TGB - Ep. 22 - "From Tragedy to Triumph" with Jennifer Cline aka Miss DeWalt

"This voice in my head keeps saying "Keep Going, Do NOT give up"...I'm very purpose driven, and I know that I DO have a purpose...and I cannot give up on my life's...on the reason I'm here. And THAT is to change stereotypes and to break through, and to get women in marketing and in advertising for the big tool companies." ~ Jennifer Cline

Jennifer's story is truly one of tragedy to triumph as she overcame, not only heartbreaking loss on a personal level, but sabotage, harassment and workplace bullying, resulting in the loss of her beloved professional career.

Jennifer shares the very personal story of how, 13 years ago, on her young son's birthday, she lost her husband in a horrible car accident, leaving her broken-hearted, with two young children to raise and a 200 year old farmhouse that had been in her husband's family for generations, but was in desperate need of major repairs and renovations. Jennifer says it was her "sink or swim" moment and, despite being advised to tear it down and start over, she committed to restoring the family's beloved farmhouse as a tribute to and in memory of her late husband, honoring the dream they had shared before his untimely death.

Jennifer initially began her professional career as a paralegal and eventually found herself working at the prosecutor's office in a neighboring county as the grand jury coordinator, which she absolutely loved and excelled at. And that was where the problems began. Enter the envious, jealous, not-so-liked, not-so-talented, not-so-beautiful, female boss & her cronies. What Jennifer shares in this interview about her workplace abuse experience has all the makings of a Netflix Miniseries or a Lifetime Movie...and once you listen you will agree that truth is often stranger than fiction. Nepotism, hiring friends unqualified for senior level roles, abuse of power (which kept the true story out of the media), politics at their worse, bizarre sexual harassment, stalking social media & harassing her friends, spying on her in her office, micromanaging, prying her about her romantic life, belittling her in front of her colleagues, attorney's falsifying their identity to try to get confidential information, and eventually covering up recordings and investigations to protect themselves from the fall-out, leaving Jennifer no other option than to run for her life from that toxic workplace. BUT, as a widowed single mother, it also meant leaving her security, livelihood, paycheck, insurance, 401K & medical benefits behind.

This is the reality of workplace abuse going unchecked and the lack of accountability for those who look the other way and allow innocent people & children to suffer.

Jennifer's story is a classic case of women bullying women in the workplace. While they initially encouraged Jennifer to build her personal brand and share her photos, saying it was great PR for the county, they soon became threatened by the success, popularity, support and attention she was getting, and went on a mission to shut her down. She experienced first-hand the "bystander effect" - when people who are your friends at work and do like you, but are terrified to lose their job so they remain silent. We talk about the grieving process over losing jobs we loved, and how similar it is to grieving the loss of a loved one in that you have to go through every stage or you risk getting stuck in a very bad place.

Jennifer also shares what it's like to be a woman in the very male-dominated field of woodworking and how, unfortunately, it is still very much a "good 'old boy's club" mentality in the industry. We laughed at how we both were banned from Reddit on our first day and agreed that most times when a door closes, even if it might sting a bit, often means we're being saved from going down a road we might have regretted