Jen Hatmaker on Speaking Out, Breaking Down, and Beginning Again

When your story falls apart, how do you begin again? Jen Hatmaker has lived through more than one public unraveling. Once an acclaimed evangelical Christian leader and author, she lost much of her audience when she began to publicly speak out against racism and homophobia within the church. And then, a few years later, she lost her marriage too. But instead of retreating, she rebuilt her life from the ground up. In this episode of Hello Monday, Jessi Hempel sits down with Jen to talk about faith, identity, and what happens when you decide to live in alignment with your values, even when it means losing the world you built. Jen shares what she’s learned about listening to her intuition, rewriting her story, and building a new identity rooted in honesty and self-trust. Her new book, Awake, begins the night everything changed—and chronicles how she moved from shock and grief to calm and clarity. Jessi and Jen discuss: What it means to lose everything you thought defined you How to tell the truth about your life, even when it breaks the story you wanted How to listen to intuition when fear is loud Jen’s experience of public cancellation after confronting racism and affirming LGBTQ+ rights The difference between recovering and truly flourishing How identity evolves after faith, marriage, and public failure What it takes to move from rupture to renewal Jen’s story is about more than resilience. It’s about the power of starting over and finding freedom on the other side of letting go. Continue the conversation with us at Hello Monday Office Hours! Join us Wednesday at 3 PM ET on the LinkedIn News page.