From a Horrifying Near-Death Experience to Success and Significance with World Record Holder Jenn Drummond

Transcript

Today, we get a chance to hear from Jen Drummond. Jen is a world record holder. She's a mother of seven. She's a successful, businesswoman. And, in twenty eighteen, she survived what should have been a life ending car accident. And, since then, she has just, just her perspective has really changed, and she just is now able to share with us her view of how valuable and how precious every day is. And, she's just an inspiration to talk to. She's got many stories, mini stories within this episode that she shares that really, kinda show us how she got from adversity to abundance. The car accident was just one. It's certainly a major one, but, she has a book coming out in January, which is called Quitproof. And, you know, she's just figured out how to make herself the best version of herself in order to have really international impact. And this is this is a great, great episode. She's she's very well spoken. Very good with relaying true stories and about about how to, you know, about overcoming adversity and getting to abundance. It's a very inspirational episode. But yet yet very practical as well. This is not one you are gonna wanna miss.

Speaker 1

Welcome to the from adversity to abundance podcast. Are you an entrepreneur or aspiring entrepreneur, then this show is for you. Each week, we bring you impactful stories of real people who have overcome painful human adversity to create a life of abundance. A life of abundance. You are not alone in your struggle. Join us and you will experience the power of true stories and gain practical knowledge from founders who have turned poverty into prosperity and weakness into wealth. This podcast will encourage you through your health, relationship, and financial challenges So you can become the hero in your quest for freedom. Take ownership of the life you are destined to live. Turned your adversity into abundance.

Speaker 0

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Speaker 2

Good. How are you?

Speaker 0

I'm doing pretty well. Yeah, it's actually I'm in Maryland. The it's, beautiful weather. Finally fall is right around the corner. So I'm, I'm excited. What's the weather like for you?

Speaker 2

Yeah. We are in, like, fall right now. So it's these cold mornings, and it warms up a little bit in the afternoon and returns to cool off. It's kinda my favorite season.

Speaker 0

Absolutely. You kinda get all four seasons in twenty four hours.

Speaker 2

One day. Yes. Exactly.

Speaker 0

So for the listener out there, Jen, you're a motivator key note speaker, a world record holder, an author. We just talked about that. We'll get into that more in a bit. You have your book coming out in January. Twenty twenty four, and you're a podcast host as well. Give the listener a little bit more context, you know, who are you and what are you up to today?

Speaker 2

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I am a mom of seven. I just set a world record in mountaineering, which was a big deal. I own a business in the financial service industry that white labels a platform for institutions. And right now, just doing the best I can to live my best life.

Speaker 0

So you don't have anything going on. Got it.

Speaker 2

No. It's pretty boring over here. It's pretty boring. Yeah.

Speaker 0

I I am the oldest of seven kids, and I have no idea how my mom did it. So, how both my parents did it, but particularly my mom, if I'm being honest. Right? Right. Yeah. So, man, that is a lot to unpack. I I can't wait to get into into later on in the show more of what you're up to today. But before we get there, let's jump back into your backstory. I know, you know, you had you've had some serious adversity that you've dealt with and just to just to set the stage a little bit for for our listener, you know, entrepreneur, budding entrepreneur out there. The intent of this show is to inspire people and to let people know that We all go through hard times, and life is not always rainbows and unicorns and butterflies, and there will be adversity in this life. Whether we whether it's through our own doing or not, but it's really a matter of how do we respond to that adversity. And get to, quote, unquote, abundance. We don't pretend that we're never gonna have a hard day again. Right? But the fact is if we can listen to your story, Jen, and learn from your story about how you were able to overcome some real serious adversity, that can inspire the rest of us to do the same, in our own, the version, of our own story if you will. So let's let's jump back where do you wanna start?

Speaker 2

Yeah. So, you know, I grew up in a middle class family in Michigan. I remember at a young age that maybe the only time I heard my parents fight was over money. So I was diehard determined to not have finance be a problem in my life. So I went into finance. Right? Like, I'm like, I'm gonna learn money. I'm gonna master money. I'm gonna make money. Like money's not gonna be a thing. And I think, like, many of us who have money as the pursuit, you make up this number in your head, And then all of a sudden, you hit that number and you expect it to feel different than what it does. So you're like, well, then I'll double that down. So then you double down that number. And you're like, well, I'm gonna double it again. And then at some point, you realize, like, this strategy isn't working. Like, this

Speaker 0

is Play in the wrong game. Right?

Speaker 2

Relay in the wrong game. A thousand percent. And so I realized, okay, happiness is an inside game, and this, like, doubling down isn't gonna do anything except make me crazy. So I got lucky, I guess, in that standpoint, where I was unlucky at a younger age is, you know, you're born female. And I feel like I was, like, I should be able to have kids. No problem. Right? Like, how many years do we spend trying not to have kids? And then when you try to have kids, you're like, wait a minute. This is a problem. Right. I just lived with a lot of shame and guilt. Like, why can't I have babies naturally? What going on? Why is my body not working? It's the one thing it's designed to do. And so then I, got fertility assistance. None of that worked for a while. Until all of a sudden, one day, they came up with a magic chemical cocktail that turned me into a hen And they got a whole bunch of eggs, which then became a whole bunch of embryos, which then became seven children. So speaking of abundance,

Speaker 0

Wow.

Speaker 2

Yeah. I believed that embryos were life. I had a choice to either use them, donate them, or destroy them. I didn't wanna donate them and wonder if I had a little human running around somewhere the rest of my life. It took me so long to get my first child that destroying embryos felt like, no. This is not good karma. I can't do this. And the doctor said I'd get three or four. And seven children later, we are out of embryos.

Speaker 0

Wow. That is wild. Yeah. That is adversity to abundance story right there for sure.

Speaker 2

Yes. Yes.

Speaker 0

Man, that is so okay. So, you know, give us some a little bit more context as to you know, when this was and and what

Speaker 2

what your

Speaker 0

life was before and after. What did what did things look like?

Speaker 2

Right. So, you know, I took this course in college that was the last one available because I was trying to graduate, and it was called healing, dying, and thriving. And I'm like, oh my god. This is gonna be the worst course ever. It ended up being my favorite course of college, because we got to interview people that were in hospice. And talk to them about like, okay. What would you do differently in life? Or now that you're at the end, like, where are you at? And I would say the overwhelming response that I got from the people that I interviewed was just do you, honey, like just do you. The world's gonna try to get you to do a thousand different versions of what they think it should be. You need to shut that all out and just be authentic to yourself.

Speaker 0

Love that.

Speaker 2

Yeah. I do. I love it. And so I started a career in finance did really well with it. Started having the kids. I hired myself out of a job in finance. I started being a full time mom. I moved the kids to Park City, Utah in twenty fifteen because we wanted an outdoor lifestyle and just spending more time, year round outside with activities to do. Right now, my children age sixteen to ten. So I'm in the massive teens and tweens. It's been busy. But it was interesting. I was doing the mom thing because that was, like, what I should want to do in air quotes. And it was. Like, I enjoyed it, but I wasn't fulfilled at a level that I thought it would bring. Especially as your kids get older, they're start being in school. And then all of a sudden, you're sitting there waiting for them to come home. Right? Like, I I'm like, I don't think You know? And so then a car accident happened. Like, I feel like the world was whispering to me. Like, hey, there's more. There's other things you can do, but I wasn't really listening or paying attention. And then I got into a horrific car crash in twenty eighteen. That should have taken my life and didn't. And that actually really opened me up to life. Because right after the accident, maybe three or four weeks later, A girlfriend of mine was running on a trail, and it was wet out. She slipped, hit her head on a rock and never came home. So I have this sequence of events of her crazy death, my crazy, like, life, like, how did I live and she not? And you know, that stuff. And I finally came to the term that we do not get to choose when we die, but we sure get to choose how we live. And every day we have a choice in how we're living. And that yeah. So my year of twenty nineteen was Why am I alive? What am I here for? What excites me? Who's Jen Drummond? Right? Like, what's

Speaker 0

my Who am I? Right.

Speaker 2

Who am I?

Speaker 0

What's my opinion?

Speaker 2

I didn't even know. Like, I like, we people would ask me, like, what do you want for dinner? I was so used to eating leftover chicken nuggets and someone else's plate. Like, I don't know. I never even thought about what I want for dinner. Don't even know what my favorite color is anymore. I have no clue who I am because I lost my identity in this role that I was playing that's only one facet of who I am as an individual.

Speaker 0

Right. And it's and it's somewhat of a temporary, not that you're not always a mom, but Oh,

Speaker 2

it is temporary. Yeah.

Speaker 0

Yeah. It it it's not good. Yeah. Absolutely. It evolves. So set set the stage with regard to the accident a little bit. I'm not sure how how, you know, much you wanna go into that. But but, you know, I know it was a very serious accident. So if you don't mind, just kind of what happened and and how did you come out of that situation and a little little bit more context for us?

Speaker 2

Yeah. For sure. So I was I mean, this is like to get into the real nitty gritty details. I was driving to a nearby town to get a new driver's license because I had lost my driver's license by skiing. And on the way to this town, a song came on the radio, and I had done, like, a meditation retreat two months prior. In that meditation retreat, there was a song that played. I'm like, man, if this song when I die, I want this song to play at my funeral. Like, this song is just so significant to me. And so I'm dry it would play showed up randomly on my playlist. And it started playing. I'm like, oh, man, I haven't told anybody that I want this song to play at my funeral. I need to make sure, like, why write this down somewhere. And I drive on my way back home. I get into a car accident, like, almost where that song started on my playlist, which is just bizarre to me. And the minute I saw my passenger side colliding with the trailer of this semi truck. I remember bargaining with death. Like, please don't I'm not ready. I'm not ready. And, like, I got it down. I don't know if you call it down or whatever, woo woo. I knew I wasn't gonna die. Like, like, at that moment, I knew I wasn't gonna die. And so the car's flipping end over end. So I'm going forward somersaults. And I remember being inside the car holding on to the steering wheel, saying, okay. I need to relax. I need to breathe. I need to keep my fingers on the steering wheel, my head under head rest. And I remember saying, okay, I have enough momentum I'm gonna roll again. I have enough momentum I'm gonna roll again. And I so I rolled three times, and then the car started doing these sideways turns, and then it eventually stopped in the median. And I remember thinking, like, okay, now I'm gonna get hit. Like, this is where it's good because of Hollywood. Like, Hollywood's trained us for accidents. Never over.

Speaker 0

Right.

Speaker 2

And instead, an individual comes running to the car and peels back the, windshield And he's like, are you okay? Are you okay? And I remember thinking, I don't even know if I'm okay. And I don't wanna look. Like, I'm, like, my body feels warm or whatever. At me, and I closed my eyes, and I wiggled my fingers and toes. And I remember saying I can feel my fingers and toes. I can feel my fingers and toes. Like, I'm okay. Yeah. Yeah. That's okay. Well, I'm just gonna keep talking to you until the ambulance comes. So the ambulance came. They took me to the hospital just to confirm nothing was wrong. Yeah. And I was released a few hours later. Wow home. Like, saw my kids. And I just remember thinking, like, that's like, they were I almost had seven orphans. Like, this isn't sanity.

Speaker 0

Wow.

Speaker 2

And, yeah, and that just I mean, everything. I remember the next day, like, so it's December nineteen, and my kids are fighting. And normally, I'd be, like, stop fighting, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Sure. You know, and I just remember in that moment sitting there and awe that I have two kids that are so passionate about whatever they're passionate about, and they're trying to vince, their other person that they love to feel the same way they do about x, y, or z thing. And I just remember thinking, like, Life is freaking magic. Are you kidding me? Like, this is so cool.

Speaker 0

That's awesome. I mean, that's incredible that your perspective was changed so quickly about how precious life is. So so you were, like, physically totally fine from, I mean, no no issues.

Speaker 2

Well, we thought I was. So I was physically fine. And then about a couple weeks later, I kept spiking a fever. So I'd go to the hospital because it'd be like a hundred and five. And they're like, okay. No. It spikes again come back. We couldn't figure it out. And finally, the third time I started getting red spotches, on my skin. And what had happened is the the seat belt, I cut my breast implant. But I had this gummy bear style breast implants, so it didn't have a flat tire per se that you would if you had, like, liquid.

Speaker 0

Okay.

Speaker 2

And so the joke is I got a new lease on life, a new car, a new boots from this accident. Like, what more can you ask for at my age? It was perfect.

Speaker 0

Win win win.

Speaker 2

When win win.

Speaker 0

Wow. I mean, so that, yeah, we had your story. I mean, this is just part of your story reminds me of we had Clint Fiori on the show a while back, and he had a plane crash. And he was one he was the only person he was flying a small cessna. And crashed the plane, and and I think he was around he was around twenty years old at the time. And just I remember him saying that just everything after that was he just not that he never has a bad day or never can get sucked into the same concerns or anxiety that we all deal with, but the rest of his life, he sees as kind of gravy and this amazing blessing. Yeah. It was

Speaker 2

a line in the sand. It was like, every day after that was a bonus day.

Speaker 0

Yeah.

Speaker 2

And it like, my mind went from I don't care what people think of me anymore to How do I like, what happens if this is my last day? Like, what are the things that I wanna do, experience, become, or, like, you lose the, You're not embarrassed. Like, you're, like, I mean, you appreciate other people's opinions, but they no longer affect you. Mhmm. You're like, okay. Well, that's your choice. Day, I'm gonna die and I wanna, like, be a beginner. I wanna learn this. I wanna try this. If I look like an idiot doing it, whatever I got the experience. Like, it all suddenly becomes about the experience instead of the result.

Speaker 0

Yeah. That's interesting. And I and I think this is a fine a difficult line for everyone to to for a lot of us to to walk is, you know, you have on one one extreme people who say, like, you know, just do you and and don't And I agree with that, but, you know, don't worry about what other people think. Well, if you take that too far, it's like, okay, then you're not you're not actually loving other people. You don't you're you're literally just self absorbed and consumed with just being, you know, not caring with other, you know, how you can serve and impact other people, which I don't think is good. Right? But then on the other hand, if you're running around being a complete people pleaser, like you said, you never identify who you are and you don't have priorities and and in the end, you're probably not gonna live out your best life. So Yeah. How do you how do you walk that line, I guess? You know, because Yeah. I have

Speaker 2

a story to go with that, actually. That's probably appropriate for right now. When I, I mean, I still own the investment service company, and we do charitable contributions and do different things along that line. And know, I'm like, okay, we're doing good things. We're making an impact and blah blah blah blah blah.

Speaker 0

Yeah.

Speaker 2

When I stepped into this mountaineering piece, because of a series of events that kind of, like, got me to this space. And in general, mountaineering is considered a pretty selfish sport. I would say people ask me outside. Right? And I'm like, you know, it's I feel alive when I'm on the mountain. I feel my So if I feel like appreciated of nature and all these things and blah blah blah blah blah, well, one of the mountains that I went to summit teammate passed away on the, like, in an avalanche, another one had an injury from frostbite, and I had the choice to continue up the mountain or to come back down. And when I was asked, I'm like, no, I'm going back down to take care of my team. And so I took care of my team and then the summit window closed. So I came back to the United dates. My kids came home from camp a couple days later, and they're like, hey, mom, did you summit? Did you summit? I said, no, I didn't, but I had success. Like, what do you mean? Like, you know, who we are as people is more important than what we achieve. And I didn't get to summit the mountain. It'll always be there. But I did get to show up as a teammate and take care of people during a hard time. And for that, I'm proud of myself because I had the choice to do differently, and I'm glad I showed the way that I did.

Speaker 0

Yeah.

Speaker 2

Now was I, like, grateful for the failure or the lack of the summit? No. Like, for the next nine months, I'm, like, reading in my head, what can we do different? How do I go back? What do I make safe? All these different questions? And it was hard to go back because There's a certain bliss or ignorance that you don't have when you go to a place the first time. Right? You you you just have nothing to you have nowhere to place it. Everything, you're like, okay. Well, this is what it is. Now I know what I'm getting into. I'm like, oh my god. I gotta go back to this place. Like, are you kidding me? This is like it was hard. Like, I to get my motivation up, and I couldn't figure it out. And I had the failure before. And so that was haunting me and all these different things. And then about four weeks before I left, I got a phone call from somebody that said, hey, listen. I heard you're going to Pakistan to try k two again. There's a female from Pakistan. That would love to be able to try to climb her country's prize peak. She'd be the first one. She has no financial resources. She doesn't have the gear. Blah blah blah blah blah. And all of a sudden, like, this, moment came. Like, this is why I failed. I would have never been able to be a part of this story, if I didn't fail this first time. So I grabbed gear and all the different things. I came to Pakistan, and I summited And then thirty minutes later, the first Pakistani female stood on top of her country's prized peak. And to me, I have twin daughters. I know how important it is for them to see people that look like them in places. Because it gives them permission to dream of that possibility. Like, I'm thinking, like, how many Muslim little girls throughout this world? Now get to see somebody that looks like them on top of one of the deadliest mountains in the world.

Speaker 0

Wow. That is fantastic.

Speaker 2

You know, and it's just one of those things where There is a balance. Like, you need to do you.

Speaker 0

Yeah. Absolutely.

Speaker 2

And by doing you, you still have to be aware of how you're showing up or how you're impacting or ways that you can make a difference. And I just remember thinking, like, I could have donated all the money in the world that my other company has generated, and it would not have the impact that this story did. And so it's just it allows me permission, and I hope you hearing this gives you permission to say, let me do me And in that pursuit, let me elevate others.

Speaker 0

That's a that's a fantastic story and a fantastic explanation of of, exactly how to walk that, that line. It's, yeah, it is it is complicated. You know, it's not just a clear cut answer, but that is a fantastic way of, yeah, you weren't happy that you failed the first time. It's very difficult to see the perspective that you'd ended up gaining over time and with hindsight. But you're able to see that, that that, quote, unquote, failure was actually part of your ended up being part of your success story, and and really more than that, your impact story, internationally, and that that's just awesome. Yeah.

Speaker 2

Right. And, like, and I tell people this when I give speeches and things, you know, we need to wave our flag. It's fun to wave our flag on top of a mountain because it's like, here I am. I succeeded. This is fantastic. Right? But when you wave your flag, throughout your entire pursuits. You're signaling to the world. Here's where I am. Here's what I need. Here's how I can help. And then all of a sudden, the universe gets to glom onto you and the community gets to build around whatever you're doing, and use each other to make more possible. And so where you are, if you're suffering right now from a failure or a setback or an obstacle, waive your flag and understand your climb's not done.

Speaker 0

That's great. That's awesome. So, And when was when was this? When did what year was this that you submitted?

Speaker 2

So I failed in twenty twenty one, and I submitted in twenty twenty two.

Speaker 0

It's awesome. Well, so you didn't, didn't let the pandemic shut you down.

Speaker 2

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that was the interesting thing about stepping into this whole quest, right, is I, you know, twenty nineteen was the year of, like, why am I here? Yeah. Twenty twenty, I was turning forty. So I decided I wanted to climb a mountain for my fortieth birthday. So I, you know, I'm like, that's gonna launch my decade. And this is gonna be blah blah blah blah blah. And so I asked friends that were into mountaineering. If you could climb one mountain in the whole world, like anywhere, what mountain would you climb? And the general consensus back was a mountain named Amma Deblam. It's a mountain located in Nepal over by the Himalayas on the track to Everest, It's the Paramount Pitcher's logo, and it meant the mother's necklace. I'm like, oh, this is perfect. Like, I have seven kids. Like, I'm like, this is my fault. So I'm starting to train for Alma DeBlom, and then COVID hits the scene. And now all of a sudden, I'm a homeschool teacher to seven children And I'm not traveling anywhere. Right?

Speaker 0

Sure.

Speaker 2

And the funny thing is is so I'm doing homeschooling work with one of my sons and crying and complaining about his math. And I'm, like, trying to give him the pep talk. We do hard things. You've got this.

Speaker 0

Right. And

Speaker 2

he looks at me and he goes, if we do hard things, He goes, why are you climbing a mountain called I'm a dumb blonde instead of a real mountain like Mount Everest? It said sweetheart.

Speaker 0

Wow. It's

From a Horrifying Near-Death Experience to Success and Significance with World Record Holder Jenn Drummond

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