Episode 12

In this episode of Meghan’s Place: Conversations on Healing, Meghan sits down with AJ Crutcher, author, entrepreneur, educator, motivational speaker, creative director, TV host, and toy inventor, for an inspiring conversation about resilience, creativity, and purpose. AJ shares the experiences that shaped her journey, the mindset shifts that have transformed lives, and how embracing creativity can be a powerful tool for healing and growth. She also introduces her heartwarming To Grandma’s House I Go book series and the mission behind it. Whether you're navigating challenges, pursuing a dream, or simply looking for encouragement, this episode offers practical wisdom and a hopeful reminder that growth is always possible.

Learn more about the To Grandma’s House I Go book series on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tghigbookseries/?hl=en

Music Credit: Fresh Lift © 2016 by Shane Ivers

Transcript

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SPEAKER_02 0:04

Hi, and welcome to Megan's Place Conversations on Healing. I'm your host, Megan, and today we are going to be joined by AJ Crutcher. She is an author, an entrepreneur, a motivational speaker, a TV host, and a toy inventor. She has built a career around empowering others to grow, learn, and reach their potential. So in this conversation, we're going to be exploring the experiences that shaped your journey, the role resilience plays in personal growth, and how creativity, purpose, and healing can help us build better futures for ourselves and for those around us. And AJ, we are so excited to have you on today. Is there anything that you'd like to share with the audience or anything that you want to tell us about yourself before we get started?

SPEAKER_01 0:51

Well, hello, everyone. Thank you so much for having me today, Megan. And yeah, just I am very passionate about just um families and children and just rebuilding that family dynamic. And that's one thing that I share not only in my stories, but in the projects that I do and then the connection even with here with Avent. So I'm happy to be here.

SPEAKER_02 1:14

Oh, well, we are so happy to have you on. And, you know, it kind of brings me into my first question. You wear many hats, being an author, an entrepreneur, a speaker, and an inventor. Um, and so looking back, I'm curious what experiences most shaped the person that you've become today.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

Well, I will say um just my upbringing. Um, and the reason why I say that is because I was around the family dynamic and around children at a young age because my mom owned her her own daycare. And so we had a lot of kids coming off the bus to come to her home daycare. And I was always around a lot of people, and I think that sparked, well, I know that sparked my love for people and children and growth and family in that whole dynamic. So I would say bringing that in in my foundation helped sparked me for generations to come.

SPEAKER_02 2:13

Oh, that's so special. And um, you know, I know that a lot of people who are listening might be working to overcome some challenges or maybe break unhealthy patterns in their lives. So it makes me wonder what lessons about resilience have helped you navigate setbacks and continue moving forward? Because I'm sure we've all experienced setbacks here and there.

SPEAKER_01 2:36

Absolutely. Um, I will say keep the faith. Um, whatever you have, just keep your eye on it. Um, I will say that will never let you go. Um, if you have that focal point of, okay, who do I need to call and talk to? And they may not answer, right? So you have to have your faith-based, something that you can lean on that will help you get by and that will help sustain you in every aspect of your life.

SPEAKER_02 3:06

Absolutely. I think um, you know, your faith and or your support system um are so important in everything because, you know, they always say it takes a village, and it does. You can't really get through life without having those people around you that will push you and that will help you stand up when you've fallen down. Um, it's really hard to go through that alone. And so it sounds like for you, um, your faith and um the people around you have been would have helped you get back up.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 3:42

And you know, that kind of brings me into my next question, which is around the idea of creativity. So creativity really seems to be a common thread throughout the work that you do, um, from writing books to inventing toys. And I'm curious how that creativity contributed to, you know, your own healing, growth, or even sense of purpose.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

How oh wow, that's a loaded question. Um again, of course, the foundation of family, friends, and things around can spark creativity, but found finding that balance in life um when it comes to because I still work full-time, I still doing things, of course, to um have make my living here. Um, however, just creating that balance because you want to make sure you're rested and you have um a space where you can have those creative moments. Maybe take a walk, maybe go for coffee, maybe change your scenery when you're writing. Sometimes I can change up the scenery when I'm writing. However, I always try to keep a notepad or something in my phone for notes. So when I have those sporadic um ideas that may come to me, like, you know, maybe while driving, when I pull over or something, I'll write it down or I text it down. So just being in a place of receiving creativity, um, but allowing yourself to have the open availability to do so because create creatives, it you can you can see a show or you can probably see a dog barking and it just, oh, I got an idea, right? You like you just have those spar those moments, and everybody has a little piece of creativity in them. You just have to know it and apply it.

SPEAKER_02 5:26

Absolutely. I think that's so important because a lot of people might have these thoughts, but then might not know how to apply them, or might not know, oh, maybe I should jot this down so I remember it so I can use it.

SPEAKER_00 5:37

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 5:42

And you know, it brings me into my last question. If there's one message of hope that you'd like for listeners to remember after today's conversation, what would it be?

SPEAKER_01 5:59

There's one thing for hope that I would love you guys to remember is always stay true to yourself and your mission. Um I know sometimes that we see other things happening or we see how maybe somebody may have made it um and you are still not there yet, right? Just not there yet. You're probably not there, right? So trying not to compare and just know that your time is coming, but never give up hope. Keep going. Um, hope looks different on everyone, but how you apply it is like, oh man, I got this. Let me keep the faith. Let me keep, you know, sustaining that I know I'm gonna get through this. Cause um, if it was done before, it will be done again. So just say keep the hope, um, keep the faith, and you can do this. Don't give up. Don't give up.

SPEAKER_02 6:57

Well, I see why you can be a motivational speaker. Um, that was certainly motivating.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

Um my goodness, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:07

Uh, you know, I'm just so grateful that you came on today. Um, and I am, you know, there's a little bit more, it sounds like that you have going on. You mentioned being an author. Um, yeah. And do you want to share a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_01 7:21

Yeah. So um I've written but since I was 15 years old. And not to give away my age, I'm just gonna say how long I've been writing. Since I was 15 years old, and in that, um, I write I was able to create a series called To Grandma's House I Go. And in that series, it talks about the special moments and times where this main character named Tanner is on her way to her grandmother's house. Um, whether she's meeting her cousins for Christmas dinner, playing cards, or outside for the summer, um, it tells a story of her life. And a lot of kids and also parents say they love the book, especially parents, because it reminds them of their childhood and upbringing with their own stories at their grandparents' house. And that's something that I wanted to do. I wanted to bring in the essence of family back. I wanted to bring the love back. I wanted to bring that that that wholeness because without family, without love, then sometimes we we miss something, right? And so that's the storyline. And we have um, I have a the doll is created. It's an 18-inch um toy doll, um, the Tanner doll. It was created out of the book series with detachable accessories, and she's beautiful, and um, and it it's it's it's moving forward. It's it's one of those things where it was a process to create as an entrepreneur. Um, and I will love to sit down another time to express how that process is and help other entrepreneurs who will love to invent or create things on their own. Um, and then now out of the To Grandma's House I Go series, we have another book where we are introducing a a boy character for all our young boys who, you know, and we also have um toys for boys as well. So we now we cater to girls and boys, which is amazing. We're still growing. So it's it's something that started off as a passion for mine because I remember the time that I spent over my grandmother's house to something that I want to share with others so they can help heal and restore their families.

SPEAKER_02 9:26

I love that. And, you know, I think it's such a special industry of entrepreneurship to be in, especially in a way that supports children in the same way that um, you know, we do at Advent. You know, it's all about being there for the kids and the youth. And I think it's so special that you found other creative ways to do that work too.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

Oh, thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 9:50

Of course. And, you know, thank you for sharing all that you do. Um, I'll go ahead and link your books in the caption. So if anyone's interested, um, they can check that out. And as always, to our listeners, thank you so much for tuning into Megan's place. You can join us again the Monday after next, and we'll continue the conversation about mental health.