Jade Boyd: And so you’re right, like you do have to have the strategy in place. And there are a few things that like the hard work comes up front, right, to be able to make content that is potent like that, but it’s so powerful on the back end when you can approach your content with that clarity.

Welcome to the show, Rhannon.

Rhannon Janke: Thank you. I’m happy to be here.

Jade Boyd: I am so excited to have this conversation. I feel like this has been a really long time coming. Rhannon and I have been in the same circles for a long time and have done our own little masterminds together. She’s someone whose opinions, especially when it comes to business and branding I have always really valued and I’m excited to finally bring her to the podcast for you all today.

So for those who don’t know you, do you want to start by just giving us a little bit more information about who you are, what you do, and kind of how you got to where you are today?

Rhannon Janke: Yeah, of course. Thanks for the kind words, Jade. You’re so sweet. And I feel the same. Yeah, so obviously my first name is Rhannon. It is one of those names that kind of catches people off guard if they just read it. And so it’s not a big, big deal. It’s just, just like Shannon, and I’m just a mom of two, almost three, actually little kiddos, expecting in October.

Rhannon Janke: I am a farm wife here in the Midwest, though I was raised out in Arizona, so a little bit of a transition was necessary when I moved out here, but I absolutely love it. I am really passionate just about helping other women pursue their own passions. I am a firm believer in that women are kind of the world changers that we need, and that we can make such a big impact on, you know, like our families, our communities, the collective just as a whole, because we have such special gifts, especially when we have the right support around us.

That’s kind of my little gist. I guess I worked in branding, product photography, and marketing for about six years after college before finally taking the leap into entrepreneurship. I was always interested in entrepreneurship. It was always something that I craved, and have been interested in, but I didn’t really have a plan on like how that was going to happen, I just had, you know, you know, just enough like gumption drive, just to kind of leap in and make it work. and of course the pandemic happened and I didn’t have another choice. So I ended up actually being able to replace my salary from my job at the time within the first year of entrepreneurship. And then I doubled it the next, and I was like, whoa, wait a second. Maybe I have some skillsets that are actually working. You know, and, these are some other things that other business owners, you know, need and could utilize to, you know, continue making an impact. So, yeah, over the last two years or so, I’ve been kind of on a journey in, healing the effects of physical burnout from being someone who absolutely loves working and finds a lot of fulfillment in that.

But I’m now learning, you know, how to be just a better human, for my littles, I’m kind of on a mission to find the type of work that really feels best for me to pour my time and energy into, because, you know, after you become a mom, you value your time and you value your energy so differently.

So, yeah. I guess that kind of brings me into what I do these days. I like to say that I offer holistic consulting, strategy support for small businesses, typically through a variety of services, I say that my brand is holistic though, in that I really do try to look at like the bigger picture for business owners and just who the entrepreneur is as a human so that I can, you know, impact them and, support them in a, in a unique way. so yeah, does that help?

Jade Boyd: Yeah, absolutely. And you are definitely a multi passionate entrepreneur, but I also feel like you are somebody who, you’re like that friend that has good taste and this is not something that I had scripted to ask you, but I feel like we all have that friend, you know, who has like knows when something is good or not good and they just have that sense for whatever it might be like outfits interior design. For you, it’s like branding and photography, you just nail the look of things and you’re someone who’s opinion on a lot of those things, I’m like, how does this look or how does this feel? I always really value getting your opinion because I know that you just have good taste. And I’m curious, did that come out of your background and like experience with marketing and branding early on? Or is that just the person that you’ve always been? Because I feel like part of it can be learned and part of it is just like natural gifting.

Rhannon Janke: Yeah, absolutely. That’s such a funny question. And I’ll take the compliment. Absolutely. I do think that, actually I do think this question leads into, you know, the bigger conversation when we get into talking about human design, but I do think some of that is, you know, an innate, natural, gift that some people have, there’s a part in a human design chart that talks about your strongest sense. And mine is visual. so for some reason, my brain just is very visual. My eyes just kind of do those things, but I also have that kind of strategic brain behind things. As kind of like one of my top strengths, you know, on the strengths finder.

And so really thinking through like the thought process and the intention behind how things look and why they do look that way. I think it’s just something that I’ve always, always been interested in, just from a young age. And so, yeah, realizing that marketing, can utilize that and how, important that is, especially when it comes to biopsychology and all of that is just something that obviously I had to grow and learn about, but it’s just complimented, you know, that natural, that natural skillset. So you’re sweet to say that.

Jade Boyd: Interesting. So today we’re talking about doing less by knowing yourself more and you already kind of dove into like human design is one of the big things that we’re going to be talking about today. But speaking to how you help business owners grow their businesses and build their brands by doing things that are really aligned to who they are, their natural giftings, things that make sense for the season that they’re in, what are some of the tools that you use when you go through that process with your clients? And then diving deeper into like human design, which we’re going to talk more about. Can you give an overview of what human design is specifically?

Rhannon Janke: Yeah, of course. Yeah. So this is kind of where things can get into the weeds, right? Because there’s all different types of people out there. and there’s different types of business owners who have different goals, and I like to say that business owners typically come to me when they’re, you know, they’re feeling a little bit stuck or they’re feeling disconnected, from their brand or their marketing, or it’s not landing with people.

Right? And so typically. You know, in like a connection call, for example, I’m able to kind of say, ooh, this is a branding and marketing thing, or maybe this is like a personal development thing. And then kind of decide what tool makes sense for me to kind of utilize with this person alongside supporting them. so yes, of course, human design is one of those that I have personally just really taken, a liking to, it’s something that I find so incredibly interesting and, creative and, fun, but I’ve also used, you know, like the Gallup Strengths Finder with a specific client that we, it was just so cool to see lots of aha moments there too.

And of course the, the Enneagram is another tool that lots of people use. It’s not something that I have ever felt overly, like excited about. So, I usually lean towards that human design aspect, but really it all comes down to just having those conversations with people and really like getting to the heart of like, okay, what is, what’s going on here? What’s the issue or how do you want, you know, things to feel and, kind of diving in kind of where, where that person needs the most help. And so if it’s a tool, that’s the solution, then I’ll kind of seek that out and use that. But, it just depends on the person.

Jade Boyd: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. So diving deeper into human design, I had never taken the human design. I don’t even know if it’s like a quiz or anything. You pulled it for me for this

conversation.

Rhannon Janke: Yeah. It’s a chart.

Jade Boyd: Okay. It’s a chart. So can you explain for those who are either new to human design or like me have heard a little bit about it and maybe learned like a little bit, but aren’t fully sure what it is.

Can you explain generally what it is and how you use that when it is the right tool to use with your clients?

Rhannon Janke: Yeah, so we’ll keep it super general because human design can get really complicated and it’s very in depth and which is great with what makes it so unique and, makes people feel so seen once they really dive in, but, basically human design is all about, you know, your own energetics, and how your energy was designed when you came into the world as your most authentic self.

So, human design is a tool. It is not a religion. It’s designed for you to take kind of what resonates, test out the suggestions and see what feels right for you. Yes, it’s a chart. It is not a quiz. You don’t go in and answer questions based off of kind of like who you are at this moment or like what you’ve recently been through or, you know, things like that, because there’s so much, you know, societal and relational conditioning that goes into, you know, who we are in this moment as a human being, right?

The traumas that we experienced, the parenting that we had, all of that, but who are we at our core is kind of what human design is meant to focus on. And what you do is you enter your birth date, your birth time, and your birth location into a app or a chart, whichever one you end up finding, there’s paid versions and there’s free versions out there.

I can link you to one that you can put in the show notes if you want, that is free. And it spits out a chart and it looks a little bit crazy.There’s shapes, there’s lines, there’s numbers, but ultimately, There, at first glance, you can see nine centers, which show up as shapes. You can see 36 channels that show up as like lines around it and then there are 64 gates, which show up as numbers. And then all of those things have meanings and interpretations. So everyone’s charts differ in those different aspects. and what parts are defined undefined, conscious unconscious. And there’s of course, other aspects too, that you can go even further in, especially if you’re looking for like a full chart reading from a human design expert.

But I specifically like to focus on specific categories that I think translate really well into business and things like that. So generally when someone dives into human design at first, you know, maybe they’ve heard about it online or stumbled on it somehow they’ll end up finding out the general information about their type.

So which is your overarching energetic theme. So for example, Jade, you are a manifesting generator. I’m a generator.And then there are projectors, manifestors, and reflectors. And that’s your overarching energetic theme. And then there’s a strategy, which is how you are designed to interact with the world.

And then there’s your authority, which is your personal decision making process, how you best make decisions that are right for you as a person. So if you really kind of get into it, your strategy is how you interact with the world and your authority is how you make decisions for yourself. And of course all of these energetics, you know, they’re felt by other people when they’re around you and you can kind of feel them around other people too.

And you’re not really sure like what’s going on here. Why do I enjoy being around this person so much, or man mean this person really click and understand each other. There’s so much in a chart that can kind of explain why that happens. And if you get really curious, it’s really, really cool to look up your kids charts too.

And, you know, if you’ve ever heard a parent say, I can’t believe how different my kids are. It’s amazing that they both came from us, but they’re so different. When you start looking at that as a parent, it makes this, even more obvious that it’s just such a cool, an in depth thing and that we’re all designed so differently and that we came to the world to with different purposes and different, you know, missions and things like that.

So, yeah, that’s kind of like the very basic of some things that you can kind of expect on a chart. Usually, you know, like I said, people are familiar with little pieces of the puzzle, but there’s a lot of depth in various aspects of a chart that make everybody super, super unique. And I’m not an expert on every single aspect, but I can refer people to an expert if they’re really interested in a, in a reading.

Jade Boyd: Yeah, so I do want to dive deeper into how you’ve used this with clients and specifically how it applies to business owners. But before we go there, I first want to address some of the common misconceptions or misunderstandings you see around human design, because I do think with any,I mean, this isn’t technically an assessment, but with things like StrengthsFinder or the Enneagram, I think there’s always those initial hesitations on like, can all humans really be put into like for the Enneagram nine boxes, I don’t believe that, you know, some misconceptions that prevent people from even, considering or exploring tools like this.

So can you start off by just, yeah. Addressing some of the common things that you hear when people are first introduced to the human design chart.

Rhannon Janke: Yeah, absolutely. You know, I have had as a business owner who has, you know, briefly weaved it into some of my offerings. I haven’t had a ton of pushback with it. I think generally people are super curious. And I think as humans, we innately want to just know ourselves more. So anything that’s out there, that could potentially help us do that.

I think there’s a reason we’re kind of drawn to things, but I would say, you know, the biggest misconception I think with human design or any tool really in general, is that it needs to become like this thing that you cling to and, you know, really identify with and, it’s important to know that you’re still an individual and, it doesn’t have to be the end all be all.

And I think a lot of times, this is common is someone will learn, you know, maybe their types, strategy and authority in their chart. And, they’ll feel really boxed in by it. And I think that probably happens with maybe like the Enneagram or, you know, some of those other things that we’ve mentioned. And I think it’s really important to realize that like, if you are feeling that way by something, you either haven’t gone, you know, far enough into how it’s actually meant to be interpreted, or there just needs to be like a perspective shift of some sort, you know, to be open to, different and new ideas, right? the other thing that I would say is a human design is a lot about how you feel in your body.

And so, those centers, those shapes that I mentioned that are filled in on the chart, which is also called a body graph. It’s really encouraging you to look inward and to really like, experiment with those things. A good example I like to use as someone saying, you know, follow your gut.

Okay. So in the chart, there is a sacral center and not all of us have that defined. And so following your gut and having kind of like that sacral energy and that sacral response is not true for everybody. So I like to make sure that people know. It’s about what’s going on actually inside of you. It’s not referring, and seeking out things that are outside of you by any means. So again, it’s a tool to kind of get to know yourself. And you know, I think it’s really common with projectors specifically they’ll find out they’re a projector. And then all of a sudden they’re like, oh no, I don’t have any energy and like no definition, but listen, Taylor Swift is a projector. And so, and she’s not just laying around doing nothing. So I think that is just one of those kinds of misunderstandings that people have when they stay on the surface level of things.

Jade Boyd: Yeah. One other thing that I think specifically with human design and the way that it is designed where you don’t answer any questions. It’s not about your lived experience. It really is based on the time and date that you were born. as a Christian even, I don’t know how I feel about human design because of that.

Like, is our destiny really set when we’re born and not, it seems a little bit woo, and I’m always skeptical of things that feel a little bit woo. So I’m curious, because I know that you’re a Christian as well, how do you look at human design through that lens? And like, as Christians, how can we use a tool like this in ways that is helpful without relying on it? Or like, like you said, not overly defining ourselves based on this chart that we get?

Rhannon Janke: Yeah, absolutely. I think it’s such a common hesitation for Christians just in general, you know, being unsure about what’s holy and what’s not holy or what might be frowned upon and what’s not, you know, and I totally understand that and empathize with that. One of my favorite things to say about this, you know, you mentioned is the time, you know, that you were born really that big of a deal, or, is that when our, you know, fate is sealed, which I don’t believe is true either, but, one of my favorite things to say about this is, you know, if God made you, the sun, the moon, and the stars, you better believe that I just trust that the sun, the moon, and the stars each have an effect on us, right? Like we all have these unique thumbprints and, the energy in the world is different at every, you know, given moment. And, I believe that that has an effect on us when we’re born. Yes, of course, but even in the day to day and, you know, you’ll hear, you know, maybe like a daycare provider or a mom say, oh, it must be a full moon today because their kids are just acting crazy or, there’s just those, those energetics, they definitely are more on the woo woo side of things, but it’s also just something that, we can be aware of, but also discerning with.

So. I hear you. I totally understand why someone might hesitate with something like this, but we do have to use our own discernment and our own inner compass to kind of decide what’s aligned for us as individuals, you know. I wrestled with this too, right away, especially knowing that I wanted to weave it a little bit into my business and what I do. And so it was going to be a very public that I was interested in it. Right?And I think the key thing to focus on is realizing that you’re not idolizing any person in human design, it’s genuinely meant to help you get to the core of who you were sent to this earth as, before all of that conditioning that we’ve been exposed to all of that worldly distraction. So I think that there can be a lot of wins in it, but also if it doesn’t feel safe for you, then maybe it’s not meant for you. And I think that that’s okay too. To add to this conversation too, I remember back when I first started Spiritual Direction with Jada, who I know you are familiar with and whom you’ve had on the podcast, we all adore. I hesitated for so long to do that with her, worrying because I heard other Christians, you know, frowning upon it. And, Jada handles that conversation with so much grace, which I just think that in some way there will always be some who continuously seek out reasons to out Holy the other, but again, it’s about really listening to that still small voice that, you know, we all have and, see if something feels aligned for you and you can invite God into navigating what tools you utilize. You just have to trust yourself in that.

Jade Boyd: Yeah, I really like that perspective. And I think that’s really helpful to hear that it is a tool just like anything else and how you use it is up to you. Like you said, we all have discernment. Everybody’s comfort levels are different. Everybody’s philosophies, whether they call themselves Christian or not, like any religion has different levels of belief and differing opinions outside of like the core doctrines of any religion. So I think that’s really helpful right off the bat, because I think. If you have never seen your human design, one you don’t know if it could be helpful or not, or if you’re going to resonate it with it, with it or not. And also it’s not a replacement for anything else. It’s just a tool that you can use in whatever way is actually helpful.

So speaking of using human design, once you do have your chart, how can small business owners actually use this human design chart to find more clarity? Like we’re talking about doing less When we know ourselves better, it does give us more clarity and help us make better decisions. So specifically when we’re building personal brands as service providers and small business owners, how can our chart help us get that clarity?

Rhannon Janke: Yeah. I love this stuff. This is what I love diving into. So first when you first pull your chart, if you’re going to go pull a free chart or grab an app or something to do that with, it might feel like a lot right away and it might feel really hard to interpret and, apply on your own. So I would encourage you to seek someone out who you can get that support from if it’s something you’re interested in.

But, at the end of the day, I have used my human design chart to make more aligned decisions, just like you talked about, really listening and acknowledging my sacral, rather than overthinking and overanalyzing, which happens quite often for me personally, and Jade, you know, this as a, as a colleague, and that’s due to my undefined head center, which you have a defined one, so we can talk about that a little bit more, but, yeah. So there’s different ways that we can use it just in our decision making, and strengthening that skillset of like asking, okay, how does this decision feel in my body and knowing where you’re supposed to be feeling that at, based on your design, and kind of developing that self trust within yourself. And I would say like one big example for, relying on this would be, when I decided to sell my motherhood photography business and double down on a new niche. And you might relate to this Jade because you used to do brand photography and then you switched gears as well. So, when I had originally proposed this idea to myself, my sacral was like lit up, like screaming, yes, yes, this is the right move, you know?

And it’s like that, that, excitement in my core that I could feel. And so I knew it was the right decision. So that example has a lot to do with understanding and experiencing my authority as a generator. But when you dive deeper than the basics, there’s even, specific gates within a chart that you can, you can look at that specifically impact how you interpret and hone in on your personal brand.

For example, we could look at, like the conscious sun gate, which can correlate to your energetic purpose. So then. If you aren’t feeling really aligned in your business, and this is you’re living out your purpose, and that’s what you’ve designed your business around, it can feel really, really empowering to know that one, of course, but I’ll give you an example like mine.

My conscious sun gate is gate 36, and in brief terms, that has a lot to do with compassion, and helping others transform. And, I apply that to what it is that I do by helping others like really see the depth in their experiences. you know, so much of your brand and your message come from your experiences, from your stories, from your heart about the topic.

And it can be so beneficial to work with someone who can show you how to piece those puzzle pieces together in a way that lands with potential clients. Right. So if you really think about how cool it could be to incorporate something so unique to you like that into your brand strategy, rather than just Googling brand values, and picking, you know, a random word from a list of options that sound good, it could feel so much more aligned to take that very unique to you angle when you approach your marketing and your message and your content creation. So for me with that sun gate, if I want my content to feel compassionate, I can make super intentional decisions so that it comes across that way when someone does view it instead of just, you know, following a trend or doing what I think everyone else is doing, I can really focus on how I’m making people feel. Right? and when things feel aligned like that for you, it’s received as authentic, it’s not forced, it’s not gimmicky, it becomes more magnetic, right?Your conscious sun Jade is gate five, and it has a lot to do with being attuned to unique patterns and rhythms, that offer deep support. So it’s really interesting with your chart. We won’t go too into depth with it. but you have clearly, you know, found and leaned into that without even realizing it, but you are helping people with those things and we can talk a little bit more about some of your centers, that compliment that as well, but that’s just one example. Yeah. There’s that’s just one examples. And there’s some other gates that I like to look at specifically, that are just like that conscious sun gate.

And they help you, they really highlight, what you naturally bring to the table, right? It’s that energy that’s felt from you. and you can kind of learn how to play with that and just stop mimicking what you think works best based on who you see doing really well.

Jade Boyd: Yeah. Okay. There’s so much to dig into here.

Rhannon Janke: Yes.

Jade Boyd: I love how you talked about how human design can, like, it connects to your personal brand. It connects to what you’re emphasizing and how you’re showing up in your business, regardless of your niche. Like, it doesn’t mean that you’re changing what you’re doing as a business owner, it’s just changing the way that you show up or the way that you do your work. And I love how, any assessment, but I love how you explained how human design can specifically do this to us. Oftentimes, assessments can just give us the words to say what we already know is true. Like, I’m sure you already knew that you’re compassionate and you were very compassionate with your clients.

And we’ve talked about this a lot before I feel like almost to a fault, you love giving and serving. And so it’s not like it’s something that you hadn’t known before, but when you see an assessment and when you see it laid out, it helps you make decisions on like, okay, this is a strength. This is something that I bring to the table in a unique way that nobody else can.

How can I leverage that and incorporate that in a way that is helpful? And so I love what you said about, instead of Googling, like, how do I come up with brand values? It gives you a starting point. So it’s not necessarily telling you something that you don’t already know, but it is helpful to have that narrowed down on paper to just have somewhere to start.

And that in itself definitely helps us do less if we’re not playing the Googling game, I’m like, how do I build a personal brand? It’s overwhelming, but can you speak to like, how else can human design help us do less as business owners?

Rhannon Janke: Yeah. Oh, man. how can it help us do less? So at first it might feel like it makes you do more because you have to learn, which of course takes time, but if you work with someone who already has it learned and just trust their process, that of course will expedite that. but, let’s see, how can it help us do less?

When it comes to human design or any tool, really, you know, we can go down those rabbit holes and try to uncover every last bit of information before actually utilizing it. But I think the best way, for it to help you do less is to really find an understanding of your strategy and your authority first, so that you can like start feeling and trusting within your own body and stop seeking out like, that blanket advice or those free tips and tricks, really start that with that self trust. So you can stop saying yes to things that aren’t aligned, and, you know, consuming all of that, content that is maybe not even for you and your unique energy and will actually never work for who you are, because you’re not perceived in the same way as that other person is, you know, how many trainings have people invested in and tried to implement.

And it’s just like, it feels like there’s such resistance with it. Right. And there’s a reason for that. They’re not all meant for your unique energy.

Jade Boyd: Sadly, is something that I think, especially for new business owners, it took me so long to actually believe that, that the answers are not out there somewhere. Like, you can actually look internally and find ways to build your business, ways that are actually more helpful and will be easier than trying to copy and paste somebody else’s strategy that might’ve worked really, really well for them, but I think often, I mean, maybe we never outgrow this as business owners, but we’re looking for the perfect solution or that answer or the secret that somebody must have. Like, there’s no way it could be within me. That’s just crazy. So I want to emphasize that because that’s a big one.

Rhannon Janke: Yeah, absolutely. And I think at the end of the day, like, that will always be true, but I think when you have the right support in place and you have people around you that can say, hey, well, how does that decision feel for you? And you can kind of get that third party that say, like, do a gut check really quick, or what’s your brain telling you with your defined crown?

You know, you have these specific ideas. And so, yes, let’s go with that. Don’t take my idea, take yours, you know, and run with it. things like that. And I would say too, that with your, you know, with your defined centers and your undefined centers, like you’re, you’re naturally attracting certain types of people too.

And so we can do less by just realizing who it is we’re for, right. And, what they need from us and what they’re seeking out from us naturally. And so it just takes a little bit of that, That force away, I would say. and I think things can just happen a lot natural and you can have that self trust again, I think is what it comes down to.

Jade Boyd: Yeah, 100%. I love that. So as a brand strategist, you obviously help your clients build brands that feel aligned to them, personal to them. But you also have this term called potent content, which I don’t know if this is like an official thing that you intentionally say, but whenever I think of potent, I think of you. It is like the way that you help your clients and even have helped me brainstorm, like, how do I say this in a way that does feel potent? It’s not diluted or overused or the same as everybody else’s brand in this certain niche. How do you help your clients do that? And how can we as business owners create more potent content that doesn’t feel diluted and overused?

Rhannon Janke: Yeah. Oh, I love this question. Oh, that’s so funny that you use that word potent and relate it to me. I love that. I’ll, I’ll coin that one. it’s so funny how quickly a brand conversation overlaps into a marketing conversation, right? And so this is something that I actually hope to pour more of my energy into helping others with these days.

But I think to answer the question, we have to quickly note that producing content is part of a marketing strategy. And of course, you know, that, the style, the energy and the visuals of that content has a lot more to do with the brand strategy, right? So the two really do have to tango in order for things to be potent, if you will.

So we can do this. We can be more potent by number one, getting super familiar with our brand, our message and our ideal clients. and even better than that, actually falling in love with each of those, like really, really, it feels good. It feels like me. It feels like second nature. you know, your people, right. And what they need to hear. and then, and only then do we actually want to put time into creating with intention. And so to do that, to create with intention, you can really start asking yourself, you know, what is the purpose of this specific piece of content? What stage of my marketing funnel is this intended for? You know, where am I at in business? Am I trying to grow? am I trying to gain an audience right now? am I trying to convert leads? or are you in a place where you’re looking to just nurture your current audience right now? And knowing the answers to those questions before you create, can really help guide the decisions that go into creating content.

So that’s what I would say to start with is really knowing, okay, what am I doing and why, what’s the outcome I want.But true potency comes from, you know, your viewer or your follower or your listener or your subscriber really feeling seen, understood and served. At the end of the day, we just need to dive a little bit deeper than the surface level stuff, so that we can realize how our people are feeling, why they feel that way. know what they are experiencing, where our brand fits into the bigger picture for them amongst all of those things, right? so once we understand those things, we can really break down these bigger concepts that we now know into these smaller digestible, intriguing, and share worthy moments that I personally believe, make your content more potent.

Jade Boyd: Yeah, 100%. And I think if we’re looking at two ends of the spectrum here, I’m just imagining like, what is the most diluted piece of content I can imagine? And it’s like a Canva template that’s highly recognizable. And it’s a quote from somebody who’s not even in their business. And like the caption, that’s just hearts or something like that, like totally diluted.

And we scroll past those versus the really potent piece of content where you see it and you’re immediately like, I know what brand this is. I know what person is posting this. It’s recognizable and it’s relatable. And you feel like they are speaking directly to you. Those two different types of content might take the exact same amount of time to create, but they are wildly different when it comes to what they are actually going to do to help you grow your business. And so you’re right, like you do have to have the strategy in place. And there are a few things that like the hard work comes up front, right. To be able to make content that is potent like that, but it’s so powerful on the back end when you can approach your content with that clarity. And it also comes down to, I mean, along with human design, tying this back to knowing yourself. I have definitely had points in my business where I felt like I am just showing up as a stereotypical business coach or productivity coach and like posting things or like teaching things that I think I should be talking about, but it doesn’t feel like me.

And I think we can continually get ourselves into those ruts. Even if we know the things, We know what we should be doing. We know the questions we should be checking. We know that our gut is saying that something is off, but it is really easy to fall into those ruts where you are just like creating content, just to create and not leaning into your unique giftings and your unique voice.

So have you ever experienced that in your own business or do you work with clients who were kind of in that phase where like, I might even have that clarity, I’m just not using it to the best of my ability. Yeah.

Rhannon Janke: Oh, absolutely. I think this is the Achilles heel of all business owners that have to be a part of the content creation process. And a lot of times as small business owners, we have to be a part of that process. It’s absolutely crucial, especially as a personal brand, a service provider, you just have to be a part of it.

I have, of course, a ton of thoughts on that itself, but I think what happens is we get into this hole where we are just in that mode of creating and going through the motions and things like that, that we forget to take a step back a lot of times, because again, social media specifically when we’re talking about content for social, you know, you get really sucked in, right.

And you’re also inundated with all of this other stuff while you’re on there. And it is so hard to put the blinders on and just do what you know is the right thing to do. And, you know, not, not compete or not mirror image something or not hop on that trend that looks so exciting. You know, it can be so hard to put those blinders on.

but I will say, you know, even with the human design aspect in mind, like. Really knowing your energy type and like what types of content are going to feel more easeful for you, so that you aren’t putting a ton of time into things that, don’t excite you, you know, do you like to use, graphics and type out templates and things like that, or does that feel draining for you and could showing up live be more aligned for you, and really thinking through your marketing strategy. Once you kind of know those things about yourself as well. So yes, of course, this has happened to me and it consistently happens for me because, as an emotional generator, my authority is, emotional because I have a defined solar plexus.

I ride a wave of inconsistency of inconsistency in emotion. And, I feel a lot, you know, and so now that I know that about myself, I can give myself so much more grace in that, In that consistency. And it’s something that I think is really, really huge for some people to realize. and it’s interesting, Jade, because in your chart, you are also an emotional authority, but you are a manifesting generator and you have a defined head, which I think contributes a lot to the way that you are able to be consistent because systems come so easily for you. And so without those, could you imagine with what your business would be like if you just woke up and you’re like, I should post something, I should create content.

You would never do that, right? Because you are built a certain way, but for someone who does have that undefined, undefined crown or head, those systems don’t come as easily and as naturally. So yeah, and I would naturally be attracted to someone like you because you do have that defined. So those centers are so huge to know about and to take advantage of.

Jade Boyd: Mm hmm. I love how you pointed out that knowing yourself gives you the opportunity to just have more grace for yourself because I do think, especially when, I mean, I work with a lot of overwhelmed business owners who are frustrated, feeling like they’re working really hard or frustrated with themselves for not doing what they think they should, quote unquote, should be doing.

And it’s easy when you’re in that season to feel like this is just who I am. I’m lazy. I’m never going to get anything done. When in reality, if again, you just have the words and the proof to show that like, no, this is just the way that I operate. There’s rhythms. It’s not this season is forever. It’s going to change. I can remember last season when I was riding the wave and it looked differently. And I do think that knowing those things about yourself and again, just having the words to communicate what that actually is to ourselves and to other people just eliminates that not overwhelmed, but almost like, like self deprecating behavior where we’re talking negatively to ourselves when some of the things that we put ourselves down for might in fact be our greatest strengths if we’re utilizing them in a way that is helpful.

Rhannon Janke: Absolutely. Yeah. And I really do think it just takes that third party support. I think I, you know, I firmly believe in coaching and consulting and, even just phoning a colleague, a friend, always having that in your kind of back pocket, because it’s such a huge thing to have that other perspective because it’s so easy to get inside your head and, forget to look inward and to be bogged down by a lot of that stuff that we’re surrounded by.

Jade Boyd: Yeah. I also want to tie the conversation back. This was a while ago, but you also mentioned that you’ve recently gone through burnout and have kind of been changing the way that you’re doing business and have made a lot of changes overall to your business and to your life as you’re attempting to like come back to business and do things differently.

So I would really love to just talk through some of the things that have helped in that season. What has changed since you recognize that, oh, I’m actually burnt out. And what that journey has looked like, because I think a lot of people listening to this podcast are feeling like they are beginning to get burnt out or they’re actually in the depth of burnout.

And that can be a really hard place to be as a business owner. And it can be really easy to want to quit business in that season, when in reality, it takes, it takes a long time to dig yourself out of burnout. Once you’re in it, it’s not something that a vacation can fix or anything like that, sadly. So I would love for you to speak more to your experience with that.

Rhannon Janke: I have so much to say on this topic. Like it would, it’s almost like gotta be its own episode.

Jade Boyd: You’ll have to have you back for the full thing.

Rhannon Janke: Right. It’s so, it’s so layered. There’s so much depth to the reasons that people burn out. Right. And I think it’s also just a term that is kind of thrown around super easily. Like I, I was actually diagnosed with adrenal burnout. I was, I went to the hospital, they couldn’t figure out what was going on. Of course, traditional medicine doesn’t recognize that as something that, is a real condition, but I had to learn how to take care of myself physically, of course, and as someone who loves to work and who has always thrived off of the positive feedback and the dopamine hits and the rush of receiving awesome feedback from a client or from a boss even, or whatever it is that gives you kind of that, that really amazing feeling about yourself.

I thrived on that for so long that I would evenprioritize getting that over getting nutrition over getting in movement. And that also ties into, of course, the way that I was raised, you know, your relationship and your, your, the way that you were parented, those things all play a role into how we act as, as adults, right.

And the things that we do. So I had to unlearn a lot of things. I had to realize where I needed more help, where I needed more nurturance, how to nurture myself just in general, but in business, I think it always comes back to brand strategy truly, because you have to know why you’re there. Why you’re doing it, what the impact is that you want to make, like, what’s the vision, what’s the purpose, you know, what is it that you actually want to do? I could say that I want to help people transform their lives, but there’s so many different ways to do that. Right? So really knowing what it is that you want to do can help you come back to kind of the core of why you started in the first place. and if you can take a step back and give yourself that space, that time to be still, you can really start, reflecting and seeing things differently, and allowing your life to kind of come first and, reflecting on like, okay, how can I now fit this business in to make this work?

Which is something that I’ve had to do now a couple of different times. And adjust accordingly. Right? And trusting kind of that process. And of course, seeking out the support that, that helps you make that happen. but yeah, it can be really scary to take a step back and say, okay, I need to push pause, this isn’t working right now. I’m loving it. I feel great. I love all of the dopamine, but it’s not working with my lifestyle. I know I can’t keep this up. so what’s going to change, you know, what, let’s go back to the drawing board. What are the basics? What can I do? What’s the most important things, you know, and then kind of turning those blinders on to everything else and realizing that just because you’ve stepped back doesn’t mean that all of a sudden your skill sets are gone or that you’re not valuable anymore. You can come back and be even more valuable because of the perspective that you’ve been able to gain by giving yourself that space.

Jade Boyd: So when you did take that step back, do you feel like you got more clarity on why you were growing your business? Do you think that you were pursuing the wrong why as a business owner, or do you feel like it was just getting lost going through the motions day to day?

Rhannon Janke: You know, I think what happened with me personally is I never really had a huge why at first. For me at first it was about survival, right? And proving that I could do it. And I think that might be the case for anybody who jumps in head first into entrepreneurship and maybe doesn’t like, slowly step into it, which I think there’s perks, there’s pros and cons to both approaches, but sometimes you just hit the running and you forget that you have to like stop and take a drink of water, and so for me, I think I didn’t realize like what it is that I wanted, and how I wanted it to feel in my body.

And it was that concept just in general was something that I had to learn through various things, you know, the spiritual direction, you know, personal development, growth as a parent. you know, reparenting myself, all of those things, really tuning into how that’s supposed to feel in your body, I think is kind of what made me want to take a step back, but I was definitely pursuing just survival and doing what I thought I needed to do and pursuing those dopamine hits.

But now I know, so, so potently, there’s that word again, that I’m, you know, I’m here to help other women and use my skillsets, my natural gifts that aren’t forced whatsoever, to help them succeed and to help them change, and make the impact that they want to make.

Jade Boyd: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. When you were talking about, like taking that step back and finding your why, it reminded me, I recently learned that there is an official diagnosis for burnout, actually, according to the World Health Organization, but I would agree it’s not commonly talked about, or I don’t hear a lot of people being diagnosed with burnout, but one of the symptoms that they look for is, just reading this off of their website, is increased mental dissonance from one’s job or feelings of negatism or cynicism related to one’s job, which I think is so common for entrepreneurs when they get to that place where they are just like grinding and lose sight of like, why am I actually doing this?

It can lead you to be very cynical about your business and about your clients and very resentful. And that is a surefire sign that you are on your way to burnout. And I have felt that at times in my own business, feeling like, why am I doing this again? And especially maybe those relates to my human design, you tell me if this is in your chart, but I can get very strategic and analytical about my business and do the thing that makes sense on paper. I can go there very easily. And when that’s disconnected from my why, for my business, I can easily get cynical of like, oh, I’m just annoyed that I have to show up and record this podcast episode, you know, cause I’m just doing it to check off a box and get content out there instead of connecting it back to like, no, today I am showing up to help women who are overwhelmed, bring order to chaos in their lives. That feels so much more energizing and exciting. And it’s not even that you do anything differently. It’s that you’re showing up with intention and reminding yourself of why you’re there.

Rhannon Janke: Yeah, It’s that mindset piece. And I think as women just in general, we’re, we’re raised to put other people first constantly. And so a lot of times if we aren’t taking care of ourselves, you won’t even in our personal lives or, you know, as moms, that burnout effect can happen so much quicker and it’s coming from different angles and for different reasons.

And so, yeah, it’s so important to, you know, take care of yourself first and really make sure that it’s fulfilling you.

Jade Boyd: So we’re definitely going to have to come back and do a deep dive on burnout. We could definitely talk about that for a lot longer, but I also wanted to ask you one last question as a brand strategist. And like I said, you are just somebody who has phenomenal taste. You know, what’s good. I’m curious what your number one branding pet peeve is.

Rhannon Janke: Oh, this is funny. I have a few of course, but I think the one that makes the most sense to talk about here, is that it’s super, my pet peeve is that it’s super common for people to assume that branding means logo and graphic design. Like, yes, visuals are a part of it. but really, those are the very last things that business owners need to focus on.

You know, as long as you aren’t repelling people with eyesore visuals, I think that your brand is way more about how you make other people feel and what they would say about you or your business when you’re not around. and to me, those things are far more memorable and shareable than a brand mark or like a trendy color palette.

You know, a visual brand package is really a fun cherry on top of a business that finally feels good about what it stands for, who it serves, what impact it wants to make, and that’s what I love helping people realize and find clarity on so that then they can go seek that out because, you know, there’s so much change and growth that happens within the first few years of business. You’ve experienced it yourself, Jade. you know, we gain insight and experience, into what we enjoy, who we benefit, what our real skill sets are. and it would be such a shame to invest in graphics and logos that aren’t going to truly reflect this person, you know, or their goals in a year’s time. And I have made that mistake myself. So I would say that’s my biggest pet peeve is the strategy is. So much more important than the visuals. And, I think people like to go to the visuals first because it’s the fun, shiny part, and it doesn’t make them dive deep into, you know, all of those complicated things,

Jade Boyd: Yeah. I love that. I think we’ve talked about this before, or I probably mentioned it on the podcast too, but I always think of Target when I think about brand versus branding because they have the worst branding ever. Like, it doesn’t make sense at all to me. Like the name, the logo, it’s very corporate. When I think about how I feel walking into Target, it’s very different. Like that’s the brand. It’s, It’s the special place. It’s the special experience. The branding itself. I could, I could lose. They could do a rebrand and it would, it would make me very happy. But,

Rhannon Janke: But it’s not, it’s not making you not go in because you don’t love that red circle. Right. Right. Yeah. And that’s what’s so important for people to realize.

Jade Boyd: Yep. 100%. So for those who want to dive deeper into your world and know more about human design and brand strategy and all the things that you have to offer, where can they find you after the show?

Rhannon Janke: Yeah. So, I keep things super casual and candid over on Instagram. You can always hop into my DMS just to chat. I’m over at rhannonjanke.Co. So R H A N N O N. J A N K E. co. I really do love connecting in the DMS and just having great conversations with other business owners. and my website is the same at rhannonjanke.co.

So I will also send you a link Jade to put, a free human design chart website that you can pull a chart from, so that people can do that on body graph. io.

Jade Boyd: Perfect. Awesome. We’ll have all of that linked in the show notes too. So thank you so much again, Rhannon. This is great.

Rhannon Janke: Yeah. Thank you.