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EP32: Jennifer Dechaine - Heart-Centered Selling, Nature-Focused Building
106 Plays2 months ago
“Creating community is so rewarding and beautiful. And those are the two reasons why I do it.”
Community transformation begins with the way we build—and sell. From regenerative soil care to designing spaces that nurture human connection, this episode explores how real estate can foster healing environments. The conversation blends principles of sustainability, densification, and wellness in business, asking: what if development meant community regeneration, not just construction?
Jennifer Dechaine shares how her childhood on an organic acreage and her two-decade journey in sales shaped a vision of real estate that’s as heart-centered as it is profitable. She talks about leading with values, rejecting burnout culture, and embedding education, nature, and multigenerational gardening into new builds. Her heart-forward framework reframes sales as a noble, creative act.
Jennifer Dechaine is the founder of Urban Bricks, a regenerative development company focused on community creation through infill densification. She’s also the founder of Congruent Projects, where she teaches transformational sales leadership with a focus on wellness, alignment, and soft skills.
Learn more & connect:
https://www.congruentprojects.com
Explore these valuable resources to further your journey in regenerative design:
Discover more about Regenerative design at Paulownia Landscape Architects. https://www.paulownia-la.com/.
Dive into the Twelve Laws of Nature and unlock the secrets of harmonizing with our planet at https://www.12lawsofnature.com/.
Fulfill your garden aspirations with expert guidance from the Garden of Your Dreams masterclass at https://www.gardenofyourdreams.com/.
Ready to take actionable steps towards your dream garden? Book a complimentary 30-minute training session with Matthieu for immediate results: https://calendly.com/garden-of-your-dreams.
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Transcript
Introduction to Regenerative Design Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
I'm working on an intergenerational project for different pieces of the population to come and live together, having the space to have a community garden where elders can teach younger generations, pass on that knowledge.
00:00:16
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Regenerative Design Podcast. I'm your host, Mathieu Mehuys, and in this show, I interview the leading authorities in the world of regenerative practices.
00:00:28
Speaker
People who do good and do well. Are you a person that cares about your environment and our planet? Are you a person that wants to leave the planet to our children to be something that we can be truly proud of?
00:00:41
Speaker
something to enjoy for many generations to come. But are you also a person that believes we can do all of this and do good in business? Well, I have really good news for you.
00:00:53
Speaker
You're here listening to the podcast that is all about making our planet a better place and making your business more successful.
Jennifer's Journey to Sustainability
00:01:01
Speaker
Enjoy the show.
00:01:07
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Regenerative Design Podcast with your host Mathieu Mehuys. Today we have another amazing guest. Her name is Jennifer Duchesne and Jennifer has over two decades of experience as a sales and leadership expert in residential and multifamily construction.
00:01:25
Speaker
And she's currently done a bit of a career shift. She's shifting gears to the fifth gear um that she has currently embarked on a new career shift to actually found her real estate development company called Urban Bricks, which has a big focus on sustainability and community creation, mostly through densification.
00:01:46
Speaker
So Jennifer, I'm super excited to have you on the show. How are you doing today? I'm doing amazing. Thank you so much for having me. Nice. So let's dive right in. Like i would love to know from you, like, were you born as a real estate developer or agent? Like, were you like three years old as a baby saying, I'm going to be building homes and doing all that? yes
00:02:13
Speaker
No, no, not at all. I was born in small town, Saskatchewan. And my dad is an educator. And so education has been a central theme in my life.
00:02:26
Speaker
i It always pulls me back in. So my dad was a teacher and then he was um leader in education. And so dad kind of moved us all around small town Alberta.
00:02:39
Speaker
And my mom, both my parents were actually raised on
From Education to Real Estate
00:02:42
Speaker
farms. And my mom was organic before organic was cool. We had a We were raised most of my life from the age of like, I would say five until I was 14 on this acreage where mom had a one acre garden.
00:02:59
Speaker
And we you know, we grew all of our own produce. um We also, mom like bought wheat from farmers and ground for her own bread.
00:03:11
Speaker
If you've ever had it, it's like, it weighs like, Like a slice of bread weighs a pound, a full like whole wheat loaf. It's super dark. But I think back to my childhood. Wow, that was so we didn't appreciate it at the time. We wanted store bought process things because those were so cool.
00:03:29
Speaker
And I look back now and I think, man, we were so lucky. um She bought milk from the ah farmers and we made butter. um What else did we do? We had our own chickens that we slaughtered.
00:03:41
Speaker
So we had organic meat, organic vegetables, and ah everything was made from scratch. And my siblings and I are so healthy.
00:03:52
Speaker
You know, we've just been so blessed with great health our whole lives. And I'm like, Mom, I think you might have had something to do with that you all our formative years being raised on, on you know, organic food.
00:04:04
Speaker
That's so cool because ah it's it's becoming very popular now. like People want to homestead, they want to live off the land. I get a lot of people ask me, hey, can you help me set up my form farmstead?
00:04:18
Speaker
They might have like digital jobs or... or something or they're working remotely and then they're like, oh, I want to produce my own food because I don't trust what's happening with most of the food that's being produced. So very cool that you experienced that on on such a young age. And at the same time, you were this e educat and like you you fell into education pretty much and not and and only later you came into real estate. So tell me a bit more about how you got and into real real estate then.
00:04:48
Speaker
Yeah, so I was actually finishing my education degree and my last year, um my family, my my husband and my two young children, we moved to a larger market and I went to a brand new show home and I was looking at buying this new home. And the guy said to me, like, you are a sharp cookie. You should come work for me.
00:05:07
Speaker
And I was at the time i was thinking, like, I don't really know what any of this is about. And I and I don't really know what I'm doing. So I would love to learn more about it um because then I'm going to learn how to have, you know, my house be amazing.
00:05:20
Speaker
And so I started working part time. And so then after that, it's kind of ah a weird timeline because I finished my education degree. The teachers were all on strike. There was no job. So I got offered this job in real estate. So I thought, well, I'll do this for a little bit.
00:05:36
Speaker
And then I got a teaching job. And then I was like, well, I can do them both for a little bit. And I did that for two years. And I had two kids as well. Yeah, I had two young kids.
00:05:47
Speaker
And I just, I worked a lot. Um, you know and But that's a whole other story about my learnings from you know hustling it out there. but
Building Communities Through Real Estate
00:05:56
Speaker
Nonetheless, I ended leaving teaching. mom did the same. She was pretty crazy. Yeah. Four kids and living on a farm, but she had her own business. And we got to do everything, like soccer on the weekend.
00:06:11
Speaker
She was driving us around like crazy. She even says, like, I have no clue how I've ever done that. Like, she now has two grandchildren ah from my brother. and And she's like, this is already too much. i have no clue how I ever did it with four kids.
00:06:24
Speaker
Yeah. Right, like but she had this superhuman strength and resolve to like make it all happen for her family. And i I feel the same way. I don't really know how I i did that, but I did.
00:06:37
Speaker
um And I was just so focused. Yeah, totally. so So that's kind of how i I got into selling. And then, you know, I sold new homes for 13 years and I loved it.
00:06:50
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I loved it a lot. did you like the most those 13 years about working in sales and real estate? So two things. I love the fact that everyone coming to see me had a dream that the place of shelter that they would provide for their families would change their lives. It would change how they interacted with each other. it would change, you know, whether or not their kids would stay and be happy as young adults or, or they were building it with purpose and they have this vision and this dream.
00:07:25
Speaker
And I, in a small way, got to help them make that vision and that dream come to life because a lot of times, well, almost every time when you're going to go get a different house, you're,
00:07:36
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Something has changed in your family and it's not always happy change like happy changes, you know, new households forming somebody getting married somebody having a baby. But sometimes there's death, there's divorce, and there's people that are really sad.
00:07:53
Speaker
and that are going through loss and grief and change, and they need to change their their shelter. Their shelter needs have changed. And so that, um you know, being able to help people through that that piece of their journey and help them get to the next step, it was so rewarding.
00:08:11
Speaker
And then the second piece is really creating community. I remember the first time that I went back to a community where i there was this cul-de-sac thing in Spruce Grove, Alberta.
00:08:25
Speaker
And I sold every house on the street. And it was like two years later and everybody moved in and they did their landscaping. And there was kids driving down the cul-de-sac on their bikes.
00:08:36
Speaker
And there was guys out and they're like, their garage doors are open and they're power washing their driveways and they're having a beer and they're visiting with each other. ah' bad it was the most rewarding thing. Like my heart just like swelled And grew like three sizes that day. And I was like, I helped to make that community happen.
00:08:59
Speaker
And I was hooked. And it real estate has just never let me go because it's more
Heart-Centered Sales Approach
00:09:05
Speaker
powerful than one house and one family.
00:09:10
Speaker
it The creation of community is so rewarding and beautiful. And those are the two reasons why I do it. That's amazing. I never thought as much about like, okay, when you're a real estate sales agent, maybe because a lot of people will have rather skeptical opinions.
00:09:27
Speaker
thoughts about real estate agents. I don't know if that's a thing in in Canada, maybe in Europe that is, but by your expertise and and what you just explained, like you your ability to to actually create communities. And obviously there's other people involved, the builders, the the construction companies, but you are like pretty much matching and creating those those communities, which is incredible and what ah what a noble thing to do in a way. Yeah, so congratulations on on doing that. So that was your real estate bug. That's where where it all mattered.
00:10:03
Speaker
And don't get me wrong, like we're compensated very well for it We don't do it for free, but the both the reward of, you know, the fiscal and the the monetary reward along with, depending on how you're motivated, right?
00:10:18
Speaker
I'm internally motivated, intrinsically motivated. So like, it's not just about extrinsic reward. It's also about, you know, things that make me feel really good.
00:10:29
Speaker
And that's, I think the piece about sales that maybe is a misconception, right? It's like, it's all about getting the sale and moving on.
00:10:40
Speaker
But the truth is salespeople that are both motivated intrinsically where they really want to do a good job and serve. and provide solutions and help people solve their problems. That's the piece that is really rewarding about sales.
00:10:54
Speaker
And you and i both as consultants and with our consultancy businesses, you know, every consultant is also works in sales. the And that's the piece where we're out here saying to people, we've got this amazing solution because we believe in in it. We know we can change your life and we want to help.
00:11:13
Speaker
And that's the sales bit that, once you Once you sell something you believe in and you see its power to change people's lives, you just sales isn't isn't a weird weird thing anymore. It's not one of those you know professions that sometimes has a bad reputation, the used car sales people or whatever it is that is out there when you look at, you know, your ability to change people's lives with a solution that you are you uniquely positioned to share. Like that's the beautiful thing about sales and it's not to be feared.
00:11:47
Speaker
No, I agree with you. And it just reminded me of a metaphor like sales in a way, it's like it's like it's neither good or bad, like in a general scope.
00:11:58
Speaker
It's the way you use it and the way you're standing up for your clients. like I see it as just like a knife. A knife you can use to cook an amazing meal or you can use it to kill someone.
00:12:09
Speaker
like That's what sales can be. like There's obviously a lot of charlatans and people that are just after the money and and they themselves have really miserable lives because if you just sell for the sake of selling, i can assure you when you come home, you're going to feel really bad.
00:12:25
Speaker
um And that's what we we learn ah in our trainings. like These are the people that get into drugs and and do all bad things to compensate with ah doing something that is not in in not that is not authentic and not in their true power.
00:12:40
Speaker
Whereas on the other side where you're like, okay, I'm going to stand up for my clients and I'm going to enroll them because when I enroll them and they pay me, i'm going I'm going to change their life like you do. We're going to either build an amazing...
00:12:52
Speaker
home or community for them or for me it's it's same or similar like creating an amazing environment that is gonna have a huge impact on their life, on their health. So that's what sales is really about. It's like, it's the engine of a business. Like people often like I coach a few ah people in in starting their businesses and they're like, yeah, I'm not so much into sales.
00:13:14
Speaker
yeah I don't wanna do much sales. There's like, but if you're a one man show in the beginning, you have to do sales. like If you're not into sales, you're not into business. It's a hobby. Then call it a hobby and it's fine. But you need to learn how to sell and how to sell from your your heart. So tell me a bit more because that's what you um what your other business is about.
00:13:35
Speaker
and And help me out with the name again, where you actually want to educate people how to sell with the heart forward. That's your method that you talk about, right? Heart forward. Tell me more about that.
00:13:47
Speaker
So that business is called Congruent Projects. And congruent projects is very heart forward sales leadership. And the place that it comes from is a place of just love for the psychology and the art of the sale, as well as for the people engaging in sales.
00:14:08
Speaker
there you know sales is really like stressful. It's variable compensation. It's unrealistic goals. It's pressure because it is the revenue generator of the businesses and they don't succeed without it.
00:14:24
Speaker
And so there's so much pressure and stress in sales, especially
Aligning Sales with Personal Beliefs
00:14:29
Speaker
in real estate sales. um My specialization, I'm not a real estate agent.
00:14:35
Speaker
i um Mine comes from you know, residential development and selling direct for the developer and meeting teams that sell directly for the developer. But much of my work is very directly applicable to real estate agents and brokers and things like that because they have the same challenges that we do, which is success at the cost of your health, your relationships, your life is not success.
00:15:06
Speaker
And a lot of times, you know, success indeed does cost you that. And I am really, you know, wellness forward in terms of, you know, like tons of training out there about hard skills, right?
00:15:22
Speaker
Hard skills is closing, negotiation, prospecting, you know, CRM, follow up, all that jazz. And everybody teaches that.
00:15:33
Speaker
But there's soft skills that are involved in selling and you as a consultant know that a growth mindset, confidence, humility, resilience, becoming rejection proof and and and not letting it bother you that when you get rejected.
00:15:53
Speaker
Those are all soft skills. And when you look in the business environment today, everyone's like, yeah, you've got to have a growth mindset. You need to be resilient. Have you ever seen any education on how to how to do that?
00:16:07
Speaker
How they actually do that? Easy set, right? No, like everyone's like, you should do that. And a lot of times when people hire their salespeople, they're like, oh, well, we just assume that you are confident, that you've got a growth mindset, that you you know how to be humble, you're not arrogant, you know you're going to constantly stay positive and optimistic, you can get kicked in the teeth and you'll be rejection proof, but nobody teaches them how to do that.
00:16:30
Speaker
And I think there's a huge gap in the education piece of this, which is we need to educate people on these soft skills in business and for life. I don't teach stuff where I'm like, use this in your business life. I'm like, no, use this in your life and it will improve your business.
00:16:52
Speaker
So I teach it backwards where people are like, I want you to learn this for your business. I don't want you to learn it for your business. I want you to learn it for you. I want you to be able to ask for what you want. And then when people say no,
00:17:05
Speaker
that you're like, I'm okay. this and This is not a measure of my worthiness. It is not a measure of my competence. It's just a measure of I'm not a good fit.
00:17:16
Speaker
So let's move on. let's not take Let's not take this personally. Let's just move
Maintaining Positive Energy in Sales
00:17:20
Speaker
on from here. Yeah, that's a tough one too. When you're starting out your business, you have to get used to being rejected and not taking it personally.
00:17:27
Speaker
and Exactly. And so what it happens a lot of times is people don't like rejection. Rejection is terrible. And so they just, you know, they just step back and become smaller and they don't ask for the things that they really, really want.
00:17:39
Speaker
I mean, I'm the only reason I'm an expert in this is because I sold for 13 years and I led for 10 years and I still struggle with it. I'm not perfect, but that whole piece is really. um And then it's about aligning salespeople with the mission.
00:17:54
Speaker
So you might have corporate goals and corporate strategies and corporate values, but if your salespeople are not aligned and everybody doesn't win together, it makes it really difficult. So these are really, it's a nuanced education system that's all about alignment, congruence, that's the name, um and really winning, but winning in the way that everybody wins together and they win well.
00:18:23
Speaker
Yeah. Right. I love that. Can you, could you give vote for myself and and the listeners here, like a little nugget, something that you could even apply immediately just to, to yeah, see what it's like to actually be fully in heart centered alignment when you're doing sales.
00:18:43
Speaker
Well, I think that, you know, when you're a heart centered in your sales, you are fearless. Because it's not that you're trying to sell to somebody. You're not trying to do something to them.
00:18:58
Speaker
You're working for them. And you're working for that mission. And truly, when you are so when you are selling a solution to someone that you truly believe in, you are fearless because you're out in the world. And you're not like, can you buy my product?
00:19:13
Speaker
You're like, are you the person that I'm looking for to to share my life's work with you? to change your life, right? You're not looking to be like, I need you to give me $25,000 for this consulting package. You're like, are you the person that together, we're going to change your life.
00:19:34
Speaker
And so when you're selling like that, it's so powerful because you're just out there sharing your genius with the world and the world needs it, right?
00:19:46
Speaker
The world needs you. mean, i mean When you get into alignment like that with your mission, and even if you're not, it's not your own company, but you have a corporation where it's like, here's the values, here's the goals, and you find a way to align your winning together.
00:20:04
Speaker
you truly, the magic happens. And it just, it feels like magic. It feels like adrenaline. It feels like all of the things, the energy that I'm giving you today.
00:20:16
Speaker
This is like my body starts to physiologically respond when I talk to you about this, because I love it so much. I'm so passionate about it. And I know that that passion, somebody needs to hear it today.
00:20:30
Speaker
don't know who, somebody does. And when you do that, Mathew, it's magic and you're just living in your purpose and you are fully alive. That's incredible.
00:20:42
Speaker
That's so cool because then we're also talking about energy, right? There's this thing we we are are both in ah in a group, a business class group, and like half of the work that we have to, at least for me, it's very important to stand in my my power energy and to really radiate and talk to like-minded people and also enjoy life, do other things.
00:21:04
Speaker
Because when when your energy is up and then you start reaching out to people, i can assure you, they will react differently. Whereas if you're like, oh, hey, I'm doing this program or I'm selling this house, maybe are you interested?
00:21:17
Speaker
Like that's not going to work. So you need to like show up in in your full power and and superhero kind of. So that's that's exactly what you're doing. and And you can only do it in things that are in alignment with yourself. You can't fake it. Like you have to find something in your own life that you truly and really believe in and and that excites you, like that gives you Like you you you wake up in the morning like, oh, I can't wait to start doing that. yeah Yes. That's what you have to sell.
00:21:45
Speaker
Can I share with you some of my energy strategies? oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Let's dive into that. i love it. So like for me, it's an interesting story about energy. So.
00:21:56
Speaker
Um, in Edmonton, where I live, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, our real estate cycle, like our market cycle is about seven years and it goes from like really high to really low.
00:22:08
Speaker
And it's, you know, at the bottom is just crushing. You might not sell a house for six months and at the top you might sell six houses this week. And, um, So you really have to manage your energy well.
00:22:22
Speaker
And I remember in 2000 and it was around 2007 and we were just going through like the whole, you know, all North America was going through a ah real reset in the, in the market. And I just remember every day dreading to get out of bed because there was really no end in sight.
00:22:40
Speaker
And I remember living like this and I was like, is this my life? Like every day I'm dreading this. And i was like, okay, I need to figure this out.
00:22:53
Speaker
And I decided to intentionally change my energy. And instead of getting out of bed and being like, what can go wrong today? I decided that I was going to get out of bed and say, whatever happens today, i got it.
00:23:08
Speaker
I can figure it out between me, my network, my organization. i have got it. And at the start, it's like learning a new habit, right? Working out of the gym. If you haven't gone and you're like, oh, know, this is hard work. Let's keep going.
00:23:25
Speaker
And now people look at me and are like, Jennifer, you're so positive. You're so bubbly. You have so much energy. And it started with that the mindful creation of a habit where now I wake up and I'm like, oh my goodness, like what are we going to get into today? if This is going to be fun.
00:23:44
Speaker
And I get up and I do it. And so there's two ways. Like as a salesperson, you always have to be on. And everybody has a bad day. They didn't sleep last night. They got something going on. And And you can do, you know, you can turn it on like a light switch. And I can to this day. Like if I i could have been having a horrible day this today and having, and you know, all these challenges.
00:24:07
Speaker
And I would have turned it on and been like, here you go. but that would have been like an energy that will draw from my body and it will take from my body. And it's a draining sort of energy. I call it kind of like my cortisol energy where I turn something on and I'm draining my batteries.
00:24:26
Speaker
to do it, right, to to to give that energy. But the better way to do it is to really train your mind to to jump out of bed and be like, let's go find what the world has in store for us and look at it like, you know, my girlfriend, Amy,
00:24:45
Speaker
says life is like a video game. It just gets harder. As soon as you beat the boss and the big challenge at the end, you level up and it gets harder and harder. And i love that concept because now we start to embrace the challenges. We're like, well,
00:25:00
Speaker
clearly we're equipped to deal with it. Let's go figure this one out. Like we haven't done this before. Let's go get it. And when you look at it like that and you're really in alignment where you you you are not afraid of the challenges, you're like, this is life. And the the bigger problems I solve, the more skills that I have to do this stuff. And I'm not afraid. i am invite it.
00:25:22
Speaker
I'm not inviting bad energy from the universe, but I'm just saying to the universe, hey, I got this. um I'll figure it out. And when you do that, now we're like a regenerative energy where the energy that I give to you in this conversation today, i will be rejuvenated the rest of the day and all day. I'll just be like, oh my gosh, like I went and I got my battery charged on this conversation with Matthew. I didn't turn it on and it drained me.
00:25:50
Speaker
i had this fulfilling, authentic conversation and it has recharged my battery and I will go out to the world and I'll go get it today. Does that make sense? Oh yeah, a lot of sense. I love that.
00:26:03
Speaker
And i what I want to like make clear for our listeners here is like you have to train it. If you think, oh, I'll just see you and wake up and then start my day. No, you have to like be very intentional about it. like What I often do, and I did it today, is is like the night before I write down what I will do the next day and I write it in the present tense, which is like it has already happened. And I heard there's some magic when you then go to sleep, your brain already starts to sort out how you'll do it.
00:26:35
Speaker
And I wrote down some bold goals of something that I'm creating for for farmers and landowners to invest in in farmland. And I created the whole thing today, like the whole program. And it's like in the past, you would take like months. And and I just did it in in a few hours.
00:26:53
Speaker
And now I'm ready to to present it to a bunch of people. And I think it's because I intentionally said it the day before. And like you do, you You have to train your mind even before you fall asleep. I say I'm thankful for the day. It was an amazing day. ah Like yesterday, I went spare fishing here on the island. i got This is mike my ah new hobby is to go spare fishing here, which is amazing. Like you're in the water. I love water. You're in Portugal right now, right?
00:27:19
Speaker
Yes, I'm living in the Azores now. So it's beautiful islands, beautiful farming, and lots of opportunities, even in real estate. And so, yeah, I had an amazing day. I still did some work as well. And then, so before I sleep, I kind of go through my day and be thankful. And then that already sets you up. When you wake up, this is your first thought going to be like, oh,
00:27:44
Speaker
I had an amazing day, let's make another amazing day today. And that sets you up. Like a lot of people, they the first thing they might do in the morning is is open their phone and go on social media and scroll to all the things that they don't have or that are going on badly in the world. I can assure you, that when you do that, your your day is already lost. Like...
00:28:04
Speaker
The first couple minutes or hour in your day is very important. Like even on my phone, I have an application that doesn't allow me to go on social media until like 10 a.m. I use it for my business.
00:28:17
Speaker
It's called Opal. O-P-A-L. yeah So I can manage like which apps I can use in certain times because it's very it's very addictive and like before you know you're scrolling on it, right?
00:28:29
Speaker
So that app helps me. ah like i can't open it. that If I want to, I have to like find some codes and wait bunch of times. so you don't bother for it. Because caught myself often like when I feel stressed or ah something's not working, you go into your phone and you start scrolling to get some dopamine.
00:28:46
Speaker
But it's like, it's short lived and it doesn't help you solve those problems. So again, being very intentional and be aware of what what you do and the habits you create is very important. And only take like small steps, small things. That's why this this practice you do in the
Reconnecting with Nature for Well-Being
00:29:03
Speaker
evening or in the morning, it's that's a baby step and everyone can do it.
00:29:07
Speaker
and you'll see how it changes. Well, Matthew, that totally like brings me to you know the conversation of what it is that you do. Because you know i was raised on an acreage, my my family was farmers, and and you know it's like you want to grow up, and you want to move to the city, and you want to work in business, and you want to do all this stuff. And And I got to be honest, i you know I was the vice president of sales at a integrated developer. like I broke the glass ceiling. I did all these things. And I got there and I'm like, wait a minute.
00:29:46
Speaker
What are the things that are really valuable to me and important to me? And what are the things that make me feel great about my life? And you start you start going back into your life and you're like, wow, those those nature walks in Edmonton.
00:30:04
Speaker
If you ever got here, we have the most beautiful river valley. It is, it runs through the city. There's trails everywhere you go down. There's canopies over the trails.
00:30:15
Speaker
It's so gorgeous. It is, we're famous for it. I used to live, I don't right now, but I used to live just a few steps away from it. And you go in there and you're like that slice of nature.
00:30:27
Speaker
where you have that space to just decompress and be in nature and, you know, go to the farmer's market and and really enjoy, um you know, all the simple pleasures that you had as that I had as a child.
00:30:43
Speaker
And I just think, you know, the magic isn't in our technology and the magic and the wellness is not. being digitally connected to people. Although I have to tell you that this conversation kind of feels magical today, even though we're having it over technology, but, um, tools its just yeah, it's a tool. The real magic is in our connection with nature, our connection to the earth, our connection to each other. And that's where the magic and the community and the,
00:31:19
Speaker
The real that's where the serotonin, I believe, lives. And I think that's what's so beautiful and important about your work is you're reconnecting us to things that were taken for granted and maybe not considered as super important, maybe at the time.
00:31:41
Speaker
And now that we've moved away from it and we've all, we're urban dwellers and we get our food in a grocery store and we don't know where it came from and we spend all our time encased in concrete and glass and glued to our devices, that's not making us happy.
00:31:58
Speaker
It's not making us healthier. And I don't believe that that's the path forward, which is, you know, why I think your work is just so special. This podcast is brought to you by the Garden of Your Dreams Masterclass.
00:32:13
Speaker
Are you struggling with finding the right tools and tricks for your garden? Are you lacking the confidence to be a self-sufficient gardener? Do you sometimes get overwhelmed by the lack of knowledge and time you have to actually do gardening?
00:32:27
Speaker
Then the Garden of Your Dreams Masterclass is for you. And I think that's where ah your work and my work really bridge because I like to believe that whatever happened throughout your life, it it all happens for a reason, being a good thing and bad thing.
00:32:42
Speaker
And I look at your life, you're like growing up with a mother that was a lot into gardening and farming, both your parents lived on a farm, ah your father was an e educator, and then you're getting into, you added something around sales and community development and all these things.
00:32:59
Speaker
I see that there's a huge opportunity to bring, let's call it, to bring everything home and to make developments that have all of these aspects, education, gardening, farming, nature experiences, and um obviously real estate, because we need shelter. It's one of the I wrote it down. I think it's the ah three basic needs, if I'm not mistaken, is food, shelter and water.
00:33:22
Speaker
So food is agriculture. Shelter is real estate. Water, this is ah also something. Canada has enough water for now. um But yeah, so food and shelter. and And then obviously we came from nature. We got disconnected, just like you said.
00:33:36
Speaker
and it's time to return back to it. And in order for us to return back to it, we don't have to like go live in a cave again or become like a hippie on a on the land, even though there's nothing wrong with that. If that's your part, go for it.
00:33:49
Speaker
But we can have all the luxuries and all the tools and the technology that we have today because it is very very helpful. Again, it's like the way you use it. If you use social media as like a distraction thing, well, then it's going to be bad for you. But if you use it as a way to connect with community, to to post content that inspires other people to take action, that's a whole different thing. So my question is, how do you see in your future and and in your business that you you can combine all of these aspects and and bring it home, like like I said?
00:34:23
Speaker
So, okay. Okay. I don't know if this is actually an answer to your question. I might be going on a segue here, but just take me back.
Innovative Urban Development Projects
00:34:32
Speaker
Bring me back if I'm out in left field.
00:34:35
Speaker
um When we first had a conversation, And you were talking about, you know, your business. I was kind of like, I don't really know what he does. And I don't really know why he wants to talk to me. And I i don't, I don't really understand. But I'm a curious person. So I'm like, let's find out.
00:34:52
Speaker
Let's see what this is about. So, you know, we started talking about our development sites. And my experience here is, Landscaping is something you do a last minute.
00:35:06
Speaker
You throw on the top soil, you roll out the sod, you plant some trees and shrubs and voila, it looks like a completed project. It happened in the last minute because probably we were you know trying to do a big open house and we needed everything done and we were doing a big community open house and everything kind of is last minute.
00:35:26
Speaker
So when you said to me, you know were talking about a redevelopment project in Edmonton, where we were going to take this one single home and we were going to, um, demolish it, abate it, and then build a multiplex, a multifamily property on top of it.
00:35:43
Speaker
And you're like, Jen, the microorganisms and the way you strip the soil and you don't want to lose your microorganisms. I was like, wait, what? What is he even talking about? Um, where you were like, no, like you can conserve your microorganisms. And then you were talking about like, um, you know, like organic and native plants and, and,
00:36:01
Speaker
how it's not going to cost, you know, it's it's just be really mindful about the environment and the the nature. and um And when you first started talking like that, I was like, okay, I have never, ever experienced something like this in a conversation in my over two decades of integrated development. I don't know that's good or a bad thing.
00:36:30
Speaker
It's not a good thing. um Because what happens is a lot of times, you know, when something is an afterthought, just like we talked about our disconnection from nature, and it becomes an afterthought, it's not the integral piece.
00:36:44
Speaker
And um so for me, I'm looking at it saying, wow, this is something that we have completely overlooked. And this is something that we can look on with fresh eyes, with different eyes, where we look at it and say, how can we how can we do better?
00:37:03
Speaker
How can we really reconnect to nature with things that, you know, when we first talked, you're like, Jen, I can do all these things. And, you you know, would it be like a marked difference? Maybe not.
00:37:17
Speaker
Like it wouldn't appear a marked difference, but it would be. And we wouldn't even have known. And so to be mindful about reconnecting with nature and do it intentionally versus something where you just assume it, it's an afterthought, this is how we do it, quick, quick, do that.
00:37:35
Speaker
um It blew like i was just like poof. Like what, this is crazy and so wonderful. And so when I look at it like look at, you know, community building and sustainability and I think nature and our disconnection from it has such amazing ability to bring us into community.
00:37:56
Speaker
So you and I talked about, you know, I think you're working on maybe a really cool housing project that's got really cool nature elements that you could talk to,
00:38:07
Speaker
but I'm working on an intergenerational project for, um you know, different pieces of the population to come and live together.
00:38:19
Speaker
But our critical piece of that is really about having the space to have a community garden where seniors, like where our elders can teach you know, they can garden and they can teach younger generations on how to do this kind of stuff and pass on that knowledge.
00:38:39
Speaker
Because I feel like a lot of that is being the knowledge is being lost in our urban centers. And um with our trend towards um urbanization in many, um in many developed and developing countries, this is, this is deep expertise that,
00:38:59
Speaker
um needs to be valued and it needs to be taught and it needs to be passed on. And so a community garden is a place where everybody can work together and, you know, you you lose your age and you lose your you know, all of those things and you just have commonalities. And when we can do that together, i think it's just so absolutely beautiful.
00:39:22
Speaker
And so I look at that as such a crazy, cool opportunity with, with with our critical pieces where we give the ability to not only work in it, but experience it. I mean, i don't know you must, I don't know like how you feel about flowers, but I love them. i love them. They make me happy. They make me smile. They give me joy that's nature giving me gifts every single day. And so, you know, having community gardens filled with both vegetables and flowers and things like that. I mean, wow.
00:39:57
Speaker
This is everything. Yeah, I agree with you. and And i want to stack on that in the sense of like, it's as a conventional way of developing building, it might be an after talk, but some Developers have put value onto to creating some unique landscapes and natural environments connected to their development being either private or semi-public or even completely public if it's together with the with the city or the municipality. And what they found out that it has a huge impact on the valuation of the properties.
00:40:30
Speaker
especially after people buy it because in beginning a landscape, it needs time to grow, right? So yeah if you're buying a house that has a well-designed outdoor space and has a lot of a variety of different plants, not just a tree and some grass, then over the course of the next five to 10 years, your property is going to increase way more in value than the ones that that have like just a...
00:40:56
Speaker
those basic um landscaping, grass and a tree and maybe some shrubs. Absolutely. Can I tell you so oh yeah yeah butt it can i tell you a story? i have some lived experience with this.
00:41:07
Speaker
um I worked in a community. um It was called the Hills at Charlesworth and it it actually won an international award where it had this, you um yeah, this beautiful green space. It was kind of like a plaza area and it had like a skating, a skating loop and it had community gardens and it had, you know, little kid playground and big kid playground. And I had all this cool stuff in it and it was really,
00:41:37
Speaker
built on sustainability. And like even, you know, they had this beautiful water collection system for the rain that that would water the community garden.
00:41:48
Speaker
yeah And, you know, they were just so mindful about the plaza area. And when we first started selling it, the community, Everyone would come in and be like, it's more expensive.
00:41:59
Speaker
I don't want to pay. I'm not going to do it. And we would fight with clients. Like the houses were beautiful, but the green space was so gorgeous. And it was so different.
00:42:10
Speaker
And at the start, we had a terrible time selling that community. Fast forward like three, four years. Now we're starting to get to the end of the hills at Charlesworth. I think it took us about eight.
00:42:25
Speaker
eight years to to finish it out. And it was a company that I worked for. They were the developer and and we also had a home building company that I worked on. And ah about halfway through, it just switched.
00:42:39
Speaker
And people came in and said, I know that in order to live here, I have to pay more money and I'm okay with it. Because this is the place I want to live. I want my kids to be able to walk down to the plaza. I want to see if I can get a spot in the community garden. the spot The community garden was like snapped up within like the first year, I want to say. All the plots were spoken for and everything. And it was such a hot place.
00:43:02
Speaker
um community feature. But halfway through, it just flipped over and people were like, I get it. i have to pay more money. This community is just more valuable and it is valuable.
00:43:13
Speaker
And that plaza area with its unique amenities and the gorgeous green space and it had a Frisbee golf, um that was a huge factor in what made that community so special. And then of course it wins an an international award and validates the concept. And so I really feel like, you know, we're having this conversation today where I'm like, what are you talking about? You know, well, I'm not saying it today because I already, now I'm educated about microorganisms like that much.
00:43:45
Speaker
But um I really feel like, The concept of leaning into nature and amenities and reconnecting with that is the market is there.
Storytelling in Real Estate Marketing
00:43:56
Speaker
It's the concepts been proven out and the developers that are creating these community spaces.
00:44:03
Speaker
This is all about opportunity to differentiate their communities by really giving place people really cool spaces to create that community.
00:44:15
Speaker
Yeah, it's a great example and I love what you said there. And I think also just in general, the the the investment for creating a green space can actually be marginal compared to what the value will actually bring. like And even that's what I discussed with ah you and your partner, Mike, that okay in a lot of construction projects, first thing they do is they build those the whole land and they remove the topsoil and they get trucks to come in and and remove that and then yeah ah At the end of the project, new trucks with new soil come in and and they say that it's better soil or top soil, but and you've actually removed it from this from the beginning. and
00:44:55
Speaker
And so yeah can we find solutions where we actually are way more way smarter with the resources so it's truly... sustainable and regenerative because end of the day when it doesn't reduce costs and when it's it at least or well it has to be either or when it's not a cost reduction item or it doesn't create more value for a development it's not truly regenerative it's just like um it may be sustainable or could think that it's ethical to do certain things, but it has to be monetizable. Otherwise you won't get it done by goodwill alone. Like you need to be able to monetize on it.
00:45:33
Speaker
Right. yeah, being more resourceful with materials and and coming up with, with smart design solutions. That's, that's where you truly can make the difference. It is. And you know what, Matthew, like people want to hear beautiful stories and,
00:45:50
Speaker
marketing is essentially storytelling oh yeah and the work that you do has such a beautiful and interesting story and i really feel like there's so much opportunity in the development community in north america for to tell a different story about connecting with nature in a different way when we develop communities um i just i just I just know like your the work that you do and the the services that you provide, it it it feels to me like a little bit of nature magic. And it's a beautiful story. And and stories are monetizable.
00:46:38
Speaker
That's what marketing is. And if you tell that story, you're not looking for everyone, but you are looking for the people that that resonates with.
00:46:48
Speaker
And there was more people that it resonates with than, than I think we would initially think because landscaping is generally commoditized, right?
00:47:00
Speaker
Trees, shrubs, sod, wood chips, rocks. It really doesn't matter where it comes from, right? It's just all about what's the, what's the best price for what I can do here.
00:47:14
Speaker
so finding different ways of creating value in a commoditized market, that's the magic of marketing and that's the really cool part about differentiation.
00:47:26
Speaker
And I believe
Future Aspirations and Personal Growth
00:47:27
Speaker
that that the piece of your industry that you work in that is just ripe for disruption in terms of um storytelling.
00:47:37
Speaker
I love it. I just had an amazing light bulb moment, like the way you explained it with that. Let's say my competitors are mostly commoditizing their work, which is fine. it works, but it's not like the next thing. Right. Whereas if we can diversify and create and stuff tell an amazing story.
00:47:56
Speaker
And that's where I think you come in very handy and something we could. We'll talk more about it offline, but something that we can cook together, and amazing meal, and use the knife for cooking yeah to create something unique.
00:48:12
Speaker
I think there's there's a lot of expertise that you have that I don't have in like two decades in development. ah That's amazing. that's There's very few people that...
00:48:23
Speaker
have that at the same time being like heart-centered, purpose-driven and wanting to have an impact for people and communities and adding that you're interested or that you're using sustainability as a guideline, that's going to give fireworks, I'm 100% sure. It's already giving fireworks. so I'm excited about the the future.
00:48:45
Speaker
So we're going to be wrapping up the interview very soon, but I still have a question for you. Like, let's let's look into the future for you personally. What are you most excited about for the next 10 years? Like, what is like this next 10 years? This is what I'm going to do. And this is how my life will look.
00:49:03
Speaker
um What am I most excited for? Well, I think that as I continue to work to align with my gifts and my purpose, I think I have never really dreamed big enough.
00:49:19
Speaker
And so for me, i I hesitate to be like, I'm going to be here. I'm going to be there because I think if I say that I already know I'm going to do it. And so I look at my ability to make an impact where impact is my motivation.
00:49:40
Speaker
I know that there are people in the world that that need to hear my message and they need to know that it's okay to be a human and it's okay to be a salesperson and nobody has to be infallible and it's okay for us to, you know, to...
00:49:55
Speaker
Reconnect with nature and and let's find joy in all of this And so when I look at where I'm gonna be in 10 years, I don't know. i don't know. I love to travel um My mom is just my best friend and she is everything to me and she's been such a faithful servant of her family She has just served there's seven kids and she had a big family and she has just been such a faithful servant And I just want to give her the opportunities and experiences that she really would never dream of. And so for me, what motivates me is, you know, I took my mom to Paris and never been to Europe.
00:50:41
Speaker
And the experience of seeing my mom in those beautiful cathedrals and in the flower market. That was everything to me. So for me, the next 10 years is really about having amazing adventures with my mother,
00:50:58
Speaker
and watching her just light up like, like the eye, like with the childlike wonder.
Purpose and Joy in Sales and Life
00:51:05
Speaker
And, um, and of course I have my children and they're finding their way. And I just aligning, there's a lot of alignment with their businesses and my businesses. And I hope to work with them.
00:51:18
Speaker
And I just, I just hope that the people that need me, i can work with them. They find me maybe even through this podcast. And, um, And we find a way to to impact their lives in a really positive way.
00:51:32
Speaker
i love that. I mean, I didn't really commit to any hard goals. but No, it's a look out to the next 10 years. Yeah, I just want to do my part in making it.
00:51:43
Speaker
What's that? I said family first. That's something we say in in our family. yeah like to and Take time with your family. Enjoy that. and change people's lives that's that's what you're doing and you're gonna keep doing so um as you said like people who are listening if they like i want to learn how to sell with a heart-centered way and make sales fun because oh this is one final thing that you on your linkedin you say that you know something about sales humor do you have like a sales joke or do you have what what is sales humor to you
00:52:17
Speaker
Well, the funny thing about sales humor is, I mean, we speak sales humor in memes, right? Where we're like, you know, and the humor is always very ironic where we're like, hi, like I started in sales last week where I look like a fresh 29 year old and now I look like an 80 year old a week later.
00:52:36
Speaker
we're like, you know, the world is on fire and we're like, yeah, I'm just working on our sales goals, right? And so, What's interesting about sales humor is it's all true. Like all of that stuff where you're like, the world is on fire, but I will just figure it out. You're like, okay, I guess I will.
00:52:53
Speaker
So I don't have any good sales jokes because the real sales humor is all about the memes. Like it's, it's all there. And then of course, you know, the Glen garry glenn Ross where you're like, where are the deals? You know, where's the leads? And it's just, it's so funny.
00:53:10
Speaker
but But the issue part of the humor is that it's also really ironic humor where we're like, actually, we are all struggling and we do feel stressed to the max all the time. And we laugh about it because there's not much else we can do about it.
00:53:25
Speaker
But there is things that we can do about it. We can strive for balance without appearing, for you know, that we're, we don't have to be perfect. We don't have to be machines.
00:53:36
Speaker
um We are still human beings and, and it's okay to, to need support and it's okay. I mean, there's, You know in sales there's lots of addiction issues. There's lots of you know Relationships that you've had to compromise for the fact that you were just so committed to your job and so I I want to help change that for people because we laugh about it in memes but also there's a dark side but Which is what makes me so funny because there's always a dark side to it where you're like oh that's totally true and I guess maybe we should do something right
00:54:10
Speaker
There's definitely always truth in and jokes. And that's why we love them so much. I totally do. Oh, Like, ooh. Totally true. But yeah. I love that. I'd love to see more of those ah memes or jokes on your social media as well. Okay. Well, I can...
00:54:27
Speaker
I'm always so serious. I can definitely be funnier. Thank you for that. No, I'm not saying that. It would be cool to see those because you have a good sense for humor. No, it gave me an amazing idea because I think addressing the actual issues behind what makes a meme funny is, I think, an amazing social strategy for me. And you just like...
00:54:53
Speaker
so You just gave me that light bulb. So thank you. Nice. I'm happy for you that I got to do that. And I'm happy. Yeah. So if people are listening and they say like, I really want to learn how to sell with a heart or they want to get into development or they would just love to connect with you, how can they best reach out to you? Where can they find you? And ah yeah, so we can add that to the show notes as well.
00:55:16
Speaker
Oh, well, that would be amazing. So like if somebody was like, i i think this is really cool and I want to help provide housing in Canada. I want to invest in things like that. um You know, there's limitations. But um my website for that is www.urbanbricks.com and bricks is spelled B-R-I-X dot C-A.
00:55:36
Speaker
And that's our development company where you can see what we're up to um And then we also have, I also have my other website, which is, congruent projects dot com and in there you could see all of the stuff that I'm working on the books the the workshops the um online school is coming soon and um and the different consulting packages to really look at your sales environment um in a different way. So if anybody was looking for me, the websites are an amazing way to find me.
00:56:10
Speaker
Amazing. Cool. yeah were And you're quite a ah you have a good following on on LinkedIn. So we're at your social media profile there as well. Yeah, that would be awesome. That's great.
00:56:20
Speaker
So Jennifer, we're going to wrap it up. Anything else that you would like to share before we completely close? Because I feel like there could be something else that we are 100% sure that we gave it all.
00:56:32
Speaker
You know, one thing that we didn't talk about that I really, um you know, that i really love to impart and it's actually coming in a social media post is, you know, if no one has told you today that you are doing an amazing job, I'm not going to do it either.
00:56:50
Speaker
Because when you work in your life's work, internal validation is so important. And the person that you need to hear you're doing an amazing job is the superhero inside of you.
00:57:04
Speaker
Because as we talk in our mentoring group, that super villain is insidious. that's the That's the voice in your head that says, you know what? You're not perfect. You're not ready. um you know ah You're not good enough. You're not worthy. And all of that ridiculous nonsense.
00:57:22
Speaker
And so that internal validation you know, your biggest cheerleader is yourself being like, you got this. Look how amazing you are. And so I just encourage everyone to really look inside and give yourself that validation. Like adulting is hard. Being an adult is hard. We thought as kids, we're like, we can't wait to be adults because it's going to be a cakewalk and I can have chocolate cake for breakfast and ice cream and I can do whatever I want.
00:57:49
Speaker
Well, I mean, there's lots of amazing perks to it, but it's not as easy, I think, as as we romanticized it. And so really just give yourself some love and give yourself some validation because you should be getting it from yourself. That is the most powerful.
00:58:04
Speaker
Being able to get yourself off of that validation from others is so important because it really helps you find your purpose. When you're validating yourself, your motivations are pure, right?
00:58:16
Speaker
Mm-hmm. So um that's something from my soft skills um education pieces that I'm working on. And so, you know, as much as we're like, we're working on our energy, we're working on this, we're working on that, totally, we are hustling every single day. But like, make sure you're telling yourself how freaking amazing you are, because you are, you know, as we align with our purpose and our specialness. And and I mean, wow, what ah what a beautiful day to be alive.
00:58:46
Speaker
I agree, Jennifer. Wow. Thank you for very much for this amazing energy that you bring to the table. I think ah we did an amazing job and i I'm already very excited to get you back on on the show and sometime in the future to and talk about updates and see how we get some projects off the ground together. So I'm already excited about that.
00:59:08
Speaker
Yes, let's do it. Amazing. Thank you so much. Thank you for coming on. Bye. Okay. Bye-bye. Okay, stay here if you want. Just hit pause, pause or stop.