Reinventing Life After 50: How Jen Hardy Built a Media Empire After a Terminal Diagnosis

What would you do if doctors gave you just one year to live? For Jen Hardy, CEO of Hardy House Media, that devastating 2018 diagnosis became the catalyst for her most vibrant chapter yet. Seven years later, not only has she defied medical expectations, but she's transformed from using a walker to walking freely, moved her family to a Florida island paradise, and built a thriving media empire that celebrates the power and potential of women over fifty.

Jen's reinvention story challenges everything we think we know about aging, illness, and starting over.  The moment she pivoted to "Fabulous Over 50," everything changed. "Aging is not depressing," Jen insists, "because the alternative—not being here anymore—is much worse." This perspective shift opened doors to unprecedented opportunity, including award-winning podcasts and a YouTube channel that exploded from 38 subscribers to nearly 70,000 in less than a year.

What makes Jen's approach so magnetic is her raw authenticity. From filming philosophical "Shower Thoughts" videos (fully clothed!) that went viral to interviewing judges and reformed convicts for her "Voices of Justice" series. 

Ready to reinvent yourself at any age? Subscribe now to hear Jen's full story and discover why throwing a little glitter on life's wrinkles might be exactly what your journey needs.

About Jen Hardy

Jen Hardy is the CEO of Hardy House Media, winner of Podcast of the Year and Broadcast of the Year awards, and a bestselling author of 6 books. She hosts the "Fabulous Over 50" podcast and the "Voices of Justice" series. As a mother of 7 children spanning three generations, Jen lives on a tropical island with her producer husband and their two youngest children. Her mission is to empower others to rediscover their potential and live fully at any age.

Connect with Jen Hardy

• YouTube: The Jen Hardy Show

Join me at this year's National Qigong Association conference Harmony in Motion held in Richmond, VA.  This conference is for anyone who is curious about qigong and who already have a practice.  Learn more, experience more and connect with others. You can find more information at https://www.nqa.org/annual-conference  

Chapters

• 0:00 Meeting Jen Hardy: Media Mogul
• 2:21 Jen's Personal Story of Resilience
• 10:36 Podcast Evolution and Reinvention
• 18:02 Embracing Authenticity After Fifty
• 25:52 Shower Thoughts and Unexpected YouTube Success
• 32:44 Voices of Justice: True Crime Reimagined
• 39:08 Power Frame Messaging and Future Vision

Transcript

Rose: 0:00

I am super excited about today's guest. Jen Hardy is CEO of Hardy House Media, a dynamic content creator, winner of podcast of the year, broadcast of the year and bestselling author of six books, with a passion for reinvention and a flair for inspiring others to embrace their best lives. She hosts the Fabulous Over 50 podcast wit and wisdom through her shower thoughts shorts. She also gives you a behind-the-scenes look into the lives of those in the justice system through her Voices of Justice series. Jen says that life is short, so live boldly, laugh often and leave a legacy, ready to unlock your most vibrant, authentic self. Your journey to radiant wellness starts now.

Rose: 1:15

Welcome to Chat Off The Mat. I'm your host, Rose Wippich, and I'm here to guide you on an extraordinary journey of feminine healing energy work and total well-being. An extraordinary journey of feminine healing energy work and total well-being. Get ready to be inspired by authentic conversations with leading women practitioners, wellness experts and holistic healers who understand your unique journey. Subscribe to Chat Off the Mat wherever you get your podcasts and let's create magic together. I am so excited, jen, to have you on the podcast today. Welcome to Chat Off The Mat.

Jen: 1:50

Thank you so much. I am so thrilled to be here and I love your blingy with me and everything. We're just having such a good time together.

Rose: 1:56

Yeah Well, you've helped me embrace that inner bling, and why not right?

Jen: 2:01

Why not? Why not Exactly?

Rose: 2:03

So I have been inspired by your story and I would like, if you don't mind, sharing your personal story on you know things that have happened to you in your life and how it helped inspire you to get to what you're doing today.

Jen: 2:21

Yeah, so I mean long story short. We had, you know, the rags to riches story, but it was really a riches to rags story. I grew up with things very nice and then I ended up living in gang territory as a single mom and worked my way out of that and married the man of my dreams, who I'm married to now, dave, and when we had seven children I was I fell down the stairs a couple of times and they went in for a scan and found some things wrong. And long story short, in 2018, they gave me a year to live and you know I had a two and a four year old Well, no, they were a little older at the time but I had two little kids and five older kids.

Jen: 3:05

I have seven born in four decades that span three generations, and I was not ready to say goodbye to them, and so you know, I thought I don't. I really don't like that idea, but if things are going to happen, I want to have them happy, right? So my five older ones are out there on their own. They're successful, doing their thing, thank goodness, and with the two little ones, we found out that there was an affordable island. Who knew I always wanted to live on an island and so we moved them here and it's like the wonder years. We've got sidewalks, we're three blocks from the beach. They do surf school in the summer. Oh my goodness.

Jen: 3:44

Every day of summer I sit there on the beach and think how can this possibility be my life? And guess what? It's seven years after that prognosis and I am still here. And the crazy thing is when they said that I was using a walker and a cane depending on what I did, and I am freely walking at this point, which is absolutely incredible. And so, you know, people say, like, how do you do so many things? Because I've done a lot of things in the last couple years. But really, you know, people talk about living like it's your last day, right, living like and I think I've just embraced that. Though what would you really do? You know? You think it would be take a vacation and spend all your money, and that does sound like fun, except that I didn't want to live in a way that I would break my family.

Jen: 4:31

Yeah so you know I'm doing all the things and I tell you what I think it's just keeping me going. I really do.

Rose: 4:38

Yeah, it's an amazing story, I think. When we are struggling or there's something that happens in our lives, especially as moms, we like get up and dust, that you know, we dust ourselves off and then we're like, okay, well, I've got to do what I need to do for my children.

Jen: 4:53

Yeah.

Rose: 4:53

And that's what you did, and were you. So you moved to Florida or to this beautiful island, and it helped you heal. Were you like, intuitively guided to go there? I sense that there you, you, had some innate feeling to go there.

Jen: 5:08

So I grew up in LA and we had a cabin in the mountains and then we were close to the beach. So, you know, depending on the season we would do the thing and I love the beach, I don't. The ocean is my happy place. And we had spent 20 years in Tennessee and my husband and I went on a on a vacation to Florida for our 10th anniversary and on the way home he said we need to save our money so we can visit next year. And I said, no, we need to save our money so we can live here next year. And 11 months later we were living here.

Jen: 5:37

But a few years before that I had decorated my room like we were on an island. I got a canopy bed and I got the mosquito netting and I did the curtains and the thing. And I thought, you know, I'm never going to live in an island. Right, it's a fantasy thing, but I'm going to pretend because at that point I was in bed about 20 hours a day, and so I just I got to be on an island when I was in my room and I think you know some there. You can call it manifesting or like whatever kind of thing you want, but I think it was in my head and once we found this place I thought oh my gosh, we can make it happen.

Rose: 6:12

So we did. I think that you manifested it for sure, and you know when we really want something and we feel that with that intention, we send that message out to the universe and I think that you know that that helped you and I I sense such a beautiful warrior spirit within you. You know, I, I'm a, I'm a breast cancer survivor, but I never use the word survivor, I always use warrior because you know we, we're, we're going out there and we're we. We embrace what happened, our struggles, and we're helping others and inspire others to get through them, if they can as well. I love your story. Thank you for sharing that.

Jen: 6:48

Well, and you know, I think words matter, though. You know you were saying, you know I think the word survivor, it's that whole survival mindset, right, and so I mean there's a lot of people that use that word. But warrior is a whole different thing, right, you are grabbing your weapons and you're going into battle knowing that you're going to conquer it. And I think we've been making a very calculated use of words in my home lately where we're just very careful about the words we use. And so I think, yeah, that does have something to do with it. And congratulations, by the way, because that C word, you know, when people first hear it it's rough.

Rose: 7:24

Yeah, thank you. It's rough. Yeah, thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah, so you have a very successful podcast, but that's not the only thing you do. You started out having a podcast that was more towards chronic health, right as a mom, but then you pivoted because you are the queen of reinvention and I love that. Can you tell us about your podcast? Sure?

Jen: 7:49

So, yeah, it was the Sick Mom's Guide. And then it morphed to Hardy Mom, because Hardy is my last name and it means capable of enduring difficult conditions. And I thought, well, there you go. But I realized when I would walk into a room I'd say I have, you know, seven children and multiple chronic illnesses. And that's my podcast. That is depressing as fire, right, we're talking about words. And I felt so sick and I thought I have got to stop talking about being sick. I don't want to talk about it anymore.

Jen: 8:16

So I was actually at PodFest, which is a convention for podcasters, and I looked around and I thought what are people? Who are people not helping? You know what group is not being represented? And it was women over 50. And right there at that, fabulous over 50 was born and I thought, yeah, I'm not giving up.

Jen: 8:33

I had 120 episodes by then. I didn't want to give those up, so we just renamed it and kept going, because people over 50 sometimes have health issues, so they can go back and find those episodes on cancer or you know all the different things. And then we just moved forward and I cannot even tell you what a difference it has made in my life. It is incredible. And somebody said well, I don't know why you went from one depressing topic to the other. And I said you know, aging is not depressing Because the alternate, you know, if we're not aging, we're not here anymore. So I think you know, and part of aging does suck, and it's a lot of fun to throw some glitter and sequins at it, right? And so I think it's helping women see the beauty in being over 50 that maybe they didn't see before too and that feels so good.

Rose: 9:26

Yeah, I think that there's this resurgence or this rebranding of women at a certain age, now that we're really embracing life and my understanding. I teach Qigong and my teacher. I talked to my teacher about it and he said that women after a certain age, although there are some of their hormones change and we go through menopause, we have this energy to start building and building something new, whereas men, they already did all their stuff right. They built their empire. Now they're ready to just go sit in a chair or hang out or follow their women around the store right, holding their bags right, exactly. But we have so much more to do because we raised our children. We may have encountered some things in our lives and we're ready to share that and help others become resilient.

Jen: 10:14

Absolutely.

Rose: 10:15

Yeah, I think that's kind of what your podcast does. Right, we want to feel good and that's the messaging.

Jen: 10:21

Yeah, absolutely, and a lot of us were taught to sit down and fold our hands and be quiet while we were little, and I think many of us have realized we don't have to do that anymore and we're finding our voice and are you know, we being more, I feel, I feel more secure in my body than I did when it was young and firm and toned and everything, because then I just hated it. You know, because we were taught so many things. You can never be too rich or too thin and you know all these different whatever, and now I feel like once you hit 50, it's like dang it, I'm still here, I'm going to enjoy the crap out of this Right, and so it's very freeing.

Rose: 10:59

It is very You're so right, and I also notice a lot of people. There's a lot more women podcasters now, right, and that's great, and we're and I've had most of my guests have been females on the show that have embraced this, like this new identity of helping others, and it's just fabulous to be able to support them and help them, connect them with other people. And you also have another podcast that you, voices of Justice.

Jen: 11:27

I believe I do. Yes, so that is my video podcast and right now my YouTube channel is the Jen Hardy Show, but that is actually going to switch around a little bit and the whole channel is going to become Voices of Justice, because that's what my audience wants and I have catered to my audience, which is how it has grown by leaps and bounds, and I've got to tell you that is a lot of fun and I think that's part of I don't know it. Really, I never wanted to be on video. I put up a video on YouTube and it took off and it's really helped me I don't know find myself, I think, in a way, and then be able to help other women be able to be in front of a camera who never thought they would be able to be in front of a camera.

Rose: 12:09

It's kind of fun to be in front of a camera, but you've done and I have to bring up the shower thoughts and I really love listening to them. So so you have this thing that you do called Shower Thoughts, and if you want to share a story, because I love the way you share it and we can talk about it.

Jen: 12:28

Sure, yeah. So I love Shower Thoughts I was a philosophy minor in college and the idea why do we drive in a parkway and park on a driveway kind of a thing, but nobody does them in the shower? And I thought, if I'm going to put a video on YouTube, I batched out 100 of them and shower. And I thought, you know, if I'm going to put a video on YouTube, I batched out 100 of them and I stand in the shower with the shower nozzle as a microphone. I hold my iPhone in the other hand. There is nothing fancy, but let me tell you what it took off on YouTube and got me a partner manager with only 2300 subscribers. Usually you need 100,000. So it even made YouTube notice, which was pretty incredible.

Rose: 13:03

And why do you think that is? Is it because people are just, they're very witty and they're so true? So you know.

Jen: 13:12

I think it just it makes people think they're not alone, right? You know, when you think those weird, quirky things and you're like, is it just me? Am I the only one who notices this thing? But what I've learned by putting them out there is no, it isn't just me, it isn't just you. We're all thinking these weird, quirky thoughts and I and I think it just resonates with people and there's some sort of weird vulnerability and I'm dressed in the shower. Let me just tell your listeners that's a question that I get from every man who hears about what I do.

Jen: 13:39

I'm conservatively dressed, with my blingy robe. In the shower there is no water, it's just. I'm just standing there, yeah, but there's a vulnerability to it. I think, too is that we're usually not filmed in the shower, and so I think I'm letting somebody, I'm letting everyone in, and I think maybe there's an openness to that that people like. Maybe, yeah.

Rose: 14:01

I think you're right. I do know or follow some other woman who's uh into holistic healing and she has a brand and she has products and a lot of the things she does in her bathroom. She has this huge bathroom and she'll be in her underwear, she'll do gua sha and she'll do chugong and it's really taken off and you know she's just who she is and I think that's part of the charm and with you, I find that it's what you see, is what you get, and you know it's like this is who you are and and and you're having fun with it.

Jen: 14:33

Yeah, and I've always been a real love it or hate it person. People either love me or they hate me, and I've just embraced that. You know what? I've stopped trying to make everyone happy and more people seem to be happy now that I'm doing that which is interesting.

Rose: 14:49

You know I don't have the same shower thoughts as you do, but I do find that when I am in the shower I have, like the best ideas If I only had a recorder at the time. I have to figure out some way to do that right and record those.

Jen: 15:03

I know I need to market some sort of waterproof paper or something, and it can be the shower thoughts, ideas or something. I think that would be brilliant.

Rose: 15:10

I think that is brilliant. So one of the questions I'd like to ask you is what advice for women do you have who are struggling, maybe, to reinvent themselves, or they're stuck in a rut or want to find a purpose, like I'm sure that you've spoken to a lot and have had women on your show who have gone through that. What advice do you have?

Jen: 15:36

for them. So I am a huge fan of the brain dump, which is a strange word. But you know, get a huge piece of paper or several pieces of paper and a pencil and the thing is, the only rule is you cannot list them in a line. You have to write it all over the paper. You have to give yourself permission to just be free. There's something about it just being chaotic. That is actually helpful, because otherwise we think, did I write it properly, is it? No, there's none of that.

Jen: 16:03

You set a timer for 10 minutes and write down everything you've ever wanted to do. Maybe you wanted to do art and people told you you're never going to make enough of that. Maybe, you know you wanted to study history and people said there's no job in that. Like, whatever those things are, it could be a fantasy, you know. Maybe you wanted to write a book, because I wrote and published a book in two weeks and I was told I was an alien. But you do that, just write it all down. Maybe you wanted to write a book or star in a movie it doesn't, whatever and then you're going to take that list and you're going to put it in order of how you really want. What do I really want? It doesn't matter if it's a fantasy or if it would be hard to do or what anyone else would say. And then you go down that list and you start at the top and what's the first thing you could actually do within the next week, and you do it. You cross it off and you go to the next thing and you slowly build up and do the things you always wanted to do, because you can. That's the thing. You're a grown up. You're a grown person. It doesn't matter.

Jen: 17:09

Everyone told me my shower thoughts were stupid. Everyone thought it was the dumbest idea they ever heard and I did it anyway, you know. And so I'll say, like, on April 4, 2024, I had 38 subscribers on my channel after eight years Wow, I mean, that's not a lot. And I had 127 views and I had done like a lot of videos. Nobody cared, but I did something I was passionate about. That was 10 months ago. I now have almost 70,000 subscribers as of today and almost 3 million views in less than a year. That's amazing, right, and I never would have thought right. But I did the thing I thought was a brilliant idea, even though everyone said it was dumb, I did it and that's my encouragement. And maybe you won't have 3 million views on something, but maybe you'll just be happy and for a lot of women that is the biggest success you could ever find, because they're not finding it.

Rose: 19:09

And I think once again, I think that you did what you wanted to do. You went with your intuition, with your gut, and you said it when you were talking about that mind mapping or that brain dump Do what you want to do, not what someone else is suggesting or planting in your mind.

Jen: 19:29

Else is suggesting or planting in your mind. You know you embrace that and be empowered. Well, and this is the time to do the impractical things. You know, I said I was writing a book in two weeks and it was going to be a bestseller, and everyone said that is ludicrous. No one's ever done that and you know what I did. And it stayed at number one new release for 30 days. So you know, I mean it's incredible what you can do when you really decide that you're just going to do it and forget the rules. That's the thing. I mean, there's certain rules, you know. Like we're not going to kill people, those are rules we need to. You know, whatever you may need to edit that word out, depending on where you're putting this, but we don't want to hurt people, right? But as long as you're not, you know, yeah, we can start bending those rules that we have had in our heads for so long and, yeah, it makes life a lot more fun.

Rose: 20:13

It doesn't. It makes you feel like real free. It does that group. We are so stuck in the rules and being a certain way and maybe not being seen, not being heard, right and what you're doing in your video shorts and your books. You are sending messages out there that it's okay to have fun, it's okay to be in the shower, it's okay to live a fabulous life and feel good about yourself.

Jen: 20:47

Yeah, exactly, and I'll tell you, okay, I wrote the book. I know there's going to be mistakes. You can't publish a book in two weeks without mistakes and people are like, oh my gosh, jen, you're going to have mistakes. So you know what I did, and not that someone's going to do this exact thing, but it's a workaround, right. I put a sticker on the book and it said editing quest, because when you're a YouTuber, you have to edit the first three people to find five mistakes get a T-shirt. So now, instead of people saying, oh my gosh, jen, there's mistakes in your book, they're looking for mistakes on purpose and I've set them up to edit the rest of my book, you know, and just things like just think outside the box and to get things done.

Jen: 21:29

And it's so incredible and so freeing. And even ChatGBT told me it had never heard anything like that. That's amazing, but it worked. Yeah, can you share what book that was? So it's Uncensored YouTube Hacks. So, yeah, it's how to start a YouTube channel for people who have no idea. And I was on a podcast with somebody who's been on YouTube for 10 years and he told me he's read the book through twice because there were things he never learned.

Jen: 21:55

And that was, I think, the biggest compliment I've ever gotten about anything.

Rose: 22:00

That's great. Well, videocasting and being on YouTube and videos is definitely trending. It's going to grow, I feel right, that was the message that we're sensing and it's really I mean, it's been there for a long time, but I think we need to embrace it as content creators, right, yeah, and not be afraid to get out there, and it doesn't always have to be perfect just to get it out there. I want to grow my channel, too, and I'm going to read your book and take that advice that you have in there.

Jen: 22:31

Well, and what's great is that what's trending now is real authenticity. So people don't want these carefully curated, perfect everything videos anymore. They want to know that it's really you. You know, like, this is a mess, what am I doing? I don't know. I got things in my back wrapped up that aren't absolutely perfect today and you know that's okay, because people are going to say, yeah, it's some people. Someone will complain they always do, and that's fine, because that's really their own junk, right, because whatever. But everyone else is thankful that they see the reality. They want reality. You know.

Rose: 23:06

Yeah, I think you're right. I think it's better just to put aside that perfection, because that perfection can stop us, can anchor us and we can't move forward once we. I'm like that too. I'm like everything has to be perfect. I'm editing my book right now and I'm like going over it over and over, I'm like, okay, you know what, at some point I need to let it go and get it done.

Jen: 23:25

Can I tell you? I will tell you in your audience, the best way to edit a book. You ready, read it out loud and make the audio book, because when you read it out loud you hear differently than when you read it in your head. Wow, okay, and then you've created an audio book.

Rose: 23:43

Boom, great advice. Yes, I was thinking about sharing some of that already to my audience to see what they're, if it piques an interest. For example, let's circle back to how you support other female podcasters. You have right now, as this podcast is recording, you're doing a top 50, over 50 podcast contests, right? Uh, do you want to talk about that first, so we can sure get a little glimpse into that?

Jen: 24:13

I am so excited. So I wanted to do it because my podcast won twice last year podcast of the year and it's whatever in the top two percent worldwide, whatever, and um, and my, my youtube, my, my YouTube thing and my everything's just kind of taken off. And so I thought how can I help other people? So if I could get other people on my show and in front of my audience and give them a voice in a new place, that would be good. And I thought, you know, there's these top 30 under 30, business people in top 40 under 40, but nobody, nobody's really doing top 50 under 50 or over 50, a few people you know, whatever. And so that's what we're going to do.

Jen: 24:49

And then everyone who wins they're going to be on my show for the next 50 episodes. It's going to be incredible. And but then we were talking and someone said well, you know, you could do an in-person event, so it's going to be hybrid of of a virtual, and we're going to have a gala here, oh my goodness. And so everyone who comes is going to stay at the hotel on my island, in my town, so I can show them around because I keep talking about it and it's just, I'm so excited to be able to share with everybody.

Rose: 25:18

I can sense it. It's exciting too. I was looking, I was looking at it and that that is at the end of March, right? So if I'm not sure this is going to, I may air this sooner than that so that we can.

Jen: 25:30

But if not, they can come next year because we're going to do it again.

Rose: 25:33

That's exciting. You know I was thinking I saw you at PodFest. I was at PodFest this past year. It was my very first one. I was really excited and I had so much fun and learned so much. And I saw you and I didn't get a chance to talk to you because you were so busy talking to everyone. You're like the celebrity at PodFest. But next year I'm going to meet you in person. But I was thinking maybe next year and I can help you, we can do maybe a party of top 50 over 50 podcasters or female podcasters or something we can just have like a meetup or a gathering.

Jen: 26:09

That would be kind of fun. I would love that. Yeah, so I do have a group called the Golden Mic Society and it is for podcasters over 50. But we could put on a party for them. That would be a blast because, you know it's funny, it's not a group of old fuddy-duddies, it is. You know, it's funny when I picture people that were my age now when I was a kid, things were so different then you know they were winding down, they were done. We are not winding down, we are doing some epic things and I think a party would be a blast.

Rose: 26:39

I think so too. We'll have to talk about that. Yeah, so your golden. I would like to talk about your Golden Mic Society as well, because a lot of my audience too. They're podcasters. I've had a lot of podcasting guests, podcaster guests on my show, so there's a world of fabulous podcasters out there.

Jen: 26:58

Can you talk about it? So we meet? We were meeting weekly and that is way too often, we're too busy, so we're going to meet once a month now and it's just a nice group of people we can come in. You know, I love people of every age. It's not that I don't I mean, I have children in three different generations for crying out loud, but sometimes it's just nice to talk to people who are around our age, because there's a lot of communication differences between the different generations and it's just nice to be with people who get where you're coming from. You don't have to explain it. You can talk about a broken record, they know what you're talking about. Or winding the pencil in the cassette tape, you know and we can. Just we give each other this positive, good energy to get back out there and do things. Sometimes we'll have a hot seat where someone comes with an issue and everyone brainstorms, or we'll have a speaker and we just do some different things to elevate the voices of the people our age, yeah, and you create community.

Rose: 27:59

I think that's really really important Women supporting other women and feeling that they're in a community that is supportive.

Jen: 28:09

Yeah, we let men into the Golden Mike Society. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. It's been good, it's been really good, yeah. But I think you know there definitely needs to be a space. I just went on a retreat just for women, and we do. We do need a space, you know, and so do the men. They do need their own space, you know just to kind of talk about stuff you know, but it's good to have a softer group sometimes.

Rose: 28:35

Yes, I agree with you and I hope you had a lovely retreat. I know you mentioned that. Did we talk about the voices of justice? Enough for you, Like I don't know if you wanted to talk about it.

Jen: 28:45

Yeah, so I didn't say what it is. We could talk about what it is because it's different. So when I started my YouTube channel, it was supposed to be fabulous, over 50. And I interviewed a woman who I love and watch on YouTube she's a judge Did not know she was a YouTube famous, which is part of how my channel took off.

Jen: 29:04

And I got so many subscribers and they said we are not women, we're not fabulous and we're not over 50, you need to change it. So I randomly changed it to the Jen Hardy Show and then called the podcast the video podcast, voices of Justice, which is now gonna become the whole channel. But it's different in that I interview judges, lawyers, legislators and ex-convicts wearing glitter and sequins and legislators and ex-convicts wearing glitter and sequins and it's one of those things where people are scrolling and they look and they kind of look again. And now that I've added only ex-convicts that are doing wonderful things, I will say so, not just somebody who's committed a bunch of crimes, and I randomly interviewed them. They're actually people that are helping other prisoners do something with their lives and those stories are some of the best, honestly, on my channel Incredible.

Rose: 29:53

So what made you do that? What made you interview the judges or the ex-convicts that are doing well and just highlight the justice system?

Jen: 30:04

Well, you know, I interviewed the one judge and then I had a bunch of subscribers I mean, not that many For me, it was a lot, it was like 1,500 overnight and I thought, oh my goodness, I have to do whatever they say. And I'm really glad that I did, because it's turned into this incredible thing and it's given me access to people in the judicial system that I never would have had access to. I've learned things about our judicial system I never knew before, and I think more people in our country and it's amazing people all over the world are fascinated with our judicial system because it's so open and they want the people in the United States to understand how it works. That's why the judges are streaming on YouTube. It's not because they're trying to grow something. None of them are monetized, they're not making money off of it. They just want people to understand how things work because so few people do.

Jen: 30:54

And so I've really just taken it and grabbed that bull by the horns and thrown myself. In fact, next month I'm going to go to Texas and interview some in person and really get the scoop and hopefully get put in jail. That is my goal, not because I commit a crime. I want to be filmed. Because I want to be filmed and have people see what the reality is, because it's unpleasant and I think it would help people not do bad things, maybe if I can help one person not do a bad thing.

Jen: 31:24

That would be great.

Rose: 31:26

I think that's amazing and it's giving people the perspective of what it's like, because maybe people don't realize what it is really like when they're in a court scene or in a court and you know there are so many things on TV, but to see it in reality it's totally different and it's almost like true crime. But it is true crime, but it's your, you know the judicial system.

Jen: 31:45

True crime stories. Yeah, so technically I'm under the umbrella of true crime, but what I do is different and I think, yeah, and I think the jail part, the reason I want to do that is because, you know, people watch court and they think, oh, lock that guy away, lock him up, da, da, da. But they do not realize what that means. You know it's not a TV show where, you know, the people just pretend like things are horrible and they get to go home at the end of the day. It is continual, yeah that's great.

Rose: 32:18

What is your vision for the future of women, not just in podcasting, but but just how to live their lives, or how to embrace their life and live, live a fabulous life.

Jen: 32:31

I think you know it depends on the woman and whatever she envisions. And I think, letting go of what everyone else has told you you should do, I mean within reason, don't abandon your family, that's not what I'm saying. But you know, within the confines of you know society, but who are you? You know, learning who you are, letting yourself, explore the ideas that you used to have, that everyone told you were stupid or that were dumb or wouldn't make you money, or who cares?

Jen: 33:01

At this point, you know, and you know I was raised by someone who really wanted women to have the same rights as men, which I can fully agree with, but to the extent that I wasn't allowed to do anything girly, no pink, no purple, no girl, anything. And I think that's why I'm embracing the sequins and the glitter. And my mom told me that glitter was the herpes of the craft world. I was not allowed to use glitter. God forbid a piece of it got somewhere because it would never go away. Well, my thing now is neither do wrinkles, so let's cover them in glitter, and then people notice the glitter and not the wrinkles, right? And you know? You see, I have pink lamps behind me and all these things and I'm exploring all those things I didn't get to earlier and it's like go after things like you're a kid again. You know that childlike wonder and it's exciting and it makes it fun you know I love that.

Jen: 33:53

It's just a whole different way and I think I don't know. You know, I just did my biggest interview on my channel with a judge that had never. He did one four-minute interview six years ago. I got the exclusive. He's a wonderful man, he's righteous and fair and also an African-American man who was the first African-American man to be elected in his county in 1999 ever and then spent 10 years as the only black judge in his county in 1999 ever and then spent 10 years as the only black judge in his county. And I think that crap has to end and I'm hoping that the women will be the ones to stop. We don't need quotas, we don't need whatever. Stop, just stop and just start embracing humans as humans. And I think if I had one message, I would want that to be it.

Rose: 34:40

And I think if I had one message, I would want that to be it Amen, I agree with you. I love that and I see you making that change and helping make that change. I hope so. I know you will.

Jen: 34:50

I just don't know how. It's a thing you know, I don't know. I mean, when we were in LA, my daughter was one of two blonde children out of 550 people. We weren't allowed to go to people's houses. So when people look at me they're like you don't understand racism. Well, I don't understand it in the same way that they experience it. I absolutely don't. But at the same time, we do know what it's like and it feels horrible and I don't think anyone should go through it. I think we need to be done.

Jen: 35:16

So I agree, that's my soapbox but I'm off it now, but it really is a passion of mine, it really is.

Rose: 35:22

No, I love this and I totally support you. I grew up as a child in Newark during the riots, and so I was a young child and I remember, even though I was young, and I don't think we've sometimes, I don't think we've really come that far in these many years, and it's terrible. So I encourage that change as well. Thank you, I will be praying for that, as I always do, so what's besides everything that you've mentioned? I know you always have something like I know, I don't know, you know you, but I could tell that there's other things and other ideas. What's, what else is next for Jen? What do you? What do you see happening or what would you like to happen?

Jen: 36:07

So funny. Funny that you would, that you would ask that because actually we have just we were making some major changes here at Hardy House Media and so some things are yeah, well, there's gonna be a lot of changes at the end of the year, but I have been speaking since I was 22 years old, so three decades of speaking, and we've just coined my main, the name of my message and power frame messaging. So I'm going to start speaking on that, so helping people find their message, be able to deliver their message and power frame because it can either be for executives or people that want to get on video, like in a frame and helping people find their voice. So I'm very excited that book is coming out in April actually, and so that's the new thing is that I'm going to start traveling all over and internationally actually and speaking on that. So, because I really want to help everyone find their voice, I think it's so important.

Rose: 37:12

Wow, I love that. And you said you've been speaking since you were 22. And I'm guessing this is why podcasting was such a natural transition for you. You found your voice there. You're continuing to develop what you're speaking about and that's changing. And now you're going to help others and I love that. That's amazing.

Jen: 37:35

That's my goal. Yeah, I've been helping women or business owners locally to just get on stage, get in front of camera, learn how to do that and feel comfortable. And now we're just going to take that message and run with it. So I'm very excited.

Rose: 37:50

As content creators. As a creator, I'm learning the importance of having the right message. Yeah Right, because we want to attract the right audience as well. Right, and hone in on that message. Yeah Right, because we want to attract the right audience as well. Right, and hone in on that message. Yeah, oh, I love that. I'm so excited. I can't wait to see you. I hope you do come to New York or wherever you go. Maybe I'll go to London and see you there. We go yeah Podcast show. I'll be your assistant. I'll be your assistant. And is there anything else that you would like to share with everyone besides that great news? That was amazing news. Oh, thank you.

Jen: 38:28

You know, I think no matter where you are, no matter what's going on around you, even if you are stuck in bed because I was stuck in bed for a long time there are things you can do. You know. You can start by making the bed around you and making it look nice, like I mean, if that's where you're at right, or if you can get up, you can go take a walk. You can do something nice for someone. We all have the power to do things and I think people forget that every day is a gift and treat it, treat every day like a gift and get up and do something, because you're going to feel really good about it.

Rose: 39:01

I love that message. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for being here and for sharing your space and your energy, and I've been wanting you to be on this podcast since I first saw you at a virtual thing for PodFam and I was like, oh, I wonder on my show show someday. And here you are. Oh, that is so sweet. That is so sweet. Thank you, I'm so happy and I can't wait to meet you and, who knows, maybe collaborate with you one day. I'm always putting that vibe out there.

Jen: 39:30

Let's do it. I'm up, let's have it. We're having a party at PodFest next year. It's done.

Rose: 39:36

Awesome, absolutely. Thank you so much, jen. Thank you, I appreciate it. Thank you for joining me on Chat Off The Mat. If you're ready to transform your energy and step into your fullest potential, I'd love to work with you. As an energy alchemist, I help women release blocked energy and reclaim their vibrant essence. Visit rosewibichcom to explore working together and discover free resources for your journey. Love today's episode, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, leave a rating and share your biggest takeaway with me on Instagram at Rose Wippich. Remember wellness warriors your energy is precious. Nurture it wisely.