090 - Rediscovering Joy and Holistic Wellness with Dawn Jackson

[00:00:00] Writing a book can be the foundation for sharing your important message, but it won't work unless

[00:00:08] you are consistently marketing. This podcast is for those who have written a book to share

[00:00:13] their message with the world. I love talking all things authorpreneur and having guests

[00:00:19] join me to share their brilliance with you.

[00:00:25] Hello, authorpreneurs. It's Suzanne Tregenza Moore and I am here with another episode of

[00:00:32] All Things Authorpreneur. I have a fabulous guest with me today and I'm really looking

[00:00:38] forward to introducing her to you. Dawn Jackson is here and she is the author of Journey to

[00:00:46] Self-Discovery. A little bit about her as an advanced grief recovery specialist, creator

[00:00:53] and facilitator of women's retreats, nurse, and Amazon bestselling author, Dawn's primary

[00:01:00] focus is to guide individuals through healing their hearts, transforming their lives and rediscovering

[00:01:07] joy. Driven by a profound mission, Dawn is dedicated to helping individuals uncover

[00:01:14] their inner light and make the profound shift from surviving to thriving. Through her

[00:01:19] work with clients, she skillfully supports them in healing their hearts and achieving

[00:01:25] holistic wellness of mind, body and spirit. With her nurturing approach, she assists individuals

[00:01:33] in unlocking their potential for growth and renewal. And Dawn, I'm so excited to have

[00:01:38] you here. Thank you, Suzanne. So, Dawn, what got you into the work that you are

[00:01:45] doing helping with grief recovery and healing our hearts?

[00:01:50] So I've been a nurse for 30 years and throughout my nursing career, I noticed my

[00:01:56] patients, you know, I would help them physically with all the issues that they

[00:02:01] were experiencing. But I was noticing there was a lot of loss and trauma from

[00:02:08] their lives. And I saw the correlation with, you know, those people who were

[00:02:13] really able to do a lot of personal growth and healing that they tended to have

[00:02:19] fuller lives and not have as many health issues. So as I started going along my

[00:02:24] healing journey after my divorce at the age of 30, I realized that there was so

[00:02:31] much to be gained by healing our hearts. And that's when I looked into the

[00:02:36] grief recovery method, which was an amazing program that I got certified in

[00:02:40] to actually help myself first and then others heal from different kind of

[00:02:46] losses that they've experienced in their lives.

[00:02:49] Okay. So can you tell us a little bit about what the grief recovery method is?

[00:02:54] Yes, I can. It is an evidence based action program that provides tools to

[00:03:01] individuals to help them recover from, you know, heartbreak from loss due to

[00:03:06] divorce, death, moving a loss of a job, a loss of health, anything that has

[00:03:12] been a significant change in one's life that has caused emotional pain. And so

[00:03:17] it's a step by step program that we take people through in six to seven

[00:03:22] sessions and they can work on a specific loss and they have these tools

[00:03:27] that they can use for the rest of their life anytime they experience a

[00:03:31] loss or grief.

[00:03:32] Yeah, I think that's so fascinating because, you know, the more that I

[00:03:37] get into entrepreneurship and the more that I see people, so many

[00:03:41] entrepreneurs, and especially I find women who become coaches and healers

[00:03:46] and, you know, service providers of that nature usually come to it because

[00:03:51] of their own often tragic, often painful, often traumatizing stories

[00:03:57] and experiences.

[00:03:58] Right. And so it's opened my eyes to how trauma and how grief

[00:04:04] really impact us and can stunt our ability to achieve things in life in

[00:04:11] ways that don't seem logical, right? And yet are very, very true.

[00:04:17] And I'm wondering if you have had any experiences with clients where they

[00:04:23] couldn't achieve something or we're really struggling with something

[00:04:27] and working with you kind of shifted things for them in such a way

[00:04:31] that you'd want to share that.

[00:04:32] Well, certainly I, you know, when people get to come to me, they're usually

[00:04:37] feeling pretty stuck and, you know, when we're grieving, when we're in pain,

[00:04:42] the only thing we really can focus on is that pain, right?

[00:04:46] It's like if you have a physical injury, wherever your body hurts

[00:04:51] the most is what your mind thinks about.

[00:04:53] So it's the same thing with emotional pain.

[00:04:56] So I see people stuck, you know, stuck in jobs, stuck in relationships,

[00:05:00] stuck in just anything you can think of that and they can't move forward.

[00:05:05] Like it's hard for them to take a step forward because they're dealing

[00:05:07] with this constant pain in their heart.

[00:05:10] And then after working with me and taking them through the grief recovery

[00:05:13] method, I actually see them transform.

[00:05:15] I mean, I can actually see people's faces.

[00:05:17] They look visibly different.

[00:05:20] They look lighter and they're able to start moving forward,

[00:05:23] taking those steps, you know, leaving the job that's not helpful.

[00:05:27] Yeah.

[00:05:28] Choosing differently in their relationships, setting boundaries.

[00:05:32] So I see this all the time and that's, I think, so much of the reason

[00:05:36] why I do what I do because it helps women.

[00:05:39] I mean, I mostly help women, but also men just transform their lives

[00:05:43] and create something that they really desire versus staying stuck

[00:05:47] and just surviving.

[00:05:48] Yeah. Yeah.

[00:05:49] So it's so incredible when you release something that is causing

[00:05:53] you such pain, it's like you feel so much lighter.

[00:05:57] Yes. I know you mentioned that you went through a divorce and there was

[00:06:01] and that's kind of how you got started in this.

[00:06:03] I'm currently in the process of a divorce and 2023 was.

[00:06:08] Thank you. 2023 was, you know, not easy, right?

[00:06:12] Right. And through allowing myself time and space and grace,

[00:06:18] I really came through after the holidays and into the new year,

[00:06:22] feeling this refreshed, just feeling completely refreshed,

[00:06:26] feeling as though I had kind of shed the real heaviness of that

[00:06:32] and finally could move forward.

[00:06:33] And it is amazing.

[00:06:35] It's all of a sudden you feel like you feel like Wonder Woman

[00:06:39] because you're not carrying that whatever it, the pain from whatever it is.

[00:06:43] And my goodness, there are plenty of things that cause us emotional

[00:06:47] pain in this life. Right? That is very true.

[00:06:50] Yeah. Yeah.

[00:06:51] And everyone responds to it and has different levels of ability to move through it.

[00:06:56] Yeah. And I truly believe that we start our healing process when we're ready.

[00:07:01] You know, it's yes.

[00:07:03] Oftentimes people beat themselves up about things that happened 20 years ago,

[00:07:07] but they just weren't in a space where they were ready to do that healing

[00:07:11] because it does take a lot of energy and it's emotional work.

[00:07:15] So yeah, I'm always reminded people, just be graceful with yourself.

[00:07:19] You're doing the best that you can.

[00:07:21] And you're here right now and you're choosing to keep what hurts your heart

[00:07:25] so that you can create a better life for yourself.

[00:07:27] Yeah. Actually, that makes me think, you know, I know someone who's doing

[00:07:31] some deep trauma work right now and I'm thinking to myself,

[00:07:35] I wonder when her grief became trauma, right?

[00:07:40] It's almost as though if you can't for whatever reason work through the grief

[00:07:44] at the time, you know, that it's more present.

[00:07:47] I think that often is what becomes the trauma later for you.

[00:07:52] Don't you think?

[00:07:53] Yeah, I mean, we kind of combine them just all together that, you know,

[00:07:57] trauma is grief and it just, you know, the longer we carry around grief,

[00:08:02] the greater consequence it has on our lives.

[00:08:04] You know, like I talked about at the beginning, it has a consequence

[00:08:07] on our physical health, on our relationships, on our jobs.

[00:08:11] And then so many of us, because we don't know what to do with that pain,

[00:08:14] start engaging in addictive behavior, you know,

[00:08:18] that's what's behind so much addiction, alcoholism and drug use.

[00:08:23] Or even just eating lots of sugar.

[00:08:25] Exactly, yeah.

[00:08:27] Or gambling or whatever it is, but it's our way of trying to feel better

[00:08:31] because we don't know what to do with our pain.

[00:08:34] Yeah, yeah.

[00:08:35] Fascinating.

[00:08:35] So I want to talk a little bit about the book Journey to Self Discovery.

[00:08:40] Yes.

[00:08:40] And before we started recording, I said, and Don, what's the name of your book again?

[00:08:44] And you said Journey to Self Discovery is the latest one.

[00:08:47] So I want to make sure we talk about any books that you have written

[00:08:51] or been a part of.

[00:08:52] OK, tell me a little bit about your writing experience and journey.

[00:08:57] So that's an interesting one.

[00:08:59] So years ago, you know, I've been on Facebook for a long time

[00:09:03] and I just used to write inspirational things, things that were affecting my life.

[00:09:07] And then I'd share them.

[00:09:09] And what I noticed was that people were like, oh, thank you for sharing.

[00:09:12] Like, I really needed to hear that today.

[00:09:14] Yes.

[00:09:14] And so a friend of mine that I met about 10 years ago,

[00:09:18] she saw my writing and she happened to be a writer

[00:09:21] and she started her own publishing company.

[00:09:23] And she's like, oh, you're such a good writer.

[00:09:26] I'm going to start a online magazine.

[00:09:29] So I would like you to be a part of it.

[00:09:31] And I said, no, I'm not a good writer and I can't do that.

[00:09:33] And so I argued with her for a little bit.

[00:09:37] And finally, she convinced me.

[00:09:39] So I started submitting articles and we did that for about a year

[00:09:43] until she had to shut it down to do different ventures.

[00:09:47] And so, you know, I went about my life.

[00:09:49] And then a couple of years ago, I decided to kind of pick up writing again

[00:09:54] because I hadn't been doing much of it.

[00:09:56] And so I reached out to her and decided that I was going to write a book.

[00:10:01] And that's when I wrote my first book and I put it out in almost a year ago

[00:10:05] on the 13th. It's a year. Excellent.

[00:10:08] So yeah, that's how it all started.

[00:10:11] OK, and that is the journey to self discovery or a different book?

[00:10:15] OK, it's a different book.

[00:10:16] That one is Journey to Peace and Healing.

[00:10:18] Oh, wow. So you've done two books in like a year and a half or so ish?

[00:10:24] A year. Yes. Wow.

[00:10:27] OK, that's impressive.

[00:10:29] Everybody listening.

[00:10:30] Mostly everybody listening is an author and they're

[00:10:32] they're probably bowing down to you right now.

[00:10:34] I see it. Well, I don't have another one in the works right now.

[00:10:38] So OK, all right.

[00:10:40] Good. So she's not like totally smoking us folks.

[00:10:43] Right. So OK, so tell us about Journey to Self Discovery then.

[00:10:47] So Journey to Self Discovery was my second book that came out

[00:10:50] in November of twenty twenty three.

[00:10:52] And that one I mainly put out because I remember when I was going

[00:10:57] through my divorce and other hard times of my life that picking up any kind

[00:11:02] of books, whether it was a fiction book, a self help, whatever,

[00:11:06] I couldn't focus to read a whole chapter.

[00:11:09] And what I could focus on was one page.

[00:11:12] And I used daily readers often because I needed something.

[00:11:19] I needed some inspiration, some wisdom.

[00:11:21] And so I would pick up these books.

[00:11:23] I'd read the page for that day and then I could go about my day

[00:11:26] and I could carry that with me.

[00:11:28] I could reflect on that.

[00:11:29] And so I decided that I was going to write a book like that

[00:11:32] for people going through hard times or maybe you're not going through

[00:11:35] a hard time, but just to give you some inspiration for the day.

[00:11:38] Yeah. So that's how I structured this book.

[00:11:41] The subtitle is 100 Days of Soulful Reflections.

[00:11:45] So there's 100 different passages and then each one of them has

[00:11:49] an affirmation at the bottom that people can use throughout the day

[00:11:52] if they so choose.

[00:11:54] I love it. And you know what I really love is that it's 100 days

[00:11:56] because I don't know about you, but the books that are three hundred

[00:11:59] and sixty five, I always miss a day.

[00:12:01] And then I feel like this guilt and like, you know,

[00:12:05] I didn't keep up with the days properly.

[00:12:08] You just don't need that, especially if you're like trying to do self discovery

[00:12:12] or certainly get through some grief or anything like that.

[00:12:15] So I love that it's a hundred.

[00:12:17] Yeah. And I didn't feel like it needed to be three hundred sixty five

[00:12:20] because I also developed it where somebody could just pick it up

[00:12:22] and open any page, you know, like they're being guided to a certain page.

[00:12:27] Yes. So I was like, I don't need three hundred sixty five.

[00:12:30] And I actually wrote it in a hundred days.

[00:12:32] That was my goal to as I sat down every morning for a hundred days.

[00:12:37] That's impressive. The passages and explains how you got to like

[00:12:41] a second book done in that period of time, because yeah,

[00:12:46] because a hundred days is like what three and a half months ish.

[00:12:49] Correct. Yes. Perfect. OK.

[00:12:52] And how do you see the books?

[00:12:56] How do you see them in terms of marketing your business

[00:12:59] and supporting your business?

[00:13:01] How are you using them?

[00:13:03] And did you have a specific strategy in mind when you wrote them?

[00:13:09] Or is that coming out of I got them done and this is how I'm using them?

[00:13:15] I think it was I really just wanted to get them done.

[00:13:18] And like I left my nursing career in August of twenty twenty two.

[00:13:23] So I didn't know exactly how my business was going to be structured.

[00:13:26] So, you know, there's the author part.

[00:13:28] There's a grief recovery in there.

[00:13:29] So the women's retreats.

[00:13:31] So I really use these books in conjunction with the other things that I do

[00:13:36] to help my clients because, you know, sometimes, you know,

[00:13:40] especially like after a retreat when they're not meeting with me one on one

[00:13:44] or after we go through the grief recovery method,

[00:13:47] this is something to continually support them.

[00:13:50] The first book journey to peace and healing has a lot of reflection

[00:13:53] questions and actually journaling space in it as well.

[00:13:57] So it's really helpful for people to go through some of those

[00:14:01] chapters and those questions that they resonate with to, you know,

[00:14:04] really take a deep dive into what they're going through and experiencing.

[00:14:09] Love it. I love it.

[00:14:11] Let's talk a little bit about your retreats.

[00:14:12] Tell me about those and what you're usually focused on in those.

[00:14:16] So they're all women's retreats.

[00:14:18] They're usually small, like five to six people.

[00:14:20] And I keep them small at this point because I just find that I get to work

[00:14:25] so much closer with everyone and they can really connect with each other.

[00:14:29] They're all about healing.

[00:14:30] We look at people's belief systems.

[00:14:32] We look at places that they're feeling stuck, that they're not able to move forward.

[00:14:38] We look at, you know, kind of where their beliefs came from.

[00:14:42] And we try to start shifting those so that they're creating some new

[00:14:46] beliefs that are going to, you know, foster the life that they really want

[00:14:50] and help them create a vision for moving forward.

[00:14:54] Love it.

[00:14:54] Do you do them at a location?

[00:14:57] Do you do them virtually?

[00:14:59] How do you do them?

[00:15:00] So at this point, I'm doing them at a location.

[00:15:02] I've thought of virtually, but I really like people being in person

[00:15:06] because they're usually like two to three days.

[00:15:08] And we usually run a house.

[00:15:10] Everybody spends those three days together.

[00:15:14] And yeah, just having people together in the same room and going through

[00:15:18] these processes together, create such connection.

[00:15:21] And people are usually willing to be more vulnerable when you're in person.

[00:15:26] Sure, sure. I love it. That's so cool.

[00:15:28] All right. Well, I have a few questions that I ask everyone who comes on the podcast.

[00:15:32] Sure. So the first one is, do you think you're going to write another book?

[00:15:36] Oh, yes. Yeah. Yes.

[00:15:38] Yeah, I do think I'm going to write another book.

[00:15:41] Yeah, OK, OK. I actually may write a children's book.

[00:15:44] We lost our kitty in 2022 in December and she was this pretty special kitty.

[00:15:50] She loved Christmas.

[00:15:52] And so I keep, you know, thinking I need to write a children's book about our kitty

[00:15:56] in Christmas. So love it. I may do that. OK.

[00:16:00] And then I really want to write a book, you know, with more concepts related to grief

[00:16:05] and maybe part of my journey and some helpful, you know, tips to help other people.

[00:16:11] But I just haven't quite figured it out yet.

[00:16:13] Yeah, I definitely will be writing more.

[00:16:15] OK, excellent.

[00:16:16] Next question.

[00:16:17] And this is interesting because you haven't you haven't been out on your own

[00:16:21] solely in your own business for that long.

[00:16:24] You said you retired from your nursing career in 22.

[00:16:26] But in your experience thus far, what do you think an entrepreneur needs to do

[00:16:33] or have in order to be successful?

[00:16:36] That is a very good question.

[00:16:38] I think they really have to have passion for what they're doing

[00:16:42] because, you know, when you're starting out, you're not making a lot of money,

[00:16:46] you know, if you're someone like me, you go from making really good money

[00:16:50] in your profession to making very little.

[00:16:53] But I'm so passionate about what I do that, you know, building up my business

[00:16:58] has been really joyful for me.

[00:17:01] I mean, I have more joy in my life right now than I had in the 29 years of nursing.

[00:17:06] Right. So I think that passion is really important because it drives you forward.

[00:17:11] I've had to learn so many new things like technology.

[00:17:13] That wasn't my thing.

[00:17:14] I mean, yes, I did computer charting, but I didn't have to, you know,

[00:17:18] figure out a website and email list and all that.

[00:17:21] So I think it's just really important that you love what you do.

[00:17:26] Absolutely. In order to be successful.

[00:17:28] Yeah. Yeah. Last question I ask everyone who comes on is what is your favorite book?

[00:17:35] My favorite book, you know, the first thing that came to my mind

[00:17:38] is The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.

[00:17:42] Yeah. That book has had such a profound impact on my life.

[00:17:47] Yeah. You know, especially don't take things personally, you know,

[00:17:50] because it's really easy to look at someone's behavior and towards us

[00:17:55] and think that it's about us and it usually isn't about us.

[00:17:59] It's about what's happening inside of them.

[00:18:01] Yes. So that's one of the ones that I try and remember on a regular basis.

[00:18:05] So yeah, there's so many books that I love, but that one really resonated with me.

[00:18:10] Yeah. Yeah. I love that book too. It's really pretty fabulous.

[00:18:14] Well, Don, is there anything else you would like to share before we wrap up for today?

[00:18:21] I just really appreciate being on here with you and, you know,

[00:18:24] talking about my journey and my books.

[00:18:27] And I just encourage everyone to really try and move towards your dreams.

[00:18:33] Sometimes they seem unreachable, but nothing is impossible.

[00:18:37] And following your heart and following your passion will lead to so much more joy in your life.

[00:18:43] Yeah, so true. So true.

[00:18:45] Well, Don, thank you so much for being here.

[00:18:48] I really appreciate the conversation.

[00:18:49] I appreciate your time and for everyone listening again.

[00:18:53] Don's book is Journey to Self Discovery 100 Days of Soulful Reflections by Don Jackson.

[00:19:02] And to all those listening, thank you so much for listening in.

[00:19:05] And I look forward to bringing you another episode soon.

[00:19:08] Thank you.

[00:19:10] Would you like to uncover the three biggest challenges

[00:19:13] nonfiction authors experience that stop the flow of money?

[00:19:17] Do you need help identifying the gaps and energy drains

[00:19:21] in your marketing and sales strategies?

[00:19:23] Download a copy of my quick and easy self assessment.

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