Jennifer Griffith shares how a father's last words, spoken from his recliner, led her to leave an eighteen year technology career and finally write her memoir, Both Sides of Then.
Jennifer was 13 when her mom told her she had a brother, and when her dad told her he did not want to be there anymore. Neither conversation was ever talked about again, so she learned to carry it quietly and be the grown-up in the house. In this conversation we talk about:
• The living room at 13 that she still goes back to
• Taking on the grown-up role when the adults in the room had left
• A father's last words, and why they landed when they did
• Why shame cannot live in the light
• Five years to write a memoir, two more to sell it, and a podcast built in between
• Why your mother's life before she became your mom holds keys to your identity
Content note: this episode includes a conversation about death with dignity and a family history of suicide.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Cold open
01:30 Welcome
02:54 Two mothers who lost their mothers
05:42 Who Jennifer is today, and the living room at 13
10:19 Taking on the grown-up role
11:47 When her father stayed
12:49 Sitting at her father's feet
13:59 How the right words land at the right time
15:59 Checking the boxes of a career
17:51 Why the timing was right
20:20 Facing a parent's death
24:06 Rebuilding a relationship with her dad
26:28 The secret her father finally told
29:29 Shame, vulnerability, and safe places
33:23 What it felt like to hear "it went so fast"
35:24 What do we want to do with one wild life
37:24 How witnessing his death changed her
38:56 Ask your parents for their stories
41:22 Writing the book after he died
43:35 Terrified and all in
46:01 Bleeding on the page
47:25 Feeling empowered
49:44 Speaking to her 13 year old self
53:04 "You are what eight year old Matt needed"
56:22 Where to find Jennifer
58:22 Closing
ABOUT JENNIFER
Jennifer Griffith spent eighteen years in technology sales before following a deathbed conversation with her father into the work she was always meant to do. She spent a decade writing, rewriting, navigating rejection, and building a platform from scratch before landing her debut book, Both Sides of Then with Regalo Press. She hosts the podcast About Your Mother and speaks about the stories we inherit.
Website: www.byjennifergriffith.com
Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D58C23DV
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/byjennifergriffith/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/byjennifergriffith/
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