Redraw Your Path
Redraw Your Path
Freedom Is Wonderful, But Now What? | Ep. 029 - Jenell Jones
In this episode of Redraw Your Path, host Lynn Debilzen speaks with Jenell Jones, who shares her incredible journey of transformation from a chaotic childhood to a life of adventure and empowerment. Jenell recounts her path from being a teen mother to a successful police officer, and eventually to a life of solo RV travel and entrepreneurship.
They discuss pivotal moments, the importance of self-reliance, and overcoming societal expectations. Key topics include: overcoming a chaotic upbringing, the importance of making empowered choices, and navigating life transitions with purpose and resilience.
Tune in for a dynamic discussion on life and growth!
About Jenell:
In 2019, at 60 years old, Jenell sold everything she owned , bought a 36 foot RV and drove off with no plan except to see the country. Since then she has driven to Alaska, looped the US 3 times, and visited 41 of the 62 national parks. She has enjoyed the challenge of flat tires, a tornado, and coming face to face with a moose on the Alaska highway. She is the CEO and travels with the Wandering Individuals Network RV Club.
Connect with Jenell:
Website: https://wanderingindividualsnetwork.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jones-jenell-a50892161/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/winsrvclub/
Resources mentioned:
Connect with Lynn:
- www.redrawyourpath.com
- www.lynndebilzen.com
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynndebilzen/
Hey friends, I'm Lynn Debilzen and welcome to Redraw Your Path, a podcast where I share stories of people who have made big changes in their lives and forged their own unique paths. I talk with guests about their moments of messiness, fear, and reframing on their way to where they are now. My goal is to inspire you about the shape your life could take. So let's get inspired. Hello, hello, it's your friend Lynn and I'm thrilled to share this really interesting interview with you this week. I have the chance to sit down with Jenell Jones. she was just such a delight to talk with and has such an awesome energy that you are going to hear Throughout the interview, here's a little bit about Jenell. In 2019, at 60 years old, Jenell sold everything she owned, bought a 36 foot RV, and drove off with no plan except to see the country. Since then, she has driven to Alaska, looped the U. S. three times, and visited 41 of the 62 national parks. She has enjoyed the challenge of flat tires, a tornado, and coming face to face with a moose on the Alaska Highway. She is a CEO and travels with the Wandering Individuals Network, or WIN, RV club. she has a really, really windy and interesting path to get to where she is today. And I'm really excited to share her story. As always, feel free to connect with me Enjoy the interview. Jenell, welcome to Redraw Your Path today. I'm so glad you're joining. How are you?
Jenell:Good. Thanks, Lynn. Thanks for having me. I love the podcast, so I'm super excited to be a guest on it.
Lynn:Awesome. Thank you. That means so much. so where I like to start with guests is tell me about where and how you grew up. Tell me about little Jenell's life.
Jenell:Little Jenell's life in a word was chaotic. My parents had six kids. So right there that tells you everything you need to know. We lived in a trailer, two bedroom trailer. There were kids sleeping everywhere. It was chaotic. I mean, my parents tried, but you know, no money. All them kids, they were poor, uneducated themselves. I mean, just, typical right out of a movie. But I will say, even through all that, all six of us kids have become successful in our own way. like for instance, one of my brothers, I have three, there's three boys, three girls. One of my brothers drives a concrete truck. Well, okay. It's a tradesman, but he's been at that same job 18 years. You know what I mean? So each of us have been successful in our own right. But to answer your first, question, it was chaotic with no money. It was challenging My parents were. Very busy on getting the next thing on the table, going to the next, thing we had to go to, et cetera, as opposed to nurturing these kids to get an education. What do you want to be when you grow up? There was none of that. It was just sit down and eat and eat what's before you. We didn't have choices. There were no choices in our life. And I get it now as an adult, when you don't have any money and you've got six kids all wanting to eat something different. Yeah, no, no. We were completely told what to do, where to eat, what to wear, all hand me downs. So I grew up struggling with choices. It was the mid twenties before I realized, oh wow, I don't have to do everything everybody says. Or I don't have to go this way just because the wind's pushing me that way. Or, or my friends are going doing this crazy thing. I can have a And if I remember anything from my life, childhood besides chaos, it was the lack of choices.
Lynn:Interesting. I'm curious to hear, how that is applied now in your life. especially how you learned that in your mid twenties. very cool.
Jenell:Well, I would say the first really hard lesson I learned about a choice was when I was, barely 18. I had been dating this guy that was 26.
Lynn:Ooh.
Jenell:and remember, I'm very sheltered. We didn't go to movies. We, we had a TV in our house, but we got to watch 30 minutes a week of TV, period, period. And it was all, these are the shows you're allowed to watch, type thing. So when this man came around and saw me at school, I mean, right now, it just sounds so terrible. He saw me at school and I started dating him because. He said to. Remember, I didn't know there were choices. I didn't know to say, no, you're way too old for me, dude. No. And so of course, a 26 year old man, a grown man had all kinds of ideas for a little 17 year old. So I had a baby the week after I turned 18 because he wanted a baby. So, okay, I guess we have a baby. I mean, literally. Yeah, so then guess where he is now, or a year later. I don't even you know, he was gone type thing So that's the first time I would say really manifested itself in wow I need to learn because now I have this baby Who really saved my life because I realized I have to make good choices now for her Maybe I don't know how but I need to figure this out for her so that I can We don't repeat this. And that her and I don't end up on skid row because I can't make a decision or don't know how to make decisions for the both of us. In the best for the both of us, I should say.
Lynn:Yeah. When she was born, were you still at home with mom and dad and living in that, in the house with six kids? Yeah.
Jenell:imagine how that went over.
Lynn:And were you like older on the six kids? Younger? Middle?
Jenell:I'm the oldest.
Lynn:Oh, okay. So you were used to that parenting piece a little bit.
Jenell:I was totally used to it. And you would think, I started babysitting, not watching, babysitting kids at 10 years old. I'm 10 years old with, two little kids. My mom had four kids, un 1-year-old, 2-year-old, 3-year-old, and a 4-year-old. bam. My mom had six kids by the time she was 29. So, you know, more, more bad choices, or more not knowing about choices or however you want to say it. And I just, I knew I could not keep repeating that. I did not want that for the rest of my life. I mean, I'm 19 years old and this old lady already with a kid and working three jobs to, not to have these great things, but to eat, literally just to eat, Lynn. That was a real awakening moment in my life of the chaos and the choices. That was just like, this is stopping. My mom couldn't stop it. I'm stopping it right
Lynn:Wow. Do you remember having that thought as soon as you became a mom or did that come a little bit after that.
Jenell:honestly, and to tell you the truth, I never really thought about it like that until right now. I came across another man. And he wanted to have another baby. He wants to have a baby and we're going to live together and we're going to raise this one. And I, that's the first time I really said, no, I'm not doing this. No. looking back, that's when it was, if I had to pinpoint a time is when, no, I'm not, I can't, I can barely take care of this one. I'm not doing another one of this just because you, want to be with me, a pretty 19 year old. It's not happening.
Lynn:Yeah. Oh my gosh. what a powerful decision for you to make and stance for you to take at 19. And I'm sure that has set you up. so Jenell, before we head into what life looked like, can you ground us in where and how you're currently spending your days and then we'll go back and fill in the gaps.
Jenell:All right. So fast forward. Let's see. Fast forward 50 years. Oh my god. I can't believe it to say that. But fast forward. Let's say 50 ish years. Fast forward. And now I live a life that little 19 year old, that little 15 year old living in that trailer. Could not imagine. I live in a 36 foot RV and I travel full time. Now, you'll see other people live in their RVs, but they get an RV park, nice RV park or whatever, and they park and that's where they live. No, I travel. I move about every week, every 10 days. Occasionally, I'll see an RV resort and I'll stay there for a month. But for the last five straight years, I have traveled the country. I've looped the U. S. three times. I've been to Canada, all through Canada. I've been to Alaska. I've been to Mexico and I've done it solo.
Lynn:Wow. Oh my gosh. This is so exciting. And you're speaking to my heart a little bit with the travel. So very cool. I'm really excited to hear the in betweens. I'm curious, Jenell, before we like head into your first path, can you ground us geographically and where, where you grew up to?
Jenell:Yes, I was born and raised in Houston, Texas. Then when I was about sixth grade, somewhere in there, my family moved to Weatherford, Texas, which is this teeny tiny town. And it's not anymore, but at the time, there was a grocery store. In sixth grade, I was in one room with sixth and seventh graders. it was that small. It's about 30 minutes west of Fort Worth. I mean, it's God's country. Texas.
Lynn:Absolutely. Cool. And do you remember any, as you were becoming an adult as you became a mom for the first time. Were there any expectations you felt like your parents had or your community had for you?
Jenell:No. My expec Well, you know what? That's not true. I'm gonna go with yes. No on my parents. My parents, I remember my stepdad saying to me, you don't need an education because you're going to get married and have kids. and this was not that long ago. this was, mid 70s. It's not like it was 1940. he literally said those words to me. I remember exactly where I was sitting and I remember thinking, oh, okay, okay, but I love learning and I love to this day. So I was like, okay. And I remember that. So zero expectations, no one was surprised. I got married. They expected me to live in a trailer with more kids. That was no big deal. Then when I got out into society and was around more people. Then I found expectations of that I'm supposed to be this poor mom on welfare. Oh, you're not on welfare. I can't tell you how many people said I never took welfare. I never took any help. I'm not against people that do. I'm glad it's out there. But for me, and people be like, Oh, are you sure you're not on this? You're not. No, I'm not. I am not on any of that. So if there were expectations, they were super low. And It's easy to match that. It's easy to, to, to come up to a low expectation, but I knew, I knew there was something for me. I just, I knew it. I'm smarter than this. my one thing I had going for me, Lynn, back then, and it's sad to say this, was that I was pretty. That's the only thing I had going for me, I thought. I was always told, oh, you're so pretty, people in the store. Then when I had my daughter, my gosh, look at two little models. cause I'm a kid with a kid. So I've always heard I was pretty. I never heard I was smart. But I kind of started to realize, and it was mid twenties, literally, before I realized, well, I'm actually smart. I know that. I could figure that out. I, and I didn't do anything about it, but I just remember starting to come into that, oh, I, I'm also smart. Oh my gosh. Then, There, but there was nothing, no one expected me to go to college. No one ever said, you should go to college, you should, you should. And then when I finally went to college, Lynn, I worked full time, had a kid, carried a full load and made 4. 0, made the Dean's List.
Lynn:Hmm. cow, holy cow. So it sounds like those expectations were really like, bare bones, you don't need an education. all you're going to do is get married and have kids. And it's interesting, your observation, and I'm going to link this other episode in the show notes, but I had another guest on whose family was so focused on, you are smart, you are smart, you are smart, and never wanted their daughter being told she was pretty. And so how that comes up is, for different people in the opposite direction. It's just I'm making connections in my head right now. And it's
Jenell:Yes,
Lynn:really fascinating.
Jenell:I haven't listened to that episode, but I'm going to go back and find it myself because I'd like to hear the other side of that. I'd like to hear what that looks like from no expectations. And I'll tell you how that manifests itself, Lynn, to this day, and I'm 60 years old, to this day, it manifests itself as I'm an overachiever. If you're doing it, not to compete with you, but if you're doing it, I want to do it with you. And then I want to supervise everybody else. If I'm on a committee for a charity, for a garage sale, I I'll lead it next year. I'll do it this year, but next year I'm going to lead it. We're going to make twice the money. I mean, it's exhausting, frankly.
Lynn:Yeah, absolutely.
Jenell:I've always, since I started realizing I could do this, It's, that's how it manifests itself with me. I'm way overachiever.
Lynn:Okay. Do you remember any of the first moments where you first had that thought of, Oh, I am smart. Like I can be more than what is expected of me. Do you remember any of those moments?
Jenell:I remember exactly where I was, the exact date, the exact time, and everything. I was sitting on a bar stool, in a bar, fun bar, I'd been to a bunch of times, and it was the night before my birthday, November 22nd, and it was 1987. I'm sitting in that bar, cute little outfit, talking to the boys, this and that, and then it got quiet, because people started going home. It's the night before Thanksgiving. Well, it's, 10 o'clock and I have nowhere to go. My kid wasn't there. I had nowhere to go. And I realized I am super lonely. This is not the life I want for me. How long are you going to do this? how long are you going to do this? And so I remembered Lynn finishing that drink, putting it on the counter and going, I'm not doing this anymore, tomorrow begins the rest of my life. I don't know what that looks like, but tomorrow begins the rest of my life. And Lynn, to this day, I've never sat on another bar stool just for fun. I've gone with friends and on a date or whatever, but I've never sat on another bar stool just because it's something to do, somewhere to go, whatever. I frankly hate bars now. They're boring as hell sitting there. I think of all the years I wasted sitting there. But Lynn, I literally remember, that's it. I'm done. I'm changing my life. And I did. The next day. And I did.
Lynn:Oh, my God. Okay. I'm so inspired. That is so powerful. And I think back to young Lynn when I thought, Oh, I can't wait to be the cool, older folks at the bar, at the end of the bar. Like what? No, no, no, no, no.
Jenell:not cool.
Lynn:yeah, what did that start to look like? Can you walk us through? What was the first big way you redrew your path?
Jenell:I was in college at that point. I didn't know. I was just going to talk about low expect, not, not low. Let me, let me reframe that because I don't want to offend the nurses out there. But because I was poor with a kid, I went to see a guidance counselor at the community college. And at the time, this was about a year before, and they're like, what do you want to be? And I'm like, I don't know. and they're like, a lot of people go for nursing or, teaching, and that might be a good path. I was like, okay, nursing probably pays more. I'll be a nurse. my God, I, I get sick at the sight of snot. It makes me, but yeah, I'm going to go be a nurse again, because somebody thought that was a good idea for me. Right. So I was still like, well, she's a lot smarter than me. So I should probably, so I was in, I was still on the basics of nursing. within that week of my 29th birthday, within that week, I went back to the guidance counselor and said, I don't want to do that. I don't want to be a nurse. What else is there? I said, what's like for demand? What do people like really need? And she said a couple things. She's we need cops. You want to be a cop? I'm like, well, you know, whatever. But that was the first time I kind of heard that. Okay. And then. So then we, I decide I'll be gonna do business. I'll do a business degree. Okay, so we switched me over to business, which really wasn't much to switch because I was still in the basic, English math classes. One of the classes that I had to take because I was poor and on a scholarship was a goal setting class. It was this no credit, stupid class that it was after my algebra class and so I just rudely sat in there and did my algebra homework. Didn't even look up at the teacher, whatever, Mrs. Kinney, Barbara Kinney. Didn't even look up at her. One of the first things she did The first day I was in that class, she said, I want you to write down, you guys write down everything you ever wanted to be when you grow up. I'm like, oh, this is a stupid class. I wrote circus worker, ballerina, movie star, and I also wrote cop on there. And she called me up after class and she goes, tell me about this cop thing. And I'm like, I can't be a cop. Long story short, she was a cop. back in the 60s and she became a cop under the 1964 Civil Rights Act that among, other things made it so the police departments had to open their door to women and minority. A law made them do that. So anyway, long story short, she helped me get on to a course that I started because I quickly finished my core classes and went into the police academy and became a cop.
Lynn:interesting. Do you remember, did you have any desire to be a cop at all? It was just because that one person, the guidance counselor had said it and you put it on the list as like, Cheeky a
Jenell:something in my brain. And then when I saw this very old lady who was probably like 45, I saw her that she was a cop, and she had this incredible life when, when she first got hired in Detroit, they made her wear a skirt and little kitten heels to be a cop. Yes, exactly. Because they're like, all right, we have to take you women, but that don't mean we have to treat you nice. And so she told me all kinds of stuff. I don't know if that, that was like, you know what? That's some high standards. That's something I could get behind. I'd only have benefits. It's a steady job. They need women. Here I come. That's exactly what happened. And I got hired by a sheriff's department in South Florida that hadn't hired a woman in eight years when they hired me. They literally did not know what to do with me. They were this good old boys and me, literally.
Lynn:I can't even imagine the experience. I'm, I'm like a little shuddering for you.
Jenell:that's a whole nother show. That's a whole other show. But it turned out Lynn to be The adventure of my life. of my life. It's why I can sit here now. I have a pension. I've met three presidents face to face. Me and him. I mean, I've met movie stars. I've had, you name it, and I've had it. It was a wonderful experience. I never got seriously hurt. I never hurt seriously someone else. So I'm very thankful for that. But it was a great, great life changing experience.
Lynn:Yeah. Did you ever remember questioning, am I cut out for this? Is this for me? any self doubt or any, anything like that that came up as you were shifting perspectives about yourself that you were holding?
Jenell:Funny enough, Lynn, not one time ever. And I, I was scared as heck sometimes. Not one time ever. Not one time ever did I say, I'm not doing this. I'm quitting. I'm leaving. Not one time ever. Because it was finally something I could get my teeth behind. Finally, there were high expectations for me. And by God, I was going to match him and exceed him. And just a little side note, by the When I Retired after 26 years, I was number two in the agency with 550 people under me, 89 percent of them men. So, just saying. Yeah.
Lynn:That's amazing.
Jenell:Yeah. Yeah. I was the highest ranking female in four counties. it was a big deal, but it was, it was, put apart the helping other people side, which I realized I like, I didn't know, but I guess, just stay on that for a second, I could finally help that little kid that lived in a trailer with six other, five other brothers and sisters and a poor mom and dad. I was finally in a position, maybe I could help one of them. One of them kids, one of them moms, one of them dads. Maybe somebody, I could be the one that reaches out a hand. Always, and I, I hope I can say that. I tried to always, always, if I saw a little kid and I was in uniform, cause they're always like big eyed looking at you. They're either scared of you from what their parents said or they want to hug you. So I always tried to say something positive to little girls. I would say, you sure are pretty and smart. I can see it. And little boys, what do you want to grow up to be? Or whatever little girls, what do you want to grow up to be? When you want to be a cop, when you grow up, hon, you know you can. So I always tried to do that. And I hope one of it stuck one time.
Lynn:Yeah, you were becoming the person that you had needed. Also, it sounds like.
Jenell:That's what I was going for, Lynn. And I knew it. I, I realized that. and my first six years, I worked midnights and I worked in a poor neighborhood. So I'm like, perfect. I'm back home. I'm right back where I started right here. And I'm going to figure something out for these people. There were a couple of prostitutes that worked in my area. I worked on them religiously. Yes, I, yes, I arrested them, but I also would talk to them, try to get them help if they wanted it, take them to services, make things available for them. To help, to, to try, cause listen, that could have been me there. You know, I was one paycheck away from being
Lynn:Yeah.
Jenell:homeless and not eating. I mean, it was possible,
Lynn:Mm hmm. That's beautiful. That's beautiful. And I think so many of us are often so close to being that person on the other side. So I love that you took that and took what you knew from your lived experience and really you Created a career where you were helping people Do you remember, any moments where you were waking up and being like, Holy cow, I grew up this way and now I have a college degree and I am overseeing all these teams. And have you had moments like that? Yeah.
Jenell:I really have. I remember meeting current president of the United States. and being in the room with four or five people and almost started crying because I'm like, what am I doing here? I'm a poor kid from Weatherford, Texas, and I'm in the room. with the most powerful person in the world. What, what, what am I doing? I'm literally, it chokes me up to this day. So I had many of those moments. I met Mikhail Gorbachev and took a picture with him. I'm like, what am I, I'm with, what am I doing here? That imposter syndrome? do they know I'm in here? Do they realize I'm in here?
Lynn:Oh, my gosh. I love that. So you had a long career. How many years as a police officer? Cool. What was the next big way you redrew your path, Jenell?
Jenell:Well, so after that, this big 26 years, I'm on TV, I'm hobnobbing. Now what? I'm like a nobody. Believe me, I was ready, Lynn. I was tired. I mean, it sounds good, but I was exhausted. Especially that last promotion. I had serious problems. Serious pressure and responsibility. you got about 400 people walking around with guns. that's a lot of pressure that I'm responsible for. So anyway, I was ready to go.
Lynn:Yeah.
Jenell:So I gave a year notice to really think about what am I doing? What, where am I going next? it's, it's, was the first time in my life that the world was literally open to me. I had no partner. My child was grown and gone. I had some money from my pension. And from what I was saying, I could literally go live in Europe. I could go whatever I want. I did what everybody does. I went to Europe and went backpacking across the Malfi Coast. I hiked and canoed the Lewis and Clark Trail because I didn't know what else to do. So I just went and traveled for six months. I literally had two suitcases, one of hot clothes and one of cold clothes. And I lived out of two suitcases. And I'm not kidding. If I had two or three days before I went on the next trip, I just went in a hotel by the airport. So I wasn't far. I had no car. I just literally lived a nomad life and it was awesome. During that time, I realized I love traveling, but I'm sick of these suitcases. I want my stuff with me. I have my favorite coffee cup. It's embarrassing, but I do.
Lynn:I relate. I relate so much with this.
Jenell:so I realized, what if I got an RV? What if I got an RV and that way I could keep my house and travel and see the United States? And again, I'm in Paris and I realized I haven't even seen the Grand Canyon. The second time I've seen the Eiffel Tower, which is awesome, but I'd love to see the Grand Canyon. So that idea, sitting in Paris, literally under the Eiffel Tower, is when I started sketching on a napkin. What does looking like get an RV? What does that look like? What would be the steps? And I still have that napkin.
Lynn:Oh, really? Oh my gosh. That's amazing. Okay. So what I hear is you retired. Please correct me if this is wrong, but you retired and you kept yourself busy for six months. Like busy, busy, busy, right?
Jenell:yes. Busy, busy with. Traveling. No thinking. And that sounds weird, but I was so busy seeing the Eiffel Tower and getting on the, the autopond and doing all this that I couldn't really process and think of all the things that had just happened to be in my life and where I was going next. Because it's, it's, to be 54 years old and for the first time in my life having no responsibility. Remember, I've been watching kids since I'm 10 and not happened to live in a certain county because, I worked for an elected official and they want you to live where you can vote for them. the first time, no kid, no partner. I purposely didn't want to partner that last year. I want nothing to do with nobody so I can be free. And I was free. And freedom is wonderful. We talk about it, but when you're actually free, Now what? Literally, now what?
Lynn:Can you say more about that wonderfulness and the now what? I'm hearing like scariness too, right? Like how did that come up for you?
Jenell:I was anxious. I was very anxious. I had trouble and I never, it took me a few years to put this together. I had trouble being in small spaces. I had trouble being in large spaces with lots of people. It made me very nervous when I went to the movies or a restaurant, I had to always be where I could see the door. And I was like, Paris, I'm in Italy for the love of God. What, what am I anxious about? It was because I was free and I didn't know what, what am I doing? What, what is next? How, how can I. How, what's the next step? You can't just travel forever. I dropped 20 grand in those six months, okay?
Lynn:hmm.
Jenell:is nice, but you know, that runs out real quick. 20 grand sounds like a lot, it runs out very quick, I really started to shift, not all the way, but it shifted when I was sitting on the grass there with that napkin, okay, let's start getting a plan here. you're running outta money, you're in Paris, you have no home. All my stuff's in storage. You know what? So once I started getting a plan together, it became now here's a road to go down as a part opposed to an airport.
Lynn:Okay. Okay. So it sounds like you were busy, you were traveling, but also you were taking time to sit on the grass. And whether it was intentional reflection or not, you were allowing that space for yourself to start jotting things on napkins, right? Which is almost like metaphorical,
Jenell:it really is. I remember I hiked the Lewis and Clark Trail and that was like, I don't remember, but that was like 10 days, six, seven hours a day walking. Beautiful, wonderful, but you know, there's only so many podcasts and music you can listen to and no reception. That was like the worst when there was no reception and you have to actually just think about stuff and that's when I really. It's funny, I processed a lot of my childhood, I processed my job that I'd had, and I processed what's next. you're only 54, are you going to get a house and start sitting in a rocking chair and learning to knit? That's fine for some people, but I had a lot of energy and I was used to running with the boys with a gun on my hip. It's just hard to sit in a rocking chair and look out over the valley,
Lynn:Absolutely. Absolutely. And I can picture you there being like, very much, do I have this road to go down, which is knitting and rocking chair and basically going towards the end of life or a different road. So what did that start to look like as you read your path again?
Jenell:from what I come from, let's just recap quickly. The chaos of a childhood, so lots of going, lots of going, 90 miles an hour, single parent, three jobs, lots out, going, running, running, cop, 60 hour weeks, on call 24 hours a day. Well, I gotta have something else just like that, don't I? I mean, that's apparently what my life is. Let's try to manage it a little better. But that's kind of what I do now. I bought a small business so I can work part time at my leisure. But again, I have to double membership. I want the revenue up 20 percent this year. The whole thing is setting goals. I've always had goals. I'll be 80 years old and still have a goal. And it may be just to go to the mailbox, but I'll have a goal. once I got in this life, It took me 3 or 4 years, Lynn, to be honest, to slow down to about 70. Get off at 90 miles an hour, slow down to about 70. I'd say I'm at about 50 now, because I've been retired 8 years. So I'm sad about 50 miles an hour now, but I still get up every morning, do my yoga and hit the road or hit, hit the ground running just now at a slower pace, but I still, I don't sit around. I don't sit around and it's finally, I finally feel like I'll even kill kind of settled a little bit of my life and I'm 60 years old and I finally feel that.
Lynn:How did you even, Jenell, like, how did you even go about finding a business to buy or what made you think that that was the right thing?
Jenell:Well, so I. I started traveling with the RV, as I told you, and so I traveled around by myself for a few years. And then I found, going online, I was like Googling, I don't remember, but I was like Googling, living by yourself in an RV, traveling by yourself, where can I go, what, what else should I do because I've done a lot, Done to Alaska and I've done a lot of stuff. And I saw this, this RV club for solo people called Wandering Individual Network and I joined it. And ah, since 2019 I joined it. I've been traveling with them ever since. So me, the way I am, the very first meeting, and I kid you not, the very first meeting, I saw the owner up there welcoming everyone and talking and I'm like, I could own this. I could do this better. I should buy this. I swear to God, I'm not kidding you. And so I didn't, act on it. And then I'd say a year later, maybe I approached the owner and said, Hey, if you ever want to sell this, I'm interested. He's like, I'm not. I'm like, okay. So like six months later, I said, Hey, I still am interested if you'd like to ever. By then I'd drawn up a business plan, a budget, some goals. I rewrote the policy.
Lynn:Wow.
Jenell:and I'm doing this.
Lynn:Yeah.
Jenell:last year in January, maybe like October, I called again, text again, November, December, and in January, he finally called me back and said, we can talk, and I said, let's talk, and I bought it in March.
Lynn:you were planting those seeds. that's awesome. Have you had to go through any narrative like rewriting about yourself in terms of, I was Jenell, a police officer. Now I'm Jenell, the traveler. Now I'm Jenell, the entrepreneur. what does that look like for you?
Jenell:well, you got to remember, Lynn, from 10 years old, I've been telling people what to do. Okay, kids, whatever. Then I get to be a cop, and I really got to tell people what to do. Then I got people under me, employees, 500 of them, and I got to tell them what to do. So I buy this club, and I'm like, okay, you people, and That's not how it is when you own a business. You work for them, you may own the business, but you work for them. That was a little mind shift for me. I've never owned a business. I've never worked anywhere. Well, I've had waitress jobs and little, little nothing jobs. nothing jobs for me, career wise, except for the cop thing. I've never, I've never owned a business. I didn't know how to do this. I'm like, Who does all this marketing that needs to be done? that's me. I was doing marketing this morning before you and I talked, and I've sat here for four hours doing marketing, and I need about eight hours a month to do some serious marketing, and that's month after month, and that surprised me. I don't know, Who I thought would be doing that, but it's me.
Lynn:the business you bought, it's a, is it a one person, like one solopreneur business?
Jenell:I am the executive and janitor.
Lynn:Yes. every level doing all
Jenell:I'm all of it. I'm all of it. And what a great experience it's been. It's been a great learning experience. I've learned way more about social media and advertising and age demographics. when you're a cop. And, you know, we're customer service agents. Now, let me reframe for a second. A cop is a customer service agent that wears a gun and comes to your house. You have a problem, you call the cops. You want to return a shirt and you go to the mall. You have a problem at your house, you call a plumber. You have your neighbors yelling at you, you call a cop. It's, we're customer service agents. So I feel like I've always been in the, the serving industry, if you will, but it's just a different type of industry now, of course, but I still have that serving heart to me. So this is a great club because it takes people like me, who were, are being on their own, fine on their own, but could sure use some friends while traveling. And so I just want to make this available to them.
Lynn:Mm-Hmm. Have you had any oh, shoot. What did I do Moments since buying this business.
Jenell:The biggest mistake I made was I didn't like the logo. I remember this business is 38 years old. I didn't like the logo. I still hate it, but. It's 38 years old and I changed the logo that was not good. That was not good. The 300 members already had, did not like it. in the RV world, it's well known. Let's see. It's a black and white checkered flag with the word win across it Just so basic but you'll see it now You look lynn as you're driving down the road You'll see when you look at rvs and you watch you'll see 10 rvs and one of them will have that logo on there You'll see it in your life you watch so I made a serious mistake changing that and I bought all these new logos I did a launch and what somebody said I give it two yawns So that
Lynn:going to steal that phrase.
Jenell:oh yeah, I gave it two yawns. And so I had to spend money to put all of it back. And I didn't know, I thought, I'm changing it and they can all like it. Well, that was wrong. I was completely wrong. I was wrong on that. And it cost me money.
Lynn:absolutely. And you're probably thinking, well, I'm the owner, I can do anything. But really, your business is a community grounded business. And it's interesting. So I'm right off the Pacific Coast Highway. There's RVs everywhere. So I'm probably going to see a logo by the end of today when I go for my walk. So now I'll keep an eye out for it.
Jenell:And the group is headed that way in August, so you'll definitely see them then.
Lynn:yeah, you just let me know. We're in Huntington Beach. So happy to, come on out and say hi. I
Jenell:That'd be great. Yeah.
Lynn:bring coffee for the group or something else fun. So, Jenell, what advice would you give to others who are considering redrawing their path?
Jenell:my advice would be to be quiet, if you're fixing to make a major shift in your life, and I don't care if you're a 23 year old girl with a baby leaving a bad relationship, or if you're a 60 year old, woman of a certain age that has lived in this house since her children were young, and you're fixing to make a big thing, I would say be quiet. Because you're going to tell other people and they're going to be like, you can't leave this house. We grew up in this house. Or you're only 23 and you got a baby. How are you going to eat? How are you going to, how are you, how are you, you can't, you can't, you can't. Yeah, you can. Yes, you can. Yes, you can. It may not be pretty. It may not be easy. And in fact, it won't be at first. But boy, Every climb, every hard climb has got that other side of that hill that's all good, and it's all downhill, and it gets better, and then it levels off. So if you can just look at it as that big hill, just get up there, get over the top, and then you're all good. You're
Lynn:Awesome. That is awesome advice because I'm finding the importance of being quiet within myself but then also quieting those other voices and just like your opinion doesn't super matter unless you're changing a logo and making a big decision like that but
Jenell:I wish I'd have listened.
Lynn:Yeah, yeah, but just quieting those other voices and not taking other people's opinions so much into account. Oh
Jenell:I told people I'm going to sell my cute little house I had that I built myself and had everything I liked in it, I'm going to sell everything I own. And I mean every tchotchke, every furniture, every dish. I had three sets of china, everything. And I'm going to move into about 160 square feet. Guess how many people were for that? My mom sat me down and was like, Is your money alright, honey? Do you and your dad need to talk to you? I'm like, Mother, I'm 56 years old, for the love of God. I'm fine. My sister sat me down and talked to me about serial killers. I am not joking with you. Yes. serial killers are out there driving and you're by yourself and they'll see that. So, be quiet.
Lynn:like I do sometimes.
Jenell:yes, yes, yes. She meant well, but it's just, that's why I say be quiet because people are not going to like this. Now, five years later, they see my fabulous Instagram photos. They're like, I wish I could do that. Or, wow. they don't remember. You told me not to, and you said I couldn't make it. And you asked me about my money.
Lynn:Yes, I, I love that. Just like being quiet, quieting those voices and and enjoying the ride, it sounds like. Yeah. Jenell, can you share where people can find you and is there anything you would want to promote or share with listeners?
Jenell:Yes, absolutely. So they can find me on my website, which is Wondering Individuals Network, and you'll probably put it in the show notes as a kindness. Lynn, thank you. And I have a webinar that I'm going to do July 25th at noon, Eastern Standard Time, and it is for a person not quite in the Ready to start the RV life, but not quite yet. I've got an expert coming on on how to buy an RV from an individual or new, because there's it's thousands and thousands of dollars. I've got another person coming on a girl that does work camping to show you, how do you make money? You don't have to sit in the office. You can travel and make money to live on. And then I'm going to talk about the anxiety and the fear associated with traveling on your own, especially even if you're a couple. you, you get sick of each other after a while, 24 hours a day and 150, 180 square feet. So I'm going to talk about that. I'll send you that as well, if you don't mind. And it's, it's a free webinar and just sign up and you can hear from some industry experts.
Lynn:Awesome. I love that, Jenell. And this episode will be dropping beginning or middle of July, so that is perfect timing. and I will be sharing that webinar with my mom. As well.
Jenell:Oh, please. Yeah,
Lynn:perfect. thank you so much for sharing your story and showing up with your amazing authenticity here on Redraw Your Path, Jenell.
Jenell:Thank you, Lynn. I, like I said, I love the podcast and it's just a dream to be on it. Thank you.
Lynn:Awesome. Thank you. Thanks for listening to Redraw Your Path with me, Lynn Debilzen. If you like the episode, please rate and review. That helps more listeners find me. And don't be shy, reach out and connect with me on LinkedIn and sign up for my e-newsletter at redrawyourpath.com. I can't wait to share more inspiring stories with you. See you next week.