Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jenn Baljko. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jenn, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you take vacations? Why or why not?
Yes!! Taking vacations vital to replenishing my creativity, filling my fierceness cup and connecting with the world.
The two most important vacations – a solo 6-month backpacking trip to Europe and a 3.5-year walk across two continents – pivoted my life in so many ways.
But it’s not just long getaways that are meaningful. Scheduling a few hours or days off each month to go for a long walk or to take a train ride to a town I haven’t visited before also give me the space I need to tune into me and my joy.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Hi. I’m Jenn Baljko.
I am a Fierce Awakened Woman Way-Maker. I nurture Joy Journeys and help women (mostly crones and women in mid-life) step forward with courage, confidence & creative chutzpah.
I guide and mentor people through personal pivots and professional reinvention and walk with them as they navigate through their breakthroughs, breakdowns, and fierce awakenings so they can live life with more joy, wonder, and creative expression.
I launched Always on My Way in 2020 as a collaborative creativity hub and a place to move, meditate, make, and muse – unapologetically and without shame. I uses these four pillars as a way to celebrate both the small, daily joys and the fullness of being fierce, fun, and fantastic humans.
In parallel, I am also a mindful writing mentor and developmental book editor, drawing on nearly 30 years of journalism, writing, and editing experience.
I am a mindfulness meditation guide, trained under the auspices of David Nichtern, a senior Buddhist teacher, and in conjunction with Tibet House in New York City. And, as a certified facilitator of The Emotional Institute’s reknown movement experience, The Emotional Tour, I hold space for the deep emotional release and healing that comes when we lower the volume of our racing thoughts and connect to our body’s natural rhythms.
I count the completion of a 3.5-year walk across two continents, from Bangkok to Barcelona, as one of my most significant achievements. I use lessons learned from that adventure and my 51 years around the sun to spark meaningful conversations and help others open themselves to
profound human experiences.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I walked 16,000 kilometers from Bangkok to Barcelona from 2016 to 2019. Resilience was certainly an important quality that carried us forward.
You can read more about it here. http://bangkokbarcelonaonfoot.com/
Have you ever had to pivot?
After finishing the Bangkok to Barcelona walk, I knew I couldn’t go back to freelance writing and journalism. It was hard to come back and recreate that 27-year career in new and fulfilling ways. I tried, but I no longer fit that version of me, the version of me before the walk.
In Feb. 2020, at 48 years old, I decided I wanted to take my professional life in a new direction and invent my third act professionally (I had previously worked in mainstream and niche media outlets as an editor before turning freelance in 2004). I thought I would gradually phase out of journalism/freelance writing over the next 18 months as I built up my savings and scoped out my next thing.
As it turned out, the global pandemic sped up my timeline, and I leaped into building my writing, creativity and reinvention mentoring business during the first waves of lockdown.
There have been many growing pains, but it was an important leap and a essential piece of my own long-term Joy Journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.alwaysonmyway.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennbaljko/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fierceawakenedwoman
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-baljko-795395113/
- Youtube: @fierceawakenedwoman – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw5lUhGPWcUsvgiG4X-4YrA
Image Credits
I own all the rights to the photos