Meet Jennifer McDonough

We recently connected with Jennifer McDonough and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jennifer, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

In the summer of 2023, I found myself in the single most cataclysmic period of my life. I had just resigned from my job as a school nurse — the sheer size of workload at an underserved, underprivileged school was what I cited as my reasons for leaving, but really it had more to do with that job re-triggering my childhood trauma. I had just told my partner of 8 years, who I was engaged to at the time and who was acting as a step-dad to my child, that I wanted to permanently end our relationship. Decades of unprocessed family issues and trauma bubbled to a head as I became estranged from both my parents and my sister… and my mental health hit an all time low. I remember a particular incident, sitting on the floor of my closet in tears, imploring of the universe “is this what life is???”.
I decided that if I were to continue (I didn’t allow myself another option), my life as I knew it would have to change dramatically. It wasn’t a question of finding a new job or a new relationship. The truth is, I had all the fixing and trimmings of a good life- a job, a house, a partner – but could find no enjoyment in it, because I had no peace in and of myself. So I had to find peace.
I bought a vintage RV, mustered all my courage and planned to move into it with my son, my dog and my two cats, with plans as vague as “homeschool, travel, feel peace”.
The first step was giving myself permission to say that I wasn’t happy in my relationship, or my job or my life. The next several steps, in addition to packing up my life and unpacking it into my RV camper, were unpacking the guilt and shame that came secondary to that relief and release of permission. I needed a way to process all that was happening and all that had happened to me in my life, and was no stranger to therapy but had found myself plateauing in my therapy journey. One day while packing up my closet, I found an oversized, dusty Rider Waite tarot deck I had ordered off of Amazon during the pandemic. I had never touched it other than the moment I got it… I opened it and realized the impulse to learn a new skill had already faded by the time Amazon one-day shipping had made its way to me. But years later, here in the tumult of carving a new life for myself, the desire for guidance rang louder than any passing special interest or hyperfocus which had held me previously, and I grabbed the deck and began shuffling it for the first time.
Over the course of the next year, as I began to live as a single mom again for the first time since my son was a year old, as I explored California and the Pacific Northwest in my camper, I studied tarot. I first found it to be a sort of puzzle, one of pattern recognition and symbology, and enjoyed the mental gymnastics of piecing the cards together contextually as they came out at random as I shuffled and pulled. But with each “puzzle” solved, each card spread interpreted, I began to notice common themes… it was like the cards had become a reflection of myself, a reflection of my innermost thoughts. Through examining these reflections of my inner child wounds, my attachment wounds, my shadows, I was able to find a way out of the darkness and into the light, with self-compassion and a feeling of being guided by something bigger than myself. I began to see the purpose of divine timing and free will, how interconnected we all are and how we all work in ways big and small (and often unbeknownst to us), to drive forward the collective consciousness and society as a whole.
As my skill with the cards grew and the interpretations became second nature (I began dreaming in card spreads, too!), my connection to the cards deepened and I became able to pull these same innermost reflections from other people’s energies as well. Overtime I even found myself to be a kind of antennae for wayward energies searching for an outlet or megaphone for their unresolved issues and unspoken words. I knew if I could reach these energies, these people, I could help guide them a few steps out of the darkness as well. I began filming and posting these readings, “collective readings” to Tik Tok in the hopes that the algorithm would send it to the souls who resonated with it the most, those who needed the message.
Two years later, I’m a full time working Intuitive Psychic and Tarot Reader with a loyal following and established platform, working from home in my RV where home is anywhere. I’m successful enough to afford me and my son a pleasant and peaceful life. I’m in remission from BPD, a trauma based disorder, and have balanced my bipolar disorder enough to no longer require medication treatment. I achieved true stability and healing in my mental health, financial security, and personal freedom. I attribute so much of it to the study of tarot, but I will say that my tarot journey would never have begun if I hadn’t given myself permission to ask for the life I truly wanted. It was that gentle permission, to be who I am, to want what I want without shame or self-flagellation, that allowed me to find my purpose, my truest calling in life. I ask that you give yourself the same permission, and invite the life you desire and deserve to join you in this reality.

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’m a “Tik Tok Tarot Reader”! I gained popularity on TikTok in 2021 as a Mental Health content creator and built my platform by educating others on the more effective therapies available to trauma based disorders. In 2023, I began to read tarot as part of my own healing journey and soon after, began to provide free “collective readings” on Tik Tok. I work with both spirit and technology, in tandem and harmony with one another, to provide spiritual guidance and alternative therapeutic healing to those who need a touch point in their chaos.

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?

Self-awareness of my internal state, an empathic connection to the souls around me and a penchant for speaking hard truths softly and gently, even (nay- especially) to myself.
To those learning and using tarot to evolve and to depen their connection to their higher self, I implore you to use the deck only to answer questions about yourself and your own energy. While it’s possible to pull on virtually anybody’s energy with tarot, spending all or the majority of your readings interpreting someone else’s journey and energy (like an ex) will not help you in the long run.

Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?

This is such a juicy question. In my experience, clients are usually concerned with if they’re asking the right questions, if they’re too focused on one thing over another, etc. and I think it’s helpful to let people know what a tarot reader’s idea of a great client and a great reading is.
My ideal client (and I’m lucky to have a nice helping of these!) is open to receive ANY message that may come out. I don’t mind at all if a client has questions on hand that they’d like answered, so long as they are also open to any message that may come. My ideal client is curious and interested in the cards that come out and not only my interpretation of them… I love clients who film the session or write notes on the cards that come out so they can do their own research after!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thickashop.com
• Instagram: thickabodcranetarot
• Youtube: thickabodcranetarot
• Other: tiktok @thickabodcranebpd