This Rochester mother-daughter duo wants to help people change their lives
Rebecca Mitchell, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
6 min read
Sep. 9—ROCHESTER — As her phone bursts with music and inspiration, Kelli Reed listens as Post Malone croons with raw honesty, "I don't understand why you like me so much // 'Cause I don't like myself." It's her life coach clients she sees within the lyrics.
"That's the mindset that a lot of clients come to us with because they really just don't get, 'Why does this person like me? Why do they love me? Why do they want to be around me?'" Kelli said. "And it's like helping them to understand really what they have to offer."
She discovers many lessons while pondering song lyrics. While working with clients through their business, Reed Life Mastery Consulting, Kelli and her mother Jan Reed help people shift their mindset and envision how their lives could change. It starts with one question: what is a dream that I can work on now? Their goal as life coaches, or life mastery consultants, is to help people live a life they love one step at a time. Kelli says they're coaches through the "sport of life."
They share those "million reasons" why people can like themselves. They help people figure out what their wants and hopes are for themselves. "It's what they love," explains Jan, from a new job to spending more time with their spouse or harvesting produce from their own garden. The Reeds focus on four life areas from their training with the Brave Thinking Institute, including health and wellbeing, vocation, relationships, and time and money freedom.
"We're very lucky we've had this training. It's been life-changing for us mostly, and then we get to spread that to other people," Jan said.
Since the training in March 2017, they've watched the Hallmark-esque movie moments come to life: clients suddenly having the opportunity to purchase a car they couldn't afford or opening their business in a quick timeframe. The stories come through phone calls and text messages, which Jan enjoys as positive encouragement throughout the day. "How can you not be excited for them?" Jan says with a glowing smile and arms pumped in a celebratory cheer.
"We love being able to make that difference," Jan said.
In a meeting room at the Rochester Public Library, Jan and Kelli fill the room with life through their passion for supporting people and the all-important music. Kelli says their presentations always include movement, like dancing and laughing. They hope to bring the "right energy" while teaming up with clients to discover their goals and dreams.
The Reeds knew their desire: working together on a business. They built their dream at a Los Angeles training event as Jan transitioned from her teaching career after about 30 years at Byron Public Schools.
As a Mayo Clinic finance employee, Kelli says she supports her mother on the business side while also working with clients through their parent coaching program. She carries pride in saying, "Mrs. Reed is my business partner," just like the joy she carried in bragging to fellow students that, "Mrs. Reed's my mom." From her second-grade students to now adult students, Jan still loves seeing the aha moments.
"It's just that we balance each other out," Kelli said. They regularly hang out during the week and meet once or twice a week over Zoom for business plans. "We've got a lot of experience with the generations between us and just having a similar mindset has also been great for our family too."
Through their family gatherings, the Reeds practice their presentations and share YouTube video recommendations, all in positively shaping their family. Jan says they coach each other, from styling advice to life wisdom. It's part of how Jan and Kelli set their minds on growing and learning, too.
"Our bottom line ... is that we have fun while we're doing it. And we do," Jan said. "We come up with ideas and sometimes she's like, 'Mom, that will never work.' ... And I say it to her."
But they know failure is just feedback, Jan starts and Kelli finishes her sentence. It's a sentence they share often. Kelli will even say she's a pro at failing, though they agree recognizing these failures as opportunities makes them more relatable as life coaches.
"We live perfect lives so obviously, I'm just kidding but that is honestly what some people assume is that we just have it all figured out," Kelli said. "I think it's honestly looking at the trials and tribulations that we've gone through and the resources that we've used and learned to help get through those and then just having the certification to learn specific, successful proven tools."
One of the tools they use as life coaches is a "time machine" exercise where people describe how their lives look three years into the future. The exercise challenges clients to share about their lives in as much detail as possible. Kelli says people have about 90 seconds to fill in the gaps of their lives, of the areas they hope will look different in the years ahead.
They might "try on" their lifestyle of sleeping well, having good relationships with their children and a 10-foot long table where friends and family enjoy meals together — in 2026.
"We help them change how they think about things so that they can really live the life they want to live," Jan said. "We help them dig down into what they really would love. ... First of all, we talk about what they don't want to help them discover what they do want."
Then the action steps begin, such as trying on the dress you want at the store or placing a photo of your dream car on the wall. But it's a "whole different mindset" people learn through the dream course, Kelli says. The Reeds work with clients online over 12 weeks in one-on-one or group sessions. They also speak at events and workshops in Southeast Minnesota.
A parenting course expanded Kelli's life coaching purpose, including as a model for her son Donovan. She loves offering direction to families, and finding successful routes in the muddled journey of parenting.
"Just the family we're working with right now, I just see so much hope because when it comes to your kids that's your heart walking around," Kelli said. "Then the trickle-down effect is when you see their kid being like, 'Wow, things are changing and they're not trying to change me.'"
They have hope people can change their lives. And while people work to transform, like a caterpillar to a butterfly, the Reeds will keep sharing tools and offering pieces of encouragement as they reframe their mindsets.
"You can't help but change yourself when you're helping other people," Jan said.
