Prickly and Blooming

Jen Hirst didn't see herself in the image of an alcoholic, but her drinking caused her to lose her job, her car and almost her marriage. It was when she found herself as a 30-year-old sitting on her childhood bed at her parents house and googling if she was having a heart attack that she started her bumpy road to recovery.

In this episode of Prickly and Blooming, Jen chats with host Jessie Browning about receiving treatment for her alcoholism and her relapses. She didn't share about her recovery until she started coaching and spent four of those seven years as a closet sober person living a dry, drunk lifestyle. Listen as Jen explains to Jessie why it helped her to overcome the shame of being an alcoholic by being outspoken about it.

• [00:03] Intro
• [03:54] Meet Jen Hirst
• [06:17] How Jen reached rock bottom
• [12:37] Why she gave up drinking
• [14:15] Her first drink
• [16:10] The first time she abused alcohol
• [18:26] Recovering perfectionist
• [22:36] Drinking and wedding planning
• [25:25] Seeking treatment
• [28:19] The second DWI
• [34:38] One bite at a time
• [39:14] An isolating road to recovery
• [42:39] Becoming a sober coach
• [47:12] Wine Mom culture
• [52:29] Conquering the shame
• [55:27] Jen's tools to maintain recovery
• [1:04:43] Jessie's rapid fire questions
• [1:12:34] Contacting Jen Hirst
• [1:14:27] Outro

• Brené Brown
• Quit Like a Woman: The Radical Choice to Not Drink in a Culture Obsessed with Alcohol by Holly Whitaker
• Floor is Lava
• Peace & Calming Essential Oil Blend from Young Living
• Stress Away Essential Oil Blend from Young Living
• The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober: Discovering a happy, healthy, wealthy alcohol-free life by Catherine Gray
• This Naked Mind: Control Alcohol: Find Freedom, Rediscover Happiness & Change Your Life by Annie Grace
• Sober Curious: The Blissful Sleep, Greater Focus, Limitless Presence, and Deep Connection Awaiting Us All on the Other Side of Alcohol by Ruby Warrington
• Rachel Hollis

• "I hope by sharing my story and telling others these hard things that I've been through, I hope it gives you permission to do the same and realize again that you're not alone in this. That you can pivot...

For Dr. Wendy Slinkard, change had to come before she hit the ground. Giving up alcohol served as a powerful catalyst for change that she didn't know her life was missing.

Today, Wendy sits down with host Jessie Browning to talk about taking control. She shares her experience recognizing the role alcohol played in her life and how she knew it was time to let it go for good. Hear her story of transitioning from chiropractic doctor to stay-at-home mom as she shares her passion for health and the platform she's creating for women like her.

• [00:03] Intro
• [00:45] Meet Wendy Slinkard
• [03:36] The moment her life changed
• [08:02] Quietly committing to herself and sobriety
• [11:33] Getting to her moment of clarity
• [17:15] Alcohol, coping and getting close to the bottom
• [19:07] The mommy culture dilemma
• [25:21] What has been working
• [30:23] Choosing to step away from her chiropractic work
• [32:43] Creating a platform for health and lifestyle
• [40:52] What she learned about alcohol and sugar
• [53:05] Cutting out sugar
• [59:24] Why you don't need a rock bottom
• [1:01:19] Contacting Wendy Slinkard
• [1:03:07] Outro

• This Naked Mind
• Quit Like A Woman

• "It didn't have to get to this nasty, big bomb of a bottom. Like, it can be enough that it's a problem without that. -Jessie Browning[20:16]
• "You have to accept that you're going to be going against the social norms and it's going to make people uncomfortable and that's still something I struggle with." -Wendy Slinkard [57:06]
• "You just have to get sick and tired of your own crap. You know? Sick and tired of being sick and tired." -Wendy Slinkard [1:00:06]
• Even bigger than giving up this or that, it's gotta be so much more than that. It's gotta be more about finding your own identity and going for that despite what other people might think. -Wendy Slinkard [1:00:44]

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Wendy Slinkard Jewelry Consultant

Bridget Barrett-Parker found out when she was 25 years old that she was pregnant. As she became a single mom, she grappled with what was happening, how she got there and how to move forward. In this episode of Prickly and Blooming, Bridget talks to host Jessie Browning about this experience and how parenting and becoming a Montessori teacher formed her business, Stable Bow Consulting, that she describes as helping parents CTFD ("calm the fuck down").

Episode Timeline:

• [00:03] Intro
• [03:33] Meet Bridget Barrett-Parker
• [04:22] Becoming a single mom
• [06:11] Finding out she was pregnant
• [09:08] Returning to the states
• [14:33] The pandemic opened her eyes
• [20:54] Being home with her children
• [29:10] Starting Stable Bow Consulting
• [34:38] The mindset is the most important piece
• [42:24] A learned helplessness
• [47:09] What she does with her consulting business
• [52:19] Contacting Bridget Barrett-Parker
• [52:56] Jessie's rapid fire questions
• [57:34] Outro

Resources Mentioned:

• Montessori education
• Aaron Carter
• Go, Dog. Go! by P. D. Eastman
• Kahlil Gibran
• On Children by Kahlil Gibran
• Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself by Melody Beattie

Standout Quotes:

• "For the next 10 years, just kind of buckling down, diving into my role as montessori teacher and learning as much as I could, committing fully, and then stepping away and saying, ‘You know what, my family needs me right now. I'm home. I'm dedicated to what I'm doing,' and just realizing again like ,'Wow, I really don't like being a stay-at-home mom.'" -Bridget Barrett-Parker [04:11]
• "COVID brought up so much in this beautiful opportunity that I don't think that we necessarily get, you know, when the bus is running full steam, but it's also really painful. It's really painful to step back and to pause and to question, to constantly question yourself as exhausting." -Bridget Barrett-Parker [17:52]
• "Having that experience earlier in life of going through, again what felt like rock bottom, gives you the perspective and the space to say ‘Pause, I've done hard things before and I can do hard things again, and this won't last forever.'" -Bridget Barrett-Parker [21:42]

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Lajoie Society is Prickly & Blooming; please rate, review, and subscribe.

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Learn more about Bridget Barrett-Parker:

Stable Bow Consulting website

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Jessie and her husband Daniel are small business owners. For the last 13 years they have worked through 4 pregnancies, put in late nights, lots of weekends, and many countless sacrifices to keep their laundromat and coffee shop open for people for 363 days a year. Their mission is to help customers have a great day by starting off with good coffee.

The COVID - 19 pandemic has forced them stay on top of directives and keep pivoting. They made changes to reduce the spread of the disease by creating online menu and payment options and door collection but for the greater good they had to close one of their shops.

When a business closes so does its income but the expenses are still there, they couldn't leave out their employees in times of crisis. Daniel's habit of being prepared for the worse was an asset in times like this. His preparedness helped him to secure a loan and works things out quickly so that they had the money to pay overheads for 2.5 months. With the help of the PPP loan, they were able to re-open their closed location.

Also, they are parents of 4 children and with the lockdown came a new challenge of taking care of their kids and also working on their other businesses that can run irrespective of outside situations.

Listen in as their share how they saved their business and how they are managing their work-life balance when the whole family is staying home.

Episode Timeline:

[01:20] Intro

[02:04] New Merch!!

[03:55] Podcast schedule

[05:40] Meet Jessie's Husband Daniel

[08:03] The start of our business life

[11:00] How COVID - 19 came into our lives

[14:43] Transitioning things to stop COVID infections(the new normal)

[19:43] Taking care of our employees

[24:50] Stopping the bleeding

[26:47] How did we know what to do? There is nobody to call.

[29:32] 13 years no break

[31:16] Rewards of an entrepreneur? Making the world a better place

[33:45] Navigating out of the financial panic storm (PPP loan)

[40:55] Importance of doing things the right way

[44:00] Managing work and kids

[51:50] Running the family like a company

[55:30] Mother's role in maintaining mental health

[57:27] Working as a Family

[01:03:00] Isolation in entrepreneurship

[01:07:46] Outro

Standout Quotes:

I wanna know where did you learn this? Who told you how to do this? How did we know what to do?- Jessie Browning [26:47]

We are at a point where we had our business open for the last 13 years, I still remember being pregnant and walking into work, opening the back window and throwing out and then washing my hands, wiping my face and flipping the sign to Open! and then unlocking the door and I remember having our children in there and I remember you working late at nights and constant sacrifices - Jessie Browning [30:04]

All of them are dealing with their own loss of normal, difficult routines and emotions for them to understand for them- Daniell Browning [47:30]

I see dudes are drinking beer at the end of the day cause they are tired from a long day of work, I do have a glass of beer at the end of my work but I personally like to use that as my excuse of not doing the work to help the family is because I had that time and I am very cautious of that I am aware and at a personal level when I hear something like.. Oh, yea my wife is struggling with the homeschooling, it upsets me. No its not just your wife's job - Daniel Browning [58:40]

Resources Mentioned:

The blog post about shutting down the Marfa Shop - We have Endured

We have started a merch store!!!

We...

In this last episode of Prickly and Blooming Season 2, host Jessie Browning checks in with some of her guests from Season 1.

Listen to Laura Wall talk about her new book and the unexpected listener to her previous episode. Maggie Gentry recaps her rollercoaster of a year and how she is adapting to being home. Teresa King reflects on losing an election, and Dr. Wendy Slinkard talks about the importance of making personal connections for her business.

Episode Timeline:

• [00:03] Intro
• [08:01] Checking in with Laura Wall
• [11:45] Launching her book
• [15:55] An unexpected listener
• [21:48] Checking in with Maggie Gentry
• [26:41] A rollercoaster of a year
• [31:04] Checking in with Teresa King
• [34:48] Reflecting on the election results
• [39:51] A positive conversation from an uncomfortable situation
• [43:03] Checking in with Dr. Wendy Slinkard
• [55:11] Outro

• Laura Hall's Prickly and Blooming episode
• Hiral Patel's Prickly and Blooming episode
• Cindy Villanueva's Prickly and Blooming episode
• Maggie Gentry's Prickly and Blooming episode
• Teresa King's Prickly and Blooming episode
• Dr. Wendy Slinkard's Prickly and Blooming episode
• Finding Our Wings: Seven Entrepreneurs on Reclaiming Hope and Power by Laura Wall, Lindsey Daniels, Cindy Villanueva, Laura Bautista, Patricia Cashion, Hiral Patel and Amber Tarcha
• Hearts of Healing Center
• Refuge for Women
• King's Ransom

• "Detaching from outcomes has been the theme of the year." -Laura Wall [08:40]
• "It was a perfect example of what we've talked about and I've talked about it in other episodes is like ‘Don't wait until your life blows up.'" -Jessie Browning [44:44]
• "This project has given my life. Like it's giving me connections and stories and listening and laughing and crying, which are all things I live for, that I love, that I need and that have been so helpful in this weird year that we've had, this isolated year." -Jessie Browning [55:45]

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