December 19, 2025 • 30 mins
As the year comes to a close, I’m joined by Dr. Jennifer Kaufman Walker for a grounding, honest conversation about what it really means to move forward without pressure.
We talk about why New Year’s resolutions often leave us feeling behind before the year even begins—and how shifting toward aspirations can create space for authenticity, self-trust, and sustainable growth. From vision boards and manifestation to showing up imperfectly online, this episode is about letting go of timelines that don’t serve you and choosing alignment over urgency.
This is an invitation to end the year without self-judgment—and step into the next chapter as you are.
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
We have hit the end of 2025.
And to close things out, I havebrought back a very special
guest.
You all loved her first episodewith me.
And what better way to end theyear than with Dr.
Jennifer Kaufman-Walker?
Thank you so much for joining metoday.
SPEAKER_03 (00:18):
Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_00 (00:20):
So we were brainstorming this episode, and
we're like, what better way toend the year than talking about
New Year's resolutions, whichboth of us have mixed feelings
about, and we landed on New Yearaspirations.
SPEAKER_03 (00:40):
Why are New Year's resolutions tricky for you?
I've never done them.
I think you kind of set yourselfup for failure in a way, because
we have these huge aspirationsor goals or whatever.
And when we don't meet themwithin the first like few
months, then it, in my opinion,taints the rest of the year in a
(01:04):
way.
And it also has, if you want togo like all psycho babble, it
has like a negative impact onnot only your self-image or the
way you perceive yourself, butalso thinking like going into it
being like, oh, I need to fixsomething about myself.
I just don't really like thethat whole thought.
SPEAKER_00 (01:30):
Yeah, there's this idea that something needs to
change or be improved upon, andit can only really happen like
at the first of the year.
SPEAKER_03 (01:41):
Right.
That was a much better way ofsaying it.
SPEAKER_01 (01:47):
So how do you like to set goals for yourself?
SPEAKER_03 (01:52):
You like this question, don't you?
I don't it's it's weird.
I don't really set goals formyself.
Like I just say I'm gonna dosomething and I become focused
on it and I just do it.
Like I I've never been someonewho is like, okay, here is my
(02:14):
goal and here are my mini goalsand here are my objectives and
here are the strategies.
I just envision what I want.
Kind of I'm more of a visionboard person.
I guess that would be a betterway to say it.
I envision what I want and thenI go and do it.
Um that doesn't mean it happenseasily.
It doesn't mean that I don'thave to pivot or adjust, but I
(02:38):
feel like for me personally,it's better for me to see the
big picture of like the end goalor like the lifestyle or the
life or the feel I want, andthen just navigate it and get
there.
SPEAKER_00 (02:56):
Yeah.
I think if you were to ask meeven like six months ago, how I
feel about goals is like Ibelieve in like setting goals
and I want to check, I like tocheck the list off and say I've
done it.
And one of the biggest lessonsthat I think I have learned this
year is the art of surrender.
And so being able to focus on abig picture and recognize I
(03:22):
might have to pivot.
It might not work out the waythat I intended, it might work
out better than I intended.
But I have to release control ofthat goal or that vision that I
have and let the process playout.
SPEAKER_03 (03:38):
Yeah.
So you keep your eye on the endgoal or the end achievement
post, but not settingnecessarily the stepping stones
to get there because nine timesout of ten, you're gonna have to
pivot and take a differentroute.
SPEAKER_00 (03:55):
Yeah, I do not, I'm not someone that does well with
like the small scale, like thisis the step that I have to do to
get there.
I'm like, I want this thing.
I want this very big grandthing.
And so as I'm working towardsit, I think being able to
(04:18):
evaluate if what I'm doing isbringing me further or closer to
that large goal is how Itypically play it, but very like
big picture, and that bigpicture can sometimes really
give me like tunnel vision.
And so sometimes I have to zoomout and and kind of get back to
(04:40):
like, okay, what's step one,step two, step three?
SPEAKER_03 (04:44):
Yeah, I uh no, I agree.
But it the funny thing is, andthis is kind of contradicting
what I'm saying, but like whenI'm working towards that big
picture, if let's say I have tocomplete my master's or my PhD
or certification or whatever itis, I then I zoom in.
So I'm not looking at, oh gosh,I have a hundred more hours or I
(05:08):
have you know, blah, blah, blah,blah, blah.
Like I zoom in on what I'm doingin that moment.
Because if I look too far ahead,it's like it becomes daunting.
SPEAKER_00 (05:18):
Hmm.
Man, we're real opposites onthat.
Cause I I think if I zoom toofar in, I like feel really
defeated.
I feel like, okay, this actuallyfeels really unattainable right
now.
And I don't know if I want to doit.
SPEAKER_03 (05:37):
Interesting.
SPEAKER_00 (05:42):
What's the biggest personal aspiration or personal
lesson you've learned foryourself this year?
SPEAKER_03 (05:52):
That was just put me on the spot.
I think a couple things.
I think having taking care ofyourself first and foremost,
because you can't help anyone ifyou're not taking care of
yourself.
And it's easy to get pulled intowork or kids or family or
(06:15):
day-to-day life, and kind of putyourself on the back burner,
which is the absolute worstthing you could possibly do.
So that's one of them building acommunity, whether it's your
friends and family, or if it's acommunity when it comes to your
(06:37):
career, having that community tolike bounce ideas off of, to
support you, to support them, tohave someone or that community
root you on and do the same inreturn.
And then the other thing isbeing comfortable with who I am,
just being authentic.
(06:58):
I think was I feel like I'vealways been pretty comfortable
with who I am, but this year Ibecame even more, and I don't
know why.
I can't attribute it to anythingin particular, but I just know
that especially in socialsituations, like I'm like, meh,
I am who I am.
(07:18):
I'm just gonna let it all hangout and you judge me, you judge
me.
SPEAKER_01 (07:23):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (07:26):
I was gonna ask, what do you think the catalyst
to that is?
Do you find it has been morefreeing or has it been?
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (07:34):
Yeah.
100%.
I can be as goofy and all thethings and the people who know
me and love me will love me forthat.
And the people who don't, Idon't really want around.
SPEAKER_00 (07:52):
Yeah, it becomes like a lesson in discernment or
even like a lesson in release,like being able to keep what is
meant to stay and allow whatisn't meant to stay to kind of
fall at the wayside, and ittypically happens pretty
naturally.
SPEAKER_03 (08:10):
And it's gonna happen either way, but at least
you're being true to yourselfwhen going through it, right?
But it's definitely freeing.
SPEAKER_00 (08:19):
I would second that.
I think I would that I wouldalso add as my I think biggest
personal lesson in the sensethat recognizing that people
aren't around me or listening tome because of something very
specific.
I don't need to convey or createa better version of myself to be
(08:44):
accepted or to be perceived asknowledgeable or anything, but
being able to say, you knowwhat, this is me.
I contain like multitudes and itis what it is.
And it's allowed me to not takemyself so seriously.
And so recognizing like, okay,I'm actually like gonna fold if
(09:07):
I like keep this up because itisn't sustainable, it's not
giving me a lot of breathingroom.
It's like okay, I'm justbreathing a little bit and see
what happens.
SPEAKER_03 (09:16):
Yeah.
And you know, the people thatthe quirkiest people that I
know, they own it.
And when they own it, what'sthere to criticize, right?
Like if they're confident in whothey are, then you just you're
like, cool, let's go with it.
SPEAKER_00 (09:37):
Yeah, but yes, it is it's freeing and it allows like
that space to relax.
And there's this idea, I think,even in this world of like
social media where you feel likeyou have to present something a
certain way to be listened to,you have to show up a specific
way to be recognized when peoplegravitate to authenticity every
(10:03):
single time, whether it'spersonally, professionally,
online, people will alwaysgravitate to someone that is
being true to themselves.
And when you're being true toyourself, no one can tell you
who you are.
Like when you believe that youare being true to yourself, no
one anything that someone saysabout you or to you or
(10:26):
speculates, you know in yourheart that that's not the case,
and you get to move freely inthat authenticity.
Found it.
SPEAKER_03 (10:37):
Yeah, yeah, 100%.
SPEAKER_00 (10:41):
You've managed to uh land some podcast conversations,
and I know when we met lastyear, that was like far and few
between who would have thunk it,and now here we are, and you're
starting to post more onInstagram.
What has that journey been likefor you?
SPEAKER_03 (11:01):
Absolute hell, and I blame you.
I never in a million years everwould have thought of posting a
reel in my life, a reel with myface on it where I'm speaking,
and you forced me to.
Well, you actually challenged meto, and I love a challenge, and
so I just did it.
(11:21):
And the first time I wentthrough actually like one take
because I did all the littlewords with it because it was
like one of those pointy ones.
I'm like, well, this is gonnahave to do because I just spent
40 minutes on this thing, andthen I noticed that this is
where that authenticity piececomes in because then I noticed
(11:44):
that I was doing all these takeswhen I was doing the reels
moving forward, and I'm like,what are you doing?
Who cares if you your hair islike wonky or you whatever,
right?
And so I just have really forcedmyself.
That doesn't mean I don't do acouple takes, but it's not like
20.
(12:05):
Um, and so I've gotten morecomfortable with it.
Some I look back and I'm like,oh, so cringy.
But it's been interesting.
It's definitely aided in thatbeing true to myself and my
authentic self and beingconfident with who I am.
SPEAKER_00 (12:26):
I talk a lot about this, but it's it is a true
lesson in ownership.
And like whatever you postonline, it's public, people can
see it.
And whether that's owning whoyou are, what you say, what you
stand for, creating has beenthis lesson in what am I willing
(12:48):
to take ownership of?
And that's translated into likemy personal choices, my work,
everything.
But content, it's amazing howsomething that takes maybe 60
seconds or 30 seconds, there's abig lesson in learning more
about yourself that I think alot of us who went through a
(13:09):
therapy program would rather nothave to do again.
SPEAKER_02 (13:13):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (13:14):
Yeah.
Especially the listening toyourself in those mock sessions.
But no, it's I'm glad that I'llsay this now.
I'm glad that you challenged meto do it at the time.
It's been fun.
And it also allows for someoneto have the opportunity to
ensure that they're likeauthentic across the board,
(13:37):
right?
Personally, professionally, howI present professionally is how
I present personally with a fewless cuss words, right?
Like, so a little less darkhumor, but for the most part,
who I am at work is who I am athome and who I am in a social
setting.
And so that's been a coolexperience to just see how it
(14:04):
all interconnects, I guess.
SPEAKER_00 (14:07):
Oh, yeah, it's a real checks and balances.
That's what I love about it.
I'll look at some videos and I'mlike, okay, if someone were to
book a consult with me, ifsomeone were to sit with me in
session, would there be somecongruence or would I would they
look at my video and then sit insession be like, she just
catfished me?
Like, I don't know who I'msitting across.
(14:29):
Yeah, but it does, it's a mirrorthat we don't necessarily expect
it to be, and that can be bothchallenging and rewarding at the
same time.
SPEAKER_03 (14:41):
Absolutely, it allows more people to call you
out too who know you really wellif something isn't jiving.
Not to say that's happened, butI feel like it I would want it
to if someone was like, Who isthis person?
Because I think like theauthenticity piece is so
cornerstone in in our work withclients.
SPEAKER_00 (15:05):
What's the biggest uh professional lesson you've
learned this year?
SPEAKER_03 (15:12):
You're just gonna put me on the spot with all this
stuff.
Professional lesson.
I thought we planned this,didn't we?
I guess.
Yes, a professional lesson.
I think I would go withauthenticity too.
I mean, I I think that I reallyleaned in on showing up as me,
(15:39):
leaned into sharing parts ofmyself with my clients, not like
self-disclosing all personaldetails, but letting them know
my life to a degree.
I mean, it's a small area that Ilive in, so most of them have an
idea of my life.
But, you know, showing up, I haddental work, and I came to our
(16:04):
meet street with it looked likeI had stuff in my cheek.
Like I showed up for sessionlike that too.
I, you know, I don't it lookedweird, I couldn't talk very
well, but I think that has beenan important journey for me and
the importance of showing up foryour clients.
(16:25):
So that's always been somethingthat's been extremely important
to me.
But I feel like those littlemoments that you can be like,
oh, it's their birthday andcelebrate them in session, or
oh, they had surgery and it's onmy calendar, and so I text them,
you know, just those littlethings.
Um, I've made it a point toemphasize more so in my
(16:48):
practices here.
SPEAKER_01 (16:50):
Yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (16:55):
I think showing up and presence is a big one that
I've I don't know what ishappening right now.
SPEAKER_03 (17:08):
With my screen?
SPEAKER_00 (17:09):
No.
Are you crying?
A little bit.
OMG.
I know.
Uh presence, I think, is one ofthe bigger lessons clinically
that I've learned.
And so being able to show up, bepresent, and really be
intentional about building thetherapeutic space for someone
(17:32):
has been really valuable.
And as I've been, I think,building with you aspects of it,
like just trying to figure itout.
If you asked me a year ago, itwould have been, you know, like
building a business like in asilo would feel like would make
(17:54):
the most sense for me.
And so I as I've been able touncover how I've maybe been
forced into entrepreneurship andmaybe what that and being a solo
entity, what that would looklike, I has been a really big
magnifying glass or element ofexploration for myself.
(18:18):
And I love working with peopleand being able to collaborate
with other people and bounceideas off of other people.
And so being able to cultivatethat by working from home has
been really important.
And so whether that's in mybusiness owner group that I sit
(18:41):
in once a month with somefriends or a consultation group
or being able to hop on a callwith somebody or check somebody,
being able to feel like I havethese co-workers that I can
reach for instead of likefeeling like, oh, nope, I'm at
home.
It's just me, has been reallynice because I hated working
(19:03):
from home like during myinternship.
And so that was like reallyhard.
And I felt really isolated.
And people were like, hey, like,why don't you do something else?
And so I was hesitant at firstto go back into working from
home full time, but it'sactually wielded the complete
(19:23):
opposite of how I experiencedbefore, experienced it before,
and that's been really nice.
So you built your community,yeah, built a community,
building opportunities to likeget out of the off I find when I
am spending so much of my weekin the house or like in front of
(19:45):
my screen and not going out andplaying volleyball or not going
out and grabbing coffee, even,or even just deciding I'm gonna
go to a museum today.
I don't have anything going on,like allowing myself a little
Little side quest here and therehas really helped the fatigue
that I the monotony that I canfeel with working from home.
SPEAKER_03 (20:09):
Yeah.
Don't forget your cooking.
SPEAKER_00 (20:12):
Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (20:14):
She made cinnamon rolls.
And I would say cheese biscuits,but my dog ate them before I.
SPEAKER_00 (20:22):
Yeah, we met for the first time at my meet and greet.
And so I baked her cinnamonrolls.
I was like, what's top of theline in the kitchen?
So I made those.
I thought they were good.
SPEAKER_03 (20:35):
They were just gooey enough.
But what would be cream?
That doesn't surprise me.
What was the what were the tearsabout for you in that moment?
SPEAKER_01 (20:48):
Well, now you're putting me on the spot.
Welcome.
SPEAKER_00 (20:53):
I don't know.
I I did a interview today for mygrad school alma mater, and they
wanted to highlight howsuccessful I am, like
perceptively, which was reallynice.
But it's been a really hardyear.
(21:15):
And it's I think that it's ithas been really helpful and
beneficial to stay reallypresent with what I've managed
to do in a year.
Some of it in less than a year.
(21:44):
And serious, like um resilienceand just being able to say this
is going to be really hard, andI'm choosing to move forward
anyway.
I think that's the if I were tosay the largest professional
(22:06):
lesson is that social media is ahighlight reel, and what people
see and what people gravitate tois a lot of times a highlight
reel.
The behind the scenes of whatbuilding a lot of this has
looked like has been hard.
SPEAKER_03 (22:26):
Yeah.
I've been lucky enough to bethere through some of it with
you.
So I get to see the ins andouts, and your perseverance and
resilience is admirable, truly.
Your grit.
Someday I think you should shareyour whole story, but I'm not
gonna put you on the spot forthat today.
(22:50):
But you not today.
Look at like when you and Ifirst started working together,
you were in a very differentplace than where you are now.
And not that there was anythingwrong with that place, there was
nothing wrong with it, but it'sit's very different.
Like your confidence is like somuch better.
SPEAKER_00 (23:12):
Yeah, I was in a different place, yeah, for sure.
I think, and that's part ofbuilding the community, is like
being able to say, yes, this iswhere I am, this is what I want,
and it's okay to want that.
And it's also allowed me to alsomaintain the space of like
(23:36):
curiosity and learning and beingable to balance the two and like
knowing when I'm like, okay,yeah, like let's go full send on
this, or like actually I'm gonnalinger back on this piece
because I'm not 100% and thenand not being and feeling like
(23:56):
okay, I know what I want, I feelconfident when I want, I get to
go after that, and having peoplebring that out of me and want to
see that is healing.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03 (24:13):
Well, you've come a long way.
SPEAKER_00 (24:16):
Appreciate it.
So now we're at the aspirationspiece.
I mean, it'll be 2026, which iswild to say.
SPEAKER_03 (24:26):
It really is.
So I guess you're gonna ask myaspirations.
SPEAKER_00 (24:32):
Did you come up some since we last talked about it?
SPEAKER_03 (24:36):
Well, you know how I feel about all that.
I think I I'm working on anotherchildren's book, so that's gonna
be one of them.
Whether I get it done this yearand this upcoming year or not,
I'm not sure.
Probably a larger office spacewith a waiting room.
(24:56):
And to continue like buildingthat authenticity, not building
that authenticity, but showingup authentically and confidently
and probably about a gazillionmore trainings and learning how
to draw dinosaurs.
(25:17):
I mean, yeah for my son, not myforte.
How about you?
SPEAKER_00 (25:27):
I don't know.
I uh well after we had talkedabout aspirations, I went back
and looked at did I accomplisheverything?
And I was like, oh wow, Iactually accomplished everything
and more.
And so it's really hard tofigure out what that I think I
(25:48):
would like to get back to aspace of working in person, not
every day, but some days reallymiss that piece.
And I think continuing to growthe podcast and continuing to
get really great guests andreally growing my social media
(26:12):
to be what I hope it can be andcan reach as many people as I
hope it can reach, and maybe geta sponsorship from King Arthur
Baking.
So that's like a low-key dreamof mine that I'm working on in
the DMs right now.
SPEAKER_03 (26:31):
Well, for their office, you can come here and
see clients and bring bakedgoods.
SPEAKER_00 (26:43):
She just wants to bake goods.
I do just want to.
Yeah, it's mostly for me tobring lunch or breakfast
sometime.
Oh, trust me, I've already, it'sin my manifestation journal.
I actually have never asked you,do you believe in manifestation?
SPEAKER_03 (26:59):
Thousand percent.
Okay.
Thousand percent.
If you just envision it and youdon't waver on it, well, you can
waver, but coming back to theoriginal vision, absolutely.
Vision boards are, I mean, Iremember doing one, I forced my
then boyfriend to do a visionboard with me.
(27:22):
And I put down dates, like youknow, like 2020 or whatever, you
know, nothing like superspecific.
And everything I looked, I foundit when we moved out here in
2018.
So it wasn't 2020 on the visionboard, but in 2018, when we
moved here, I looked at thevision board and everything had
happened that was on there, andI completely forgotten about it.
(27:45):
But I feel like just thatinitial act of like putting the
things that mean most to you andthat you're passionate about and
that you want your life toevolve to um or towards, I I
think it a hundred percentshifts the energy around you.
SPEAKER_00 (28:09):
I've done a really big vision board that people can
sometimes see in my videos, butI have three and I keep them
hanging in my office facing me.
And so whenever I'm sitting hereat my desk, I'm always looking
at the big, I'm literally alwayslooking at the big picture.
And so I'm excited to do my nextone.
(28:29):
It's very ritualistic.
I go to the beach for two weeksand take art supplies.
I'm starting to like save mymagazines now for it, and I do
it pretty much in isolation.
It's my human design, it's it'show I manifest best, and then I
come back with it.
(28:50):
Very cool.
What a great idea.
I've done all three.
I've been I've managed to do allthree of them that way.
The latest one I have ACA 2024,it happened, ACA 2025 happened.
(29:10):
Everything that I've envisionedand what that would look like
are have all happened.
SPEAKER_03 (29:20):
It's crazy, right?
SPEAKER_00 (29:21):
So I'm excited to sit down and see what comes up
this year.
This year's vision board, Iactually did halfway through the
year.
I did it in like April, and it'sso interesting.
When I went to try and do it inJanuary, nothing was coming up.
(29:42):
I didn't feel inspired, and so Ijust tucked it away.
So maybe like end of March,April, I revisited it, and it
says burning the revolution.
So needless to say, I think I'veaccomplished what is on that,
and so I'm excited to see whatcomes to light for the next one.
SPEAKER_03 (30:05):
Well, you just full circled to the very beginning
where we were talking about, youknow, New Year's resolutions,
how you don't need it, doesn'thave to be at the beginning of
the year, right?
Like you can have aspirationsanytime and manifest what you
want at any point.
SPEAKER_00 (30:26):
That is a perfect place to close it out.
Jenny, thank you so much forjoining me today.
Everyone, happy holidays.
I will see you in 2026, wherewe're gonna keep being visible,
keep being seen, and using ourvoices.
We have hit the end of 2025.
And to close things out, I havebrought back a very special
guest.
You all loved her first episodewith me.
And what better way to end theyear than with Dr.
Jennifer Kaufman-Walker?
Thank you so much for joining metoday.
SPEAKER_03 (00:18):
Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_00 (00:20):
So we were brainstorming this episode, and
we're like, what better way toend the year than talking about
New Year's resolutions, whichboth of us have mixed feelings
about, and we landed on New Yearaspirations.
SPEAKER_03 (00:40):
Why are New Year's resolutions tricky for you?
I've never done them.
I think you kind of set yourselfup for failure in a way, because
we have these huge aspirationsor goals or whatever.
And when we don't meet themwithin the first like few
months, then it, in my opinion,taints the rest of the year in a
(01:04):
way.
And it also has, if you want togo like all psycho babble, it
has like a negative impact onnot only your self-image or the
way you perceive yourself, butalso thinking like going into it
being like, oh, I need to fixsomething about myself.
I just don't really like thethat whole thought.
SPEAKER_00 (01:30):
Yeah, there's this idea that something needs to
change or be improved upon, andit can only really happen like
at the first of the year.
SPEAKER_03 (01:41):
Right.
That was a much better way ofsaying it.
SPEAKER_01 (01:47):
So how do you like to set goals for yourself?
SPEAKER_03 (01:52):
You like this question, don't you?
I don't it's it's weird.
I don't really set goals formyself.
Like I just say I'm gonna dosomething and I become focused
on it and I just do it.
Like I I've never been someonewho is like, okay, here is my
(02:14):
goal and here are my mini goalsand here are my objectives and
here are the strategies.
I just envision what I want.
Kind of I'm more of a visionboard person.
I guess that would be a betterway to say it.
I envision what I want and thenI go and do it.
Um that doesn't mean it happenseasily.
It doesn't mean that I don'thave to pivot or adjust, but I
(02:38):
feel like for me personally,it's better for me to see the
big picture of like the end goalor like the lifestyle or the
life or the feel I want, andthen just navigate it and get
there.
SPEAKER_00 (02:56):
Yeah.
I think if you were to ask meeven like six months ago, how I
feel about goals is like Ibelieve in like setting goals
and I want to check, I like tocheck the list off and say I've
done it.
And one of the biggest lessonsthat I think I have learned this
year is the art of surrender.
And so being able to focus on abig picture and recognize I
(03:22):
might have to pivot.
It might not work out the waythat I intended, it might work
out better than I intended.
But I have to release control ofthat goal or that vision that I
have and let the process playout.
SPEAKER_03 (03:38):
Yeah.
So you keep your eye on the endgoal or the end achievement
post, but not settingnecessarily the stepping stones
to get there because nine timesout of ten, you're gonna have to
pivot and take a differentroute.
SPEAKER_00 (03:55):
Yeah, I do not, I'm not someone that does well with
like the small scale, like thisis the step that I have to do to
get there.
I'm like, I want this thing.
I want this very big grandthing.
And so as I'm working towardsit, I think being able to
(04:18):
evaluate if what I'm doing isbringing me further or closer to
that large goal is how Itypically play it, but very like
big picture, and that bigpicture can sometimes really
give me like tunnel vision.
And so sometimes I have to zoomout and and kind of get back to
(04:40):
like, okay, what's step one,step two, step three?
SPEAKER_03 (04:44):
Yeah, I uh no, I agree.
But it the funny thing is, andthis is kind of contradicting
what I'm saying, but like whenI'm working towards that big
picture, if let's say I have tocomplete my master's or my PhD
or certification or whatever itis, I then I zoom in.
So I'm not looking at, oh gosh,I have a hundred more hours or I
(05:08):
have you know, blah, blah, blah,blah, blah.
Like I zoom in on what I'm doingin that moment.
Because if I look too far ahead,it's like it becomes daunting.
SPEAKER_00 (05:18):
Hmm.
Man, we're real opposites onthat.
Cause I I think if I zoom toofar in, I like feel really
defeated.
I feel like, okay, this actuallyfeels really unattainable right
now.
And I don't know if I want to doit.
SPEAKER_03 (05:37):
Interesting.
SPEAKER_00 (05:42):
What's the biggest personal aspiration or personal
lesson you've learned foryourself this year?
SPEAKER_03 (05:52):
That was just put me on the spot.
I think a couple things.
I think having taking care ofyourself first and foremost,
because you can't help anyone ifyou're not taking care of
yourself.
And it's easy to get pulled intowork or kids or family or
(06:15):
day-to-day life, and kind of putyourself on the back burner,
which is the absolute worstthing you could possibly do.
So that's one of them building acommunity, whether it's your
friends and family, or if it's acommunity when it comes to your
(06:37):
career, having that community tolike bounce ideas off of, to
support you, to support them, tohave someone or that community
root you on and do the same inreturn.
And then the other thing isbeing comfortable with who I am,
just being authentic.
(06:58):
I think was I feel like I'vealways been pretty comfortable
with who I am, but this year Ibecame even more, and I don't
know why.
I can't attribute it to anythingin particular, but I just know
that especially in socialsituations, like I'm like, meh,
I am who I am.
(07:18):
I'm just gonna let it all hangout and you judge me, you judge
me.
SPEAKER_01 (07:23):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (07:26):
I was gonna ask, what do you think the catalyst
to that is?
Do you find it has been morefreeing or has it been?
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (07:34):
Yeah.
100%.
I can be as goofy and all thethings and the people who know
me and love me will love me forthat.
And the people who don't, Idon't really want around.
SPEAKER_00 (07:52):
Yeah, it becomes like a lesson in discernment or
even like a lesson in release,like being able to keep what is
meant to stay and allow whatisn't meant to stay to kind of
fall at the wayside, and ittypically happens pretty
naturally.
SPEAKER_03 (08:10):
And it's gonna happen either way, but at least
you're being true to yourselfwhen going through it, right?
But it's definitely freeing.
SPEAKER_00 (08:19):
I would second that.
I think I would that I wouldalso add as my I think biggest
personal lesson in the sensethat recognizing that people
aren't around me or listening tome because of something very
specific.
I don't need to convey or createa better version of myself to be
(08:44):
accepted or to be perceived asknowledgeable or anything, but
being able to say, you knowwhat, this is me.
I contain like multitudes and itis what it is.
And it's allowed me to not takemyself so seriously.
And so recognizing like, okay,I'm actually like gonna fold if
(09:07):
I like keep this up because itisn't sustainable, it's not
giving me a lot of breathingroom.
It's like okay, I'm justbreathing a little bit and see
what happens.
SPEAKER_03 (09:16):
Yeah.
And you know, the people thatthe quirkiest people that I
know, they own it.
And when they own it, what'sthere to criticize, right?
Like if they're confident in whothey are, then you just you're
like, cool, let's go with it.
SPEAKER_00 (09:37):
Yeah, but yes, it is it's freeing and it allows like
that space to relax.
And there's this idea, I think,even in this world of like
social media where you feel likeyou have to present something a
certain way to be listened to,you have to show up a specific
way to be recognized when peoplegravitate to authenticity every
(10:03):
single time, whether it'spersonally, professionally,
online, people will alwaysgravitate to someone that is
being true to themselves.
And when you're being true toyourself, no one can tell you
who you are.
Like when you believe that youare being true to yourself, no
one anything that someone saysabout you or to you or
(10:26):
speculates, you know in yourheart that that's not the case,
and you get to move freely inthat authenticity.
Found it.
SPEAKER_03 (10:37):
Yeah, yeah, 100%.
SPEAKER_00 (10:41):
You've managed to uh land some podcast conversations,
and I know when we met lastyear, that was like far and few
between who would have thunk it,and now here we are, and you're
starting to post more onInstagram.
What has that journey been likefor you?
SPEAKER_03 (11:01):
Absolute hell, and I blame you.
I never in a million years everwould have thought of posting a
reel in my life, a reel with myface on it where I'm speaking,
and you forced me to.
Well, you actually challenged meto, and I love a challenge, and
so I just did it.
(11:21):
And the first time I wentthrough actually like one take
because I did all the littlewords with it because it was
like one of those pointy ones.
I'm like, well, this is gonnahave to do because I just spent
40 minutes on this thing, andthen I noticed that this is
where that authenticity piececomes in because then I noticed
(11:44):
that I was doing all these takeswhen I was doing the reels
moving forward, and I'm like,what are you doing?
Who cares if you your hair islike wonky or you whatever,
right?
And so I just have really forcedmyself.
That doesn't mean I don't do acouple takes, but it's not like
20.
(12:05):
Um, and so I've gotten morecomfortable with it.
Some I look back and I'm like,oh, so cringy.
But it's been interesting.
It's definitely aided in thatbeing true to myself and my
authentic self and beingconfident with who I am.
SPEAKER_00 (12:26):
I talk a lot about this, but it's it is a true
lesson in ownership.
And like whatever you postonline, it's public, people can
see it.
And whether that's owning whoyou are, what you say, what you
stand for, creating has beenthis lesson in what am I willing
(12:48):
to take ownership of?
And that's translated into likemy personal choices, my work,
everything.
But content, it's amazing howsomething that takes maybe 60
seconds or 30 seconds, there's abig lesson in learning more
about yourself that I think alot of us who went through a
(13:09):
therapy program would rather nothave to do again.
SPEAKER_02 (13:13):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (13:14):
Yeah.
Especially the listening toyourself in those mock sessions.
But no, it's I'm glad that I'llsay this now.
I'm glad that you challenged meto do it at the time.
It's been fun.
And it also allows for someoneto have the opportunity to
ensure that they're likeauthentic across the board,
(13:37):
right?
Personally, professionally, howI present professionally is how
I present personally with a fewless cuss words, right?
Like, so a little less darkhumor, but for the most part,
who I am at work is who I am athome and who I am in a social
setting.
And so that's been a coolexperience to just see how it
(14:04):
all interconnects, I guess.
SPEAKER_00 (14:07):
Oh, yeah, it's a real checks and balances.
That's what I love about it.
I'll look at some videos and I'mlike, okay, if someone were to
book a consult with me, ifsomeone were to sit with me in
session, would there be somecongruence or would I would they
look at my video and then sit insession be like, she just
catfished me?
Like, I don't know who I'msitting across.
(14:29):
Yeah, but it does, it's a mirrorthat we don't necessarily expect
it to be, and that can be bothchallenging and rewarding at the
same time.
SPEAKER_03 (14:41):
Absolutely, it allows more people to call you
out too who know you really wellif something isn't jiving.
Not to say that's happened, butI feel like it I would want it
to if someone was like, Who isthis person?
Because I think like theauthenticity piece is so
cornerstone in in our work withclients.
SPEAKER_00 (15:05):
What's the biggest uh professional lesson you've
learned this year?
SPEAKER_03 (15:12):
You're just gonna put me on the spot with all this
stuff.
Professional lesson.
I thought we planned this,didn't we?
I guess.
Yes, a professional lesson.
I think I would go withauthenticity too.
I mean, I I think that I reallyleaned in on showing up as me,
(15:39):
leaned into sharing parts ofmyself with my clients, not like
self-disclosing all personaldetails, but letting them know
my life to a degree.
I mean, it's a small area that Ilive in, so most of them have an
idea of my life.
But, you know, showing up, I haddental work, and I came to our
(16:04):
meet street with it looked likeI had stuff in my cheek.
Like I showed up for sessionlike that too.
I, you know, I don't it lookedweird, I couldn't talk very
well, but I think that has beenan important journey for me and
the importance of showing up foryour clients.
(16:25):
So that's always been somethingthat's been extremely important
to me.
But I feel like those littlemoments that you can be like,
oh, it's their birthday andcelebrate them in session, or
oh, they had surgery and it's onmy calendar, and so I text them,
you know, just those littlethings.
Um, I've made it a point toemphasize more so in my
(16:48):
practices here.
SPEAKER_01 (16:50):
Yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (16:55):
I think showing up and presence is a big one that
I've I don't know what ishappening right now.
SPEAKER_03 (17:08):
With my screen?
SPEAKER_00 (17:09):
No.
Are you crying?
A little bit.
OMG.
I know.
Uh presence, I think, is one ofthe bigger lessons clinically
that I've learned.
And so being able to show up, bepresent, and really be
intentional about building thetherapeutic space for someone
(17:32):
has been really valuable.
And as I've been, I think,building with you aspects of it,
like just trying to figure itout.
If you asked me a year ago, itwould have been, you know, like
building a business like in asilo would feel like would make
(17:54):
the most sense for me.
And so I as I've been able touncover how I've maybe been
forced into entrepreneurship andmaybe what that and being a solo
entity, what that would looklike, I has been a really big
magnifying glass or element ofexploration for myself.
(18:18):
And I love working with peopleand being able to collaborate
with other people and bounceideas off of other people.
And so being able to cultivatethat by working from home has
been really important.
And so whether that's in mybusiness owner group that I sit
(18:41):
in once a month with somefriends or a consultation group
or being able to hop on a callwith somebody or check somebody,
being able to feel like I havethese co-workers that I can
reach for instead of likefeeling like, oh, nope, I'm at
home.
It's just me, has been reallynice because I hated working
(19:03):
from home like during myinternship.
And so that was like reallyhard.
And I felt really isolated.
And people were like, hey, like,why don't you do something else?
And so I was hesitant at firstto go back into working from
home full time, but it'sactually wielded the complete
(19:23):
opposite of how I experiencedbefore, experienced it before,
and that's been really nice.
So you built your community,yeah, built a community,
building opportunities to likeget out of the off I find when I
am spending so much of my weekin the house or like in front of
(19:45):
my screen and not going out andplaying volleyball or not going
out and grabbing coffee, even,or even just deciding I'm gonna
go to a museum today.
I don't have anything going on,like allowing myself a little
Little side quest here and therehas really helped the fatigue
that I the monotony that I canfeel with working from home.
SPEAKER_03 (20:09):
Yeah.
Don't forget your cooking.
SPEAKER_00 (20:12):
Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (20:14):
She made cinnamon rolls.
And I would say cheese biscuits,but my dog ate them before I.
SPEAKER_00 (20:22):
Yeah, we met for the first time at my meet and greet.
And so I baked her cinnamonrolls.
I was like, what's top of theline in the kitchen?
So I made those.
I thought they were good.
SPEAKER_03 (20:35):
They were just gooey enough.
But what would be cream?
That doesn't surprise me.
What was the what were the tearsabout for you in that moment?
SPEAKER_01 (20:48):
Well, now you're putting me on the spot.
Welcome.
SPEAKER_00 (20:53):
I don't know.
I I did a interview today for mygrad school alma mater, and they
wanted to highlight howsuccessful I am, like
perceptively, which was reallynice.
But it's been a really hardyear.
(21:15):
And it's I think that it's ithas been really helpful and
beneficial to stay reallypresent with what I've managed
to do in a year.
Some of it in less than a year.
(21:44):
And serious, like um resilienceand just being able to say this
is going to be really hard, andI'm choosing to move forward
anyway.
I think that's the if I were tosay the largest professional
(22:06):
lesson is that social media is ahighlight reel, and what people
see and what people gravitate tois a lot of times a highlight
reel.
The behind the scenes of whatbuilding a lot of this has
looked like has been hard.
SPEAKER_03 (22:26):
Yeah.
I've been lucky enough to bethere through some of it with
you.
So I get to see the ins andouts, and your perseverance and
resilience is admirable, truly.
Your grit.
Someday I think you should shareyour whole story, but I'm not
gonna put you on the spot forthat today.
(22:50):
But you not today.
Look at like when you and Ifirst started working together,
you were in a very differentplace than where you are now.
And not that there was anythingwrong with that place, there was
nothing wrong with it, but it'sit's very different.
Like your confidence is like somuch better.
SPEAKER_00 (23:12):
Yeah, I was in a different place, yeah, for sure.
I think, and that's part ofbuilding the community, is like
being able to say, yes, this iswhere I am, this is what I want,
and it's okay to want that.
And it's also allowed me to alsomaintain the space of like
(23:36):
curiosity and learning and beingable to balance the two and like
knowing when I'm like, okay,yeah, like let's go full send on
this, or like actually I'm gonnalinger back on this piece
because I'm not 100% and thenand not being and feeling like
(23:56):
okay, I know what I want, I feelconfident when I want, I get to
go after that, and having peoplebring that out of me and want to
see that is healing.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03 (24:13):
Well, you've come a long way.
SPEAKER_00 (24:16):
Appreciate it.
So now we're at the aspirationspiece.
I mean, it'll be 2026, which iswild to say.
SPEAKER_03 (24:26):
It really is.
So I guess you're gonna ask myaspirations.
SPEAKER_00 (24:32):
Did you come up some since we last talked about it?
SPEAKER_03 (24:36):
Well, you know how I feel about all that.
I think I I'm working on anotherchildren's book, so that's gonna
be one of them.
Whether I get it done this yearand this upcoming year or not,
I'm not sure.
Probably a larger office spacewith a waiting room.
(24:56):
And to continue like buildingthat authenticity, not building
that authenticity, but showingup authentically and confidently
and probably about a gazillionmore trainings and learning how
to draw dinosaurs.
(25:17):
I mean, yeah for my son, not myforte.
How about you?
SPEAKER_00 (25:27):
I don't know.
I uh well after we had talkedabout aspirations, I went back
and looked at did I accomplisheverything?
And I was like, oh wow, Iactually accomplished everything
and more.
And so it's really hard tofigure out what that I think I
(25:48):
would like to get back to aspace of working in person, not
every day, but some days reallymiss that piece.
And I think continuing to growthe podcast and continuing to
get really great guests andreally growing my social media
(26:12):
to be what I hope it can be andcan reach as many people as I
hope it can reach, and maybe geta sponsorship from King Arthur
Baking.
So that's like a low-key dreamof mine that I'm working on in
the DMs right now.
SPEAKER_03 (26:31):
Well, for their office, you can come here and
see clients and bring bakedgoods.
SPEAKER_00 (26:43):
She just wants to bake goods.
I do just want to.
Yeah, it's mostly for me tobring lunch or breakfast
sometime.
Oh, trust me, I've already, it'sin my manifestation journal.
I actually have never asked you,do you believe in manifestation?
SPEAKER_03 (26:59):
Thousand percent.
Okay.
Thousand percent.
If you just envision it and youdon't waver on it, well, you can
waver, but coming back to theoriginal vision, absolutely.
Vision boards are, I mean, Iremember doing one, I forced my
then boyfriend to do a visionboard with me.
(27:22):
And I put down dates, like youknow, like 2020 or whatever, you
know, nothing like superspecific.
And everything I looked, I foundit when we moved out here in
2018.
So it wasn't 2020 on the visionboard, but in 2018, when we
moved here, I looked at thevision board and everything had
happened that was on there, andI completely forgotten about it.
(27:45):
But I feel like just thatinitial act of like putting the
things that mean most to you andthat you're passionate about and
that you want your life toevolve to um or towards, I I
think it a hundred percentshifts the energy around you.
SPEAKER_00 (28:09):
I've done a really big vision board that people can
sometimes see in my videos, butI have three and I keep them
hanging in my office facing me.
And so whenever I'm sitting hereat my desk, I'm always looking
at the big, I'm literally alwayslooking at the big picture.
And so I'm excited to do my nextone.
(28:29):
It's very ritualistic.
I go to the beach for two weeksand take art supplies.
I'm starting to like save mymagazines now for it, and I do
it pretty much in isolation.
It's my human design, it's it'show I manifest best, and then I
come back with it.
(28:50):
Very cool.
What a great idea.
I've done all three.
I've been I've managed to do allthree of them that way.
The latest one I have ACA 2024,it happened, ACA 2025 happened.
(29:10):
Everything that I've envisionedand what that would look like
are have all happened.
SPEAKER_03 (29:20):
It's crazy, right?
SPEAKER_00 (29:21):
So I'm excited to sit down and see what comes up
this year.
This year's vision board, Iactually did halfway through the
year.
I did it in like April, and it'sso interesting.
When I went to try and do it inJanuary, nothing was coming up.
(29:42):
I didn't feel inspired, and so Ijust tucked it away.
So maybe like end of March,April, I revisited it, and it
says burning the revolution.
So needless to say, I think I'veaccomplished what is on that,
and so I'm excited to see whatcomes to light for the next one.
SPEAKER_03 (30:05):
Well, you just full circled to the very beginning
where we were talking about, youknow, New Year's resolutions,
how you don't need it, doesn'thave to be at the beginning of
the year, right?
Like you can have aspirationsanytime and manifest what you
want at any point.
SPEAKER_00 (30:26):
That is a perfect place to close it out.
Jenny, thank you so much forjoining me today.
Everyone, happy holidays.
I will see you in 2026, wherewe're gonna keep being visible,
keep being seen, and using ourvoices.
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