Jenn Jett Barrett: Go Ugly Early – Secrets to Launching Your Business

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Jenn Jett Barrett is a speaker, event host, and the founder of the Well Summit, a unique experience that creates space to unpack the things holding people back from peace, flourishing, and union with Jesus. 

In this episode, Jenn shares how she went from designing textiles in corporate America to being a full-time entrepreneur and how taking a month-long break from the internet changed the course of her business…

Press play for the full interview or keep reading below!

Designing Textiles and Wedding Invitations

After graduating from college, Jenn says, “I knew I didn’t want to teach, but I didn’t know what else you could do with an art degree.”

She ended up working in corporate America for major retailers like Walmart and JCPenny, designing textiles for clothes and home decor. But like so many creatives, Jenn dreamed of starting her own business. So she started designing wedding invitations on the side of her busy day job. 

For two and a half years, Jenn burned the candle at both ends—until 2014, when she took the leap into full-time entrepreneurship.  

From Designer to Unofficial Coach

In the beginning, Jenn said yes to any project that came her way: logo design, wedding invitations, consulting. Along the way, she met more women entrepreneurs and heard their stories, and she started to notice a common theme.

“We’d go in to talk about branding, but I’d hear in their voice all their insecurities and fear, the lies they believed about themselves.” 

Many of the women she talked to were stuck in a fixed mindset or negative comparison to other business owners. So Jenn, who describes herself as a natural cheerleader, started coaching them.

The Beginning of the Well Summit

Toward the end of 2015, Jenn was sitting in church when inspiration struck. The topic of conversation was getting involved with different ministries, and she wondered why there wasn’t a community like that for women entrepreneurs. 

Jenn started the Well Studio (later the Well Summit) to unite Christian women entrepreneurs. “They were a community of women who needed community.” 

The Unexpected Outcome of a 30-Day Break From the Internet

But even as a leader, Jenn wasn’t immune to comparison or negative self-talk. She started looking around at what other people were doing in the industry, other community groups and conferences, and wondered what she had to offer.

That was when one of her friends challenged her to get off the internet for a month. “It was probably the healthiest thing I could’ve done,” Jenn says.

She used the time to write and self-publish a devotional, 31 Days of Prayer for the Dreamers and Doers—and many of her readers attended the first Camp Well retreat. 

The First Well Summit Retreat

2015 was all about big conferences. But Jenn felt like the Lord was pulling her in the opposite direction, telling her to host a small, intimate retreat in the mountains. So she invited 30 women to join her.

Just five weeks before the event, Jenn’s personal life fell apart. She was in the middle of a painful divorce…and it was too late to cancel.

Instead of hiding what she was going through, Jenn shared her vulnerability with the group and was met with loving support. “That was the moment that shaped the future of the Well Summit.”

Going All In on the Well Summit

For a few years, Jenn grew her brand design business alongside the Well Summit retreats and community. Until her mastermind group asked her: “What would it look like to start saying no?”

Jenn realized the design work was a safety net. It gave her added security, but it wasn’t life-giving. So she started saying no to the design work to focus on the Well Summit.

Community was essential for Jenn’s recovery after the divorce. “Part of healing begins when we say out loud what we feel shame about…speaking that out loud takes away the power it has over our lives.”

Recovering From Workaholism

Jenn is a self-described former workaholic. But for her, the addiction to work was a symptom of something deeper. “Work became an idol, something I strived for because I wasn’t experiencing value and worth without it.”

The way out was defining what’s truly important in her life—something I encourage all of my students in The Blueprint Model to do, so you can spend your money according to your values.

These days, Jenn experiences plenty of value outside of work. She’s happily remarried and she and her husband choose to “live small, adventure big.” 

“My journey to get here has been a story I never would have chosen, but one I would never trade,” Jenn says. If she could look back and tell herself one thing, it would be: “You will not be able to imagine what is to come. As hard as it gets, keep looking to the Lord everyday.”

More from this Episode

To hear the full story and more about Jenn, press play on the player above for the full interview or click here to download the transcript.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

The Well Summit

31 Days of Prayer for the Dreamers and Doers 

Fall 2024 Camp Well Retreat– use code WILDFLOWERS for $150 off registration

Amber Housley Conference 

Strengths Finder test

Upwork 

Zapier 

Thrivecart

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Jenn Jett Barrett

Jenn is the founder of The Well Summit which exists to cultivate experiences that gather those who sit in the tension of feeling too much and not enough. She hosts two intentional soul care retreats a year that help women unpack the things holding them back from peace and flourishing and help them repack what is true about who God is and who he says they are. Over the last 7 years over 500 women have journeyed through Camp Well and it has been her greatest joy to have a front row seat to watch their lives be transformed. She lives an incredibly abundant life in Northwest Arkansas married to her best friend. Her journey has been a story she never would have chosen, but one she would never trade.

CONNECT WITH JENN:

Website | Jenn’s Instagram | FREE Reflect & Refocus Worksheets

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