Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan - Confidence Classic: Bust Through Limiting Beliefs & Harness Your Highest Potential with Jenn Drummond, Motivational Keynote Speaker, World Record Holder, Author

Episode Date: March 25, 2025

Are you ready to take on the mountain that will CHANGE your life? In this episode, I had an amazing chat with Jenn Drummond, a world-record mountaineer whose journey from a stay-at-home mom to a fearl...ess adventurer is seriously inspiring. Her story kicked off after she survived a life-changing car crash in 2018, a wake-up call that made her decide to seize life’s moments and break through her limiting beliefs. Her journey, which she shares in her book "Breakproof: Seven Strategies to Build Resilience and Achieve Your Goals," shows the power of breaking through limiting beliefs, staying curious, and pushing forward with the help of a great team. By taking risks, trying new things, and challenging ourselves, we find hidden talents and strengths we never knew we had. It's in those uncomfortable moments that we truly SHINE! In This Episode You Will Learn About:  How to EMBRACE curiosity and let yourself fail while chasing your dreams Ways to bust through limiting beliefs and really be in the moment Why you need to SURRENDER and let go during tough times to find peace and freedom What it means to acclimatize to challenges, reflect, and learn from setbacks as you move toward your goals Resources + Links Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at shopify.com/monahan Download the CFO’s Guide to AI and Machine Learning at NetSuite.com/MONAHAN. Want to do more and spend less like Uber, 8x8, and Databricks Mosaic? Take a free test drive of OCI at oracle.com/MONAHAN. Get 10% off your first Mitopure order at timeline.com/CONFIDENCE. Get 15% off your first order when you use code CONFIDENCE15 at checkout at jennikayne.com. Call my digital clone at 201-897-2553!  Visit heathermonahan.com Sign up for my mailing list: heathermonahan.com/mailing-list/  Overcome Your Villains is Available NOW! Order here: https://overcomeyourvillains.com  If you haven't yet, get my first book Confidence Creator Follow Heather on Instagram & LinkedIn Jenn on Instagram: @thejenndrummond

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Starting point is 00:00:00 If someone would have said, hey, I want you to go climb this mountain in a different setting, I would have been no, unless I knew exactly how to make it happen and to get to the top and to win or to whatever else like that. Like I was I can look back and see like I was very selective on what I would get involved in because it was my brand. It was who I was. Like I had to be number one because that's the only place I felt safe. And after the accident, I was like,
Starting point is 00:00:26 I would rather have the experience failing, trying to climb a Mount Everest than never even trying to climb it. I'm on this journey with me. Each week when you join me, we are going to chase down our goals, overcome adversity and set you up for a better tomorrow. That's a no-sail dance.
Starting point is 00:00:44 I'm ready for my closeup. Hi and welcome back. I'm so hyped you're back here with me this week. Okay, you are going to love our guest today. I love her. We've got Jen Drummond. She's a world record mountaineer. What the heck is a mountaineer, Jen?
Starting point is 00:00:58 I can't wait to get into this. A sought after speaker, an author, a podcast host, and life disrupting multiple eight figure entrepreneur as a perspective mindset mentor. She challenged people to slow down, be present and get real with themselves by tapping into her own personal experiences of light, altering loss, setback, disappointment and failure. Jen helps guide others through mindfully and strategically breaking through their limiting beliefs, moving from going through the motions
Starting point is 00:01:27 to being present to self-awareness and harnessing their highest potential of self. Jen, thank you so much for being here today. Oh my gosh, I'm so excited. Thank you. Woohoo. Okay, so we have to give everyone, I love giving people the behind the scenes in my life.
Starting point is 00:01:42 So Jen and I met a year ago when she joined my mastermind, which I loved having you in the mastermind and thank you for doing that. And so we got to know each other on the internet, but we had never met in real life. And then Jen called me and said, Hey, I'm coming to Miami. I'd love to interview you for my podcast.
Starting point is 00:02:01 Can you do it? And I said, yeah, for sure, let's do it. And then the day of I was like, I had a million things going on. I text you like, Jen And I said, yeah, for sure, let's do it. And then the day of I was like, I had a million things going on and I texted you, I'm like, Jen, I am so sorry to do this, but I'm running late. Is there any way you can work with me? You were so gracious.
Starting point is 00:02:13 I'm like, well, let's go out for drinks after so that we can still spend more time. And we ended up having like the best day. You introduced me to so many people in my town, which is so ridiculous. We had such a wild, fun night. And I told them, like, I never add people to my friend team anymore
Starting point is 00:02:31 because I have 30 people I run with. It's like, I have enough friends I can't take anymore. But I told them, like, no, you've officially been added. You're on the friend team. I know, it was so much fun. And now I'm sitting there, okay, cause like, how do we do another Miami weekend?
Starting point is 00:02:43 Like, let's go, it's happening. Watch out Miami. Yeah, Miami, seriously watch out. We really know that as the case because when we're together, it is ridiculous. And for everyone listening, just know, sometimes you meet people on the internet and they're not the way that you thought they would be,
Starting point is 00:02:58 which sadly that is the truth, right? Like, you just never know what you're gonna get. Jen is so my energy, so my vibe, like she's so us, and it was just, it was so great to be able to hang with you. I can't wait till I get to see you again. I know, I'm so happy. So yay, yay, internet. Thanks for the connection. We're good. Your story is so incredible. And my son loves your story, like parts that you were sharing with him. And I really want you to kind of give everybody the insight and the incredible journey that you've been on thus far.
Starting point is 00:03:29 Yeah, you know, so I was that girl that was seeking external validation anywhere she could get it, right? I got into the financial service career out of college, which is fantastic for people seeking external validation because they keep your names on a wall and stats and how much money are you making and bringing in and revenue that you're driving and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And that lifestyle wore on me so much to the fact that I'm like, okay, I can't stay here
Starting point is 00:03:59 any longer at this company because I will explode. So I started my own company, which is always a ton more work in the beginning until you learn how to hire yourself out of a job, which is a skill that takes a lot of development, a lot of trial and error. But luckily I had that happen because I became a mom. And when I became a mom, I'm like,
Starting point is 00:04:22 okay, I'm gonna be this wonderful stay at home mom because that's what everybody's dream was in my hometown. And I have these seven amazing children and all of a sudden they started going to school. I'm like, okay, well, I don't really like this. And I didn't know what to do with not really liking that because I felt shame and guilt about not being ecstatic to have this privilege to be a stay at home mom.
Starting point is 00:04:46 And I told myself this lie. I said, okay, this is just a season. I'm gonna do this stay at home mom thing until my last one goes to college. And so that's like 15 years from now. Like we got this girl. And I was going through the motions and I was doing the thing
Starting point is 00:05:07 and I would say that my life was meh, right? Like it wasn't ecstatic, it wasn't terrible. It was just, this is what it was, plug and play, Groundhog's Day, repeat, repeat, repeat. And then in 2018, December 18 of 2018, I was in a horrific car crash that should have taken my life. In fact, they've rebuilt the accident 50 different times and could not build a scenario where I lived, let alone walked away. And that accident made me realize I don't get to choose when I die, but I sure get to choose
Starting point is 00:05:47 how I live and how I'm living is a choice and is this the choice I want to be making? And that just woke me up to the fact that like my life could end at any moment. And if it ended right now, I would be devastated of all the things I didn't take a chance to see, do, experience, try, like all of it. So 2019 became like the year of the reckoning and I had this huge bucket list and everything under the sun went on it from I wanna taste pasta in Italy,
Starting point is 00:06:23 to swim in the ocean at the Great Barrier Reef, and like whatever, right? I just allowed myself to be playful and curious and explore who I was. And on that list was climb a mountain. And then I'm like, okay, I'm gonna climb a mountain for my 40th birthday, which happened in 2020. And that got escalated into this world record pursuit in like life's history.
Starting point is 00:06:50 But that's kind of like me in a nutshell from the beginning. So when you look back, and first of all, it's so incredible what you've done, and I can't wait to get into some of the details here. But, you know, when you look back at that accident, like, what do you contribute that to in your perspective, like how you survived that? Yeah, you know, I think it's funny because two months prior to that accident,
Starting point is 00:07:14 so in October, somebody gave me that book called The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer. And prior to that point in my life, like surrender was a weakness. Like you do not surrender ever. And someone's like, just read this book. I think you'll like it. So I read the book and I journaled on that word
Starting point is 00:07:35 for like a month. And finally, I'm like, oh, okay, I get this. I understand how this is actually a superpower, not a weakness and da da da da da. And I think the universe has this way of saying, okay, you get it, but do you live it? And so when that car accident happened, I remember seeing the semi truck coming up onto my passenger side headlight. I'm like, I'm going gonna, the work colliding.
Starting point is 00:08:06 And I remember like saying, you know, you negotiate with death in those moments, like, okay, I promise I'll do something significant with my life if you just let me live. And when that collision actually happened, like I had this download of like, I am not gonna be able to force through this, like everything else in my life where I would double knuckle and try harder and push more and make
Starting point is 00:08:30 it happen. Like the only way I'm going to survive this accident is if I let go and totally surrender and just roll with the car because the car is stronger than me and I can't beat it. And it was, it was that surrender experiment in real life. So I put my hands on the steering wheel, my head on the headrest, and I just counted the rolls. I'm like, okay, I have enough momentum. I'm gonna go again.
Starting point is 00:08:55 I'm gonna go again. And I went like three forward flips, and then I started doing the sideways rolls, and then I ended up upside down in the median. And the interesting thing about that spot was, someone came running and I could hear them. They're like, are you okay? Are you okay?
Starting point is 00:09:11 Are you okay? But I wasn't registering that they were talking to me until that person peeled back the windshield. And when they peeled back the windshield, we caught eyes. And this guy looking at me goes, are you okay? And I looked back at him and I'm like, based on his facial expression, I am not okay. And so I'm like, what do I do? What do I do? And so instead of, I didn't have the courage to look at my body at this moment because I felt all these warm feelings everywhere. And I'm like, I'm sure I'm bleeding out. I don't even know what just happened. Blah, blah, blah, blah. I closed my eyes and I wiggled my fingers and toes.
Starting point is 00:09:49 I'm like, oh my gosh, I can feel my fingers and toes. Like I can feel my fingers and toes. And I said that out loud a couple of times. He goes, if you can feel your fingers and toes, you're going to be okay. I just need to leave you here until the ambulance comes because I don't know what's going on. I'm like, okay, fine.
Starting point is 00:10:04 And I share that story because I don't know what's going on. I'm like, okay, fine. And I share that story because I think it's so important for us to recognize we're the only ones that can tell the world we're okay. Because the world is gonna tell you you're not. Like that guy's face was telling me I'm not okay. But that's not a truth I have to believe. I have to listen to my internal story
Starting point is 00:10:24 and come up with whatever that truth is for myself. Meet a different guest each week. What is on your mind? Confidence cleared. Confidence cleared. I ask you to try to find your passion. So powerful. I'm not great at surrender either.
Starting point is 00:10:43 However, probably the last year, I've really, actually no, it started for me back right at the end of the pandemic. I started like trying to learn more about it, trying to understand what that meant because truly, and I'm sure for some people listening, like it doesn't even make sense. Can you explain to us what surrender is and how it's applicable in your life? For me, I think it's like, I learned how to surf during COVID. Like one of the fun things about COVID is like, we had all this time and I took my kids to Hawaii because I'm like, if we're gonna blow up,
Starting point is 00:11:11 like let's blow up at the beach. And so we did COVID in Hawaii and I remember learning how to surf and how you had to like paddle so hard to get into the wave. And then once you got into the wave, like you just, you relaxed and you just let go and you just like flowed into the wave. And then once you got into the wave, like you just, you relaxed and you just let go and you just like flowed with the wave. And I think so much of us are used to just that paddling of so hard and just giving it all that we got that we forget the other part of that circle
Starting point is 00:11:40 is to let go and ride the momentum that you've generated. And so for me with that car accident, it was like, okay, I can't beat this car. The only thing I can do is try to move with it because if I move with it, then I'm not resisting it. And that resistance is what causes injury. And so when we're looking at our own lives, like, yeah, the bus pulls up, you got to fricking hustle to get on that bus to go wherever you're going.
Starting point is 00:12:10 But once you're on that bus, like that's your chance to like, take the ride and get off at the next stop. When I'm hearing you talk about this, it's reminding me that it's wild. I haven't thought about this in a long time. Right near the end of COVID, my spin class, we couldn't meet indoors. So we actually did class on a rooftop, which is when I live in Miami.
Starting point is 00:12:31 So we're very blessed, right? Like we're at the beach. So we're so blessed we had the opportunity to do that in such a difficult time when people couldn't be together. We could actually be in a group setting outside. And you could see over the top of the roof. And I remember, and I always think like divine intervention, like you get the right messages at the right time.
Starting point is 00:12:50 It's up to you if you want to receive it or not, right? Like obviously some of us were busy, whatever. But in this moment I wasn't, I was like open to receiving messages. And COVID had been horrible for me and my son living in a small condo. My son lost his dog, was depressed. Like it was a really bad time in our life.
Starting point is 00:13:06 And I'm the most extroverted person I've ever known in my entire world, so I was miserable. Okay, cut to, I'm on this roof, the instructor's speaking to us, and he starts, he's like this kind of introverted, quiet guy, and he's talking about the need to just let go. And how scary it can feel to just let go, but that when you do it, that's when you find your peace, that's when you can really be free. And so I'm listening to him and I'm like,
Starting point is 00:13:32 it makes sense, but that sounds really hard, really foreign to me and super scary because like you type A overachiever, I've just been flying my way to everything, trying to control everything my whole life, right? Like, and I didn't even understand there was a different way. So as we sang this, I was so open to receiving the message in the moment. I remember thinking, I need to let go right now. Like, this is the moment. I was like looking over the edge of the building. I could see like just the whole world.
Starting point is 00:13:57 And I'm like, I just need to let go. I can't white knuckle anything anymore. I have to let go. And like that really started this process for me, which I certainly I'm not nailing it. But every morning I asked this rep surrender my life to God and God your plan is greater than mine and I let go and for your plan because the one thing that I've noticed nothing as dramatic as like what you've gone through just so powerful and so visible like I get it. But I've had like these little wins of like, when I do let go, watching something beautiful show up in my life
Starting point is 00:14:27 that I never knew. It kind of similar to you. When you're talking about this whole path that you started down, that's when you found the mountain to climb. Right? Like when you got, oh, you really find your true path and your true calling. And what's more beautiful than that?
Starting point is 00:14:42 Oh no. And it's crazy because like, when I got into this mountaineering stuff, I had never slept in a tent. OK, so it wasn't like I was this hardcore mountaineer. Let's make this happen. Life is good. Like it was just this OK, I have this space to allow something different. Show up. I'm in this place of curiosity.
Starting point is 00:15:03 And if someone would have said, hey, I want you to go climb this mountain in a different setting, I would have been no, unless I knew exactly how to make it happen and to get to the top and to win or to whatever else like that. Like I was, I can look back and see, like I was very selective on what I would get involved in
Starting point is 00:15:21 because it was my brand. It was who I was. Like I had to be number one because that's the only place I felt safe. And after the accident, I was like, I would rather have the experience failing, trying to climb a Mount Everest than never even trying to climb it. And that, like when I had that aha moment and that like thing of success is experience versus success is number one. The doors like flooded open with all kinds of opportunity.
Starting point is 00:15:50 Wow, that's so incredibly powerful. And you're so right. Why did it take us so long to start learning these things? And PS, this stuff needs to be taught to kids in school. It's crazy. Yes, I know. It's great. Like, and like, it's funny because I have seven kids. So I have like this, you know, crayon box of different colors and ways of doing life. And it's funny because some of my kids are hardwired for that external validation. And I have a couple of them that are hardwired. They're like, I don't care what my grade is, mom, it doesn't matter. Like this is who I am. And it's so fun because some of them I'm like,
Starting point is 00:16:26 oh, this is me. And some of them are like, man, I wish I had that knowledge or that view or that way of doing life. It's so fun to watch them bring it forward and we learn from them. Guys, so listening right now, the power is in the surrender.
Starting point is 00:16:40 The power is in the letting go. That is the strongest, most powerful thing that you can do, not the way we'd always been taught. All right, Prisvend, take us into, because first of all, the fact that you bring hair dryers and like curling iron when you do go on your mountain trip, like give us a little insight into like how this thing came to be and like how you still are you
Starting point is 00:17:01 on mountains and like what you've done. Yeah, okay, so we back up and say, okay, I'm gonna climb a mountain for my 40th birthday. And I live in Park City, so there's people that are big into mountains all over the place. And I asked some friends that I knew were big into mountaineering,
Starting point is 00:17:16 hey, if you could climb one mountain in the whole world, what would you climb? And some people said, you know, you should go climb this mountain named Amma de Blom. I'm gonna say that again because it's go climb this mountain named Amma de Blom. I'm going to say that again, because it's going to come forward. Amma de Blom. I'm like, okay.
Starting point is 00:17:30 But it gets the Paramount Pictures logo. I've researched it now. I don't think it really was, but I was sold on that at the moment. So every time you go to a movie, you can say like, I climbed that mountain and it's in Nepal and all these things. So I'm like, okay, sweet. That's the mountain I'm going to climb. Well, early on in 2020, COVID happened.
Starting point is 00:17:49 So I'm not climbing anything or going anywhere. And I'm homeschooling. And my youngest son is struggling with his math homework. So I'm doing that parent pep talk. Like, we do hard things. You've got this. And this little guy looks me straight in the face and he goes, mom, if we do hard things, you've got this. And this little guy looks me straight in the face and he goes, mom, if we do hard things,
Starting point is 00:18:07 why are you climbing a mountain called I'm a dumb blonde instead of a real mountain like Mount Everest? And I'm sitting there, I'm a dumb blonde, I'm a dumb blonde. I'm a dumb blonde, honey, not I'm a dumb blonde, but thank you. And so then I'm like, you finish your homework, we'll look at Everest. So he finishes his homework, we look at Everest,
Starting point is 00:18:30 he goes to bed, and I sit there and think, I'm like, why not Everest? If this kid's perception is that Everest is the hardest mountain in the whole world, I'm in a climate, and I'm gonna show him whatever Everest is we're capable of summiting. So I call up a coach. The coach is like, yes, I can get you ready. You used to be an athlete. This will be fine. He goes, buy this book about becoming an uphill athlete. So I'm like, okay,
Starting point is 00:18:56 fine. So this book comes in the mail and in the front, I'm like reading it. And in the front of it, there's a story of a lady who got a Guinness World Record. I don't know, I must have been having a terrible day or something but I'm having this call with my coach about training and I'm like, I could have done that. That lady suffered through something in the Alps. I can suffer. I have seven children right now that hate me because I'm doing this homeschool thing. Like if I got a Guinness World Record, I'd be a cool mom. And my coach is like, okay, I'll think of something. I'm like, okay, fine. And I like just went on with life kind of letting it go. I didn't even, it wasn't a big point of our conversation, but he calls me a few weeks later and he's all excited. He's like, Jen, I have the perfect world record for you.
Starting point is 00:19:42 I'm like, oh, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, what is it? He's like, I think you should be the first female to climb the seven second summits. I'm like, okay, I don't know what you're talking about. He's like, you know the seven second summits? I'm like, no, I don't know the seven second summit. So he's like, you know, it's the second highest point on each of the seven continents.
Starting point is 00:20:02 It's actually harder than the first seven. It's only been done by one male. So you'd be the first woman to do it. And he goes, if you think about it, seven mountains, seven continents, seven children, it sounds like a jackpot. And I had that full body, yes, like it does sound like a jackpot,
Starting point is 00:20:21 but do you know what I look like? Like, do you know what it takes to run this show? Like, are you kidding me? And he's like, I think you should do it. So I thought about it with my kids and I'm like, yeah, let's do it. Like, who cares if I fail? This is a pretty epic experience to pursue.
Starting point is 00:20:37 And so I started on it and I remember, like I climbed one mountain and it wasn't like a big deal. So then I'm like, okay, I'm fine. I climbed the next one, wasn't like a big deal. So then I'm like, okay, I'm fine. I climbed the next one. It wasn't a big deal. As in like I wasn't away from civilization for very long. So like I could still keep this going. But it was time to go climb Everest with my son that I had promised that I would climb
Starting point is 00:20:57 it. I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm going to be gone for like three or four weeks. And that's the speed version of Everest. Most people are gone like six to eight and so I'm trying to figure out how this is all gonna work and I Called these climbing companies and like hi I'm like interviewing climbing companies to climb Everest they have some questions So I had like all the important questions and then my last question was
Starting point is 00:21:21 Hey, I have really long blonde hair and I don't wanna get sick and not be able to summit. And so I was wondering if I could bring a hairdryer and use the generator to dry my hair. And the first company was like, you should just cut your hair. Like, no, you're not, I don't even know what you're asking me right now. Like, okay, hung up, right?
Starting point is 00:21:41 The second company I called, they're like, yeah, sure, you know, once a week, you could use the generator. I don't think that'd be a big deal, that'd be fine. And then the third company I called was like, do you need a mirror? I'm like, that's my company, right? Like they're anticipating, like not, you know,
Starting point is 00:21:59 if you're gonna dry your hair, you need to look at when you're doing it. And I'm like, that just shows this company going above and beyond, that's who I'm gonna climb with. And so anyways, I go to Climb Everest and a company in Utah gave me a solar powered battery that would actually power the hairdryer. So I wouldn't use the generator
Starting point is 00:22:16 and then I could leave the battery for this company to use for other things. And so I bring the solar powered battery. I take a shower at base camp, and I go to plug in my hairdryer, because I think I'm going to dry my hair in my tent so no one really knows what's going on. And it doesn't work, because it has to be on the freaking sun for the battery to work. I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna have to do this in front of all these people. Okay, maybe my hair will dry by itself. So like I literally waited an hour
Starting point is 00:22:45 to see if my hair was drying. It was like turning into ice crystals. It was not drying. I'm like, okay, well I have to dry it because the sun's out, the sun's gonna go down. So I finally get enough courage and I try to hide. Okay, I'm hidden for like five minutes. And then everybody's like,
Starting point is 00:23:01 there's that girl blow drying her hair over there. And so like everybody's watching and coming around. I'm like so embarrassed. Whatever. My hair gets dried. I kind of like get over it. We climb Everest, we summit. And then afterwards everybody collects in Kathmandu before they fly home and
Starting point is 00:23:17 kind of have some celebration. So I go back to Kathmandu and I'm known as Mountain Barbie because I'm drying my hair. And I was super embarrassed until this woman came up to me and she goes, hey, I just wanna thank you. I'm like, thank me? She was like, yeah, I wanna thank you for having needs, not apologizing for them and doing what you needed to do. And she's like, that gave me a whole bunch of courage
Starting point is 00:23:46 to ask for what I needed because it wasn't like I was asking for shrimp at base camp. I'm just not a mini male and women have different needs than men do and we can still do things that they want to do like climb Everest. And I literally had like four or five women come up to me and give me those same kind of sentiments. And it was one of those things where like, well, if I knew this was going to happen, I would have been like loud and proud drying my hair at Everest. But I think we forget that if we have a need, somebody else probably does too. And so if we have the courage to step into that, just like you talk about about if we have the confidence to do whatever.
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Starting point is 00:25:09 and more add-ons. Reach your goals this year with ingredients you can trust and convenience that can't be beat. Eat smart with Factor. Get started at factormeals.com slash factorpodcast and use code factorpodcast to get 50% off your first box plus free shipping. That's Oh my God, this is like a mini version of what you're talking about. But in my life, what you just reminded me of is every time I speak at a tech conference, I mean, you and I are very similar with like how we dress and whatnot. And so I'm always like wearing, you know, bright pink or like bright baby blues. It's like something very feminine. And typically I'm wearing a dress, right? And so what I didn't know, just like you, you didn't know that the impact you have just being yourself. Because when you were
Starting point is 00:26:04 trying to hurt just doing what you do, right? Like that was important to you. And I love that they gave you this feedback because every single time I do it at a tech conference, specifically, I get chased down leaving the building every time going to my car, going to Uber. And it's always women coming after me to tell me, thank you so much for wearing what you wore today. You just gave me permission to start showing up as a woman in my tech company. I always feel like I can't. I feel like women can't really be women and celebrate themselves. Thank you for showing me what's possible for me.
Starting point is 00:26:35 And I think so often for everyone listening, that we don't think that we have that impact, that we have that domino effect on other people, but the reality is everybody has that power. Yeah, no, we do. And we forget that we're not just showing up for ourselves. We're showing up for women everywhere. And it's so important to check in and say, if I do this, what kind of impact can I have?
Starting point is 00:26:59 Because we impact each other either by not doing something, which then keeps everybody hush hush, or if we have the courage to do something, it lets other people tap into their courage and war becomes possible. So good. Okay, so you didn't stop with just summoning these mountains, right?
Starting point is 00:27:15 Like this started you on a whole different path and trajectory in your life, ultimately to writing your new book. Talk to us a little bit about like how that came to be and why you did it. Yeah, so here's the book Breakproof Seven Strategies to Build Resilience and Achieve Your Life Goals. And I live by somebody that writes books, right? So when I was on a walk one day halfway through this pursuit, they're like, you should write a book. I should have thought about that. But like who the messenger was that you write books for a living, that's easy for you.
Starting point is 00:27:47 I do not write books for a living, this was a big undertaking. But I did it because I know the me before the accident, there's a lot of me out there. And so I wrote this book to that version of me and saying like, listen, if something is inside of you, like you're the only one that can bring it to life I need you to become break proof in that
Starting point is 00:28:10 pursuit because if you do you you give my daughter permission for her to do her and we all benefit. It's so true and it's funny because when you were just talking about that I'm thinking about what you said, you were living meh. That's what you said. Meh. Like, well, I've been there myself when I was in corporate America for a decade, I was kind of meh. I didn't love what I was doing. But I'm like, Oh, golden handcuffs got to do it. I really thought like that was just the only option for life, which is wrong. So wrong. How like Jen, now that you've gone down this road and like you've really devoted so much of your life now
Starting point is 00:28:47 to this purpose driven work, what percent of people are living a meh life? Gosh, you know, it's crazy. I think a lot. Like I don't even know how you put a percentage on it, but here's how I know. Because when I go on walks with friends or I talk at companies or I meet with people
Starting point is 00:29:05 because their companies come in here to do events and I take their group on a hike or whatever that looks like, you realize you have these conversations and then they start getting excited because they're excited about what you achieved and they start seeing the possibility in themselves and they start getting curious about what that shift would look like or what single step they could take to do something a little bit different. And I think if they were already on that path, those aha moments wouldn't click like they do.
Starting point is 00:29:37 And so for me, it's just been this thing of, get curious, like lean into yourself. What gets you excited? Like I was so lost in motherhood. And that's like a reputable thing to be lost in. Like let's not be shy about the fact that society commends you for being lost in motherhood. Right, you could never be too good of a mother.
Starting point is 00:29:58 That when I started journaling after the accident, I'm like, I don't even know what my favorite color is. And so I bought this pack of pins. It was like 12 different colors. I'm like, I can't write in red because that feels like I'm correcting myself. If I write in yellow, I feel like I can't see what I wrote. Like, I'm like going through these things
Starting point is 00:30:16 and I finally decided, I'm like, I'm gonna write in purple. Purple's playful. It's like all these different things. And when you get curious about yourself and allow yourself to like just step into these things and try it out and not commit to it forever and let it be a season, like life becomes pretty fun again,
Starting point is 00:30:34 no matter what you're doing or where you are on your journey. It's so flipping true. And that's the thing, it's for a long time when you are a type A overachiever who's so driven to achieve success, like you said, and be number one, it's easy to lose sight, but life's supposed to be fun. And I, for a long time, and I know same with you, like you kind of just forget about it, you ignore,
Starting point is 00:30:56 am I even having fun every day? Versus when you show up every morning and you're doing something that you're put on the scourge to do and you're living a purpose driven life. Things are so here's like a crazy thing. So my story and we all have a story. So the thing is to give yourself space to become aware of your story. My story was I am lucky to have the opportunity to be a stay at home mom, which I truly was. But there was a time where my kids needed me home and I'm glad I was there for it. And then they started doing their thing and they needed a different role model. And so when I started to step into things that I was doing,
Starting point is 00:31:34 they like watched and we would have conversations that were more of the same, right? Like my son didn't wanna do his math homework. Hey, I don't feel like training today, but I'm gonna go climb Everest so I have to train. Like sometimes we have to do his math homework. Hey, I don't feel like training today, but I'm going to go climb Everest, so I have to train. Like sometimes we have to do things we don't like because we want the end result. Like I have to eat healthy, I have to do,
Starting point is 00:31:52 so we were doing life in parallel. And so we could compare notes of like, oh, this is what we do. This is how it looks. This is how it works. It wasn't just me preaching like, hey, I don't even really like my life, but here's what you need to do.
Starting point is 00:32:06 Kids don't wanna take advice from somebody that's not loving their life. They wanna take advice from like, my mom is slaying it and she's happy, what is she doing? I wanna copy that. And I think it's so important for us to realize like, we're always on a stage with our friends, with our children, with our peers, like we gotta always on a stage with our friends, with our children, with our peers.
Starting point is 00:32:26 Like we gotta lean into us. Meet a different guest each week. What is all this? Confidence quick. Confidence quick. I asked you to try to find your passion. Oh, such a fact. Kids are gonna do what they see you do,
Starting point is 00:32:45 not what they hear you tell them to do. And that's so powerful and so important to remember. All right, let's get into some of the strategies from the book, the seven strategies to build resilience. Can you share some of those with us? Yeah, I think my biggest one from like the book that I have to repeat to myself on a regular basis is big mountains, metaphorical,
Starting point is 00:33:07 big mountains take big teams. You know, I think so much of us like I have this Everest-like goal. It's not me climbing Everest. There are so many people that made that goal possible for me, from help at home, help with the kids to like getting food on the mountain and moving tents and oxygen and having support and setting ropes. And I mean, there's a ton of people involved to be able to climb a Mount Everest. And so for you that are listening, if you have your Everest goal and you're starting to get tired or you want to negotiate with yourself on it like, oh, I was just being crazy. I don't need to set a goal that big. I want to do this.
Starting point is 00:33:50 I want you to just stop for a second. Instead of negotiating or trying to shank your goal or trying to give yourself an excuse to not achieve your Everest and ask yourself, do I have enough help? Because I think nine times out of 10, it's we don't have enough help, we don't ask for it. And so we're trying to take on this huge Everest goal by ourselves and that's not gonna happen. Like you're not gonna get to the top unless you have people on your team.
Starting point is 00:34:18 And so in the book, I talk about how to ask for help and how to build your team so that you can get to the top of the mountain. And here's some signs that you don't have enough people on it. And that's why you want to quit. So true. Oh my gosh. It's so hard to ask for help until you do it successfully. And then you're like, what the heck was I waiting for?
Starting point is 00:34:36 All right, what's another one of these strategies that you hear from your readers that has helped them? I think the concept of a climatizing. Okay, so it's what happens when you climb a mountain like Mount Everest. I thought you literally went to Everest and then you went from base camp to the top and back down to base camp,
Starting point is 00:34:55 and that just took three weeks. Well, when I got to Everest, I realized you actually climb Mount Everest multiple times because of the lack of oxygen. So you'll get to base camp and then you'll hike up to camp one or camp two. And then there's a point where your body can not go any further. There's just not enough oxygen in the air for how you currently are wired. So you get to that point of failure and then you go back down to base camp and you sit at base camp for about three days. And the stress from that point of failure
Starting point is 00:35:29 causes your body to physiologically change. So you're making more red blood cells. So that three days later, if you were to climb that same section, you can actually go higher up the mountain because now you have more red blood cells to operate in the lower oxygenated environment. So you go up to camp three, hit a point of failure, come back down, go to camp four until
Starting point is 00:35:52 you get to the summit. And so whatever our goal is, if it's an Everest-like goal, so like your biggest one you have, maybe you hit a point of failure. That doesn't mean quit. that doesn't mean stop. That means come back home, come back to the boardroom, look at what you've learned, figure things out, integrate that learning into who you are, so that when you go climb the mountain again,
Starting point is 00:36:20 you're acclimatized and you can climb higher. So sometimes you need to climb down to climb back up. And I don't know, we always give ourselves permission to do that. Well, number one, I didn't know that that's how it works. Obviously, I've never climbed a mountain, but I had no idea. It's so interesting to think of that parallel to like other things in life. And this is what confused me, though, and I'm interested to know your answer on our thoughts on it.
Starting point is 00:36:45 But when do you know it isn't time to give up? Cause now I'm thinking of like relationship, like there's so many different lenses you could see this or like how do you know when it is time to call quits on something, on a business, on a relationship, on a partnership, whatever, or that no, maybe I just need to climatize my body and go for it again.
Starting point is 00:37:03 Okay, so we'll use this analogy, right? Like you hit this point of failure and you come back to the boardroom and you're looking at things and you're saying, okay, what do I know now? Does this still make sense to go forward? So I'll give you an example of when something didn't make sense for me to go forward.
Starting point is 00:37:20 I went on a friend's private plane and we went shopping. We didn't have to do all that TSA garbage. Like we's private plane and we went shopping. We didn't have to do all that TSA garbage like we got to leave when we wanted to like it was the most romantic sexy adventure we've ever done and so I came home I'm like I need a plane this is amazing I'm gonna go get my pilot's license so I sign up at the local airport I start taking pilot classes I get there and I have to go through all these rundowns and run-ups and all of a sudden I realize when I'm in the air, like 97% of the time
Starting point is 00:37:53 I'm checking for problems, right? And like 3% of the time I actually get to enjoy what I'm doing, like, oh, isn't this pretty and look what we're doing. The rest of the time is, are the gauges working? If something went wrong, where would we land? If something went wrong, where would we land? And like all this stuff. So I'm like, okay, this isn't quite what I thought
Starting point is 00:38:10 it was gonna be. And so I'm like, okay, but it's gonna be so nice for my kids. So then I go back to the class and I'm like, hey, I wanna take my kids and fly them over our house. So I take two kids to my class. They sit in the back of the plane and they're like, where's my TV? Like there isn't one on this plane. They have to go to my class. They sit in the back of the plane, and they're like, where's my TV?
Starting point is 00:38:25 I'm like, there isn't one on this plane. They have to go to the bathroom. There's no bathroom on this plane. Mommy's learning to fly. Where are their snacks? I'm like, oh my gosh, just look at your house. This is amazing, right? And so then we leave that day, and I'm driving home.
Starting point is 00:38:39 I'm like, okay, I don't think I can fly this plane and raise my children at the same time, because that didn't work Every time I come home from this flight I'm like all of a sudden having that scan my home environment for bad things that are happening and That's not a great thing to do when you have seven children because there's always bad things happening And you need to focus on the things that are going good not bad And but I don't quit like I'm gonna do this. I said I was. So anyways, I keep doing the lessons.
Starting point is 00:39:08 And it's time to take my final exam. And my instructor's like, hey listen, you need to call your insurance company because today you'll pass your exam and that changes things. So I call my insurance company. I'm like, hi, I'm getting my pilot's license. I should get it later on today. And then they gave me all my insurance premiums, which are like seven X what they were
Starting point is 00:39:27 prior to this pilot's license things because it's so dangerous that the chances of dying are so much higher. I'm like, okay, wait a minute. My kids are gonna be a nightmare on this thing. My insurance premiums go through the roof. I like, I'm not the nicest person for a few hours after the lesson
Starting point is 00:39:44 because my mind hasn't shifted into like a different gear. Like this isn't working for us. So I didn't do the final exam and I walked away from it and I walked away from it knowing that I checked all the boxes. It wasn't what I originally set it out to be. Like I knew like there was no guilt or shame or like, hey, I wish I would have completed. And so for us in a relationship or in a business setting or in personal goals, when you
Starting point is 00:40:12 can pull away from the situation and look at it with a rational mind instead of an emotional mind and do like the pros and cons, not every pursuit you're going to take needs to be taken to the top and that's okay. Oh, that is so good. And I never knew that story before. And you're gonna take needs to be taken to the top and that's okay. Oh that is so good and I never knew that story before and you're such a badass that you were even flying a plane that is freaking incredible. Yeah it's awesome. Yeah you're like, no you went from mid-flight to now she summits the biggest mountains in the world and flies planes. Okay so tell us who did you write this book for? Who needs to get this book? Yes, so if you are at a spot where you're not sure
Starting point is 00:40:49 what you wanna do next with your life, maybe you sold a company, maybe you got out of marriage, maybe you launched your kids and now you're in this space, you're like, hey, what do I wanna do with my one precious life? This book's gonna be for you. If you're running into a hard time and you're like, hey, I don't know what to do next, this book's for you. If you're running into a hard time and you're like, Hey, I don't know what to do next.
Starting point is 00:41:05 This book's for you. If you are like going to start a new pursuit and you want to be proactive and be like, Oh, this feeling might show up like the messy middle or the imperfect start or these different pieces. This is going to allow you to know what to look for. So when it shows up, you're like, aha, I have a solution. This is how we overcome. OK, the book is a break through seven strategies to build resilience and achieve your goals. Where can people find the book and where can they find you?
Starting point is 00:41:34 OK, so come to jendrummond.com. You can buy the book there at Amazon or any retailer. And then if you go to jendrummond, you'll be able to see all my social media handles. Follow me on whatever platform's your favorite. Reach out, say hi, and let's connect. Jen, thank you so much for all the work you're doing to make the world a better place to help elevate,
Starting point is 00:41:55 literally, yourself and others, and by leading a family of seven and doing it with such put-spud that inspires me every time I hear your story or take a look at the work you're doing. I'm just so grateful that to call you a friend, my friends. Thank you so much. All right, guys, until next week, go get the book, Breakthrough. You are going to love it.
Starting point is 00:42:16 Don't lead a meh life when you have a life of purpose, passion, and fun ahead of you. Get the book. Until next week, keep creating your confidence. You know I will be. I decided to change that dynamic. I couldn't be more excited. What you're gonna hear, start learning and growing. Inevitably something will happen. No one succeeds alone.
Starting point is 00:42:41 You don't stop and look around once in a while. You could miss it. I'm on this journey with me.

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