulfill you? Does it still make you know, make you kind of want to get up and go charge ahead in the day, or does it make you feel tight and rigid inside? And so, to just be really curious and honest and keep asking that question and keep checking in. And if it's not, find out what is.

And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?

I would say stop looking to others for answers. Find great life mentors and honestly start meditating sooner.

And, okay, I'm excited for this one. In your opinion, what's the key to happiness?

I mean, obviously play, but I mean, in a larger sense, like your relationship to yourself, like when again, and play, like when we're at ease in our body and comfortable in our own skin and you know, taking in experiences with an openness, we just, we stretch ourselves, we can catch inspiration, we can catch opportunities coming our way and like, just like ride the momentum.

And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?

Tyler, that's a good question. I had to think about this one because it's so easy to go for like a self-help book or a business book, but I went a different direction. Andre Agassi has a, incredible autobiography called Open. And even if you don't like tennis, it's amazing because in his story, he talks about how he spent the first half of his career essentially being really good at tennis and hating it. And when it was all about him, his career was really— it was great, but it was also somewhat volatile and inconsistent. And he talks about how he founded this school for underprivileged kids and was really passionate about it. And when he started playing tennis because a portion of his proceeds were gonna go to the school, his whole game changed. And he started winning so much more and his career completely shifted 'cause he was now doing it for something that was bigger than himself.

That is all, I actually used to watch him play. I did not even know he had a book, so I'm gonna have to check that out. And what is your favorite quote and why?

Right now, everything you want is on the other side of fear.

I love that. Thank you so much for coming on. The last question I have for you before we let you go is where's the best place for people to find you online?

Probably on my website, Tyler Wagner. And the website's www.shinelevity.com.

Perfect. Thank you again. We really appreciate you coming on.

Thanks, Tyler. Great talking to you.

The podcast you just heard was recorded with Anchor. If you want to make your own, download the Android or iOS app completely free from anchor.fm/podcast. That's anchor.fm/podcast.