Jenna Hermans, the author of Chaos to Calm, discusses her experiences dating a man with three young children and becoming an “instant mom”. We explore Jenna’s relationship to the idea of being a step parent from her own experiences growing up with divorced parents. We also discuss how Jenna transformed her triggers and fears of step parenting to become the best mom she can be.  Jenna delves into being courageous amid stressful situations, drawing from her experience in a blended family that consciously avoids using the term "step" for parents or children. Emphasizing the importance of inclusive feelings for children in blended families, Jenna shares her insights.  Jenna’s work focuses on helping others find calm amidst the chaos of parenting. She teaches the five essential pillars for parents to navigate the chaos: efficiency, habits, community, communication, and self-care. If this episode resonates with you, consider sharing it with a friend who needs calm in their chaos. IN THIS EPISODE: [2:33] Jenna shares her busy life and describes what it is to be courageous and how you just need to start with one thing at a time [7:30] Jenna reflects on meeting her husband, starting as friends, getting romantically involved and breaking up [12:50] Jenna discusses the breakup and how fear was what informed her decision [16:39] Jenna discusses how journaling helped her process her feelings and what she would say to someone who feels fear is holding them back  [19:37] Jenna discusses parenting and why she doesn’t use the word step  [23:47] Jenna describes her role as a parent and describes the visitation schedule between the kids and their mom [31:49] Jenna explains how she takes care of herself and the five pillars she writes about in her book [38:50] She is surprised at how much men love the book [41:17] Jenna tells what a family is to her KEY TAKEAWAYS: The children need to feel included to succeed as a blended family parent.  If you didn’t receive good parenting, you don’t have to default and become your parent. You can intentionally choose to make other choices and parent differently. Being courageous in making decisions to eliminate chaos in your home only requires one step at a time. RESOURCE LINKS: Stork'd - Facebook Stork'd - Instagram                 Stork'd - YouTube  Jenna Hermans - Website   BIOGRAPHY:  Jenna Hermans is living proof that you can create a life of calm within chaos and overwhelm. She uses her bachelor’s degree in psychology, master’s degree in organizational management, and over fifteen years of Human Resources experience to build strong teams, both at work and at home. Jenna is the co-founder and COO of Be Courageous, a transformation agency, a busy mom of 4, a coach and an author. As seen in Forbes, The Sun, ELLE, Yahoo, Insider, and more, Jenna takes an intentional and inclusive approach to help people (especially parents) and businesses implement tools that put organization and systems around their busy lives that infuse calm and more joy, helping them go from 'Chaos to Calm,' which doubles as the title of her debut book that launched in May 2023.