A Wild and Precious Life

Jennifer Cross

Author Jennifer Cross and her guests discuss life's many twists and turns that have led them to where they are today on their journey. Drawing on their own experiences, expert knowledge, and today's issues, topics stem from personal development and self discovery, relationship dynamics, healing from trauma, and mindfulness practices. Jen's hope is that listeners will be inspired to look at their own journey and become inspired to live their most authentic life. Every episode relates to a topic covered in one of Jen's published articles. read less
EducationEducation
Society & CultureSociety & Culture
Health & FitnessHealth & Fitness
Self-ImprovementSelf-Improvement
RelationshipsRelationships
Mental HealthMental Health

Episodes

Surviving Co-Parenting with a Narcissist Featuring Alana Sharps
Mar 23 2022
Surviving Co-Parenting with a Narcissist Featuring Alana Sharps
Nothing is more devastating in a relationship than the realization that your partner isn’t just difficult, but he is in fact a narcissist. To further complicate things, it isn’t just the two of you in the relationship. Somewhere along the way, you ended up having children. If leaving a narcissist wasn’t difficult already, children mean that you will be tied to your ex until the children are 18 and sometimes longer.“If you leave, you and the children will suffer.”I can’t tell you the number of women who have told me a version of that line. And in true narcissistic form, their narcissist made good on that threat-time and time again. I have interviewed women who have spent millions on legal battles, gave up custody, and worked two or three jobs when the narcissist refused to pay child support.The emotional pain and turmoil inflicted by a narcissist is criminal not only to the former spouse but to the children as wellSadly, the narcissist doesn’t care. He is only concerned with “winning.” Never mind the sex addiction, alcoholism, cheating, overspending, and abusive control that proceeded your ultimate decision to leave-those were your fault anyway in his mind.However, this post isn’t about the narcissist. Instead, it is about how you can keep yourself sane while the narcissist and his flying monkeys circle around trying to prove you otherwise. It’s a reminder that you are more powerful than you think.You left. You took back control of your life. You protected your children from a toxic environment and reduced their exposure to a malignant person. Sadly, the best way to coparent with a narcissist is- DON’T. But that isn’t an option for many. With that in mind, I wanted to share some facts to help you remember you aren’t alone, you aren’t crazy, and you are the parent your children need.Join me as I interview Alana Sharps about ways to protect yourself from narcissistic abuse!Alana Sharps is a Certified High Conflict Divorce and Child Custody Consultant focusing on helping women get through the battle of post-separation abuse. Battling a narcissist in family court is not an easy task and requires a unique skill set. Alana effectively prepares her clients for their tense legal battles with individuals who refuse to negotiate or collaborate. She does this by coaching through the four pillars of mindset growth, self-care, communication strategies, and evidentiary documentation techniques.Alana’s journey from victim to survivor inspired her to make this type of support her life’s work. She has courageously captured her story of survival and resilience in her life-changing book Was It My Fault?. Her hope is that her clients and others will survive and thrive beyond their expectations.Alana's Contact Information:www.surthriveteibe.comInstagram: @surthrivetribe  @alanasharpsTwitter: @alanasharpsTo learn more about Jen or read more of her articles, go to her website-https://jencrosscreative.coInstagram: @jencrosscreativeIntro Trailer to Wild and Precious Life
A Conversation with an Ukranian Refugee Featuring Anastasia Vladychynska
Mar 17 2022
A Conversation with an Ukranian Refugee Featuring Anastasia Vladychynska
With a war waging and finding herself a refugee from her home country of Ukraine, Anastasia still found ways to be grateful.  She had her husband, her savings, and friends to give her shelter. However, many of her girlfriends weren't as lucky.  When she learned of them stranded across Europe, she jumped to action and created a network to help them find jobs, homes, and safety.  Listen now to learn how you can help Anastasia and her fellow refugees.Two weeks ago, Anastasia's bio read like this:  Anastasia Vladychynska [vladychynska.com]is a Certified Customer Experience Consultant, founder of Vladychynska Consulting [vladychynska.com], and professor at Kyiv Mohyla Business School. She helps top tier brands keep their customers through reinventing their employee and customer experience so that they can disrupt their industries.Anastasia has worked with McDonald's, MaxMara, KENZO, BNP Paribas bank, Jabil (Fortune 500) and others with her simple system to revolutionize their company’s customer and employee experience. Her methodology covers everything from strategy to culture to help them through their company Service Transformations. Anastasia’s customers generate an average of 20-30% more profitToday is read like this: Anastasia is helping her 100 girlfriends who had to flee Ukraine and are stranded now in Europe with accommodation, jobs and support.To help connect with Anastasia or register for a webinar with a price of your choice...all proceeds will go to her cause.Handles:https://vladychynska.com/en [vladychynska.com] Facebook [facebook.com] YouTube [youtube.com]  Webinars: March, 9: How to attract, hire and retain employees with service DNA (recorded)March,16: How to create customer service standards for your businessMarch, 23: How to create WOW Experience for your clients and employees March, 30: How to work with unsatisfied clients online and offline April, 6: How to get organic referrals with highly satisfied clients and what to avoid if you want to keep clients for life  Link to register and pay here. You can decrease or increase the price manually.  To learn more about Jen, read her articles or listen to podcast episodes from her website visit https://jencrosscreative.co/wppodInstagram:https://instagram.com/jencrosscreativeIntro Trailer to Wild and Precious Life
Back Home Again Movie Featuring Charmaine Hammond and Michael Mankowski
Feb 16 2022
Back Home Again Movie Featuring Charmaine Hammond and Michael Mankowski
Today is a very special episode!  Jen is interviewing Charmaine Hammond and Michael Mankowski from the award winning movie, Back Home Again!  After a large wildfire ravaged Michael’s hometown of Fort MacMurray, he took it on as a personal project to interview the citizens about their experiences in rebuilding their lives and the toll the fire took on them.  This project became a larger endeavor as he discovered that many of the stories shared a common them-one of hope.  Michael went all in on bringing this story to the big screen including getting help from some very special friends including Charmaine who came on as executive producer.  Their story is so inspirational that it could be a movie itself!Back Home Again is coming out soon!  But don’t wait-watch the trailer and listen for some very familiar voices who lent their talent to this amazing project! Watch the Trailer Here: https://youtu.be/Gz-QJhm5uKIMichael Mankowski BioMichael Mankowski was born and raised in Fort McMurray, Alberta, and is the screenwriter/director of the award-winning animated movie, Back Home Again. Michael is owner and operator of Alien Kow formerly known as Wood Buffalo Productions, an Alberta, based award winning production house. Michael is a graduate of University of Lethbridge Bachelor of Management, and, Vancouver Film School 3D & Animation Program.In 2017 Michael won an award for Excellence in The Arts by the RMWB and Arts Council Wood Buffalo. In 2016 his company won a Leadership Award by RMWB and YYM Magazine. Michael has also produced passion projects, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was the winner of the Best Short Film award at the Alberta Film and Television Awards in 2016.  To Learn More about Michael go tohttps://instagram.com/backhomeagainmovie Charmaine Hammond BioCharmaine Hammond, Professional Speaker and best selling author is a highly sought-after business keynote and workshop speaker, business owner, author and educator who teaches and advocates the importance of collaboration, mental health, and healthy relationships. She has helped clients in many industries build resilient and engaged workplaces, and solve workplace issues and conflict that gets in the way of. She also Executive Producer of the Back Home Again movie, working closely with Michael (Screenwriter/director) almost since the beginning of this project.  Responsible for heading up the collaborations, partnerships and sponsorship, and the marketing and events for the project, she is passionate about this film because Fort McMurray was her home for 15 years. She didn’t live there at the time of the fires however returned on contacts with the social profit organizations and school boards to work with the community on the recovery and resilience initiatives.Charmaine can be found atHttps://instagram.com/charmaine_hammondHttps://instagram.com/raiseadreamBack Home Again AwardsThe movie Back Home Again won the Jury Award for Best Animation Short (Alberta) and the Audience Choice Award (Dramatic Short) at the October 2021 Edmonton International Film Festival, and an Award of Excellence at the Canada Shorts Film Festival. To learn more about Jen from the podcast to reading her articles that inspire the episodes-go to www.jencrosscreative.co Intro Trailer to Wild and Precious Life
People Pleasing is Just Your Trauma Throwing a Tantrum Featuring Stephanie Costello
Feb 2 2022
People Pleasing is Just Your Trauma Throwing a Tantrum Featuring Stephanie Costello
Why do we say yes when we want to say no?  What do we volunteer, run ourselves ragged, and overextend our already overextended bodies?Because we want to fit in, we want to belong, and we are terrified of being left out.  It doesn't have to be this way-we can learn to stop the madness.   Join Jen and Stephanie Costello as they discuss how they battled their own internal struggles with people-pleasing, boundary setting, and serving themselves first.My guest this week is Stephanie Costello!  She is an all-around amazing trauma survivor, wife, mom, and extreme mountain climber.  She won't be a one-hit wonder, but we already have another episode planned!  Here is a little more about her and her links:Stephanie has over 10 years of experience in the Mental Health Field working with individuals ranging from 6 years to 50 years old. Attending school for Criminal Justice, Human Services, and Psychology, Stephanie has learned the essential skills to relationship building.  Becoming a mom of three beautiful children and being diagnosed with PTSD, the struggle of working through these life changes has propelled her ability to support people. Receiving the diagnosis and going through labor was the easy part. Finding the inspiration and belief in herself was the real challenge. This is why men and women alike, turn to Stephanie when they want to find safety in freedom through embracing themselves, owning their power and breaking free of toxic patterns.Stephanie has beaten all statistical odds. Her life journey has fueled her fire to help people take action and fight through the resistance. Relationships are all about compromise and collaboration. Giving and receiving energy. If you are ready to take action and build a healthy relationship both with yourself and the individuals in your life, Stephanie is the one for you. Links for Stephanie:https://www.safetyinfreedom.comTo Learn More about and Contact Jen: https://linktr.ee/JenCrossCreativeIntro Trailer to Wild and Precious Life
Raising Tweens in a Tik Tok World Featuring Dr. Bob Saul
Jan 19 2022
Raising Tweens in a Tik Tok World Featuring Dr. Bob Saul
Has Tik Tok become the main conversation topic in your house? Have you limited social media for your own kids only to have their friends share things with them? Join Jen as she reads from her article, Raising Tweens in a Tik Tok World, and welcomes Dr. Bob Saul to discuss how we as parents can stay connected to our kids in this age of social media.Dr. Bob Saul has been guiding the physical, behavioral, and mental care of children for over 40 years. His Parental Awareness Threshold is a simple framework to actively parent with self-awareness, empathy, and compassion where children learn to build nurturing relationships as well as exhibit love and respect for others.Jen also shares news of her newest book, Stella Daniels and the Guardians of Light, dropping for FREE in podcast form on January 26th. Link to apple podcasts above, but it is available on all major streaming services!  To find out more about Jen, follow her socials, or contact about being a guest on the podcast, check out the link below: https://linktr.ee/JenCrossCreativeTo learn more about Dr. Bob Saul: Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/mychildrenschildren; http://www.facebook.com/allaboutchildren2017; http://www.facebook.com/consciousparentingPATTwitter – www.twitter.com/@saul1robertLinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/in/robertasaulInstagram – www.instagram.com/rsaulYouTube – www.youtube.com/robertsaulmdIntro Trailer to Wild and Precious Life
Your Best Life on Your Own Terms Featuring Cathyn Melvin
Jan 5 2022
Your Best Life on Your Own Terms Featuring Cathyn Melvin
Is it ever too late to hit the pause, rewind, or eject button?  What happens when you find yourself on a path that makes you miserable? Jen says: Your best life isn’t a destination but a journey. I remind myself that the best is yet to come. Even when things are going well in my life, and I can’t imagine something better, I say to myself- “Just wait."After reading from her article, 5 Essentials to Crafting Your Best Life, Jen is joined by Cathlyn Melvin.  Jen and Cathlyn discuss all things quitting.  Cathlyn like Jen is a fellow writer who once thought law school was the best option on earth. However, when she looked at what she really wanted out of her best life, lady law wasn't in the cards.  Cathlyn challenged herself to find her best life and ended up on the TEDX stage.  This is not an episode to miss if you have ever wondered if you were on the right path.A degree in theatre performance. A minor in writing. 10+ years as an educator, professional actor, and entrepreneur. Drawing on her diverse experiences, copywriter Cathlyn Melvin uses her skills to lift the voices of mission-driven coaches and platform leaders, growing their reach, revenue, and impact.Cathlyn’s expertise has been featured via TEDx, Thrive Global, Much More Media, Captivate + Convert, Think Courageously, and other outlets. As a speaker and writer, Cathlyn seeks to shape our collective understanding of what it means to be mission-driven—and why values and impact are the ultimate personal and business compass.To find ,ore of Jen's Articles, follow her on social media or contact her about a guest spot on the show: Jen's LinktreeTo learn more about Cathlyn, find her here:  www.rightcatcreative.comIntro Trailer to Wild and Precious Life