Essence Embodied by Tyne Stecklein

From Professional Dancer to Children's Author: Trusting Life's Redirection - with Jenny Robinson Clark

• Tyne • Episode 19

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A single moment can reroute a whole life if we’re willing to notice it. This week, I’m joined by Jenny Robinson Clark, a former professional dancer and actress turned children’s book author, to talk about what happens when the path you thought you’d live starts to change and how that shift can become the most meaningful work you’ve ever done.

Jenny shares her journey from pursuing a career in entertainment in Los Angeles to choosing family when her mother faced a long battle with cancer. We talk about how that season transformed her understanding of ambition, success, self-worth, and what truly matters most.

Together, we explore perfectionism, comparison, rejection, and the importance of staying grounded in confidence, authenticity, and a deeper sense of purpose.

We also dive into spirituality, mindfulness, and the power of presence. Jenny shares the signs and synchronicities that followed a transformative Dr. Joe Dispenza retreat, including the message that ultimately inspired her children's book, Are You Here—a beautiful story that helps families navigate love, loss, grief, and connection beyond the physical world.

Along the way, we discuss meditation, anxiety, parenting, homeschooling, and the reality that grief and joy can coexist in the same season.

If you're navigating change, searching for creative clarity, healing from loss, or learning to trust life's unexpected redirections, this conversation is a reminder that sometimes the path unfolding before you is even more meaningful than the one you originally planned.

Get your copy of Jenny's book, Are You Here, at her website: www.jennyrobinsonclark.com

Connect with Jenny on Instagram: @jennyrobinsonclark


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I'd like to say a massive thank you to my editor and dear friend, Nikki Dalonzo, for supporting me on this journey! 

Welcome And Guest Introduction

Tyne Stecklein

Welcome back to Essence Embodied by Tyne Stecklein. I'm your host and I have an amazing guest episode for you today with Jenny Robinson Clark, former professional dancer, turned children's book author. If you're looking for a boost of inspiration to follow your passions, to listen to the divine inspiration that is calling you, then this episode is for you. We talk about motherhood, spirituality, navigating the entertainment industry, and so many things that I think you are going to find uplifting. Let's dive in. Welcome, Jenny. I am so grateful to have you here today.

Jenny Robinson Clark

I am so grateful to be here. That smile I missed.

Tyne Stecklein

I missed your smile. Thank you. I know I could say the same for you. And I that and many other things I feel like we have so in common, not to compliment myself, but I think that we're both really bright lights in the world. And so I'm just excited to connect with you.

Jenny Robinson Clark

It takes one to know one, you know?

Tyne Stecklein

You hold up a mirror.

Jenny Robinson Clark

And so I agree. And I'm excited to talk about all the things and to again shed our light to your listeners. And I pray and hope that they get something from this episode.

Tyne Stecklein

Me too. Thank you for that. I want to read your bio for listeners that don't know you. So Jenny Robinson Clark, author of Are You Here, is a Nashville-based mother of four, former dancer and actress, and a heartfelt storyteller whose work is inspired by motherhood, mindfulness, and the deep connections that continue beyond what we can see. Through her writing, she gently helps families explore love, loss, and the beautiful signs that remind us we are never alone. When she's not creating stories or homeschooling her children, Jenny finds joy in meditation, baking sourdough, and hip hop dance class with her biggest supporter, her husband. There are so many things from that bio that I'm like, tell me more. Homeschooling for children, first of all. Sourdough. I've never baked my own bread. So many impressive things in there that I can't wait to dive into.

Jenny Robinson Clark

I know it's so funny. We know each other through dance, and I'm

Purpose Shifts After Becoming A Mom

Jenny Robinson Clark

so grateful for that time of my life. But I can say now that I found my true purpose and being a mom and raising kind, compassionate kids is like just lights me on fire.

Tyne Stecklein

I can so relate to that. As much as I felt like my purpose was to be a performer once I had children, I was like, oh, nothing will ever compare to this.

Jenny Robinson Clark

I agree. Oh my gosh. I I'm sure like you, as a child, you had these dreams. And we spoke about this briefly, I feel like, but my mom put me into dance because she was a dance teacher. And I was so grateful for that because I grew to love it. And I reflect on that time. And I'm like, I wonder if I would have chosen dance for myself. I wonder if that would have been the thing that I would have chosen. And I don't know, right? We we shouldn't live in the past, but I'm grateful for the journey that took me on. But now authoring a children's book, which I'm sure we'll get into, I never thought in a million years that I could switch that passion or that career or whatever it was, right? I was like, oh my gosh, no, I'm always gonna be this dancer. And I loved performing. And like you, I don't know, that also lit my soul on fire, making eye contact with whoever was in the audience at whatever performance it was or whatever we were doing, right? Bringing a smile to their face, like really lit my soul on fire. So I I thought when I would leave that career that I would miss it and come to find out, I do miss it a little bit, but that's why I'm doing hip hop dance class with Travis here in National. We found a studio and it's so awesome. So I bring that back into my life in that way. But yeah, I found a new passion and a new purpose. And I think that's so important for whoever's listening that it doesn't have to be this certain thing that we think is what is called and meant for us.

Tyne Stecklein

Yeah, and I think I know I have listeners that are very new on their creative path, maybe their dance path, but I know I also have performers that have been doing this as long as since we started, who are now facing a shift. And it can come with, I think, this little bit of an identity crisis of it's how you know yourself, who you know yourself to be. And so I think it's such a good reminder, no matter where you're at, that we can be multiple things and we can change our passions and our purpose can shift and grow with that. So thank you for saying that. And for listeners, I'd love for you to talk

Chasing Dreams In Los Angeles

Tyne Stecklein

about if you want to, any anything from your career, but then also ultimately like why you chose to leave it and what shifted for you when you did.

Jenny Robinson Clark

Yeah, I love that question. Like I said, my mom put me in a pageant at four years old. She put me into dance, but I was in a pageant and I remember watching it on a VHS years later, but the announcer announced me, Jenny Robinson, and she wants to be a movie star. And so at four years old, I don't know why I said that or why I wanted to be that, but that was in my heart. And so I took years to dance, and then I always knew though that I wanted to move to Los Angeles and continue dancing. And I did everything I could in Florida. I danced for The Orlando Magic and SeaWorld and Disney, and then a movie came into town. I saw it in the newspaper, I think, the audition for Bring It On. And I took myself to Universal City Walk, and I remember my outfit, like it was yesterday, and I showed up. I was so scared out of my mind, but I'm like, I'm gonna do this because I knew in my heart that's what I wanted to do. And when you place a dream in your mind or your heart, nothing's gonna stop you. Yes, I was nervous, but I knew that's what I wanted, right? So, anyways, I walked into Universal City walk and went to the audition, and the uh the choreographer was Tony G, which I know you've worked with a lot.

Tyne Stecklein

Sounds like Tony G.

Jenny Robinson Clark

But he was the one that actually set me up in LA, and I'm so grateful for him. I would not have done the things I did in LA had it not been him coming to Orlando with being the choreographer for Bring It On. And anyways, he I went to LA, he introduced me to my agent, Clear Talent Group, which I know you were with too. And so from there it just snowballed, and I was in LA and I was doing what I loved, and I got into acting and doing all the things. And as I reflect back though, I feel like there was a part of me as a kid that was craving attention, and I was a also a perfectionist, and so I had to be good at everything, and I thought that I wanted that. I think I was I wanted to be a movie star because I liked the attention, is what I'm getting at. Reflecting back, looking at myself as a child. I was a second child, and so I don't want to give myself a label, but I did for many years, and I always had to work harder or do better or be the best. And so when I moved to LA, I kind of feel like I had that kind of in me as a being, and I wish I hadn't. I remember being in a acting class, Leslie Khan, a comedy class, because I wanted to do comedy so bad because I thought that would make me happy, and it did because I wanted to make other people laugh. But I remember her looking at me and she said, Stop trying so hard. I was like, Oh my god. In front of the class. Yeah, in front of the class. And I was like, okay, that was like my first real slap in the face of yeah, maybe I am trying too hard. Maybe I'm trying to do these things because I want people to love

Perfectionism And Needing Approval

Jenny Robinson Clark

me, right? I don't know. Anyways, that was like a like for me. Yeah, maybe do we all do that? I feel like some people are so grounded in who they are, and they're not trying to impress people, but I do feel like maybe a lot of the times I was. And all that being said, I loved what I did, I loved performing, but when I was in LA, my mom got sick with cancer, and that kind of changed a lot for me. And I started realizing what was really important, and she battled cancer for 10 years, and I decided to go back to Florida and live with her after I met my husband in 2013, and

Cancer, Caregiving, And Losing Mom

Jenny Robinson Clark

we got married in 2014. I got pregnant right after our honeymoon, and we decided to leave LA. And that was such a hard choice for me, but but it was the best decision I had ever made to be with my mom and to move back to Florida. And I I don't know if I had time to really process leaving the career that I thought was meant for me because of the situation. And so I think I was lucky in that sense that I couldn't really process it. And like I said, my mom was sick, so I really wasn't thinking about me anymore. Being in LA, it's really easy to be self-centered and think about yourself all the time, what's what jobs next, like comparing yourself to everybody else in the rooms. And I was taking care of my mom now, so none of that mattered. I say that my mom lived so selflessly for me for all of my life, but especially when I was young and when I moved to LA, that it was now my time to live selfless selflessly for her. And I get kind of teary-eyed when I think about that because she gave so much of her life for us. And now being a mom, I can see why she did, right? Because there's no other love like loving your children. It hurts my heart sometimes to think about it, how much I love them. And so I resented my mom though. I resented her for not wanting me to move to LA. She never wanted me to move to LA. She wanted me to stay with her. And if you've grown up with really amazing parents that you have a strong head on your shoulders, I knew what I wanted when I moved to LA, and that's that was my goal. I had blinders on, and I was like, that's what I'm gonna do. So I never fell into that, but I did have resentment towards my mom because she didn't want me to move out to LA, but now I feel it so deeply. Now I know why she didn't want me to. She loved me so much when she was just trying to protect me. But I hope that anyone going through this situation, the same situation, can feel connected to my story. But so I moved back home to be with my mom and I never looked back. I really never looked back. I didn't have this moment of grieving my my former career because I was there for my mom and it was the best time of my life, and we grew so close. The resentment I had vanished. We had such a strong relationship in those last years of her life, and I'm just so grateful for that. And then yeah, she passed away in 2018, and that was probably the hardest thing I've ever had to go through, losing a mom, because she was such a solid rock for me and my family. And yeah, death for me too as a child was I was so living in fear of it, of the unknown. And then when you kind of have to face it, it makes you open your eyes and look for there's not beauty in death, but the love that you have for somebody is the pain that you're gonna feel. And so I just I knew that the love that I had for my mom was unconditional, and I was hurting for sure, and I was wanting to feel connected to her. Long story short, I received a message from her early one morning, and that's when I changed my career into a children's book author. There's so much more to this how that came about, but becoming an author was because of my mom's passing, and that was the gift that God placed on my heart after that. And I was praying for years to be like, use me, God, in a different way. I know I'm here to make a difference and serve humanity on a larger scale. So, whatever that looks like, God, like just show me. God showed me in 2023 when I received this message from my mom. I say she authored it. She authored the book, she gave it to the me the whole message. And so I put it on paper.

Retreat, Signs, And The Owl

Jenny Robinson Clark

And we have now I'm a children's book author. Like, what? I don't know. Oh, cool. Did you love painting?

Tyne Stecklein

Like, you're did you I was always like crafty because my mom and my grandma both like to do crafts, but it was just something I would find myself doing without putting any thought into it. I would just find myself getting out paints, and then it was during the pandemic when I really couldn't do the things I was so used to doing, couldn't go to the places, couldn't audition, couldn't work. And it was something I could do for me. So I, yeah, I just I found this love for it and it became super therapeutic through motherhood for me, just with the with each different kid, actually in a different way, which was really cool. But I think something that you said, and it also goes along with me painting and even starting a podcast. I think we get these, yeah, these messages from God or whatever a listener believes in, these divine bits of inspiration, and they're worth listening to, but they're I think they can be so easy to miss. Or for me, I know that sometimes something's been on my heart, like the podcast was on my heart for a really long time, and I kept being afraid. Excuses. I kept being afraid to actually listen to the calling, and and it just kept coming back. It kept coming back. So finally I was like, okay, I'm gonna do this. But once I said it out loud, it was like I actually had to follow through with doing it. I think social media, it's it's so many things, for better or worse. But one thing about it is you do have to hold yourself accountable once you say publicly to the world you're doing something. And so I don't know for you how that evolved or how that unfolded with the book. You got the idea and then how the process went to actually write it and to put it out in the world and to go through that. You can share with us. But those things that keep coming to us, or maybe they just come to us once. And if we're able to listen, I think it can be a really great way to get through something really challenging we're going through, or find your next passion, maybe find your next career like you did. It's really, really beautiful.

Jenny Robinson Clark

I know it's that it's being open to these nudges and these quote unquote signs from, like you said, God, a higher power, the divine, anything that you believe in. But being open to it. If I had not met this lady on a beach in 2023 at a Dr. Joe Dispenza retreat, the first lady I met who gifted me a children's book called Maybe by Kobe Yamada. You love this book? I love that book. So she gifted it to me because I told her I had four kids, and I'm like, thank you so much. I just took it, I put it in my suitcase, didn't even look at it during the rest of the retreat, but I had set the intention to connect to my mom because that's when I was feeling disconnected to her and uh and to heal my IBS, which I did that too, which is incredible because before Dr. Joe, I would do every cleanse, I would eat healthy, I would do all these things, and nothing was helping. Our minds are so powerful. But yes, I say I healed my IBS and I connected to my mom in so many different ways. But I was listening to this book, Signs by Lorelyn Jackson, on my way back up from the retreat, and she said, Ask for a specific sign from a loved one that has passed, so specific that you know it's from them, and it's uh undoubt, undoubtedly a sign. So I was like, My mom loved owls, and I said, Okay, mom, send me an owl. I said barred owl specifically. She before she passed, she went on a workshop and she learned about owls and how to call for them. And so she taught us that. And so I thought, okay, we don't see owls a lot. I don't see owls a lot. That might be a good one. So I get home, I see the kids. I've never felt so alive in my life after this retreat, so present. I just told Travis actually earlier today that the two times that I feel like I was the most happy and the most present was during the pandemic because I had nothing else to do. I didn't have social, I didn't go on my social media to compare myself to anything because no one was doing anything. I was literally making breakfast, lunch, and dinner for us. We were eating outside. I had no worries. I don't know. It was a crazy time for me, and I felt so present and so alive. And then after this retreat, I felt so present and so alive. And I think present, being present is the gift, right? Anxiety is thinking about the future and depression is living in the past. And I've been doing that a lot lately, and so reminding myself to get back to the present moment. Anyways, I get home, I pull this book out to read to the kids because I knew that I had something to give them and they were so excited. So we try to sit down and read it, but they were distracted and running around like crazy humans. As kids do. Yeah, so crazy, so loud. I'm like, okay, fine, I'll read it to myself. And so I just start reading this book to myself, and it's the most beautiful book, just even the message. But as I'm turning the pages, there's just these beautiful illustrations of owls, and the little girl has a I think that's an owl hat on her head. And I'm like, I just get this download that this book was not meant for my children, it was meant for me. And I just start reading it, and I'm like, oh my god, my mom is this is what my mom wants me to know. Just look at that beautiful owl. This is everything that my mom is trying to tell me from heaven. I just know it. It's a story about the endless all of us, and maybe, just maybe you'll exceed your dreams. And I just cried for days after I realized that. She sent that woman on the beach to hand me this book, which I thought was for my children. And then I'm like, no, no way. I knew in my heart that was my mom sending this book to me. And that was the inspiration for Are You Here? A couple days later, I woke up at 3 a.m. I actually went to a dance class that night for the first time because I was feeling so motivated after that retreat. And Nicole Shaka, I know you had her on your podcast.

Tyne Stecklein

Yeah.

Jenny Robinson Clark

Gee, I say her, Laurelyn Jackson, this woman Heidi that gifted me this book, and Joe Dispenza were like the main inspirations behind Are You Here? But she lost her partner, which I'm sure she spoke about maybe on the podcast. And I went to that dance class and I dedicated that class to Matt and to Nicole. And I felt so alive. I got home that night. And I went to that dance class, got home feeling so inspired, right? Because painting, dancing, all these things can make us feel so alive and so present. And I get home at 3 a.m. I wake up and this download, these words, this message that's in this book, the children's book that I wrote, was so clear to me. And I just wrote it down in the morning. I showed it to Travis, my husband, who is a musician, and he took the words upstairs to his studio, came down that night, sat on the couch with his acoustic guitar, and played me a song to the words that I wrote. And again, I was crying for days. I didn't know I needed that healing, which was so crazy, which is interesting about grief. You don't know when it's gonna come, it's not linear at all. It comes in waves, and so I didn't know I needed this healing. It was just a beautiful time of my life. And we had that song, and I sat on it for a year, and I'm like, what can we do with this song? It healed me in so many ways. I'd be doing it to service to humanity if I didn't at least try to touch somebody else's heart with it. So yeah, I was at the beach one morning and I'm like, a children's book. So I have voice memos of me reading the words and seeing how it would sound if it was a children's book. And I mean I was like, that's what it's gonna be. So I text Nicole Shaka because she had written a children's book called Yoked, which is a great book too for kids that I recommend. And she connected me to SJ, who I know you know as well. And she helped me through a lot of the process. I found my illustrator who was we did a commercial shoot for rooms to go in Miami in 2019. So silly. But like friends throughout that. And I knew in my heart, right when this idea came to me, I'm like, it's her. I know it's gonna be her. But she had been going through a lot of challenges. When I asked her though, she was like, absolutely. She lost her dad six months prior to me asking her to do the illustrations for this book. So I'm like, oh my gosh, it healed her in so many ways, she said when she was doing the illustrations, and her dad came to her and all the her dreams. So yeah, it's just like synchronicity after synchronicity and being open to the divine guiding us is so important. And, anyways, had I going back to what we were saying, had I missed that, had I walked by Heidi on the beach and didn't interact with her or have a conversation with her, I wouldn't have received maybe than to receive the message

Trusting Detours And Everyday Synchronicity

Jenny Robinson Clark

from my mom. And then for everything to unfold like that, that's divine.

Tyne Stecklein

Oh my gosh. I've had chills at so many different points while you're talking because it is, and I think it's what life's about. I've talked about this in episodes before, but it's just being so open that when we walk out of our door instead of thinking, oh, this is just another Monday, what could happen today? Or who can I interact with that changes my whole life? For you, this has really shifted your life in this massive way. But I do think it's like having the awareness to be open in that way and be to connect with people.

Jenny Robinson Clark

Connecting with people. We have to. And then letting God guide us and feeling those nudges of, oh, maybe today I won't take this way. I'll take this way. And then where does that way lead you? Sunday, I just posted on my Instagram. I was supposed to go to Costco, one Costco, but I missed the turn. So me and my son ended up going to another Costco. And I literally said in my head on the way there, okay, God, I don't know why this is meant to be, but let's go. And so we get there. I'm checking out. I have rewards, Costco rewards. I don't know if you always I always forget to cash them out. Yeah, totally. So I go and cash them out. She gives me coins. I never get coins. And I know Kingston loves coins. So I was like, oh, Kingston, you can have this quarter. And I look at it and it's a ballerina with ballet slippers. It actually looks exactly like you when you're dancing, doing your beautiful, your long legs and your pointed toes. But I had asked my mom for a sign of ballerina slippers, probably a week and a half before that. And I hadn't received it. And I was like thinking, okay, maybe she's not gonna show me the sign. And when I least expected it, when I went to another Costco than what I was supposed to go to, and I received my Costco cash, and there's a ballerina, there's ballerina slippers on this quarter. Have you ever seen a ballerina on a quarter, first of all? No, I didn't know that existed. Did not know that was a thing. No, I didn't know that was a thing either, but I guess it was the 2023, which it's crazy too. I saw on the date, it was 2023, and that's when all of this came about. All this crazy, my new journey came about in 2023. And I'm like, okay, mom, I see you. I hear you. Thank you so much for sending that. But I was open to it. I literally was like, God, thank you. I understand, I don't know, understand why I'm going to this Costco, but whatever.

Tyne Stecklein

Yeah. Which that is such that has been such a profound shift for how I live life too, because there are so many small things in the day that can be frustrating or annoying. And they're so little, right? They're not worth getting ourselves rattled over, but it's so easy to be like this was not the plan, whatever the plan was. But when you can view it from, okay, maybe I'm supposed to go this way for a reason, or maybe I remember one time a dancer on a job telling me, I can't remember if I was late, which is very unlike me. I hate being late, but I maybe I was late because of traffic or something. And I was just feeling so frazzled. And I wish that I remember who this was. It was so long ago, but I wish I could thank him now. But I remember him telling me, maybe that was a blessing. Maybe you would have been, oh, now I do remember. I think there was really bad traffic because there was an accident. And I think he told me maybe that would have been you had you left when you planned on. And I was so young, not very spiritual at the time, did not understand what he was saying. And I was actually annoyed by it at the time, I think.

Jenny Robinson Clark

But let me just get to the audition that you have.

Tyne Stecklein

I'm never late. Why am I late today? But but it's been such a big shift for me, especially in motherhood with young kids, which there's so much that we go through in just one day alone or even a morning by 10 a.m. So much life has happened that when I'm able to just be like, okay, you don't have to take it so seriously, and you can just go with it. It's helped me so much.

Jenny Robinson Clark

Yes, I agree. I know. I just told Travis, I'm like, babe, let's just get on the road, let's do a documentary, not have anything planned, and literally see where we're guided. How cool would that be? Like that would be so cool. See where we're guided. We were on a walk this morning and we walked by this chocolate shop, and I'm playing with the bubbles outside, and this woman comes out and she said, Jenny? I'm like, Yes. And this it was a neighbor here in Nashville that I had run into two times prior to that time. And it's instances like that where it's okay, why is the universe or God making me run into this woman so many times? And we had a conversation, and me and my husband do devotionals every Sunday for our community that we just started back up, so we can really create a spiritual foundation in our kids and our neighbors and the community around us. And, anyways, she does children's art. And I'm like, oh, maybe you can come and do children's art that goes along with the theme of the devotional. And so I know God made us meet up multiple times for a reason. And so now I'm just gonna explore that reason and see what that could be.

Tyne Stecklein

Yeah, who knows?

Jenny Robinson Clark

So beautiful. Who knows? I went to UPS today, dropped off some books, and the girl that was checking me out is a children's book illustrator, and so I've got her Instagram, I don't know, little things like that. Yeah, connecting with people, yeah.

Tyne Stecklein

Exactly. You never know, you never know, and I think it's such a makes life just exciting.

Jenny Robinson Clark

I know we gotta live more in the unknown. And as a kid, like I said, I never wanted to live in the unknown. I was so scared of everything. I wanted to know what the roller coaster was gonna be like before I got on it. I wanted to know if a storm was coming, how long. I was scared about everything, yeah. But living in the unknown, that's where magic happens. That's where it happens.

Tyne Stecklein

Exactly. Even as you're saying that, I'm like, oh yeah, I need to do that more right now because I've been like, okay, I have this month and not a lot planned, and what and it's like it doesn't matter, just live in today. Something's gonna happen. The most of today on that note, for me, and you've talked about presence, but that's been just like a recurring lesson in my life, is something that I need to keep working on, is being present with any one thing. My children, my husband, my work. Is there anything that you feel like is just a recurring theme or a recurring lesson that you're

Anxiety Relief Through Daily Meditation

Tyne Stecklein

working on or that you would tell your younger self?

Jenny Robinson Clark

So many, so many things that I would tell my younger self. I have had so much anxiety this past year. We moved to Nashville, we lived in Florida for since my mom was sick, 2015. And so there were so many life shifts that was happening this year for me. My book came out. I had so much anxiety. I was waking up every day thinking the world was ending. Like I've never had mental health issues, and now I understand people that do have them, how debilitating it is. There's been so many moments in my life this past year where I've said, Travis, this is so debilitating for me. I'm so sorry. I don't know what to do. I have never felt this way before, and so I feel so deeply for those people who are listening that are that have you know anxiety or depression or all these mental issues that you can't control really. And so a big thing for me with Dr. Joe Dispenzo's work is waking up every mo morning and meditating. And I do that now an hour before the kids get up, and it really has changed my life because I set an intention of what I want, and that's what I visualize the entire time for an hour, becoming who I want to be, right? It's for me. Yes, this past year is becoming who I want to be, overcoming to become, overcoming to become, overcoming to become, whatever the situation is. And that's only how I'm gonna grow and get out of that, I think, is to use the tools that I have to help me get through it. And meditating for me is very, very profound in what it does.

Tyne Stecklein

Yeah, I talked about meditation on last week's podcast episode as a solo episode because it has been so profound for me and I didn't really have it for most of my career, and I think it would have changed the game to help with anxiety, to help with knowing what I'm have to offer, and nothing else matters. I I wish that I had the tool for many reasons before this part in life, but yeah, it's been a game changer.

Jenny Robinson Clark

Yeah, I would yeah, recommend anybody that's listening. If you're religious too, I feel like a lot of people get triggered by meditation if they are religious. But for me, it's praying is asking God, right? And then meditation is being able to listen and hear what he has to say. Yeah, and so if you look at it that way, it's really a beautiful thing. And if you're not religious, yeah, I mean, just having that tool is so beneficial. And I feel like so much mental health could be healed if we all were given that tool. Do the best that we can for our children because they're the next generation, right? And we got to do things differently, in my opinion, than what our parents did, even though they were doing the best that they could. But if we're not evolving and we're not growing, then how can the world change to be a better place?

Tyne Stecklein

I love that. That's so beautiful, and it's it is. I think it's our job to do better. And like you said, I also think our parents' generation did the best that they could. And there's gonna be so many things, I'm sure, when our kids have kids that we can't even believe that we did, and we thought we were doing a good job.

Jenny Robinson Clark

Can't wait to see what that's gonna be.

Tyne Stecklein

I mean for them to teach us all the things. Exactly. I want to circle back because

Confidence Through Rejection In Auditions

Tyne Stecklein

you talked about how when you were in the industry, I don't know if you said self-worth in particular, but I think you were talking about how just the comparison and the rejection. And that's something that I like to touch on a lot because for listeners that might be in this industry or new to this industry, we're essentially being rejected over and over or standing in the lineup and being told why we are not enough, why we are not good enough. And so for you, is there anything with perspective and time or even being out of that business now that you just wish that you could have told yourself when you were new to this business, or anything you would tell even your kids about that worth piece? I'm working on that as a teacher, how I can just help them build up their self-worth, both my children and my students that I teach, knowing that we are gonna be rejected. That's a part of yes, the entertainment industry, but also life. But it doesn't define you.

Jenny Robinson Clark

Absolutely not. Oh my goodness. I had two thoughts when you were saying that. I can't remember the first thought, but I can remember the second thought. And that was, I remember one audition. It was for a TV show. You probably auditioned for it too. It's a dance show. They just did the pilot and it didn't get picked up. Do you remember which one I'm talking about? Okay, I'm sure you were you were auditioned for it, but that was the best audition that I've ever had. And do you know why? It was because I set the intention to dance for my grandma who had just passed away. And I tell you, I was not nervous. I danced like I never danced before because I gave it to something bigger, something beyond me. I'm getting chills talking about that. Me too because I think that's where what's important, right? When you walk into these auditions is to give it to something greater than yourself. Because when we're serving something greater, it's not about us, right? You're just gonna show up and do your best. And I think that's so important. And I think the first thought I had was confidence, and that's what I'm trying to teach in my children because I think that's the number one virtue to have is not maybe not the number one virtue, but a very important one is confidence. Because if we have confidence, we can get rejected. We can people can tell us we're not worthy or we're not, they're not what they're looking for. But if we have confidence in who we are, we can be like, thank you. I'm just gonna keep going and I'll go to the next audition and see what happens there. But if I'm confident, oh man, I don't think I was confident as a kid growing up. I think again, yes, the comparison, she's better than me, whatever it was. But man, if I had confidence in knowing exactly who I was and just being authentic to yourself, there is no one else like you on this earth, right? God made you exactly how you were meant to be, and there's no one else exactly like you. So there is gonna be the perfect job that is for you, and it will come at the perfect time it's supposed to come. And if somebody doesn't want you, you know your worth, you know your confidence, you're like, you know, you got it. You think you wouldn't be doing this industry if you didn't believe in yourself and if God didn't place a gift in your heart to pursue it, right? So just stay in that knowing.

Tyne Stecklein

Exactly. Because, like with the book or with the podcast or these things, if you've gotten as far as to get to LA or get to New York or actually get an agent, you are actively pursuing this. It's that important to you. It means that much because there's a lot of things that we can say we want to do, but do we actually do them? But if you're that far along, then getting to know, like you said, Jenny, we are authentic. And so it's knowing I just show up as myself, the the version of myself that I love and that the world is lucky to get a piece of for this, and get a piece of my art and my creativity. And it doesn't matter what the result is. I think that is the best way to show up. It's gonna feel really good in auditions or on the job. And it's also not been going to define your experience and how you walk away from it. But again, that was a piece that I wish I had earlier on. I didn't have that for most of my auditioning career. I just was like hoping to get the job.

Jenny Robinson Clark

Absolutely. I know. Oh, what is your reason? What is your reason to want to do this? Ask yourself that. What is the reason of me wanting to audition for this show or this movie or be a dancer? What is your reason? And I think that will help you too, to stay grounded. If your reason is to, like for me, it was like to bring a smile to other people's faces to brighten someone's day, or yeah, maybe it just light your soul on fire. I feel like asking that yourself that question could really help too in grounding you in why you're here. I feel like I've been thinking about that a lot lately too, even with the book. Why am I doing this? Right. If again, uh if there's a greater purpose in your why, I think that could really help you in your journey of where you want to go.

Tyne Stecklein

Yeah. And it's also okay, I've had to learn it's also okay to have things that I love that I'm passionate about and know that they might not be a career. I have a very similar story to yours with a mom who was a dance teacher and I was put in it from a very young age. And then when I wanted to shift and explore other things, I almost was like, Am I allowed to? Can I be more? Can I be an actress? Can I want to be an actress? Can I want to be a painter? Can I, is it okay to do these things? First of all, it is. I think we should get to everything. Do everything. Exactly. Do everything. And some of the things can be hobbies and to be able to differentiate for yourself. Now, this I think is really something that I should be getting paid to do because I can do it in a way that is super authentic and I have the confidence to do that versus this is just like a tool for me to process emotions. It's therapeutic. It feels good. And now for you to be able to, you had dances a full career, but now you're still doing it for the love of it, I think it's also such a beautiful thing.

Jenny Robinson Clark

Yeah, I think so too. I'm like, it really was such a big part of my life that I can't let it go completely. Not as good as I used to be, but I haven't tried the advanced hip-hop class yet. Oh just the beginners with Travis. But okay.

Tyne Stecklein

Yeah, I think you need to get in there.

Jenny Robinson Clark

I'm gonna challenge you to that because I know I keep telling him, I'm like, I should just try. I'll be like out of breath, like in the back.

Tyne Stecklein

Isn't it funny though? Like the things we would tell our kids, but then like when we like apply them, I'm like, oh, am I applying this to myself? Yeah, get out there and do it. You got the worst that happens. You try, you don't quite get it. Nothing. I'm always telling my students, I promise you're not gonna die. Yeah. Like if you come out here, you don't know the choreography as well as you'd like to. Like the worst that's gonna happen is that, and you're already worried about that. So let's just accept that's the worst that might happen right now, and then move past it.

Jenny Robinson Clark

Yeah, we gotta all stop overthinking, and we just gotta do the things because it brings us joy and happiness and laughter. You know what I mean? The dance class that we go to, the teacher is just so sweet. She's just, it doesn't matter what you look like or how you do the moves, as long as you're having fun doing it and it's bringing you joy, that's what matters.

Tyne Stecklein

Yeah. And that's such a good piece for things that you don't feel as confident in, different dance styles. It doesn't matter as long as it's still like the art form. If you love dance, then just allowing yourself to feel that love for it. Watching my children dance, and none of them are like dancers, they're not in dance class, watching them when music comes on and just the way that it's just like it's in all of us to just move our bodies. And again, confidence, right?

Jenny Robinson Clark

I feel like people get so self-insecure. Yeah. But if you just have confidence when you're dancing, you can be the worst dancer, but look awesome doing it.

Tyne Stecklein

Totally, totally usually the most confident dancer out of a party is not like a a real dancer. A good dancer necessarily, they just don't care.

Jenny Robinson Clark

Confident. Yeah, I was gonna say that too. It's like, I think the things that we are not trying so hard at are usually the things that happen for us. So if we're not so attached to what the things that we really want, you know, when we're attached and controlling what the outcome can be, like those usually don't work out for us. But if we can just let it go, surrender, trust God and the process, those are the things that are gonna flow to us. Stay in that flow state, a flow state is what I actually have been working on this past year, too. Like the flow state, right? Stop grabbing on to the things that I can't grab onto and trying to control everything.

Tyne Stecklein

Yeah, totally.

Surrender, Flow, And Joyful Dancing

Tyne Stecklein

There's no, yeah. My dad always says that the things that we can't control are out of our control, so they're not worth our worry and anxiety and stressing. Yeah, I know.

Jenny Robinson Clark

One day of worry will never add a day to our life. I like that too. I've been telling myself like that, Jenny, do not worry because you want to be here for a long time with your kids, healthy and strong. So stop, just stop the worrying. Yeah.

Tyne Stecklein

It's easier said than done. It is easier said than done, but again, even just the awareness of it. Yeah, yeah, it does help. Yeah. Do you have a copy of the book next to you? Yeah. Will you just pick it up and will you show anyone watching? Because you were talking about the beautiful illustrations, but look at how beautiful that cover is. It's just gorgeous. Yeah. And will you talk a little bit about the book? I know it's about grief and it's a children's book. So for children that have lost someone, or oh, is that your beautiful mama?

Jenny Robinson Clark

Yeah, and this is uh actually the inspiration of the little girl. I knew everything, I knew exactly what the illustrations I wanted them to look like. I knew the little girl. I found this picture, I'm like, that's what I want her to look like. Everything was like, You knew the illustrator.

A Gentle Way To Talk Death

Jenny Robinson Clark

Everything was so clear. Sorry, you were asking me a question.

Tyne Stecklein

Oh, that's so beautiful. I was just saying for a kid who's lost someone, it's obviously the perfect book, but even children just exploring the concept of grief. Would you recommend it? Because that's something I want to start to introduce to my children.

Jenny Robinson Clark

Yes, for me, I would never want my kids to feel the way I did growing up. I told you I had a lot of fear around death, and I would sit in my room thinking about blackness and darkness, and there was nothing. And that did not serve me as a child. Again, my parents were doing the best that they could, but they wouldn't take me to funerals or have a conversation with me about it. And I don't think that was serving the little Jenny, the little girl that I was. And so when this came about, but it's a really gentle story, and it you don't even have to have a conversation about death and dying when you read it. It's just planting little seeds of the reminder that even though someone that is no longer physically here, they are still so much, they're still with us and all around us, and their love is in our hearts, and all these little beautiful signs that I have in the book come from nature, and I feel like kids are so connected with nature. And so it's just it's really a book about just the reminder. It doesn't even have to be about death, but about even if your friend moves to another state and they're not next to you, you can't see them every day, right? They a butterfly could come by and you could be like, Oh, hey, it's Jane or whoever just coming to say hi. Just reminding us of the interconnectedness that we all share, the thread of love that is between all of us, nature, all of God's creations. My mom, we always, when you see ladybugs, we always say, Oh, there's G G G's here. And so my kids talk to ladybugs all the time. And I want my kids to know about my mom. And I want my kids to not fear the unknown again. None of us know what's gonna happen when we die, but I do think we'll be more alive than we are now in the next life. And so I just want my kids to have that perspective and not one of being scared and fear, and so I think it just starts with the conversation and maybe a book like this or whatever it is, but to have these hard conversations with our kids. The things that are the hardest have the most reward.

Tyne Stecklein

Yeah. So I think the more that we are having these conversations and asking the questions, like you said, I think the better for us and for our children.

Jenny Robinson Clark

I really think that.

Tyne Stecklein

Yeah, and the book is so beautiful. Thank you for talking about it and sharing it. We'll be sure to link it in our show notes so that people can get a copy of the book.

Jenny Robinson Clark

Yeah, and the song that my husband wrote to it is beautiful. I wrote the book for people not to stay stuck in their sadness and their grief, but to feel hopeful and I hope that it brings peace and just the reminder of the love that's still there. So I never want someone to read this book or listen to this song and stay stuck in their sadness. I really want it to be uplifting and hopeful and a beautiful reminder of love, the love that's all around them.

Tyne Stecklein

I love that so much. Yeah. You said to me when we were talking about preparing for the podcast how grief and joy can coexist. And I'm always talking about how we can feel two things at once, even in our day. We can be tired, but we can also be gentle or kind or joyful. And so I love that that you can be grieving and still find joy.

Jenny Robinson Clark

Oh my gosh, I'm just recently realizing that. I feel like, yeah, when you lose someone, it's not fun. And it there's so much pain in that. But our loved ones, like I just keep reminding myself that my mom would never want me to be sitting in my room crying about her every day. So I also changed my perspective. And when I do feel sad, I'm like, oh, maybe it's my mom just nudging me to say hi or to put on her favorite song or bake her favorite sticky buns. So kind of flipping it like that, and just reminding myself that yeah, she's still here, and I can talk to her whenever I want. And I know she's seeing everything that I'm doing, and I know she's so proud of me. I also changed my perspective around lost. Everyone says we lost somebody, but did we lose them? I feel like my mom is still so much with me. And so just maybe not, I try not to use that word a lot because I didn't lose her. She's still so much with me. Yeah.

Tyne Stecklein

Yeah. Yeah. Those are such beautiful things that we can remind ourselves or implement. Because there's always a perspective shift on everything in life.

Jenny Robinson Clark

Yeah, and everything's a choice too, right? So we can choose our happiness, we can choose our sadness, we can choose our joy, we can choose it's all a choice.

Tyne Stecklein

Yeah. Yeah. It's so beautiful, Jenny. I'm just so grateful for you sharing.

Jenny Robinson Clark

Thank you.

Tyne Stecklein

You're gonna be receiving a copy soon. I know. Like for delivery. I can't wait to share it with my kids.

Homeschooling, Screen Time, And Balance

Tyne Stecklein

In your bio, you I read that you're homeschooling, and I've always been like, I want to be that mom. In reality, I don't know that I that I could do it. But you're homeschooling for, are they all of school age? I don't know this, but for and was that always the plan? And do you love it? Is it do you love and hate it? What tell me about that?

Jenny Robinson Clark

I love it. I will say I love it. I always knew that I wanted to. I don't know. I always wanted to do things differently than when I grew up. My sweet mom would tell you if she liked black, I liked white. And so I was always doing the opposite of what was normal. And so I always knew in my heart, like I had four home births, so I knew that I didn't want to do the hospital birth thing and to each their own, but I just knew in my heart that I didn't want to do that. And so I had all the babies at home, and I knew then that I would love to homeschool them. And so I have a 10, an eight, a six, and a five-year-old now. So a fourth grader, a second grader, a first, and then Kingston will go in. Oh, Kai is a third grader, and and then Kingston will be going into kindergarten, or I could keep them back. But that's a beautiful thing about homeschooling. Like, if I wanted to keep them back a year, I could. And so yeah, it's been a journey. Honestly, like when I did it, I was like, oh my god, I'm not capable of doing this. I cannot teach my kids. I barely remember anything from school, and I think that was another reason why I wanted to homeschool. Because from school, like I don't remember anything. I would just cram for tests and memorize and then forget everything. Probably because I just wanted to be a dancer and I really didn't care much about school. But I wanted my kids to, I wanted to teach my kids and I wanted to relearn. And so that was another reason I was like, oh, this is gonna be so fun for me to relearn and remember things that I didn't growing up. But I did put a lot of pressure on myself and I'm like, oh my God, I cannot do this. But honestly, it is easier than one may think.

Tyne Stecklein

How do you do it with the different ages and grades? They just each have kind of their own track. And so a teacher does it with 20 plus kids in a public school, but they're all doing the same material.

Jenny Robinson Clark

Yeah, exactly. I know with homeschooling, it's it only takes an hour or two a day to really homeschool. And they're learning with everything. People are unschooling. That's what I keep telling myself. People unschool their kids, which is they follow their kids' passion of whatever it is they want to do. And so then they're teaching their kids with whatever passion, like Legos or whatever. So they're teaching them their kids math through Legos and science through Legos. I don't even know. But I'm like, people are unschooling their kids, so I think I'm doing fine. I'm working with the curriculum, we do an online curriculum. Kingston's doing a little app about how to read right now because he's just turned five and he loves it. And they learn most through us and what we're doing. And so we bake all the time. There's a lot of math and baking, and they all have their own companies. They are little entrepreneurs. My oldest is doing slime, my second oldest is doing polymer clay earrings. This is Kaya. And I want them to do whatever they want. And if they want to go to college, awesome. I will support that. But I don't want them to work for somebody else and not be happy in their jobs. I want them to find a passion that they love and go after that. And like us, we were so blessed to know what we wanted and we chased that dream. And so that's what I'm really trying to instill in them is to find that passion that brings them life and makes them want to move forward and learn and grow. And yeah, it's easier than it. It's easier than it looks. Yeah. You could do it. You could do it.

Tyne Stecklein

I don't know, but I love that. I love that mess. I really believe in that. I don't believe that life is just easy and perfect by any means, but I do think that we each are here with a destiny and that we can create and have a life that we love and a path that we love and do work that we love. I think that we were put here to do the things that we love and share those. And so I think, yeah, we don't always get that messaging in traditional school.

Jenny Robinson Clark

So to be able to feel like for me, right? I had to go to college because my sister went to college. I got a marketing degree. I don't know. Maybe you're using it for the book now. I think well, marketing is so different now with like AI and all the things. So it's like they're definitely not doing the things that they taught me in college. That too, I'm like, I don't know, everything is evolving too. And I don't know, to think that my kids would be in school from eight to four or whatever it is, nine to three. I don't know what school time is every day or five days a week for me. That would just be too much. I would miss that.

Tyne Stecklein

Opposite though, are you like, how do I feel? Actually, I want to thank you because one time I think I messaged you on Facebook. I don't know if your family was sick or mine, but I saw we were or you were, and something about screen time. And I was like, what do you do when you're so sick? Because as a mom, you're just really never off. We know how important rest is, especially if you're aware of the things that we need for wellness. Rest is really hard to get when you're a mother of young children. It's nearly impossible. And so I remember saying, How are you doing that? And you were like, They're watching TV. And it it gave me the grace that I needed to be like, oh, that's okay.

Jenny Robinson Clark

Oh my gosh, it's so okay. I also feel because I'm homeschooling and because I pour so much, me and Travis pour so much into our kids that when they do watch TV, they don't turn into these quote unquote monsters that people think they're gonna turn into when they're like in front of the screens all day and every day. Because if they're watching it too much, they actually have discernment and they know when to step away and they'll go get paper and start coloring and do all these creative things because yeah, they they're not so sucked into it because we allow them to have it too. I think that's a big thing. If you don't allow it, then like when they do get it, it's oh no. I I was like that with can't with sugar a little bit.

Tyne Stecklein

Oh girl, had such a tight rope on it that then I think it almost worked as a disadvantage that yes, they just like when it's just out at a party, mine are the only ones that are like shoveling as much as they can because I didn't want them to have it.

Jenny Robinson Clark

We're just doing the best that we can, but also being aware and realizing balance is key, love is most important, as long as they feel love from us. I think that's the key to good kids is just feeling our presence. Yeah. But I constantly have to remind myself like when it when one of them come up and asks me a question, if I'm on my phone to put it down, look in their eyes. If it's something they want to do, I'll say yes. I try not to say no, but I'll if I can't do it, then I'll say yes. But in in a little bit when mommy's done with this, all these little things that I've learned along the way.

Tyne Stecklein

Yeah, yeah. The more kids, the more you know. It's so funny how it gets, at least for me, my experience, much less stressful the more children you have, because you there's very little that's actually life and death with this.

Jenny Robinson Clark

Yeah, it's totally the control thing, like I was saying before, right? We have all that we feel like we need to control everything. And these little humans are so amazing and they are so pure and they're so connected, and they know a lot more than us, probably. Yeah, so we don't have to be so controlling over them. Yeah, from my experience. And yeah, the more you have, the easier it gets. I know people are like, How do you have four kids? But I'm like, they literally play with themselves and they love each other so much. Just seeing them and their bond with each other is yeah, is pretty amazing.

Tyne Stecklein

Yeah, good for you. I'm it's very impressive, it's very admirable.

Jenny Robinson Clark

But again, no, it's each their own, right? Yeah, we all have to do what's best for us in our families. And I'm grateful that Travis doesn't have a nine to five and I don't have a nine to five, so we can do it. We can manage

Final Quote And Closing Ask

Jenny Robinson Clark

it. Yeah, yeah.

Tyne Stecklein

This has been amazing, Jenny. Is there any is there anything else you want to leave listeners? Just like a favorite quote or a another bite of inspiration because you've left so much, but anything else?

Jenny Robinson Clark

I feel like we could talk for hours, but I will leave you with this. I had it on my wall in LA. So any of you dancers out there that are listening, or anybody out there that has a career that they're passionate about, I would read this before I would leave my apartment and it would say, advance confidently in the direction of your dreams and endeavor to live the life that you have imagined, and you will meet with a success uncommon in decent hours. And I think that was Robert Thoreau, but I learned it through Wayne Dyer. And so if you just keep waking up every day with that vision and that goal and you just advance confidently towards it, you're gonna get that phone call out of nowhere and be like, hey, you just booked this job and you didn't even have to audition. You're like, what? Just crazy miracles can happen. And so just believe that and remember that.

Tyne Stecklein

Yeah, I love that. Thank you for sharing. That's beautiful.

Jenny Robinson Clark

Yeah, thank you for having me, Tyne.

Tyne Stecklein

Yeah, this has been so great. Thank you, Jenny. We will link to you and your social media and the book in our show notes. And I'm just really grateful for your time and that listeners get to enjoy this conversation from you today.

Jenny Robinson Clark

Yes, thank you guys for listening.

Tyne Stecklein

If you enjoyed this episode of the podcast or you are enjoying the podcast in general, I can't tell you how much it would mean if you left me a written review and a five star rating. So if you would consider taking the time to leave one for me today, it would mean so much. Thanks for being here. This is Essence Embodied by Tyne Stecklein. And I hope you go out into the world today and embody your unique essence.