Jennifer Heegaard: Happy Wife, Proud Aunt, Loving Sister, Loyal Friend, Humble Board President of Dress for Success Miami, and Driven President of JEJE Consulting, A Public Relations, Branding and Events Firm.
What have you overcome? When I was younger, I was overweight. I grew up in a society where being beautiful meant being stick thin and to say the least I was very self-conscious and extremely insecure. In my second year of college, I had topped the scale at over 200 pounds. I was having a great time in college and didn’t really realize the damage that I was doing to my body. After an incident, which included a restraining order, my mind and my body had a huge shift. A trigger went off in my head and my life made U-turn. I began facing an eating disorder that would last a few years. But, this story is not about what I faced, it’s what I overcame and here it is, I overcame fear; the fear of not being good enough, the fear of not being accepted and the fear that lead to low-esteem. Today, I know the fear is gone. I embrace everyday as a gift and move forward with the best that I have to offer to the world.
The Bible says, “… when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” How has your endurance grown with the process of your tests and how do you operate in the now looking onward? Anyone who knows me knows I am passionate and intense. I persevere regardless of the circumstances and never give up. I am the type of person that believes in getting things done. I am doer. That is how I operate. There is a great quote that says, “Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.” That is how I operate, I don’t give in, I don’t give up… I keep moving forward.
For more of Jennifer Heegaard, and the many faces of perseverance order your copy of the November | December, Overcoming Issue here.
Photo by Gio Alma
Mavian Arocha-Rowe
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