Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenny Powers.
Jenny, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
This is to every woman and to every girl who has ever wanted to follow her heart. My name is Jenny Powers and I am the founder of The Empowered Woman and the author of Empowered: The Woman’s Guide to Following Your Heart. Empowered is an inspirational guidebook that is full of guiding truths that will help to show you the way, through the sunshine and through the rain and through every chapter of your life.
I never imagined that I would write a book, but following my heart unexpectedly led me to write this one.
I am the author of this book, but I am also a reader of it. I refer to my book daily to find the inspiration and guidance that I need – to keep going, to keep trusting, to keep following my heart. I believe in every single word in its pages and I rely on its wisdom to guide me in every moment. Every day, this book reminds me to follow my heart and guides me to live the best life that I can live. I hope that it will guide you too. Always.
For many years, I lived a very safe life. I followed all of the rules that I was supposed to follow. I did the things that society expected me to do and I judged the success of my life based on the standards that society set. I did well in school, excelled at sports, got into an elite college, had incredible friends and an amazingly loving family. I got a prestigious job, made enough money, lived in a beautiful apartment and had everything that I thought would make me happy. Except that I wasn’t happy.
I was living the life that was expected of me and I was deeply unhappy. Because my life didn’t feel authentic to me. It didn’t feel truly unique to me. Despite all of my perceived success, my life did not feel successful to me. Because I wasn’t following my heart. So I took an enormous leap of faith and left behind everything in my life. I quit my job, moved out of my apartment, sold everything and bought a plane ticket to Australia.
For the first time in my entire life, I followed my heart.
And that decision changed everything.
From that moment on, I have made every single decision in my life by following my heart. I have pushed aside all expectations about the life that I should be living and about the person that I should be, and I have focused only on living the life that I want to live and on being the person that I want to be. This life has taken me around the world, through many different countries, through many different cities, through many different jobs, through many different relationships, through many different experiences. And there have been incredible highs and there have been devastating lows. There have been moments of magical bliss and moments of utter and complete heartbreak. And in every moment, it has been a journey. But I wouldn’t change a single thing about this journey. Because following my heart has given me a life that is far beyond my wildest dreams. I have truly lived. It hasn’t always been easy, but it has always been worth it.
I am here to tell you my story and to share the truth of my journey. I am here to show you what is possible when you choose to follow your heart. I am here to show you that the life of your dreams is real. I am here to show you that you are capable of doing anything that you want to do in this life and that you are capable of being anyone that you want to be in this world.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Imagine you’re sitting in your apartment with a very clear awareness that you are struggling. You are feeling depressed, overwhelmed and alone. This isn’t a feeling that you have ever really felt before so you feel lost. Over the past month or so, you have tried to reach out for help, but help of the mental kind is very expensive and you are not in a place financially where you can afford the help that you desire. You have tried to lean on others to help you to process all that you are feeling, but friends and family are equally unsure as to how to help you and each time, you are once again left feeling stuck. And then one day, you have simply had enough. Upon the recommendation of a family member, you walk yourself over to the local hospital, having heard that they have a mental wellness center and one that your insurance should cover. You wait outside for a moment, unsure if this is the right next step, but your desire for help takes over and you walk through the glass doors. You speak to the registration woman and tell her a bit of what you have been feeling. You tell her that you have been feeling down and a bit overwhelmed and what you would soon come to find out is called anxiety. She takes your license and your vitals and asks you to take a seat in the waiting room. You have envisioned a space of peace and healing and one that will provide you with the help that you desire. You feel courageous and proud that you have taken this step and feel hopeful that the support and guidance are just around the corner.
But that moment is quickly cut short. And the next thing you know you are being escorted by security through a revolving door and you immediately have a sinking feeling that something just doesn’t feel right. You ask to go back to the waiting room and you are told “no.” In a matter of a few minutes, you are led into a holding cell where you are stripped of your belongings, ordered to remove your clothes and change into scrubs and in that moment, panic sets in. You look around, utterly confused and asking for help. You get none. You are ignored and then forcefully moved to a smaller holding cell and in that moment, you realize that, in the moment that you came to ask for help, you have been involuntarily committed to a mental hospital, and your life as you know it, is over.
And the woman in this story is me.
What followed was the darkest year of my life. But what has come from that experience has been a priceless gift. Because in my greatest darkness, I returned to what I knew. I went back to the foundation of who I am and relied upon the resources that I had created to help me to find the light again. I returned to my book, my workbook, my journal, my course – all of my own inspirational content – content that I had written to help others, content that ended up saving my own life.
The guiding truths in my book have forever changed the course of my life and they have truly guided me on the path to becoming my best self and living my best life. They have brought me back from the darkness and returned me to the light. This is not the journey that I ever would have expected but today, I am closer than I have ever been to being the woman that I want to be and to living that life than I want to live. My mission is to share my story to inspire others.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your Empowered mission?
I am a bestselling author, a motivational speaker and a transformational life coach. I am the founder of Empowered by Jenny and The Empowered Woman and the creator of The Empowered Woman Experience. I am the author of EMPOWERED: The Woman’s Guide to Following Your Heart, as well as the author of the Empowered Workbook and the Empowered Journal. I am an experienced ICF Certified Coach. I am also the innovator and creator of 100 DAYS OF YOU, which is a 3-month transformational coaching program that is changing the world by awakening every person to their best self.
I have spent much of my life traveling around the world, seeking to live the best life that I can live and fulfilling my passion for adventure, for new experiences and for following my heart. I am committed to inspiring people worldwide and to empowering everyone to live their best lives.
The mission of my company is to empower people everywhere to become their best selves. To awaken us to our own power so that we may live as the people that we are born to be. To free us from what we carry around as the caretakers of others so that we take the time to stop, breathe and reconnect to who we each are. To strengthen our relationship with ourselves so that we embrace our bodies, our hearts, our minds and our spirits, in everything that we do. To build the tools that are necessary for us to be able to unleash the potential that is inside all of us so that we are each capable of doing amazing things. To grant us the space in this world where we can experience the freedom to feel, to express, to let it all out and to connect to our happiest selves. To honor and celebrate the brilliance, the passion, the fire and the joy of people, everywhere. To create the place on this Earth where extraordinary transformation happens so that we are all empowered to live our best lives.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
To follow your heart and to never give up on your dreams.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.empoweredbyjenny.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/empoweredbyjenny/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/empoweredbyjenny
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/empoweredbyjenny/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA29IkHPvkY https://youtu.be/aASxL267rDQ
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K2jq9LAJrk
Image Credits
Ken Rochon Tausha Dickinson
