Miscellaneous
Welcome to Living Well with MS Coffee Break #22, where we are pleased to welcome Jen DeTracey as our guest! Our Coffee Break series is your chance to get to know members of our diverse OMS community. In each episode, you’ll join Geoff Allix for an intimate chat with a different member of our global community. Our guests will share their personal stories and talk about their challenges and victories, large and small. We hope you find common cause and a source of inspiration from the stories of these very special people. As always, your comments and suggestions are always welcome by emailing podcast@overcomingms.org. This episode is a little departure from our normal guest format, but we hope you enjoy the conversation with Jen, coming to you straight from Montreal, Canada. Bio: Jen DeTracey was diagnosed with MS in 2010. Within six months, she thought she’d never work again. At the time of diagnosis, she was at the peak of her career as a marketing consultant. After navigating rough waters for several years, Jen explored how to begin thriving while living with MS and fatigue. Fast forward to 2019, Jen became a certified life coach. As a result of this training, she uncovered how to dramatically improve the quality of her life, recognizing that mindset is paramount to wellness and well-being. Jen launched the Women Thriving with MS YouTube channel and Facebook group. In 2021, she launched the weTHRIVE membership to support women who want to connect with others and discover how to thrive with MS. We are better together. Questions: Jen, welcome to Living Well with MS Coffee Break. We’re so pleased to have you on our program. The purpose of this series is to better get to know some of the diverse members of the OMS and larger MS community from around the world, and today you’re in the hot seat. Can you tell our audience a little bit about yourself, what you do, where you’re from, etc.? When were you diagnosed with MS and how did you initially deal with it? Did you find the healthcare infrastructure in Canada, where you live, supportive and useful in getting and managing your diagnosis? When you were diagnosed, I believe you were full steam ahead with your marketing career. What kind of lifestyle changes did you have to make to deal with the new MS reality, and how did that affect your work? Sounds like you dealt with some difficult emotional and physical barriers after your diagnosis. Can you give us a little insight into what you experienced and what helped you manage some of these challenges? Can you tell us about Lift Strategies, the book you wrote? What’s it about and why did you decide to write it? You also ultimately founded Women Thriving with MS. Our listeners can get a whole host of links in our show notes, but perhaps you can tell us what Women Thriving with MS’s mission is, and the impact you hope to make on the MS community through this effort? If there is one thing you can do to make a positive impact on the MS community – let’s call it your legacy – what would that be? So, what’s next for Jen DeTracey? Finally, if you tap into your experience with MS for a nugget of wisdom that would help people ease into and better adopt the necessary changes they need to make to their mindsets and lifestyles to live a healthier physical and emotional life with MS, what would that advice be? Katy’s Links: Check out Women, Live Better with MS - Discover 4 Powerful ways to REDUCE Stress, a four-part coaching series for women living with MS Check out Jen’s coaching website, Women Thriving with MS Check out Women Thriving with MS on Facebook Check out Women Thriving with MS on YouTube Check out Women Thriving with MS on Twitter Check out Jen’s book on marketing on Amazon Coming up on our next episode: Thinking of getting pregnant or already are? Join us on September 29 for the next episode of Living Well with MS, featuring OMSer Ingrid Adelsberger’s firsthand account of pregnancy while having MS. You won’t want to miss hearing her story and her insights on this important life experience. Don’t miss out: Subscribe to this podcast and never miss an episode. You can catch any episode of Living Well with MS here or on your favorite podcast listening app. Don’t be shy – if you like the program, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you tune into the show. And feel free to share your comments and suggestions by emailing podcast@overcomingms.org.