Jennifer Lynn Robinson: Redifining Lucky

Jennifer Lynn Robinson, Esquire is a lifestyle & communications expert, TEDx speaker, and media contributor. Jennifer has been featured on media outlets including Cheddar, CBS, NBC, FOX, PHL17, Forbes, The Huffington Post, Thrive Global, Chicago Tribune, Main Line Today, and Philadelphia Magazine. She is a contributor for Entrepreneur Magazine and former Lecturer in Business Communication at The Wharton School. Her upcoming book, Lucky, explores how unexpected twists (both good and bad) can shape our lives in profound ways.
As a mid-life influencer and content creator under the brand Being Fancy in Philly & Beyond, Jennifer collaborates with campaigns and brands across fashion, travel, lifestyle, food and more. She was named Best Social Media Influencer 2025 by Main Line Today Magazine.
Jennifer is a TBI survivor and passionate advocate for brain injury awareness, serving on the Board of Directors for the Brain Injury Association of Pennsylvania and lobbying for patient rights. She is a 2025 graduate of Emerge Pennsylvania, a statewide program training a select group of 25 women leaders.
Jennifer earned her B.A. from Haverford College and her J.D. from Villanova University School of Law. She holds multiple certifications, including Event Planning, Nonprofit Management, Social Media Marketing, Diversity & Inclusion, Hospitality & Tourism, Conflict Resolution, and Virtual Presentation.
Jennifer lives in the Philadelphia suburbs with her husband Walter and their two beloved rescue dogs, Jake and Lilly.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to Lipstick and Legacy, a podcast where your story matters and your journey has purpose. Together we lift and inspire our communities one story at a time. Welcome, Jennifer. Welcome. I'm so glad you're here with me today. I have Jennifer Robinson, and I would love to have you tell us for people meeting you for the first time, who are you? Where are you from? What's the best way to describe you beyond your titles?

SPEAKER_01 0:31

So thank you so much for having me. The best way to describe me, you know, one of my handles is being fancy in Philly that I use on social media. And I think a lot of my friends would call me fancy, but not in a, you know, snooty way, just like, you know, I like fancy, fun things. Um I would say that, I would say engaging, hopefully. Um, and hopefully I would say memorable.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

You're definitely all of those things. I've heard you speak before. You're you're a phenomenal speaker with an extraordinary story. Thank you. How would they describe you? What is what does she look like as a young child?

SPEAKER_01 1:12

She was also very fancy and um somewhat disrespectful and argumentative and talkative. All the things that I think as an adult are probably great qualities. So, I mean, I was a bright kid, I was very creative and inquisitive, but also, you know, asked my parents so many questions that they actually bought me a book called The Big Book of Answers, where they were hoping like when I asked my questions, I could refer to the book and for the answers. But of course, I found questions that weren't in the book. And it was like, why, why, why? So, I mean, I I've heard my parents tell that story a bunch of times. Um, and you know, I definitely got the too talkative in class. Um, my father's, you know, 80 years old and still a trial attorney, and I used to go watch him in court and I used to love it, and I knew from that age that that was something I wanted to do. So I think definitely argumentative, but probably hopefully in a good way, but maybe not. Uh, so I think all of those things, you know, I would say.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

I'm a substitute teacher. I used to teach school, and whenever kids are talking in class, I'm like, there is a leader, there is a leader, there's a leader, and like now just be quiet for a minute because they always have a lot of questions, a lot of inserts, they're just chatty. It's a really great sign in children. Uh, you wear many hats. You're an attorney, communication expert, TEDx speaker, you've done an influence and an advocate. What role right now feels the most at home for you?

SPEAKER_01 2:36

So I would say um, you know, I just took a new job role. I am executive director of something called the Philadelphia Fashion Incubator. And what that is, is a year-long residency where we select and recruit designers from the greater Philadelphia area and we put them through a year of business classes and fashion mentoring to help them grow their brand. And in addition to that, we also hold different fashion workshops and events for the public. Uh, so I'm super excited about the new role, and I feel like it really brings together a lot of everything that's come before for me because you know, having a law background will help me with that, having a communications background, um, having some background in uh PR and media and TV and all of that. I think that's gonna play into this. And I did workshops and speaking for many years and continue to do it. So hopefully I can be a resource for our designers with all of those things as they grow their brands. Um, you know, going back to the little girl question, you know, I remember um how much fashion played a role from the time I was little. I mean, my mom was very fashionable. Both of my grandmothers, they all made clothes too, and they were fantastic. I didn't inherit that, but I just remember these battles with my mom, like, you know, wearing a summer sundress with a matching hat and shoes in the middle of winter, and her telling me, like, you know, there's snow on the ground and you have to wear a jacket. And I do remember one time where I picked an outfit like that and she stood me outside, like in the 20-degree weather, to prove to me that I would be cold and need a jacket. And I was like, nope, I'm good. Still want to wear my dress. So um, so I think from a young age, fashion was a big part of my life. And so I love that everything I've done, you know, in my career, and then as a creator and just covering different fashion events and business is all coming together in this role. So I'm really excited about it.

SPEAKER_00 4:29

That's really fun to have people like mentors in your life, your mother, your grandmother. I had that same thing. My grandmother was a dancer in Las Vegas, and my mother owned a costume store. And so everything I see in clothing or costuming, I see through a different lens than maybe somebody else, because we have this like background where the it's like why do when you can overdo? That's kind of right, of course. Why be average? Wear the thing, wear the wear the evening gown. So your story is fascinating. You started out as an attorney. Can you tell me a little bit about you going into um law and how that changed and why?

SPEAKER_01 5:08

Yeah. So as I mentioned, my dad is still at 80 a trial attorney. You know, that basically means a courtroom attorney doing jury trials and bench trials and that sort of thing. And I used to go watch him in court, and I always knew I wanted to go to law school from the time I was little. And I did go to law school, and I really also wanted to be a courtroom lawyer and stand up and argue in front of people, which is what I did for about a decade. And then I had, as you know, a near-death accident and it took me out of practicing law. Um, first and foremost, because I had a TBI, a traumatic brain injury. So I was in a position at the time where I couldn't find words, I couldn't remember my cases, I couldn't think on my feet, I couldn't even deal with light and noise. Um, you know, if you were in a room where let's say the air conditioning or heating system was loud or there was a lot of fluorescent lighting that would distract me enough that I couldn't remember what I wanted to say. Um, so that was really challenging because I was, you know, I think 35 years old, just newly married, you know, as a newlywed. It happened the year after we got married, and you know, my career was just basically lost in an instant. And to be honest, that was like actually the least way my life changed because, you know, in the immediate, I just had so many, you know, injuries and surgeries and went down a very, very hard road of physical and mental recovery, which included, you know, a lot of mental issues related to PTSD and depression and anger and anxiety, and just trying to get my life back together.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

Can you tell me a little bit more about the accident? What occurred, if you don't mind talking about that. I think that people sometimes these things happen in our life where there's just a freak accident or a moment where everything just shifts and it pushes us into a different trajectory than we the path that we were on. Can you tell me a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_01 6:59

Yeah, I mean, I was a pedestrian. I was on um the University of Pennsylvania campus, which is downtown Philadelphia, here where I live. And I was walking across the street in a crosswalk and I got hit and then pinned underneath a truck. Um, so you know, I was conscious for all of it. I did not lose consciousness till the ambulance, which I think I think is where the PTSD came in. So I mean, I have a very, very good recollection of what all happened. I have a recollection of the truck being literally like against my face and my body crushed and people around me talking, and you know, they had to get um, I know there's a special name and I always forget it, some kind of device on a truck that came, lifted the car off of me to get me into an ambulance, and that was when I lost consciousness. And and you definitely do feel like, I mean, for all the reasons I've already said, but even in that moment, you know, I felt like I had a moment where I was kind of above myself. I know that probably doesn't make sense, but like kind of seeing everything flash before me, like, is this it? You know? Um, and then I lost consciousness, like I said, in the ambulance. And it was a long road, but to your point, I mean, I've you know, this was many years ago. This was 2008. So, you know, we're going on my anniversary life day is next week. So what is that? I can't do math. I think it's 18 years, it's a long time. And um, I definitely have a lot more perspective on it, and I also see the positive that's come out of it in my life. Um, even when something terrible happens, there's always positive things to come out of it. And I think the trajectory of my life completely changed. You know, I mean, I was a great lawyer, I was a successful lawyer, I loved what I was doing, but um I was working for insurance companies, and at the end of the day, you know, I was saving insurance companies money or not saving insurance companies money. And I feel like everything I've done since has just been something that brings me more joy and passion and meaning. Because, you know, as you mentioned earlier, I do a lot of work in speaking and advocacy in the healthcare and brain injury space now in my own community where, you know, I had rehabilitation and everything. And um, that's super meaningful, you know, that I can do that and be there for people that are going through it who are either patients or caretakers. So I look at that as a great positive. And I think also it helped me shift what was important in my own life, you know, spending more time with family and friends and really prioritizing things I wanted to do instead of felt obligated to do. Um, I think it shifted a lot of that for me.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

What were some of the hardest invisible battles during recovery that you had that were kind of maybe the the outward like people wouldn't see it? You know, people are like, oh, what do I do? You send flowers, you you send a text, and you're sitting there not being able to do whatever it is. What did that look like for you? Can you give me an example?

SPEAKER_01 9:40

Yeah, I mean, at the beginning, um, I, you know, I had a lot of people, once I got out of ICU and I was home and I had um therapists that were coming in for about two months before they decided I was well enough to go to outpatient rehab. Um, and during those two months, I had a ton of family and friends who came to visit. And, you know, in hindsight, I was probably terrible to them because I had so many issues I was dealing with, and I had a lot of anger. I was really, I remember being very jealous at the time of my husband just because I watched him go to work and get in his car and have a normal day. And I was stuck with therapists trying to like open a cabinet to take my medicine and get to the bathroom, you know, and like that was my day. Um, so I had a lot of anger, and I feel like there were people who tried to stick by me, and there were other people, like you said, who just didn't really know what to do or how to manage it. So in the immediate, I dealt with a lot of that, you know, as time went on and a lot of the uh bruising and blood and everything, you know, that was visible went away. You know, I mean, I I definitely had a number of surgeries over the next couple of years, but there were definitely interims where there wasn't any blood or bruising and I wasn't on crutches or some other surgery that you could visibly see. And that was actually the hardest time because they do say that for a lot of people, uh TBI and also mental problems can be invisible. And, you know, people come up to you and say, You look great, or like you look totally normal. Like you must be better, like life is good, right? And you know, that's that's very triggering when when life is not good and you're going through a lot, you know.

SPEAKER_00 11:13

So that's probably what you wish more people would understand. And it's a hard thing. And I know I've been in those situations where people are just, they just kind of look at you and they're like, they don't know what to say, you know. So I think you have to have some grace for people because they don't they don't know what to say in those situations.

SPEAKER_01 11:32

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

Is there anything else about your accident? Um, one thing I like to ask is how did that change your before and after? Like there's these events that split our lives into the before the accident and after, and that's kind of a splitting event. How did you see your life differently before and after?

SPEAKER_01 11:54

I felt like, and you know, this may sound completely egotistical to say, but this is just how I felt. I felt like God saved me for a reason. I should have died on that street, and I felt like I had a purpose, you know, and I also felt like part of my purpose was to make sure I was happy. And I felt like in some ways that made me a lot more selfish, you know. I mean, we've chosen not to have children. Um, you know, we we travel, we live our life, and I I feel like I missed out on so many years between the accident and my recovery and all the surgeries. I don't want to take care of anybody else. I love my nieces and nephews, but it's, you know, that's that was a decision that I made because primarily of the accident. You know, I mean, it's not, it's not that before the accident I was one of these people that like I knew I always wanted to be a mother, but who knows how it would have turned out differently. But I definitely know after the accident, I was like, I'm not gonna spend all my time taking care of anyone. Like, I'm just gonna live my life. So in that way, I think it made me more selfish. But as I said, I think it also made me appreciate things a lot more. Um, appreciate not only the people around me, but even simple things. Like there was such a long period of time I couldn't shower on my own, and I didn't have a driver's license because of my head injury. And, you know, I had various parts of my body that didn't function for a long time. And, you know, my arm, my right arm had been shattered and things like that. So, I mean, just the simple things that you take for granted, like, you know, getting dressed by yourself in the morning and not waiting for someone to help you in and out of a shower, and you know, not having to stay on one floor of your house because you can't navigate the stairs and you might hurt yourself, like just those basic things that I don't think any of us really think about until we're in a position where we can't do them. So that definitely uh made me more appreciative of that. And really just having a sense of responsibility, but in the best way, of like I said, just being more involved with a community where I knew I could help. I mean, I knew as a patient, a former patient, a um a lawyer, you know, and a speaker, there was so much that I could do for people that didn't have a voice in this community, whether that's specifically with brain injury or just healthcare advocacy in general, because I speak on a lot of panels and conference and at conferences where I talk about still the inequity of the healthcare system and uh improvements that can be made in healthcare communications and technology and things that have changed for the better since 2008, because that was a long time ago, but we still have a ways to go for a lot of people in a lot of ways. And so, I mean, I try my best to be an advocate. And, you know, when I do go and talk about my story like I'm doing with you now, I meet so many people and there are caregivers, spouses, you know, mothers, siblings, whatever it is, um, who really appreciate hearing a personal story. That's not all rainbows, you know. That's not um, you know, I'm I'm really honest about everything I went through in a lot more detail than I'm doing the for this. And, you know, and I also think the path is not linear, like sometimes you're taking steps backwards and it's very aggravating. And recovery takes three times as long as you think it will. And, you know, people that are a year or two out from brain injury think, like, why am I not better? And, you know, in some ways there's no better. I'm 18 years out and I still have impacts. You know, you can't see it all the time, but it's there, you know, and uh I still feel very fortunate because I know there are people um who would have died right on that street, you know.

SPEAKER_00 15:12

I have a question about you telling your story. I've I've heard your story before. You just told me it's 18 years old. How do you keep your story authentic and uh feeling fresh? Do you ever get tired of telling your story? And then third question, if you can remember all these, do you think it's important for somebody to dig back in their past and tell a story that happened 20 years ago?

SPEAKER_01 15:36

So it's interesting you say that. Um, I remember years ago when I was a new speaker, I went to hear someone speak, and I won't mention names, but she's an amazing woman. And she had been in an accident even worse than mine with an 18-wheeler truck, um, and had lost part of her leg permanently and had been a marathon runner before that. And she was telling her story and she had written a book, right? And I remember thinking, um, and her accident happened a long time before, like I more than a decade, maybe two decades, before, you know, I was standing there watching her tell her story and talk about her book. And I remember thinking at the time, like, wow, what an amazing story, how far she's come, but also why did it take her so long to put this story out? And, you know, here I am 18 years later. You know, you know because you know me, I've been working on getting a book out. It's not out. Um, it took me a long time to feel like I even had something to say in any perspective to start writing it. And every time I feel like it's at the right point and finished, it's not. So, you know, when you talk about keeping your story fresh, I mean, my life keeps changing. Um, I think one of the ways the accident changed my life that I haven't mentioned yet is I'm a lot more willing to take risks and do new things that I wasn't before the accident. So for me, it's like, what's next? You know, I never feel like it's too late. I never feel like I'm too old. I always feel like, you know, I have the time because I was given time. I'm like on borrowed time because, like I said, you know, I I mean, a lot of people would not have made it. So I mean, I feel like uh it's really important for me to continue to tell the story, um, to keep it fresh by showing everything that I continue to do, you know, which maybe five years ago I couldn't do or wouldn't do, and now I'm willing to do because my mental attitude is different or I'm physically stronger than I was. Um, and do I ever get sick of telling the story? It's it's hard. I mean, I sometimes when I feel like going into a talk, it might be on autopilot for me. Like these are the things I'll share. Those are kind of the times sometimes where I just like burst out in tears on the stage for no reason. And I'm like, I don't know why that happened today. You know, sometimes it's like I remember giving one talk where um it was very close to the anniversary of when my mother had died, and I was talking about the accident, I was talking about her, and I just lost it, like in the middle of the talk, you know? And that happens. I mean, it's you know, hopefully I'm able to get it back together enough that people still take what they need from it, but it's it still happens. So I really don't get sick of telling it because I never really feel like it's on autopilot. Different things come out, and I'm a different person every time I give it.

SPEAKER_00 18:07

I recently heard somebody speak, and as the woman was telling her story, it didn't have that freshness. I'm like, I just feel like this woman has told the story so many times that it's lost its connectivity. And I don't know what that was. And that and that's actually why I asked you that question is how do you keep it that way? You've done TED Talks, you you speak all the time. And so that's really interesting. I love how you say that what you're doing now, it changes your perspective. So, like when you're writing your book that you've talked about, um, we'll get into that a little bit. It's like it changes all the time because your perspective is always changing. Totally. Yeah, like it's never done. I I have a book, I keep thinking it's ready to publish, and I'm like, no, it needs another edit. And my husband's like, you've edited four times. Like just put it out. And like, well, no, it's not perfect yet because it doesn't know. So that's that's a hard one.

SPEAKER_01 18:59

It's a hard, it's also hard when you're doing what essentially is some kind of memoir, you know. Um, where do you end it? You know, like what kind of note does it end on? I think that's the thing I'm struggling with the most, you know. That's interesting.

SPEAKER_00 19:11

You have been named Best Social Media Influencer 2025. What does that recognition represent for you personally? Like, what is what I don't even know what that is. What is that?

SPEAKER_01 19:20

Yeah, so there's a local magazine here called Mainline today. It's uh it's a magazine for the Philadelphia suburbs that's pretty well known here. And they had their inaugural. Um, they give awards every year, they do a best of issue every year, but last year they decided for the first time to do a social media award, and I received it. So I was very excited. Um, I've been doing content creation for probably about a decade, and a lot of it is in the fashion lifestyle travel space, but certainly there's a little bit of politics and healthcare and speaking and everything sprinkled in. And, you know, as I've gotten older, I feel more and more need to represent in that space. You know, I'm 53. Most of the content creators that I know in my area and I encounter are significantly younger than me. There's not a lot of people in this over 50 space. And I think it's so important, you know, because I feel like um you and I, and I feel like a lot of women that we know through our classic universe pageant organization, we are different kinds of women. Like we see possibilities. I definitely know a number of people around me who are my age range women who feel like life has kind of passed them by, that they're becoming invisible, that it's too late for them to do certain things. So I mean, I feel like a really strong pull to represent in that creator space, even if it's something silly, like here's my outfit of the day, because I feel like I take more fashion risks now that I'm older than I used to. Like I'll, you know, I'll wear like a two-piece and show my stomach, which I would have never done at 25, but at 53, I'm like, who cares? You know? So I think things like that are important. I mean, for me, you know, I've struggled with my weight my whole life too. So I mean, my weight's gone up and down since I was nine by a hundred pounds either direction. And I definitely feel like that is also important, you know, to show that you are positive and comfortable at whatever size you're at, that you can go out and do things. You can take pictures and you can post them. And, you know, you're not waiting until you lose 20 pounds or whatever the case may be. Because I think a lot of women do that. So I love representing in that space. I feel like it's super important.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

You feel like I noticed that too, especially I've been trying to do more content creating. And I just had this new fire at 50. I'm like, you know what? I'm just owning this now. And I feel like when I watch this younger generation, I'm like, they have the energy, but they don't have the wisdom and the perspective.

SPEAKER_01 21:42

Right.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

And I think that's a really important thing. Do you feel like there is space in that arena that like 50 to 65? I feel like it's the new 30, or am I just old and that's what I want to tell myself?

SPEAKER_01 21:54

No, I I think you're right. I mean, I you know, people always make that comparison online. They show, you know, Group of friends today, and then they show the golden girls and they remind us that the golden girls was supposed to be a group of women in their 50s, but women in their 50s look so different these days, and like it's just not the same, you know. And um, we're not doing the same things, you know. We're still doing second and third careers, and we're doing so many good things in our community. Um, I see, you know, influencers that are in the 7580 space. I mean, think of Iris Abfel, you know, and and how she was as a fashion icon into the time until the time that she passed away. I mean, I look at her as somebody I really emulate. Like, I hope I'm like that at her age and that fabulous with all my statement jewelry and my matching, you know, kaftons and glasses and everything. I mean, she's so fabulous. So I think there's space for everybody. I don't think um all, I won't say any, I'll say all of the PR companies and brands really uh look at the space that we're in. Like I feel like there are a lot of things that come my way, and then they say we want people, you know, X age to X age, and usually it's till 40 or 45. A lot of people assume that I am still that age range, and then I have to tell them I'm 53, and they're like, oh, you know, and um I don't know why that should matter, you know, but I feel like there are a lot of things that where it does matter. Um, I have some PR companies I work with in my area that are so good to me, and I think they just get it. They get it that there's a place for everyone. I mean, you know, like I said, my husband and I don't have kids. We're considered dinks, you know, dual income, no kids. And, you know, I feel like there's a lot in that space of like over 50 and like couples content and things like that, and for travel, you know, we're the generation that has more money than the 25-year-olds, and hopefully they'll have more money when they get older.

SPEAKER_00 23:43

Like these these dress shops are always showing like 25-year-old girls in these dresses, and I'm like, you need to be showing their moms with them because I'm the one that's gonna spend the $80 on a dress. They don't have $80 to spend on it.

SPEAKER_01 23:54

I didn't have that. I had not I had nothing when I was their age. I mean, I was lucky I worked at a few retail clothing stores and got a big discount, and that's pretty much where my clothes came from. So, you know, I mean, it's I just think um some of the companies that don't see that are very short-sighted, but the ones that do, I really appreciate and I continue to work with.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

I I really love that. What would you um what advice would you give to a woman in her midlife that feels like they've missed their moment? Like, oh, I've I feel old and I my new words crusty, musty, and I'm 50 and like I've already lived my life. The best things have passed. What would you say to somebody?

SPEAKER_01 24:30

I mean, I think life is about your outlook and it's a terrible outlook, you know. And I'm I'm a pretty outspoken person. So I feel like I'd actually say that to them. Like, that's a terrible statement, you know, and I'd explain why. I mean, I just I just feel like you're only as old as you feel. Um, life has never passed you by, you know. I mean, I remember when I was in law school, we had somebody in my section who was like, I think in their 70s, who had just decided they wanted to go to law school. And I thought it was so great. I mean, it's never too late. So, I mean, I'm also somebody that doesn't really have the patience for that outlook, I think, given what I've been through in my own life. So I I have heard that from people, even within my own family. And I really, I listened for a minute, then I explained my position, and then if they keep complaining, I really shut it down because I can't listen to it. I'm just like, life is too short. You know, this is how you want to live your life, doom and gloom. Everything's passed you by, then so be it. Like I'm gonna surround myself with positive people who are doing things.

SPEAKER_00 25:23

I really love that. Now you talked about your book that you you are going to put out eventually called. I know this is gonna happen because I know you're driven. It just has to be the right time. And I really do understand that. Is this uh book? Tell me, tell me just briefly what that's about and what you want people to know about that when it does come. The book is called Lucky.

SPEAKER_01 25:46

The title's done, the cover's done, the draft has been done. And it's really about um feeling like even though a lot of people would say what happened to me was unlucky, in a lot of ways it was lucky, in some of the ways I've already explained, you know, here in this interview today. Um, so really it goes through a lot of stories about how there were things that other people might interpret as unlucky that I thought were lucky. Like one example is um when I graduate, when I was graduating law school, as I said, I wanted to be a courtroom lawyer. So my dream was to work at the public defender or the district attorney's office because those were young attorneys that were in court every day. And I got an interview at the DA's office and I interview very well. So once I got the interview at the DA's office, I was like, okay, I know I have to go do a great interview, but I thought basically this is gonna be a done deal for me because I'm gonna excel at this. And the interview was a disaster. Um, I felt like there's just no other way to put it. Um, the person, the guy that interviewed me, he just seemed to have it out for me from the time I sat down. I went to Villanova Law School, which is in the suburbs here, and he seemed very much of the philosophy that somebody who was white and who lived in the suburbs, like basically could not handle a job like this. And he made that known. And he had no idea, you know, what I had been through in my life. And, you know, even before this was before the accident. I mean, just my upbringing and everything. And um, so I got very defensive and argumentative. And I, you know, I knew when I left the office, like there was no chance I was getting this job. So, you know, ultimately, um, I ended up going to a civil firm at an insurance company because I had a girlfriend from law school that was there, and she said, I know you really wanted a job where you're going to court, and it may not be the most exciting work, but I'm in court almost every day. So why don't you come here? So I did, and that's where I met my husband. So I feel like if I had gotten that job at the DA's office, I might have never met my husband. So I feel like things happen for a reason, and that's like one example of a story from the book from my life.

SPEAKER_00 27:41

I I can really read that, and I know a lot of people can. Those things that don't happen, you know, when I was young and had six little kids and my marriage had fallen apart and all of this, and I thought, how am I ever gonna get my life back? And my life today is so much better than I could have ever expected it. But it was so hard to get here. And how grateful I am for all those hardships that I came through. I'm really grateful for those. I call them blessings, you can call it lucky, whatever you want to call them.

SPEAKER_01 28:08

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 28:09

Um, couple last questions. So you've when when was your TED talk? What year was that?

SPEAKER_01 28:14

That was 2020, and that was that was also really challenging because I had applied and been rejected for five years. And I'm a very big visualization person. So I saw myself on that stage with the red logo and friends and family in the audience. So lo and behold, December of 2019, I finally get a TEDx and it's at University of Arkansas. So already I'm like, that kind of sucks because although I wanted the TEDx talk, now I'm gonna fly to Arkansas by myself with no family and friends, and it's just gonna be a TEDx talk, which by it's great, it's an amazing accomplishment, but it it already wasn't gonna look like what I'd hoped to do it in my own area with my own people. And then the country shut down the week before I was supposed to give the talk. Um, so I was given a choice to uh wait to see if they would reschedule it a year later or to tape it in alone in Philadelphia in an empty studio with no red TED logo, no audience, nobody smiling at me, which is what I did. And then it was put out in June of 2020. You know, if you look at it online, it doesn't have the background of a lot of people, but it made it from TEDx to the TED.com site, which a lot of the talks don't. So it was definitely one of their more featured talks. And it was all about resilience and change and overcoming challenges. And I think, you know, when we talk about things happening at the right time, I wanted it to happen years before. Ultimately, though, I think it was 2020, June of 2020 was exactly the time people needed to hear that message. We were all going through through so much with everything shut down and everybody's lives in upheaval for different reasons. So I feel like it actually was released at the right time.

SPEAKER_00 29:49

If you were gonna give the TEDx talk today, how would it change? How would your message change, or how would it stay the same?

SPEAKER_01 29:56

You know, I really think my message would mainly stay the same. I just feel like I would focus on different things because I've done so much since 2020. And, you know, I feel like I would have to incorporate some of that.

SPEAKER_00 30:09

I love that. All right, my last question. I know you're such a busy person, and I'm I really appreciate you taking the time to sit down and talk. I'm happy to do it. That's the first time I saw you. I've I've wanted this. What do you want your legacy to be?

SPEAKER_01 30:24

What do I want my legacy to be? That's a great question. Um, I hope that I have impacted people in a way where um I've brought better things to their lives and that they smile when they think of me.

SPEAKER_00 30:38

I do. Every time I think of you, I smile and think I want to be just like her when I grow up. I always think that. You are amazing yourself.

SPEAKER_01 30:51

Take care.