My Story
Hi, Jennifer Ludlow
I started working from a young age, 14 in fact, babysitting and working at a barbers as a ‘Saturday girl’. I’ve recently turned 38 (2025) and my desire for success and independence has never waivered but the definitions of these words and what they mean to me have certainly evolved.
Over the last decade I’ve had a successful career in house building, starting as a new build Sales Consultant, tirelessly but joyfully progressing up the corporate ladder to my former role, Associate Sales & Marketing Director. A position I am extremely proud to have held as the highest ranking women in my region. I successfully acquisitioned and led high performing people to thrive in high pressure environments through a deep understanding of who they are individually, and providing the tools and the time to grow personally and professionally. I am of the firm belief that people work for people and being able to show my gratitude through my experience in personal development not only showed my teams that their hard work was valued, but it also provided me with with reward and merit to watch them grow.
In January of 2025 I returned to work ready for the 8th financial cycle within the same company (my 3rd year as AD) I noticed that I wasn't as motivated or energised as I had been previously, I liked to be challenged and pushed and I was unclear on how this was possible now without a major change. Naturally, I thought about seeking a new opportunity but the thought of side stepping to another company, particularly as a women within the construction industry, felt exhausting and doing something completely different felt overwhelming and depleting, assuming I would have to take a step down and a pay cut, something I wasn’t willing to sacrifice. At the time I decided that I wasn’t unhappy enough for action however, not being proactive and exploring this feeling further became detrimental to my health and well being.
My identity was tied to my role, my results and my professional integrity. I always had a goal to aim towards and enjoyed the journey getting there but my next step was unclear, even the opportunity for Directorship didn’t feel like it would fulfil me which was confusing and left me in a state of panic. I began to wonder if I just wasn’t cut out for it, maybe I'd hit my limit, which resulted in a crisis of confidence in my ability and a devastating sense of ‘what’s in all been for’? I continued as best as I could to be the strong, consistent, resilient leader for my team but on the inside I was I second guessing every decision I made, over analysing every email, every conversation and every meeting long into the night. The lack of rest left me emotionally unregulated and it had started to show, it was out of my control. I felt I was working harder than ever with little to no feeling of success which lead me to push myself and my team harder, unnecessarily, this was bought to my attention and I was devastated, I felt I had let myself and my team down.
A short while after my body took over and my and shut down, I didn’t notice the burnout until it was debilitating.
The months that followed forced me to stop, reassess and ask some difficult questions about success, identity, worth and what career “progression” really means to me, unapologetically, not what I had been conditioned to understand as success through the eyes of others. With the help of career coaching I discovered my true passions amongst my extensive experience and explored ways of working beyond the typical corporate week, which has given me the freedom I was searching for but was never going to find on my former path. My work now encompasses everything I am passionate about in life, I work hard, but for huge personal reward, value and gratification. Through my burnout I gained the confidence to follow my instincts again and it’s paid off, in a big way. I most certainly hadn’t reached my full potential, not even close, I had outgrown the environment.
Not Naturally Corporate was created for ambitious women and corporate minorities who’ve done everything ‘right’ to earn their seat at the able, yet find that the higher they rise it’s not at fulfilling as they anticipated it to be. I work with individuals who want to progress within the corporate space with integrity and continue to lead with empathy without burning out, or who are realising they have outgrown their current path and are no longer finding meaning in their work.
Through coaching, I can help you discover and stay grounded in your authentic identify, make confident decisions about your future and create a career that genuinely aligns with who you are.
Unfiltered & un-corporate..
Q. What did you learn about yourself during your burnout? What did you do to get your energy levels back?
A. Honestly, a lot of trial and error and reflection. I’m often miss interoperated as a extrovert, which is completely understandable given how i project myself, but this is learnt skill. In the lead up to my burn out I had utterly convinced myself I was an introvert and I needed to set boundaries to protect my energy (great 2025 buzzwords!) regretfully, I chose to set those boundaries within my personal life instead of work and It turned out this is the worst thing i could have done. My cup is filled from spending time with specific people in my life where i can be authentically myself, I believe is referred to as ‘Ambivert’. I was preserving energy for work by keeping my weekends free, little did I know i had actually cut off my energy source and it showed up in every aspect of my life. It particularly effected my motivation and limited my creative thinking, all from a lack of conversations & experiences with my nearest and dearest. Understanding nature and nurture (and trends) is very important to our wellbeing, if you can tap into what truly fills your cup the commitment to this feeling and how it effects your energy levels and happiness will override any tiredness and force you to do the thing that will, after the fact, be hugely beneficial. People often struggle to vocalise what makes them happy, so instead of asking this as a direct question, I listen to the experiences people have had and the effects it had on them to identity what they need more of and what energy drainers they need to avoid.
Q.What might surprise people about your personality and the way you communicate in both life and your coaching work?
A.I can be very silly, I have a very dark and dry sense of humour which isn’t a part of my personality i portray straight off the bat. I like to build some trust first so that others can understand my intention is to be funny, never to offend, I am not easily offended and i know this, so I consider my audience carefully. I love a debate and to challenge others opinions, when welcomed I’ll pose questions and scenarios that i do not necessarily agree with myself but to provide perspective, often in hopes to provoke a level of empathy for others too. As humans we say ‘I think’ a lot however, we more often than not make decisions based on emotions, I have done a lot personal development to truly understand my feelings more ( I currently use the phrase, ‘i think i feel’… it’s a working progress) but i’ll often put myself in the other persons shoes to try and gain perspective and it generally results in a level of acceptance, kindness and reactive emotional stability. The majority of people in your life or workplace are not making decisions to piss you off, it’s more than likely they weren’t thinking about you at all! Which can be frustrating, but seek to understand. (However, there are certainly minority cases too, if so, seek to find a new job!) I think that my immediate reaction to things can come across sarcastic, harsh and insensitive but the intent is to provide some comic relief in a moments of stress, for myself and others. I will always strive to understand, not point fingers and be part of the solution.
Q.What does ‘authentic leadership’ mean to you in real life, not as a buzzword but how you show up, make decisions and lead today?
A.Great question and listen, its not easy, In a corporate environment we learn how to behave but it's such a fine line to not loose your personality in the process. Because I never really felt naturally corporate I mirrored others who I felt held these more professional qualities and took constant feedback on my ‘personal brand’. As a result I definitely suffered with imposter syndrome, mainly going against my natural thoughts and channelling my learnt corporate beliefs, this isn't sustainable and shouldn’t be encouraged.
I feel its incredibly important to have strong values and a moral compass that you consistently abide by, no exceptions ‘Do what i say and not what i do’ is unacceptable. There will be times when business decisions are made which will not align with your ethics, It’s your job as a senior manager to seek to understand the reasoning behind the decision, applying perspective, thoughts and feelings and communicate it to your team without having them question their trust in your strong values. I feel its important to lead with kindness, empathy and consistency, whilst its important to treat everyone fairly day to day, your team are people with individual needs and circumstances which should be taken into account. I always like to think of the worst possible outcome and ensure i have a reasonable/logical explanation for my decision based on the information that was available to me at the time, I am happy to he held accountable. Honestly and transparency, everyone deserves this, a wise friend once to me ‘there is a difference in being nice and being kind’. Kind isn’t always nice but its incredibly important for peoples growth. I am comfortable being kind, many leaders are not. Lastly is to be human, show your team that you have an important life outside of work, take time off to rest and encourage them to do the same, be vulnerable to cement trust, and learn how to give a bloody good performance review, they are more valued then you realise!