Storytelling & Resilience with CCO Juliet Hahn: Breaking Dyslexia Myths & Celebrating Abundance

Transcript

You're gonna get to spend an hour plus with Juliet Hahn. Juliet's story is fascinating, and and her presentation skills are phenomenal. Her energy level is sky high. I understand now why she doesn't drink coffee. Man, she struggled really severely with dyslexia in third grade and elementary school, all through school. And we talk a lot about that and how she I don't wanna say overcame, but has dealt with that, through the years and how she's turned, you know, what was viewed as a lack of creativity and a lack of communication skills into just this powerhouse of strengths and traits, and she's now she just got hired as the chief communications officer for this, company that does biotech, you know, stuff. I'm not actually sure what they do, to be honest, but she deals with scientists and help them draw out their own stories, and she is extremely good at storytelling. She has three podcasts. She's a host or co host on three different podcasts. We talk about the NFL, the NHL, how life has seasons, and you're not committed to something forever, and how you really gotta, you know, go with the flow, but get stuff done. And it's a really cool balance that that Juliet's been able to reach here as far as just She's definitely type a motivated, go get her, but she's also been able to understand how to live in the present and create space we talk about the importance of walking and creating that space, mental space to be able to develop clarity, for your life And she's just a positive force in the world. You can tell. I had I had had to track her down. I heard her on another podcast as a guest, and took us, several months to get get her to commit to being on our show. So this is a a good catch for us for sure, and I know you're gonna understand why once you take a listen.

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 people who have overcome painful human adversity to create 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 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. Turn your adversity into abundance.

Speaker 0

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Speaker 2

Yeah. So, I mean, I am a CCO, so I'm a chief communications officer for a company called FETTech. I am also a podcast host. I have three different podcasts, and I am a storyteller content creator. And on top of that, I am a wife and a mom. And and it sounds like crazy, but when it kinda seasons in life when things flow, I'm the type of person that just goes with it and kinda sees what, you know, kind of is budding and where, my interest and needs and, passions really kind of follow.

Speaker 0

Yeah. Absolutely. I'm really excited about this one. There's I mean, I know storytelling is the foundation of what you do, and and I think that's kind of a sounds like a common thread through all of your different various ventures and and, parts of your journey thus far, and and we're gonna get into why that's evolved. As become one of your primary strengths. And I do think it's a critical this is gonna be both inspirational and practical for the listener because I know a lot of entrepreneurs and budding entrepreneurs and wanna be entrepreneurs. Think should I start a podcast? How do I, you know, go on a podcast? Should I be, you know, how do I tell my story? And there's a lot we can dive into on the practical side for sure. So from adversity to abundance, we we talk a lot about human adversity on this show. It's a human based story. It is for entrepreneur human based pod podcast. It is for entrepreneurs, and we do talk about business and, you know, and money and things like that. But at the end of the day, it's the human element that kind of, you know, where where we all kinda come together, we can all relate. And so I know you've been through some some real adversity in your life. We're not gonna stay on the adversity, but let's jump back and let's let's talk a little bit about your your backstory and what you've what you've, learned to deal with and and address on a on a regular basis. So where would you like to start, Juliet?

Speaker 2

Well, I mean, I love that you just said that because there's so many things. My struggles have really become my strengths, and that is something that I talk about a lot on on really all my podcast But so we'll take you back to kind of one of my first memories in school was, the entire class in third grade was taken to gifted and talented, except myself and another boy, and he was he was the troublemaker in class. We were taken to special reading. And it was very known, like, okay, you guys are all going here. I had a lot of friends I was the athletic kid, you know, like, on the playground. I was the fastest. I was actually the fastest kid in the class. I beat all the boys. So I had, you know, a lot of strengths, but then there was things in school. And that was the first time I really realized, wait a second. There's something different And so I am dyslexic, ADHD. You know, it it it is a hereditary one in five. My dad, my sister, Probably, you know, we we we haven't traced it back to which grandparent, but we all have all of our ideas. My son, one one of my my children, and then also, like, you know, tons of, nieces and nephews. But, learning in the classroom how to kinda engage and interact with the teachers or what's now became something that I became really strong at. And that was communicating. That was the human connection. That was trying to figure out how to get out of things. And, basically, I didn't want the teacher to know, wait. I don't know you're saying. There are so many times, and, you know, I do talk about this on one of my podcasts. It's called word blindness dyslexia exposed. It is a podcast on dyslexia. My co host is a former NHL hockey, Stanley Cup winner, who was diagnosed with dyslexia when he was thirty two. He never even heard the word. So we really are bringing those stories out there are stories but then others and the importance of really knowing, okay, if you're struggling in school, there's something behind it because there's kids don't ever wanna get in trouble. When you're kindergarten first grade, you don't wanna know that answer. You don't wanna be

Speaker 0

the last kid. Yeah. You don't wanna draw attention yourself, especially for for having a challenging, you know, if if, you know, actually, talk about that. I mean, we had, We had, Matt Four on the show. I had a he was one of the first guests on on my podcast. And, actually, he's featured in our our new book that we just put out And he talked a lot about his own dyslexia growing up and how actually reading is is, like, his favorite thing to do now, and he's just read, like, thousands of books, and he has a podcast now as well, which is which is amazing. So not saying it's the exact same story, but it's there are a lot of similarities in that what was a a major challenge for him became one of his biggest strengths. And so, you know, talk about, I guess, really, you know, for the audience who a listener who may not actually know what dyslexia is, can you just define it for us and kind of describe exactly what it is.

Speaker 2

Mhmm. So it is a reading disorder, but it is also a processing. So I always could read. There's there's always levels. I always could read, but when I was reading, I would read very slowly, and I wasn't processing what I was reading. So when I listened to something, so I listened to all my books, you know, Right now, as I said, I'm the chief communications officer for a company. And so you would think we'll wait a second. But communication is actually my strength. I learned really early on. That if I used my voice, I could get things different than if I was writing. So a lot of times for me, might just like to say, I can have all these huge, great big huge ideas, and I can tell you all about them. I go to put them on a piece of paper and they literally do not come out of my head onto a piece of paper. I have to voice tech everything. I have to,

Speaker 0

you

Speaker 2

know, I have to audio is like my my friend. So again, technology nowadays is a lot better, but, like, thinking about a kid in the classroom. I have this big story I wanna write. Right? You're writing the story in third grade, and it's amazing and you have it all in your head and you go to write it. Yeah. You can't find it.

Speaker 0

Nothing comes out.

Speaker 2

And the teacher's like, well, what's wrong with you? Right? Pay attention. Stop fidgeting, focus. What are you doing? Why are you talking to your friend? Half of the time was because, like, what did one of the teachers said? What are we supposed to be doing? Because I was always one step behind because I was always I didn't I wasn't the kid that got in trouble I, again, I had a lot of friends. I my mom was in the education system. My older sister also struggled. I'm one of five. And so you know, it was known that, okay, things are not coming as easy, but the one thing that's really important dyslexia is not an, an IQ. Half of self made billionaires. I forget the the number, but it's like forty percent are dyslexic. We actually think very differently. Our brains are wired differently. And so our bright brains are wired. We're more creative. But the thing that's really interesting when I was in school, that that day that the, you know, kids went to gifted and talented, all my friends came And they're like, what did you go do? We did this amazing stuff. We're doing they were creating, and I can still remember. They were creating a knight and javelin, and they were doing mazes, and they're like, we're drawing and coloring. And creating things. And so that day, I told myself I wasn't creative because I couldn't draw instead of being like, okay, struggled in reading, and I'm not good at school, I said to myself, I'm not creative. And so that's

Speaker 1

the Right.

Speaker 2

That's the path I kinda went down. On my podcast and a lot of things I do talk about is the innate confidence. Some of us are just innately confident. I was Mhmm. I was born innately confident So I had a lot of strengths, and I had a family that would talk about my strengths a lot. But in school, they constantly talk about the things you're not good at.

Speaker 0

Sure.

Speaker 2

You need to work harder on this. You're not good at this. You know? So I and I, you know, I'm not gonna get into it too much, but, like, I had a lot of teachers that would give me a hard time. You know, like, why don't you just focus? Because because I did go to college. I played two college sports. I was very, very athletic. So I was on top of the athletic field, but, you know, closer at the bottom, of the education. I came from a place that everyone was really good at everything in my in my head. I mean, it wasn't a fluent town right outside of Philadelphia on the New Jersey side.

Speaker 0

Yeah.

Speaker 2

So there's a lot of different things that, you know, you give yourself that that narrative. Like, when everything

Speaker 0

Right.

Speaker 2

You know, everything everyone's pretty good at. And you're like, why can't I get it? You put yourself up a little bit. But then again, when you have the positives, when you find out what your strengths are, that's why it's really important to really kind of find out if you are dyslexic and if you have, like, ADHD, dysgraphia, there's all these different things. But this as soon as you can kind of remediate it, you're never not gonna have That's one thing that's really important. You're never not gonna have it.

Speaker 0

There's not a cure for it. You're not gonna just move on from it. Right?

Speaker 2

And school and stuff is always gonna be hard. I mean, there's no it's But but you work harder. That's a lot of times. I work harder. I I have failed so many times that I will start something. So a lot of entrepreneurs are just like you know, it's like, oh, yeah.

Speaker 0

Yeah. Which is which is interesting that you say about the, you know, you're not creative. I know I know you're not saying that now, but that was the narrative you were telling yourself and that you're teachers were telling you, basically, but it but it turns out actually because of that challenge the challenging situation, you become more creative. I mean, entrepreneurs at the end of the day, that's what they do is they create. And they they add value, they create things, and they're they are the definition of creativity, really. So, you definitely are creative. That's for sure. So now because I do feel like dys dyslexia, you know, has this is just this is just me, right, and just, you know, It's been around forever. Not not forever. But, you know, it's one of those

Speaker 2

Eighteen hundreds. In the eighteen hundreds, I was called word blindness

Speaker 0

because

Speaker 2

that's why we named her a thing, but I mean, it's crazy and how they still really don't know. But god

Speaker 1

Right.

Speaker 0

Okay. But, no, I just, like, you know, nowadays, and and and frankly, my I've two teenagers, and we're we're dealing with some different challenges as well. And it it it so I've I've learned a lot more about, like, you know, just different ADHD and autism and and mental health and different things. And I I feel like dyslexia is one that just from my, you know, vantage point, maybe gets pushed or viewed as, like, less less challenging or just not that big of a deal or just so so it's kinda, like, You know, that that's cool, but that's the okay. You switched a couple letters and, you know, just switching back or something.

Speaker 2

And and that but that's the thing, but that's and that's that's why we are doing the podcast that we're doing because it's so much more. And then it also comes down to the self esteem. Right? You you have to you don't have self esteem. And so a lot of times, dyslexic kids, if they don't have the support or they don't know what's going on, it's like, yeah, they do get that beat up But it is. So if I I can't spell I mean, I still spell, like, a second grader, which is super frustrating. Think about taking notes for the college, all of that stuff taking notes, I would look back and be like, I don't even know what that says.

Speaker 0

So yeah. Because it's

Speaker 2

been tough. It's really tough.

Speaker 0

Now as we before we move, you know, more into your your story, how to, you know, what is some advice for somebody who thinks they might have dyslexia or them or maybe their their child does? I mean, just what's the first step to to finding out if you may have it?

Speaker 2

You wanna get a neuro psych, and it's they're not They're expensive. It sucks. They do take time. But it's one of those things. And again, the And we talk about this a lot in the other time. And my my word line is podcast, so I'm not gonna get into it. But education is a broken system.

Speaker 0

Yeah. Absolutely.

Speaker 2

It it is it's it's really sometimes disheartening myself going through it. Having a child's gone through it. We were actually very fortunate. He went to a I see a school for three years. So we were really fortunate, but Yeah. It is, getting that neuro psych is really important, but not counting much of school to do because the school is gonna do it their way. And a lot of states won't they can't say you have dyslexia. It's just an l d. Or you and and when a teacher gets that, it's like, okay. There's a wide range of things that you can do to remediate. So there's things like Orton Gillingham. You there's ways that dyslexic people can learn to read

Speaker 0

Uh-huh.

Speaker 2

Now the most severe dyslexia person will probably never be able to. But most Sure. You know, on most rate most ranges if you do, like, Orton Gillingham or different reading things you can. So, like, once you find out and if you are ADHD, there's different things. A lot of ADHD, but again, ADHD gets that bad rap. I mean, I have ADHD, but my EQ, that's one of the things I wanted to say before. Like, my EQ and self aware in and and reading other people is, like, off the charts because that's and that's my gift. That's the, you know, god gave me that. It's like, okay. You might struggle here. It's just like a blind or deaf person. And you get stronger things. So it's just really important to know where those strengths and weaknesses are and to really build it up. So the neuro psych going to the doctor outside of the school is really important.

Speaker 0

No. And that it gets the and we will, you know, move on into your story more, but that that that just gets to the point. I mean, my My mother is a retired public school teacher. My whole family is is is, you know, teachers are, you know, in the public school system in some way or in private as well. But And and they're all great people. Right? But you're absolutely right. There's so many shortcomings to the system itself, and we've dealt with that on with, like, you know, my my son's IEP, for example, and lots of lots of challenges there, the the public school system in general, has a lot of room for improvement. We'll leave it there. But and that gets to the point of the show, really, which is take ownership of your of your life. Point to your strengths, look at your strengths. We're not saying you don't have those challenges, and you do need to face those challenges and deal with them and not pretend they're not there. But own it, you know, and own own your situation and and and look to the people in your world that can help you help you move forward. In that way, you can end up being the best version of yourself and impact people in the most positive way possible. So walk us through, you know, kind of fast forward the through the next, say, ten years of your life, what what do things look like, you know, from school and then into your professional life.

Speaker 2

Mhmm. So I did, as I said, I did go to college. I became a communications major, surprising. It wasn't it wasn't the first path, though. I was gonna be you know, corporate fitness because of fitness, but, you know, again, some of the classes I was like, nope. I'm not gonna do that. Found my way into communications realized I love this. Went into advertising. Moved to New York City, got a job even before I, graduated, did really well in college because I started learning things that I really was interested in and and learned how I learned, which was really important. Again, figure it out, okay, where those weaknesses, how I can kind of work with them and how I can kind of you know, elevate them, know that they're still there, as you said, but kind of really work off my strengths, which as I said, I have some really good strengths. Yeah. I have some weaknesses, but really good, you know, some strong stanks. So met my husband, and then I chose to stay home raised three kids. I have three teenagers. So, we did that. And as as I went, I always was networking. I was always you know, connecting with people. I was always the person that was like, oh, wait. You're doing this. You know what? I need to connect you with this person. Always knew every shopkeeper. You know, knew every everyone's story because I always asked questions. I'm a very, very curious person. So I always asked questions I don't get into like hour long, but I, you know, would sit and connect with most people. It's it's one of the things I think is important and a lot of people don't do. They don't They don't look around themselves. Everyone had a lot of times in this world too with our lives. We all have stuff. Right? We all have trauma. We all have stuff going on. We all have hard days. But I always make sure I'm looking around me because someone else might be having a harder day and maybe I can impact them. And that's something that I've really raised my kids. Know, they're teenagers now. So sometimes they they forget that, but it's important to do that. So, you know, as I did, I always stay connected to people. And as I, we moved to, a community where I was like, you know what? I was doing some fitness stuff in the other community kind of helping mom stay healthy. I was at that same kind of stage and, you know, our kids would be playing. And I was like, hey, let's do. I could I could do a workout for, you know, because again, I played two sports. I've always had mindset. I've always worked hard, you know. Yeah. Dyslexia, you always work harder because you you gotta. And so from there, it was like, okay. I was we had just moved. Walking is like something that I do. It's and this is one of the things that I talk about in my podcast If you ever feel like you're stuck or you're like, what's going on? Where do I wanna go? What do I wanna do? I always say to people you need to daydream. And I think a lot of people don't allow themselves to daydream because they're scared that it's not gonna happen. And maybe they're stuck in life. You know, we talk I'm sure you talk about the golden handcuffs on here. Oh, yeah. You know, people get stuck in their jobs, and they're like, how do I get out of it? And I would say, you know, you're not a tree. You're not a tree. You don't have to stick with what you are. So even if you're making money and you're you're the the sole breadwinner, but you're miserable. You're not helping anyone else. You have one life. So I say

Speaker 0

thank you.

Speaker 2

I have to move.

Speaker 0

Yeah. To to Adrian, you gotta move. Yeah. Absolutely.

Speaker 2

I sit. I think about dishes and laundry.

Speaker 1

Right. Right. Right. Yeah. I I never been

Speaker 0

I I tried meditating too. It just yeah. I'm with you. It didn't stick. Maybe I'm I'm sure I could get better at it, but But, no, I and I completely have come around, and I played I played La Cross in college, and I was in the military. It was always very active and, you know, type a as far as, I guess, achieving and things like that. But I always kinda looked down on not not looked down on, but I thought walking was kind of a a waste of time, to be honest with you, because I was too I was like, well, that's I'll just run and get it over with. You know? And to be honest now, my wife and I walked quite a bit together or separately, and it is amazing. Like, I

Speaker 2

Storytelling & Resilience with CCO Juliet Hahn: Breaking Dyslexia Myths & Celebrating Abundance

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