26 episodes

The Gardenia Project is a storytelling project for women started by Jen Dean in Portland, Maine

The Gardenia Project -Women's Storytelling Jen Dean

    • Society & Culture
    • 5.0 • 64 Ratings

The Gardenia Project is a storytelling project for women started by Jen Dean in Portland, Maine

    Ep 26 Love and Loss in the Time of Covid

    Ep 26 Love and Loss in the Time of Covid

    In this podcast we listen to two very different stories of how Covid-19 played out in their lives and with their loved ones.
    These stories are intense, but just like I always say on the podcast, they are so important. These truths are the fabric of our lives, the events that shape us, and the happenings that change us.
     
    Podcasts aren’t free to create. I pay my fantastic producer, Stephanie Cohn, for each episode and I am so grateful for her creativity! (I never take a paycheck.) Please considering supporting this podcast with just a few dollars a month by going here:
    https://www.patreon.com/thegardeniaproject

    • 29 min
    Ep 25 Voices of Quarantine

    Ep 25 Voices of Quarantine

    In this podcast we hear the voices of 17 people (plus my own) telling their stories of the pandemic world they live in. What are they doing? What are they thinking or feeling? What are they binge watching, eating, working on, what thing have they found that they do that has surprised them? Do you hear yourself in these voices?
    I believe that we are stronger and kinder… together. As humans we were meant to be connected. One way right now to feel our collective strength is to listen to one another. May these stories deepen your compassion for others. Maybe they will also make you laugh like they did for Charlie and I. A little levity can also go a long way. (:
    Portraits from the people speaking are on the blog post and can be found here: 
    https://www.jendeanphoto.com/blog1/voicesofquarantine
    Podcasts aren’t free to create. I pay my producer, Stephanie Cohn, for each episode and I am so grateful for her creativity! (I never take a paycheck.) Please considering supporting this podcast with just a few dollars a month by going here:
    https://www.patreon.com/thegardeniaproject
    Huge thanks to our sponsor: 
    Kate Bathras Coaching 
    https://www.katebathrascoaching.com/
     
     

    • 29 min
    Ep 24 Megan Jo, The Tributaries That Create Us

    Ep 24 Megan Jo, The Tributaries That Create Us

    So full disclosure here. I have participated in Rockstar Camp. I did the eight week program in learning how to use your voice and then got on stage in Portland Maine in May of 2019 to sing Firework by Katy Perry! (Go me!) It was an absolutely transformative experience which shifted who I am and how I live in the world. I loved the experience (though I was scared to do it!) and learned so much.
    Months afterward I asked Megan to talk to me more on the podcast. I wanted to know her back story. How did she become a coach and a leader? How did she come up with the idea for Rockstar Camp? What were her motivations and what was the path that brought her here. I know that there is always interesting stories to hear when we ask about them. Her story is fascinating and insightful and a real inspiration for those who may still be wondering what they are going to do when they grow up. Sometimes the answers to what we want to do seem clear and then they aren’t. Then they seem clear again. Then they aren’t again. Life is funny that way. Cheers to discipline and perseverance and being scrappy! All of which Megan Jo talks about in this show.
    Head over to The Gardenia Project page of the website to see her portraits from the photo session! https://www.jendeanphoto.com/the-gardenia-project
    Podcasts aren’t free to create. (: I pay my producer every month cause she is fabulous!! (I never take a paycheck.) Please considering supporting this podcast with just a few dollars a month by going here:
    https://www.patreon.com/thegardeniaproject
    Huge thanks to our sponsors: 
    Kate Bathras Coaching 
    https://www.katebathrascoaching.com/
    If you want to find out more about Rockstar Camp go here:
    https://www.meganjowilson.com/rockstar-camp-enrol

    • 29 min
    Ep 23 Mary, What Intuition Tells You

    Ep 23 Mary, What Intuition Tells You

    Often when I talk to women about their stories it is only now in the looking back that we are able to see the lessons that we learned. This story is one of those. A time of deep learning, that when it was happening felt unbearable. Mary just had no idea how she could make it through all the grief she was sitting with at that fateful period of time in 2005. She speaks now with a voice of clarity and wisdom from all that she learned back then. The ways that it shaped her life moving forward and how she got to now - in a whole new life she would never have imagined then. 
    Thank you to the sponsors of this episode:
    Kate Bathras of Kate Bathras Coaching
    and
    Jennifer Elizabeth Moors of Modern Medicine Lady 
     

    • 29 min
    Ep 22 Many Women Many Stories - How Hair Shapes our Identity

    Ep 22 Many Women Many Stories - How Hair Shapes our Identity

    In this podcast we listen to multiple voices from women (including my own) telling their stories of vulnerability or power about their hair, how a hair cut changed their life, what other people thought about it, changes that came over time or abruptly, that impacted their life and how they felt about themselves.
    My kid, I think, said it best and most succinctly when I asked her if it should be a big deal when a woman decides to cut off all her hair she said, “Well if it feels like a big deal to them then definitely support that, but if they are like ‘this is no biggie’ then you shouldn’t make a huge deal out of it.” Simple and so wise. Too bad our society often doesn’t follow her advice.
    Listen in to hear the multi layered feelings we have around our hair. Check out the blog post with portraits of the women here: 
    https://www.jendeanphoto.com/blog1/howhaircutsshapeus
    Please considering supporting this podcast with just a few dollars a month:
    https://www.patreon.com/thegardeniaproject
    Huge thanks to our sponsors: 
    Kate Bathras Coaching 
    https://www.katebathrascoaching.com/
     
    Jennifer Elizabeth Moore of Empathic Mastery
    https://www.modernmedicinelady.com/

    • 34 min
    Ep 21 Chanel, Radical Listening for the Common Good

    Ep 21 Chanel, Radical Listening for the Common Good

    Chanel tells the story of what she decides to do with her own anger, fear, and frustration at the state of the world in the last few years. How she decides that maybe what we all need to do for each other, a lot more, is listen.
    But as nice as that sounds it isn’t actually the easiest or most comfortable thing to do. Especially when you take a road trip and sit down next to people that you know do not share your point of view. What does it mean to take in what another person says when you know it will oppose your own beliefs? Especially when we are talking about belief systems. How do you learn from it? What does that listening change for you?
    Listen to Chanel and then maybe do your own research. It is a challenge, I believe, more of us could take on.
    Thank you to our sponsor Jennifer Elizabeth Moore, Modern Medicine Lady. She is the authority on all things Empathic and how to deal with being one!
    Jennifer has a new book about to be released that you will want to grab a copy of! Learn more at her website!
    https://www.modernmedicinelady.com/
     

    • 28 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
64 Ratings

64 Ratings

hetd ,

Inspirational!

Wow! These stories are inspiring. Jen Dean does a wonderful job revealing these moving stories in a personal interview style. Informative and interesting while being heartfelt and touching! I also love the addition of the link to the photographs because she has a beautiful eye to go along with her big heart.

siemic13 ,

Meaningful

These stories have such meaning and importance!

leelee37 ,

Outstanding!

Outstanding stories and story telling. Well done!

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