Ep. 44: A Conversation with STEMinist Fiction Author and OT, Jaima Fixsen

A Lunchroom Conversation with STEMinist Fiction Author and OT, Jaima Fixsen

In this episode, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Jaima Fixsen, a Canadian occupational therapist and USA Today bestselling author who writes STEMinist fiction novels while balancing roles as a mom and OT. We dive deep into how she uses her OT skills to support her creative work and manage the unstructured nature of writing and the midlife desire to shift into new, more aligned occupations. Spoiler alert: tap dancing and sourdough didn't work out.

Whether you're an OT interested in creative pursuits, managing your own practice, or simply curious about applying OT principles to your own life and work, this conversation offers valuable insights about embracing new occupations while honoring our professional identity.

 

Key Topics We Discuss:

• How Jaima transitioned from full-time OT to splitting her time between clinical practice and writing as a PAID occupation
• The concept of "middle-essence" - finding new occupations and meaning in midlife transitions
• Using OT strategies to manage executive function demands of creative work
• Creating sensory-rich writing routines to support focus and flow
• Setting boundaries and implementing behavioural strategies for productivity
• The fascinating historical background of her latest novel "The Specimen" set in 1828 Edinburgh
• The evolution of medical ethics and consent in anatomical studies
• Supporting local bookstores 

 

OT Insights to Apply in Your Own Work:

• Strategies for managing unstructured work time
• Creating supportive sensory environments
• Breaking down large projects into manageable chunks
• Setting appropriate goals and rewards
• Managing perfectionism and task initiation
• Techniques to find creative flow and stay healthy

 

Resources Mentioned:

• The Specimen by Jaima Fixsen - find it at your local bookstore
• Get 2 free audiobooks at Libro.fm while supporting a local bookstore of your choice
• Learn more about Jaima Fixsen
• Instagram: @byjaimafixsen
• ACTivate Vitality, my program and community for OT business owners
• Explore the Jane.app's time-saving writing features, including my fave AI Scribe, with a one month grace period on your new account using the code VITALITY

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
I really pay attention to mysensory needs when I'm creating.

(00:04):
and have a bit of a ritual, sospecific time of day, like I have
my diet Coke, that's like my treat.
I, light a candle, I have a playlistfor each project that I'm working on.
I usually put on like my comfy,including slippers, so I definitely
pay attention to what's happening inmy sensory environment because that

(00:26):
makes it easier for me to focus.
And to want to be in the writing space.
Yeah.
Because again, now that I'm writinglike for a deadline, for contract,
you are getting into that spacewhere it's like the Pinterest
picture or like I have to do it.
And that does,
Sometimes make it harder to tapinto that joy and that playfulness.
Creative flow sort of thing.

(00:47):
Yes.
You're listening to the BraveoT Podcast with me, Carlyn Neek.
This podcast is all about empoweringoccupational therapists to step up,
level up, blaze some trails, and maybeengage in a little conscious rebellion
in service of our profession, ourclients, our work, our businesses,
and living our mission wholeheartedly.

(01:08):
We are all about keeping it real,doing hard things, un hustling, being
curious, exploring, growing throughour challenges, and finding joy,
fulfillment, and vitality as we do.
So really, we're OTngourselves and each other.
I hope you love this episode.
My guest today on The BRAVEOT Podcast is Jaima Fixsen.

(01:30):
On her website, she describesherself with bold words at the top
that say, moody, wordy, bookish,nerdy, and I couldn't relate more.
I love it.
Jaima is an OT in Edmontonand a bestselling author.
She writes in the category of STEMinistfiction writes novels, and is even

(01:50):
a USA today bestselling author.
To give you a sense of where we go todayin this conversation, I want to orient to.
The relatable sense of coming to a placein your own life where you're craving
different occupations, feeling a sense ofuncertainty or dissatisfaction, a desire

(02:10):
for a different type of fulfillment.
And sometimes this happensin the middle of our lives.
Sometimes this happens after abig crisis, during a pandemic
maybe, or when the demands of ourlives are shifting a little bit.
With this in mind, we explore how Jaimacame to writing as a paid occupation and
using her OT skills to really supportherself in this unstructured time

(02:34):
as a creative and divergent thinker.
I wanna give a shout out to Jane, aclinic management software that's here to
make our practice life a little easier.
In the area of writing for manypractitioners, documentation can
feel a bit clunky and disruptthe flow of an appointment.
That's where Jane's Templates can helpwith dozens of customization options.

(02:57):
You can tailor your templates to yourworkflow so you can focus your energy
on what matters, helping your clients.
Access the template library builtby practitioners across different
disciplines, then edit those templatesto fit your unique needs without
starting from scratch or create yourown templates for every step of patient
care, including intake, form questions,clinical surveys, and treatment plans.

(03:19):
This way, you have everything youneed to start your appointments
prepared To learn more about howJane can help make your documentation
work for you, head to Meet Jane appslash documentation to book a demo.
Oh, and one last thing.
If you're ready to get started with Jane,you can use my Code Vitality for a one
month grace period on your new account.

(03:40):
Hey, Carlyn.
Hey Jaima.
It is so good to see you.
I'm really excited that you're here andI'm really excited that you came up and
just chatted at the CAOT conference.
That's where we met a few weeks ago.
I had a booth for The BRAVE OT Podcast,and you came up and we just had a
really enjoyable conversation, you andLindsay and I, about writing, about

(04:02):
doing things that matter about OT, andyou came back with a copy of your book
for each of us, which I was so gratefulfor, and I'm really enjoying reading.
It's called The Specimen, and Ijust got to the part where they have
discovered the specimen and have beencorresponding about it a little bit,
so as not to spoil it for anybody.

(04:24):
Well, that was one of myfavorite scenes to write,
was it, but
just to take a minute.
I was so happy to see you at theCAO OT conference because Carlyn,
the podcast is like my OT lunchroom.
I work in, community peds, so you know,there's lots of other professionals on
the team, but I'm, there's never twoOTs on a team, so I just don't get a

(04:47):
lot of that peer-to-peer OT interaction.
So.
The podcast is my lunchroom.
It's my, when I get to hangout or listen to other OTs.
So it means a lot to me.
And it was just open tosee you in real life.
Oh,
I love that you call it a lunchroom.
my desire was to create connectionand community and on a deeper level

(05:08):
than we can through LinkedIn orFacebook or something like that.
And so to hear you call it like alunchroom, 'cause having lunch together
is such an intimate experience, right?
Of it really is conversing and talkingabout life and work and all of the things.
Food.
It's absolutely that for me.
So it's a lovely space.
Thanks for creating it.

(05:29):
Aw, thank you.
Thank you so much.
I'm glad you came up.
I. It was a very last minute decision forme to get a booth at the CAOT conference.
I went to register and Ithought, oh, there's exhibitors.
Oh, I could do that.
I'm probably too late.
And it was more than if Ihad just registered for the
conference but not unmanageable.
So and so I thought, thatcould be interesting.
what would I do about it?

(05:50):
What would I make the booth about?
Would it be my whole business?
And then people don't know.
There's too manydifferent things going on.
Would it be about my OT practice?
Would it be about mygroup coaching program?
And I decided to make it about the podcastbecause that would be really approachable.
there's nothing to sell.
You know, people could just comeand talk about interesting things,
like the topics of the podcast.

(06:10):
Maybe people already listen, maybepeople haven't heard about it.
And that could create engagement.
'cause that was ultimately my goal.
And look at this.
It worked.
Here you are.
It really did.
And it was like, oh, oh.
Uh, well, I mean, was that weird?
because I do think when you hostsomething like a podcast, like I
kind of feel like I, I know you, butlike, you know, I'm a total random.

(06:35):
Do you, I'm curious, do you get that whenpeople who have read your books meet you?
Does it, like, how does that feel onthe flip side where you are the person
who people might be thinking is a bigdeal because you write to publish books
and then they come to you as a fan?
Maybe a little, I think there is somewarmth when people come to me if they've

(06:58):
read my stuff before and liked it.
I mean, usually they don't come ifthey're like, I, that, that was terrible.
But I do think it's differentbecause you have that kind
of safety of writing fiction.
I think if I was writingmemoir, Or something.
It's not that fiction, writingisn't intimate, but you have this

(07:20):
glass of this is a, an imaginaryplace that I'm inviting you into.
Yeah, I was gonna say less vulnerability,but I wouldn't say it's actually
less vulnerability because puttinga cre something, a creation out
into the world is very vulnerable.
but it's less, personallyvulnerable or Yeah.

(07:41):
But there's always that sense of, likehypothesizing how much of the author
is present in the work, and if you knowhow much is their imagined experience
and how much is their actual experience.
So I think as readers, sometimesyou wonder and interpolate
it, but you don't know.
Whereas your podcast, there isthat high level of intimacy and.

(08:04):
Like when I relate it to alunchroom, like I feel like I've
sat down and had lunch with you.
And you've never seen me before.
True.
This is true and very interesting.
it's connection and And it is aweird thing to be on this end of that
because I learned how many peoplehave been listening or how it was
assigned, to them in a universityclass or something like that.

(08:26):
Oh, really?
That's so cool.
And I heard that a number oftimes from a number of, they
weren't all in the same class.
They were from different universitiesand different programs even.
And Oh, I had no idea.
Like I just, you don't know who'slistening on the other end or how
they're experiencing it unless theyreach out and It was very rewarding to
me to hear of various impacts and thenI can then assume that it's reaching,

(08:50):
in a bigger way than I thought thenjust my stats and numbers could tell me.
Yeah, exactly.
Because those are solifeless in a way, right?
if they don't have that.
Necessarily that same emotional impactof someone being like, wow, I love this.
yeah.
Yeah.
It's true.
And it's kind of the same whenyou put a book out into the
world, like every so often.

(09:11):
I try not to, but like at leasttwice a year I get the royalty
stats, so I know what's selling and
yeah.
I guess anytime I want it, I could checkreviews, but I try not to do that and
just have that in-person experience.
How do you have in-personexperiences for your book
conferences or?

(09:33):
I do a weekly newsletter, andpeople reply to that, book clubs
and like other reader events.
Those are really fun and rewarding.
how do you know to do those things?
sometimes I get invited and sometimesthey'll be like, Hey, we'll be

(09:54):
at this event if you wanna come.
And, yeah, that's great.
I have a publicist who will match meup sometimes with different book groups
or if people request to see me, thensometimes it goes through that, but.
That makes sense.
Yeah, because you wouldn'tknow these things.

(10:15):
No.
You and your computer sittingdown to write something and yeah.
Here's what we do with that.
There's some, you had some guidance.
Before we get to that end, I wouldlove to take a few steps back and,
explore how you came to writing, butstart with, tell me about your various
roles and occupations right now.

(10:38):
So right now I work about halftime as anOT and I write about halftime as well.
I've got three kids.
They're pretty big, so it'snot like I'm like doing the
kindergarten pickup or anymore.
Like that phase of my life is behind me.
it was fun.
It was fun while it last year for sure.
But, on the new things, yeah.

(10:58):
So I had worked as an OT mostly in adultvocational rehab, and with our third
child, and then some, needs with our kids.
I had a daughter with a severe stutterand our middle child, was diagnosed
with ODD, and, daycare for three kids.
It just, I was gonna stepaway from OT for a while.

(11:19):
Yeah.
And I was pretty nervous about it.
And I needed, I knew I neededto have something for myself.
'cause otherwise, losing your professionand your work is such a part of
your identity, like that question,what do you do is such an early
question when you meet new people.
Yeah.

(11:40):
so I, I tried a bunch of.
And writing was what I settled on thatjust kind of met my needs really well.
And
were there, and then were yousearching for certain characteristics?
was it like, I need to do somethingcreative, I need to do something?
what were you craving that led you there?
Oh, that's, it's a good question.

(12:02):
I think I was just really open to tryinganything because like stepping away from
OT for a while, felt really dramatic.
Like it felt pretty.
Big.
So I think it was more just a, an we'lltry anything to see what fills this hole.

(12:24):
Yeah.
So I registered for a tap dancing classwith some moms I met at the school
and I, this was when like, Pinterestwas like the biggest thing ever.
So I tried like baking and all this likecult of domesticity and knitting and all
these things and trying to embracethat I'm going to be home more.
So let's make that meaningful,enjoyable, do something with that.

(12:48):
Yeah.
I did some volunteering at the school,looking, you know, to still be connected
to other people in the community and,like nothing just really well, like
the tap down scene was a nightmare.
Like, I'm a danger tomyself and others, like not
going.
Do you know, as a sidebar, youmet me with Lindsay Bristow?
She was helping, she and I werehanging out in the, podcast, conference

(13:12):
exhibit hall together, and sheand I do a dance class together.
Oh, cool.
Yeah.
But she is a much more skilleddancer than I, and similarly, I'm
going to be swinging this way whenwe're supposed to be going that way.
That was so mean.
And seriously, I'm gonna fall on my face.
These shoes are slippery.
Oh dear.
That's awesome.
I love that, that you didthe tap desk, okay, carry on

(13:34):
And then a lot of the like craftinessor like the baking, it always comes
with a picture and it was such asource of frustration and failure
to see what I'd made and it neverlooked as good as the picture.
And so this was nothelping my mental health.
This was not helpingme like, like my life.
This was, it was, you know, whenyou have that visual representation

(13:58):
for, you're striving for and youcan compare it to what you actually
are output and it's, that's hard.
There were a lot of stuff that wasjust like, a sweater that was like
completely unwearable and and then thething was like a lot of that stuff is
super time consuming and expensive.
Like you have to leave your houseand I've got these three little
humans that I'm like also trying tokeep alive and so writing was great

(14:25):
'cause I've always loved books andI did generally choose OT jobs that
required a fair bit of report writing.
Like I did enjoy technical writing.
Who are you?
I don't know.
so fiction writing was great becauseIt wasn't at a specific time of the
week, like the tap dancing class.
I didn't have to go outand buy a bunch of yarn.

(14:47):
There's no picture thatI like compare this to.
There's just, it starts with a nebulousidea and then that grows and grows.
There's no kind of idea of what thefinished product will look like, for sure.
Other than that, you hope it's good.
And were you actually aiming to beable to put something together that
you could sell, or was it just writingfor the sake of writing at that point?

(15:10):
I think just writing for the sakeof writing, and the first creative
writing I did was actually fan fiction.
Okay.
Which is like a really funsandbox to play in because.
if we're looking at it OT wise, like it'sa really easily graded activity because
you don't have to start from nothing.
You're already starting with aworld or characters and you pick

(15:32):
the pieces that you want and thenyou take it off in a tangential
direction or you add the new thing.
And then a lot of it is shortform, so you don't have to
like, have an idea for a novel.
Okay.
So fan fiction is let'ssay I'm a big Twilight fan.
Yeah.
And I take one character off ona journey with a little short
story And that's fan fiction.

(15:53):
Yeah.
Okay.
Or Lord of the Rings orHarry Potter or, yeah.
Oh, interesting.
wrote a fan fiction, really enjoyedit, but then I was like, okay, I'm
gonna, I'm gonna write my own idea now.
I did and I wrote a novel and it wasgreat 'cause I could do it half an hour
here, half an hour here at the playground.

(16:14):
It.
the good thing about writing at thattime in my life was it always waited.
if I was available, it was there.
If I wasn't available, it would just wait.
No deadlines, no demands.
It's just there.
Yeah.
It's not quite the same now, but Ithink, the capacity of what I'm able to

(16:34):
devote to it has grown, and my abilityto know what I'm doing has grown too.
So you were exploring writing,you ended up writing a novel, and
then what did you do with that?
Did you, was that like, oh,that was satisfying, this feels
like I've completed something.

(16:55):
Where, what was your urge after that?
then you, I googled like howto publish a book, right?
Yeah.
so there's a lot about like how toget an agent and writing queries.
And so I did all of that.
I, had a few nibbles but nothing concrete.
And then I heard about this onlinecontest that was happening at the time.

(17:19):
They don't do it anymore, but Amazonhad this thing, it was called the
Amazon Breakthrough, a novel award.
So you could submit your unpublishednovel or self-published, and it
was like a survival style thing.
And so if your query made it past thefirst round, then your first chapter
would go and so 5,000 manuscriptssubmitted and I made it to the top 50

(17:43):
and there was another finalist there,and you could, by this point, you could
read the entire manuscript online.
So I had taken a look at some of theseother manuscripts and only one of them
was like one that I was like, wow, Iwanna read this the whole way through.
And so I left a review saying how greatit was, and I read it and was like, okay,
well you're definitely not gonna win.
I like, this is gonna win.

(18:05):
And the author, her name's ReginaRoy and she's now a friend of mine,
wrote back and so we started emailingand sure enough she actually won.
So she got like a publishingcontract with Penguin and her
book published and everything.
And it was great.
And, she got an agent and thenit just kind of fizzled, and that

(18:25):
happens to a lot of writers actually.
Like you, you hear about a lotof stories that they're all just
upward trajectory and it's not like.
So you could easily
be a one hit wonder sort of thing.
Yeah.
Or you could sign with an agentand they aren't able to sell your
book, and so then they let you go.
And then you're either writingsomething new and querying again.

(18:49):
Or even at this point, I've submittedthe last manuscript with my publisher
that I'm contracted for, so I've sentthem a proposal for my next book.
they have the right of first refusal, butthey might decide no, so they might ask
me to resubmit something else, or theymight just be like, yeah, see if you can
find another home for this el elsewhere.
so
yeah.
that is how it goes.

(19:11):
There's a lot ofrejection in this process.
a ton.
How do you keep going?
That sounds really hard.
Madness.
I don't know.
But I think like one thing that, like Ikept writing was this is when Amazon, KDP
and self-publishing really became a thing.

(19:31):
So you didn't necessarily haveto go the gatekeeper way, right?
So you could just put anything out.
You could, yeah.
Anybody could put somethingup on Amazon, KDP.
So I felt like my writing wascompetitive because I'd, you know,
gone to this level in this competition.
I'd had some requests tosee the manuscript, but no
offers or representation.
So I was like, okay, I can eitherkeep trying to court an agent or

(19:55):
I can just go directly to readers.
So I self-published, my first book andit was really fun and it kept me writing.
And this was when I started to be ableto like, have some money from my writing.
So it wasn't necessarilyjust a hobby anymore.
so it was fun.
and I kept writing books with andI wouldn't have kept writing books

(20:15):
if I hadn't been able to do that.
Can I ask, can I ask why in that moment,if you couldn't have done it that way,
why would you not have kept writing books?
because I think I would'vebeen ready to like, have the
reinforcement of a paycheck.
Yeah.
That's so reinforcing.
And yeah.
like it's, I also didn't wanna belike, yeah, my husband's name is Jeff.

(20:38):
you just keep earning the money.
Don't, I'm not gonna helpshare that workload at all.
Just writing
for fun over here.
It's fine.
Yeah.
Spending a lot of time every day.
Yeah.
Yeah, because at this point, like writingnovels over and over again, like if I'm
putting this much time in it, into it,

(20:59):
Yeah, that makes sense.
That makes total sense.
And I, I could just thinking throughwriting as a hobby versus writing, for
others to read and to make some money,I would imagine writing a whole novel
to keep it on your shelf isn't so muchsomething a hobbyist would do like that.
You, you want somebody to be ableto read it or do people share full

(21:20):
novels without trying to publish them?
I think people do.
'cause you know, like you can't learn towrite a novel without writing some novels.
Right.
And I've never met a, another authorwho hasn't written novels that are
never gonna see the light of day.
I definitely have those.
Right.

(21:40):
Those are practice.
Yeah.
but I think if you're gonna keep doingit, you want someone to read it and you
want someone to come and live in thisimaginary place that you've created.
at least I did.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That sounds like an important part of it.
and I'm thinking about too, like the, Theelements of that as an occupation, right?

(22:02):
where you're feeling that senseof sharing and reinforcement.
Mm-hmm.
And like the drive to createso that others can enjoy.
And there's a sense of achievement andaccomplishment too in, not just writing
for others to enjoy, but also beingrecognized for, Hey, this is pretty good.
Mm-hmm.
And there's that, there'ssome good stuff in that.
Like I can totally appreciate that.

(22:23):
and thinking also how you've said itthere's that shift too where it was like,
hey, writing was always there for youin the beginning where you could mm-hmm.
Come and go and there was less pressureand it's different now that you're writing
in a more sort of, as a career occupation.
Yeah.
There's a differentpressure and requirement.
But I thinking too about, I dopottery for enjoyment and mm-hmm.
Um.

(22:44):
And I really love it.
And at times I've been commissionedto do pieces and it takes all
the joy out of it from me.
Like it sucks.
It's like a vacuum of joy for me.
Yes.
With the pottery, because it's now Ihave to make what somebody else wants.
And it's, there's a levelof perfection that, yes.
That they're, they're asking for that.
And, or even we, our Potter Guildhas a, a sale a couple times a

(23:08):
year, and a lot of people just.
Make stuff for the sale though.
you'll see somebody making mugs and mugsand mugs or Berry strainers, lots of those
for the spring one or, things like that.
And I think, oh, I don't thinkI want to go to mass produce.
Like maybe I would go and sell it.
I've made too many bowls this size.
Maybe do that.
But I would tend totally wanna sellthe ones that didn't turn out so well.

(23:30):
'cause I like to give away the othersand thinking about my motivation for
doing this enjoyable activity that, howit's, how it shifts and changes and has
a different kind of, reward that way.
And these are importantthings to consider.
They really are.
And it totally does change it whenyou're writing on a deadline, when

(23:51):
you're writing for a contract.
Like in some ways it's hugelyempowering that someone has
the confidence in you Yeah.
That they want this productthat you're going to make.
Whether that's a novelor a very strain or.
Or whatever.
But again, then we're gettingback, I think, into that area where
there's the Pinterest picture.

(24:12):
Yes.
That comparisonitis.
Yes.
Which is when you get good atsomething, is it can, that can be
a driver that maybe now you are thePinterest picture in some things.
Maybe.
I actually ever thought of
that before.
But
you made it, it wasn't ever gonna beyour tap dancing or your baked goods?

(24:34):
No.
Or my Nordic ski coaching or.
I thi, I think it's there's somany interesting things on that
avenue of self-publishing, whichfor listeners is surprisingly easy.
There are Clear instructions on exactlyhow to do this on the Amazon KDP website.
So for anyone who's been interestedin dabbling, I self-published

(24:57):
my ACTivate Vitality Planner.
and mainly because it was the cheapestway to get it printed, absolutely wanted.
I wanted it as a workbook.
It's
so cost effective.
Yes, it gives you an ability, likethe reach of it is phenomenal.
Like it's truly revolutionary.
Yeah.
You can make a workbook or a coloringbook or a, I was thinking about

(25:18):
making like a gardening planner orsomething, to journal, a journal for
gardening and putting that out ataround Mother's Day or something.
Or I know somebody who did one onastrology and it's she's an OT but she
wrote it under a pen name kind of thing.
Oh, cool.
Yeah.
And she's super interested in that.
And
an Instagrammer, I know a bookstagrammer.
She does like a reading journalevery year that she publishes

(25:39):
on kdp, which is amazing.
So if you have creative things thatwould manifest in a book form, like
why not?
It's
amazing.
Yeah.
PSA be careful.
Don't get scammed.
Yes.
Do it yourself.
Yes.
Don't hire someone to do it for you.
'cause usually that strain more intothe vanity publishing territory.

(26:00):
'cause I published my secondnovel, like including cover design
and everything for 300 bucks.
including like filing for the copyright?
Yeah.
you could probably do it forless now that you can like AI
design a cover and there's Canva.
because again, you don't,you have to be careful.
I think about s sinking moremoney into a project than you

(26:21):
can realistically make back.
Yeah,
totally.
I paid somebody about $600 to help menavigate the places I wasn't exactly sure.
Which made a big difference.
'cause I probably would've got stuck onsome of those stages, though in hindsight,
I could have found those answers.
yeah.
But $600 was manageable for me.
Yeah.
And I designed the cover myself.

(26:43):
and this was back in 2014, so Yes, true.
Yes.
It was harder to, yeah, for sure.
So I think it's neat to think about those,navigating toward that and then ending up.
with a publisher, but I also reallywanna highlight this little section
where I meet so many women in thistransition of, shifting with caregiving

(27:04):
and career roles or that transition,where per perimenopause hormones or
shifts in hormones bring us to thisplace of, holy cow, maybe I don't have
to only take care of everybody elsefirst and I wanna do something for me.
Or, a shift in demands or a shiftin jobs or lots of this happened
over the pandemic that, promptedpeople to pause and have this sort of

(27:28):
occupational disruption and hold up.
Mom's gonna go a new hobby andor do something interesting.
And, it is so beautifully empoweringand vulnerable and, there's so much
personal growth in this sense of whoam I and what do I want to do in this

(27:48):
world or in the second half of my life.
exactly.
Beautiful.
It's such a important pressing question.
Like all my same age peers are like,trying new things or like just looking
at things in different ways and itis such a real important thing and

(28:12):
like a addressing it is important.
It's hard to be happy if you don't.
It is.
And sometimes it comes from a sense ofactually just really not feeling happy.
And feeling this loss of vitality.
And Yes, absolutely.
And how do, absolutely doI find that, 'cause I can't
just pick up my old hobbies.
yeah.
Those don't fit anymore or some,I need something different or

(28:32):
I know myself differently now.
Or maybe, somebody's gonethrough a big life disruption.
I've
seen it called, yeah.
You've
seen the meme, right?
Of like you hit per menopause andyou get sorted into like marathon
plants, sourdough, or I can't remember
totally.
Yes.
You look like you got sorted into plants.
Yeah.

(28:52):
There was a sourdough faceand there's definitely some
pottery and you should see my.
There was also a fermenting phaseand a currently hair phase as well.
Cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Very interesting.
I've seen it called middle ce,
middle essence,
that sense of That's awesome.
Adolescence in midlife, right?

(29:12):
Yep.
It's real.
It's real.
It's an adult stage ofdevelopment if you think about it.
And it's great to embrace and I think it'sso exciting that yes, this has been a way
you still have your OT practice, halftime.
You have your writing as a job, halftime,you've living life, doing fun things.
It is really fun.

(29:34):
And I feel really lucky and I, as faras the kind of later part of the journey
of agenting and publishing, like I dothink, like obviously you work on your
craft and you work on your skill asyou, you work at your task performance.
But there is so much luck involved, right?

(29:55):
Like you have to write the right bookfor the right agent at the right time.
Yeah.
And it has to land with anaudience and the publisher.
So I do feel really lucky.
Do you think it's actually luck?
do you really
Yeah, yeah.
so Regina, who won the contest,got, the agent, got the publishing
deal, they passed on her nextbook, she self-published again.

(30:16):
Then she and I started co-writingSTEMinist historical fictions
and novels and we founded anew representation together.
So that was the first time Ifound a traditional agent and
that was on, they call it on sub.
So like your agent submits it topublishing houses and that can take a

(30:38):
long time I've heard so many writerswho like, and this happened to us too,
like an editor's interested and you'llhave a great phone call conversation
with them, but then they have totake it, the acquisitions editor
has to take it to their, like teamand they have to basically sell it.
And it's like this group meetingwhere they decide what the
publisher's gonna buy that year.

(30:59):
So someone else might have a bettercase and you might not get picked.
So you thought you hadwere in, but you're not in.
So there's these decisions are beingmade based on what sells, what trends,
like the Things that I would imaginethere's a certain amount of needing to
be pretty familiar with, what's goingon culturally in, in a moment what's

(31:21):
driving sales where Where people are.
that's what these publishersare making decisions on.
But I suppose you're also inthat same boat of going, okay,
what should we write about?
what are we interested in?
But what also might, what mightstrike lucky in a skillful
way with some awareness?
are you thinking through those things?
the process like self-publishing isso much quicker, and I think that's

(31:45):
really changed writing becauseself-published authors are able to
be so responsive to, what's trending.
Yeah.
you traditional go in forother people to know too.
Like you can go in and just changeyour copy out and the next one that
gets bought, so you can even gochange your ending of your book or

(32:06):
Yeah, change the cover of your bookor change the, I don't think you can
change the title, but there's a lotyou can change about the book and you
just upload a new thing and the nextperson who orders gets that new version.
That new book.
Yeah.
It's
wild.
it's incredibly powerful.
Where as like traditionally publishing,like from the time that I'm contracted

(32:26):
to write a book to, when it'spublished, it's at least two years.
So I have about a year to write itand then they take a year to, e edit
it with me and send it to the copyeditors and divine sign the cover
and come up with the marketing planand send it out to book influencers
and send out arcs to bookshops and.

(32:46):
Yada, yada.
Wow.
Can you tell me the type that category?
STEMinist.
STEMinist, yeah.
Can break STEMinist.
And there was more to it.
Break it down for what?
That category.
So like capital, STEM.
So women in science, technology,engineering, medicine, like not

(33:07):
necessarily the easiest path.
I think we've come a longway, which is fantastic.
and some of the stories of the pioneers,like the first women to do this are like
the ones that like pushed open thosedoors for the rest of us to follow.
Like I am so inspired by those stories.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And so the STEMinist novelsand crime fiction, right?

(33:27):
Is the, yeah.
Super interesting.
I think that's a really juicy categoryI would imagine, too, that like thinking
about what's going on politicallyright now, and some moves more in
the us, but certainly here we are inAlberta, things happening, moving toward
more conservative values and, womenlosing rights and things like that.

(33:50):
I would imagine there's a lotof interest in this exploration
of, feminism through fiction.
I know.
and I, it's just interesting to see,this is like a little bit of a political
diversion, but changes in technology asit relates to women's health are often.

(34:12):
So much more policedthan other innovations.
anesthesia comes out, theyfigure it out by accident.
They just start using it for everything.
But there's pushback specifically aboutthe idea of using it for childbirth
because of religious morays aboutthis is supposed to be painful.
God ordained it this way, and yousee the same thing happen, with the

(34:37):
invention of oral contraceptives.
Like it, like really strong resistancefor at least the generation.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like it, they came out inour parents' generation
And but wasn't easy to
access.
Yeah.
And we're not even like talkingabout like the real hot button things

(34:57):
like Roe versus Wade or anything.
Yeah.
Totally.
Totally.
Yeah.
Really fascinating.
Are you a big Margaret Atwood fan?
yeah.
Awesome.
Yeah, it's interesting to seewhat's happening over Yeah.
What in the Handmaid's Tale is going on.
Exactly.
yeah.

(35:17):
It's, it is scary times.
It's,
and even the book that I have comingout next year as a crime novel
is set in Canmore and the kind ofreluctant sleuth, the, compelled to
become a sleuth to, find the truth.
So his family member isn't, arrestedinstead, he's a former mound climber
who's been discharged as a polio patient'cause it's set in the fifties after

(35:42):
Alberta's biggest polio epidemic.
I. A lot of that is he'sa wheelchair user now.
Like his life has changed.
Like how, grappling with that and tryingto stop his sister from going to jail.
but then seeing this stepping backfrom, decades of positive advocacy

(36:03):
about accessibility and DEI andyeah, that sounds really interesting.
it was just so interesting to mewith the, the tragic plane crash
that, that was blamed on accommodateworkplace accommodations made
for some air traffic controllers.

(36:24):
that's so ludicrous.
So ludicrous.
Yeah.
Yeah, I totally agree with you.
Okay.
This is really cool.
I love that it's set in Canmore too.
So we're both here in Alberta.
You're in Edmonton.
I'm in Calgary.
and Canmore is, where I retreat tocertainly head that head west when I
need a break from life in the city.
And yeah.

(36:45):
I'm so excited.
I'm so excited about all this.
Now, you had shared with me too,that you have used your OT skills to,
create accommodations for yourself.
Es essentially like in, keepinggoing 'cause the unstructured nature
of writing, can be really daunting.
People talk about writer's block,but it's when you break it down in

(37:06):
terms of executive functions Andthe task of approaching this giant
daunting, task where you're alsogoing to get a lot of rejection.
Tell me how you have edyourself in the process.
I feel like writing is like allexecutive functioning, right?
Like it's task initiation,it's goal directed persistence.

(37:27):
It's, I think some metacognition to breakdown, like thinking about thinking like,
am I thinking positively aboutmy novel and my project and my
abilities to be able to do this?
and you're managing
different parts of it at the same time.
You're needing to hold inyour working memory, these
different elements altogether.
And you're not necessarily just writingfrom start to finish in one line.

(37:51):
You're needing to Loop backand move things together.
And has this happened yet?
And how is this involving?
Did I take that out?
I can't remember.
And in some ways I'm nota super linear thinker.
My working memory is appalling.
Like I can remember weird historicalfacts about the development of

(38:13):
anesthesia and body snatchersin Edinburgh in 18, the 1820s.
But I need so much help with my schedule.
Like it is embarrassing.
I've never been like, diagnosedor anything, but I know there's a
few things that are just a little
different.
totally
up there.
and I know you've talked some aboutbeing neurodiverse yourself, right?

(38:34):
Yeah.
So I absolutely have to OT myselfto be able to get stuff done and to.
Finish a project.
So what do you do?
What are some of your best, favoritetips that listeners might benefit from
maybe OTs who have private practicesor have creative careers like yours
or are doing unique things and needto manage competing deadlines and

(38:56):
timelines and get down to business?
Or tell us your tricks.
I really pay attention to mysensory needs when I'm creating.
and have a bit of a ritual, sospecific time of day, like I have
my diet Coke, that's like my treat.
I, light a candle, I have a playlistfor each project that I'm working on.

(39:21):
I usually put on like my comfy,including slippers, so I definitely
pay attention to what's happening inmy sensory environment because that
makes it easier for me to focus.
And to want to be in the writing space.
Yeah.
Because again, now that I'm writinglike for a deadline, for contract,

(39:43):
you are getting into that spacewhere it's like the Pinterest
picture or like I have to do it.
And that does, like we talkabout with the pottery.
Yeah.
Sometimes make it harder to tapinto that joy and that playfulness.
Creative flow sort of thing.
Yes.
I do that.
the sensory stuff with,billing and reporting.
So I've always had SmartMondays as my admin day.

(40:07):
and so it's my only ninenon-client facing day.
I'll have a couple meetings like thisor record a podcast or something and
but generally it's, especially when Iwas just in my private practice and I
wasn't doing all this other online stuff,It was a day where I didn't have to, I
could stay maybe in my paJaimas or wear acomfy sweater or in slippers and a candle
and a nice tea and like really set thetone of I get to be here and be cozy.

(40:32):
Like how lucky am I?
Even though I'm doing actually the thingI hate the most in my business, like yes,
I'm not one who enjoys writing reports,but it was a good way to treat myself
and offset the yuck with some nurturing,
really.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
I think there's a big probably behavioristelement, like as a new grad, I think

(40:56):
I came out of OT school with like notthat impressed with behaviorist things.
I don't know why I picked that up.
Maybe that was like the,it's too dimensional, right?
yeah.
It's too one-dimensional.
It doesn't consider the whole person, butthen when my daughter had her stutter.
She did comb treatmentand I was like, holy crap.

(41:16):
like she went from having like facial andupper extremity ticks, complete stoppage
of speech to you would never know.
Wow.
Amazing.
So it was like,
wow, this is, it's something I'veadopted in my OT practice and myself.
word targets, setting a timer,like I can injure anything for

(41:36):
30 minutes, even childbirth.
Yeah.
If it was only gonna be 30minutes, I'd totally do it again.
Yeah.
No, no one.
Yeah.
There's the whole raisinga kid after thing.
But I had this nightmare abouttwo weeks ago that I was pregnant
and I woke up like in a totalcold sweat and I was like, that's.

(41:58):
Oh my goodness.
That's hilarious.
so you're setting yourself someconcrete targets to help yourself.
Okay, I've gotta do a thousandwords or this many hours or reach
this milestone so you have a littlesomething to strive with toward.
Yeah.
And then like page count targets.
the writing software I useis really good for that.

(42:20):
'cause it'll break down, where you wantto be, by which goal, how many words
you have to get that day, and it'llgive you a little pop-up notification
like, you just met your goal.
Yay you.
I
love that.
I find like I, you know what, there'sa part of me that tends to like,
to resist the rigidity of a number.
And therefore don't love smart goals, butappreciate, I was at the gym yesterday,

(42:44):
I signed up for Orange Theory Fitness.
about a month and a half ago.
And I recognized how many times I would'vedefinitely not gone as far on my own.
No.
Yeah.
If there wasn't a structure and someonetelling me what to do and, trying
to strive a little bit more toward alittle bit, like I should have spent
a little more time in the Orange Zone.

(43:04):
I didn't really good Green Day.
I'm good with that.
I worked hard, I sweat,I my Legs felt weak.
Like I definitely wouldn't have pushedmyself that hard had I just gone to the
gym by myself and I thought, okay, Ineed to embrace that sense of in an hour.
I made the, a good use of thathour toward improving my health
and fitness and there were sometargets in there and I'd like to.

(43:26):
Embrace that a little bit.
it's tough with targets, right?
'cause sometimes they're so helpful andthen sometimes they're so demotivating.
Yeah.
Sometimes I do have tostep away from the target.
Most of the time they're helpfulfor keeping me accountable.
But like some days it's justyeah, be nice to yourself Jaima.
yep.
It
wasn't a however many pages kind of day.

(43:46):
That's just not how it worked today.
Yep.
Yeah.
Self-compassion, it'simportant and it really is.
It absolutely is.
I think where I developed that distastefor the numbers is having a lot of
shame prone clients over the years.
And so having set a target and if theydidn't meet themselves, they would
feel much worse about themselves thanif we hadn't set a goal at all and

(44:07):
they just went about their lives.
Yeah.
And so there have been some times whereI try to really embrace with those,
with my clients like, I. We set a goalfor a 30 minute walk and you went to
a yoga class instead, yay, you check.
that's Yeah.
To me, like I don't, doesn'tmatter to me which exercise it was.
Like it was good that yougot moving and you got out.
You got around some people and, so Itry to set goals up like that, but also

(44:31):
recognizing, yes, sometimes that numberis motivating, but not to hold it rigidly.
Yeah.
And self-compassion.
That shame connection that youmentioned, I think is so important.
And when you say that, it makes me think,and I hadn't realized this before you
started talking, but in so many ways.
Oops.
Sorry.
That's, yeah.

(44:52):
It's No worries.
Totally fine.
my, my mom do not disturb,but they always come through.
and anyways, okay.
Restarting.
Yeah,
because writing started aslike a hobby and again, it
was like, there's no picture.
There's no.
Aiming for me, writing is like aunique area of my life where it's
totally separate from anything shame.

(45:15):
Like I just can't imagine anythingthat I would feel shame about writing
because like even if I wrote a notokay book, like I still wrote it down.
Yes.
Yeah,
that's great.
Whereas, things about our bodiesand body image and, wanting to make

(45:38):
positive personal change like thatis so much more connected to our
feelings of intrinsic worth and it'seasier to tie that up with shame.
I, I think it depends on the person.
Like I, I love the healthy attitudeyou have about writing, and there
was one year, I think it wastoward the end of we're becoming a

(45:58):
little less locked down in COVID.
Three of my psychologist friendstold me they wanted to write
a book and I adored them.
And they're brilliant and they haveso much cool stuff to share with the
world, and each through basicallytalking through a, a personal
meets professional experience.
and I noticed in talking to a coupleof them, it was like hard to initiate.

(46:21):
there wasn't, I don't think they started,and just felt really paralyzed by.
The initiation of the task and,in, in the end kind of came to
the conclusion that wasn't forthem for one reason or the other.
But I remember how deeply,was it perfectionism?
Was it vulnerability?
Was it, how do I navigate this as aprofessional and sharing a personal

(46:43):
experience, like all of those things.
But it was deep, so deep thatthere wasn't ever a start.
yeah.
And Oh, okay.
That's really
paralyzing.
Yeah.
And I definitely OT myself there, right?
Yeah.
because chunking, right?
Like I don't have to,
when you start a project, whoknows if it'll go somewhere.
You might even finish thatwhole book and it might never

(47:04):
see the light of day, right?
So it doesn't matter, like anything youdo is just exploring and I think coming
at writing or anything like a big.
Project like that where you dofeel such a big personal investment
and approaching it playfully.

(47:25):
Just takes, it lowers the stakes so much.
And I think lowering thestakes makes those first steps.
Okay.
No matter what you produce out of them.
Yes, that is.
And you and I have both done,return to work type OT, right?
And I do that with my goals allthe time with people, right?
Like kind of setting those initialgoals to be like a quick win, right?

(47:48):
So that we can create a bit ofmomentum, make the stake lower.
Like how, oh, I've been trying todo this for so long, it's this big.
Okay, why don't we start withthis little bit of it, right?
Oh, that's not enough.
Sure.
It's let's see.
And how do, but we, how do wechoose that little thing in a way
that it's going To feel reallyrewarding, but have low effort.
And it's true.
Yeah.
And actually with writing in particular,there's an easy cheat, right?

(48:12):
I actually love writing the beginningof scenes and the beginning of books.
I don't know, it's weird.
Okay.
I do love that part.
It's like the middle that like kills me.
But like with writing, you don'thave to start at the beginning.
You can start anywhere you want.
Ah, yeah.
So don't write the firstchapter of your book.

(48:32):
Write the scene that you see in your head.
Now, the mo the exciting part.
The
thing that,
like the whole thing or writethe life experience for your
memoir or your professional bookthat is inspiring you right now.
don't worry about structuring itwith a competent introduction.
You just write what's coming right now.
Right.

(48:52):
And that can create the anchor to whichyou then go, okay, now we backtrack
and need to set the stage for this.
And now we can see where,oh, we can lead here.
And where that can go
after.
That's really cool.
Yeah.
you don't really get to dothat with a fitness goal.
You have to actuallydrive yourself to the gym.
But like with writing, it doeslend itself well to A cheat there.

(49:15):
Really smart.
Any other OT hacks forkeeping yourself going?
Oh, Rewards.
Rewards, yeah.
play.
and then apps, I use apps to track mytime just to make sure like I'm putting
enough time writing in a week, I'm puttingenough time scheduling my OT client

(49:38):
appointments and charting and stuff.
but then also once I hitmy target, I stop working.
So sometimes I'll be in the middleof the scene and it'll be like, I
just don't wanna keep going anymore.
I'm just gonna stop.
But being firm with myself aboutthat, now it's the time to do other
things, look after my body or read abook or out for coffee with a friend.

(49:59):
You could keep going, but that's thekind of gonna set you up for burnout.
I have in my digital calendar a lot ofstops or block like lunch and move or
lunch and move outdoors or something likethat, and they've made those all purple.
Although after a while theystart to become background.
To change it up or add it.

(50:20):
That makes a difference, doesn't it?
Totally.
Yeah, because it is I find I endup my most effective, and creative
working time is in the early partof the day before others are up.
And yeah, me too.
Nobody really wants anything from me.
I don't have to do any of thosesort of external meeting goals.
I could just really get in the grooveinto flow on something and, but then

(50:42):
I tend to keep working at the endof the day because, nobody's home
yet and it's not like it's who stopsat just two o'clock or something.
Like I forget to give myselfcredit for those hours because they
don't look entirely worky always.
No, they
don't.
It can be puttering with my plants andmeditating and listening to an audio book.
yeah.
but that is definitelydeep work and it is.

(51:04):
I shouldn't keep working until four 30.
No.
'cause that's like when youhave to disengage and Yeah.
your people need you.
Yeah.
Or else you need to be taking careof your yourself and before they get
home, your home, so that yes, thegroceries are bought and the food is
cooked and people have clean underwear.
Totally.
And I think that is one of the dangersthat makes writing maybe a less ideal

(51:31):
choice for me in some ways is that mylittle quirk is that I really hyper focus.
Or like one of the quirks, let's not like,or we kidding, there's way more than one.
But I will work through the smokedetector going off, like I will
work through my registration.
This is totally won wonky, right?
So my family, unless they come up and tapme on the shoulder, I won't hear them.

(51:55):
Like they just don't exist.
I'm back in 1828 on a rainy streetin Edinburgh, I am not even here.
I love that.
or your website.
I love the four words.
Moody, wordy, bookish,nerdy, that No thanks.
So powerful.
So, so powerful.
How did you come to that?
Um, well this is like bad.

(52:18):
I like knew that I wanted nerdy in there.
I knew I wanted wordy in there,so I asked AI to gimme some
other words that we go with it.
Smart.
Now with the specimen, I have, gottento the part about where we discover
probably why it's called the specimen.
It's not even clear in this moment to me.
And, but I have an idea, there'ssome foreshadowing happening there.

(52:42):
But can you tell readers or ourlisteners about this book in particular,
why they might be interested in it?
it's about a mom who,her son goes missing.
they presume he'skidnapped, he's never found.
And then, as time passes and she'sviewing, an exhibition of medical

(53:02):
specimens and she sees a heart, ajuvenile heart that has the same
deformity that her son was diagnosed with.
And it was going to kill himeventually, but she was going to
have him for longer than she did.
And so she.
Has to find out whathappened and what went wrong.
and
it's set in
Scotland in what era?

(53:24):
1828. which is right when theBirkin Hare murders happened.
we talked about them briefly andone of my medical ethics classes,
way back at the dawn of Trump.
And then I, came across the case again,researching some of our STEMinist novels.
But these were, because of the demandfor bodies for anatomical study

(53:49):
in early 18 hundreds Edinburgh,it was a really lucrative trade
body snatching was a huge thing.
People were really up in arms about,torn between the necessity of advancing
science and, the ethics of taking bodies.
And because of the shortage and thefinancial incentives, William Burke and
William Hare, murdered over 10 months,16 or 18 people that are known of Wow.

(54:15):
And sold them all to one doctor
to advance science.
Yeah.
And they were really prey on vulnerablepeople, immigrants, people with
intellectual disabilities, a sex worker.
I mean, the crazy thing is that Dr.Robert Knox, who's a doctor, they were,
who was their purchaser, his assistantsrecognized the body of the sex worker,

(54:39):
and they purposely kept it back until herrelatives had stopped searching for her.
Interesting.
That is so interesting.
I was, as I was listening, I was doingthe dishes this morning, listening to
the audio, which you have, a woman with agreat voice, and a great, she's fantastic.
She's an incredible performer.

(55:01):
So good.
And because she speaks,is it a Scottish accent?
Yeah.
She's, it gives thatauthenticity to the setting.
but I was thinking about, when we studiedanatomy in university, not that you
and I went to the same time, but, likeI dissected, we had a cadaver that we
shared with some other students, andit was treated in a respectful way.

(55:23):
I remember the impact of going to aceremony at the end to thank the families
and thank the people who had chosen todonate their bodies so that we could learn
and I get a little bit choked up evenremembering it 'cause it's such a Yeah.
Impactful thing.
And I so appreciate the respect withwhich they handled that so that we could

(55:44):
honor the importance of this donation.
This, and there's allso much consent in that.
And so I was thinking about that too.
Exactly.
In contrast to this.
Yeah.
consent.
Informs our practice and is sucha pressing issue in society today.
So what, where can people find it?

(56:04):
Where can people learn more about you?
How do you want peopleto reach out to you?
my website is just my name,jaimafixsen.com, and I'm on Instagram.
it's where I mostly for socials and mybook is, most places the books are sold.
So Indigo, your local Indie probablyhas it, but if they don't, they will

(56:28):
order it in for you.
Does that help your, you, does thathelp you if people are requesting your
book at stores that don't have it?
Yeah.
And patronizing your local in indie justdoes great things for your community too.
Like a bookstore gives so muchvitality to a neighborhood.
Yeah.
It like, is a big partof community building.

(56:50):
So I do like to point people totheir local brick and mortar,
if that's how they like to read.
But again, it's also onaudio, on all the platforms.
Although if I can put a plug for,audio listening, a lot of people will
have their, audible subscription,which is, a great way to get books.
But there is a company calledLibro FM that has almost as big

(57:15):
of a catalog as Audible, andit's a social purpose company.
and so if you subscribe to Libro fm,you get the same catalog, the same.
Benefits, like you can return youraudio audiobook if you don't like it
as you do with Audible, but a portionof each purchase goes to support a

(57:35):
local bookstore that you designate.
No way.
That's awesome.
It is really
awesome because how many timesdo you like browse through a
bookstore and you're like, oh, Ilike that, but I'm too busy to read.
I'm gonna listen to it while I drive.
So you're using the bookstore aspart of your consumer experience,
but they're not getting any ofthe profits and it's just hard for
them to stay in business that way.

(57:56):
But if you get your books throughLibro fm, you're not only supporting,
social Purpose Corporation, you'resupporting your local community.
And Jeff Bezos has a real, a lot of money.
He does.
I would like to switch.
that's really exciting.
'cause something I tend to do withmy ADHD is I will order the audio
book or if I picked up the printbook, but often I'll start with the

(58:19):
audio book and then go, Ooh, I'dlike to have this one as a reference.
Or something like that.
I
pivot between the twoall the time when I read.
Yeah.
And then if I, so I can, if I want to,I'll order the physical book, starting
with the audio and then highlight as I go.
And it keeps the momentum, But nowI wanna switch that to Libro fm.
I'll put links in the show notes
for people to all these things.

(58:39):
Oh, sweet.
Thanks.
Yeah.
they're fantastic.
And yeah, I've been super happy.
Great customer service asa cus customer of Libro.
Thank you for that tip.
Can I ask you the last, questionsthat I always ask people at the end?
Oh yeah, for sure.
Yep, I'm excited.
Okay.
was there anything else you wantedto share before I ask those things?

(59:00):
No.
you've been so generous letting me just
this is what we do in the lunchroom.
I feel like I need to rename the podcast.
Yeah.
So good.
Okay, cool.
What does being brave mean to you?
Try taking a stab at it every day, right?
I may not write anything brillianttoday, but I will try, I will
give up my darnedest and I may notlike, achieve or help my clients

(59:24):
achieve the success they want today.
But we'll definitely try.
Yeah.
Yeah.
There's
persistence in that, evenwhen you're not feeling it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We don't have to waitfor perfect conditions.
No.
And in fact, we'll neverget started if we do.
It's true.
That is a thing that writing teaches youbecause your beautiful book will come, in
a box and you'll unpack it and you'll beso excited, and you'll be like, all teary,

(59:48):
because this moment has come and then youopen it and there's a typo on page three.
it just, that's the way it is.
Totally.
The
benefit of KDP if you go that way.
That is true.
Yeah.
Cool.
And fix that right now.
What, what is somethingbrave you've done recently?
I set a boundary with someone that was,I felt a high degree of anxiety about.

(01:00:12):
But it was okay and Iwas met with respect.
I love that.
The foundry setting is scary when we'vebeen socialized to be human givers.
It
is.
And even if it wasn't well met, it mayhave still been the right thing to do.
Yeah.
I felt good about it going intoit and better coming out of it.
Good.
Ah, that's a good one.

(01:00:34):
How would you like to see OTsget a little bit more brave?
I think just recognizing that likewe're actually really good at this.
Like we don't need to apologize or explainor validate like we're good at this.
I think writers feel that way too.

(01:00:54):
if you introduce yourself as awriter, like it's way safer for me to
actually introduce myself as an OT.
'cause if you're a writer,people think you're mentally ill.
Or Yeah.
Unemployed.
Which is, can be a
big, can be both.
But, a job title you can claimif you're not productive.
Yeah.
There's a lot of impostersyndrome among writers.

(01:01:15):
Yeah.
And, it's a hard thing to get over.
And I think OTs there's something sospecial and unique about our mindset
and the way we approach problem solving.
I don't think we have to apologize.
I don't think we have to explain.
We can just be proud of what wedo and the benefit that we help
people accomplish in their lives.

(01:01:35):
I think there's a tone ofdefensive OT promotion Out there.
That feeling misunderstood, like
apologetic, we
skills with the job of the Yes.
Yes.
Yeah.
Owning it instead.
Yeah.
Confidently going, yeah, that's OT.
Here it is.
Boom.
I don't have to explain the wholebig picture of how that fits.

(01:01:55):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I, and I think we are most effective inadvocating for ourselves if we just do it.
Just show it.
Yeah.
And the more people see OT doing awesomestuff then they'll just appreciate it.
Even if they don't understand it.
Yeah.
I so appreciate you beinghere today and Thanks Carlyn.
It's been such
a treat to come into

(01:02:15):
the lunchroom.
yes.
And if you are ever in Calgary,we could have a real lunch or you
could come into That would be fun.
My lunchroom
be fun.
Yeah.
My stinky dogs in the lunchroom andusually the dishes aren't done, but
yeah.
I feel right
at home.
Perfect.
thank you.
I'm so grateful that Jaima washere today for this conversation.
I really enjoyed it, and now Ireally do think we should contemplate

(01:02:38):
whether or not we rename thepodcast, the lunchroom conversations.
especially 'cause a lot of us practiceowners, our private practitioners do have
that sense of loneliness in our practices.
And it's one of the things Iget the most feedback on about
the ACTivate Vitality program.
That's a group coaching programfor therapy business owners.

(01:02:59):
It includes a community where we cometogether and solve each other's problems
and feel inspired and learn fromeach other, and we use a lot of act.
Or acceptance and commitment therapytools to support that flexibility in how
we respond when uncertainty inevitablycreeps in, when maybe perfectionism
stops us in our tracks, or when we'rereally struggling to carry on or make

(01:03:21):
the sense of that workflow in our work,in and in our work and in our business.
So if you're interested in exploringmore about the ACTivate Vitality
program, I would love to hear from you.
Please reach out.
I'll put a. Spot in the show notesfor you to connect with me about
that program and be sure to checkout Jaima's book the Specimen.

(01:03:43):
I really enjoy reading it.
I can't wait to see what happensnext now that we've discovered the
specimen and understand where thingsgo in this STEMinist fiction novel.
thank you Jaima, for being on theshow and as always, be brave OTs.