Introducing Dominant Stories with Jess Weiner

Jess Weiner has over 20 years of experience creating impactful discussions and shifting perceptions around body image, representation, beauty, mental wellness, and self-confidence. She’s helped Fortune 500 companies become more inclusive and culturally fluent, including as a partner behind Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign, and helping to evolve Barbie by adding more body shapes, skin tones, and hair types. Dominant Stories has stemmed from Jess’ personal and professional mission to help people challenge the external (and internal) voices that are holding them back from living the life they desire and deserve (think: “I’m not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough,” etcetera). Throughout the series, Jess and her esteemed guests discuss how the media, culture, and the people in our lives all help to create these stories, and how they’re learning to rewrite them. You'll hear from people shaping our culture like Author Lori Gottlieb, Actor Debby Ryan, Activist Azure Antoinette, and Singer/Songwriter Sara Bareilles (featured in this trailer) about the stories that shape them! Along the way, you'll also get some practical, tactical advice for how you can challenge and change your Dominant Stories.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
I have no idea what I'm passionate about. I'm too
old to start something new. People won't take me seriously
because how I look. I can't go after my dreams
because others rely on whether I'm not where I should.
Will never overcome what happened to me in my past.
I am exactly where I need to be. I am
exactly where I need to do. I'm exactly where I

(00:21):
need to be. Dominant stories are the stories that we
tell ourselves about ourselves. I don't sound smart enough, I
deserve to take up space. I'll never be able to
do what I want, whether it's true or not. It
affects how we act in the world. It affects the

(00:43):
choices we make. It affects the risks we take or
don't take. I'm Jess Weener, cultural expert and the host
of dominant stories. I have wrestled with dominant stories, probably
as far back as like eleven years old. Both my
parents are pretty chronic dieters, and so there was a
lot of focus on body image, a lot of fear

(01:05):
around food. For me, Dominant stories is a great entry
point for folks to realize that they've sort of programmed
a belief system within themselves that is actually shaping the
trajectory of their life. That little voice is still in there,
and it's not our voice, it's someone else's. Those are
all lies designed by culture and negative forces to keep

(01:29):
you small. Like they don't want you to thrive, they
don't want you to spread your wings. You know, we're
really talking to the thinkers and the movers and the
shakers of our world right now about what's shaping them.
I didn't like my body in the first place. When
I got the diagnosis, it just pissed me off even
more and I was like, you always let me down.

(01:53):
The point is not to rid yourself of the voices.
It's just like, do you let them be in the
driver's seat or The big goal is we can rewrite
those stories, and that rewriting actually will change our lives.
Feelings are like a compass. They tell us what direction
to go, and if we don't pay attention to them,

(02:14):
it's like walking around with a faulty GPS. You have
no idea where you're going. Listen to Dominant Stories with
me Jess Weener every Wednesday on the I Heart Radio app,
Apple Podcast or wherever you listen to podcasts,