Ep. 28: Jennifer Keeton

In this episode: Jennifer Keeton

Guest Bio: 

Hi! I'm Jen. In 2015, my daughter was suddenly diagnosed with Williams Syndrome at age 5 and in 2017, I left my corporate life behind in pursuit of more for myself and my family. The journey to take the leap of leaving my corporate identify behind was difficult (as I have been formally working since age 12) but on the other side of it I have found more fulfillment, more money, and more balance. Presently I am supporting two start up organizations, 1 in food service and the other-an online marketplace for individuals with disabilities, allies, and families (Outshine Labels).

Links:

Social Handles
@jenkeeton, @williamssyndrome

Promotions/Business Information:
 @outshinelabels

Subscribe:

https://ordinarywomenextraordinarywealth.buzzsprout.com/

Tags:

Extraordinary wealth, finance, money, women’s issues, self-development 

Transcript

Janay Harris  0:01  
You are listening to ordinary women extraordinary wealth with Marcy Predmore-McPhee. This is the show where we talk about how ordinary women achieve extraordinary wealth. We interview successful business leaders and entrepreneurs to learn about their journeys, discover what success means to them, and go over the various forms of wealth they've been able to achieve. And we'll learn all the best tips and tricks, you can start applying in your own life and career. While extraordinary wealth comes in a variety of forms, we don't neglect the financial side. And it's so important for women to feel comfortable talking about money. So in this show, you'll also learn how to put your money to work and keep your money in motion. And use your money to enjoy life today, without stealing from tomorrow. Be sure to like and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you find this show valuable, make sure to share it with your friends and colleagues. And now, your host, Marcy Predmore-McPhee. McPhee.

Marcy Predmore  0:59  
Well, good morning, everybody. I am so excited for our series today on ordinary women extraordinary wealth. You know, my heart always is ready to share other extraordinary stories. And today, I have a truly amazing, extraordinary story in my guest today. She's a dear friend of my daughter in law, and they both have walked a journey that many of us would think, Oh, I could never do that. But I don't think they got the choice. I think they had a journey that was presented to them. And then they had to, as she will share, lean in to her journey to really understand how am I going to get through this? Well, she gets through it by her own inner strength, but the strength of her family, and the strength of support and mentors around her. So today, I'm so excited to introduce you to Jennifer Keaton. She is one of the cofounders of out shine labels. And I really want you all to take the time, she's going to talk a little bit about it. But I want you to take the time to go to that website. And if that moves, you really think about how you could help some of those families. So here's just a tiny bit about Jennifer, in 2015, her daughter was suddenly diagnosed with Williams Syndrome at the age of five. And in 2017, she left her corporate life behind to pursue more to be with her family, but also to grow herself. The journey took the leap of leaving her corporate identity. And I so related because when you lose your identity, sometimes you you kind of lose, you get you get lost on your path, you don't know exactly who am I. So that was truly difficult for her because she has been a hard worker, family example since the age of 12. And then, um, she found out let's see, I just lost my place. She's formerly working since 12. But on the other side of it, I have found more fulfillment, more money, more balance. Presently, she's supporting to startup organizations, that takes a lot of skill with a family. And then to balance that we're going to talk about balance to one is in the food service industry. The other was the other is an online marketplace. And the reason that online marketplace is so important is because it's supporting individuals with disabilities, their families, allies. And again, it's called out shine labels calm. So welcome, Jennifer. And tell us just a little bit more about you.

Jennifer Keeton  3:51  
Well, good morning. And thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited. And like I was telling you before I've heard so much about you and the work that you're doing on this podcast, and of course, Aaron is amazing. And our journeys are very similar. So we can act there. And so I'm just excited to be here and to I don't know if I have anything exciting to share or or Earth changing, but but we will see you do. You do. And

Marcy Predmore  4:19  
I think everybody's really, really looking forward to that. As you and I were sharing earlier, we're just going to jump into a few things. And I always ask a couple of big broad questions. And that's going to kind of kick off a little bit, help people to understand where you're coming from and really some of the journeys that you've been through. And you know, sometimes when I look at or people look at their successes, what the world thinks is a success. What I really like to dive into is Jennifer, what does success mean to you?

Jennifer Keeton  4:56  
Yeah, I that is a great question. It looks different to me now than it did. I think my whole entire life, which has been a journey in itself and a blessing for me. So now, I think success looks like fulfillment. I think success looks like how would I describe it? The happiness? Happiness not with I think happiness with what you have, versus you know what Inkster warming for what you don't have? Success to me parenting a person with an intellectual disability and development up disability, it looks like small things versus big things. I think I used to be a person who thought, you know, success is these big milestones and big celebrations and big, big stream everything. And now I don't see that I see it more as but the joy in the simple things, right? Yes, we just for an example, Stella got a card from her teacher in the mail, and she read the entire thing that is a big success to me. We were talking about in your own life, right, like paying off a credit card. That's a success. Having an emergency fund per saving, that's an excess success. So I've learned over the course of time that success is really what you make of it, and the things that you place value on and that those things do not have to be what society thinks is successful. They don't have to be big milestones. They just have to be what brings your heart happiness, joy, and fulfillment.

Marcy Predmore  6:57  
Yes. And I absolutely love that Jennifer only because it just resonates again, with my heart You and I resonated that just with your verbiage telling me a little bit about you. But that's what success truly is. Yes, in the world, it's sometimes those big things. It's it's something that somebody wants to tout that they've done. But when it's the every day of being able to read a card, or or listening to the successes of your family member, whatever that may be. It's just success truly is the journey. It's truly part of the journey. So tell us just a little bit about Miss Stella and just Williams Syndrome.

Jennifer Keeton  7:46  
Yeah, absolutely. So my daughter, Stella is 11. Now she just turned 11. And Williams Syndrome is a genetic deletion, it is a deletion off of chromosome seven, that affects a very small segment of genes. It's a deletion of 26 to 20 genes. And so it's considered a rare disease, meaning that there's only a certain number of people who have it worldwide or in the US. So it affects about one in. I've heard 10,000 to 20,000 people. But right now there's about 30,000 people in the United States living with Williams Syndrome. Wow. And it is large, there's a whole myriad of things that it makes up but there's some intellectual components of it. And so I was mentioning before that she has an intellectual developmental disability, but there's also some physical aspects of it. And Williams Syndrome, the main marker of it is the deletion of your copy of the elastin gene. And so elastin is in your body, what gives your your joints laxity, it's it's really important in your cardiovascular and gastrointestinal system to help your intestines, your organs, your vessels run as precisely as they normally do. And when you're missing your copy of that. It's a little loose. Everything's a little loose and it causes a lot of problems. Okay. So people with weird syndrome tend to have cardiovascular issues, some very severe requiring open heart surgery or many open heart surgeries, and a lot of gastro intestinal type of problems. Aside from those things, it's highly ADHD, high anxiety. And you can imagine if you have a learning disability on top of that, and you have ADH D and anxiety, those often are working in contrast of one another.

Marcy Predmore  9:55  
Yes. Wow. I mean, did you ever think in you journey that you would have to know that much medical information

Jennifer Keeton  10:04  
about Oh, topic? I sure did not I heard it. And it's I'm not very good at explaining it. There are some people who are amazing at explaining, I'm still learning. So I in my journey of disability, it's only been five years, as you mentioned, Stella was diagnosed when she was five. So I guess six years now. And I'm learning the lingo. I'm still learning. So just when I think I've got it down, then I learned something new. And I'm adding that to my repertoire. So in some way, it's fascinating because I do love to work. And every time I pick up a nugget, I see it a value. But yeah, I mean, I'm definitely not a doctor or a scientist. So talking about that kind of stuff is really outside of my comfort zone.

Marcy Predmore  10:53  
I mean, to me, that's truly a success in itself is, is really having to understand that for Stella, how does the rest of the family encompass all of this? It? How does it how's this changed your family journey?

Jennifer Keeton  11:09  
Well, it's definitely changed my family journey tremendously. So inside of our family, it's, you know, it changed our life. Like I mentioned, when I when Sal was diagnosed with Williams Syndrome, I was actually a working mom. So I was an executive working in food service. And I, so I think you mentioned in my intro, I had been working since I was 12, I would have described myself as a workaholic. That's where I had the most success or feeling of success and worth in my life. And so I was fully committed to work fully committed to my role, I had this aspiration of becoming a vice president in my field. And having children definitely shook that a little bit. It's you're never really prepared for what's going to happen when you have kids bites from. But then I think before Stella's diagnosis, there were definitely some things along the way that things that happened that made my journey a little bit more Rocky. And so basically, before I found out about Williams Syndrome, I was going through an internal journey of happiness and fulfillment in my work environment and trying to determine, I guess trying to work through that is a better way to say that trying to work through that through therapy and, and learning about who I was and diving into that. And then Williams Syndrome happen sort of coincided at the same time. And it just exploded, exploded my world. So for me personally, it fundamentally changed who I was. I think it's my husband is not it's different, that his journey with Williams Syndrome has been different. And then when our daughter or we have another daughter, she's seven, her name is I'm sorry, she's eight, excuse me? No, yes, is eight. They just had birthdays. So I'm still catching up on my, my ages. But she was a so she was to win. So I was diagnosed. And so really, for the most part, her life has always been in the realm of a sibling with a disability, which is a whole other Oprah. Oh, gosh, we could have a whole conversation about how juggling with this era of people with disabilities feel about it. And it is challenging. Outside of our immediate family, you know, with our extended family, it's it's the range right there some family members who really get it. There are some family members who who don't there's some family members who do have a good connection with Stella, there's some that don't. So really, but as you probably know, with Erin and her journey, when you have somebody with a disability, sometimes your circle becomes much more intimate. out of necessity.

Marcy Predmore  14:14  
Absolutely. And I really think that I can relate to that. I know, I know. Aaron certainly could and I know Miss callay Mr. Bray, Lynn's older sister can probably really relate to also to just the discussion we're having. Well, I just you know, I'm so intrigued by the journey and the success in your journey. But one of the things ordinary women extraordinary wealth really likes to encompass is everyday life. And of course, you've had to now balance some things in your everyday life. But I like to bring the the topic of money in to our discussion and the only reason I like to do That it's because it's a tool that can really help. So one of the other questions that I love to ask, and I'm just always curious about your tradition growing up and where you are today is, what does wealth mean to you?

Jennifer Keeton  15:16  
Oh, man, that is a, I'm gonna say that every question you asked, oh, man, it's such a good question. So, again, there's sort of two veins that I live in. One was sort of my life growing up and who I was before Williams Syndrome, and I think who I who I am now. So growing up, I grew up in a very blue collar family, we did not have money, no money, negative negative money. And so I grew up, always looking at people who had money and just like, like aspiring to have money. What's really interesting is I grew up feeling a lot of guilt for the burden that I think I felt that I put on my parents a financial burden, right. And so from a young age, I worked not because I wanted to, but because I had to. And when I started working at age 12, it took some of that guilt off of me, right, but now I have some of my own money that I can contribute in a different way, or at least do things for myself to take that burden off of my parents. And so from an early age, I was just really motivated by wealth, right? Like, when I went to college, I'm the first person in my only person in my family to go to college. And honestly, the reason why I went to college, I picked a major, and I picked my major was business. And I picked that major, because I was like, I need to get a job where I make money. And it was so it wasn't about interests. It wasn't about passions, more desires, or like long range planning, right? I was just like, when I get out of college, I didn't make enough money to support myself. So there was always this, I think, pressure to make money to take care of myself, so nobody had to worry about me. Yeah, fast forward 20 plus years. And I feel like I'm super independent. And that's problems that I have to deal with now on my own. But I always saw money as a way to not be a burden. Now, as I'm older, and I, you know, did go to college, and I have had successful careers where I've made enough money to support myself and my family. I see money differently. I see money, do you see money as a as a tool for independence, I not just for me, but for my family, I see money as a tool to probably like the biggest thing like, support other people and bless organizations that I believe in and do things that make my heart fulfilled. And so my relationship with money now is less about like, what would be the term I would use? Like, I need before it used to be like, I need money, because I'm constantly trying to like, catch up and get ahead and and not be a burden. Now my relationship with money is more like, how can I use this money that I have to do the things that make my heart happy, right, and that bless other people? Yes. And take care of my family at the same time.

Marcy Predmore  18:48  
I love that explanation. That's absolutely perfect. Because one of the things that I really love to share about wealth is it's truly your foundation. Yes. And one of my mentors told us a while back, this has been many years ago, but if you don't put your own oxygen mask on first, you're really not going to be any helped anybody else. Yes. So when this has felt like a burden to you, which really exciting to hear your words. And your journey is now you found out a way to put your own oxygen mask on and see what and who and how you can help other people. The money hasn't become the burden. It's actually become the help to so many. And sometimes it's not always money. Sometimes it's time freedom. It's time. Yeah, it's time to be able to say like you said, I wanted to be a stay at home mom, because again, your journey got shifted into having to focus on Miss Stella. And so, really to me between the success and the wealth, poor Have your story is it fits so perfectly together because you're, you are leaning into your journey and you're actually sharing with people how to continue to grow through it and really change your thinking about success and money.

Jennifer Keeton  20:18  
Well, what's interesting that you just made me think about is before so I was diagnosed with Williams Syndrome. And I was telling you that I was kind of struggling in my career. And it had, I don't know if plateaued is the right word, but I was not getting the fulfillment out of it that I had always had from previous careers. And it was like before I could push through some some, I guess, political challenges that you have in any type of work, work landscape. But I ran into a point where I couldn't, I couldn't overcome it, I couldn't push through it. And so I went to therapy. Because I was like, I'm having some physical reactions to the stress that my work is causing. And I need to spend some time diving through that. And when we talked about with this is me and my therapist, when we talked about why I couldn't just, it's like, well, why can't you just quit? Why can't you just quit and do something else. It was all driven by money, money, my fear of not having money, and my fear of failure. And so the blessing I went through, honestly, it was two years. Basically, I had to go to therapy every week, for two years to get the courage to leave my job. And the catalyst was Williams Syndrome, because it kind of everything exploded, and I just couldn't manage my life. But what's funny is that on the other side of my Williams Syndrome journey, as we've talked about before, I found more success, then, and maybe it's not true that success, I thought it was going to be I'm not a vice president of anything. But I find more success and fulfillment. And I've honestly made more money.

Marcy Predmore  22:10  
You know, and it's amazing the blessing that comes out of listening. Yes. And just just going with your intuition or your gut,

Jennifer Keeton  22:18  
I call it Yeah, well, it was two years of really like, not listening to my gut. But taking the leap of faith on the other side of it is really important. So I don't know what kind of listenership that you have. But I think money is important, right? And I totally going to tell your listeners like, I would be remiss to say that it's not important, I'm very, I like to make my own money, because I like to, I don't want to have somebody tell me like what I can or can't spend my money on. So I'm a little bit like, I still have some work to do in that area. But I also have realized, though, that money isn't everything. And sometimes, when you make a hard decision, that feels risky, because leaving your job has a lot of risk. Yes, if you can channel it into work that you love and find fulfillment in oftentimes, it leads to more positives, possibly even more financial positives, then you can even realize, so be open to the fact that your journey may not look exactly as you planned it out. is really, really important.

Marcy Predmore  23:32  
And you know, that just brings me to one of the next questions that I'll ask you, because, okay, you did two years of therapy and outside source to really help have somebody look into your world to help you out with that. Yes. But what does a day in the life of Jennifer look like? How do you balance everything? Are there particular habits, tell the audience just a little bit about a mom of a disabled child, a wife, an entrepreneur? You start up companies tell us a little bit.

Jennifer Keeton  24:10  
Yeah, it's really disorganized. Say something different. But you know, it's also really funny because I also am I call myself a recovering perfectionist, because like, I used to be before kids, like totally driven, very organized, start had kids kind of got a little bit loose. And then once I leaned into this part of who I am, like, totally disorganized. But I liked it, right. And in some ways, so perfectionism is is not always a good thing. But what I've learned about myself, and my perfectionism is I like to have a lot of things going on. And so it's like, I always have busy work. I joke that even if like, I When I worked in a traditional career where I went to an office from eight to six, I would say like, man, if I got a job at Starbucks part time, I know what would happen. I would say like, I'm just gonna go work at Starbucks part time. And then before you know it, I've taken on all these additional things. And then I'm a district manager, and I have no time. So it's just who I am, no matter what I'm doing big or small, I am always going to have a full plate. So that's what it looks like today, I will the work that I do, I have a regular job where I get paid money. And that is in a in a startup environment in sanitation and food service. It's a work from home role. So it does allow me to be home with my girls, which is really helpful for Stella because she loves routine she loves where she and I are very close. So getting her set up in the morning, getting her out the door for school, and making sure she has all of the things that she needs for a successful date that is probably more helpful to me than it is to her. So I we're not in school, right now we're in summer, but in school, that's what it looks like the morning time, I'm getting my kids ready for school during the day is when I do my work. And I'm dabbling between the work that I do that I get paid for and the work that I'm doing without shine labels. And then at night, we're doing the activities because now my kids are full of activities that they do and therapies that Stella is involved in. And then man, by the time a o'clock rolls around, I'm at the age where I just want to go to sleep. So I feel like we're just going from the time we get up until the time they go to sleep. Right I do practice journaling, like you you do as well, I am not as not, I'm probably more at a beginner level with it. So it's really about gratitude, I spend, I try to spend every night thinking about the five things during the day that I'm grateful for. And those things could be small, right? Like, I am excited that I could have a cup of coffee, or it's not humid out today. Or it could be big things like Sella read a card all by herself. But I just try to end the day no matter what thinking about those five things during the day that made me happy because having it's great having work from home jobs that lets me balanced the side of the mother side of me that wants to be there with my kids and have experiences. But that's totally chaotic. And it's not for everybody. So having the end of the day where I just think about like, man, I was going from thing to thing, and I was really anxious. Let's now regroup and think about why I love this life that I have.

Marcy Predmore  27:58  
And you know, I think you're at that stage to where you're kind of the center, you're the hub. So everybody always wants to hear what mom wants where you want to us how you want us you have to do the planning. I remember those days, I was a single mom for most of my son's life. But you know you at night sometimes or for me it was really early in the morning, sometimes at five o'clock or 430 in the morning, I'd sit by the fireplace and and just it sounds crazy. Just be quiet. Just just do nothing just just be and I think you sometimes need that. That resonance with yourself. And I think that's what you're sharing too is in a daily habit. It's okay if you don't journal every day. I tell people all the time. I do journal almost every day. But there's days where I the day goes by I forget Yes, there might be two or three days go by. And then I look back and think oh, I haven't journaled. And but one of the things that I would encourage everyone who's listening is no matter how busy you are, if you just listen to your own voice, or even read a sentence, just to help change your thinking process. And actually, Jennifer, you brought this up just a few minutes ago. Again, as you were talking to an outside source, what you were really looking for too is how to change your thinking. And we can't get through life. With our ordinary thinking. We've got to think outside of who we are and what we are. And I really feel like that's what you are sharing with me how you got from a corporate wife at the time, maybe not mom, but now working Mom, entrepreneur, creator of businesses. So how do you change your mindset daily?

Jennifer Keeton  30:10  
So I'm a recovering perfectionist, as I mentioned, and it is that it is very easy for me to think about everything that's going wrong. Yeah. Because I do want to have control over everything. And I want it to be exactly how I want it. So I think the gratitude piece has been helpful, because at the end of the day, I normally would be a person that is like, Well, here's all the things that didn't go right. And I still think those things, right, but I have to so I like Mel Robbins, she's one person that I follow. And she talks about this. Can't remember if it's like 254321. Basically, if you have a negative thought, you allow yourself to sit with it for only five seconds, and then like wipe it clean, right? So just like I have to go, Okay, I'm having that thought I see that I'm having that thought would sit with it for a minute. Let's wipe it clean. Now let's replace it with a piece of gratitude that is, you know, important for me to focus on. And I think over the years of just practice, I wouldn't say years year, sometimes it's better than others. So maybe years. Doing that every day has really helped shift my perspective, I think less about the negative things and more about the positive things. leaning into the imperfection is huge. And I joke about it now, like I'm a recovering perfectionist, but it's true. I I laugh sometimes when I see how my day unfolds, because like, man, five years ago, six years ago, this would have not been an okay thing. But now it is. And I think it's because I have done so much work for myself, I do spend a lot of time like with myself and with self care. And, and again, I don't know your listenership. But you were talking about the oxygen mask analogy, right? That when we're on a plane, they always say parents put your mask on before you take care of others. Yeah, that has been hugely important for me, because I never would have put myself first in self care. I mean, I definitely would have worked 60 or 70 hours a week. But that's not self care, self care is exercising, it's going to have that quiet. It's having a cup of coffee at Starbucks, if that's what makes you happy. It's doing those sprinkling those little things out throughout the day that help you manage the chaos of your life. And so I think that also helps me as well. And it's just doing it for enough times over the course of years, that I don't notice the chaos as much, actually my husband will come home and he'll be like, what is this chaos, and I'm like, really, maybe I've shifted the pendulum the other way. And I'm sure at some point, I'll find my way back into balance and homeostasis. But for now, that's where we are and, and I really enjoy it. If you would have told me six years ago that you would leave your job, you would have a person with a disability, and that would be a blessing and not not a life, you know, sentence, and that you would live in a state of chaos. I would have not believed it. But here we are.

Marcy Predmore  33:43  
You know what, and I think so many of us could look back and say, I would have never picked my journey. I would have never picked this path. Yes. But you know, God chose the path that I walked down for sure. And again, I never thought in a million years, I'd be a single mom. I never thought in a million years that I had to row the boat by myself more 15 years. And, you know, there's so many times that I look back and I just realized, like, I'm in awe of me sometimes. Yes. Even though the world tells me it wasn't a huge success, because I just put food on the table or I paid the bills or I took care of him or whatever that was. But the success truly is looking back and thinking, Wow, did I ever lean into that journey? Am I leaning into that journey? Yes, you are.

Jennifer Keeton  34:38  
Yes. And there's thinking about like you were saying that growth that comes from that. It's not a journey that everybody would define as successful, but it is a successful journey to you and the growth that comes from that allows you to do these other things that you do, you wouldn't be able to do the work that you do without having without having experience. That?

Marcy Predmore  35:00  
Yes, absolutely. And, you know, this morning, I was just reading and it just made me think as you were saying it. So you don't have to know how you're going to get there. But you do need to know where you want to go. And you also need to arrive at your attention on the spot, you're gonna land. So many times we get lost in the journey of perfectionism of, you know, money of, you know, title, whatever that is. But if you don't focus on where you're going to land and really revert your focus, sometimes you get off kilter, I was sharing with my team. Oh, I don't know, a couple weeks ago, we do a Monday morning call. And when we were kids, when I was a kid, we would go down to a little creek, and everybody would try and jump it. Well, guess what, if you didn't quite get over, you lost your momentum. You got what? Yep, got wet, wet, wet and muddy. And some so many times you have to focus in and really get your vision on the spot, you're going to land. So you know, you're going to stick the landing, and then you know that there's going to be another leap. Just like in your journey, you know, there's going to be many more lean ends, than there is going to be just smooth sailing.

Jennifer Keeton  36:25  
But for sure, I kept thinking about that right now I feel like Stella is 11. And I just feel some, like, intuitively I feel some change happening. I mean, she's gonna be a teenager, and that's gonna be a whole slew of things that I'm not ready for. And yeah, I can't figure out yet, if it's my perfectionism wanting to, like, get ready for it and like, control it. Or if it's just my body, like saying this change is gonna happen. So we won't know until we get there. But it is important to at least think about, okay, when this is happening, you know, how am I how, when this is happening, who? Or how do I want to show up for it? Because it may even if you do put your focus on something and say, Okay, I want to stick this landing or I want to be this way. Ultimately, it's like, how do I want to feel when that time comes? How, how do I want to show up emotionally and mentally for this challenge, because the challenges, as you mentioned, are there and they continue throughout our life. I mean, we, by no means are over with our slew of challenges, especially in the world of disability, where you have a lot of good days that you have a lot of bad days. And you have we have a lot of health things that can be very scary that are part of Stella's journey that I'm sure at some point will come up. So I try not to dwell on those. But I know that I have to be ready for those and ready to embrace them.

Unknown Speaker  38:07  
Yes.

Jennifer Keeton  38:08  
Yeah. When that when that time comes.

Marcy Predmore  38:11  
And you know, you said something so important, and it's something that I have to be teachable every day, it's the feeling, you have to be in the feeling of where you are. But more than that, what you want. You want to be able to visualize and really feel what it is you want, because then it will come to you. Like you said earlier. Money isn't the end all to Beatle. But if you have a motion around what it is you want, and money's included in that. Wow, it's amazing. What starts to come at you without you really even working hard at it.

Jennifer Keeton  38:51  
Yeah, do you Minister? Are you a manifester? Do you manifest in your donor? Georgia? Yes, yeah, that is a weird thing. For me. I just I think I've always done it. So I don't think it's something that is foreign to me. But when I saw again, I follow a slew of people that kind of work in the self development space. And so they talk about manifesting your dreams. And I'm like, that is so weird. Like, I can't imagine doing that. But I think about growing up, right. And I think about being like, Jennifer, who wanted to make money so that she didn't have to be a burden on her parents. I was always like, I'm getting a job. I'm gonna go to college, I'm getting a business degree because I want to make money. Those were forms of manifesting, right? We just didn't call it that. And so I don't, I do manifest and I manifest probably not in a traditional way that every you know, a lot of people write it down on their journal, but, and I think that's great. I probably should do that. But it doesn't have to be big things right. It could be I'm manifesting having a good day, right? And the minute that you put that thought in your mind of no matter what comes at me today, you know, I'm making this a good day. Yeah, it does change the trajectory of what your day looks like and how you feel about your day. And so I think those people that are looking for success manifestation is a huge way to conquer big or little freedoms. Absolutely.

Marcy Predmore  40:31  
And, you know, I decided today, it's gone by so fast. But I have so enjoyed your story, Jennifer, it just, again, you've resonated with me and some of your words, you and I have, have had some similar journeys. I, of course, haven't had any kind of a journey like you and Erin have gone through, but our journeys of being moms and, you know, really feeling like, we have to shift our thinking about who we are, what we are and what we want to be the identity, the loss of identity, it happens to many of us, and some of us get back on track, but some don't. And so as we close today, I just want to quickly tell people I want them to go to outshine. labels.com. Is that correct? Yes. And I really want you to take a look at the website, the families that are involved there. And Jennifer, tell people how they could get involved or whether it be financially physically you tell us just a tiny bit before we close today?

Jennifer Keeton  41:37  
Yeah, absolutely. So I have been working with outshine labels. It's a disability marketplace. And basically, what that means is, it's an opportunity for families, for individuals, for nonprofits, allies that are working in the disability space, it gives us It gives them an opportunity to sell merchandise. And part of the sales of that merchandise the profits, go back to them or set nonprofit. And so the the amazing thing about the disability space, I'm super passionate about helping employ people with disabilities, it's we could have a whole other conversation where we talk about that, but

Marcy Predmore  42:21  
we do that.

Jennifer Keeton  42:22  
today. That's that's not the case, about 80% of people with disabilities are not employed. And there's a lot of reasons for that. But I'll try labels gives a platform and a voice to those who traditionally haven't had it. And it's through merchandise, right? So t shirts, hats, stickers, candles, etc. My friend just started the company and I've been working alongside her to help bring this to light. It's a wonderful organization, spreading a lot of awareness and advocacy amongst a host of different types of disabilities. I think you might have said it in the beginning mercy, or maybe it was before we went live with recording. But disability doesn't always impact people from birth. So Williams Syndrome is something that Stella was born with at birth and that she will live with for the rest of her life. But actually, like one in four people will become disabled in their lifetime. So it's important when we think about disability to not just think about those people that were born with disability, but also to think about people who become disabled within their lifetime. I follow a person you might know her but Amy Van Dyken, she was the Olympic swimmer who had a spinal cord injury and now was paralyzed, I think maybe from like the waist down and she's in a wheelchair, right? Yeah, so just outshine labels that brings those stories to life, lets people share those experiences. It also gives them a platform with which to sell merchandise, and that merchandise sales can support nonprofits of their choice, it can support their therapies and their medical costs that are often not covered by insurance, which is a whole other thing. And, and I just really love that we are placing a spotlight on an underserved population and a word of the population of people because I can tell you and I know Marcy, you know from your grandson braelyn, but people with disabilities are often viewed as as less than society. And I think that's just from lack of exposure, not from it's not from a bad you know, thing. It's just we don't know what we don't know, right? We absolutely if we don't, I know for me as a person work I never was around somebody with a disability until I had Stella and so it's opened my world to so many things and It's a very similar thing without shine labels that you meet these people, you hear their stories, you hear their journeys, you connect with them on a, on a very fundamental level. And yes, it's helping to support their journeys just like we would help support anybody else's. And yeah, it's a fantastic organization, and it will only grow in size and scope. And so it's just the work that I get to do for fun. And that lights my heart on fire.

Marcy Predmore  45:29  
I love the fire that's lit in your heart. That's, that's amazing. And, and again, that's the extraordinary that we love to shine. The light on is just that passion. And I just thank you so much, Jennifer, for being here. And just sharing your heart Your journey, showing people how to lean into their journey, if anybody does want to get a hold of Jennifer, it is Jen m keaton@gmail.com. Yes. And if you do have a child or someone in your family, that you something has resonated, reach out to her because I know, that would just be, you know, just a mentor that maybe would is is who you were supposed to hear today, you just never know who that is. So I just want to thank you for just being honest, sharing your journey and just sharing who you are and what you are. And you are truly extraordinary. So thank you again. And just as we wrap everything up today, I just want to give you one quick tip of the week. So as you know, on the live, we are talking about just quick basics of money. And today, it's just your money habits, creating a budget. I really want you to look at the budget. We're starting a new month. So look at your budget. Are you really paying attention? Have you really given it some thought in how to take care of yourself or your family? So anyway, take today become extraordinary look at your budget, but also reach out to Jennifer, if you would like to just get some help just have somebody to talk to, or reach out to me. I would love to hear from any of you and shine the light on your extraordinary. Having care Marcy, you bet and have an amazing day.

Janay Harris  47:25  
You've been listening to ordinary women extraordinary wealth with Marcy Predmore-McPhee. Be sure to drop us a line if you're enjoying the podcast. As we always love hearing from our listeners. Let us know what you think by looking us up at ordinary women extraordinary wealth.com or on social media where you can join our private group on Facebook called ordinary women extraordinary wealth. If you'd like to connect with Marcy on LinkedIn, you can find her by going to linkedin.com forward slash i n forward slash Marcy dash Predmore-McPhee. Also, it would really mean so much to us if you would leave us a five star review on your favorite podcast platform. If you found this episode valuable. Be sure to share it with your friends and colleagues. And remember, we publish new episodes every Wednesday, so be sure to subscribe. See you next week.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai