Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jenae Noonan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Jenae, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
I developed my confidence and self-esteem by failing a lot and always having someone constantly put me down. I know this isn’t what you thought you would hear, but let me explain. Through failing a lot and having a consent nag I learned very important lessons. The first thing I learned is no matter how hard I work or how hard I try there will always be at least one person that doesn’t like me and tries to tear me down. This taught me that no matter what I did, I was going to receive hate for it, so I might as well just live my best life anyway. Some people will like me and see my effort, and others will just hate and judge me because that’s who they are. On the other hand, I was raised with the you can do anything. You just have to figure out how to mentality. So there was never a part of me that didn’t believe in myself but a curiosity to figure out how to get where I wanted to go. Third failing a lot taught me it is ok to fail because I can learn from it and do better the next time. So bringing them all together, I developed my confidence through a failing is just a stepping stone in the right direction, there’s always a way to achieve something you just have to figure it out, and you might as well do what you want in life cause you can’t please everyone. I think these combined give me the confidence to do whatever I set out to do because I know I can achieve it, and I don’t care what others’ opinions are.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I made it my t0 life’s goal to try new things that would push me mentally and physically while encouraging others to step out of fear and pursue their dreams.
In 2006, while climbing the ranks in my boxing career, I had a terrible accident and injured my neck. Doctors told I would never psychically be able to compete again and life would never be the same. So, at that moment, I made it my life goal first to prove them wrong, and after I succeeded, to spend the rest of my life living the best life possible and encouraging others to do the same.
In 2012, after years of hard work, I was able to train in martial arts again, and I competed in the national championships to become part of Team USA for the first time. That year, I won a bronze medal. Though my story was already one of success, I didn’t feel bronze was good enough. In the next few years, I trained even harder, and in 2016, I regained my spot on Team USA and won a gold medal at the World Games. After winning the Gold, I felt satisfied with that accomplishment and turned my attention to new adventures. Since winning the gold, I have joined a circus, written 4 best-selling books, won another gold, finished second place in my first triathlon, started a nonprofit, run a book publishing company and this year I was named captain of Team USA for my third World Games.
Last year I adopted a very adorable little boy! Being a mother is the greatest achievement I have ever reached, and I am cherishing every single second of it. I want to show him that all things are possible with a will to figure out how. My lil angel is front row center watching me train and watching me work hard. He even joins in from time to time.
Team USA is self-funded, and athletes have to rely on donations from friends, families, and corporations. My goal this year is to help the team raise enough money so no athlete who has worked their entire life to achieve making the team isn’t forced off the team because they can’t afford to go. It is my goal this year to figure out a way to make every athlete that has made the team able to attend the World Games. I am working on fundraiser campaigns, donating my time to speak at events, and teaching seminars, all in the name of making others’ dreams come true.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
As a martial artist, I highly value self-accountability. Self-accountability also coincides with not caring what others think. At the end of the day, it is important to check in with yourself. Did you give it your all? If you did, then you did all you could do. If you didn’t, tomorrow is another day to try again. When I am fighting, if I get tired, I need to reflect on how much cardio I am doing and where I need to focus to get into better shape. When you are self-accountable, you can take a look at your life and make the needed changes to go in the direction you want to go in. I am going to be really blunt right now if in your head you are saying I am not where I was to be because of (insert name). The truth is you are not where you want to be because you gave your power away to that person and allowed them to be your excuse. Self-accountability is my number one value to success.
A close second is fortitude. Google defines fortitude as the strength of mind that allows one to endure pain and adversity with courage. I literally get punched in the face every day, and my job is to stay focused through the pain on my objective of winning. Life literally punches us in the face daily, and having the strength of mind to push through the pain is needed to achieve our goals and dreams. Fortitude, to me, is also in line with my mindset of, “I can do it; I just need to figure out how.” When I hear myself saying, “I want to do this, but I don’t…. have money, or any other excuse I might use, quickly change the sentence to I want to do this but HOW. Saying how instantly shifts my brain onto a game plan instead of settling for the excuse. I mentally push through the blocks to find the solution.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I have a few things I am working on that need partners and collaborations.
I need people to make donations to the team so I can reach my goal of having every athlete fully funded.
I need corporations that would like to partner with Team USA. I am looking for companies that want to align their brand with American excellence, reach a passionate audience, and enhance their brand awareness. OR just support an athlete.
Second. I am looking to write two collaboration books. One, I am looking for women in the business world who have triumph over tragedy and success stories to collectively inspire women to go after their boss babe dreams.
The second collaboration book I would like to write this year is a book on holistic living. I feel there are a lot of women searching for a new holistic way of life and I would love to be a part of their journey.
So if you have a company that would like recognition, growth and to be a part of an amazing cause I would love to talk about supporting Team USA,
If you have a group of women that would like an empowerment talk or a self-defence seminar, I would love to offer you one.
and if you have a great story to tell and want to inspire others and encourage others through your story, I would love for you to be a part of the collaboration.
Contact Info:
- Website: jenaenoonan.org
- Instagram: jenaenoonan
Image Credits
tomcatmediapr
