Meet Jenny Chapman

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jenny Chapman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jenny below.

Hi Jenny, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

Resilience is something I’ve had to cultivate through lived experience—through hardship, heartbreak, and the unwavering decision to keep going, no matter what. My journey has been one of overcoming, healing, and ultimately finding purpose in my pain.

At 14, I was removed from my home and placed in foster care. I bounced between multiple homes before finally being taken in by a friend’s parents, who became foster parents so I could have the stability I so desperately needed. They gave me a foundation to build upon, helping me get into college, where I studied to become an Occupational Therapist.

Just before my 21st birthday, my foster dad—the man who had given me that safe home—passed away from melanoma cancer. It was devastating, but I pushed forward, graduating at the top of my class with honors.

Throughout my life, I remained connected to my biological mother, though our relationship was distant and strained. At 24, she made the courageous decision to leave my father and came to live with me. She was a Japanese immigrant with limited English, and though she had worked for years, the thought of living independently terrified her. I walked alongside her as she navigated life on her own for the first time.

Motherhood brought its own set of challenges. My son, as a toddler, suffered from severe skin issues, food and environmental allergies, and an immune system so compromised that he endured hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and even a terrifying seizure in rush-hour traffic. We tried every specialist, every treatment—Eastern, Western, alternative—until we realized that his health improved in certain environments. This realization set our family on an extraordinary path.

I took a travel therapy assignment in Oahu, and within days, we saw an undeniable shift in his health. Returning home after three months, he regressed almost immediately. We knew what we had to do. We sold everything. Our community rallied behind us, fundraising to help us relocate permanently to Kauai. Once there, we found a specialist who transformed my son’s health, and within eight months, there was no visible trace of the suffering he had endured.

But life had more lessons for me. In 2022, my mother suffered a stroke, and I became her full-time caregiver. This season of my life challenged me in ways I never expected. It forced me to reckon with our history, to find strength I didn’t know I had, and to soften into forgiveness. I had spent years working through personal growth, self-help courses, and spiritual healing, but caregiving for my mother became the ultimate practice of love, patience, and letting go.

In this journey, I not only healed my relationship with my mother—I also made peace with my father, who had long since passed. My children, who once knew nothing of him, can now hear his name spoken with understanding instead of pain. And in helping my mother find her own path to forgiveness, I found an even deeper sense of compassion within myself.

These experiences ignited my calling to support other caregivers. I realized how many invisible chains—guilt, resentment, unhealed wounds—keep caregivers from showing up for themselves. I wanted to help people break free so they could care for their loved ones with presence, love, and true connection. This is the heart of my coaching program, Compassionate Connection, and the mission behind Jenny Chapman Cares.

Right now, I am in the early stages of building my business while working two jobs—by day, as a caregiver and Occupational Therapist, and by night, as a server. I am also a wife, a mother, and a part-time caregiver to my mom, who is in assisted living. Our family is navigating financial hardship as we fight to keep her in stable housing. There are moments of uncertainty, but if there’s one thing my life has taught me, it’s that hardship is temporary.

Faith—though difficult to hold onto at times—has always carried me through. Every dark chapter has revealed hidden lessons and unexpected gifts. I know that in order to guide others through their most challenging seasons, I must continue walking my own path with resilience, trust, and an open heart.

So where do I get my resilience from? From every storm I’ve endured. From every loss that became a lesson. From every act of love that helped me find my way home to myself. And from the unwavering belief that no matter how hard things get, I will rise—again and again.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

At my core, I am a caregiver—both in my personal life and in my work. By day, I serve as an Occupational Therapist and caregiver, supporting individuals in their healing and independence. By night, I work as a server to help sustain my family and provide for my mother, who is currently in assisted living. Life is full, and at times, it’s overwhelming. But through every challenge, I remain deeply committed to my calling: supporting other caregivers in finding freedom, healing, and connection.

I created Jenny Chapman Cares because I know firsthand the weight caregivers carry—the invisible chains of guilt, exhaustion, and unhealed wounds that keep them from showing up fully for themselves and their loved ones. My signature program, Compassionate Connection, was born from my own journey of resilience, healing, and self-discovery. It’s designed to help caregivers release emotional burdens, transform their relationships, and care for themselves with as much love as they give to others.

While my current financial obligations require me to focus on multiple jobs, my heart is still with this work. I’ve had the privilege of guiding a few clients through this journey, and the transformations I’ve witnessed have been profound. My vision is to make Compassionate Connection accessible as a low-cost, self-guided program while also offering 1:1 coaching and Ho‘oponopono healing sessions for those wanting to dive deeper.

Though I may not be able to expand as quickly as I’d like, I believe in divine timing. Every experience I’m navigating now is shaping me into the guide I’m meant to be. My journey has always been about perseverance, and I know that Jenny Chapman Cares will grow when the time is right. Until then, I continue to walk this path with faith, knowing that every challenge I overcome will one day help me uplift others even more.

If you’re a caregiver feeling lost, exhausted, or burdened by guilt, I see you. You are not alone. And when you’re ready, I am here to walk alongside you.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Looking back, there are three qualities that have been most impactful in my journey: vision, forgiveness, and surrender. These have not only shaped who I am but have also guided me through some of the most challenging moments of my life.

Vision – I’ve always been a visionary, even in my darkest moments. When my son was sick, drowning in debt, and with no clear path forward, I still held onto the vision of him being healthy and our family living in Kauai. I didn’t know how it would happen, but I knew in my heart that it would. Vision is about seeing beyond your current reality, trusting in what is possible even when circumstances make it seem impossible. My advice? Nurture your vision daily. Whether it’s through visualization, journaling, or simply holding space for your dreams, allow yourself to believe in a future that hasn’t yet arrived. The “how” will reveal itself in time.

Forgiveness – This has been one of the most transformative forces in my life. I had no idea how much unhealed resentment and pain were weighing me down until I started to release them. Forgiveness freed me from invisible chains I didn’t even know were there—it softened me, opened me, and connected me to a love I never knew existed within me. To those early in their journey, start with yourself. Self-forgiveness is often the hardest, but it’s also the most powerful. The more you practice it, the more you’ll find yourself able to extend it to others, and the more peace you’ll experience in return.

Surrender & Trust – This has been my greatest challenge but also my greatest teacher. I’ve had to learn to release control over things I cannot change and trust that even when life feels like it’s pulling me further from my dreams, I am somehow being guided closer to them. Surrender doesn’t mean giving up—it means loosening your grip, allowing life to unfold, and believing that even challenges are working in your favor. If I could give one piece of advice, it would be to practice trust, even when it’s uncomfortable. Remind yourself of all the times life has surprised you, of the moments that seemed impossible until they became real. Faith, even in small doses, has the power to move mountains.

More than anything, I believe we are all capable of incredible transformation. Resilience isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about having the courage to keep going, even when you don’t. If you’re in a season of struggle, know that you are stronger than you think. Hold onto the vision of the life you want, even if you can’t see the path yet. Release what no longer serves you, and trust that every challenge is shaping you into the person you are meant to become. The journey isn’t always easy, but I promise—one day, you’ll look back and realize it was preparing you for something greater.

Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?

I once had a mentor tell me that the best investment you can ever make is in yourself—your own growth, your own personal development. The more you invest in becoming the best version of yourself, the more doors open, the more aligned opportunities appear, and the more you attract the right people who will help elevate you to the next level.

I believe in the power of leaning into our strengths, as they provide the foundation for what we can build. But I also believe in strengthening our weaknesses, not to delay action, but alongside it. Too often, we get stuck in the idea that we need to be fully “prepared” before we take the leap. We use our weaknesses as an excuse—not to start, not to step into what we’re meant to do. But the greatest teacher is action itself. It’s in the doing—making mistakes, solving problems, and learning as we go—that we truly develop.

I’ve experienced this firsthand in both my work as an occupational therapist and as a coach. As an OT, no amount of reading textbooks or case studies can replace the real-life experience of working with patients. Every person is different, every situation is unique, and you can only truly learn by adapting to what’s in front of you. The same is true as a coach—real-life feedback, working with real people, teaches you how to evolve in ways no textbook can. It’s the balance of strengthening areas of weakness while simultaneously putting yourself out there that leads to growth.

We are enough right now. Each of us carries strengths and gifts that are more than enough to begin. The key is to start, and to allow ourselves to grow through action. Strengthening ourselves along the way, but never waiting for “perfection” to move forward.