Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Dohr.
Hi Jennifer, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
You know how some women feel stuck in the “fit in and accepted voice” instead of living from their true, full self? Well, I help with that. Because it’s painful when we focus outside of ourselves on others’ expectations of who we should be. So I help women go inward to peel back the layers of who they really are and how they got to where they are today. From there, they can integrate their past self with their present reality and make some decisions, moving forward.
In short, I guide women to mine the stories where their authenticity resides by picking up a pen and meeting themselves on the page so that they can lead lives of clarity, confidence, and creativity. Let me explain.
I’ve always reached for the nearest pen and paper to understand my inner self, to explore the gems of my truth. And for the longest time, I wanted to be a writer. Then I discovered teaching, and I realized that my greatest fulfillment comes from helping others unpack the journey of their lives so that they stand in their authentic voice. There’s nothing more powerful than that, and once you see it, you cannot unsee it.
For twenty-five years teaching at Harvard-Westlake School and The Archer School for Girls, every novel, poem, and discussion became a vehicle to ask my students, “Who are you?” From there, I developed a process and tools that resulted in the biggest transformations I had ever witnessed. Students went from saying, “I don’t know who I am” and “I don’t have a story” to living from their authentic selves. Suddenly, they became clear, confident, and self-aware. Their relationships flourished—because they were willing to trust me to hold the space for them. Because they were willing to move a pen across the page through my carefully created, three-step approach that incorporates sensory-based prompts and poetry while generating access to the subconscious. Simple? Yes. Easy? No.
As hard as it was to walk away from teaching high school students, I knew that I had to leave the classroom to work with women at transition points in their lives who are no longer willing to check their full selves at the door. In the patriarchy, where women are pulled in a million directions, personal and professional fulfillment comes from trusting in the authority and relevance of one’s unique perspectives. I want to help women speak up about what is important and required in their lives order to show up beyond the biases of others—without the need to validate, legitimize, or prove—by acknowledging and utilizing their authentic voice.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My whole life has guided me to found Authentic Voice. Once I made the decision to open my business, my mission and vision and curriculum led the way. Authentic Voice is a process whose time has come.
But my biggest challenge has come in learning how to market my services. I am accustomed to a class of students assembled for me, so I’ve had to quickly clarify my messaging so that I can remain focused on my North star: connecting with the women who want to learn the path of unearthing and standing in their authentic voice. And it’s all coming together beautifully. In my first few months, I have worked with the Women in Leadership Team of an international automotive corporation, launched my individual coaching series, and hosted several two-day Women’s Retreats.
Why do you need to uncover your authenticity through writing?
Women, especially, are caught between living from their truth versus serving up the words and actions that others expect from them. While “authenticity” is the movement of the moment—you cannot go one day without hearing or reading the advice to “Just be real, be genuine!”— it’s not that easy. We cannot “think about” being authentic. We need the GPS to get there.
Because—and we may not want to admit this to ourselves—inauthenticity comes more naturally: we hide behind a façade of invulnerability because we don’t want to risk exposing ourselves. But here’s the thing: no one reaches adulthood without challenges and without shame. So to stand courageously in our authentic voice, we first need to meet, uncover, and grapple with those experiences on the page: From there, we develop empathy—first for ourselves, then for others.
Why Authentic Voice?
My work always achieves personal transformation because I teach you, through pathos and humor, everything you need to know to uncover your authentic voice for yourself. Authentic Voice is not a writing workshop: I don’t teach craft, and I have no desire to be a ghostwriter. I offer something more rare and important: I teach a course of action. Yes, you’re collecting insights about your life, but even more so, you’re investing in self-discovery on the page. And the good news is that your authentic voice is in there, it just needs to be excavated. Your shift comes from following the route—first with me by your side and then without me. And all of my work is customized to exactly what you need. I offer individual coaching, women’s retreats, interactive presentations, and corporate events for teams who want to build the most deeply connected, collaborative, and highly functioning teams. We can work together virtually or in person. Profound inner clarity, confidence, healthier relationships, love, and success: it all starts from unearthing the stories at the center of your authentic voice.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My parents divorced when I was seven, and that’s when I first reached for a journal and a pen. My first poem was called “The Littlest Things,” and when my mother, a therapist, framed it and hung it in the living room of our new apartment, I had never felt so seen. Later, I found out she would photocopy my short stories and pass them out her colleagues at work. My first story, “The Peanut Butter Factory,” was about a girl who couldn’t stop peanut butter from getting stuck in the pipes of her factory. But she never quit trying.
By the time I was in middle and high school, outwardly, I was bold and successful–a competitive gymnast, an excellent student, a good friend. But inwardly, I suffered from imposter syndrome, the old “I’m not good enough” trap. So I compensated by over-performing. My ambition was maladaptive, of course, and only led me to depression and inauthenticity.
So I founded Authentic Voice because I needed it the most: I am my own first client. And like the girl in the peanut butter factory, I won’t stop until I’ve curated a community, a movement of women picking up the pen and freely keeping it moving in order to meet themselves on the page. And there’s not a minute to waste. It’s time for women to be fearless, to “fear less.”
“Authentic Voice is unearthing your values, mindsets, joys, frustrations, motivations, influences, stepping stones, crucibles, and competencies–and living from them.”® It’s the greatest gift you can give yourself, believe me.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.
authenticvoicenow.com - Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/ authenticvoiceus/ - Facebook: https://www.
facebook.com/authenticvoicenow - Linkedin: https://www.
linkedin.com/in/jenniferdohr/
Image Credits
DAVID PALMER, STUART RADFORD, LINDSEY-LOON RICKER
