She kept it hidden for 25 years. Jane Pilger’s struggle with binge eating didn’t stop her from building a successful career. It pushed her toward something deeper. In this episode of Hello Chaos, Jane opens up about her business journey from high-achieving real estate pro to founder, coach, and guide for others navigating the messy intersection of entrepreneurship and mental health. She shares how nervous system regulation, shifting self-talk, and personal growth became the foundation for her coaching practice. From overcoming shame to building community support, Jane gets real about the emotional well-being required to lead a business while doing the inner work. For entrepreneurs who know the journey is personal and the stakes are high, this one is a powerful reminder to show up fully and embrace the chaos.
Key Takeaways:
1️⃣ Your nervous system is part of your business strategy.
Entrepreneurship demands more than mindset. Understanding how your nervous system responds to stress, fear, and visibility can help you make clearer decisions, avoid burnout, and lead with intention.
2️⃣ Shifting your self-talk fuels personal and professional growth.
Negative self-talk holds many founders back more than external obstacles. Rewriting your internal narrative is essential for emotional well-being, mental health, and showing up fully in your business journey.
3️⃣ Healing happens in community, not isolation.
Jane’s story proves that real change requires community support. Whether you're launching a coaching practice or navigating your own challenges with binge eating, surrounding yourself with people who get it is key to sustainable growth.
Timestamps
00:00 The Journey to Entrepreneurship
03:05 Overcoming Personal Struggles
05:57 The Aha Moment: Helping Others
09:01 Shifting Identities: From Accountant to Coach
12:47 Understanding the Body-Mind Connection
15:42 The Eight Reasons Behind Binge Eating
18:22 Bravery and Vulnerability in Entrepreneurship
21:12 Expanding Capacity as Founders
23:21 Mini Adventures and Habit Formation
26:31 The Importance of Community and Support
28:45 Recognizing Patterns and Simplifying Business
31:40 The Journey of Continuous Improvement
33:31 Creating Your Daily Experience
37:54 Where to Find More About Jane Pilger
🔗 Learn more and connect with Jane for valuable content
Website: https://www.janepilger.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janepilger/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janepilgercoaching/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@janepilgercoaching
Hello Chaos (00:00)
music
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (00:10)
All right, welcome to Hello Chaos, the show where founders, innovators, innovators and chaotic minds get real and unfiltered about the mess, the magic and the mayhem of entrepreneurship. I'm JJ, your host and fellow work in progress. And today we're diving headfirst into the chaos with Jane Pilger. She is the founder of Jane Pilger Coaching, calling out of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Welcome, Jane. Welcome to our show.
Jane Pilger (00:38)
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here today.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (00:41)
Yeah, same here. So start us out. How did you get into entrepreneurship? What inspired you to start your own company?
Jane Pilger (00:50)
Oh, such a good question. So starting out, I was an accountant coming out of school, got an accounting degree, figured it would be great for me, have a lot of different options there, got my CPA, started working for an accounting firm, ended up in commercial real estate, third generation commercial real estate broker.
I really loved, actually enjoyed commercial real estate. I enjoyed the projects. enjoyed various aspects of it, but it wasn't really, I don't know. It wasn't, it wasn't a rewarding career. And in the meantime, I had my own personal journey and my own personal struggle with binge eating that started my very first semester of college. And it was something that I had a lot of shame about and I hid for a long time.
On the outside, was always somebody who was very successful, was able to achieve many things that I set out to achieve. But I had this kind of like deep, dark secret that I didn't want anybody to know what I was doing with food behind closed doors. And it's a battle that I struggled with for over 25 years in various forms over time. And I remember thinking, if I ever figure this out,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:56)
right?
Jane Pilger (02:08)
I want to help other people go through to be able to support them and give them the resources and the help and the guidance and the support that I didn't have. And that really, so I was on my, I was on my journey of my own personal journey of healing and yes.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (02:24)
You're owned, like, finding your courage and
bravery and finding the voice and your why, yeah.
Jane Pilger (02:30)
Yeah, yeah. And so as I was going
through that, was like the commercial real estate really was less and less appealing. And what was more and more appealing was helping other people and really turning, you know, kind of turning your mess into your message. And it really just became clear that this is what this is what I want to do. I really want to help other people overcome binge eating and understand why they binge and how to stop and understand.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (02:47)
Yeah.
Jane Pilger (03:00)
that you're not broken, even though it really feels like you are. And so that really was kind of my journey towards it.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (03:01)
Right?
That's your, so did you
have like an aha moment as you were doing your own transformation that as you started to speak out, did people come to you and say, how did you do this? How are you going through this? And that was like your, I'm like, ooh, these conversations, I can be helping others? Or was it like further than that? I'm just curious, what was that like initial aha?
Jane Pilger (03:31)
Yeah,
yeah, such a good question. So I was a part of a group, kind of a membership group of other people who had shared struggles with food. And so within that group, I started sharing more of my journey and more of what was happening, what I was going through. And within that group, started helping, I started helping other people who had similar struggles. So it was kind of like a, it was like a safe place for me to share and to start.
talking about this thing that I really hadn't talked about in public. Well, no way in public. I mean, I was married before my husband even knew about my struggles with food. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (04:06)
Right.
Wow, wow.
So you were even hiding it like in your own house, your four walls, okay. ⁓ What was that, when you started out and launched your business, was there a challenge? What was that moment like? Because that's a very niche. ⁓ And yeah, mean, people say when you kind of start speaking out on topics, people gravitate like a beak and a magnet of,
Jane Pilger (04:16)
was. I was. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Yes.
Yes.
Yeah. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (04:39)
I'm not alone anymore. Is
that what happened in your scenario where you're like, hey, I wanna do this. Where is, are the people?
Jane Pilger (04:49)
Yeah, it was kind of a couple of things. I, as a part of this other group, as I was talking to people, people and I would share more of my story, I got a lot of, wow, that is so helpful. I am so glad to know that I am not alone. And that really helped me think like, okay, I really can.
I can help other people. So that was very much a, okay, I can do this. So then what happened was as I then kind of went out of that safe space of that little group where there's this shared struggle with food and I go out and I'm like, okay, I'm going to do this. I'm going to, ⁓ you know, I'm going to set up my website and I'm going to, you know, start talking about it with other people. That really what happened was I started binging again and it was
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (05:07)
Right.
Yeah.
like the anxiety,
the stress, was that the trigger? Okay.
Jane Pilger (05:35)
Yeah, yes. So it really was. mean,
for sure. Now I did not know at the time. At the time I was like, what is going on? What is wrong with me? Here I am. I felt like such an imposter. I'm trying to help other people. And I was, I was still working with people and I was helping people. But again, I have another secret because here I am. I am trying to help you, but I'm, I'm struggling myself in secret and I don't feel like I can even talk about it.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (05:54)
Right.
Yeah.
Jane Pilger (06:02)
Now, what I know now that I didn't know then is it was my nervous system. As I put myself out there to this part of me that I worked so hard to keep hidden, to keep a secret that I had so much shame about, there really was a lot of vulnerability in what will other people think. All these people who think that, you know, I have it all together are now gonna know the truth that we're all messy, you know, is just like you said in your intro, like,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (06:15)
Right.
Right?
Jane Pilger (06:31)
We really are all works in progress and we are all messy, but we don't as individuals, we don't necessarily believe that to be true about the other people, especially those people that look like they have it all together. And so, so that really was, that was kind of the root of it was really some of that nervous system. But when you talk about, know, kind of like the, the shit moment really was here I am. I'm here trying to.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (06:32)
We're, we all are.
Right, right.
Jane Pilger (06:59)
help other people, yet I'm still struggling myself. Yeah, now I can look back and be really appreciative of that time because it led me to think, okay, there's more here. There's more here for me to learn. I clearly have some more kind of healing and growth to do. And that led me to really diving deep into understanding the nervous system and what happens with the nervous system and how the nervous system plays such a really big
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (07:02)
You're still, yeah.
Right?
Mm.
Jane Pilger (07:28)
role in everything. mean, everything that we do, but particularly as it relates to food, to binge eating. And so that kind of then became, everything changed once I really was able to understand that. So it kind of became one of those pieces of really developing that safety, that trust with myself, with my body, with food, that really has become the heart of my message.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (07:35)
Right, right.
Right.
And then obviously did you have to through that develop tools that were different that probably didn't exist out there? Like, ooh, if this is gonna help me, this is gonna help others. Were there, as you started transitioning into, I'm leaving this field and then doing something that is also very personal.
Jane Pilger (08:00)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly, yeah, yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (08:18)
to your story and kind of putting yourself out there, what was the biggest challenge of starting your own business in this landscape, in this space?
Jane Pilger (08:18)
Thank
Yeah, I think it really probably was like shifting that identity. And what's so interesting is I think this is one of the biggest challenges that my clients face too. It's shifting the identity from a binge eater to someone who trusts themselves around food. It's a big shift. So for me, of shifting from the commercial real estate, the CPA, the kind of professional woman, and all of those other roles and all of those things that I did in those roles, shifting from that into now.
kind of this mentor, this guide, this trusted advisor, this coach, this person who can, you know, is really helping people who are struggling specifically with disordered eating and specifically binge eating. Yeah, so like that shift in identity was probably the biggest challenge.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (09:10)
Right.
What did you, what have you learned the most about yourself through your transformative journey?
Jane Pilger (09:21)
Hmm, the most about myself. I think that everything, everything that I am doing, everything that I'm feeling makes sense. Like every, it makes sense. Like I spent so long trying to just think, thinking I was broken, thinking there was something wrong, thinking it shouldn't be this way, thinking this shouldn't be happening or I shouldn't be doing this or things should be different.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (09:31)
⁓ you're-
Jane Pilger (09:45)
And that really understanding that actually everything I do makes sense. How my body's responding, how my brain is responding, all of that, it really makes sense. Where I am now makes sense. Like there's nothing wrong here. There's nothing broken. Nothing needs to be fixed. It's really just a matter of like,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (10:04)
Your body is telling you
everything is sinking.
We've talked to other founders who have kind of described as they've kind of gone from CEO or like high power and they're like, no, I want to start something and be an innovator, creator, founder. And as they're shifting through their journey, I don't know if you can relate to this, but they're like, when you know you're making decisions or people around you aren't
the energy and the vibe, like they're the wrong people that you need to be around there. can feel it like it drank like physically. And we've had a couple of people like your body will tell you immediately like something is wrong in your decision making, whether it's in the relationships, and relationships, partnerships, friendships, spousal relationship, whatever those are or.
Jane Pilger (11:46)
Yes.
Yes. Yes.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (12:07)
Like you're doing something that might be against, you're making a decision that affects other things. Like you can feel it. will make your body, I guess, scream out. I don't know if that, yeah.
Jane Pilger (12:14)
Yes, yes.
Yeah. Well, and what's
so powerful really is I think what this work too is really getting that connection more of a connection with my body. So I used to very much kind of operate just from the neck up very much in my head. We're just going to make logical decisions. And now that I have this deeper connection with my body, it really is then connecting with the energy. What is this? Is this energy? Is this decision coming from a place of fear? Is this coming from a place of creation and possibility and really
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (12:33)
Right?
Right.
Jane Pilger (12:48)
doing my best to live as much as possible, to live from a place of possibility. What is possible? What can I create? Who do I want to be in this moment? As opposed to, I can't do it. You know, I'm not.
capable, there's something wrong with me, I'm broken, this isn't how it's supposed to be. Just the energy is so different. And if we can tune into that energy, notice which energy we're in, and then go to make those decisions from that place, literally changes everything.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (13:20)
Yeah. Has that been the most rewarding part or are there other rewards that you have found more special?
Jane Pilger (13:28)
gosh, I think the reward for me, the rewards are the compound effect of the work. You know, it's like somebody comes to me because they're really struggling with food, but when we're done, it is not just their relationship with food that's different. It's everything. It's every aspect of their life. And it's that, and then seeing how the, that change.
in that one person, how they show up at work, how they show up with their family, then the compound effect, that ripple effect of the work that goes out to other people, I just think that's the most amazing part of it.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (13:55)
Right?
Are you seeing a common thread of why people are, know, the anxiety and the bingeing, is there a common thread of like the root core of where is that coming from?
Jane Pilger (14:19)
Yeah, yeah, so I really talk about eight reasons. So there's really eight reasons why people binge. And even if binge eating doesn't resonate with you, if you struggle with food in any way, any time you eat in a way that's like, ⁓ I didn't really, that's not really what I, you know, what I would prefer. There's generally eight reasons. So the number one reason, shame and judgment. When we're in shame and judgment about the thing that we're doing,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (14:35)
Right?
Jane Pilger (14:46)
we kind of keep ourselves in the cycle because we're beating ourselves up and then we just kind of want to get away from ourselves. But we can't except that some, some people when they binge, they do kind of really disconnect. I used to say that it was really just like how I turned the lights off on myself. so that's really number one reason shame and judgment when we beat ourselves up for what we've done. Then there's restriction, literally not eating enough food. We'll
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (14:49)
Yeah.
Jane Pilger (15:11)
create a cycle of binge eating, your body will get fed. If you're not gonna feed it enough, it will make sure that it gets food in some way. And there's two types of restrictions. So there's also mental restriction, which are the things where we say, I can't eat that, don't eat that. A lot of, you know, kind of like mentally restricting things from us. There's also the nervous system, what we were talking about, like dysregulation in our nervous system. Sometimes we are trying to use food to regulate ourselves. There's emotional capacity.
So if this was me, I mean, pretty much all of the above were me, but if you didn't learn how to allow process experience emotions, what can happen is we can end up using food to try to either cover them up, quell them, that type of thing. emotional capacity is one of them. One of them is just the...
the negative, negative self-talk, the way we talk to ourselves about ourselves. One of them is an attempt to control. We're just trying to control, trying to control what we eat. We're trying to control the size of our body, what our body looks like. that's, mm hmm. Yeah. Yep. That's another reason. And one of the reasons is habits, but I like to say that the, the habit, some people say, well yeah, it is a habit.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (16:03)
Yeah.
So like body dysmorphia and all that go into play. Yeah.
Jane Pilger (16:27)
So we just need to focus on the habit part. But if you don't look at all of the other reasons, no attempt to see it as a habit will change if we're not also addressing the negative self-talk and the emotional capacity and the nervous system and how we're talking to ourselves and the attempt to control ourselves. If we're not looking at all of those other things, we can't just see it as, this is just a bad habit that I
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (16:41)
Right?
Right,
right.
Jane Pilger (16:55)
So there, is a component, but not all of it. So those are the, I think I mentioned all eight, but those really are the reasons. And I like to talk about a binge, an episode with food where you're like, what did I just do? Really is it's like a light on the dashboard. It tells us there's something going on under the hood. And so, so many people, they look at the food and they look at the lights and they're like, okay, I just need to stop eating this or take this out of the house or.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (17:21)
Yeah, there's an alarm, right?
Jane Pilger (17:23)
Yeah,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (17:23)
Yeah.
Jane Pilger (17:24)
exactly. But when we do that, really, it's just like we're trying to put duct tape over the dash. What I say is that we have to get under the hood. We have to see what's going on to cause those lights to come on in the first place. So then we can stop them from coming on at all. And the shame and the judgment is that 50 pound weight that's on the top of the hood. And if we can remove shame and judgment, we can get under the hood to see what else is going on. That's where the real work is.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (17:30)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, and I think that applies to a lot of things. If you have that anxiety or, they always say, don't speak to yourself, your worst enemy. We need to be careful even the words that we use. I say this on other shows and with other founders, I stop using failure in my vernacular. It's just lessons learned. We either have wins or lessons.
Jane Pilger (18:07)
Yes.
Yes. Yes.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (18:18)
Stop using those negative words that you wouldn't even use to your child. we, I don't think this is a gender bias, but I know, I think more women have this critical aspect that when we talk to ourselves, we're not talking with grace a lot of times. But mean, you're talking about those eight things. The manifestation is just the binge eating, but all those root things,
Jane Pilger (18:35)
Right, yeah.
Correct.
Yes.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (18:43)
are ⁓ causes for people maybe not finding their purpose or struggling with really who they are, how they should show up, being brave or courageous, just living more with freedom. ⁓ And so, yeah, all those, the lights on the dashboard, but to get to that of why.
Jane Pilger (19:02)
Mm-hmm.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (19:10)
you gotta go, you gotta dig deeper. ⁓ I've been there, and like I've had to go through that. And it was, you you hit those absolutely lowest moments, and you're like, what is the common denominator? ⁓ it's me, I need to go, I need to go dig deeper. Which, you know, I don't know if you've read the book, Learn to Be Brave.
Jane Pilger (19:10)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yes.
No, I
haven't.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (19:35)
It's by Bishop Buday, who was the Episcopalian bishop that spoke at the commencement. But she wrote a book around, and the whole psychology that we, to be courageous, to be brave, is not innate. So a lot of people think, ⁓ you're so polished out there, you're bold, you're fearless. that's just, know, we think of those as extroverts out there. ⁓
Jane Pilger (19:52)
Hmm.
Hmm.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (20:02)
and that's just normal, but it is not. We are not born that way. is small steps, small decisions. That is a learned practice. I'm an introvert, naturally, but I call myself a learned extrovert for some of those reasons, but I thought someone being brave or courageous, they were born with that. And she's like, no, nobody's born with that.
Jane Pilger (20:26)
Hmm.
It's amazing.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (20:30)
and we all have to, I can't think, recognize the lights on the dash of what is happening and then taking that moment to kind of dig deeper.
Jane Pilger (20:34)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, and I think
with bravery too, is the, there is when we can work with the nervous system around bravery. think what happens for a lot of people is they say, okay, I'm going to be brave. And the thing that they are asking themselves to do is too far beyond their comfort zone. So it puts them, you know, into the, the place of shutdown or collapse or whatever it's going to be because. Yes. Yes. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (20:57)
Right, right.
Right? Or, my god, I can't be that person. That's not me. Yeah, yeah.
Jane Pilger (21:08)
So it's
like we just expand. I talk a lot about expanding your capacity and we do this. We do this as as founders. We do this. I mean my clients do this in their own work. It's expanding the capacity to do things that you previously haven't been able to do before. So it's like if you think about you've expanded your capacity to be a podcaster.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (21:13)
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Right, this was my therapy. This was like part of it of I've gotta find ways to be present and show up and educate and form, build connections in a way that was more comfortable for me of I hate networking events. I'm one of those people that you would see me holding up the wall in the corner unless I found the one or two people and then would just really connect.
Jane Pilger (21:54)
Yes.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (21:56)
Then I had to learn how to do with it. Because you know, it's important. You're a founder. You've got to make connections. You've got to go to these events. know, sometimes you just have to be present. But I had to find little devices and tools to go, OK, these are going to be, this is my script. These are the three questions I'm going to ask, you know, or have something in the back pocket of, and this is my speech. This is how I introduce myself as my, you know, but we all have to come up with those. But those are all learned.
Jane Pilger (22:08)
Yes.
Yes.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (22:24)
Those are all learned practices. This is a learned practice.
Jane Pilger (22:25)
Right.
Yeah, yeah. But
you did it in small things at a time. You didn't just go out there and was like, all right, I'm going to do this thing, and something that was too big for your nervous system. So if we can take these small steps and then create the little sources of safety, like your questions, it's like, OK, this is safety. I've got my questions. Yes, exactly.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (22:31)
I did it. Yep.
Right. no.
That's my safety, I got it, it's my little script. And it's
the same thing of like, I mean, did take little baby steps, I don't know if you've kind of done that, people have been, you need to post more, be out there more, I'm like, okay, I'm doing the podcast, I'm doing these events, where? And I gave myself a challenge, because I incorporated this like two or three years ago, and I'm interested if you've kind of done any, what are your devices or what are your routines?
But a few years ago, I adopted, I call it a six for one challenge in life of six times a year. try every other month, create kind of a mini adventure, whether it's, I've got four kids trying to do something with them that we've never done before. Maybe it's just like, we're gonna go hike a waterfall or we're gonna go horseback riding or maybe it's a wine trip with a group of girls.
and ladies that I've never met before, know, kind of putting myself as just these little mini adventures. So at the end of the year, I can go, I had six mini adventures doing things I've never done before. And then the four is adopting one habit once a quarter. And so then at the end of the year, I have four new habits, because if you do that one habit in one quarter, you will have adopted it. It's not like, okay, I've done it now.
Moving on, it's, you you're dying. And then the one is like, what's the one big thing that kind of defines the year of, so this year I'm writing a book. That's gonna be my, you know, my big thing. But last year, last quarter, to go into 2025, I was like, okay, I'm gonna post daily on social. I'd, you know, I've just done maybe more like weekly posts and it took, so that journey,
Jane Pilger (24:16)
Hmm.
amazing.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (24:37)
after like the first month, was really just, you listen, watch my post, it was like a stream of consciousness of like whatever was on my mind. And then it kind of was like, ⁓ I need to have more of a red thread. I need to have more of a thematic. But it made me go deeper and deeper of like, you know, really what's my voice? How do I wanna be seen and present? What do I want people to know about me?
And through that discovery, now it's like, I see it. But I found that I love it. it's a creative outlet that I never thought I would enjoy, because I thought posting would be, you have to do this as a founder, you know, as a business leader in your company. You know, but I actually, really enjoy it. And I've made some fantastic connections.
Jane Pilger (25:06)
Hmm.
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (25:25)
It's just yeah, it's been and now it's it and it and that led me through because I own a marketing agency right besides OrangeWIP and the podcast. I have a marketing agency that I founded over a decade ago. I work with company, you know, branding and all this. But that discovery of myself, I started working with the CEOs and the founders that we work with. I was like, I'm because I made my own personal style guide.
because you know I'm a nerd, I gotta make sure I craft the, what's my personal brand story, what's my style, how do I show up, what are my themes that I wanna stick to? And now I give it, and I do the same thing for founders. So it was like, it was like a fascinating journey, they're baby steps to do that in safe measures. So.
Jane Pilger (26:13)
baby steps. Yeah.
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (26:19)
Like what have you done? What are those routines or what are those safety devices that work for you?
Jane Pilger (26:27)
I would say two things. would say one is being around other entrepreneurs, other founders, other people who are working on their businesses, building their businesses, coming up with ideas, really having plenty of those people to talk with and to brainstorm with and to support and to get support. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I think that,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (26:38)
Yeah.
Yeah. It's a different energy, it? ⁓ yeah, yeah.
Jane Pilger (26:52)
has been really, really helpful. Because otherwise, can be when you're kind of on your own or with a small team, can be kind of isolating. But really, for me, I have very much surrounded myself with ⁓ many other people who are on a similar journey. So that's been really helpful. And from a safety perspective, I think really two things. mean, one, my husband is my biggest source of safety. Yeah, yeah. And I've really learned.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (26:58)
Right. It's pretty lonely.
Your cheerleader. ⁓
Jane Pilger (27:19)
I've learned what I need. kind of have discovered, particularly, I would say last year I really discovered, you know what really is helpful for me is to just talk. And sometimes if I can just talk it out, I literally will get to the answer myself. Sometimes, yeah, yeah, sometimes he'll ask questions or he will come up with something and I'll be like, oh yeah, that actually is really helpful. But a lot of times, and we were at the point now where I tell him, I really want to talk this out. I would love your input and your questions. And I may or may not.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (27:32)
Right, we all have it in ourselves, right?
Jane Pilger (27:48)
do anything you say, but just the conversation that we have is so helpful. So I've really learned that trying to keep it all up here and make decisions up here is just, it's never, that's never going to create the type of results I want. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (27:52)
Right.
Get it out, brain dump it out, yeah. And you gotta
have that, you have to have that, whether it's your spouse or your circle of friends that are also having a little bit of accountability with you too, but to just, you gotta get it out of your head.
Jane Pilger (28:18)
Yeah. The other thing that is super helpful for me is I'm also an athlete. do a triathlon. And when I go on really long bike rides by myself, is just, that's kind of my place. You some people have their brilliance in the shower or on their walks or whatever. For me, it's on the bicycle. So ⁓ that's a really good place to just, yeah, let things come to me.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (28:32)
Right.
Yeah, releasing.
So you pretty much within your business, you've kind of put yourself out there in this journey, but what's something that you really like about yourself that you wish more people recognized more?
Jane Pilger (28:53)
Hmm.
Let's say that I have a pattern recognition, an ability to recognize patterns. Patterns of behavior, patterns of thinking, patterns of either things work, the way that people show up. I would say probably pattern recognition. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's an interesting question.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (29:12)
That's a good one.
That is. So if I gave you a magic wand, what two things would you change about your business today?
Jane Pilger (29:22)
Ooh. That's a great question too. I would...
I would simplify it. You know, it's interesting on the journey. I think it's important to like be really curious. What do other people do? What are other, you know, what might somebody else say? And you get so many ideas and it's like, ⁓ I could do this. Ooh, I could do that. ⁓ I really like this thing. Or, maybe what if I tried that? Or somebody might even say, you know, you, you should try this. You would be really good at this. ⁓ and then all of a sudden you're doing a lot of different.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (29:37)
Right.
Yeah.
Right.
Jane Pilger (29:55)
things. And so for me, so I find that for myself is, is there are a lot of different ideas and I do feel like, there's so many different things I would love to do. And then sometimes I feel like it gets spread a little thin. So I think if I had a magic wand, I would really, I would pair it back and really simplify, simplify it. so that would be one, you said two things. The other is
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (30:08)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Jane Pilger (30:21)
the other.
I probably would bring in at least one or two people to help. really, at this point, I'm doing everything myself. So I think having additional support,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (30:31)
Right.
Support, yeah,
yeah. What has surprised you the most about starting your own company?
Jane Pilger (30:41)
I would say that it's like...
There's always, this probably, is whether you're starting your own company, whether you're just working on a personal challenge or whatever, there's always something to improve. There's always something to work on. think we so often just as humans, we think, ⁓ as soon as I figure this thing out, as soon as I do this, then the win then game, right? When this happens, then everything's going to be great. But of course,
when happens, but we get there, we get to that magical when place, but then we just, we move the goalposts or it's like, okay, but now we just have this new thing that has presented ourselves to now work towards. So I think that's been kind of the most surprising is like, there really, there just is no, there is no finish line to the journey of. ⁓
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (31:12)
Shit happens, man. Like, yeah.
Right.
Jane Pilger (31:37)
having obstacles, having challenges, having new things to figure out the next thing to be working on. I remember somebody telling me a while ago, and it's really taken me a while to really absorb. And I still have to remind myself over and over again, but there isn't better than here. And it's really true. If you think about all, like we spend so much time trying to get there, and then we get there and we're like, but I just need to get there.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (31:57)
Yeah.
Jane Pilger (32:04)
And then I just need to get there, but it really isn't any better. So if we can just be here, be in the enjoyment of what we have now and the gratitude of, everything that we're in now versus thinking it's just going to be so much better then. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (32:08)
presence.
Right, right,
no that's a great reminder. See, what other piece of advice that you've received from whether it's other founders or business leaders that you really took to heart and you kind of made it a part of your decision making in your business?
Jane Pilger (32:35)
I would say this is probably more advice that I'm really leaning into recently. So I probably didn't initially lean into it. think I, I think I leaned into it inherently. Then I went into kind of trying to follow other people's advice and suggestions. but really where I'm trying to kind of get back into is really following what lights me up. What do I enjoy doing? What is fun for me and really trying to
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (32:51)
Right.
Jane Pilger (33:03)
build my business as much from that place and that energy as possible, rather than thinking that somebody else might have the answer or that I just need to do more things or figure things out is really more kind of like really letting that energy and kind of let that guide me a little bit more.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (33:14)
Right.
Stay in tune with like what what feeds you? Yeah, because then it and when you do that as you're as you're looking to scale the things that drain you or frustrate you those are the things that you need to then either outsource or hire for Get them off your plate, right? ⁓ No, that's great Okay, so if we met a year from now
Jane Pilger (33:27)
Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah. Yes, yes.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (33:48)
What will we be celebrating?
Jane Pilger (33:51)
If we met a year from now, well, we'd be celebrating. could, I mean, we'd still be celebrating. So you were saying this year you're writing a book. Last year I wrote a book. Yes, I wrote a book, published it at the very end of December. So it's called, thank you. It's called The Bingeating Breakthrough. My podcast is called Bingeating Breakthrough. So very similar to my podcast.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (34:01)
⁓ you wrote a book! ⁓ fantastic.
Congratulations, that's huge.
Jane Pilger (34:17)
I also just finished a workbook, a companion workbook and audio book for that. I'd say we'd probably be celebrating that, just more impact, reaching more people in the world. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (34:31)
Right. ⁓
so last year was, that was a big, that's a big deal to get all that done by any year. Congratulations. So if you had to sum up your entrepreneurial journey in just one word, what would that word be?
Jane Pilger (34:39)
Yes, yes, yes. Thank you.
I think it would be growth. ⁓ When I really just look at the growth, my personal growth, my own internal growth, and then also the growth of the growth of my business, the growth of my clients, and really looking at it all as just a place of growth for me and for them. Yeah, that's powerful growth.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (34:51)
Okay.
Your personal growth, yeah.
growth and then if you had to look to the next chapter in your journey, what word describes that chapter?
Jane Pilger (35:16)
It would be growth. It would still be growth, it would be like, I'd probably add another word. It would be like growth through pruning. Kind of, yeah. Yeah. Growth through pruning. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (35:27)
Who?
grow through pruning.
Why pruning?
Jane Pilger (35:33)
was kind of like the theme that's coming to me this year. I have two themes, really. I have a personal theme and then more of like my business theme. So my personal theme, I'm turning 50 at the end of December. And so it being, I'm celebrating my Jubilee year. So my word for the year is Jubilee. So really, I'm really trying to focus on.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (35:38)
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
Okay.
Jane Pilger (35:56)
that energy, the energy of joy and jubilation and celebration and really bringing that into all aspects of my life. ⁓ So that is kind of like my kind of North Star for the year. But for business, the thing that just keeps coming to me is slow down to speed up. And for me, I think that will mean kind of pruning some things where I do kind of get like, Yeah. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (36:03)
Right.
Right, well finding the joy. Yeah, yeah, I
love that, I love that. My personal theme this year was ascend. It is time, yeah, that was my word. I mean you coach other people, what's the best advice for our listeners out there, for other founders, and what advice do you wanna give them?
Jane Pilger (36:29)
Mmm.
Nice.
I would say to just know you create your experience every day.
It is not created by your balance sheets, your income statement, by what's happening in the world, by how many clients you have. That is not what creates your experience. You create your experience every day. So decide, decide every morning before you get out of bed. What do I want to create for myself today? How do I want to show up? Who do I want to be today? You literally get to decide.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (37:03)
Right.
Right. We all have choices. Yeah.
Jane Pilger (37:20)
And if you don't decide, yeah,
if you don't decide intentionally your brain that is designed to look for problems, to look for what's not working, to look for what's wrong, it will find all of those things. But if you put your mind to work on what you want for yourself, what you want to create, you will, your brain is that powerful, but you have to use it intentionally to create the results that you want.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (37:46)
That's really good advice. I might have to write a post about that one. That is great. Well, I appreciate you hanging out with us today. This was fun. Where, before we go, where can people find more information about you? How would they buy your book, support you? Where do you want them to go?
Jane Pilger (37:50)
Yeah!
This was fun.
Yeah, would say,
yeah, easiest place is my website. It's just my name, janepilger.com. Yeah. Yes, everything's there.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (38:11)
Very good. And everything is there. Perfect.
Well, that's a wrap on today's chaos, but the journey doesn't stop here. If you found yourself nodding along or laughing or maybe even yelling, same, same, same, same, make sure to subscribe, share and leave us that five star review. You can dig deeper into founder resources, tools and more episodes at orangewip.com and that's Orangewip WIP for work in progress.
because that's what we all are. Until next time, stay curious, stay scrappy, and remember, we're all a work in progress. Thanks guys, and we'll see you next week.
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