120. Jen Darling's Formula for Success: Aligning Energy and Purpose in Business

llness, launching in December: 2024

Jen: Ah, I'm so happy to be here with both of you amazing leaders.

Cinthia: Oh, yay, Jen's! I met Jen a few years back, and you really are a force of nature. When you pop up, wherever you pop up, all of a sudden, there's like a spark in the air, like electric static type of thing. People kind of like, boost up a little bit. That's just who you are, and the fact that you are also—it's not on here—a Pound Fit instructor, it really makes sense who you are energetically. I love that. What Michelle and I are so impressed with is that you run multiple successful businesses. And in particular, you have this incredible, successful business in sales, marketing, specifically in LinkedIn. You also know how to charge up people, amp 'em up, and then you decided to move everything—physically, emotionally, you know, all energetically—to Bliss Hydration and Wellness. Can we talk about that? Like, how in the hell did that happen? What made you shift up, and how are you feeling with all this?

Jen: Isn't it crazy? So I went from being in corporate advertising sales and sales management that I had done my whole life, and then I decided to leave my company and basically become a consultant, but still in the areas of sales and marketing and leadership and mindset—like all that was a thread throughout my whole entire professional career. And then now here I am, launching an IV vitamin hydration and medical weight loss business, which is in a totally different industry, which is in the health and wellness industry. And I'll tell you what sounds like, it's so crazy a shift, but it's not really. There's really, it's been a red thread through my whole life of how I got there. What happened was, when I look back, I could, you could say maybe there was a shift, or like a singular moment that said, Aha, I want to do this, but not really. When I look back and I think of my whole life, I've been tired my whole life. And I was tired in college. I remember thinking to myself, I'm so tired. And here I am, like, you know, 20 years old. It's not a time in life to be tired. And I felt tired. I remember walking into a gas station when I was doing advertising sales and pumping gas, and there was a guy at the station taking your money, you know, at the just taking your money for a gas. And I walked in there, he said, How are you doing today? And I said, I'm so tired. And this is now, now I'm like, in my late 20s and early 30s. And he said, "The whole, whole United States, all of you Americans are tired." And I was like, oh my gosh, you know, like, okay, I'm not just alone, I'm tired. And then I worked my way out of my business and started my own company, which was doing LinkedIn training, sales training, keynote speaking. And I thought, well, this is going to do it. This is going to help me, make me not tired. I'm still tired. Still tired. Three different episodes, three different times, decades in my life, and I'm still tired. So I now have my own business, and now everything is in my control. My life is in my control. What I do with my time is in my control. How I spend my money is in my control. Who I work with, I'm working with happy people only. Now that's like a priority in my business. Only positive people. If I sniff your negativity, you're out, like you're not a client, you're not—we don’t work together. This is rule of thumb. So I was doing all the things, and I had a very big awareness: I'm so tired. I was talking to a coach of mine, and she said, "Have you ever thought about talking to a functional doctor, a Chinese practitioner, somebody like totally different than your western medical people?" And I said, you know, I'm open to anything. So I did. I hired this Chinese doctor, and we’re in COVID, so we can't meet in person, but that's okay. She can do her work virtually, and I met with her on a phone call after I sent her in some hair samples so she could test my hair follicles on this really cool, amazing device that was developed in Germany. And she tested these hair follicles, and she came back with this, like 5 million page report of all kinds of things. And what she discovered, and what was one of the biggest Ahas for me was that I was deficient. I was vitamin deficient in a couple of really key vitamins, vitamin B12, and I had malabsorption, like I could, I could take pills, but they would not absorb in my body. I would not get the effects I was by, was vitamin D deficient, which is a sunlight energy, you know, vitamin that you get from the sun, but I didn’t want to go out, you know. And I mean, the best way to get that is through the sun, but I didn’t want to go out and burn. So I was vitamin D deficient, and this deficient many, many ways. But then also, like, I think I was probably energetically deficient as well. But let's just start with vitamins. At the same time, I've been phobic of blood and needles my entire life. Paper cut, pass out. Don’t even say the word needles, pass out. Little, tiny blood draw, pass out. Like, phobic, like I’m going to die. I never had kids because too many needles involved in that, that deal, and so here I was left with a decision: did I want to remain energetically drained physically, or was I willing to take a poke to try to improve the situation? I lived in Northern California, in a really small town. There was nothing there that she'd recommended. Just go to this vitamin B12 happy hour, she told me. So couldn’t find anything. But then a few months later, I'm sitting in my hairdresser, where you get all the good info at your hair salon, and I hear them talking about this new location that's doing these B12 injections. And I was, I mean, it was like, whoa. So I signed up. I went there, got my first blood draw, just to confirm the IV vitamin deficiency. I'm sorry, the vitamin deficiency. And I went there to confirm it. And the medical, Western medical blood work confirmed what the Chinese doctor confirmed from hair follicles, the same exact panel. And by the way, when I got my IV, my blood draw, I passed out. But I had told them in advance. I’m with nurses, some of the nursing and medical staff. I had three people taking care of me, so I felt like they’ve seen people pass out. Like, this is not a, so I did, I passed out. I woke back up after the blood draw, and she said, you know, her name’s Kayla, by the way, very dear to my heart. Kayla said, "Jen, you already passed out. The hard part’s over. The catheter is still in your arm. Would you like a small bottle of saline?" I said, well, the hard part’s already done, so give it to me. And that was my first IV. Like I said, Yes, thing, I took some calming medication to get me through the next few years’ worth of IVs, but I went back every other week. Every twice a month, I went to get vitamins, and I am, and I thought, well, this is really helping my energy. And it was, it was helping my energy a lot. Regaining my energy, I was no longer having to take two-hour naps during the day to have energy. I was regaining my energy. There’s lots of components of energy. I mean, there’s mindset pieces too, that I’m not going to talk about right now today, because you guys can carry that conversation. But as far as physically, when I discovered that I really needed this IV vitamin hydration, it was filling me up. And not only that, but I was also getting a 45-minute session that was my busy brain relaxing for 45 minutes and knowing that somebody else was taking care of me. So I’m getting physically vitamins, and emotionally I was getting cared for. And as a CEO that does a lot and has a lot of activity in her life, getting that downtime and those vitamins was really helping me. So through all that, I decided that this was something I wanted to help people with, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and they kept asking questions of Kayla and Kayla, and I told Kayla, I want to have my own center. And I kept peeling and gnawing back at it and taking pieces. And then my husband got let go from his job. Well, actually, he quit his job, and this was our opportunity. I thought here, here we are now. We are going to move back home. Was in California, moved home to Michigan, and I’m going to start my IV hydration place. And then we went through a bunch of changes there with the move and selling the house and all these things. And then in July, we got back to Michigan, and I was like, Well, now’s the time. And here we are, sort of six months later. I'm very close, like a very close opening. I have my supply. I have my products, but that’s my supply. So within the next couple of weeks, we will be starting to serve people in this very new, very new way. And then I’m praying that people will see the benefits, and there will be enough people that that want to take advantage, take control of their wellness in this way that will be able to serve a lot of people and ways that they don’t have to go to the system and try to get approved, but they can make choices on their own to be advocates of their wellness and holistic wellness. So that’s my, that’s my story of how I got into this. It was really, not really just a one thing. It was like a lifetime of getting here.

Cinthia: Well, yes, I agree, and it's a fab story.

Jen: I believe, first of all, I'll tell you about my belief system. I believe that our life can be summed up in five, in five punctuation marks, okay, a period, a question mark, an exclamation mark, a question mark, and a period. Okay, so the period is, I'm born. The question mark is, who am I? The exclamation mark is, I am. The question mark is, what’s my purpose? And then the period is, I die. So to me, I feel like your LinkedIn took you from question mark to exclamation mark, and that your IV bliss hydration is taking you from I am to what’s my purpose. And so there’s a big thing. The other component is that here you are in Northern California, having a great life, and then you move back to family, which is, again, one love to a bigger love. So can you talk about that? Like, what made you decide to go back? Because I don’t think it was just about... Michigan doesn’t have as many, you know? IV...

Jen: No, no, no, that definitely was not it. Not that. They don’t... That is a fact. Like, you know, that is true, but pretty well, no, that was not it. So I actually, I grew up in Michigan, and I went to college here. I graduated from Western Michigan University. I loved it. I loved being in college. I loved being a student. And when I graduated, I moved to Northern Michigan, which was very cold. And there I met my husband, and I knew I had known a long time that I wanted to move somewhere that was warm with no humidity and no snow. And if you look at the United States, there’s really only one spot, oh, and it had to be near water, sorry, because I could go Arizona, but I had to be near a body of water, because I grew up on Lake Michigan water. I’m very close to water. You know, that was part of my... We were at the beach all summer, so I had needed these. There’s only one... There’s only one place, that’s California, Florida’s humid, California is not, so we... When my husband had an interview for California, he was my boyfriend at the time, I said, I want to go. Let’s go to California. I want to go with you. So he and I moved to California. We were there for 27 years. I love California. I am a California girl. I love California. As I got older, I had—and I had been away from my family. I didn’t really have a great family life growing up, so I wasn’t... Moving was not a big deal. I was like, sayonara, I’m out of here. And I went there. But then as I got older, my values and my interest in being more time with my family, with my parents, specifically. But then, while I was away, I had 24 nieces and nephews, and I have two brothers, and, you know, so my family was growing while I was away, and I was coming back to visit, but it just wasn’t enough time. I decided I wanted more time with my parents before they leave the Earth. That was the bottom line there is that I want to be with my mom and my dad. They were teenagers when they had me, so they’re still pretty young. I want to do stuff with them while they’re still able, and I’m able, and they’re still on the Earth. So Michigan just became a natural, like, let’s go back home and let’s spend some time with our family. And that’s why the IV center got here, not because there are no IV centers here, true, but that’s not why. The why was because I wanted to be with my parents.

Cinthia: I think it’s beautiful, right? Because what you did is, is that you have that... This is what I find interesting, is that your LinkedIn keynote speaker, you can do that from anywhere.

Jen: Mmm-hmm, right.

Cinthia: Yeah. We've gone back to Michigan in that modality. But what's happened is that you decided to make a huge shift. The shift is from being remote or being more flexible to actually having brick-and-mortar, and that you decided that you’re going to take it back home, right?

Jen: Yeah, really beautiful thing. I also believe that there’s a huge healing in leaving and then coming back, because you get to see it from different eyes, and then you get to make reparations in accordance to what’s alignment with you, right, in order to have a more robust, more authentic life, which we never talk about in business.

Cinthia: So let’s shift gears because there needs to be authenticity in business. You know business better than anybody. You know how to infuse it, and funny, you’re in an infusion business, and you were in that. So, you know, let’s talk about authenticity in business and how it makes it super. That’s what makes it so unique, and what makes it robust. When people are feeling like they’re flailing in their business, and they’re finding that they have kind of lost themselves, what do you say? How do you help them out? How do you help them find that key piece, or the key pieces? I believe you are really good at that.

Jen: Yeah, probably from personal experience. You know, having to do it over and over. There are many, many times I have wanted to hang up and say this IV business... What am I doing? I'm crazy. I'm... You have to be an RN, first off, to give somebody an IV. I cannot give somebody an IV. That’s not in my... I’m not able to do that. I don’t have the training certification license for that. What is it, wire, right? So what in the world am I doing in this business, right? It’s so easy to think of hanging up the hanger, and I’ve done it a million times, telling myself this is not what... What am I doing? Keynote speaking, same thing, like, what am I doing? And I... And the comparison, I just... There gets really strong, because you have a lot of—I have a lot of really great, amazing keynote speaker friends. And so it’s like, what am I doing? Why am I even thinking this? Who am I to do this? And then what happens is I stop, and I think, this is all I can think about. All I can think about is IV hydration business and medical weight loss. So I have a story there too, and keep making the world a better, happier, more energetic place. And so if that’s all I can think about, I need to keep doing what? Keep taking some steps to move forward in that, like stop fighting the universal principle that this is where the direction I need to go. Yes, it’s hard. It’s hard work. I’m not joking, you know, it’s hard work trying to get this IV place started. I’m not an RN, and I don’t have all the answers, of course, so I just have to really get back and grounded to what is the thing that is really calling me? Because for a long time, there was no calling. To be honest with you, a long time, the reason I’m not in advertising and sales is because I was excellent at it. I made a lot of money at it. I helped a lot of people. But it was not something that was attached to my heart in a calling, right? It wasn’t that I had to find—I had to find other ways to fulfill myself. And I had to tell myself the money I’m making here, this is a means to something else, that I’m fulfilling my life everywhere else. This business is different, because this is the life, this is the life, the life force of me. And by the way, what’s so interesting about this is I buried myself into studying vitamins. Now I watch as much education as I can. I watch as much... I have a pharmacy meeting. I'm at the pharmacy meeting like, I’m going to all the things. And when I was watching education on B vitamins, the pharmacist said, "B vitamins are the life force." B vitamins, without B vitamins, our bodies and our brains don’t function. So it is quite amazing, like how powerful B vitamins, and then just that, to have named my business Bliss starting with a B. I hadn’t even done that. Like that was not on purpose, intentional. It was just a word that kept coming up that I did. So I think it’s like... to get back to your question, whatever that thing is that’s just sitting on your shoulder, gnawing and gnawing and gnawing and gnawing at you, even if you don’t have the experience, even if you don’t have the training and education, even if you don’t have the background, but if it keeps gnawing at you, like you gotta go for it. Find some help, find the people to surround yourself with to help. Because I... Last thing I want to do is have that last period that you talked about, death, be there, and I didn’t go chase the thing that was gnawing at me because I was too scared to do it.

Cinthia: That’s brilliant. And I completely agree. I had a near-death experience in almost a year ago, almost a year ago today, and got to see the light, got to see the tunnel, right? That’s a different story. However, as I was going, I knew that there was a choice, and the choice was, do I go? Because it sure is comfortable, it sure feels attractive to go to the light. Or I started crying because I said, I will have led an empty life, and I have kids. It wasn’t empty that way, right? But it was empty because I hadn’t fulfilled my personal passion, right? And so I love that you talked about that, the thing that you—that drives you, the calling, right? The calling.

Jen: And for me, I think it can change over time. I don’t think it has to be like that. I have a single life’s purpose, or maybe I’ll get to the end and figure out I did. I don’t know. Right now, at this time, like I don’t feel like, oh, I have the single life’s purpose. It’s like, I feel like it could change. I can have multiple purposes. I could have different intentions, all of that. But I also know that... and things can be easy. There have been things like LinkedIn, honestly, that has been an easy street for me, super easy. And there are things that have been easy, and I love taking Easy Street. And a lot of times I fight and I make things harder than they need to be. Happens all the time. But what I know in my brain is that my brain wants to... would like to give up a lot, because it’s just easier just to stay comfy in my pajamas with the hot cocoa sitting by the fire, than to go out and really make waves and shake things up and do things that I’m uncomfortable with. So I’ve got to keep reminding myself, whatever that gnawing is like, just keep... like, let’s not quit today. So if you need a break and a breath today, take a break, but that gnawing is going to be there tomorrow and the next day and the next day. So let’s just take one step today.

Cinthia: I love that. I love that. I’m really sad that we haven’t really had a chance to talk about your books because you are, you know, you’ve penned many books. And I do want to ask one thing, which is, and then before we wrap up—and I’m tongue-tied, because I’m trying to figure out how to phrase it—which is, having your LinkedIn business that you’re still involved in, it’s vital, and it’s not your passion. It’s, you know, in the thing, it’s like the not who I am, but it was from the "Who am I" phase, right? And that you are moving into your IV bliss, and that you have both. And so I... can you talk about having both? Because you’re talking, we just talked about the calling and that you have both. A lot of people, I believe, don’t think that they can have both, and that you actually need both for at least a little while. So can you talk a little bit more about that? A little bit of advice to people who are afraid to take that leap to the calling?

Jen: Yeah, I think that our world gives a lot of dichotomies. You need to make a choice of this or that, this or that, and I do it in my brain all the time—black and white, Yin or Yang, this or that. Choice between A and B, I try to find a way to go, Can I have both? Or not even can I? It’s how can I have both? So sometimes I need to position them into where they belong, and also sometimes I need to see the integration between the two. So I got some really great advice recently from a friend of mine, you, Cinthia. Oh, so great. And it’s like just... I had, I put it into perspective like this. I have so much time to do this, focus on that, and then focus on the time on the other piece. So doing both, but prioritizing and managing time around it is one thing. The other is... The thing I love about the IV business is that I am, this business is different because I’m building a team. I’m looking for support. I’m looking for other specialists who can do things I do not want to run this business trying to do it all on my own. That would mean I need to go back to nursing school at a minimum. No. I’ve found a way to bring my family into the business with me. My niece is a nurse, and she didn’t have enough schedule, so I found another nurse too, who’s remarkable and awesome as well. And when we’re looking for people, and like, the requirement is this, they need to be positive, awesome, amazing people, and they need to know how to do a good poke. But if all they know is how to do a good poke, and they’re not awesome, amazing, positive, wonderful people, who they are every single day, how they show up, then they’re not the right people for us. So I’m surrounding myself with people to do the business. And I just see myself just... but I see myself as the founder, the orchestrator, the conductor. The LinkedIn business is a little different, because I have just brain magic that I work with that business there’s—I haven’t found a person who could do what I do that way with LinkedIn. So I’m going to continue to do that. But the thing is, these two things belong together, because LinkedIn is a powerful medium for business professionals, and we need—and especially for women in business, if you are listening... The thing is, we need this platform, because I believe that women need to exercise their voices more, and one way you have total control to do that is a social media platform called LinkedIn. So one of my biggest goals is to support women business professionals to have more energy, maybe through vitamin hydration and IV, and also through cardio drumming, exercise, and movement, but also to be powerful on stages, screens, and boardrooms, and we can really put our voices out there and be seen as mentors and leaders by putting our arms around and using that social media platform. So funny, in my brain, I actually see all of this together. It’s all linked, and it is in support of people who want to be thought leaders and make a difference and make a better world, and make a happier world and make a more fulfilling, joyous world. Because right now, we’re in crazy times, and there’s a lot of stuff competing for sucking our energy. And I want to see how can we infuse energy in many different ways.

Cinthia: I love that. Thank you so very much. Before we drop off, what you got going on?

Jen: Oh, 5 million things today. What I have going on is I’m going to be going on to a success call with the team that I work with for my IV hydration business. That’s... that’s what we got going on. We got that going on, and then I’ll just end it like this. One last thing personally I have going on. My dad came by yesterday. I haven’t been able to have that happen in 27 years. So that was really cool. My dad came by yesterday, and he said, "Could you please give me a list of Christmas things you want for Christmas? I’m going to go shopping." And I struggled with this request. I really, really struggled because there weren’t, there aren’t things I want for Christmas from my dad. So I sent him this text this morning. I said, "Dad, I really appreciate you asking me what I want for Christmas." Oh, I might tear up... I am, yeah. I said, "But what I really want is a date with my dad."

Cinthia: Oh, that’s beautiful.

Jen: So, bracelet, don’t get me stuff, pick me out for dinner and a show. That would be the best gift you could ever get.

Cinthia: Oh, I love that. Thank you. Thank you for giving Jen on so many levels. I’m teary-eyed too. Can you tell? For giving on so many levels? Your sage advice, these amazing stories that we can relate to and your heart.

Jen: Thank you so much, Cinthia. This has been amazing. I really appreciate you having me on and letting me share my story. I hope that it resonates with people out there who might be feeling stuck or unsure about their own calling or what they’re meant to do next. It’s all about trusting that little voice inside you and taking the steps to make it happen, even if they seem scary. And like you said, sometimes you just need to take one step today, and then tomorrow, take another.

Cinthia: Absolutely. I think that’s a perfect note to end on. For anyone listening who’s been feeling that little tug inside, whether it’s related to starting something new or transitioning, just know that it’s okay to take it one step at a time. Sometimes, the universe gives us a little nudge, and that’s exactly what we need to start moving in the direction we’re meant to go. Jen, thank you again for sharing your story. It’s such a beautiful example of following your inner calling, embracing change, and staying aligned with your truth, even when the path seems uncertain.

Michelle: I couldn’t agree more. It’s all about being true to yourself and recognizing when it’s time to pivot, evolve, and go after what really lights you up. I’m so inspired by your journey, Jen. Thank you for sharing your wisdom, your energy, and your vulnerability with us today.

Jen: Thank you both so much. It’s been an honor to be here and share in this conversation. And thank you to everyone who’s listening. I hope you’re walking away with some new insights, some new inspiration, and maybe even a little spark to take action on that thing that’s been gnawing at you.

Cinthia: That’s right! And for anyone out there who’s ready to dive deeper into their own journey, whether it’s through mentorship, mindset work, or just creating more energy in your life, we’re here for you. So please reach out, connect with us, and let’s continue this conversation.

Michelle: Yes, definitely. We love helping people take those steps toward clarity, action, and success. So if you’re ready to transform, come join us. Thanks for tuning in, everyone, and we’ll see you next time on Mind Power Meets Mystic.

Cinthia: Bye for now, everyone. Stay magical!

Jen: Bye! Keep shining.