Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to
the Off Balance Podcast, where
faith, family and businesscollide, hosted by Brooke
Stemming, doctor of BusinessAdministration, business Coach
and Resilience Expert.
Each episode features real-lifeconversations to help
entrepreneurs like you buildresilience and lead with
(00:22):
confidence.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Welcome back to Off
Balance.
I'm your host, dr Brooks.
Today we're exploring howresilience, movement and mission
can turn struggle into strength.
Today's guest is someone whosestory is as powerful as it is
inspiring.
She's the founder and executivedirector of Flex for Access, a
medical writer, motivationalspeaker, adaptive fitness
(00:53):
personal trainer and an Amazonbestselling author.
Her memoir Run an UnchartedDirection dives into the
powerful intersections ofadversity, sports and purpose,
offering listeners a compellinglook at how challenges can
become catalysts for growth.
Please welcome Jess Silver, awoman who embodies resilience,
(01:13):
purpose and passion ineverything she does.
Jess, welcome to Off.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Balance.
Hi Dr Brooks, Hello listeners,Thank you for that introduction.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Thank you so much for
joining us on today.
Before we dive into ourconversation, can you introduce
yourself to listeners and tellthem what type of work it is
that you?
Speaker 3 (01:33):
do?
Of course I can.
My name is Jess Silver, thefounder and executive director,
as Dr Brooks said, a nonprofitorganization called Flux for
Access, which createsopportunities for adaptive
fitness and sport promotion forindividuals who have physical
disabilities and injuries.
I'm also a medical writer andeditor.
I've worked in clinicalsettings such as hospitals, as
(01:55):
well as on a freelance basis andfor marketing firms, taking
very complex medical informationand making it more easily
digestible for the generalpublic, and I'm also an adaptive
fitness personal trainer andadaptive fitness consultant.
My fitness journey was allstarted through my own personal
journey that I took in the gymnearly 18 years ago to manage my
(02:18):
physical condition of cerebralpalsy, and since then I have
become inspired to lead othersthrough movement and use
exercise as a vehicle fordisability management.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
When it comes to
adaptive.
Can you explain that for us?
Speaker 3 (02:33):
So when I use the
word adaptive often people feel
like there's a lot morecomplexity added to the concept
or to how one exercises whenthey have a physical disability
or a disability of any nature.
But adaptive to me meansadapting an exercise program to
suit the individual needs of anindividual that has a complex
(02:56):
neurological disability and haslimitations.
But really the idea of adaptingis no different than it is for
me, than it is for you.
When we adapt a program, wecreate a program that is suited
for the individual, who is justthat.
They're, an individual that hasunique needs.
So we're adapting to their ownlearning styles and to their own
(03:19):
personal needs.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
I was thinking that
it was something so different.
I took a couple of years offfrom strength training and when
I went back I couldn't do apushup.
So my trainer allowed me to dothe pushups from the knees, so
that's an adaptation to astandardized exercise.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
We modify it based on
our needs at any given moment.
The only difference is for anindividual who's part of a
special population, if they havea physical disability or
acquired injury.
Those adaptations are happeninga lot more regularly,
throughout the hour orthroughout any given day, or
consistently adapting to our ownembodied needs that we have.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Okay, you're the
executive director of Flex for
Access.
Can you tell us more about that?
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Flex for Access is my
nonprofit organization us more
about that.
Flex for Access is my nonprofitorganization that I founded
eight years ago.
We started out as a socialmedia awareness campaign that
gained traction all over theworld, because that's the
beautiful thing about socialmedia you can connect with so
many people and I wanted tostart something in order to
redefine cerebral palsy.
Cerebral palsy is theneurological condition that I
(04:26):
was born with.
I'm well into my 30s now and Iwas born with a condition, and
when I was born I was two poundsthree months premature.
I suffered a brain injury whichresulted in cerebral palsy.
It affected my ability to walkindependently and other motor
function, and I found, severalyears into my training in the
gym, that not many peopleunderstood.
(04:48):
Throughout my life I found thatnot many people understood how
my condition affects me, butalso took me just as the human
that I am having physicallimitations but not treating me
so differently from their peerswho don't have a physical
disability.
So what I did was I wanted tostart something in order to
redefine physical disability andto create opportunity for
(05:12):
adaptive fitness and sportpromotion.
I recognize myself as anindividual who has this
condition.
Individuals like myself whohave physical disabilities don't
have the opportunity to go to amainstream gym, to train at any
gym or exercise studio, as anyother individual would readily.
So what I did was first westarted out as a social media
(05:35):
awareness campaign and we gainedtraction and engagement pretty
quickly and it grewexponentially where I had
athletes and individuals fromall over the world Australia,
england, for example, all overthe States and Canada flexing
their biceps in support of thenonprofit organization to
(05:55):
redefine the way that physicaldisability is understood and
create awareness.
So in 2017, I then took it uponmyself to register it as a
nonprofit organization and nowwe've raised over $30,000 since
we've existed as a nonprofitorganization and what the
organization does is it createsthe opportunities, in
(06:17):
partnerships with local gyms andstudios, for these individuals
to be able to train and exerciseor engage with sport in
mainstream facilities, and thefunding goes towards funding the
adaptive fitness, personaltraining sessions or sports
programs.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
I can imagine through
your organization you have
changed so many lives and madepeople feel included.
How did that make you feel inreal time, when you were able to
see your idea manifest in thelives of others?
Speaker 3 (06:46):
To be honest with you
, it's still hard to believe and
I never really feel I'm thatagent for change or that vehicle
for change, because I myselfI'm a very humble person and I
tend to work quietly in the room.
As they say, put in a lot ofhard work but I don't make noise
doing it.
But the first program recipientwhose life that I touch I'll
never forget, when I was workingin partnership with one of our
(07:10):
founding partners and theythanked me for changing their
life, for allowing them todevelop physical progress, and
whenever I see theirtestimonials I get shivers that
go down my spine because Ireally feel like that's when you
know the work that I'veendeavored to do, not only to
create awareness but for it toactually impact an individual.
(07:32):
I've done it and I'm moreinspired to impact a greater
number of people and I now workwith athletes and strength and
conditioning coaches to teachthem how they can incorporate
adaptive fitness personaltraining programming into what
it is they do.
Getting media coverage andhearing other people talk about
my work.
I still have to do a doubletake sometimes and it's really
(07:56):
hard to believe, but I feel thatit empowers me whenever I'm to
quote the title of your podcast.
Whenever I feel off balance orI feel like I've hit a roadblock
and I feel stuck, I have tothink about the people whose
lives I'm continuing to try tochange.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
And then I'm afraid
to go to the gym.
What mindset shift can helpthem adopt your approach to just
getting it done?
Speaker 3 (08:33):
I'm not going to
pretend to say that it's not
scary to do and it's not hard todo, it's not challenging to do
and we don't all have thosemoments.
And I recognize that because,being myself an adaptive fitness
personal trainer and I've alsostudied sports psychology
courses and through my medicalcommunications background, I
know quite a bit about the humanmind and body and I know that
(08:55):
it is really challenging.
But what I will say is that forme, anytime I found something
that's movement based or mindsetbased to be really challenging,
the one way that I feel like Ican be more or a little bit more
in control of it is when Iactually attempt to make that
first attempt or take that firststep and start to try to do an
(09:20):
exercise.
So what I will say is that theonly way and it might sound
cliche, but I feel like the onlyway that we can get over our
fear of being in the gym or ofknowing if we're able to do a
certain exercise is if we facethat fear and try to do it.
And maybe, if we don't havethat ability intrinsically
(09:43):
within ourselves to do, maybe ifwe can look to somebody else
who empowers us or think of anathlete that maybe this person
who we're talking about looks upto, or what it is that
motivates them.
If you can tap into that othersource and think about, what I
would say is it's most importantto think about why you're there
(10:03):
, why you want to do thisexercise.
How is it going to help you?
And then slowly break it downinto smaller components.
If you feel very overwhelmedabout doing the whole thing and
how am I going to do thisperfectly?
Because I know that's whenimposter syndrome kicks in and
we're all like, oh, I want to dothis perfectly and I need my
(10:25):
form to be top form.
The reality is that none of ushave to have top form until we
do the exercise for hours andyears.
So I think the one way to getstarted is by thinking about why
you're doing it or what it isyou want to improve, and then
think about someone or somethingthat motivates you and break
(10:45):
down the movement slowly inorder to be able to do it.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Let's build on that.
In Run and Uncharted Direction,you discuss adversity and you
talk about how it's not justsomething to overcome but it's
something that you can use tohave an edge.
Can you share a moment in yourjourney when that mindset became
a reality for you?
Speaker 3 (11:07):
In preparation for
this podcast and I mean I always
have to think quite a bit aboutthis question when I get asked,
because I've been fortunate tobe well into my 30s now and
there have been lots of momentsthat have shaped my character
and my resilience within me, orI'd like to hope that they've
established resilience in me.
But one moment in my life orone occurrence in my life that I
(11:30):
had to face separately frombeing diagnosed with cerebral
palsy from birth is when I was12 years old I was diagnosed
with scoliosis and that's acurvature of the spine, and our
spine is the central structurein our body that keeps us alive
and keeps us moving straight andbalanced and affects other
(11:52):
organs in our complex organsystems.
And what happened was I wasdiagnosed with this condition,
scoliosis, secondarily to my CP,and that can sometimes be
pretty common for people thathave CP or have other physical
disabilities and what I foundwas that it really has further
thrown off my physical abilityto balance on my own, to sit
(12:16):
straight on my own, to stand upstraighter, to balance
independently and also to carryout other movement, as well as
also to impede me from doingother things that I might want
to do Like.
For example, when I was younger, if I ever wanted to go on a
roller coaster, for example, Icould with assistance, or I used
(12:38):
to go horseback riding, andthen, when I was diagnosed with
scoliosis, I could no longer dothat.
So it really affected myability to do certain activities
and still, to this day, does so.
What I feel that did for me,aside from really scaring me and
throwing me off of myequilibrium or off balance again
(13:01):
, to quote the name of yourpodcast, is what it did.
Was it once I started to tapinto what therapies could be
done to manage it and how toreally understand what this
condition is on my part and withmy support network?
Once I did that, I reallyrealized that this was going to
make me even stronger than I am,because on a daily basis, I
(13:24):
have to manage physical, chronicpain in my back due to
scoliosis.
It affects your digestion.
In some ways.
It affected my ability to train, even at the gym, but what it
did for me is it furtherstrengthened the soundness of my
mind to be like?
No, I am now like aprofessional athlete.
(13:46):
In my book I referenced KobeBryant, who was my favorite NBA
player and my hero in my life,who was my favorite NBA player
and my hero in my life, and Ifeel that I really, throughout
my life, adopted that mambamentality of his and through my
scoliosis, I knew that I wasn'tgoing to quit, and I still
haven't quit to this day.
Having the condition and agingwith my disability, it's just
(14:11):
further empowered me to be evenmore dedicated to my fitness
routine and to everything that Ido as an adaptive fitness
personal trainer, as a fitnessconsultant, to now coach others.
I think what an injury or anaccident or something traumatic
does for all of us is it allowsus to, if we're capable of it,
reevaluate what our journeymeans to us and find other ways
(14:33):
to tap into a new level ofstrength.
And because I'm such a sportsfan and into sports psychology
and I really understand it indepth, that allowed me to do and
the title of my memoir Run anUncharted Direction, is that
meaning that I'm running on anuncharted path, on an unknown
(14:54):
path throughout my life, and theexperience that are, those of
adversity and those unknownsthat we encounter and we explore
in our life actually define usand redefine us on a daily basis
.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
You mentioned
imposter syndrome, and a lot of
people talk about that when itcomes to being in spaces that
they have talked themselves outof.
For someone that's listeningand they are thinking, jess, I
hear what you're saying, but Ijust really don't think I can do
it.
What is that common mistakethat people often make when it
(15:30):
comes to counting themselves out?
Speaker 3 (15:32):
It's an interesting
question that you asked me, and
I get asked this in differentways by different people that I
work with, be they parents, bethey part of the medical
community, be they those who Iwork with in partnership with
Sets for Access.
Something that I've beenthinking about on a regular
basis is this fact of.
I don't want to say that Istand apart from other people,
(15:55):
but I just did mention to you abit about my life journey and
having that love for athleticsand sport.
Basketball is my favorite sport.
I love tennis and soccer too.
I really feel that I relate toathletes because of my own
personal journey and my passionfor sport.
I have that and I've always felt, even if I don't belong in a
(16:16):
space because I've been countedout so many times told oh, what
are you doing here?
You're in a wheelchair.
How can you be in a gym?
Or even in school, like when Iwas bullied?
Oh, what are you doing?
You're the one who's different,we don't want you here.
And I always found the onewho's different.
We don't want you here.
And I always found.
Again, to go back to my book, Ialways found a backdoor, an
(16:41):
alternate path, an alternatetrack to build on my journey.
But what I think happens topeople and why they feel like
they can't do a certain thing,is because I think they buy into
that assumption, maybe thatsociety has, or that
preconceived notion ordefinition that society has of
them being different, whetherit's a racial issue, whether
it's a gender issue, whetherit's a physical disability issue
(17:03):
.
They buy into that assumptionor preconceived notion or bias
and allow it to cloud theirperception of themselves.
So then they're there andthey're going oh no, I can't be
here, I don't feel like I'm tobe rightfully included, and I
think what we have to do is wehave to challenge ourselves as
(17:24):
individuals, and it's very hard,as I say that we have to do it,
but I think we have to look forways to rewrite that narrative,
to challenge it and create ourown.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
And when it comes to
rewriting the narrative, what
would you recommend to be thefirst step for a person?
Speaker 3 (17:44):
I would say that the
first crucial thing is to find
people that, as we say insociety these days, fill your
cup or that you can reallyrelate to.
Seek, I would say, askquestions.
I always say and tell peoplenot to be afraid to ask
questions or to use your voice,even in arenas or places when
(18:06):
they feel like they can't.
What's the worst?
That's going to happen.
Somebody's going to go oh, Ididn't think about this this way
, or that's a new perspective,or, yeah, you might get some
people who don't believe in whatyou're saying.
But what I would say is try touse your voice in the way that
one can for everyone listening.
But also, what's very importantis to surround yourself with
(18:28):
people that you can relate to,and find mentors and find
sources of individuals whoempower what it is that you want
to do.
And find mentors and findsources of individuals who
empower what it is that you wantto do and what you stand for,
or those who can guide you alongyour new alternate path.
And for me, those people allcame out of my fitness community
(18:48):
that I built in the gym,separately from, of course, my
family and my closest friends,but, like I said, being in the
gym and really putting in thateffort and having my personality
, putting myself out there andsaying it doesn't matter what
others think, I am here becauseI want to be here and I want to
learn and I want to improve.
(19:09):
When I surrounded myself withthe right people, that was when
I felt that I could build mynonprofit organization and,
honestly, it took me seven and ahalf years to write my memoir
Run and Uncharted Direction,which is available on Amazon for
all of you listening who wantto get to know my story and use
it as a tool or as a way toempower you, or, if you're a
(19:32):
sports fan.
It mentions sports quite a bitand talks about my love for
communications.
And it took me seven and a halfyears to write.
And it was when I alreadyestablished Bucks for Access and
when I was already well on myfitness journey in the gym that
I felt like it was time for meto write my story.
I knew that I always wanted tobe a writer.
(19:54):
I've been writing since I wassix years old, but it all has to
happen, as we say, at the righttime in the right place.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
When you go into the
gym it's like a community of
people.
So if you have someone that'slistening, what can we do to be
more inclusive to people that'scoming into the gym that may
have a physical disability?
What are some strategies orsome things that we can do?
Speaker 3 (20:18):
the first thing I
would say is not to overthink it
and not to make them feel likethey're so different from every
other member that's going intothe gym, but to realize that
individuals who have physicaldisabilities, whether they're
from birth, like mine, orwhether they're acquired later
in life, they are theindividuals who need movement
(20:38):
the most.
Don't think of for those of youwho may be listening who are gym
owners or managers of gyms, oryou manage the front desk of a
gym.
If you work at the reception,don't think that if the gym is
not structurally accessible,that you cannot have individuals
who have physical disabilitiescome into your gym.
(21:02):
Think of it as I see this as anopportunity to make my business
better, stronger, to have astronger ROI, to have a stronger
ROI, so higher revenue stream,and to open up my doors of my
gym.
Or, if you operate a businessonline, open up my fitness
(21:22):
practice or my fitness businessto individuals whose lives I can
change the most, from anemotional health perspective and
a physical health perspective,and challenge yourself to think
about how equipment can be usedto cater to individuals who have
varying needs, who usewheelchairs or crutches, for
example, if you don't havespecialized adaptive equipment,
(21:44):
exercise equipment.
Challenge yourself to thinkabout how you if you're a
trainer or you work withtrainers can be creative to
modify exercises to suit theneeds of individuals who have
varying mobility.
And the first thing you can doand the most important thing you
can do, which I think most ofus forget is have a conversation
(22:05):
and ask the person who'swalking into your gym that has a
disability, what it is theyneed your help with and what it
is they want to work on andbuild from there.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
I think asking the
questions and talking to the
person is very important.
When it comes to your nonprofitorganization and you are an
adaptive personal trainer, doyou offer any type of consultant
services for gyms or other?
Speaker 3 (22:31):
trainers.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (22:33):
Since the beginning
of the pandemic, I've stepped
into more of that role where Iwork more heavily, and I'm
looking for more opportunitiesto work even more as an adaptive
fitness consultant.
So for those of you who arelistening, who do work in the
fitness space and you're lookingto work with, you're looking to
broaden your demographic of whoyou work with.
(22:54):
If you are looking for somebodyto work with as a consultant, I
would be interested in havingthe conversation, because I work
with municipalities here inToronto.
I work with organizations I'veworked with schools before and
fitness and health professionalsto teach them about programming
, but also to look at theirspace and audit their actual
(23:15):
spaces for accessibilityconsiderations from an adaptive
equipment perspective.
So I'm looking for more ofthose opportunities.
So, dr Brooks, if you might knowof anybody who you'd like to
connect me with to continue theconversation and build on work
opportunity, or for anybodylistening, I can be contacted
(23:36):
for everything to do with mynonprofit organization.
My email is flexforaccess atgmailcom.
I do offer consulting and theconsulting is separate from my
nonprofit organization's workbecause there is a fee for
service for those consultingservices.
And then what we do with mynonprofit organization, I'm
consistently looking forpartners who have gyms, who have
(24:00):
facilities, who could offerpersonal training and want to
work with, or already do workwith, individuals who are part
of special populations.
What we do is the fundingthat's raised by Flex for Access
goes towards facilitating theadaptive fitness personal
training sessions and funding ofsports programs or funding of
(24:21):
sessions of sports-basedactivities to allow individuals
who have physical disabilitiesand acquired injuries to be
active in mainstream settings.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
I would have all of
your contact information in the
show notes so that people canreach out and allow you to
consult them, as well as partnerwith your nonprofit, because I
think the work that you're doingis phenomenal.
My nephew has musculardystrophy and the way that my
sister raised him is he has nolimits, right Like he just feels
like he can do whatever anyoneelse can do.
(24:54):
And so to meet you as an adultand to see that you have that
same perception of yourself as achild, that is beautiful,
because I've also met someadults and they have allowed
life to just throw them blowsand they have literally bought
into those limitations.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
That's awesome,
because now when I work with
lots of parents, you get youwork with different individuals,
right.
And so some parents are like,oh, my child has this disability
and so we have to go to a groupclass where everybody has this
disability and they cannot beintegrated fully with
individuals who don't have theirvisible disability.
(25:36):
And I wasn't raised that wayeither.
When I was in school,elementary school and high
school I was the only one thathad the condition that I had in
my classes and in my memoir Runan Uncharted Direction.
Nowhere do you see on the cover.
This story is about Jess Silver, who has cerebral palsy.
(25:57):
You find out later that, yes, Ihave it.
It is a part of who I am.
I don't deny that.
It's a part of who I am.
I live with it every day and Ifeel like my limitations empower
me.
But I have not allowed mychallenge to stop me in any way,
shape or form.
I founded my nonprofitorganization, I got a master's
(26:17):
in creative writing, I got apostgraduate degree in medical
communications and I got marriedlast year.
Like all the things I've done inmy life, I have never allowed
my challenge or, like you said,other people's perception of me
put me in a box and not allow meto move forward.
(26:38):
And I think that to go back tothank you for sharing the
personal kind of anecdote ofyour nephew having muscular
dystrophy and your sisterraising him to believe that he
can do everything like everybodyelse not to make this sound
cliche, but I think that is thebest mindset that a parent can
have, because we all havelimitations, whether they're
(27:00):
visible or invisible.
So to raise a child who has adisability to believe that they
can't do things, how are theysupposed to succeed and move
forward in life?
So now, through all of the workthat I do as a motivational
speaker, as a mentor, through mynonprofit organization and as a
person, I try to, like we weresaying, have that conversation
(27:25):
and help empower other peoplefrom all walks of life to
understand that disability isnot like something that should
be feared, not like somethingthat should be feared and, first
of all, it's not like a lot ofpeople I don't know have
developed this attitude thatlike somebody has a disability,
almost, and it's very backwardsin a way if you think about it,
because we're in 2025 andthere's so much conversation
(27:48):
around diversity, equity,inclusion, but you're not really
seeing individuals includedthat have physical disabilities
everywhere, and so I'm going.
That's really backwards.
I need to be the individual whoopens up these doors for other
individuals like myself and forothers in society to realize
that the perception oflimitation or the definition of
(28:12):
limitation is actually somethingthat they're maybe projecting
onto people that have physicaldisabilities or other
disabilities.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Yes, and you
mentioned your background, which
ties nicely into my nextquestion.
You have combined your love forsports, for fitness and
communication into such a uniquepath, from launching Flicks for
Access to writing and speaking.
How has that blend of passionshaped your understanding of
resilience and leadership?
Speaker 3 (28:40):
Honestly it's defined
it because I feel like
everything I've done in my lifehas culminated into me being a
storyteller, into me being acommunicator.
Everything that I've donethrough having that vehicle and
through founding my non-profitorganization and working in the
medical writing space, it allgoes hand in hand and I feel
(29:03):
that I've used one skill set tobuild on another skill set.
And everything that I do I tryto, like I said, empower the
different people I work with, orto allow the varying
demographics of individuals thatmy communications work touches
to realize that, yes, we are alldifferent but, yes, there is
(29:27):
still this one common threadthat connects all of us.
And we all face adversity.
Just mine might be a littlemore visible than Dr Brooks's
adversity might be.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
I think if you live
long enough, you would
definitely face adversity.
We have someone that'slistening and they may feel like
they can't overcome whateverchallenge that they have.
Can you give them someencouragement on how to move
forward?
Speaker 3 (29:57):
First of all, I'd
like to say that I'm always
available as a resource throughmy professional background, but
also just as a person, as aresource for anybody who's
feeling overwhelmed and who'sfeeling like their adversity has
really got them down, and I'mnot the type of person to say
that what I'm going through isso much harder than anybody else
(30:18):
, because we all have a story,we all have challenges that we
face on the day to day, and thenwe all have circumstances that
happen.
What I would say is and again,I don't want any of this to
sound cliche, because sometimesit can come off as sounding that
way is that when you're goingthrough something really
difficult and you feel like yourworld is closing in and you're
(30:40):
losing parts of yourself and, ifI can be very transparent, I've
actually just been goingthrough adversity right now
myself.
That has me feeling lower thanI normally would like to feel.
I think it's very important forus all to remind ourselves that
we have a unique purpose in ourlife being placed on this earth
(31:04):
and think about it like thisThink that if you feel that you
can't go on anymore because ofthe adversity you're facing, if
you could say, turn to someoneand say one word to make them
feel good, or one word thatwould be your parting word.
What would that be?
And try to think of theexperiences that have shaped you
(31:26):
into the person that you are,or something that is positive
for you to allow you to leavethem with that one word.
And if you're thinking ofyourself as that person that you
want to leave with that oneword, what would it be?
Speaker 2 (31:44):
That's awesome advice
.
We talked about your memoir.
We talked about you took sevenand a half years to write it,
but we did not talk about that.
You are an Amazon bestsellingauthor.
That is such an accomplishment,and how did that make you feel
when you found out that yourstory was bestselling?
It was very surreal.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
It still is very
surreal.
I still cannot believe that Ihave now three books on Amazon
two but I also now just launchedthe audiobook version of Run.
So I did want to share with allyour listeners here that, for
those of you who may not bereaders of the hard copy,
paperback copy or the ebookversion, I also just released
(32:28):
the audiobook version and it'svery surreal.
Still to this day, and when Ithink about it, I frankly still
sometimes can't believe it,because I love books.
I've been a literary individualsince I was too young to
remember and for me to thinkthat my story is out there.
And my other book of quotes isout there, called Life's Lava
(32:51):
Quotes, values and Reflectionsthat Light Our Souls and Color
Our Days with Reason is my otherbook for those of you who are
interested, and I can share thatwith you, dr Brooks, later, so
that you can put it in the shownotes as well.
When I think about that, itgoes back to again feeling like
on a major level in my life.
I have a responsibility, I feel, to empower others and to share
(33:16):
my story or parts of myself,parts of my own experience to
change the lives of others, andI honestly believe that is part
of my calling, which is why Ifounded my nonprofit
organization.
So to know that my books are onAmazon coincides with that
responsibility and I hope thatthe words brighten up someone's
(33:36):
day if they choose to purchasemy book in any form that it's
available, and I hope that theyfind that they can relate to the
story.
But it is very overwhelming andsurreal, I will say.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
That is such an
accomplishment.
I hope that you are reallysoaking that in and knowing that
you did a great job with yourmemoir.
As we wrap up, what's onemessage or piece of advice that
you want to leave with ourlisteners, who may be navigating
their own uncharted direction?
Not?
Speaker 3 (34:07):
to feel, no matter
how dark life can get some days
or confusing life can get somedays.
Again, I feel like I'm sayingthis many a time not to sound
cliche, but not to feel likeanybody or any noise the
figurative kind of noise, theimposter syndrome that we were
talking about or your ownself-doubt can stop you along
(34:30):
your path.
To keep seeking your owndirection and following your
heart and your intention, Iwould say do everything with
intention.
Another piece of advice I wouldhave is you know I was talking
about that one word.
If you could leave someone withone word, what would that be?
Or if you could leave yourselfwith one word, what would it be
that?
But also think about everyexperience that you are
(34:55):
encountering during a day.
Think about why you're doing itand how you're doing it.
If you can attach an intentionto it, then that means keep
doing it and keep chasing thewhy, as a lot of us say, and
keep wrestling with thechallenges.
But the second you lose theintention, I would say it's time
(35:15):
to go back and have some ofthat internal monologue, if you
can, or turn to someone like DrBrooks or someone in your
support system to talk to toguide you along the way, because
I feel like if we lose ourintention, we lose our purpose,
(35:35):
then we have nothing to runforward to.
But as long as you haveintention, keep chasing what it
is that you want to and keepchasing risk and keep being.
What I would also say is keepallowing adversity to blaze that
fire stronger within you.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
Jess, thank you so
much.
You have encouraged us all tostrap up those laces and to
finish our race, and so I willdefinitely have all of your
contact information in the shownotes for this episode, and if
you want to work with Jess,whether it's consulting or
partnering with her nonprofit, Iwill have her contact
information.
So again, jess, thank you somuch for being a guest on Off
(36:12):
Balance.
It has been a pleasure.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
Thank you for having
me and thank you everybody for
listening.
Speaker 1 (36:20):
Thanks for listening.
Please rate this episode andshare it with your family and
friends.
To learn more about your hostor to book a coaching session,
visit wwwbrooksdemmingcom.
Until next time, rise.