62 | Fitness Without Limits: Jess Silver | on Reframing Ability

What happens when you refuse to let physical limitations define your possibilities? Jess Silver's story answers this question with powerful clarity. Born three months premature weighing just two pounds, Jess entered the world facing cerebral palsy and later scoliosis - conditions that affected her ability to walk independently but never dampened her determination to thrive.

The founder and executive director of Flex for Access takes us on her remarkable journey from launching a social media campaign that gained global traction to building a nonprofit that has raised over $30,000 creating opportunities for adaptive fitness. Her perspective fundamentally reframes how we think about adaptation: "When we adapt a program, we create a program suited for the individual. We're adapting to their own learning styles and personal needs."

Jess reveals how her seven-and-a-half-year process of writing her bestselling memoir "Run an Uncharted Direction" paralleled her own evolving understanding of resilience. The book's cover deliberately makes no mention of cerebral palsy - not because she denies this aspect of herself, but because she refuses to be primarily defined by it. "It is a part of who I am. I don't deny that... But I have not allowed my challenge to stop me in any way, shape or form."

For listeners struggling with their own limitations or fears around fitness, Jess offers practical wisdom: break movements into smaller components, focus on your motivation, and remember that "the only way we can get over our fear is if we face that fear and try to do it." Her advice for gym owners and fitness professionals centers on conversation and creativity - asking questions rather than making assumptions about what people with disabilities need.

Whether you're facing physical challenges, feeling stuck in your fitness journey, or simply seeking inspiration to overcome life's obstacles, Jess's parting wisdom resonates: "Keep allowing adversity to blaze that fire stronger within you." By approaching challenges with intention, we transform obstacles into opportunities for growth an

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Jess Silver
• 4:04 Explaining Adaptive Fitness
• 8:26 Founding Flex for Access
• 16:37 Overcoming Fear in Fitness
• 21:52 Finding Strength Through Adversity
• 28:31 Rewriting Your Personal Narrative
• 32:59 Creating Inclusive Gym Environments
• 37:10 Resilience Through Storytelling

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

You're listening to the Off Balance Podcast, where faith, family and business collide, hosted by Brooke Stemming, doctor of Business Administration, business Coach and Resilience Expert. Each episode features real-life conversations to help entrepreneurs like you build resilience and lead with confidence.

Speaker 2: 0:32

Welcome back to Off Balance. I'm your host, dr Brooks. Today we're exploring how resilience, movement and mission can turn struggle into strength. Today's guest is someone whose story is as powerful as it is inspiring. She's the founder and executive director of Flex for Access, a medical writer, motivational speaker, adaptive fitness personal trainer and an Amazon bestselling author. Her memoir Run an Uncharted Direction dives into the powerful intersections of adversity, sports and purpose, offering listeners a compelling look at how challenges can become catalysts for growth. Please welcome Jess Silver, a woman who embodies resilience, purpose and passion in everything she does. Jess, welcome to Off.

Speaker 3: 1:19

Balance. Hi Dr Brooks, Hello listeners, Thank you for that introduction.

Speaker 2: 1:24

Thank you so much for joining us on today. Before we dive into our conversation, can you introduce yourself to listeners and tell them what type of work it is that you?

Speaker 3: 1:33

do? Of course I can. My name is Jess Silver, the founder and executive director, as Dr Brooks said, a nonprofit organization called Flux for Access, which creates opportunities for adaptive fitness and sport promotion for individuals who have physical disabilities and injuries. I'm also a medical writer and editor. I've worked in clinical settings such as hospitals, as well as on a freelance basis and for marketing firms, taking very complex medical information and making it more easily digestible for the general public, and I'm also an adaptive fitness personal trainer and adaptive fitness consultant. My fitness journey was all started through my own personal journey that I took in the gym nearly 18 years ago to manage my physical condition of cerebral palsy, and since then I have become inspired to lead others through movement and use exercise as a vehicle for disability management.

Speaker 2: 2:29

When it comes to adaptive. Can you explain that for us?

Speaker 3: 2:33

So when I use the word adaptive often people feel like there's a lot more complexity added to the concept or to how one exercises when they have a physical disability or a disability of any nature. But adaptive to me means adapting an exercise program to suit the individual needs of an individual that has a complex neurological disability and has limitations. But really the idea of adapting is no different than it is for me, than it is for you. When we adapt a program, we create a program that is suited for the individual, who is just that. They're, an individual that has unique needs. So we're adapting to their own learning styles and to their own personal needs.

Speaker 2: 3:21

I was thinking that it was something so different. I took a couple of years off from strength training and when I went back I couldn't do a pushup. So my trainer allowed me to do the pushups from the knees, so that's an adaptation to a standardized exercise.

Speaker 3: 3:34

We modify it based on our needs at any given moment. The only difference is for an individual who's part of a special population, if they have a physical disability or acquired injury. Those adaptations are happening a lot more regularly, throughout the hour or throughout any given day, or consistently adapting to our own embodied needs that we have.

Speaker 2: 3:58

Okay, you're the executive director of Flex for Access. Can you tell us more about that?

Speaker 3: 4:04

Flex for Access is my nonprofit organization us more about that. Flex for Access is my nonprofit organization that I founded eight years ago. We started out as a social media awareness campaign that gained traction all over the world, because that's the beautiful thing about social media you can connect with so many people and I wanted to start something in order to redefine cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is the neurological condition that I was born with. I'm well into my 30s now and I was born with a condition, and when I was born I was two pounds three months premature. I suffered a brain injury which resulted in cerebral palsy. It affected my ability to walk independently and other motor function, and I found, several years into my training in the gym, that not many people understood. Throughout my life I found that not many people understood how my condition affects me, but also took me just as the human that I am having physical limitations but not treating me so differently from their peers who don't have a physical disability. So what I did was I wanted to start something in order to redefine physical disability and to create opportunity for adaptive fitness and sport promotion.

Speaker 3: 5:14

I recognize myself as an individual who has this condition. Individuals like myself who have physical disabilities don't have the opportunity to go to a mainstream gym, to train at any gym or exercise studio, as any other individual would readily. So what I did was first we started out as a social media awareness campaign and we gained traction and engagement pretty quickly and it grew exponentially where I had athletes and individuals from all over the world Australia, england, for example, all over the States and Canada flexing their biceps in support of the nonprofit organization to redefine the way that physical disability is understood and create awareness. So in 2017, I then took it upon myself to register it as a nonprofit organization and now we've raised over $30,000 since we've existed as a nonprofit organization and what the organization does is it creates the opportunities, in partnerships with local gyms and studios, for these individuals to be able to train and exercise or engage with sport in mainstream facilities, and the funding goes towards funding the adaptive fitness, personal training sessions or sports programs.

Speaker 2: 6:33

I can imagine through your organization you have changed so many lives and made people feel included. How did that make you feel in real time, when you were able to see your idea manifest in the lives of others?

Speaker 3: 6:46

To be honest with you, it's still hard to believe and I never really feel I'm that agent for change or that vehicle for change, because I myself I'm a very humble person and I tend to work quietly in the room.

Speaker 3: 6:58

As they say, put in a lot of hard work but I don't make noise doing it.

Speaker 3: 7:02

But the first program recipient whose life that I touch I'll never forget, when I was working in partnership with one of our founding partners and they thanked me for changing their life, for allowing them to develop physical progress, and whenever I see their testimonials I get shivers that go down my spine because I really feel like that's when you know the work that I've endeavored to do, not only to create awareness but for it to actually impact an individual.

Speaker 3: 7:32

I've done it and I'm more inspired to impact a greater number of people and I now work with athletes and strength and conditioning coaches to teach them how they can incorporate adaptive fitness personal training programming into what it is they do. Getting media coverage and hearing other people talk about my work. I still have to do a double take sometimes and it's really hard to believe, but I feel that it empowers me whenever I'm to quote the title of your podcast. Whenever I feel off balance or I feel like I've hit a roadblock and I feel stuck, I have to think about the people whose lives I'm continuing to try to change.

Speaker 2: 8:23

And then I'm afraid to go to the gym. What mindset shift can help them adopt your approach to just getting it done?

Speaker 3: 8:33

I'm not going to pretend to say that it's not scary to do and it's not hard to do, it's not challenging to do and we don't all have those moments. And I recognize that because, being myself an adaptive fitness personal trainer and I've also studied sports psychology courses and through my medical communications background, I know quite a bit about the human mind and body and I know that it is really challenging. But what I will say is that for me, anytime I found something that's movement based or mindset based to be really challenging, the one way that I feel like I can be more or a little bit more in control of it is when I actually attempt to make that first attempt or take that first step and start to try to do an exercise. So what I will say is that the only way and it might sound cliche, but I feel like the only way that we can get over our fear of being in the gym or of knowing if we're able to do a certain exercise is if we face that fear and try to do it. And maybe, if we don't have that ability intrinsically within ourselves to do, maybe if we can look to somebody else who empowers us or think of an athlete that maybe this person who we're talking about looks up to, or what it is that motivates them.

Speaker 3: 9:56

If you can tap into that other source and think about, what I would say is it's most important to think about why you're there, why you want to do this exercise. How is it going to help you? And then slowly break it down into smaller components. If you feel very overwhelmed about doing the whole thing and how am I going to do this perfectly? Because I know that's when imposter syndrome kicks in and we're all like, oh, I want to do this perfectly and I need my form to be top form. The reality is that none of us have to have top form until we do the exercise for hours and years. So I think the one way to get started is by thinking about why you're doing it or what it is you want to improve, and then think about someone or something that motivates you and break down the movement slowly in order to be able to do it.

Speaker 2: 10:49

Let's build on that. In Run and Uncharted Direction, you discuss adversity and you talk about how it's not just something to overcome but it's something that you can use to have an edge. Can you share a moment in your journey when that mindset became a reality for you?

Speaker 3: 11:07

In preparation for this podcast and I mean I always have to think quite a bit about this question when I get asked, because I've been fortunate to be well into my 30s now and there have been lots of moments that have shaped my character and my resilience within me, or I'd like to hope that they've established resilience in me. But one moment in my life or one occurrence in my life that I had to face separately from being diagnosed with cerebral palsy from birth is when I was 12 years old I was diagnosed with scoliosis and that's a curvature of the spine, and our spine is the central structure in our body that keeps us alive and keeps us moving straight and balanced and affects other organs in our complex organ systems. And what happened was I was diagnosed with this condition, scoliosis, secondarily to my CP, and that can sometimes be pretty common for people that have CP or have other physical disabilities and what I found was that it really has further thrown off my physical ability to balance on my own, to sit straight on my own, to stand up straighter, to balance independently and also to carry out other movement, as well as also to impede me from doing other things that I might want to do Like. For example, when I was younger, if I ever wanted to go on a roller coaster, for example, I could with assistance, or I used to go horseback riding, and then, when I was diagnosed with scoliosis, I could no longer do that. So it really affected my ability to do certain activities and still, to this day, does so.

Speaker 3: 12:52

What I feel that did for me, aside from really scaring me and throwing me off of my equilibrium or off balance again, to quote the name of your podcast, is what it did. Was it once I started to tap into what therapies could be done to manage it and how to really understand what this condition is on my part and with my support network? Once I did that, I really realized that this was going to make me even stronger than I am, because on a daily basis, I have to manage physical, chronic pain in my back due to scoliosis. It affects your digestion. In some ways. It affected my ability to train, even at the gym, but what it did for me is it further strengthened the soundness of my mind to be like? No, I am now like a professional athlete.

Speaker 3: 13:46

In my book I referenced Kobe Bryant, who was my favorite NBA player and my hero in my life, who was my favorite NBA player and my hero in my life, and I feel that I really, throughout my life, adopted that mamba mentality of his and through my scoliosis, I knew that I wasn't going to quit, and I still haven't quit to this day.

Speaker 3: 14:04

Having the condition and aging with my disability, it's just further empowered me to be even more dedicated to my fitness routine and to everything that I do as an adaptive fitness personal trainer, as a fitness consultant, to now coach others. I think what an injury or an accident or something traumatic does for all of us is it allows us to, if we're capable of it, reevaluate what our journey means to us and find other ways to tap into a new level of strength. And because I'm such a sports fan and into sports psychology and I really understand it in depth, that allowed me to do and the title of my memoir Run an Uncharted Direction, is that meaning that I'm running on an uncharted path, on an unknown path throughout my life, and the experience that are, those of adversity and those unknowns that we encounter and we explore in our life actually define us and redefine us on a daily basis.

Speaker 2: 15:09

You mentioned imposter syndrome, and a lot of people talk about that when it comes to being in spaces that they have talked themselves out of. For someone that's listening and they are thinking, jess, I hear what you're saying, but I just really don't think I can do it. What is that common mistake that people often make when it comes to counting themselves out?

Speaker 3: 15:32

It's an interesting question that you asked me, and I get asked this in different ways by different people that I work with, be they parents, be they part of the medical community, be they those who I work with in partnership with Sets for Access. Something that I've been thinking about on a regular basis is this fact of. I don't want to say that I stand apart from other people, but I just did mention to you a bit about my life journey and having that love for athletics and sport. Basketball is my favorite sport. I love tennis and soccer too. I really feel that I relate to athletes because of my own personal journey and my passion for sport.

Speaker 3: 16:12

I have that and I've always felt, even if I don't belong in a space because I've been counted out so many times told oh, what are you doing here? You're in a wheelchair. How can you be in a gym? Or even in school, like when I was bullied? Oh, what are you doing? You're the one who's different, we don't want you here. And I always found the one who's different. We don't want you here. And I always found.

Speaker 3: 16:35

Again, to go back to my book, I always found a backdoor, an alternate path, an alternate track to build on my journey. But what I think happens to people and why they feel like they can't do a certain thing, is because I think they buy into that assumption, maybe that society has, or that preconceived notion or definition that society has of them being different, whether it's a racial issue, whether it's a gender issue, whether it's a physical disability issue. They buy into that assumption or preconceived notion or bias and allow it to cloud their perception of themselves. So then they're there and they're going oh no, I can't be here, I don't feel like I'm to be rightfully included, and I think what we have to do is we have to challenge ourselves as individuals, and it's very hard, as I say that we have to do it, but I think we have to look for ways to rewrite that narrative, to challenge it and create our own.

Speaker 2: 17:37

And when it comes to rewriting the narrative, what would you recommend to be the first step for a person?

Speaker 3: 17:44

I would say that the first crucial thing is to find people that, as we say in society these days, fill your cup or that you can really relate to. Seek, I would say, ask questions. I always say and tell people not to be afraid to ask questions or to use your voice, even in arenas or places when they feel like they can't. What's the worst? That's going to happen. Somebody's going to go oh, I didn't think about this this way, or that's a new perspective, or, yeah, you might get some people who don't believe in what you're saying. But what I would say is try to use your voice in the way that one can for everyone listening. But also, what's very important is to surround yourself with people that you can relate to, and find mentors and find sources of individuals who empower what it is that you want to do. And find mentors and find sources of individuals who empower what it is that you want to do and what you stand for, or those who can guide you along your new alternate path.

Speaker 3: 18:44

And for me, those people all came out of my fitness community that I built in the gym, separately from, of course, my family and my closest friends, but, like I said, being in the gym and really putting in that effort and having my personality, putting myself out there and saying it doesn't matter what others think, I am here because I want to be here and I want to learn and I want to improve.

Speaker 3: 19:09

When I surrounded myself with the right people, that was when I felt that I could build my nonprofit organization and, honestly, it took me seven and a half years to write my memoir Run and Uncharted Direction, which is available on Amazon for all of you listening who want to get to know my story and use it as a tool or as a way to empower you, or, if you're a sports fan. It mentions sports quite a bit and talks about my love for communications. And it took me seven and a half years to write. And it was when I already established Bucks for Access and when I was already well on my fitness journey in the gym that I felt like it was time for me to write my story. I knew that I always wanted to be a writer. I've been writing since I was six years old, but it all has to happen, as we say, at the right time in the right place.

Speaker 2: 20:54

When you go into the gym it's like a community of people. So if you have someone that's listening, what can we do to be more inclusive to people that's coming into the gym that may have a physical disability? What are some strategies or some things that we can do?

Speaker 3: 21:08

the first thing I would say is not to overthink it and not to make them feel like they're so different from every other member that's going into the gym, but to realize that individuals who have physical disabilities, whether they're from birth, like mine, or whether they're acquired later in life, they are the individuals who need movement the most.

Speaker 3: 21:29

Don't think of for those of you who may be listening who are gym owners or managers of gyms, or you manage the front desk of a gym.

Speaker 3: 21:39

If you work at the reception, don't think that if the gym is not structurally accessible, that you cannot have individuals who have physical disabilities come into your gym.

Speaker 3: 21:51

Think of it as I see this as an opportunity to make my business better, stronger, to have a stronger ROI, to have a stronger ROI, so higher revenue stream, and to open up my doors of my gym.

Speaker 3: 22:10

Or, if you operate a business online, open up my fitness practice or my fitness business to individuals whose lives I can change the most, from an emotional health perspective and a physical health perspective, and challenge yourself to think about how equipment can be used to cater to individuals who have varying needs, who use wheelchairs or crutches, for example, if you don't have specialized adaptive equipment, exercise equipment. Challenge yourself to think about how you if you're a trainer or you work with trainers can be creative to modify exercises to suit the needs of individuals who have varying mobility. And the first thing you can do and the most important thing you can do, which I think most of us forget is have a conversation and ask the person who's walking into your gym that has a disability, what it is they need your help with and what it is they want to work on and build from there.

Speaker 2: 23:07

I think asking the questions and talking to the person is very important. When it comes to your nonprofit organization and you are an adaptive personal trainer, do you offer any type of consultant services for gyms or other?

Speaker 3: 23:21

trainers.

Speaker 2: 23:22

Okay.

Speaker 3: 23:22

Since the beginning of the pandemic, I've stepped into more of that role where I work more heavily, and I'm looking for more opportunities to work even more as an adaptive fitness consultant. So for those of you who are listening, who do work in the fitness space and you're looking to work with, you're looking to broaden your demographic of who you work with. If you are looking for somebody to work with as a consultant, I would be interested in having the conversation, because I work with municipalities here in Toronto. I work with organizations I've worked with schools before and fitness and health professionals to teach them about programming, but also to look at their space and audit their actual spaces for accessibility considerations from an adaptive equipment perspective. So I'm looking for more of those opportunities.

Speaker 3: 24:14

So, dr Brooks, if you might know of anybody who you'd like to connect me with to continue the conversation and build on work opportunity, or for anybody listening, I can be contacted for everything to do with my nonprofit organization. My email is flexforaccess at gmailcom. I do offer consulting and the consulting is separate from my nonprofit organization's work because there is a fee for service for those consulting services. And then what we do with my nonprofit organization, I'm consistently looking for partners who have gyms, who have facilities, who could offer personal training and want to work with, or already do work with, individuals who are part of special populations. What we do is the funding that's raised by Flex for Access goes towards facilitating the adaptive fitness personal training sessions and funding of sports programs or funding of sessions of sports-based activities to allow individuals who have physical disabilities and acquired injuries to be active in mainstream settings.

Speaker 2: 25:21

I would have all of your contact information in the show notes so that people can reach out and allow you to consult them, as well as partner with your nonprofit, because I think the work that you're doing is phenomenal. My nephew has muscular dystrophy and the way that my sister raised him is he has no limits, right Like he just feels like he can do whatever anyone else can do. And so to meet you as an adult and to see that you have that same perception of yourself as a child, that is beautiful, because I've also met some adults and they have allowed life to just throw them blows and they have literally bought into those limitations.

Speaker 3: 26:03

That's awesome, because now when I work with lots of parents, you get you work with different individuals, right. And so some parents are like, oh, my child has this disability and so we have to go to a group class where everybody has this disability and they cannot be integrated fully with individuals who don't have their visible disability. And I wasn't raised that way either. When I was in school, elementary school and high school I was the only one that had the condition that I had in my classes and in my memoir Run an Uncharted Direction. Nowhere do you see on the cover. This story is about Jess Silver, who has cerebral palsy.

Speaker 3: 26:46

You find out later that, yes, I have it. It is a part of who I am. I don't deny that. It's a part of who I am. I live with it every day and I feel like my limitations empower me. But I have not allowed my challenge to stop me in any way, shape or form.

Speaker 3: 27:04

I founded my nonprofit organization, I got a master's in creative writing, I got a postgraduate degree in medical communications and I got married last year.

Speaker 3: 27:15

Like all the things I've done in my life, I have never allowed my challenge or, like you said, other people's perception of me put me in a box and not allow me to move forward.

Speaker 3: 27:28

And I think that to go back to thank you for sharing the personal kind of anecdote of your nephew having muscular dystrophy and your sister raising him to believe that he can do everything like everybody else not to make this sound cliche, but I think that is the best mindset that a parent can have, because we all have limitations, whether they're visible or invisible.

Speaker 3: 27:52

So to raise a child who has a disability to believe that they can't do things, how are they supposed to succeed and move forward in life?

Speaker 3: 28:01

So now, through all of the work that I do as a motivational speaker, as a mentor, through my nonprofit organization and as a person, I try to, like we were saying, have that conversation and help empower other people from all walks of life to understand that disability is not like something that should be feared, not like something that should be feared and, first of all, it's not like a lot of people I don't know have developed this attitude that like somebody has a disability, almost, and it's very backwards in a way if you think about it, because we're in 2025 and there's so much conversation around diversity, equity, inclusion, but you're not really seeing individuals included that have physical disabilities everywhere, and so I'm going. That's really backwards. I need to be the individual who opens up these doors for other individuals like myself and for others in society to realize that the perception of limitation or the definition of limitation is actually something that they're maybe projecting onto people that have physical disabilities or other disabilities.

Speaker 2: 29:10

Yes, and you mentioned your background, which ties nicely into my next question. You have combined your love for sports, for fitness and communication into such a unique path, from launching Flicks for Access to writing and speaking. How has that blend of passion shaped your understanding of resilience and leadership?

Speaker 3: 29:30

Honestly it's defined it because I feel like everything I've done in my life has culminated into me being a storyteller, into me being a communicator. Everything that I've done through having that vehicle and through founding my non-profit organization and working in the medical writing space, it all goes hand in hand and I feel that I've used one skill set to build on another skill set. And everything that I do I try to, like I said, empower the different people I work with, or to allow the varying demographics of individuals that my communications work touches to realize that, yes, we are all different but, yes, there is still this one common thread that connects all of us. And we all face adversity. Just mine might be a little more visible than Dr Brooks's adversity might be.

Speaker 2: 30:30

I think if you live long enough, you would definitely face adversity. We have someone that's listening and they may feel like they can't overcome whatever challenge that they have. Can you give them some encouragement on how to move forward?

Speaker 3: 30:47

First of all, I'd like to say that I'm always available as a resource through my professional background, but also just as a person, as a resource for anybody who's feeling overwhelmed and who's feeling like their adversity has really got them down, and I'm not the type of person to say that what I'm going through is so much harder than anybody else, because we all have a story, we all have challenges that we face on the day to day, and then we all have circumstances that happen. What I would say is and again, I don't want any of this to sound cliche, because sometimes it can come off as sounding that way is that when you're going through something really difficult and you feel like your world is closing in and you're losing parts of yourself and, if I can be very transparent, I've actually just been going through adversity right now myself. That has me feeling lower than I normally would like to feel. I think it's very important for us all to remind ourselves that we have a unique purpose in our life being placed on this earth and think about it like this Think that if you feel that you can't go on anymore because of the adversity you're facing, if you could say, turn to someone and say one word to make them feel good, or one word that would be your parting word.

Speaker 3: 32:11

What would that be? And try to think of the experiences that have shaped you into the person that you are, or something that is positive for you to allow you to leave them with that one word. And if you're thinking of yourself as that person that you want to leave with that one word, what would it be?

Speaker 2: 32:34

That's awesome advice. We talked about your memoir. We talked about you took seven and a half years to write it, but we did not talk about that. You are an Amazon bestselling author. That is such an accomplishment, and how did that make you feel when you found out that your story was bestselling? It was very surreal.

Speaker 3: 32:54

It still is very surreal. I still cannot believe that I have now three books on Amazon two but I also now just launched the audiobook version of Run. So I did want to share with all your listeners here that, for those of you who may not be readers of the hard copy, paperback copy or the ebook version, I also just released the audiobook version and it's very surreal. Still to this day, and when I think about it, I frankly still sometimes can't believe it, because I love books.

Speaker 3: 33:28

I've been a literary individual since I was too young to remember and for me to think that my story is out there.

Speaker 3: 33:36

And my other book of quotes is out there, called Life's Lava Quotes, values and Reflections that Light Our Souls and Color Our Days with Reason is my other book for those of you who are interested, and I can share that with you, dr Brooks, later, so that you can put it in the show notes as well. When I think about that, it goes back to again feeling like on a major level in my life. I have a responsibility, I feel, to empower others and to share my story or parts of myself, parts of my own experience to change the lives of others, and I honestly believe that is part of my calling, which is why I founded my nonprofit organization. So to know that my books are on Amazon coincides with that responsibility and I hope that the words brighten up someone's day if they choose to purchase my book in any form that it's available, and I hope that they find that they can relate to the story. But it is very overwhelming and surreal, I will say.

Speaker 2: 34:38

That is such an accomplishment. I hope that you are really soaking that in and knowing that you did a great job with your memoir. As we wrap up, what's one message or piece of advice that you want to leave with our listeners, who may be navigating their own uncharted direction? Not?

Speaker 3: 34:56

to feel, no matter how dark life can get some days or confusing life can get some days. Again, I feel like I'm saying this many a time not to sound cliche, but not to feel like anybody or any noise the figurative kind of noise, the imposter syndrome that we were talking about or your own self-doubt can stop you along your path. To keep seeking your own direction and following your heart and your intention, I would say do everything with intention. Another piece of advice I would have is you know I was talking about that one word. If you could leave someone with one word, what would that be? Or if you could leave yourself with one word, what would it be that?

Speaker 3: 35:39

But also think about every experience that you are encountering during a day. Think about why you're doing it and how you're doing it. If you can attach an intention to it, then that means keep doing it and keep chasing the why, as a lot of us say, and keep wrestling with the challenges. But the second you lose the intention, I would say it's time to go back and have some of that internal monologue, if you can, or turn to someone like Dr Brooks or someone in your support system to talk to to guide you along the way, because I feel like if we lose our intention, we lose our purpose, then we have nothing to run forward to. But as long as you have intention, keep chasing what it is that you want to and keep chasing risk and keep being. What I would also say is keep allowing adversity to blaze that fire stronger within you.

Speaker 2: 36:39

Jess, thank you so much. You have encouraged us all to strap up those laces and to finish our race, and so I will definitely have all of your contact information in the show notes for this episode, and if you want to work with Jess, whether it's consulting or partnering with her nonprofit, I will have her contact information. So again, jess, thank you so much for being a guest on Off Balance. It has been a pleasure.

Speaker 3: 37:03

Thank you for having me and thank you everybody for listening.

Speaker 1: 37:10

Thanks for listening. Please rate this episode and share it with your family and friends. To learn more about your host or to book a coaching session, visit wwwbrooksdemmingcom. Until next time, rise.