Today we are sharing a bonus episode, a behind the scenes conversation with one of my business bestie’s, Jenna Edwards.  We share how we know one another, spoiler, it's been decades.  And she shares how overcoming a massive trauma helped her find happiness. Tune in to this very special episode.  

 

Transcript:

Katie: Welcome to Everyday Happiness, where we create lasting happiness in about two minutes a day through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities),  happiness science, and musings about life. 

I'm your host, Katie Jefcoat, and today, I’m chatting with my business bestie, the person that breathes life and confidence into my space when it's hard for me to see it for myself. She is all about the concept that she created called “Aggressive Optimism®”  and she's one of the most favorite people in my world. You’re going to love her, I can not wait, Jenna, welcome to the show!

Jenna: Oh my gosh! I don’t even know what to say after that beautiful introduction Katie. Thank you! Thanks for having me, I’m so excited. 

Katie: We are going to have so much fun. I can not wait for whoever listens to this, to hear your magic, to just be a part of this world. So friends, we did not rehearse this. We have no idea what’s going to come out of our mouths for the next ten or so minutes. Just buckle up. I feel like that’s how it goes. 

Jenna: I’m really paying attention to the time because you and I can talk about happiness for hours and never get tired. So, ten minutes, got it. 

Katie: It’s going to be so much fun. So first, tell us a little bit about you. Like how this person came to be. All the goodness. 

Jenna: Oh my gosh, the audience would be like, how do you even do that in ten minutes? So in a nutshell, Katie and I met when we were in the 4th grade, which I love. Both of us moved to this small town in Minnesota and we lost touch after graduation and found each other again because of fate. I really do think it’s fate. I can’t believe we weren’t friends from the moment we met, but now that we are, I can’t imagine life without you. You bring me so much happiness. 

I’m so excited sitting in my living room at 6:00 in the morning and I feel this burst of giggle that I’m trying to stifle because Katie brings me so much joy and fills my cup so much.

In a nutshell, I grew up in a small town with Katie, moved to Los Angeles to be an actor, and was an actor for a second. And then a huge incident happened that you can read all about everywhere if you just Google me, which is where Aggressive Optimism® was formed. I had severe post traumatic stress disorder that left me stuttering when I talked, unable to read, couldn't write, and do all the things that you have to do as an actor.

And so I had to do some serious intentional margin work way before Intentional Margins® was created, and some serious Aggressive Optimism® work in order to overcome the PTSD and the darkness that was in my head on a regular basis.

And now I really want to get out there, that if you are struggling with something and people are saying you're going to struggle with it forever,  if you decide that you don't want to and you commit to doing the work, that doesn't have to be your reality.

I don't have PTSD anymore, and I was told that I was going to have it for the rest of my life.  Just recently I ran into somebody who was also told they were going to have PTSD for the rest of their life and they needed to hear that that wasn't the case.

So I'm sharing it with you because I’m moved to share it with you. Whatever your circumstances are, you can overcome them. It's just a matter of deciding and doing the work. And it's not easy, y'all, it's not easy.

Just hopefully that gives you a little bit of hope. But for me, it was surrounding myself with people like Katie and listening to podcasts like Everyday Happiness and yeah, that's my story in a nutshell. It's not really a good story, I suppose.

Katie:  Well, s