We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jenny Thelwell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jenny below.

Jenny, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.

This seems to be simple to answer. What my parents did right, was what they did wrong. See everyone thinks that being a role model is showing someone the “right” things to do. My parents did a lot of wrong things, but they were my role models. Sure, they also taught me manners, gave me morals and ethics to live by. However as an adult, I realize the biggest lessons I learned were the ones that came with adversity and pain. Rasheed Ogunlaru said, “When you fall short of your goals and dreams ask yourself is it your mindset, perspective, expectations, effort, approach, acceptance, company, or a blend these that needs to change.” I worked very hard to change my perspective, to change the lens in which I viewed adversity. I used to try to avoid it and was terrified of failure. Now, I leap! If the outcome is not what I wanted, I still learned something that will enable me to make a better attempt the next time. One thing I don’t do is give up. That’s exactly how I started my business, I took a leap of faith and started Revolutionary Diamond Publishing to give everyone a voice…to tell their story…to be creative.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a winner, a survivor, a hard worker, and someone who advocates for the underserved. I wrote and self-published Pressure Point, a self-help memoir about embracing adversities by getting to the root of issues. Writing my truths was liberating and therapeutic. I had so many readers wanting to do the same, that it prompted me to start Revolutionary Diamond Publishing, LLC. Not only did I start the company, I also became a licensed life coach. I blended my love for writing, my experience with publishing, and my coaching skills to provide services for those who also wanted to tell their story and become authors.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Being the oldest child of 3, I had to grow up fast. My mom became a single parent and very quickly I began to assume the role of “parent” at an early age. I had to care for my siblings while my mom worked full time to put food on the table. I became the tutor, the cook, the driver, and basically the nanny though I was a student as well. By the time I was 15 I was waking up the kids, bathing them, dressing them, grooming them, and putting them in my car to drop them off to school before I drove myself to school. I also began running track. So after a full day of academics, I would go to practice and then pick-up my siblings at aftercare. Again, I’d come home, check for homework, bathe them, and cook. I left my household on to attend college and earned my scholarship soon as I stepped foot on Alabama State University’s track. Being far away from home, I struggled with the guilt of leaving my family knowing how much I was needed at home. However, I worked my way through the four years not knowing what to major in. Being a first-generation college student on a path unchartered was difficult, but a goal I knew I needed to attain for my siblings. I wanted to quit and come home so many times, but I knew God had greater for me and that he was using me to carve a road not traveled in my family. I knew I was strong enough to withstand and live to tell the story to help other on their way.

My parents are immigrants and neither graduated from high school. However, today I can write Ed.D behind my name.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Though I didn’t quite know what profession I wanted to go into while in college, I finally chose to go into Mass Media Communications. I enjoyed being in front of the camera and could see myself as a reporter. However, that wasn’t a dream or something I fell in love with, it was just a career I thought I could excel in. I graduated, moved back to Miami and realized that it was difficult to get a job as a reporter in such a huge market. I opted to become a substitute teacher at my alma mater and I fell in love with teaching special needs children. I went back to school and earned a master’s degree in special education-all categories. Just like that, I went from wanting to become a reporter to an educator and making a difference in a special way.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.revolutionary-diamond.com
• Instagram: revolutionarydiamond
• Facebook: Revolutionary Diamond
• Linkedin: Jenny Thelwell
• Twitter: rev_diamond

Image Credits
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