Jacquelynn Cotten shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Hi Jacquelynn, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
What I’m being called to do now is fully own every facet of who I am. I’ve always been multi-passionate.
The closer I get to 40, the freer I feel. There are so many versions of me the world hasn’t seen yet, and I’m done hiding them. I want people to see the goofy, the weird, the artistic, the musical, the businesswoman, the mom breaking generational curses while cursing a little too much, the sexy, authentic, intelligent, real human I am.
Between hosting my podcast Just Women Talking Shit: Real Conversations About Life, Mental Health, & Womanhood, being the right hand woman to female entrepreneurs, soft-launching my comedy side with my fictional character Shady Sheryl, and freelancing my many skill sets. I honestly feel like I’m in my Tina Fey era. I’m giving myself permission to explore, create, and play in ways I used to be scared of.
Ultimately, I don’t want to play small or limit myself to experiences that neatly “fit” inside my brand. Everything I do is about personally evolving and helping others do the same. Whether it’s through music, healing, my events, laughing at one of my skits, or listening to my podcast. I want to reach people and bring them joy. The world needs more joy. The world needs more kind humans. So I’m on a mission to love on as many humans as humanly possible, in all the creative ways I can.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Jacquelynn Cotten. I’m a content creator, podcast host, retreat leader, coach, musician, comedian-in-progress, mom and wife in a beautifully chaotic blended family of seven, nine if you count our dogs. My work lives at the intersection of authenticity, healing, humor, and personal evolution. At my core, I’m someone who’s obsessed with helping people feel seen, supported, and a little less alone in their messiness.
My brand is a reflection of that. Through my podcast Just Women Talking Shit: Real Conversations About Life, Mental Health, & Womanhood, my Weird Women Who Wander travel experiences, my music, my coaching, and even the comedy skits I create, often featuring my fictional character Shady Sheryl, I give people permission to embrace all the facets of who they are. I don’t pretend to have it all together, and that honesty is what makes my work relatable and real.
I’m currently in a season of expansion. I’m soft-launching comedy, developing more creative projects, growing my retreats, and continuing to share the behind-the-scenes of evolving as a woman, mother, and multi-passionate creator. My mission is simple: to bring more joy, more honesty, and more humanity into the world. To help people heal, laugh, think, and feel empowered to live a life that’s genuinely theirs.
If I can love on people, inspire them, or help them grow, whether it’s through a podcast episode, an event, a song, or a ridiculous Shady Sheryl moment, then I’m doing exactly what I’m here to do.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
It’s funny you ask this because I recently recorded a podcast episode for my show and it was called “How to Remember Who the Fck You Are (When Life Gets Loud).” That question has followed me my entire life, especially as I’ve unpacked my childhood emotional neglect and conditioning. I encourage readers to ask themselves the same question and answer honestly. It’s quite liberating. But back to me.
As a kid, I was bold, loud, creative, intuitive, and a little weirdo who loved to dance, sing, lead, make money, and be seen. I wanted to be famous. I wanted rooms to light up when I walked in and to be the person telling the jokes as people circled around to hear them, laughing, and drinking champagne in slow motion. But the older I got, the more I learned to shrink. Anxiety took over, confidence disappeared, and I became the quiet, overlooked girl who didn’t fit in. At home, having a voice was “disrespectful,” being confident meant I “wanted attention,” and being sensitive made me “dramatic.” So I became a chameleon. I hid my spark to survive.
I genuinely believe I would have been unstoppable much earlier on, a force to be reckoned with if you will, had I not been taught to be ashamed of who I naturally was. But like many women, I shrank to fit into spaces that were never designed for me.
The beautiful part is that nearly 40 years later, I am finally becoming that little girl again, openly, boldly, and unapologetically. I am reclaiming my weird, my voice, my joy, and my fire.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
I would tell her, “You were right all along.”
There were so many moments growing up when my intuition was screaming the truth at me, but I didn’t trust it. I could read people, feel the energy in a room shift, sense things long before they happened, and I was made to feel dramatic, overly sensitive, or flat-out crazy for it. In reality, that hyperawareness was a superpower I didn’t know how to own yet.
Back then, I thought something was wrong with me. Now I see that my ability to understand people so deeply is exactly what allows me to bring them together, make them feel seen, and create spaces where they feel safe to be themselves. It’s the heart of everything I do.
I always knew I was meant for something big, but my childhood instability and conditioning made me question that inner knowing. Today, I trust it. That younger version of me had it right. She just needed time, healing, and the confidence to realize her gifts were never flaws.
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? Is the public version of you the real you?
I really do think what you see online and in public is as close to the real me as it gets. I spent so many years hiding my thoughts, my feelings, and all the parts of me that felt “too much,” so now I take a lot of pride in showing up as my full, unique, weird, one-of-a-kind self.
I’m open about my mental health, chronic illness, intrusive thoughts, bipolar diagnosis, and all the different versions of me that show up on any given day. I talk about the things most people only whisper about behind closed doors, because those are the things that make people feel the most alone. And sometimes what you see from me isn’t pretty, but you will never have to guess how I’m feeling. I’m working hard to break generational curses, and I mess up all the time. Thankfully, my strong-minded kids and my husband are not afraid to call me out, hold me accountable, and remind me that they love me unconditionally. I joke that I try to run away from myself sometimes, but they always pull me back to center.
Another big reason I show up so honestly is because I’ve already lived through so much. Major mistakes, major losses, and a childhood that gave me an early understanding of how I don’t want to live or make others feel. Learning about my bipolar diagnosis in adulthood forced me into a level of self-awareness I didn’t expect, but absolutely needed.
I’m open about all of it. mental illness, sexuality, weirdness, imperfection, Because pretending to be polished nearly destroyed me and too many suffer alone in silence. I’m not perfect. I’m human, layered, messy, and still healing in real time.
People who find me online, especially on Instagram, often tell me they feel like they already know me, like they’ve known me for years, or that they love how authentic I am. I make fun of myself often, and I try to offer others the same grace I’ve learned to offer myself.
As someone who once felt ashamed of being emotional, sensitive, creative, passionate, awkward, introverted, and all over the place, my only real goal now is to help people feel accepted and less alone. I’m genuinely the same in person as I am online: a hot mess with a good heart, forever evolving out loud, honestly, and unapologetically.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope people say, “She was as real as it gets, funny as hell, so down to earth, and always made me feel loved.”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://justwomentalkingshit.buzzsprout.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacquelynncotten
Image Credits
Shannon Caraway
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