Meet Jacqui Lents

We were lucky to catch up with Jacqui Lents recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jacqui, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

At age 19, my sister (age 18) and I planned a trip overseas to Germany. We did not speak the language. We’d never been abroad before. But we had a desire for adventure and, most importantly, two German friends and their families with whom we could stay and who would guide us in a foreign country. During the trip, we mastered public transit, basic communication skills, and flexibility with lifestyle differences, such as the fact that tuna is a common pizza topping in Germany. It tastes better than you think.

The trip was a success, so much so that my sister and I, two years later, would take part in a cultural exchange program that allowed American and British university students to work in each other’s countries. However, this time we did not have friends waiting to greet us for our three-month stay. The confidence from the earlier trip and years of holding down jobs in the US were proof that we could handle international travel and employment. I learned how to enter numbers on a keyboard without even looking, the delight of the 10 AM British tea break, and to enjoy a good tuna-and-corn sandwich. People on the other side of the Atlantic are just more adventurous with their tuna, I think.

Confidence and self-esteem mean a person knows they can face life’s challenges. They understand this because of prior examples. One achievement builds on the next. I also believe these are skills that can be learned and mastered, and require frequent use to avoid deterioration.

Learning about learning is one of the gifts that come with being a teacher. Those in the occupation must be certain that students can learn and know how to help them acquire the knowledge. Everyone has this potential inside them. This experience was critical after I left the industry after nearly two decades in the classroom. Unfortunately, the last few years of teaching involved an administration that was unsupportive and demeaning, along with constant messaging that, even though I was working nearly 80 hours a week, I wasn’t doing enough. I was letting my students down. To say this was a blow to my self-esteem is an understatement.

Gratefully, my husband supported my decision to leave. The job was harming my health and well-being. Teachers are trained to put themselves last. I did this to such a degree that it was only in the months after leaving that I got the proper medical care I needed to discover the pain in my leg that had been slowly getting worse over eight years was a torn tendon in my ankle. The difficult surgery and lengthy recovery period were something I could never have completed while working my previous job.

During my recuperation, the old urge to be creative was rekindled. No longer having my work to pour my imagination into, I returned to my old love of writing, which had lain dormant for years. Creating characters and their adventures brought the old sparkle into my life. When it became clear that the story I was writing was turning into a book, I panicked. I didn’t know how to write a book. How could I finish this? I reminded myself that I was a teacher, and the one thing teachers know how to do is learn something new. I approached it like anything else I needed to learn; I did research. I read online articles, watched YouTube videos, read books, joined my local library and online writers’ group, and attended conferences.

Every time I learned a new writing technique, expanded my knowledge, and improved the quality of my work, my self-esteem grew. After I had completed the first draft of my novel, I had enough confidence to try my hand at another new skill. I created a podcast. That was another adventure full of challenges and opportunities to watch my abilities grow. Over the past four seasons, I’ve met fascinating people and shared whimsical, humorous, uplifting, and inspirational stories.

When the time came to decide whether I wanted to self-publish, there was no question of whether I could do it, just whether I wanted to. It was time to learn yet another new career when I established my company, Shifting Sands Media, LLC, and published my first novel, The Daphne Project.

While I have entered my fifth decade, I feel like I’m back in my twenties. Thanks to personal growth and the numerous talents I’ve added to my skill set, my confidence is no longer worn out and rusty; it is sharp and shiny once again. When I look to the future, I am excited about what I know will come (the sequel to The Daphne Project I am writing now) and the surprises that await me.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am a life-long Michigan native and smitten with the Mitten State. Why the Mitten State? Take your right hand and lift it so the palm faces you. Find the spot where your thumb and palm meet, and make a V. Go down about an inch; that is roughly where I live. The Lower Peninsula of Michigan is shaped like your hand. We honestly use it to explain to people where locations are in our Great Lake State.

My book, The Daphne Project, does not take place in Michigan as you might well imagine. It takes place in Maine. The novel tells the tale of Daphne Patterson, who hasn’t just hit rock bottom—she’s faceplanted. There is hope that salvation has arrived. When she unexpectedly inherits a house from her long-lost great-aunt Florence in the quaint town of Cobb, Maine, she sees her chance. The plan? Settle the will, sell the house, and rebuild her life—far away from her family.

But Cobb has other ideas. As Daphne settles into Florence’s home, memories of the one summer they spent together resurface—books, to-do lists, and crackling vinyl records. The more she uncovers, the more she realizes how little she knew about her great-aunt, especially when a mysterious clue makes her question Florence’s supposed suicide.

Between eccentric townsfolk, unexpected discoveries, and a mystery she can’t ignore, Daphne’s plans take an unforeseen turn. With the help of new friends, plenty of coffee, and a few surprises, she just might find the belonging she’s been searching for. But if she stays lost in stories instead of writing her own, she might miss out on the real-life happy ending waiting for her in Cobb.

So, why Maine? I’ve been to the blueberry state and fell under its piney charms. Daphne was supposed to be a standalone novel, a love letter to Maine. However, after its release, I was hearing over and over how people wanted a sequel. Readers were demanding to hear Daphne’s best friend, Betty’s, story. While I began plotting out her tale, the final book of the trilogy popped into my head. If I had known at the beginning that it would be three books, I might have chosen to place it in my beloved home state. Now, I see it as an excuse for a trip to do some “research.”

When I’m not being an authorpereneur, writing and marketing my work, I host my passion project, the Jacqui Just Chatters podcast. It is a storytelling podcast that’s funny, surprising, and impossible to categorize. My award-winning show mixes real-life stories, historical oddities, book talk, and author spotlights. My goal is for the listener to feel as if they come over to hang out with me. It’s perfect for anyone who loves variety, vintage vibes, or a little chaos with their coffee.

Some highlights include my Story Share series, which features short stories from new and established authors. In my Hot Takes on Old News episodes, I have guests listen to historical news stories and share their modern-day takes on them. There are also two mystery serials: “To Silence a Scandal Monger”, a classic whodunit told through letters, and “A Deadly Holiday on the Hudson”, which pays homage to the 1930s radio dramas.

One of the most laugh-out-loud episodes is number 80. My friends and I reminisce about our holiday traditions, and then I submit them to a Christmas Quiz to see who has the most holiday spirit. My most sentimental episode is my Mother’s Day tribute, number 16. I sat down and interviewed my mother as she regaled me with stories from her days as a stewardess in the late 1960s. I reminded her how she taught me the importance of helping others by recruiting me to volunteer for the Special Olympics.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

1. Acknowledge and celebrate your small wins. When you are taking on a big challenge, it is easy to ignore all the little ones you survived along the way. Things that are going wrong are loud, and they want you to focus on them. Honestly, they don’t need extra attention; they get enough. Each day, search out the little things that went your way. Savor those moments, perhaps celebrate them by sharing them on your social media or as a text to your close friends.
2. Protect your peace. It is okay to say no. I’m not talking about something inconvenient. Life is just a hassle sometimes. But if it is going to cause undue stress or leave you physically run down, say no. You don’t have to give a reason.
3. Less not more. Piggybacking on the above, if you feel stressed, overwhelmed, and your life feels out of control, less is the answer. You don’t need another planning system, and those three quick-and-easy habits to improve your life rarely work. Accept you can’t do it all.

I once wrote down everything I wanted to get done in a week. Stuff that felt like a “need.” Then I tried to schedule time for all of them because I believed that if I was organized enough, I could manage everything. There was meal planning, exercise, work, laundry, running errands, and the million other chores that make a household run. When I was done, I stared at my notebook. If I had given up sleep, I might have had time for everything. It literally was impossible.

Then I laughed and forgave myself for not living up to my erroneous expectations. Once I knew I couldn’t manage it, my to-do list became about what was most important, and I made a rule that my needs were always important. The less stressed out I was, the more efficient and productive I would become. My world didn’t fall apart, but I became less frazzled. Now, when I start to feel overwhelmed, I know I am trying to accomplish too much, and I look at what I need to take out of the equation.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

I’m always looking to connect with people. If you work with book retailers or libraries, I would love to find ways to support each other. Maybe you are another self-published author of women’s fiction, and you need more people to swap horror stories, critiques, or to share turns as a cheerleader. We could arrange our own meet-cute.

New guests for my podcast are constantly on my want list. I love featuring the extraordinary in ordinary people’s lives. It is a storytelling podcast, so your story is the most important feature, not just something you are selling. If you have overcome an alcohol or drug addiction, an abusive situation, or a health scare, I am very happy for you. Well done. You have a worthy story; however, in my podcast, we try to keep it more lighthearted. I want to be the escape from the difficulties of life, not dive deeper into them. Thankfully, many other podcasts feature those exact narratives.

If you would like to reach out to me, please use the links provided on my website www.JacquiLents.com.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jacquilents.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacquilents/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069970208082
• Youtube: @Jacqui Lents