Voice Notes is a regular Voice Bureau special feature, in which we take our readers behind the scenes of an online brand presence we want to learn from — and into the professional life, creative lifestyle, and personal gestalt of a brand creator we admire and appreciate. Through a host of evocative questions and sentence starters, our goal is to portray the idiosyncratic, private approaches behind doing one’s excellent work in the world. (Abby’s note: I think of these Voice Notes Q&As as Paris Review-style author interviews. I hope you enjoy reading our contributors’ responses as much as we enjoy asking the questions.)

Abby (Chief Voice Bureau Officer) says:

The first time I ever saw Jen Louden, she was on Oprah. I distinctly remember wondering how someone got to claim the moniker of ‘Comfort Queen,’ and I had the sense, like a revelation, that this woman’s work was self-created, deeply felt, and somehow, magical. Over the past several years as I’ve watched Jen’s work evolve from a closer-up perspective (at least, reading her writing and interacting with her online feels more close up than watching her on the TV), I’ve learned that all three of my initial observations are true. Jen Louden is a writer and a teacher who is deeply committed to leading by example, and to sharing insights and perspectives with her readership that are the freshest, realest, and purest truths she’s uncovered lately. I admire her emotional openness and her transparency with iterating the work she offers the world.

It’s my pleasure to pilot our enhanced Voice Notes Q&A series with Jen Louden as the contributor.

Jennifer Louden, Writer & Teacher

→Jen Louden writes, speaks, and teaches on living a healthy, balanced life in the midst of busy-ness and flux, and then extending that healthy living to your world through social change. You can connect with her at JenniferLouden.com.

Also find Jen on: Twitter; Facebook; Pinterest; Instagram; Google+

Official Dossier

How do you like to introduce yourself, professionally? How do you want to be known?

“Writer.”  Then people ask, “What do you write?” and I usually say something like,“I wrote a series of self-help books about women’s self-care and well-being, and now I write a blog and teach online  and lead retreats on a variety of subjects.” It’s a bit lame. Truthfully, I’m always at a loss for how to describe what I do.

How long have you been in business for yourself, in total years? How long as this entity?

In dog years, 105. I’ve been self-employed as a writer for something like 25 years,  and my first book was published 21 years ago, and I went live on the interwebs in 1999.

What’s an important difference between you and other brands who offer something similar (AKA your clients’ other alternatives)?

Me. Everything I offer and teach comes through my life experience and my unique putting together of what I’ve learned. That’s one reason it’s hard to describe what I do — it’s always changing and growing with me, and it’s often so close to me.

What would we typically find you doing at 10:15 AM on a Tuesday morning? How about at 4:30 PM on a Friday afternoon? We want the real deal here, not a gussied-up version of events. ;)

10:15 Tuesday last week: I was on a webinar for a seminar I’m attending to help me write my next book. I need some help even after writing 6 books, a national magazine colum,n and who knows how many blog posts and screenplays.

10:15 two weeks ago: Basking in the glow of being married three days before and diddling with my email.

4:30 Friday last week: Taking my daughter and my mom to do errands and trying to be patient with my mom who has Alzheimers.

4:30 two weeks ago: Getting ready for our wedding weekend and floating on Cloud 9.

In other words, there is no ‘typical’; my life varies every single week (although I don’t get married that often) and I love that. I suspect it would be great if I were more of a scheduler, like my friends who write all their blogs posts every Monday for the month and review their week on Friday . . . and that’s just not me. Part of getting older for me is accepting my way of doing things is very, very intuitive, and sometimes (often) kind of messy.

What’s Your Myers-Briggs type?

I always forget. IN something J.

What’s your Enneagram type?

4 with a 3 wing. But I want to be a 7. (When I found out I was a 4, I walked around all weekend saying, “But I want to be a 7!” That’s how I knew I was a 4.)

(Abby’s Note: Uncannily, I’m also a 4 with a 3-wing. I’ve done a bit of research — of course — and I’ve learned that 4s with a 3-wing can sometimes seem like 7s.)

What’s your astrological profile? (Sun/Moon/Rising Signs, if known)

Sagittarius sun, Cancer moon, and Pisces rising —  a weird mix of expansive, hard working and deep feeling.

Where in the world do you live? And why?

I live on Bainbridge Island, Washington because I adore the Pacific Northwest — really love it here — and because 12 years ago I wanted to downsize and lead a less expensive life.

Show Us Your Voice Values 

MY TOP 3-5 VOICE VALUES ARE:

Love, Playfulness, Enthusiasm, Transparency

(Abby’s Note: Discover your own Voice Values when you subscribe to The Voice Bureau’s Insider Stuff e-letter. Look for the sign-up box in the upper righthand corner of the site.)

Which of your Voice Values made you say, Oh, duh. Of course that’s me. And why?

All of them; what a great quiz! What I do best is love people. I’m a cosmic cheerleader, finding the best in people and pointing it out to them, because so often they don’t see it. That’s what I do best in my live retreats and online events. And I love to do it! I also love — have to, actually — share what I’m learning. I have to share my process.

Any Voice Values that totally surprised you in showing up? As in, you really didn’t see that one coming?

My Community score was low — a 6. I love to introduce people to each other other and create safe nurturing containers, and then bow out.  I don’t want people to need me to keep going. But I also love community and belonging to one, so this is an area I’m working on for myself.

I also loved that the Helpfulness value was high for me because  serving is so key for me.

Choose one or two of your Voice Values & tell us how you can see these showing up in the way you communicate with readers/clients/customers, or in he way you run your business.

My top four values show up in everything I write or create. I don’t think you can read one of my posts or attend something I put together and not feel loved, played with, enthused, or not hear me say something honest and revealing about myself.  At, least I hope not.

Do you notice that your especially Right People clients seem to be drawn by one of your Voice Values, in particular? How can you tell?

People often tell me my transparency is of great value to them, which always catches me a bit off guard because it comes so naturally to me, and makes me hope I’m sharing in a way that is useful, not self-serving or “hey look at how cool my life is.” I hate that trend on the internet!

Tell us briefly about a product, service, or offer you’d like to share with The Voice Bureau’s readers. How can you see your Voice Values playing out in this offer, either in how you created it or in how you’re presenting it?

I’m offering a free series called The Shero’s School for Revolutionaries, and if you sign up and watch even one interview, you will certainly see Playfulness (or downright  goofy), Enthusiasm (I can’t sit still in these videos), and often Transparency (I bust myself on my own fears and ideas in many of the videos). I sure hope they all transmit Love.

The other value that frames the whole week long series is Helpfulness; I so want women to see themselves as Sheros, as creating their own life story, a story both grand and humble, a story based on choice and agency. I want women to see themselves as leaders and agents of change, because we all are!  I so want women to know that their inner work sows the seeds for effective outer action, and being in action brings us back to our inner work to learn and grow even more.

Personal

What 3 words best describe your lifestyle?

Creating. Quiet. Love-filled.

Among your close friends, you’ve been called the girl who . . .

Helps you figure out your life and makes you feel anything is possible.

Back in high school or college, you were (or could have been) voted Most Likely To . . .

Have Beer Soaked Adventures

. . . or Least Likely To . . .

Become a Personal Growth Writer and Teacher

What do you love to do or where do you love to go that would surprise us?

I love to go into nature as deep and wild as possible. I love to go white water canoeing. I love anything outdoors, anything connected to wildness.

Finish this sentence: I can never get enough . . .

Inner peace and freedom.

The iPhone app I wouldn’t want to live without is

The map function. I get lost going from the bedroom to the kitchen.

Process & Atmospherics

Tell us about your creative process in your business. What does it look like?

Ideas float or pop or sizzle into my awareness and get captured — usually  in Evernote or on the voice memo app on my iPhone or on a slip of paper. I get excited, positive this is it, the best idea ever. And then, later, I review the it idea and 95% of the time, it’s not so . . . it.  But often there is a seed or a repeat of something that is brewing, forming, taking shape. It takes me years to put together my ideas, to weave and build them, to see the themes of what I care about. It’s about capturing and paying attention.

How do you get yourself creatively unblocked, if/when you ever are?

Walking in the woods; reading poetry; hugging my dogs; talking to a creative friend; taking a nap; mind maps and timed free writes; deadlines because I owe someone something; not taking myself so seriously!

Any have-to-have inspirational rituals you partake in, or totems you must have nearby, in order to Do Your Thing?

I meditate most mornings. I have a little altar by my desk. I have a rock from my Taos retreat that says “I am a writer” on my desk to help me remember and a heart stone a dear friend gave me.

Branding & Biz Dev

What iteration of your website/business/brand are we looking at? (If you can remember!)

I have had four websites for my main brand, two more for sub brands. Each website has been tweaked many times. This is the fourth site for my main brand, and the 3rd tweak. We are due for a good tweak!

How long did you operate your business before you felt you’d really hit your stride?

I hit my stride pretty soon because my first book became a bestseller only a few years into my writing career. My issue has been reinventing myself over the years, keeping it fresh for me and useful to others. Early success is kind of a double edged experience; it made it harder to sell myself and put myself out there, given that I hadn’t had to for so long.

What big mistake did you make (maybe more than once) in your business that, in hindsight, really held you back?

Not owning the space of being a personal growth teacher with more confidence. Playing down my strengths, dismissing myself, not having strong boundaries, not getting enough support. All of these were expensive and painful. And yes, sometimes I still do them.

What’s the best business or branding advice you’ve ever received and implemented?

It’s your business; you can seek advice, hire great people, but you must make and own your decisions.

What business, productivity,  or creativity book — or two or three — has been a revelation to you?

Eric Maisel’s Fearless Creating because he said it’s normal to feel anxious when you are creating. That was a huge light bulb moment for me.

Do you have a business Achilles heel? If so, what is it and how do you work around it?

I rarely leave enough time for all that needs to be done and then get stressed and shut down. I’m terrible at planning out more than a few months. My goal for 2014 is spaciousness + profit.

Blogging. Talk to us about your intent or strategy there.

I write to know what I think. I write to serve. I write to exchange ideas with my readers. I write because I have to and I LOVE that people can read it so soon after I finish.

Why are you on social media? How do you use it?

First I discovered Twitter and I adored that I didn’t feel all alone in my studio — I had a “water cooler!” Then, Facebook, because I wanted to know what my daughter was up to — and then that expanded to be an adult hangout place although I was slow to spend a lot of time there. My other favorite site is GoodReads because I love to track everything I read. I also use Instagram from time to time, but only for fun.

At first I used all social media, and often still do, to connect with amazing people, and also to see what other people are learning and reading — to expand my world and feed my heart. I also use it to tell people what I’m up to and to share what I care about, especially what I’m reading and what social causes need our attention.

What’s the one system or process you’ve implemented in your business that you’re proud of?

Better support. This has been huge!

What’s your next big business or branding challenge?

To bring together my stories of loss and change with the work I’ve been doing around the Shero’s journey and see if there is a book there.

To stand up and claim my power and voice as a teacher with more confidence!

Right People Rules 

Give us one or two traits you really appreciate or value about your Right People readers and clients. What makes this type of person such a good fit for the way you deliver value?

Smart – I can’t believe what smart women show up in my world.

Caring – I attract women who care about helping the world in a sustainable, joyous, creative way. Woo-hoo!

Open – Women who are willing to dance wildly, to hoot and holler, to do yoga in the moonlight, to write their hearts out  — curious sheros.

These traits make them a good fit because — doh! — they are fun to teach and learn from. They are the best tribe ever!

What, secretly (up until now), is your favorite thing to do for a client?

Pray for them.

What’s the best compliment you’ve ever gotten from a client?

You opened my whole world up. You showed me a me I never knew was possible. You changed the trajectory of my whole life.

In the comments, we’d love for you to:

Tell us what spoke to you in this interview with Jen. We’re listening and looking forward to saying hello.

(Image Credit: (c) 2011 Darrah Parker. All Rights Reserved.)

P.S. 

Want to nominate yourself or a brand you admire for a Voice Notes Q&A feature? Details here.