Jen Shaw | Public figure
Jen Shaw
Reviews
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25.01.2022 Apart from the fact that the croissants are delicious and you should al come get one, how awesome are my photography skills? I’m learning lots of cool stuff from our young people in the cafe!! Thanks Rhee!
24.01.2022 At 33 years old and 7 kids on... I decided to try out one of these iron things and purchase clothes that require more than the anti wrinkle button on the dryer... I’m a hopeless housewife... make beautiful kids though
22.01.2022 The single most important thing I have ever done while building Emerge is surrounding myself and my vision with the right people. Nothing I’ve ever done could be possible without the absolute amazing drive and passion from people like these guys. I truly believe that to be a good leader you need to be vulnerable, and create an empowering environment that allows ownership and buy in from everyone involved. ... I learnt quickly in my vision to build the youth hub and cafe that it was a shared one. These guys and many others not pictured have worked long and hard beside me, (unpaid for the most part) to get Emerge off the ground. They’ve picked up the slack when I’ve been exhausted, literally wiped away tears of frustration and they make our workspaces so incredibly fun and silly to be in a sometimes really intense atmosphere. I am so grateful for the amazing team we have at Emerge. If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together
21.01.2022 The first time I thought to open up a little Facebook page to share some recipes with friends and family; I wasn't looking to build a business or a brand or really do much of anything; I was a mum with little kids at home and I was exploring what kind of job I might like to work in.. Those days building Jens Paleo kitchen and Barefoot Kitchens was me just doing what I love, sharing the shit I was passionate about and keeping it pretty real along the way.. we've shared some ...Continue reading
18.01.2022 Well peeky booo.. It's been a wee while since i've checked into this page and it seems a life time ago since I spent my days here writing recipes, sharing antics of bare feet in the kitchen, a life with 7 babies and the adventures of my gorgeous chickens! I've spent the last few years in pursuit of something a little bigger, most of you know I put my tools down so to speak to establish and grow a social impact project, supporting youth who are homeless, at-risk of homelessnes...s or disadvantaged in other ways. Holy moly it's been a big few years, learning with my feet on the ground about building a charity, opening Toowoomba's first grassroots youth hub, creating a boxing and mentoring program for homeless and at-risk youth and most recently opening our cafe, which employs 8 young people permanently who are doing it tough... The vision which I spent many a days and nights only dreaming about here has come to life and is rolling through a magical stage of manifestation.. Recently I was named Toowoomba's Zonta woman of the year, opened my dream of establishing something that would change the lives of youth with the Mayor by my side. I've met so many young people, who I am privileged to share a journey with to help them step into a life they deserve. I always promised I'd pop my head back here, when I was ready and continue the journey with you; of social entrepreneurship, working with homeless youth, building a social impact business; becoming a CEO from street kid and juggling a family of 9... I think i'm ready to spend some time sharing that story with you, and inspiring as many women along the way. So if you'll have me, in a different capacity to the food blogger and author you knew me as before, I'm excited to invite you to something new. Welcome to another chapter of my story...
16.01.2022 They say that graveyards are the richest places on earth, because buried there are so many books never written, songs never sung, cures never discovered and dreams never fulfilled because someone was to scared to take a chance. I set goals a little different to most, I guess over the last few years I’ve come to realise how much time I wasted wallowing in self pity and doubt, how wrongly I believed I never could achieve anything as a kid from the streets and im making up fo...r it now, now that I know I can I’ll never ever leave a genuine dream idle again. I start at the end end and work backwards, I picture myself at the end of my life; like my grandmother in a hospice bed saying her goodbyes. I picture who’s around me and what the people in that room will remember me for..what’s the story they’ll share about me long after I’m gone, what will my kids and grandkids tell people about their old ma in her life that inspires them to do the hard stuff.. funnily enough I always picture a bunch of amazing adults from Emerge who say thanks to your bravery my life changed for the better who’s kidding I hope they call me ma to... I guess all I’m saying is don’t get caught up surviving day to day in a life that 20,30,40 years from now you have to recover from... Do the stuff you love now. #bebrave #goals #unsuckyourlife
15.01.2022 I thought this post was worth a share... 2 years ago just sharing my story publically to give people an idea why I wanted to create Emerge, even though it’s been an evolutionary vision since my teenage years this was when I started to get serious. When my grandmother passed away late in 2016, I had a hard look at the life I wanted to look back on when it was my time to go... and I wanted to make sure this little dream didn’t get buried with me. Lots has changed and happened ...since this post But the passion is the same... im about to make another decision that I believe will be a game changer... again... You simply cannot die wondering about things ;)
15.01.2022 On the 20th of June I’m hosting an intimate night in, to share how I built Emerge from its very raw beginnings to now being a high profile social enterprise that helps young people get their life on track. You’ll learn what it takes to share your authentic story, raise funds to get your vision going, tips to survive failure and rejection and I’ll share with you how I raised $85,000 in crowdfunding using social media and no budget. This is no average night in for business ow...ners. I’m going to get to the nitty gritty of what it takes to truly create an impactful business and build a community to stand behind you. You’ll be inspired to dig deep and follow your passion and give your business new life or put the energy into a new idea right from the beginning. This masterclass is not to be missed, oh and you’ll enjoy food and drinks from Emerge.
15.01.2022 Picture this.. I get home this afternoon after a busy days work; filling in for our chef as he’s away sick, no sleep, hair a mess, youth work, CEO stuff, change out of my work pants into a pair of comfy homepants, you know the ones... daggy, probably have a few holes in the ass, you’ve owned them for about 10 years to long but you don’t give a shit because home pants. I walk out to the lounge room... 3 of my 6 daughters playing on the floor and two (3 &4 years old) turn... to me and say almost in sync... Woah! You look amazing with all genuine sincerity... and at the moment I feel like I’m doing allright raising body positive daughters. Whatever it is that little girls are born with; that absolute sincere and careless love for themselves and others that they love just the way they are; no matter the brandor the body... we need to make sure they never ever lose it.
14.01.2022 I've got to be honest, i'm literally shitting bricks about my first business focused workshop tomorrow night.. a little bit (a lot) of self doubt has kicked in, but i've gotta go back to what I know and really back myself, you can't die wondering about things right?! In the last 2 years i've successfully launched a high profile and quickly growing social enterprise in Emerge, raised more than $85,000 using the power of people and the beauty of social media to do so and i've ...been able to build a brand that people not only feel connected to but one they invest in. Not only that, I've spent the last 7 years literally growing a personal brand sharing my story and vision all with my 7 babies by my side, several breakdowns, a few chickens and an absolute determination to do my part to change the world.. That's the ticket right there, I've got the gift of connecting with people.. keeping it real, writing from heart and a bravery of telling the whole story... What are you doing in your business to make sure people know your gift? The first of a series of intimate workshops is being held tomorrow night inside the walls of Emerge Cafe, a vision and a dream I had so long ago.. the process of how I got here in business and in life is so important.. how the actual fuck I got from living on the streets, never finishing school to building a massive life changing enterprise is beyond me sometimes.. but there is no doubt about my approach to business and marketing works. If you are keen to join me tomorrow night there are a couple of spots available, this is not one of those learn how to make a small fortune promises, it's a stop thinking about your social media and business like a machine and get back to why you started promises... If you'd like me to keep you posted on future events, drop me a line to my inbox or pop a hello below and ill make sure you know all about it.. Breathing it out and jumping right in <3
11.01.2022 Thanks so much to Toowoomba Fit 4 Life for holding a boot camp for us this morning!! So grateful for your support!
10.01.2022 Last week the mayor was opening our social enterprise cafe for youth in Toowoomba, and this week local MP David Janetski was thanking me for my work in parliament. Not bad for a street kid and juvenile delinquent...I feel like I wasted so much time believing I’d never amount to anything in my life, based on the shit I was dealt then, and now that I know better... I’m pretty driven to make up for lost time... Today I spent time with our amazing new recruits in our box off the... streets program for youth, my conversation went a little something like this Please don’t spend the next twenty years trying to recover from shitty decisions you are making now...I know life sometimes deals us shitty hands but use that as inspiration for a life you don’t want to live and the kind of person you don’t want to become. You already have everything inside you to do amazing stuff I believe it...you are amazing, start acting like it.
10.01.2022 A massive thanks to Luke Hellyer for coming to our rescue to do some welding at the youth hub! We can now get our boxing ring up this weekend and start our box off the streets program at the youth hub!
09.01.2022 Yesterday I had the pleasure of delivering a keynote address my first to 450 school students thinking about life after school. I won’t lie I was a little bit worried about how my message would be received by a whole lot of kids but so many came and hugged me after and thanked me for sharing, in fact I’ve never heard so many thankyous from a crowd I’ve addressed as this one I spoke about leaving school half way through year 9, hanging out in the streets, living within drug a...ddiction, becoming a mum at 16 and somehow finding a way to follow passion and build something amazing in Emerge I asked them to fail big, embrace their weirdness, work hard, show up early and always give when they had time, money or effort to spare. Then I came home to this beautiful picture of some of our box off the streets kids. And a message from one of our lead mentors Tobes.. I couldn’t be more proud. I wanted to see who would be committed in 3 degree weather. We did a 5 k road run around toowoomba, sparred, danced, hugged and nothing but love. I love what we do, I love these kids. They are my family to. A testament to the amazing team I have at Emerge in young people and mentors, a truth that this little vision of mine was always worth chasing
09.01.2022 Hey mum, I’ve made a bracelet and I can’t get it off... can you please cut it off for me? Wait a minute while I get my camera
08.01.2022 Our signs are up and they are awesome!! Thanks JTH Signs!
07.01.2022 Last night, surrounded by amazing women (and a gentleman) in business I shared my story in social media and how i've built both a successful online business and a social enterprise. From Idea to impact and all the bits in between; fun, chickens, anxiety & depression, pregnancies, delicious food and magic in the middle. I still get pretty anxious when I start something new, lots of self doubt kicks in..luckily nowadays my drive and passion to connect and help other people is ...stronger. I really want to help people get where they are going, I want people to be able to say "hey if she did it, maybe I can to" you simply can't die wondering about things. Thanks so much to everyone who came along last night! I'm so excited to share this next chapter with you. <3 Thanks to Toowoomba & Darling Downs for the photos
