Jill Jayne of"Jump with Jill" Rock n Roll Nutritionist takes her message of teaching kids to eat nutritional food and exercise to the streets on her tour which starts on March 6th. www.jumpwithjill.com.
How did you get started?
Jill Jayne:
I have always been a musician and very into health, honestly back to high school where I was captain of the cross country team and lead of our musical. In college I started as a pre-medicine and musical theater major and my goal was to be a pediatrician because I thought I could become the most entertaining pediatrician ever to live. After a lot of conflict, I found nutrition, and I minored in theater. My senior year I got a job at PBS and was a writer and producer on a kids' news show called What's In the News and there I realized that I could be in nutrition media! I moved to New YorkCity and worked many, MANY odd jobs in entertainment while pursuing my MS/RD at Columbia University. In 2006, I opened my first version of my show for free in Central Park. Through performing with my band, I decided to take the show in the rock 'n roll direction. And here I am, in 2008, with a very clear product, a live show and audio CD. I'm now working on taking this project into other mediums.
How did you move to New York and tell me a bit about the jobs you have held to support yourself?
Jill Jayne:
I got a Uhaul! Seriously, on the day of my graduation from undergrad, I dumped everything I owned into a Uhaul and with my parents help, moved into a little closet on the Upper West Side. I went to Penn State, where they have cows and amish people, so it was a really difficult adjustment. I was very naive, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I took every opportunity that came my way: I was a promotional DJ at Radio Disney, I was a production assistant on a reality tv show, I was a singing waitress in Times Square, I worked for promotional companies handing out fliers, I worked as a sales associate in an eco-friendly gift shop, I taught in after school programs around the city, I was a character at children's birthday parties. All these things paid little or sometimes nothing. But each job was a serious contribution to what I am currently doing. Oh, and I was public school teacher in New York! You have to add that to the list! Very hard.
What kind of support did you get from your parents? How did they instill confidence and courage in you?
Jill Jayne:
I jokingly call what I have"dynamite butt."--a drive that propels you forward but you can't quite explain. I have always had an unbelievable drive and my parents have fostered my desires and creativity since I was a baby. My mom is an artist and my dad is a contractor, so they are very creative people. They have loved me unconditionally throughout my life and even when things weren't looking so good, they believed that I knew best. This is incredibly difficult for most parents! Creative thought. Thinking for yourself. I can hear my mom talking right now!
If you didn't have this kind of support do you think your current success would have been possible? If so, how?
Jill Jayne:
No. Absolutely not. Although I have friends that live here in the city, very few of them can love me unconditionally or could drop everything they were doing to help me move. I even wrote in my CD jacket a thank you to my parents for what they've done. It is a gift and what I've done wouldn't be possible. From the way they raised me to the support they've given me over my career.
Tell me about body acceptance and empowerment? And have you ever had an issue with body acceptance?
Jill Jayne:
Surely! And I think this is an issue for every woman, and every person that has gone through puberty! SERIOUSLY! Personally, I have taken this on as a cause in the work that I do and believe that by teaching kids about being healthy, that it is a form of empowerment-- not being at the whim of every advertisement that tells you you aren't good enough or that a product is going to make you happy. For the age group that I work most with (K-5) empowerment is through exercising and eating healthy. THAT is the power. That YOU make the choices for your health. I have always been really tall and thin... which used to be framed as "bean pole" and other unattractive names, but as an adult, this isathletic, statuesque, and powerful. It is really all a matter of words and your own perceptions of who you are. I carry that message with me in all that you do: you are different and that's OK!!!!!
Did you take offense at being called names?
Jill Jayne:
No, I took it more as part of my driving force to do something great; that must sound very strange but it was more like an"I'll show them"attitude. I had no qualms about chasing a bigger dream because I would never look back. You are a take charge type of person and so what can you tell someone who is hurting and isn't as strong as you how to stay focused and go after your dreams, Jill? Keep all the notes that people write to you and put them on your refrigerator. Read them every time you open the refrigerator. Reach out to people you care about and tell them how much you care about them decide what you'd like to see happen in your life. make a plan. set realistic time goals for completing each task. Find experts in your field, or others aspiring on similar paths and talk with them. Keep a journal of your progress. Celebrate small victories even personal ones.
What have been your biggest obstacles and how did you overcome them?
Jill Jayne:
My greatest obstacle has mostly been financial. New York City is a very expensive place to live, and Columbia is a very expensive school. Running your own business is also very expensive. But I do face many barriers with my own art, and those have gotten much better as I've gotten more experience. I used to HATE to look at pictures from photo-shoots. I just hated having to be so critical of myself. Now, I feel like I can be more objective, which has just come with an increase in quality of my work and experience behind the camera, and my experience with critiquing myself. I also hired a full time assistant who can take on many of the jobs that I really hated, like cold calling people for interviews. Now she can just give me a list of people who said yes, instead of me having to look at the very long list of people who said no. Again, a lot of this comes back to money because I could never afford to have an assistant! And now that I can, I have improved my own mental health! Getting started is the hardest part! Now that I'm in motion, it is much easier to protect my creative juices so that I can put them toward creating instead of worry or self-pity.
Does building momentum inspire you?
Jill Jayne:
Yes!!!! I'm a runner, so I think of life/careers in terms of a path. I started on a road that wasn't made at all. I had to carve it out. It wasn't a very good road, and not many people wanted to take it. Now that it's paved everyone says, why didn't we take this road before. It's like now the road is on GPS. So now I'm working on letting everyone know that the road is here and that they should take it and why(pitching to partners, broadcasters, agents... etc).
Why children? Why health? And why Music?
Jill Jayne:
I really like kids. That's really a hugh part of it. When I was making my CD, my producer pointed out to me that I have the brain of a 6 year old (he had the brain of a 10 year old). It's just really where my sense of humor lies. I also believe that instilling healthy habits at a young age is really important, and the media I produce has to be competitive with the other media that kids see. That has taken several years for it to be that. I believe that getting kids to be interested in their health is actually an insight into other problems and solutions. For example, when I first started running, it was like I had just struck the lottery. I was confident, I was sleeping better, I felt AWESOME. I feel like I did better in school, I liked school more. In that same way, kids can learn about math and science through learning about nutrition, and that's the approach that I take in the show, using cross-curricular instruction. Music is my life. I have been a performer and songstress for a long time. Everyone always wondered why I spent so much time developing these talents when I was just going to be a dietitian... and now the "get it" where as I feel like I had a vision for this all before I even really knew what i was doing. Combining these things was a really important part of me and what I do for a job. I am fulfilled and it shows on stage. When I do my teen show, I talk a lot about this because I think so many teens are told that they have to go to college and get a job and hate it. I get to do my hobby for a job. Which is not to say that there aren't parts that I don't HATE TO DO like any other job, but feel like what I'm doing is really important work, so I get through even the bad stuff!
What would you say to others who want to work with children? What wisdom would you impart?
Jill Jayne:
Spend a lot of time with them. Know how they think. Know what is cool; what toys are selling; What shows are popular; Talk like a kid. Kneel. Be silly. They will take you a lot more seriously. Be a good role-model. If you want to teach them about eating more healthy, make sure you pack a healthy lunch, they notice everything.
You were saying to had to pitch ideas elaborate on this. I didn't mean to cut you off.
Jill Jayne:
I was just talking about taking the show into multi-media there are many possible future platforms and almost any of them will do, it's just getting it there, which is no small feat! Rejection is a very important part of my job.
How do you deal with rejection?
Jill Jayne:
When rejected (they say "no")I try to find out what it was that they didn't like. You have to learn to BE NICE, even when people tick you off. Gather that criticism, whether in a word file, journal, or just make a note, and see if there are trends in your feedback. Rarely is it: "We don't like you."It's: "We don't feel like the recording quality is professional enough." "Writing isn't this or that." Whatever! Take note... because that may mean it's time to pay for a professional recording! This isn't always the case though. Sometimes you may be selling to the wrong person. Basically, my biggest piece of advise is to look at who you are talking to and notice trends across feedback. Sometimes people are jerks, but trust me, people are not going to go out of their way to tell you you stink. Use the feedback you get to improve what you are making.
Anecdote: (I'm going to tell a story) I got an email recently from a school principal who LOVED our kids' show and our middle school show. I mean seriously, he thought we were the best thing that ever hit the school system. He emailed me to see if we could develop a curriculum and show that could teach internet safety. Normally I take this type of feedback into consideration, for example, when I was performing the show, people were saying,"where can I buy your cd?" I had to say...it isn't for sell yet. So I went into production with a CD, because it was important to my BRAND that I have a CD. Now the CD can do work for me when I'm not working. Developing a show in internet safety-- even though he was ready to sign up THAT DAY-- really only makes more work for me. So this doesn't sound too much like criticism, but I think a lot of the issues I face with my own self-respect is that I can't give everyone what they want all they time. I want to please everyone and I want them to be happy and I want them to like me and even though this guy loved us, we didn't have the next thing he wanted. It was hard to say no, I'll never have that.
Any parting words of wisdom and what types of contact info and other info you would you like included in the article, Jill.
Parting wisdom: Focused energy will pay off in the end. Don't give up!
Jill Jayne:
Jill Jayne, MS, RD
President & Creative Director, Note to Health LLC
Nutrition Education through Entertainment
jill(at)jumpwithjill.com, www.jumpwithjill.com
Angelia Miller is the founder of Diva Maverick Mavens www.divamaverickmavens.com a new bread of feisty, non-conformist adventure loving adrenaline-high entrepreneur. The tag line is: Empowering Women by Interviewing Empowered Women...Inspiring "You" to Take ACTION! Casting exceptional dynamic talent for fresh content is the mission of Diva Maverick Mavens. The interview is in the original transcript with minimal editing to preserve the integrity of the content.
