At age 29, Jaclyn is the Director of Publicity of Shorefire Media Nashville. We met more than 10 years ago in a PR 270 course at University of Tennessee, a class that clearly fared much better for her career than mine! What she’s accomplished in the past seven years of work in publicity and media tops the charts for most in her industry and certainly at her age. (Yes, I’m bragging on my friend, but yes, that’s also 100% true!). 

But among the many “pinch me” experiences her work allows are also demanding deadlines, endless expectations, and lots of plane tickets. She recounts one of her most hectic weeks of 2019 where she spent 5 days in Atlanta promoting the Super Bowl musical performances followed by 6 days in LA for the Grammys, a quick turn around in Nashville, and a subsequent 4 more in NYC to follow. This isn’t her every week, but in the midst of a lifestyle that can get you to the top but leave nothing in the tank, we talk with Jaclyn about how to find rest when you’re killing it at work so that your work doesn’t end up killing you.

 We look at the seemingly impossible balance of holding drive and hard work in one hand and keeping real, prioritized expectations of ourselves in the other. It’s easy to fall victim to others’ personal and professional expectations of us, so Jaclyn is diligent to keep her goals, her goals. “I make a point to write down my goals once a week or month or whatever makes sense. Setting and sticking to my expectations of myself instead of living up to other’s expectations of me helps me feel free to slow down.”

We also talk about reframing the to-do list and travel schedule with a “have to versus choose to” mindset. We talk about the importance of asking, “why am I doing this next thing?” rather than simply asking, “what is the next thing?” 

And when we finally do honor our need to pump the breaks and push pause, we explore what real rest can look like. We both share our struggle to learn how to rest, and Jaclyn speaks the freeing truth that rest can look very different for different people on different days. We don’t have to do the week at the beach or the expensive spa day to recharge. What we love about Jaclyn is her celebration of and overwhelming gratitude for the beauty of the mundane. She started pursuing “regular” spaces for rest when she realized “the little things really are the big things because they’re the things that recharge us and keep us going.”

If you’re in a profession with long hours and lots of travel, or even if you’re simply in a season that feels impossible to slow down, I urge you to listen in. Hear first hand from two doers who have blown through a lot of stop signs in life and are learning, little by little, the joy and contentment that comes when we fight for rest and much as we fight for rewards.

Other suggested reads:

Non-Violent Communication:A language of life, Marshall Rosenberg
Dare to Lead, Brene Brown
Rising Strong, Brene Brown
Make Your Bed, William H. McRaven