An Inspired Chat with Jen Rulon

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Jen Rulon . Check out our conversation below.

Hi Jen, thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
When the alarm goes off, I rarely hit snooze. I get up, head to the kitchen, and start my morning routine by making coffee and prepping 32 ounces of water with lime and a teaspoon of pink Himalayan salt; hydration first, always. After that, I’ll brush my teeth, take care of a few personal things, and make the bed.

Then I’ll settle in, either on the couch or in my hammock, with my water in hand. I like to ease into the day with a little light scrolling through emails or social media. Once I have my butter coffee ready (which I love), I’ll head back to the hammock and give myself about 5–10 minutes of quiet, reflective time. No agenda—just presence. That little pocket of peace sets the tone for whatever the day holds.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hi, I’m Jen Rulon, a Midlife Transformation Coach, author, speaker, and former 15x Ironman triathlete who’s now traded tri suits for surfboards and strength training. After over 20 years of coaching endurance athletes, my work has evolved to support women in midlife, especially those navigating menopause, divorce, burnout, or just feeling like they’ve lost themselves along the way.

My brand is all about helping women come back home to themselves, through movement, mindset, metabolism, and meaning. I blend science-backed strength training and nutrition with soulful coaching and real-life transformation tools.

What makes my work unique is that I’ve lived every chapter I now help others walk through. I left a long marriage, moved to Costa Rica, got sober, and started rebuilding a life that feels truly mine on my terms.

Right now, I’m pouring my heart into Rise Strong, a coaching community for women ready to reclaim their power, and Rise with the Tides, a retreat I’m hosting in Costa Rica this December. I’m also writing book #4, which shares my story of midlife reinvention and offers women a blueprint to rewrite their own.

Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
Before the world told me who I had to be, I was a curious, strong-willed girl who found freedom in movement and joy in nature. I wasn’t trying to prove anything, I was just present, playful, and deeply intuitive.

But somewhere along the way, I learned to perform. To be the overachiever. The “good girl.” The one who checked all the boxes: degree, marriage, business, achievements, Ironman Triathlons, trying to prove myself and thinking those things would equal worth or love or peace.

Now I realize, the girl I was before all that, she’s still here. She’s the one who dances barefoot in the kitchen, cries when she sees butterflies, surfs because it makes her feel alive, and coaches women not to be better but to remember who they were before the world got loud.

When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
I stopped hiding my pain when I got sober.

For years, I thought I had it all figured out and on paper, I did. I was the Ironman Triathlete, the coach, the successful wife, the strong one. But underneath all that achievement was a woman who was quietly numbing, silently unraveling, and scared to admit that what looked like “success” was actually suffocating her.

Quitting alcohol wasn’t just about putting down the wine glass. It was about putting down the mask. It was about waking up to the truth I didn’t want to face: I was losing myself in a life that no longer fit.

Sobriety cracked me open but it also cracked me free.

That’s when my pain became power. When I started using my story, not as something to be ashamed of, but as a bridge.

A way to say to other women, You’re not broken. You’re becoming.

And that’s the work I do now, helping women rise from their own unraveling and reclaim the strength they’ve had all along.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Is the public version of you the real you?
It is now.

For a long time, I curated the version of me I thought the world wanted, the put-together, strong, successful, always achieving. But behind the scenes, I was silently struggling, overperforming, and shrinking parts of myself to keep the peace or fit the mold.

Today, what you see is what you get.

The woman you see lifting heavy, surfing, coaching from the heart, and sharing the messy, beautiful reality of midlife—that’s me. Fully. Honestly. Finally.

I don’t need to pretend anymore. I’m not performing; I’m present. And that shift has changed everything.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What do you think people will most misunderstand about your legacy?
That it was built on Ironmans, degrees, or business success.

But that’s just the surface.

My real legacy? It started the day I stopped drinking, the day I left a 3,000 square foot life that looked perfect on the outside but was crumbling on the inside. It started when I landed barefoot in Costa Rica, cracked wide open, and finally asked myself: “Who am I without the noise?”

What people might misunderstand is thinking my strength came from physical feats but my true strength came from walking away. From choosing myself. From sitting in the discomfort of becoming.

Now, I coach women to do the same, to rise from the unraveling and reclaim their truth.

My legacy won’t be measured in medals.

It’ll be in the women who decided to rewrite their stories because they saw me living mine.
In the quiet moments, under Costa Rican sunsets, where peace replaced pretending.

That’s the kind of life I’m proud to leave behind.

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