End of an Era: Chloe's Podcast Apprenticeship Journey (Ep 91)

End of an Era: Chloe's Podcast Apprenticeship Journey (Ep 91)

Kelly Jackson opens by previewing the 10-day Festival of Whatchawant in Baton Rouge (July 7–16) and then welcomes back Chloe, her podcast apprentice, for a candid conversation about “conscious becoming” in the liminal space between college and full adulthood. Chloe shares how graduating early challenged her expectations, why uncertainty can be fertile ground for possibility, and how her career interests evolved from traditional journalism toward a more balanced role in sports. She reveals her decision to pursue a master’s in sport administration in Louisville while keeping podcasting as a future creative outlet. Together they discuss brain development, redefining independence as asking for help, advice for teens and parents navigating college stress, and practical guidance for new college students on reaching out, staying open-minded, and embracing growth. From the Episode: * " ...that's a lot of time where a lot of life changes have happened, and I've made a lot of personal decisions on the journey that my life is about to take, and I feel like everything Kelly is talking about with how you have to be conscious with your choices and who you really wanna become, that's definitely where I'm at right now." * "  Maybe our entire life is a weird in-between 'cause we're constantly becoming." * " When nothing is certain, anything is possible Uncertainty isn't always a bad thing, and it can create lots of room for possibility and pure potentiality." * "  And it's a hard reality to come to terms with, like, what I thought I wanted to do and what I spent so much time focusing on isn't actually where I am headed." * " So if there was really anything that I wish I could like nail on the head for lil' old me, I wish I could go back and say, "This choice is only yours and no one else's." "   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 Weird In-Between: Teens and Their Journey to Independence (Ep 90)

Host Kelly Jackson explores why the teenage years feel like a confusing in-between: teens crave autonomy and respect while still needing support, and parents see responsibilities and long-term consequences that teens—whose prefrontal cortex is still developing—often can’t yet track. Drawing from raising two teenage daughters, she reframes teen “resistance” as healthy developmental separation and explains the tension between freedom and accountability, emphasizing that real freedom comes from taking responsibility, not avoiding it. Kelly shares practical guidance for navigating the rescue-versus-support line, including asking kids whether they want you to listen, offer advice, or get involved. She widens the lens to show that adults also live in transition, previewing a next-week conversation with her apprentice Chloe about identity after school, and closes with a call to offer teens more grace. From the Episode: * " I think one of the strangest seasons of life is being a teenager. You are old enough to want independence, but you're still young enough to need support, and you want freedom, you want autonomy, you want to make your own decisions, but often you don't yet fully understand the weight of those decisions, and I think that's why raising teenagers can feel so confusing because they're not children anymore, and they're not yet adults either." * " Teenagers are often experiencing adulthood emotionally before they're experiencing it practically, especially now, now this day and age, 2026." * "  Imagine if tomorrow someone handed a 16-year-old a mortgage, health insurance, taxes, payroll, a sick parent, a leaking roof. Most of them would immediately realize, "Oh, shit, adulthood is more than freedom." " * " The truth is this: freedom is not the absence of responsibility. Freedom is the result of taking responsibility, and that is a huge distinction." * " They should be questioning. They should be pushing. They should be separating. That's literally part of becoming an individual."   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!

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!