We were lucky to catch up with Jenny Davies recently and have shared our conversation below.
Jenny, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?
I’m hoping to build a legacy of fostering others forward in their careers and in their lives, in ways that are truly meaningful. My personal history is a story of reinventing myself. I’m a nine-year survivor of ovarian cancer. One of the lessons that I took away from my survivorship is that regardless of my circumstances, I can be experiencing joy. It was an absolute epiphany, causing me to reassess the meaning of success. The experience brought me back to a more vulnerable and creative side of myself, inspiring me to become a professional coach and an entrepreneur. I hope that people will remember me as truly living my authenticity. I hope that I’ll be remembered as “badass”, authentic, filled with joy, and focused on helping others to become the very best versions of themselves.
Jenny, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’d like to share what I’d call the origin story of reinventing myself, and then I’ll share a bit about my business. I’ve always loved the performing arts, and performed a bit in college in a comedy troupe. I’d have to admit that in college, I was mostly being silly and having fun with my friends, and didn’t really have an appreciation for the discipline. After college, I stepped away from performing, believing that I should be focused on more serious pursuits. Over the years, in the back of my mind, I had a desire to perform in improvisational comedy again and hesitated to act on the desire. Honestly, I spent much of my adult life stuffing down the sparkle in my personality because I was trying to fit in. Particularly in professional settings, I presented myself conservatively, and even dressed conservatively in order to be accepted.
Sometimes life presents beautiful synergistic moments. At the beginning of 2015 a reunion of my college comedy troupe was being planned, and I was looking forward to attending the reunion in April of that year. At the end of March my life shifted out from under me when what I thought was a routine diagnostic test revealed a large mass. Very quickly, I was referred to a gynecological oncologist and scheduled for surgery. I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Before my surgery, I asked my nurse whether I’d be able to attend my reunion. Whether or not she thought I’d be able to pull it off, to her credit, she encouraged me, saying “Jenny, you should plan to be with your friends and have fun.” As a matter of fact, about two weeks after my surgery, I was able to attend the reunion. It was so much fun watching improv, and at the party afterward, playing improv games. I remember, in the moment, thinking “I want more of that!” I wanted more laughter and more joy. So, on the way home from the reunion, I was scheming about how to join an improv group. As it turned out, there was an improv group offered through a cancer outreach program in my community. I joined right away, just as I was beginning chemotherapy, and I was able to attend throughout my treatment and beyond. Each week, I’d gather with this beautiful, humble group of kindred spirits and we’d spend two hours having belly laughs together. It was the high point of my week, and the laughter sustained me. As I faced my own mortality, I experienced a transformation. For perhaps the first time in my life I was intentional about experiencing joy. I felt joy expanding in my life.
The experience was an epiphany, causing me to reassess the meaning of success. Over the nine years since then, I’ve continued to pursue the trajectory toward joy. One thing that I noticed about myself was that I naturally foster people forward, and embraced that innate strength by becoming a professional coach. Through my business, I offer coaching packages for individuals, groups and teams as well as professional workshops and presentations. Areas of focus include leadership development, transitions and burnout. I’m interested in learning from my client where I can be of service.
A strong area of interest for me in leadership development is around emotional intelligence. Leveraging experiences as a leader, a performer and a coach, I’ve developed light-hearted interactive workshops with robust take-aways. A couple of the presentations include: Building Emotional Intelligence through Applied Improvisation and Thinking Differently about Change Management. An entire leadership development series of workshops is available.
Transitions can be challenging to navigate. Working with a professional coach can really be helpful in gaining clarity. It’s also helpful to work with a coach to tap into more creative solutions. This can lead to sustainable growth and more purposeful, satisfying outcomes.
Incremental progress toward building resilience and creating a more meaningful life are enhanced and accelerated through coaching.
Some of the qualities that set me apart are my natural strengths in strategic thinking and fostering others. These are coupled with skills, experience and certifications in healthcare finance and professional coaching, along with experience in performing arts. My foundation in faith and deep connection to joy are other qualities that set me apart.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
The day that I got my hair cut off during chemotherapy turned out to be one of the best days of my life. The experience was completely transformative and life-affirming. I approached the experience thinking that I had a plan. As circumstances unfolded, my plan didn’t work out as expected. In the midst of discomfort and uncertainty, I allowed myself to follow the spontaneity of the moment, having faith and setting aside my disbelief. In the end, I learned something about myself. By embracing my vulnerability, I uncovered my personal power.
My hair started falling out in handfuls when I took a shower on a Sunday in early June. After my shower, I sat on the bed, trembling and crying, because I knew that my hairdresser wouldn’t be available on a Sunday. In my distress, I shared with my husband that I didn’t know what to do. I thought that my hair was my best feature. (The very next day, I was returning to work after an eight week medical leave.) My husband comforted me and suggested that I wait until later in the week when my sister, Helen, was to arrive for a visit and to take me to my next chemotherapy appointment.
Helen took me to my appointment, and we told my nurse, Mary, what was happening. Mary made both of laugh, saying, “Jenny, you can get more than one haircut if you want…you’re not going to keep it anyway.” Helen made some outrageous suggestions and I was on board, embracing what now seemed like an experience that could be fun. Helen made some phone calls to arrange an appointment for me at a local hair salon.
Right after my chemo appointment, we went to the salon. I walked up to the reception desk and explained that I wanted to get my hair buzzed off with the superhero symbol buzzed into the side. I had been wearing a superhero t-shirt to my medical appointments. I shared with the receptionist that I had a wig in my bag and that I would put the wig on before I left the salon. The salon manager walked over to me and reassured me saying, “We’re going to give you a great haircut, and you’re going to want to leave here with the haircut we give you.” I set aside my disbelief and sat in her chair. She put the cape on me and buzzed my hair off, leaving the top just a bit longer and closely cropping the sides. I felt better immediately, and Helen took a picture of me with a big smile on my face.
A second hairdresser walked over and shared that usually the barber would buzz a symbol into the hair, and that he wasn’t available that day. She asked if I’d like to come back when he was available. I shared with her that I’d just returned to work and was trying not to take more time off than necessary. She said that she had never done it before, and was willing to give it a try. By now, I was laughing and encouraged her to go ahead, saying that if it got messed up on one side, she could simply buzz it off and try again on the other side.
I showed her my t-shirt with the superhero symbol so that she could follow it as a pattern. She said that she didn’t need it, telling me that she carried the superhero symbol on her keychain and that drawing comic book art was her hobby. In the moment, I felt so incredibly blessed to have been placed in the hands of these beautiful, caring people. She beautifully and skillfully carved a modified W into the hair on the right side of my head. And I did walk out of the salon with the haircut they gave me that day.
Eventually, my family made our way to dinner together in a very crowded restaurant. Me with my superhero hair, enjoying a meal together, laughing and telling stories.
At the very end of the day, I stopped in a local pharmacy for some medicine, and nearly bumped into a young woman in one of the aisles. My perception was that she bristled at my appearance, and I began to feel self-conscious. So when we arrived home, my first stop was to look at myself in the bathroom mirror. Seeing myself in the mirror was a moment of self-recognition. Almost as though I was seeing myself for the first time. I looked at myself and said out loud, “I look like a rock star without hair!”
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
My Mom loved to read, and my own love of reading was one of her many gifts to me. My library card has opened up a world of possibilities to me. There are probably dozens of books that I could talk about. I’ll include just one here.
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl made a significant impact on my thinking and philosophy. Frankl was a neurologist and psychiatrist, and a Holocaust survivor. His theory is that meaning-making is the primary motivational force for individuals. His book was impactful to me because it showed me that when faced with difficulty, one can make meaning of the experience and learn from the experience.
I welcome your readers to connect with me to explore great resources together whether through coaching engagements, speaking engagements, workshops…or maybe just sharing what we loved about a book.
Contact Info:
- Website: jennydaviescoachingstrategies.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennydaviescoaching/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556545596798
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12991536/
Image Credits
Hillary Lynn Photography