About Jesse Martini
Hi ya’ll! I’m Jesse!
I struggle daily with severe pain and fatigue, AND I still love my life! I am a big believer in things happening exactly as they should, and I know with all my heart and soul that the struggles I have been given are here to teach me and help me grow into my full potential and spread my light as bright as I can as long as I am here on Earth.
I found coaching and started realizing that fighting my circumstances was leading me to more and more physical and emotional pain. My first coach helped me finally understand that I could not change my circumstances no matter how hard I tried, but I could accept them and thereby move forward with my beautiful life. If I learned to accept my body’s limitations, I realized I could change my thoughts about my debilitating pain and fatigue and start gaining control over my life again. I have learned to cultivate deep gratitude in my life and show up for myself by choosing to change my thinking, and therefore my feelings, and my results. I practice radical self-care and honor my body’s needs. I stopped working against my body and let go of lots of physical weight and rediscovered a more active and joyful life filled with meaning and connection despite my limitations. My dream is to help other women do the same. I now know that it was always meant to be this way. Trust me, if I can do this, so can YOU.
My Illness Journey
I was an elementary school art teacher for most of my adult life. I won many awards for my dedication and teaching excellence and was crazy about my career and my students. I was happily married and we were raising our son with what we considered a dream childhood. My life was full of creativity, connection, and lots of fun. It never occurred to me that my life of ignoring my subtle yet pervasive pain and fatigue, constant hustle, packed schedules and addiction to perfectionism and junk food was slowly taking a toll on my body and my weakened immune system. When my debilitating pain started and I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, I did not believe my doctors. I wanted them to find the “real” problem and give me surgery so I could keep hustling. I tried to ignore it, outrun it. I thought if I could just double down and push harder, I could feel better and get on with my life. Until one day, my body simply said NO. I was 39 when I contracted a virus and got very, very sick. There was no way to ignore my body anymore because walking to the bathroom was often excruciating and sometimes impossible. I had to leave my dream job abruptly in the middle of the school year. I eventually lost all income, all of our family medical benefits, and all hope of ever getting well. I was living my life mostly from the bed and there was nothing I could do about it. It took three years for my doctors and specialists to eventually unravel my autoimmune problems and give me eight separate diagnoses including Rheumatoid Arthritis and CFS. I was living in hell watching from the bed as life was passing me by. I never believed something as simple as Life Coaching could change my entire world, but I was wrong.
Finding Coaching
From bed I started listening to great self-help books and podcasts. Jen Sincero, Martha Beck, Brene’ Brown, Brook Castillo and Corinne Crabtree were among the firsts to ignite my inspiration to start taking baby steps. I started feeling hopeful from the great wisdom I was hearing, but I could not find a way to gain ground and make consistent changes. We were broke. So, so broke and it felt like my fault because I could not work. I reluctantly talked to my husband about hiring a coach even though we could not afford it, and he absolutely supported me because he knew my suffering could not continue. It was the best decision I ever made.
I worked with several coaches and took their wisdom and made it my own. I started to take baby steps and began building a new relationship with myself and my body. I learned to celebrate every little “win” and accomplishment. When I started dropping pounds with ease, feeling proud and hopeful and slowly becoming more active, I made a firm decision that one day I would be able to help other women who suffer from chronic pain and fatigue reach their own goals through self love instead of shame and guilt and feel better too. I made it my mission to crack the code and figure out how to pull all this valuable information into simple small steps that anyone could implement no matter their limitations. My method breaks habit change down into steps that are maintainable for life and easy to implement.
Now:
Today, I accept and embrace all of my diagnoses. They are circumstances in my life that I cannot change. But I have learned that there are so many things I can change. Because of the empowerment and self-responsibility I have discovered, I am creating a life far more amazing than before I got sick. I am finally on my own side and support my body with my actions, habits and thoughts. I am slowly becoming more and more active, which I never dreamed possible. The best part of my inner transformation is that now, when I am in a flare-up, I accept it and love my body through it instead of spinning out in negativity.
I still have flare-ups that keep me in bed for days, but I no longer make that mean I am broken and incapable. I honor my body and her needs; I listen when she says rest. My friendships and family relationships are deeper and more authentic than ever. I now have the honor of helping other women heal. I love my life so much it’s hard to believe I am the same person who was once so lost and stuck in victim mentality about my health struggles. I am changing my life completely with tiny steps, and so can you! My healing is a process, and I will never stop working towards all of my goals and keep setting bigger ones for myself. I have learned that mountains are topped one step at a time. When I can’t step, I rest. Then I step again. SO CAN YOU!
My credentials, teachers and inspirations
I have a BA in Early Childhood and Special Education/Art Education. I am a fully Certified Life Coach and Weight Loss Coach through The Life Coach School. My teacher, and school founder, Brook Castillo, has built the absolute best coach certifications in the world. The methods I have learned have changed my life in every way possible and continue to do so. It was an absolute dream come true to certify with such excellence and I am honored to help my clients change their lives with these transformational tools. I am also fully certified through Martha Beck’s Wayfinder Coach Training. Martha is the author of multiple New York Times best-selling books including her most recent, The Way of Integrity. Not only is Martha an incredible woman, scholar, and feminist, she is also a fellow warrior of chronic pain and fatigue and was instrumental in my own belief in tiny changes making HUGE transformations over time. I am honored to have certified with her. My other coaching teachers and inspirations include Jen Sincero, Mel Robbins, Corinne Crabtree, Kara Loewentheil, Jody Moore, and Bev Aron. I have dedicated myself to the highest quality coaching schools and certifications, and I will never stop improving my coaching skills and my progress in this profession.
I am personally and spiritually inspired by fellow normal human beings, my best friends and family, inclusivity, authenticity, vulnerability, great art and music, silly humor, hard laughter, Buddha, Jesus, Eckhart Tolle, Brene’ Brown, Elizabeth Gilbert, Anne Lamott, Paramahansa Yogananda, Frida Kahlo and many others.
Also, dogs. Dogs are my favorite inspiration and joy emitters.
