The Shadows We Cast
Welcome to The Shadows We Cast—a podcast about the legacies we inherit, the stories we carry, and the light we create in the process.
Hosted by mental health advocate, writer, and speaker Jenn St. John, this series opens the door to raw and real conversations about living through, loving through, and learning from mental health challenges.
In this short preview, Jenn shares what listeners can expect each week: deeply personal stories, journal readings, candid interviews with guests ranging from family members to public figures, and a commitment to unmasking mental health—one brave conversation at a time.
If you've ever felt like you were navigating the dark without a map, this podcast is here to say: you're not alone. Let’s talk about the shadows—and the adaptability that rises from them.
New episodes drop every Tuesday.
Host & Producer: Jenn St John
Editor: Andrew Schiller
Website: www.jennstjohn.ca
Follow along:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenn_stjohn/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jenn.st.john
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenn-st-john-25b137257/
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/jennstjohn.bsky.social
If this episode spoke to you, share it with someone who might need to hear it too.
Subscribe, leave a review, or just send a little love—your support helps these conversations reach the people who need them most.
The Shadows We Cast
Survival
Survival: Sisterhood, Poverty, and the Moments That Shaped Us
In this second episode of The Shadows We Cast, I sit down again with my sisters, Kate and Teresa, to pick up where we left off—navigating the turbulence of growing up with a mother struggling with undiagnosed and untreated mental illness.
This chapter explores what survival really looked like for us: wearing the same pair of pants to school, learning to stretch a dollar, and facing down emotional chaos masked behind closed doors. We talk about poverty—not just as a lack of money, but as a feeling that seeps into your self-worth—and how those early years shaped our work ethic, independence, and empathy in ways we couldn’t understand at the time.
We reflect on the adults who tried to help, the ones who looked away, and the small kindnesses that made a difference. Through journal entries, raw memories, and hard truths, we revisit the instability of our Arizona and Missouri years—moments marked by addiction, unsafe environments, and emotional whiplash.
This isn’t just a story of pain. It’s a story of resilience, of love between sisters, and of the moments that cracked something open in us—and, ultimately, helped us find our way home.
If you’ve ever wondered how people survive chaos—or how they begin to rebuild—this conversation invites you in.
Host & Producer: Jenn St John
Editor: Andrew Schiller
Website: www.jennstjohn.ca
Follow along:
Instagram: @jenn_stjohn
TikTok: @jenn.st.john
LinkedIn: Jenn St John
BlueSky: @jennstjohn.bsky.social
If this episode spoke to you, share it with someone who might need to hear it too.
Subscribe, leave a review, or just send a little love—your support helps these conversations reach the people who need them most.