As I walked into April’s home, besotted by her beauty and the impeccable interior design in front of me, I almost forgot about my shiner.

“Oh, and I have a black eye because I hit my face on a stripper pole last week,” I said.

“Oh, ok. You ok?” she said with empathy and also letting me be me.

“Ya.” I said.

I gave her a little more back story about how when I hit my head the week before and subsequently cried for an hour because it opened up some sort of portal of grief in my being, and the women in the class encircled me and stayed with me afterward and soothed me and loved me. The most profound takeaway from that was how absolutely uncomfortable I was letting them do that. The two main things were that I didn’t want them to see me like that, having just injured myself in an almost Three Stooges-type-accident on the pole, and then the vulnerability of all the emotion pouring out of me – it was too raw and open. And yet they stayed, gently, and held me and reminded me that I would be doing the same for them. And they were right.

After all of it, after my friend drove me home because they knew I shouldn’t be driving and they all checked on me and sent me love and visited me, I realized the importance of tribe. Especially women’s tribe. I also realized the importance of balancing giving with receiving. Asking for help sometimes is good and it’s also modeling that for others. I needed to learn this. Again. And so I have created another tribe of Moms. This podcast has been such a blessing in that way. I am so grateful to every single listener and every single delicious guest.

April is no exception. What struck me most about her was her focus. As she told me the story of her life, and her career journey she didn’t even realize how laser focused she is and has always been. She is dedicated to creating valuable work and space for what she calls a ‘work culture.’ She creates a culture (dynamic between co-workers and bosses) in her business that is supportive and transparent, efficient and inclusive, and also… fucking BALLER!

April talked about the fact that she has some residual feelings around not finishing college despite having worked since the day she left home. Then I shared that I had some feelings about finishing college and being essentially an unemployed artist for a decade. The grass is always greener.

I am in awe of this woman. This mom. This CEO. On top of all that, April ROCKS a red lip like nobody’s business.

I love you. Keep going.

Xoxo,

Jennifer