Festival of Whatchawant: A Celebration of Curiosity, Creativity, and Collaboration (Ep 89)

Festival of Whatchawant: A Celebration of Curiosity, Creativity, and Collaboration (Ep 89)

Host Kelly Jackson announces that the June 22 episode leads into her newest project: a 10-day immersive storefront takeover in Baton Rouge called the Festival of Whatchawant (July 7–16 at 11445 Coursey Blvd, Suite M). What began with a frustrating attempt to rent a pressure washer surface cleaner unexpectedly led her to notice vacant spaces, call a landlord, and quickly secure a better location—turning a short-term pop-up idea into an evolving creative residency. Kelly previews how the festival is “all of those and none of those”: part art gallery and marketplace, part open studio with self-guided “pay to play” activities, and 23 ticketed workshops across four themes—create, move, reflect, receive—plus a free Saturday night vibe with zero-proof beverages. She shares key collaborations, highlights signature sessions like Hot Girl Launch, Words Matter, Mis Sombras Experience, Glow Up Flow, Self-Love Flow, New Moon Circles, and Rest & Receive, and explains the deeper purpose: giving adults permission to play, reconnect, and explore one guiding question—what do you want? From the Episode: * " For 10 days (July 7-16, 2026), I'm taking over a storefront in Baton Rouge and creating something called the Festival of Whatchawant." * " ...I kind of live by that mantra: what if it gets to be easy?" * " The Festival of Whatchawant is not built around one topic, as you may have started to notice. It's built around one question: What do you want? Some experiences help you create. Some are gonna help you move. Some are gonna help you reflect. Some are gonna help you receive. Over ten days, you will have the opportunity to explore that question from every angle. What do you want? That is the umbrella that ties this whole thing together, and it immediately makes the schedule feel like a curated journey instead of a list of random workshops." * " It's not because I need sales. It's not because I need visibility. It's because I believe adults need more spaces to play and create and wonder and reconnect with themselves." * "   One of the drivers behind everything I do is: become a conscious creator of the life that you want to live."   Notes and Considerations:         ** FESTIVAL OF WHATCHAWANT: SCHEDULE AND TICKETS ** [https://www.whatchawant.us/festival-of-whatchawant] * Click Here to explore Kelly's offerings: The Reset Room, Self-Love Uni, workshops, in-person experiences, coaching containers, and opportunities to go deeper into this work together [https://www.whatchawant.us/connect] * Click here to join The Sunday Spark [https://www.dreameditthenreallifedit.us/thesundayspark] * Click here to join Moon Letters [https://www.whatchawant.us/moonletters] One More Thing: If this episode resonated with you, I’d LOVE for you to subscribe, rate, and review the show! It only takes one quick moment and would be so greatly appreciated! Your feedback helps more people discover the show and join our manifesting self-love and the life of our dreams journey. And don’t forget to share this episode with someone who could use a little extra encouragement to let their light shine. You can also follow me on Instagram at @dreameditthenreallifedit  [https://www.instagram.com/dreameditthenreallifedit/] AND @be_whatchawant [https://www.instagram.com/be_whatchawant/] for daily insights, self-love tips, and updates on new episodes! And visit dreameditthenreallifedit.us for more resources on aligning your life and business and living in harmony with your dreams. Be sure to check out the blog for show transcripts, extras, and special offers!   Contact: Have questions, reflections, or something you’d like me to cover in an upcoming episode? Feel free to reach out! You can email me at kelly@dreameditthenreallifedit.us or send me a DM on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/dreameditthenreallifedit/]. I love hearing from you and connecting with this amazing community!   Thank you, I love you! Let's bring your dreams to real life!

The Fear of Not Fitting In: Peer Pressure Doesn't End at Graduation (Ep 88)

In episode 88, host Kelly Jackson shares why the number 88 is meaningful to her, then spotlights a “podcast project” created by her high school freshman daughter and a classmate called True to You, focused on peer pressure, self-love, boundaries, and the line “fitting in should never cost you your safety.” Kelly reads their transcript, including a cautionary story about two girls pressured into meeting “older guys” from Snapchat with tragic consequences, and reflects on how the same dynamics show up in adulthood through drinking culture, hustle culture, beauty standards, social media conformity, and staying silent to avoid exclusion. She explores the biology of belonging, the importance of honoring intuition, and how self-love is practiced through truth, boundaries, and walking away.   From the Episode: * " Staying silent is a common form of peer pressure as an adult because how many times have you not said what you really thought, or you haven't asked the question, or you didn't disagree out loud, or you didn't speak up because, once again, belonging feels safer than honesty..." * "   And the problem isn't belonging, and the problem is not wanting to belong. The problem begins when belonging becomes more important than truth." * "  The body knows. Before the mind can explain something, the body often knows. Tension, hesitation, unease, a feeling in your gut." * "  Sometimes people don't lose themselves all at once. Sometimes they lose themselves one uncomfortable yes at a time." * "  One of the deepest forms of self-love is trusting your discomfort enough to leave situations that consistently violate your values."   Notes and Considerations: * Click Here to explore Kelly's offerings: The Reset Room, Self-Love Uni, workshops, in-person experiences, coaching containers, and opportunities to go deeper into this work together [https://www.whatchawant.us/connect] * Click here to join The Sunday Spark [https://www.dreameditthenreallifedit.us/thesundayspark] * Click here to join Moon Letters [https://www.whatchawant.us/moonletters] One More Thing: If this episode resonated with you, I’d LOVE for you to subscribe, rate, and review the show! It only takes one quick moment and would be so greatly appreciated! Your feedback helps more people discover the show and join our manifesting self-love and the life of our dreams journey. And don’t forget to share this episode with someone who could use a little extra encouragement to let their light shine. You can also follow me on Instagram at @dreameditthenreallifedit  [https://www.instagram.com/dreameditthenreallifedit/] AND @be_whatchawant [https://www.instagram.com/be_whatchawant/] for daily insights, self-love tips, and updates on new episodes! And visit dreameditthenreallifedit.us for more resources on aligning your life and business and living in harmony with your dreams. Be sure to check out the blog for show transcripts, extras, and special offers!   Contact: Have questions, reflections, or something you’d like me to cover in an upcoming episode? Feel free to reach out! You can email me at kelly@dreameditthenreallifedit.us or send me a DM on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/dreameditthenreallifedit/]. I love hearing from you and connecting with this amazing community!   Thank you, I love you! Let's bring your dreams to real life!

From Chaos Comes Clarity: The Closet as a Mirror to Life (Ep 87)

Host Kelly Jackson shares how a fallen closet rod and an unexpected nine-drawer dresser sparked a full closet renovation and a bigger realization: sometimes your “inventory” changes, and old systems—whether closets, schedules, business models, relationships, or self-concepts—can’t support who you are now. She walks through the messy, overwhelming week of pulling everything out, taking a true inventory, and rebuilding a setup with breathing room, connecting the process to identity evolution, emotional clarity, and the idea that chaos can be a necessary phase before order. Kelly reflects on lessons from minimalism and past downsizing dreams, then describes creating a closet that feels aligned and sanctuary-like, inviting listeners to rethink their own systems. From the Episode: * " It's what happens when old identity, old system, old structure can no longer support who you've become." * " And then people are like blaming themselves because the system no longer works. The problem isn't that. The system was built for who you were. It's not who you are now, and that's the difference... " * " You cannot organize what you are unwilling to look at, and you cannot create order around things that you have not inventoried." * " Often clarity comes after confusion, after disruption, after dismantling, after the chaos, after pulling everything apart. Because once everything is visible, then you can sort, and you can categorize, and you can prioritize, release, rebuild, all of the things that we need to do. But first you have to see it. You have to know what all you have." * "  I'm looking at a physical manifestation of alignment. The outside matches the inside, and that feels good."   Notes and Considerations: * Click Here to explore Kelly's offerings: The Reset Room, Self-Love Uni, workshops, in-person experiences, coaching containers, and opportunities to go deeper into this work together [https://www.whatchawant.us/connect] * Click here to join The Sunday Spark [https://www.dreameditthenreallifedit.us/thesundayspark] * Click here to join Moon Letters [https://www.whatchawant.us/moonletters] One More Thing: If this episode resonated with you, I’d LOVE for you to subscribe, rate, and review the show! It only takes one quick moment and would be so greatly appreciated! Your feedback helps more people discover the show and join our manifesting self-love and the life of our dreams journey. And don’t forget to share this episode with someone who could use a little extra encouragement to let their light shine. You can also follow me on Instagram at @dreameditthenreallifedit  [https://www.instagram.com/dreameditthenreallifedit/] AND @be_whatchawant [https://www.instagram.com/be_whatchawant/] for daily insights, self-love tips, and updates on new episodes! And visit dreameditthenreallifedit.us for more resources on aligning your life and business and living in harmony with your dreams. Be sure to check out the blog for show transcripts, extras, and special offers!   Contact: Have questions, reflections, or something you’d like me to cover in an upcoming episode? Feel free to reach out! You can email me at kelly@dreameditthenreallifedit.us or send me a DM on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/dreameditthenreallifedit/]. I love hearing from you and connecting with this amazing community!   Thank you, I love you! Let's bring your dreams to real life!

Emotionally, Most Adults are Student Drivers: Emotional Mastery Without the Sticker (Ep 86)

Kelly Jackson shares a “student driver” traffic moment that sparked a fresh way to view emotional growth: adults often lack the visible “sticker,” yet many were never taught skills like regulation, communication, boundaries, conflict repair, or self-soothing. She explains how shame tends to cluster where people feel least experienced, why “functional” isn’t the same as emotionally integrated, and how adulthood can become a performance of composure while anxiety and dysregulation simmer underneath. Using the student driver metaphor, she explores how context can increase compassion without removing accountability, and why understanding isn’t excusing—especially when healing language gets used to dodge responsibility. Listeners will hear practical reframes for reducing judgment, building emotional skills through real relationships, and replacing self-attack with self-compassion to support lasting change.   From the Episode: * " Emotionally, a lot of adults are still student drivers, but adulthood removes the visible sticker. So everybody's out here expecting emotional mastery from people who have never actually been taught emotional skills in the first place." * " And age alone does not create emotional intelligence. That's something that has to be taught, learned." * "  And there are many people who have learned how to appear composed long before they actually learned how to feel safe internally." * "  Compassion and boundaries are not opposites, and emotional maturity includes both empathy and discernment. So sometimes loving someone includes creating distance. And grace does not remove accountability, so a student driver still has to obey traffic laws. Similarly, emotionally learning adults are still responsible for their actions and apologies and repair work and willingness to grow. So being wounded does not exempt somebody from responsibility." * " Boundaries are not punishment. Boundaries create clarity and safety and structure, and in many cases, boundaries actually support growth because they interrupt those dysfunctional patterns."   Notes and Considerations: * Click Here to explore Kelly's offerings: The Reset Room, Self-Love Uni, workshops, in-person experiences, coaching containers, and opportunities to go deeper into this work together [https://www.whatchawant.us/connect] * Click here to join The Sunday Spark [https://www.dreameditthenreallifedit.us/thesundayspark] * Click here to join Moon Letters [https://www.whatchawant.us/moonletters] One More Thing: If this episode resonated with you, I’d LOVE for you to subscribe, rate, and review the show! It only takes one quick moment and would be so greatly appreciated! Your feedback helps more people discover the show and join our manifesting self-love and the life of our dreams journey. And don’t forget to share this episode with someone who could use a little extra encouragement to let their light shine. You can also follow me on Instagram at @dreameditthenreallifedit  [https://www.instagram.com/dreameditthenreallifedit/] AND @be_whatchawant [https://www.instagram.com/be_whatchawant/] for daily insights, self-love tips, and updates on new episodes! And visit dreameditthenreallifedit.us for more resources on aligning your life and business and living in harmony with your dreams. Be sure to check out the blog for show transcripts, extras, and special offers!   Contact: Have questions, reflections, or something you’d like me to cover in an upcoming episode? Feel free to reach out! You can email me at kelly@dreameditthenreallifedit.us or send me a DM on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/dreameditthenreallifedit/]. I love hearing from you and connecting with this amazing community!   Thank you, I love you! Let's bring your dreams to real life!

Rejection Therapy: Embrace the 'No' and Grow (Ep 85)

Host Kelly Jackson introduces the topic of rejection therapy as intentional exposure to hearing “no” to reduce fear, shame, and nervous-system reactivity, and then takes it deeper: it’s really about uncoupling outcomes from identity, becoming less approval dependent, and staying self-connected while being visible. She explains why rejection hurts (humans are wired for belonging), how social media metrics can amplify rejection sensitivity, and how people-pleasing, over-editing, perfectionism, and fear of embarrassment keep people small. Drawing from her own experience with low engagement, silence, and public creation, Kelly shares how resilience grows through repeated participation despite uncertain outcomes, how rejection can offer refinement or redirection, and invites listeners to try a weekly challenge: make a visible ask, risk a “no,” and practice surviving it without collapsing.   From the Episode: * " at some point, you either decide rejection means stop, or you realize that rejection is simply part of being visible." * "  So the idea is the more your nervous system experiences rejection and survives it, the less power rejection has over your behavior." * " So the reason that rejection hurts so deeply is because most people unconsciously fuse the outcome of whatever it is with their identity. And if the offer doesn't sell, they think that they're a failure. If someone leaves, they think they're unlovable. If nobody responds, they assume they're invisible. If nobody buys, they think they're not good enough. But an outcome is not an identity." * "  Your nervous system really does learn, "I can survive this." And once rejection stops feeling life-threatening, your willingness to participate in life expands dramatically, and that's what we want." * " So I believe that one of the biggest invisible forces that is shaping people's lives is the fear of being rejected or embarrassed or judged, ignored, misunderstood And That fear of rejection can run people's lives."   Notes and Considerations: * Click Here to explore Kelly's offerings: The Reset Room, Self-Love Uni, workshops, in-person experiences, coaching containers, and opportunities to go deeper into this work together [https://www.whatchawant.us/connect] * Click here to join The Sunday Spark [https://www.dreameditthenreallifedit.us/thesundayspark] * Click here to join Moon Letters [https://www.whatchawant.us/moonletters] One More Thing: If this episode resonated with you, I’d LOVE for you to subscribe, rate, and review the show! It only takes one quick moment and would be so greatly appreciated! Your feedback helps more people discover the show and join our manifesting self-love and the life of our dreams journey. And don’t forget to share this episode with someone who could use a little extra encouragement to let their light shine. You can also follow me on Instagram at @dreameditthenreallifedit  [https://www.instagram.com/dreameditthenreallifedit/] AND @be_whatchawant [https://www.instagram.com/be_whatchawant/] for daily insights, self-love tips, and updates on new episodes! And visit dreameditthenreallifedit.us for more resources on aligning your life and business and living in harmony with your dreams. Be sure to check out the blog for show transcripts, extras, and special offers!   Contact: Have questions, reflections, or something you’d like me to cover in an upcoming episode? Feel free to reach out! You can email me at kelly@dreameditthenreallifedit.us or send me a DM on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/dreameditthenreallifedit/]. I love hearing from you and connecting with this amazing community!   Thank you, I love you! Let's bring your dreams to real life!