Day 54: Jacquie Jordan

November 23, 2009 at 12:01 am, Category: Featured, Inspiration

“I think that everybody has something to give, at least in terms of their own story.  I really believe that.  And a lot of people aren’t even aware of it or don’t know what it is and don’t know how their own experience would actually benefit others, so I think that there’s a lot of opportunity there.  I think we all inspire each other in very little ways and very big ways.”

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Toni Reece: Thank you so much, Jacquie, for spending time with us today.  And before we begin, can you please introduce yourself?

Jacquie Jordan: Yes, hi, I’m Jacquie Jordan, CEO for Jacquie Jordan, Inc. and TV Guestpert, Emmy-nominated producer, author of Get On TV, and most recently published in Making It In High Heels, an empowerment book for young women.

Toni: Oh, that sounds amazing!  That’s a great lead-in for this very first question, which is, when you look at this body of work that you have, Jacquie, and you think about inspiration, who do you inspire and how do you go about that?

Jacquie: That is a great question, Toni, thank you so much.  You know, I feel really lucky.  I actually feel like I tend to be more inspired by the work that I do than who I actually get to inspire.  But having been a television producer, essentially, I’m a storyteller.  And what I get to do is champion the messages and stories of other people; and through that work I get to inspire and reach large audiences, either through television or book readers or radio listeners.  Because I work in the media, I made a really conscious choice to put out and champion positive, uplifting messages from experts and different storytellers who otherwise would not have access to large audiences.

Toni: How do you think … by providing that inspiration to those other people that you’re almost giving them a voice and a platform to be heard in ways they couldn’t before, what do you think that that does to help them explore their potential?

Jacquie: That’s a really great, great question.  I came up in the ranks in television through talk shows in the 90s.  I produced Maury Povich, Montel Williams, Geraldo; and at that time period those talk shows were pretty wild.  They are nothing like the sedate talk shows that we get to watch now.  And at some point I realized that there were a lot of people who had devoted their life to the profession and were really experts in their own right who did not know how to access the media.  And all they needed were either the proper tools or the ability to access the media, and then they were able to reach larger audiences.  Because you can only affect so many people one-on-one, and there’s only so many hours in the day, days in the week, and weeks in the month; there’s only so much time.  So it becomes necessary for people to reach larger audiences.  So what we try to do is help champion them.

The question that you said is how.  One example of it is one of the tools that we use is we shoot demo reels.  And what I have learned through the alchemy of producing an expert’s demo reel is that they’ve had an idea about what they can do in their head and then we actualize it.  And I have watched time and time again the minute they see the reflection back of what they have done — what they have envisioned for themselves — when they see that reflected back, I have watched them create all sorts of possibilities and move mountains professionally in their career which is amazing just to witness.  It’s like telling their story back to them so that they can tell it to others; and I think sometimes people just need a mirror to do that.

Toni: So the demo reels — and you’ll have to forgive those of us who aren’t in that world — the demo reels would be a person sitting in front of the camera explaining what they do and how they do it?

Jacquie: Great question.  Yeah, it is, exactly.  It’s a sales tool that we use amongst television producers.  But the way we package them for the expert, it’s really about what their vision is.  So we visually show them what their own vision is — something that they’ve only been able to explain without seeing a picture — where people then can move into their possibilities.  And primarily, because television is a visual medium, our language is video.  So that’s one of our effective tools; and obviously we story-tell through the picture, and that’s how we inspire and reach out to others.

Toni: Can you take just a minute or two and tell me about this inspirational work that you’re doing for, I believe you had mentioned it’s for young women.  And when I think about what you’re talking about here which,  in your profession, you are holding the conceptual mirror up for people to see their own possibilities and to be shown, actually to look at their own vision and see which direction they want to go to now.  I can only imagine the seeds that can be planted in a young woman’s head in that same approach.  How do you correlate the two?

Jacquie: You restated what I said so eloquently, and I really appreciate that!  I’m like “Yeah, that’s what I was trying to say, that’s exactly what I was trying to say”, Toni.  So much for me being the storyteller!

In reflecting back to people the byproduct of the work — it’s actually not what the intended purpose of the work is, it’s just kind of one of those alchemistic byproducts — but I am currently featured through a Canadian publisher, Burman Books, in a book called Making It in High Heels, Part II – it’s  a second book.  It’s a compilation of successful stories from women; and obviously it’s quite a privilege to be included in it, and I have traveled the world through the stories that I’ve told.

I’ve told stories from people on death row; I’ve had Richard Ramirez, the night stalker, call me.  I’ve had Aileen Wuornos from Florida before she was put to death on an interview.  I have produced A-list celebrities and everybody in between, consequential or inconsequential.  And so I’ve had this remarkable career of stories.  And I think what I bring to young girls, especially at this point in my career, is I really believe follow your bliss.  I know that’s a Joseph Campbell line, but I really believe follow your bliss.

There is no security.  The only security can be found within yourself.  And a lot of times we go after safe professions or what are perceived to be steady, stable, secure professions; and then you see time and time again people are burnt out and not inspired themselves, because they’ve taken a safe road as opposed to an inspired road.  And at least what I do for a living — sometimes crazy as it is, no two days are ever the same — I really get the privilege of living off of creative energy all the time.  And I would inspire young women to do that as well.  Go after your bliss … do it soundly.  I’m a big believer in doing it soundly because there are a lot of us who keep our head in the clouds and don’t put our feet on the ground, which was kind of the metaphor for the story I told in the book, Making It In High Heels.  And my metaphor was like, “I need to stay so grounded, I prefer to be in bare feet these days as opposed to high heels.”  So, that’s, I hope, the inspiration.  But you never know how you inspire someone back, do you?  I’m not really sure.

Toni: Well, I think it all depends.  People have different ways of expressing having inspiration, how they inspire others.  But then how that comes back to them and listening to you talk about you’re hoping that people will follow their bliss and move into taking that inspired road, not the safe road.  What do you need to be inspired?

Jacquie: That’s great.  What do I need to be inspired?  I need a lot of downtime.  I need a lot of quiet time.  I need nature.  I need music.  I need good food.  I need good conversation and lots of laughter.  I need a lot of the yoga, walks on the beach to be inspired.  And then, when I’m grounded and rooted in myself and in alignment with myself, then I feel like I can act as an antenna and help other people with their inspirational work, which is kind of what I do in a very roundabout kind of way.

Toni: No, it really does sound that way.  And when you are taking this time for yourself and knowing that, you know, “It’s time now.  I know that I need to be re-inspired or to be inspired”, and you’ve eloquently listed where you seek inspiration.  How do you, Jacquie, continuously explore your own potential so that you can stay inspired, move that inspiration and potential along so that you can continue to help other people tell their own stories?

Jacquie: That’s a great question.  You know; it brings up the word fear.  And there’s two things that come up with fear when we’re talking about people not following their bliss.  Sometimes they choose the safe way.  The question I would always ask for that person would be, “Is it that you’re scared?”  Because a lot of us get in our own way because we are afraid to succeed or afraid to fail.

And then for myself, where do I find my edge, where do I find my push and how do I up my ante?  You know, it’s very funny.  In the past year, our company professionally has taken on publishing.  We’ve gotten into publishing books ourselves in a time when the publishing industry is also going through tremendous change.  And so here I am as a television producer getting into an industry, involved in an industry that’s going through so much change.  But I also saw it as a tremendous opportunity because it is in change.  I just think I just keep moving into the next right action, and I keep following that bliss is really what I do.  I’m like, “Why not?”  I think that’s really the question that I follow is “Why not?”

Toni: When it reveals itself to you – and that’s the thing a lot of people don’t seem to realize is that, and you kind of said it earlier, that if you’re on that safe road — not that inspired road — that next right action may not even be visible to you.  So, by you staying on that inspired road, your next right actions are visible to you, and then you take the next step and say, “Well, why not?”

Jacquie: Why not – I figure I’m going to learn something anyway.

Toni: Right.

Jacquie: As long as I take responsibility for my choices, I will learn something.

Toni: Does that also then help you to translate into the storytelling that you do, and also encourage people to tell their own story?

Jacquie: I think so.  I think that everybody has something to give, at least in terms of their own story.  I really believe that.  And a lot of people aren’t even aware of it or don’t know what it is and don’t know how their own experience would actually benefit others, so I think that there’s a lot of opportunity there.  I think we all inspire each other in very little ways and very big ways.  Sometimes I get the glamour of doing it in very big ways, but I also don’t discount the small ways that that happens, like in our day-to-day living if we’re open enough to see that, and I think that’s really important … go ahead …

Toni: No, no, I think you were absolutely … By you taking part in the Get Inspired! Project is maybe a very small way to tell your story at this moment.  But gosh, the nugget of information, particularly in following your bliss and the storytelling that you’ve done based on your own stories, and then don’t take the safe road but take the inspired road and how that allows you to take that next right action – my gosh, the learning and values and benefits that you are going to give to the readers and the people who listen to this project, the value is … you can’t put a price tag to that.

Jacquie: Boy, you have a wonderful way of rephrasing that just so simple!  I’m like “Wow, she makes me sound really inspired!”

Toni: You are!  You are!  That’s what’s so beautiful about this.  And all of the people that are coming to the Get Inspired! Project because just all that I’m doing is listening; and I’m listening to your story and look at the nuggets that you brought to the table.  It’s amazing!  And for sharing that, Jacquie, we can’t thank you enough.  So please, please take our deepest gratitude for coming to the table and sharing your story as a storyteller to the Get Inspired! Project.

Jacquie: Thank you so much for the invitation.

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For more information about Jacquie Jordan:  www.TVGuestpert.com

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