What if money doesn’t have to be a barrier to starting your dream?

If you’ve been holding back on your God-shaped dream because of financial concerns, this episode is packed with creative strategies to help you move forward—even on a tight budget.

IF YOU’RE TRYING TO LAUNCH YOUR DREAM WITHOUT BREAKING THE BANK, THIS IS THE EPISODE FOR YOU!

This is the final conversation in my financial series from Season 10. It’s so practical and full of wisdom about launching a dream without overspending.

My guest Jenn Jett Barrett is the founder of Camp Well and The Well Summit. She first shared her dreamer story way back in Season 1, and in this episode, she offers practical insights on how to take the next step toward your dream without financial fear.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
💰 Creative strategies for funding your dream with minimal risk,
📍 How to start small and embrace a phased journey toward your dream, and
🛠️ Why aligning with community and prayer can propel your dream forward.

If finances have kept you from pursuing the dream God has put on your heart, this episode will give you the encouragement and tools to finally take action on your God-given purpose.

CONNECT WITH MERRITT:

Website || Facebook || Instagram || Submit a Question

CONNECT WITH JENN:

Website || Instagram || The Well Summit

MORE ABOUT JENN:

Jenn Jett Barrett is a speaker, event host, and the founder of the Well Summit, a unique experience that creates space to unpack the things holding people back from peace, flourishing, and union with Jesus.

Jenn would tell you that she lives an incredibly abundant life in Northwest Arkansas married to her best friend. Her journey to get there has been a story she never would have chosen, but one she would never trade. Her faith has been tested time and again and proves the incredible power of the resurrection and the freedom that comes through it. Jenn longs to spend her life helping men and women find the same freedom and hope that is ready and waiting.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Get a free copy of the Guided Scripture Reading Plan today, plus the Dreamers Unleashed Manifesto for battling imposter syndrome.

Looking for more episodes like this one? Try one of these:

Ep 16 with Jenn Jett Barrett: How to Focus on Obedience Over Outcomes (circa 2016)

Ep 245 with Jenn, Hannah & Mandy: Listeners Ask: What Are the Best Ways to Grow Revenue?

Ep 232 with Katie Jones: How to Find Money for Your Dream if You’re Just Getting Started

Ep 233 with Katie Wussow: Practical Lessons from a Business Coach about How to Invest in Your Dream

Ep 234 Five Business Realities That Will Shape the Way You Pursue a Dream

Outsourcing what you need:

Fiverr.com

Upwork

Scripture:

She gets up while it is still night;
    she provides food for her family
    and portions for her female servants.
She considers a field and buys it;
    out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She sets about her work vigorously;
    her arms are strong for her tasks.
She sees that her trading is profitable,
    and her lamp does not go out at night.

She makes linen garments and sells them,
    and supplies the merchants with sashes.
She is clothed with strength and dignity;
    she can laugh at the days to come.
~ Proverbs 31:15-18, 24-25 (NIV)

And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
~ Acts 16:13-15 (ESV)

New to the Devoted Dreamers Podcast?

START HERE → with my free guide: 17 Quick-Win Actions to Get Your Dream Moving Forward. It’ll help you build some momentum to keep taking steps toward your dream and help you discern where to go from there.

PIN IT FOR LATER:

The unedited transcript for this episode of The Devoted Dreamers Podcast follows:

Welcome to the Devoted Dreamers Podcast. This is the show for you if you are ready to get out of your own way and get moving on your God-shaped dream. I'm your host and dream coach Merritt Onsa and I'm here to help you get out of your head and into your heart so you can embrace your faith in Jesus and turn that fire into fuel for the dream he's given you. But let's be honest, you have already spent way too much time watching what everyone else is doing, comparing your beginning to their middle and sabotaging your progress before you've hardly begun. If you are ready to quit worrying about what everybody else is thinking and moving forward with purposeful action, you are in the right place. So subscribe to the show, then meet me back here each week for some transformational tools to get you on your way.

I wonder if you can relate to this at all. You're a Christian woman. You have this dream, this inkling of an idea. It pops up when you least expect it and it makes your heart beat just a little bit faster. Maybe you've even had a little bit of a download from him of the big vision of what it could be off in the distant future. You're fired up. You're so excited to have this glimpse into how God would use how he's shaped and made you for his redemptive purposes in the world. You've been faithful to the call and then you begin to realize there will be some expenses to begin. What are you going to do now?

Hey Dreamer, I'm so glad you're here today for part three of my financial series.

If you have just arrived on the scene, let me tell you what you've missed. I started this three weeks ago with money coach Katie Jones in episode 232 where we talk about planning for and finding money for your dream. If you're just getting started.

The second episode was last week with business coach Katie Wussow, episode 233, with some practical lessons for deciding exactly how you might invest in your dream and more importantly, the difference between an investment and an expense. And then how to think about a dream from a hobby versus business perspective. She covers all the things. It's so helpful.

And then in this one, my third interview of the series is with dream defender and founder of the well Summit and Camp Well Jen Jett Barrett. And we're talking about creative funding ideas for your dream and Jen just jumps right into it. You are going to get so much out of this episode.

But before we get into that interview, we talk a lot about God on this podcast and how time in His Word on a consistent basis helps form the foundation we need to prepare to launch into a dream. We can't do big things or really even little things on our own. I mean, he's the source of all courage and strength and vision. And so you know the intimacy you build with the Lord is going to be there for you, with you, on those days when the dream isn't going quite as you hoped it would.

And the good news is there is so much hope to be found in the Bible, in God's Word, and spending time there daily will fill you up in order that you're able to pour out, whether that's a dream or into your family or your job, whatever it is that you're focused on. We need to be in His Word.

And I know it is hard to be consistent. Life stage has a lot to do with this, but for all of us, life is really full. You can't always wake up at 5am, especially when you just finally got back to sleep after soothing a child who had a bad dream. Or maybe you're not a morning person or you just don't know where to start reading next after you've finished a recent devotional. All the things. There's so many little minute and big things that stand in the way of the time that we desperately need in our soul to spend with the Lord.

But that doesn't mean it's not important to dwell with Him. We know we need it. We know that we do. We can feel it on our bones. And that's why I created this free resource for you called the Guided Scripture Reading Plan. This is a simple five-day Bible reading plan and an email series to go with it to get you back on track and help you build back the habit of reading Scripture again and at the same time tackling the challenge that lots of dreamers face: Imposter Syndrome— feeling like you have no business pursuing this dream God has given you. You can get your free copy of the Guided Scripture Reading Plan today plus my Dreamers Unleashed Manifesto. You'll find that on my merrittonsa.com/biblereadingplan

Once you receive it, just print it out, then pick up a Bible or two or three. I like to have a few alongside me because it pulls from the ESV, the NIV and my new fun favorite: The Passion Translation. And then you're going to want to aside a little bit of time each day this next week to dig into the Word and see what God says.

And when I say a little bit, it's not a ton of minutes. It's find and reserve a place in your schedule when you can make it happen. For me, this happens right after lunch and before I work. And if I put that on my calendar and I know that every day at 1pm I'm going to go and sit with the Lord, I can look forward to that. I know how long it takes, just a little chunk of time, to get rejuvenated and refreshed and reconnected with the Lord.

In the guide, you're going to cover five different topics. Who God is, who you are, your identity in Christ, what God promises you in Jesus, and what is yours because of the resurrection and then the purposes God created you for.

If you've been looking for how to get started or start again to build some consistency in reading God's word, this will be just what the doctor ordered. Again, that link https://www.merrittonsa.com/biblereadingplan.

Okay, on to today's conversation.

Again, I'm welcoming Jen Jett Barrett back to the podcast. She was one of my earliest guests in episode 16, when the podcast even had a different name. It was called Momentum at the time. You're gonna have to go back and dig deep into the archives and give that one a listen, but I promise you, it'll be so worth it, especially given all that God has done with her dream and her business since 2016. So in this episode, Jen and I are talking about creative solutions for funding your dream. As I mentioned, she's the founder of the well Summit and Camp well, and in that last conversation five years ago, she was just getting ready for her first ever Camp well. So in this one we're looking back with her to learn about how she got started without a credit card. By the way, the work that she does with dreamers and doers today to help them get over feeling stuck.

Merritt Onsa:

And then all these creative ideas for what to do when you don't have what you need financially. To begin, we even talk a bit about what to do if you're not sure your spouse or partner is on board. I know a few of you had that question out there, and specifically, here are three things I'm still thinking about after this conversation with Jen. These are my three takeaways to listen for. See which one touches a chord with you. Number one, the reminder from Scripture that God uses financially successful women to advance Kingdom purposes. We don't have to be afraid of this conversation. In fact, we need to be talking about money takeaway Number Two, that the path to a dream is a phased journey.

Merritt Onsa:

You might have pieces of the bigger vision, but you still need to operate from where you are today in this earliest phase and not jump ahead of yourself or God. And that might mean getting a little scrappy, looking for ways to save money instead of spending and going old school to build up a little nest egg to get started. Okay, and takeaway number three, some specific ideas Jen shared about how to vet your dream from the very beginning so that you have a clear idea of what your audience is looking for, what they need and want from you. And so you're not putting out things and spending money on stuff that nobody really wants. Okay? So if you're in the car or on a run or otherwise have your hands tied up right now while you're listening to this, you're going to want to save this one and revisit it for the flood of ideas Jen is about to share. Stay tuned to the very, very end as well, because Jen surprised me with a generous offer to strategize with a few of you listeners for free for a bonus episode of this podcast. And you'll hear more about that at the end. I'm so glad you're here today.

Merritt Onsa:

My prayer for you as you listen to this and as you move forward from this conversation is for clarity, wisdom, and some creative ideas straight from the source, our creator, God, to support your God shaped dream. Okay, let's dig right in. It is my privilege to introduce you again to Jen Jett Barrett. Hey, Jen. Welcome to the Devoted Dreamers podcast.

Jen Jett Barrett:

I am so excited to be back. This is so crazy.

Merritt Onsa:

It is so crazy. Let's see, 2016, the first time we talked, it was actually episode 16 when my podcast was called Momentum. I mean, it's like a whole different world now.

Jen Jett Barrett:

It is. A lot has changed in the last five years. Five years? Six years. Six years. Is that six years?

Merritt Onsa:

Yes, Almost six years.

Jen Jett Barrett:

Almost six years.

Merritt Onsa:

It's amazing. I'm so grateful that we get to talk today and really on this topic of creative financing for our dreams. I think the reason that you popped into my mind was just I remember seeing this page on your website related to camp. Well, and it's a decent size investment for somebody wanting to go away on a retreat with other Christian women. And you had all these ideas like, hey, you could try this or you could try that to creatively fund your idea or to create to creatively fund attending this retreat. And I see today, love what you have there, this, like free PDF that you could take to Your boss at your corporate job or your ministry leader, like, here's why you should help me attend camp. Well, so anyway, that's why you're here. And we're just going to have a conversation.

Merritt Onsa:

I don't have, like a big plan for this. I just want to hear from you, like how you've thought about this concept that, you know, it does take some investment to consider our God shaped dreams. And I'm sure you've made some big investments. So anyway, welcome back.

Jen Jett Barrett:

Thank you. I love this conversation because I mean so much of what I do and the conversations I'm having with men and women is what holds them back from their next right step. And let's be honest, finances are one of those things that hold us back. And so anytime I can help unpack those things that hold us back. I love the conversation. I think this is an important one because I think, and I know this is why you're having this conversation is because money can often be one of those taboo things to talk about, as you know, alongside faith. And so I'm just, I'm grateful you're having the conversation.

Merritt Onsa:

Yeah, it's funny, Katie Jones, one of the other people that's having this conversation with us in one of the three episodes when she came on the show, I was like, I'm embarrassed to say I'm not sure we've ever talked about money on this show. There's something to that.

Jen Jett Barrett:

Yeah, there is. And there's a whole unpacking our mindset around all of our relationship with money, I think is equally important as you talk about this. And I think, you know, honestly, Proverbs 31 is as a brilliant place to start because she was success, a successful business owner. Lydia, the first church planter, you know, in Europe, was a successful business owner. And we don't really zoom in on that part of their lives often. And yet it's this reminder of how God uses, you know, financially successful women to advance the kingdom.

And so I think it's just a starting point, I believe, to start considering a, a biblical view of money when so oftentimes, I think especially in Christian faith communities, we, it feels safer and more right to have a poverty mindset. And so that can seep into a lot of our views about money. So I think having a right mindset is a great place to start about money.

Merritt Onsa:

Absolutely. Thank you for bringing Lydia and Proverbs 31 into it. This is, that's really helpful and I'm going to put that in the show notes so that people can be like now what was that that she said? Yeah, I need to, I need to go read this.

Okay, well, let's. And talk about. I guess here at the beginning it would be helpful to share a little bit of your personal story. Like how did you get started with your own dream and you know, any stories you have about funding.

Jen Jett Barrett:

Yeah, I was in, I was in corporate America as a product development designer for over 12 years. And the whole time I was in corporate America, something I just wasn't settled in a way. I think it was beyond like a discontentment. It was as if I felt this unsettling that, that the Lord later revealed, you're wired to be an entrepreneur. You are wired to build things and create things. And as a creative, that was, you know, this fire in me. And so as I started making this transition out of working in corporate America, where you have direct deposit and started dreaming of launching and creating these things, that transition to me was still calculated. It wasn't real crazy and risky.

I, praise the Lord, had this amazing client who had committed to a year of using my services and hiring me. So for a year I had a side hustle for my side hustle, if that makes sense. So I had this job that was really, had a good rhythm and was steady while I kept dreaming of building another thing. And so it was calculated. And I do I. It was like a side hustle for a side hustle.

Merritt Onsa:

Which is great!

Jen Jett Barrett:

Yeah, it is great. And I think we don't, we don't think about that oftentimes. We think about this full-time thing and then we have to do our side hustle. When I think there is, there is another way. And so my kind of this dream I had in the beginning was to have my own business that supported women entrepreneurs. Whether it was from a branding standpoint, a consulting standpoint, a web design standpoint. And I loved helping women launch their businesses. But what happened as I was doing that is they were having conversations. They were opening up to me about, I mean, one of them was like mindset around finances.

Others were things holding them back. Whether it was fear or isolation or I'm paralyzed with all these ideas and I don't know where to start. It was, I mean, comparison was a huge component of conversations I was having. So it was, you know, so and so is doing something similar. Is there room for me? Should I be doing it?

Also on the flip side of comparison, I was seeing women trying to copy the success of other women because that seemed like the most viable way to reach success. And so where God had initially, you know, it was in helping women from a consulting standpoint.

What it turned into was a ministry helping all women, not just entrepreneurs, unpack the things that were holding them back from their next right step. Now, that next right step could be, hey, I want to leave a legacy as a mom in my family. Or it could be, I want to start a nonprofit. It could have been a business. It could have been: I want to be a better friend.

So God was leading and encouraging women to do a lot of things in pursuing freedom. And so out of all that journey, of all those things, the Well Summit was born. And that is currently what I am, the visionary and. And lead this ministry called the Well Summit. And basically what the Well Summit is is we create gatherings and experiences for women who sit in the tension of feeling too much and not enough.

And you've probably had this conversation on your podcast that, this idea, they say in marketing, you really should be focused and niche, like, don't be too broad. And I'm like, I think that we might be too broad, considering as women at some time in our life, we have all felt too much and not enough.

Merritt Onsa:

Totally. Yes.

Jen Jett Barrett:

And so that's what we are currently doing right now. The main experience we host is twice a year called Camp Well.

And so I have learned a lot on this journey of dreaming and launching dreams and how the lack of resources can hold us back oftentimes. And so, again, I'm grateful you're having this conversation.

Merritt Onsa:

Well, I love what you're doing and just feel like it's so connected to my own heart and the things that I've been hearing as well from women. And, yeah, it's an important conversation we need to be having.

So on that note, if a listener is sitting there hearing you talk about this, and she does feel like money is like the big barrier, what should she be thinking and praying about? Like, how do we start to kind of step away from that instead of letting it be the thing that could block us for the rest of our lives?

Jen Jett Barrett:

Yeah, this is where it gets tricky, because I could, you know, I'm an ideator. One of my strengths is ideation. And so, I mean, if we were. If we had a case study and we had a woman, you know, on this call, I would strategically and individually speak to her unique situation and, you know, come up with creative ideas. And so since a lot of different people are listening, I'll try to keep this as general as possible. But, I mean, I'm going to say lead first with prayer. And I think this is the most important thing as we dream that we often forget, I would say, is bringing the Lord into our decision making.

And so, I mean, the first thing I'm going to say is pray, because I think we want to ask the Lord to reveal to us the next right step. And so, and also, as you're praying, remember that building a business or launching a dream, it is a phased journey. So we oftentimes can get so overwhelmed by the result, the outcome of what we have in our head, the final stage of that dream. And that can be often what overwhelms us, specifically finance wise, because you are trying to apply finances to that end result, which is huge. And so I think we need some clarity. We need to ask the Lord to speak into some clarity on what is the next right step. What is that first phase? And I always say go ugly early. It's kind of my mantra that has gotten me moving, you know, not moving out of paralyzation and moving is, what is the next right thing and to go ugly early.

So I say this in some really practical ways. If you're overwhelmed by finances, consider what you're looking to spend that money on. So if it is, I think I need to spend $800 on a logo. What would it look like to go on—and I'm going to give some resources here. Fiverr.com F I V E R R.com and Upwork.com these are two resources, just from a practical standpoint that I have say I still to this day, I'm, I'm a good 10 years into entrepreneurship and I still to this day use these resources all the time. And it's an, you're working with individuals across the whole country, across the world, actually, who you can work on these projects.

Like, I'm just going to use logo design as an example. You can find someone that can help you with a logo design for $50, and they're incredibly talented. And this is just one practical way to consider, like, today, you don't need the $800 logo. What if you started with the $50 logo or go on Etsy? I have a friend, Lindsey Wheeler, bottle of tears. She laughs all the time. This is her joke. She's like, I spent $5 on my very first logo, and is it going to be your favorite? You know, and will it change? Yes, it'll change in the next five years, probably.

But this is that phased mentality and this go ugly early that I would say is look at ways to save money as you launch your dream. There's so many resources out there, and if I think of more, I'll definitely give them to you for show notes. But consider that is, can I make a next right step in a more frugal way?

I think the mindset of also investing in yourself can be hard. And this is where, again, I say start with prayer, because you want to be led by the Lord. You want to know that this is something God's calling you to, not just something that's something wishful or that is just a desire of your heart, which that is a good place to start. But you want to test that against, you know, God's, you know, assignment for your life so, you know, clarity on that.

I would say another thing is bring people in who have a similar dream and assignment that you do almost from a shadowing standpoint. So I always say, as you're dreaming, reach out bravely to other people doing something similarly, I would say, you know, I caution, as we all would probably, if it's a competitor, maybe that's not what you do.

But if you have a local business, pursue someone in another state that's doing something similar, connect and network and get creative ideas on how did you start that? What did you learn? Where would you spend money?

So I think interviewing other people is a great place to start. And then I would say inviting your community in to what you're doing. And we talk a lot about, like, bank loans and investors and angel investors and venture capitalists. Like, we think really big, and we don't think about just the people right around us investing. And when I say investing, I don't just mean financially. You don't know what resources your community might have to support you. I think I did a lot of trade, so I traded some technical skills that I had as a designer for things, for photography, for web design, before I knew how to do it myself. And so you can do trade.

You can crowdsource your community for connections. So we just talked about interviewing people like, who is your community connected to that can come alongside and support you and help you? So I would say crowdsourcing your community. And then when you think about that financially, one of the things that we have done recently with Camp Well is we do have an understanding that it is a financial investment to come. You know, big financial investment to come, and we do offer a couple scholarships at a time.

But what we wanted to do is make it possible for a woman who wants to come to leverage their community to invest in their experience. And so we've created a community investment plan where we will set them up a webpage that has a button that says invest what you can. It tells their story of why they want to come to Camp Well, and that has done two things. It has, one, given their community a way to invest in them. I think we fail to acknowledge often how much our people are for us and they want to be a part of what God is doing in our life. And secondly, it builds a community of prayer warriors who are like, hey, I'm not just financially invested in where you feel God's calling you, but now I'm invested through prayer and what God's doing.

And I think when we do that and we let them come along the journey and we. I mean, this could be as easy as, like, hey, I've got 10 people who've invested in me through prayer or financially. And you let them know periodically what God's doing in that. Like, you give them updates, whether it's an email or newsletter or, hey, God's answered this prayer. I think that people would be surprised at how their community would love to be involved. And it can start with it. I would say the best way to start this is: okay, I know my birthday is coming up. My dream that I believe truly God is leading me to step into bravely and boldly is xyz. I would love for my birthday, instead of, you know, gifting me something, is to invest in what I believe God is doing. And that is a great way to open the door. If somebody was already giving something, it makes that transition of communicating that a little less awkward. Like, hey, I'm doing this thing. Give me money. But they're all in Christmas, you know, holidays, birthdays. It's a great way, I think, to open that door.

Merritt Onsa:

I love that too, because I feel like I'm sitting with that woman who's listening, going, oh, you mean I actually have to tell somebody about my dream? And so it provides, like, in a good way, accountability and somebody who might ask you about it, like, how is that thing going? And, you know, the things that we keep hidden in our hearts or in our minds, you know, if they never get outside of us, they're likely to never happen in the first place.

Jen Jett Barrett:

Yeah.

Merritt Onsa:

So I love this idea.

Jen Jett Barrett:

And people will get excited. Not everyone's going to, but you have friends and family that will get excited. And my mom invested in me early on in different ways. And, you know, she's my biggest fan, you know, and so you just, you never know who that would be.

And then I'll just even list off some really practical, you know, things. But, you know, go old school. You know, anytime you, you know, as you were a kid and you wanted, you wanted something and your parents told you to do some chores.

So, you know, what can you sell? Clean out your closet, clean out your garage. What can you sell on Facebook or Craigslist? I don't even know if Craigslist still exists. I can't remember. Ok, so there you go. Instagram. There are so many ways, but start like cleaning out your closet, and your garage. And I even think there's something almost sacred in a way that says, God, I truly believe you are leading me in this, in this direction with this dream, with this assignment. And so in a posture of sacrifice and trust, I am going to, you know, surrender these things in belief that this is what you are calling me to.

And so I think that can even be, you know, a way to just say, God, I trust you with this. I am surrendering and letting go. Because I believe you have something. I think if you're a maker, if you have any skills or talents, and it could be completely disconnected from what your dream is. But, you know, if you're a baker or maker or you sew or, you know, I, that's another way I raised money was I did little, you know, gift shows for a while because I could create things. I was a creator.

Merritt Onsa:

What did you make?

Jen Jett Barrett:

I did a lot with stationery. So, like, I would design art prints and greeting cards and wedding invitations, which was my business for a while. But as I was phasing out of that, it became my side hustle for what I really wanted to do, which was build this ministry.

I think there's so many ways, I think in the summer, you know, consider what do you have some summer camp ideas that you could create some summer camps for parents to send their kids to that are local. Yeah, you know, and I think, you know, in light of like, how can you serve your neighborhood? Is there anything odd jobs or anything? And this is why I say doing that pre work of really going to the Lord and seeking clarity for him. Because I think what happens when we get clarity, he will build in us this deep passion. We can't quit thinking about it. We're up at night, we're. It's all, you know, we're meditating on and thinking about.

And that will like stir in you a fire where you're like, I'll do whatever it takes, you know, I'll do whatever it takes. And so I think that's. That first step is so important for that reason.

Merritt Onsa:

That's great. I love all of those ideas. You have my wheels turning.

Jen Jett Barrett:

I know it can. And I think that's a great point is sit with someone, like, engage with some. Brainstorm with someone that can. Y'all can go back and forth and think of ideas and. And I do think something that's really important in all of this is the stewardship piece. And I kind of touched on that early. Like, where can I save money? Where can I reduce overhead? I mean, I think that's another great place to start. But to look at your budget, you know, like, what will it cost for phase one? Not phase ten, for phase one.

And be patient. Be patient with your dream. I think what can get us stuck is we really want that dream to be. And I mean, I think about Camp Well, I can't believe we're about to. To host number 11. And that very first one, I remember, you know, the next right thing was to hold that very first one. And I thought, I don't know what God has after this.

And now we're at 11 and it's changed so much. So much has changed in 11 sessions in six years. And so I really think, asking God, what is the next right step considering budget? What is. What is phase one going to cost? What is phase one? What can I cut out of my budget? There are a lot of things we probably spend our money on, whether it is subscriptions. I guarantee it, if we all ran a report on all the subscriptions that we don't even know, you know, could that add money, you know, back to your budget that could be invested somewhere else? So that's just even really good stewardship.

And another thing that I say all the time is obedience over outcome. Choose obedience over outcome. And that points to that: What is that next right step of obedience? Instead of us getting overwhelmed by our desired outcome or the fear, you know. Right. Of that outcome, what is that next right step of obedience?

Merritt Onsa:

Yeah, we don't need to be hanging out in the worry or whatever. Made up, ten years from now.

Jen Jett Barrett:

Yeah. It is totally made up.

Jen Jett Barrett:

We do not know. And I think practicing early on a posture of surrender, like holding what God is assigning to you loosely, practicing that really early and creating a rhythm through the journey of this dream, whatever it might be. That is the thing that I did, you know, through refining, God taught me really early on was just to hold all of this so loosely.

And I have watched it change and be refined so many different ways in the last eight years that I began dreaming for the Well Summit.

Merritt Onsa:

I bet. Well, and I didn't prepare you for this, but the question just popped into my head because I know there's a listener out there asking it. What do you do if you have a spouse that either doesn't understand your dream or isn't on board with your dream? I'm thinking about like, oh, well, you're probably not going to go cancel your husband's subscriptions to something, right?

Jen Jett Barrett:

Sorry, babe, we can no longer, longer have Netflix, right? That's not gonna go over very well.

Merritt Onsa:

Yeah. So do you have, do you have. I assume your husband is on board. So do you have any thoughts for those who may not?

Jen Jett Barrett:

He is on board and he didn't really have a choice because I was doing it before we got married. So he kind of got, you know, grandfathered in.

Merritt Onsa:

Grandfathered. And I love that.

Jen Jett Barrett:

And I'm gonna go back, I'm gonna say it every time: Pray. If you sense that your spouse is not comfortable with this or for this, you pray first. And you, you ask God to make it clear to you both, because it does. Oftentimes dreams are going to require a sacrifice of time, of money, of resources. And you want your spouse to, for God to show you both that, that like, this is the right step for you and your family and you and your marriage. And so pray first and again, give it the time and space that it needs.

Oftentimes we fear that, like, we're holding God up or we need to hurry or I'm going to be behind if I wait six months. But let me tell you, I have learned so, so many times that God's economy of time is unlike our own. We think, you know, in days and minutes and hours, and he does not think that way. And so any delay we sense in an agreement inside, you know, marriage is, is not a delay to him. He. He has the other side of that.

I would consider your spouse’s strengths and invite them into your processing and your dreaming using their strengths. So, you know, my husband, his strength is processes. And so what would it look like to invite him into, Hey, I would love, you know, you to help me with this area. And knowing their strengths, I think that's something else.

And then just from a place of, like, invite him into the decision making. So if you're saying, hey, I would love to spend a few hours a week trying to do this odd job or side hustle, because this is my dream, like, hey, would that be okay? You know, like. And I. It's really important because I have done it not well in that way before, because. And part of my story is I was married before my current husband, and I would say that the entrepreneurial piece of my story was not aligned in my marriage. And I would say that we both wanted to be. We're both pursuing entrepreneurship, and we were not aligned in that. And so it made for very difficult, difficult things. I don't. I can't, you know, unpack in this moment. Like, how I would necessarily do it different. I can just say, it's really hard when you're not aligned. And so it is important.

It's an important conversation. I'm glad you asked it, because one thing I've said is, and I caution all of us to do, men and women, to don't allow the hustle to take over your home. Like, we have to make sure that what God calls us to do first. I mean, I have to remember this in my own. One of the rhythms I had to build over the last six years was a rhythm of rest. Shutting my computer down at the end of the day before my husband comes home from work and get my mind set, because I can go deep into the night. I mean, I love what I do. And so I do think a partnership mentality inside what God's calling us to. And I do believe he honors that.

Merritt Onsa:

Absolutely. I'm so glad I asked it, too, because. Yeah, you know, it can be so sticky. Yeah, it really can.

Jen Jett Barrett:

And I want to be so clear. What I just said is so nuanced. Your question is so nuanced. The conversation around that is so nuanced. And I know that. And so I want to acknowledge that, because I know there are stories on the other side of this episode where, I mean, there might be women in really hard, scary marriages that are trying to build something outside because they might need a way out. Like, I get that.

Like, that is nuanced. You know, I get that you can feel called to this dream and because of maybe your spouse's own unhealth, they can't see, you know, God's hand on that in your life. Like, I get that, too. Like, there's so much nuance in this. But know that God cares about that nuance. He cares. And when we go knocking and begging for, you know, favor and provision and clarity and a unity inside marriage through how he's calling us, he cares about that. He really does.

Merritt Onsa:

Yeah. And he's going to work through it.

Jen Jett Barrett:

Yes.

Merritt Onsa:

Even if the outcome is totally different than what you went in asking for.

Jen Jett Barrett:

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Merritt Onsa:

Have you had any kind of challenges along the way that you'd be willing to share? Like, you know, decisions to make a big expenditure or, you know, stuff that you'd have really had to wrestle with, whether that was with a spouse or not, but just kind of like, give us some real life here.

Jen Jett Barrett:

Yeah, I mean, definitely the first Camp Well, was kind of scary. And I would say this is a tip also at the same time, but, you know, when we hosted the very first Camp Well, experience, we did it in Colorado. I was living in Texas at the time. And so we had to find a venue, which the advice and counsel from a lot of research I had done for months on how to launch your first retreat. This is important, the work and the research so that you are a good steward. I think stewarding your dream is the work of research. And the research I had done was you need to have it in a big city, near an airport, easy access. And so a hotel made sense.

And that was not my dream. My dream was like out in the middle of the mountains somewhere, but I had no clue where that was. So my next right step was, okay, we'll just do it in a hotel near the mountains. And when you do that, you have to sign a contract and make a deposit. And I didn't have a credit card to do that. And so what I did, and I think this again point, this tip I would say is vet your dream. Meaning I had spent a few years building a community of people that I believed would want a Camp Well experience. So I did that through smaller local events.

I did that through, I self-published a devotional, which was a lot of legwork on myself. And I figured out how to upload it on Amazon and figure out like, because people would ask all the time, how did people come to the first Camp Well? I was like, what no one knows is there was probably two years before that a very small baby steps of building a list, you know, a newsletter list of people that would be interested in this.

And so vet your idea, get out in front of people, have conversations, ask if whatever service or product you are dreaming of do people want. What would they pay? How far would they go? I'm going to speak to like services start small, offering it for free to a friend or for a deeply discounted rate. If it's a product, test that product. I know a lot of people, I had a girl come do some consulting with Me, she had a dream for a planner. While her planner in her head was beautiful. I mean, linen cover, gold foil printing. And so what I had her start with was a phase one. Start with a prototype, test it in a small group, get feedback, you know, maybe sell for six months. That one, it's not your ideal dream journal, but it is a start. Start, you know, small. And so with Camp Well, I had enough understanding over the course of two years that 30 people would probably sign up. You know, I think I had an email list of like, I don't know, 500. Which 30 people out of 500 is, you know, not very many people. And so I started asking questions, taking surveys.

Is this something you would want to do? How much would you pay? Would you travel? How many days would you be interested? So I asked a lot of those questions, vetting before. And then you just have to take a risk and trust at some point. And I opened registration really early and got that money so that I could pay a deposit. So it was kind of like this risky moment. So before I even set the contract and had to give the deposit, I collected a deposit from people.

And so that's just a specific example. But the tip I would give out of that is to vet your product or service before you take that giant leap, you know, of thousands of dollars.

Merritt Onsa:

Right. Before you're committed.

Jen Jett Barrett:

Yeah, before that big commitment that you're having to make. Because I still had time. If I sense that, you know, some people, like, oh, only 10 people are coming, I could adjust. I still had some time to adjust my contract with the hotel. And so, yeah, vetting, I think, is really important. Testing prototypes, phasing, vetting your idea again, give it the time. We all want our service or product to launch tomorrow. I get that.

Merritt Onsa:

Right. It doesn't feel real until it does.

Jen Jett Barrett:

Exactly. But there is, you know, give some time and space to vetting and testing.

Merritt Onsa:

That right there was worth the price of admission. So just even like, the retreat example and the planner example, like, kind of two ends of the spectrum. That's awesome. You're reminding me of when I hosted a retreat and signed the contract and my husband was asleep, and the next morning I was like, I just signed away our entire savings.

Jen Jett Barrett:

Exactly. You're like, what did I just do? Yeah, yeah. And it is. And I want to say, like, I did. I launched this dream without a credit card.

Merritt Onsa:

That’s amazing.

Jen Jett Barrett:

It was all on PayPal. Like, I was able to, like, route money through PayPal so that the risk, you know, I didn't have a cash flow issue. And so I think inviting people if you don't have any idea what cash flow means. But it's just you don't want to be out money, you know, it's making sure your int money coming in and your money going out is balanced.

Merritt Onsa:

Equivalent.

Jen Jett Barrett:

Yes, yes, equivalent, exactly. And so and I did that, you know, I did that early on before we even launched Camp Well, I would sell some products. I remember selling some tumblers and I sold even the books. When the devotional came out, I hired someone on Fiverr and Upwork to design a fake, you know, a fake looking book or a fake looking Tumblr and I did pre sales. So I pre sold a product before I, you know, had to purchase and produce the product. So these are just creative ways early on, pre selling, you know, getting people's, you know, commitments or deposits. There are creative ways.

Merritt Onsa:

Oh my gosh, you've shared so many. I love that. I love that you don't have to order 600 coffee mugs. Yes, exactly.

Jen Jett Barrett:

I hear so many people that that be their stories. They're like five years later, I've still got, you know, 500 coffee mugs that I'm like, sit in my garage.

Merritt Onsa:

My husband looks at them and goes, what?

Jen Jett Barrett:

And pre sell vets things too. Because you're like nobody wants coffee mugs anymore. Only 10 people bought them, you know. Right.

Merritt Onsa:

And then you don't have to do the work.

Jen Jett Barrett:

No, no.

Merritt Onsa:

Yeah, do all that. That's amazing, Jen.

Yeah. I feel like we could have like a much longer conversation than this on this topic. But I'm so grateful that you would come and share your experience and your ideas and, yeah. And congratulations on 11 Camp Wells.

Jen Jett Barrett:

It still blows my mind. I still can't believe it.

Merritt Onsa:

It's so wild. Really funny.

Jen Jett Barrett:

It is wild. And it's evolved and changed and you know, so many things are different, but it definitely does not look like the dream that it was on day one.

Merritt Onsa:

Yeah, I think that's important to hear: that it is going to change.

Jen Jett Barrett:

It is.

Merritt Onsa:

That's one more reason to not plan 10 years in advance.

Jen Jett Barrett:

I know, exactly. I mean I am the antithesis of any goal setting. I'm the worst because I'm like, God could do something totally different in five years or three years and he totally has. And so I'm like, I'm good to plan for the next six months. I'm on a, you know, a six-month schedule with the Lord and he hasn't failed me yet. So, you know, and he I do think he's pushing me a little bit to be like, okay, we gotta plan something a year out because you got to reserve X, Y, Z. You know, like, sure, yeah. And I would even…I'm going to throw this out…

You and I have not talked about this, so I'm just throwing this out here as an idea for a bonus episode. If you have any listeners that have a really specific question about this that we would want to do like a, you know, like a one on one, like, hey, let's talk through this, like for five minutes. Like, I would do that for a few people, you know, on a call. We could do it. I don't know how we could do it. We could get creative.

Jen Jett Barrett:

We'd work it out.

Merritt Onsa:

Yes, we'd work it out.

Jen Jett Barrett:

We could do many zoom calls and mash them up into one episode. But I think people just need. It's one of my favorite things to do. You need to find a 7 or someone with an ideation, you know, strength to sit across from you, because I just love helping people think creatively and strategically about how to launch that thing stirring in them.

Merritt Onsa:

I love it. I'm going to take you up on that.

Jen Jett Barrett:

Okay.

Merritt Onsa:

All right. Thanks so much, Jen. Appreciate you being here.

Jen Jett Barrett:

You're so welcome. It's been fun.

Merritt Onsa:

You heard Jen say it, and I took her up on it. If you want to hear the actual conversation FULL of suggestions and tips for two podcast listeners….

Hannah, a photographer, designer, illustrator and children’s book author with a desire to sell more of her children’s books OR for Mandy Mae Johnson, who asked about creative ideas for additional revenue streams that could supplement her one-on-one work with clients…

That can be found in episode 245: called Listeners Ask: What Are the Best Ways to Grow Revenue? – I’ll link to it in the show description in your podcast app and the show notes for episode 333.

Thanks for listening to this episode from Season 10 – I hope you found a nugget you can use to motivate you in a budget-friendly way to get started, or keep moving, on your God-shaped dream.

With so many creative ideas, there’s no excuse—financial anyway—for not taking the next right step.

So, Dreamer, go get started, and I’ll see you back here next week, with all-new content for pursuing your God-shaped dream!

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