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Need a reminder that there is light at the end of the tunnel? In this special XL episode, we are continuing our series on women who beat the odds with Jennifer McAleer, founder of the revolutionary fertility foods company Jade & Jo. Learn how Jennifer overcame low AMH and recurrent miscarriage naturally at 43, then turned her pain into purpose. You will love her! Learn more about Jade & Jo at https://www.jadeandjo.com
Transcript:
Hey gorgeous, if you want success on your fertility journey, you’ve got to have the mindset for it. It’s time to kick fear, negativity, doubt, shame, jealousy, and the whole clown car of low vibe fertility journey BS to the curb. I’m your host, Roseanne Austin, Fertility Mindset Master. Former prosecutor and recovering type A control freak perfectionist.
I use the power of mindset to get pregnant naturally and have my baby boy at 43, despite years of fertility treatment failure. I help women across the globe beat the odds on their fertility journey just like I did. Get ready for a quick hit of confidence, joy, feminine badassery, and loads of hell yes for your fertility journey.
It’s time to get fearless baby, fearlessly fertile. Let’s do this. Welcome to the Fearlessly Fertile Podcast, episode 24. From miscarriage to making a difference. Hey, goo! I am so diggin this series of the extra large episodes of the Fearlessly Fertile Podcast that the team and I are putting together for you.
I am positively driven to share inspiring stories of how powerful you can be on this journey when you take control of what you think and believe. Aisha, Jennifer, Rachel, and our special guest today, Jennifer McAleer, the founder of the groundbreaking fertility foods company, Jade and Joe, all represent what it means to be a woman who isn’t taking no for an answer on this journey.
These women are the very essence of Hell Yes, and I am crazy about each of them. I bet you are too. I want you to see what a difference it can make to cover your base’s mind and body on this journey, so you don’t look back on it with regret. Each woman’s story underscores how you can be doing all of the physical stuff amazingly, but it isn’t until you get your mind on board that shit really starts popping.
The past becomes irrelevant, statistics are no longer verdicts, and the truth that you are meant to be a mom is brought to its fucking glorious fruition. As I say in my book, all of the treatments, diets, lotions, and potions that we do on this journey, while they’re amazing, they are absolutely nothing without you.
You are the silver bullet you are looking for, my darling. And you know what? If you haven’t had a chance to read my book yet, I want to give you a free copy as a gift. Go to www. frommaybetobaby. com forward slash free book, and I’ll give you a free copy. Now, back to Jennifer McAleer. I love this woman. I truly feel like we’re sisters from another mother.
No nonsense, driven, and committed to her vision, she is a powerhouse. I used to think it was kind of unfair that I get to work with some of the most amazing women in the world. It’s not. It’s what I always wanted, and I made the decision to manifest exactly that. It’s what happens when you make a decision.
That’s exactly what you will find that Jennifer did. Not only did she decide to kick recurrent miscarriage in the face, she also made the commitment to serve and empower other women on this journey with the ability to nourish their bodies with fertility friendly foods that are not only delicious, but easy.
Jennifer is making it easy as fuck for women to support their hormone and fertility health with Jade and Joe’s offerings. As a professional like us, she gets how hard it is to juggle all the things we’ve got to do to support our bodies on this journey. Her work is about having it all families. We love careers that we’re proud of and living on purpose.
This woman turned her pain into purpose. So she gets mad respect for me. And as soon as you’re done listening to this podcast, all do yourself a favor, go blow up jadeandjoe. com invest in yourself, invest in your journey and get some of their amazing offerings. Here’s my conversation with Jennifer. One of the things that has been on my mind and in my heart.
Over the past few episodes is really bringing you stories of women who have triumphed on this journey and and women who have beaten odds the first person that I thought about when I considered the the notion of Beating the odds taking a stand For being a mom and not taking no for an answer is our guest.
Her name is Jennifer McAleer. She is the founder of Jade and Joe, an innovative fertility foods company. It’s dynamic. It’s exciting. And what I love most about it is it comes from a place of love and a place of compassion. And a real desire to empower women on their fertility journey. And Jennifer is here with us today to share her story and to share the evolution that led her to be the leader and to be the innovator that she is today.
And so thank you so much for being with us today, Jennifer. Thanks for having me. Yeah. So tell us a little bit about your story. Like, how did you even find yourself on your fertility journey? Well, when I was about 39 years old, I became pregnant very easily with my first child, Joaquin. And a couple of years after that, we were ready to add to the family and I never really considered that I would, I would have any fertility issues, even though I was of, you know, the dreaded advanced maternal age, as they say, I got pregnant rather quickly.
And at, uh, 10 weeks with that pregnancy, uh, I miscarried and I was, I was just kind of blown away by that experience. We tried again, and again, and again, and the result was the same. I just could not sustain a pregnancy. And I did finally go to an RE, and I got all the tests, all the numbers, and when the, you know, when my results actually came back, my AMH was 05.
which is incredibly low, and they did not even consider me for IVF. I had a really, a very ethical doctor who said it would just be a waste of money, which was, of course, devastating, but there was no way that I was just gonna give up. And it, it was really at that point where I started to seek out different kinds of treatments, acupuncture, yoga.
I, I looked into, to fertility diets. I actually discovered Circle and Bloom and you at that point, but it was just taking control back, taking things into my own hands where I knew I could not. rely on, on medicine, uh, or really on, on anybody else at that point. And I met a brilliant acupuncturist who really started to examine my diet.
I think I didn’t know enough to, to lie to her about what I was eating, which is a good thing because I love You know, really bad things like, you know, cheese doodles and M& M’s and things like that and then I, I would unabashedly eat them all the time. And so I, I started to incorporate just organic produce and organic meats and Um, making sure fiber was good, but not, not so strict that it wasn’t sticking with me.
I don’t think that, you know, a lot of us go into this and we learn about fertility diets and we feel like we have to just go off the deep end and immediately take out all of our pleasures and you never drink a glass of wine or a cup of coffee, which by the way, I never gave up. I, when I was pregnant, I did not drink wine, but leading up to that, I certainly would have a glass or two.
After about a year of following that diet and doing meditation and just sort of letting go and trusting my body to do what it naturally can do. Uh, I got pregnant and Jade is now three and a half years old. Yes. The miracle girl. I can’t even, Oh my gosh. I can’t even believe she’s three and a half. Like that, that blows my mind.
It seems like yesterday you were pregnant with her. You know what I love about that is the idea of taking your future, your fertility future, your future as a mom and your future that you wanted to create in your own hand. So let’s talk about that because that’s a gangster move. Most people don’t. you know, on this journey when, when there’s, when they get numbers like the 0.
05 AMH, like they, they get these, these things that could derail them, you know, a lot of times they get, you know, people end up feeling like they’re a deer in headlights. And the idea of taking their future into their own hands is completely for it because somebody in a lab coat. Gave them this diagnosis and it’s like that’s it.
That’s the authority So talk to us about that because because that is the marker for success So talk to us about that. Yeah, I I remember getting you know, getting that those those labs back and Immediately going to Google which just probably a huge mistake and I don’t recommend anybody doing that although I know it’s It’s hard for us to stay off of Google University, but, um, 05 was, I mean, that’s pretty much perimenopause.
You’re, you’re just. Right at the end and I was speaking to my, to my acupuncturist after I got those numbers back and she looked at me and she just said, it’s just information. I never, I never really took that approach where somebody just gave me information. It was just information. I said, fine, you’re right.
I don’t care what they say. I don’t care if they don’t want to help me. I will find another way. And I was not, I was not giving up. And I didn’t. Yeah, clearly. Because you have the family that you desire, you, you know, you just kept going, and, and I love that because it really is something that needs to be said, it’s something that needs to be reiterated, is Those numbers are just information and what’s hilarious is in my practice and my coaching practice It’s loaded with physicians and they tell me the same thing There are reasons why some of them stop having their their they stop looking at the numbers because they realize that you know as Wonderful as medicine is as amazing and miraculous is the things that medicine is doing these days and the great work people are doing in that area.
It’s not the end all be all. Like, nobody has cracked the code. And so they’re not, so, and that’s actually exciting because that means that, hey, so you’ve got this, this, uh, this aspect that you can use of medicine, but there’s this whole wealth of other things, other disciplines, other modalities, other options.
So let’s talk more about that because, I mean, you, you talked about finding a great acupuncturist, looking at your diet. Let’s talk about that diet thing a little bit more because you’re absolutely right. Like that, that, I don’t know what it is about the diet, but we can get really crazy about that. Super judgmental and torment ourselves.
So tell us a little bit about that. Like what was in you? Did you bring out in order to not have to go psycho on your food? Well for one thing I I love food, uh, you know, I grew up in a household where Food and emotion kind of went hand in hand and and family and it’s kind of the italian side of the family It’s so completely giving up cooking or things that I loved It just wasn’t an option had to figure out a way that I could make it work for me for my lifestyle and When I started to learn about, you know, maybe non organic food, or estrogenic foods, or inflammatory foods, and I would go to the store, and I like to make things from scratch, but sometimes, I, I already had, you know, a young child, it was not practical, uh, but everything in the store it’s.
Was loaded with all of the no nos, and so I found that incredibly frustrating, and so I did take the time to start incorporating, um, something as simple as, you know, a rice dish, or, or some couscous had some processed soy in it, and I just wanted to try to eliminate things One by one and incorporate better things for me.
And so just putting in a little bit of effort to make sure that just a little side dish wasn’t going to send my hormones kind of out of whack was the first step. And then. The frustration started to grow as I was trying to conceive again, and I started making, um, snacks for myself. Just everything from scratch.
I just grabbed a bunch of stuff that I had wished was on the shelf and started to experiment in my kitchen. And it really was at that point that I realized that there was nothing Really out there for women in, in my situation that would make it easy. Nothing that kind of jumped out and said, if you eat this, you’ll be fine.
And you know, you’re, you’re sticking to your, your fertility friendly or hormone friendly diet, and you can also enjoy yourself. And so making snacks and things like that was really the beginning of, um, of how I incorporated better nutrition and. You know, it planted the seed, uh, for, for the company later on, but I think the most successful way you can change your diet is doing it a little bit at a time.
I gave up dairy, which was, that was not easy, um, swapping out regular conventional meats for organic, same with produce. Uh, I got very into the environmental working group to, you know, to kind of learn more about pesticides and things like that. But again, slowly, small bites, and, uh, and it stuck. And even though I, I, I, I’m not trying to conceive now, I have still stuck to that diet.
And my children are on that kind of diet where they, I just won’t allow certain things. Uh, into the house and I love that because I mean, what you’re demonstrating here is, is something that I talk about a lot is the lessons that we learn on this journey are going to support us and we will use them as mothers because think about it.
I mean, I a hundred percent agree with you. I mean, Asher has never had meat that is not grass fed organic. Like if we are out and about and I can’t be a hundred percent sure of what the deal is with that meat. He does not eat that meat. And, you know, it’s just all of these things. I wasn’t, I didn’t end up getting too crazy about my diet after I came to from my fertility psychosis that I was under, but, you know, it became very clear that there are certain things that we can learn and that will definitely shape the way we parent.
What you were describing is a, is a wonderful example of that continuity between what we’ve, what we learn on this journey and what we pass on to our children. So one of the things that I also wanted to, to really hone in on based on what you were sharing with us is this idea of pleasure. Because you didn’t, I mean, you were very clear.
I didn’t, you know, I had my wine, I had my cup of coffee, like, tell us a little bit more about how important that aspect was to you and is to you in the food that you make through your company. I, yeah, I think, you know, we all worry that if we, if we go off of a strict diet or, you know, we skip our acupuncture appointment or, or whatever our regular routine is, that we’re completely erasing all of the work that we’ve done already.
And if I wanted a glass of wine while I was trying to conceive, uh, I had it and I had my coffee and I had occasionally. They actually have some organic cheese doodles. And so I would have my organic cheese doodles, but otherwise, you know, you want to eat the whole bag of something that’s not so, that’s not so good for you.
And I think, you know, the idea is if you have control of your diet, but it’s easy, you don’t really think about it. It’s not, we have enough going on. Trying to, trying to conceive and going to doctor’s appointments and, um, and taking meds and doing a number of other things that you kind of want your diet to just come easier and it shouldn’t be easy.
Bowls of kale, you know, and organ meats. It’s got to be delicious. It has to ensure that you’re not going to really get, you know, sugar spikes or, um, or have endocrine disrupting, um, chemicals attached to it somehow, either in the packaging or, or in the product itself. And if I feel that the The stress in that can, um, really be a deterrent and, and get people a little cuckoo.
And so, yeah, the idea behind Jade and Joe was to, is to create foods that, you know, you can eat, the teas that you know will support. Your cycle, just so that you don’t have to really think twice about it. Yes, yes. And I, what I was thinking when, you know, Jade and Joe became a reality, I was like, Oh my God, I, I wish that was there for me, you know, because it, it was so revolutionary.
So let’s talk about that. So 39, when you had your son, Joaquin, how old were you when you had Jade? 43. 43. Yup. And, and with a 0. 05 AMH. Yes. And you overcame a history of miscarriage. So you really, I mean, what I love about that is you have a street cred. of a woman who knows what the hell she’s talking about when, when she digs her heels in and is going to take a stand for what she wants.
Why your story is even more compelling is you didn’t just stop there. You made a decision to take what you learn, to take that inspiration. and create something and put something out into the world to serve other women. So let’s talk more about Jade and Jo. So what’s Jade and Jo all about? So Jade and Jo is really about making, making foods, um, easy to access for women who are trying to conceive and even women who Want to just maintain a good hormone balance so that could happen later in life and it could happen while while you’re trying to conceive But the foods that we create, you know, there are standards to them So the the ingredients need to be organic.
They need to have a certain amount of fiber protein No added sugar, no refined sugar, nothing artificial, nothing that causes really kind of sugar spikes or, um, which can really significantly mess with your hormones. No dairy. We’ve kind of been sticking to, um, to vegan foods. Um, not strictly, but Because we find that there are a lot of things that are, that are inflammatory, that are animal based, and so we’ve kind of, we’re kind of going down that, that road.
We also created um, aphasic teas to help support, to, to support a menstrual cycle and hormone balance. And so it’s, those are a little bit different than your typical fertility teas because They are phase specific. There are three different T’s that you take at different times in your cycle to support ovulation, luteal phase.
Premenstrual or menstrual, it’s, you know, depending on where you are, uh, in your journey. And that just really helps balance you out. And they’re safe to take if you are doing, uh, IVF, although I always recommend just discussing that with your doctor. with a physician. And even if you’re taking Chinese herbs, you can still take the teas as well.
And the bars that we created have a nice balance, almost a meal replacement, but it’s got a nice balance of nutrition. And it’s, they’re actually quite good. My kids eat them all the time. So, yeah, those bars did sell out, uh, we’re working on, on replenishing stock and we’re, we’re also working on an additional, uh, flavor, which supports better digestion.
Because I know when you’re trying to conceive and even in early pregnancy. Uh, your digestive system gets a little bit slow, which can make anybody cranky. I know that’s, I know that to be true. So, we have a bar to specifically address that, and the good thing is it’s got a ton of fiber in it. Uh, and the other thing we’re working on, and we’re almost, we’re almost done, hopefully we’ll be done Right when the cold weather starts is a line of soup.
I honestly have to say they’re, they are super delicious. And my children keep, I’ve gotten samples from my producer and when they run out, my kids are always upset as am I. Again, they are, they’re balanced to give you the protein you need without spiking sugar, without dairy, without any kind of, um, a hormone interruption in them so that you know you’re eating something that will fill you up.
It tastes delicious and it will not affect anything as far as, as your fertility or your hormone balance. Wow. I mean, I love that you’ve got. The bars, the teas, and I, I gave the teas to all of the women that came to my retreat in Healdsburg last year, and I’m telling you, they just loved them. I love them because I have the teas.
This is so, it’s not just exciting from the standpoint of, of making the question of fertility nutrition simpler. What’s exciting is, is how you, overall, whether it was. Making the decision that you’re not giving up on your children, the children that you wanted to have and not giving up on this vision that you have for making a difference.
In the fertility world through these products, like, you’re a master manifester woman. You are demonstrating what is possible when a woman takes a stand for what she wants and continues to say yes. Because you know, whether it’s having babies or starting an incredibly, like having a startup innovative food company, that shit’s not easy.
That, none of that is easy and like, you know, in addition to, I mean, I want everybody listening to this to go to jadeandjoe. com, check out your teas. I know your bars are sold out and it doesn’t surprise me that they’re sold out. You’ve got this killer set of soups coming out, which I’m super excited to get my hands on too.
You know, tell us about. What had to shift in you for all of this? Because this is like bravery on steroids and, and I just, it excites me to think that everyone listening to this can, can find a way to incorporate this in their own lives. In addition to your teas and your soups and your bars and just be inspired by the story, tell us a little bit about really what it takes or like in.
to be in that place. The shift for me was it was not easy. And you know, we we always hear people say, you know, if I can do it, you can do it. And I don’t know the right way to drive this point home strong enough. But really, if I can change and I can, you know, face my saboteurs, which were frequent and big.
I really think that any woman can face their fears, dig in and do what they need to do and just keep doing the work. Um, none of it was, was simple. And knowing that the journey was the fertility journey was isolating. Um, and I, I understand that I’m right there with, with everybody understanding how that feels, even though I have.
a partner, even though I have friends, people don’t get it unless you’re in it, even your closest partner. And so every day I would be grateful for my son. I would not beat myself up for wishing that I had, you know, wishing that I could just be satisfied with my one child. Uh, and not feeling guilty for wanting another child, or never feeling guilty for what I desired.
And that was a daily battle, and it really, after practice, after gratitude, it does come naturally. And I, I, you know, I kind of name my saboteurs chickens. And so when I hear a chicken clocking, I kind of mentally flick it away. See you later. Because they come, they come often when, especially when you’re starting a, when there’s, when you have a startup company.
There’s so many hurdles, just like Fertility Journey, and I learned from there, keep doing the work, keep being grateful for what I had, and don’t let the chickens out of the coop. That’s how I got to, to, to this point. And it was with, you know, no sleep either. So. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think that’s why your story is so exciting and what you’ve been able to create in your life is so Just, it’s heartwarming.
I mean, I know that that may sound a little trite, but it’s just like, oh man, you know, from tragedy, from loss, from, from every reason to give up in the world, to two beautiful children, a life that you love, a company that’s making a difference. Who knew? This chick from Queens is like going and doing her thing and it’s, it’s just exciting.
It’s really, really exciting. So if you could just give one piece of advice to the women listening, what would that be? It may sound cliche, but don’t stop and don’t give up. You have to believe that you can achieve what you, uh, what you are after. And, you know, as Rosanna always tells you, your baby. Is waiting for you and don’t let those your own chickens creep up on you and tell you you can’t do what it is you want to do because you really can.
I mean, when we’re done here, I mean, you get to go and be with the living representations of you not giving up. Right. You know, you get to put your hands and your arms around your children and be like, I mean, they’re such the greatest reminders of, of how powerful you are and, and why it was so worth it to keep saying yes.
Man, Jennifer, I am so excited to share your story with everyone. So give us all of the details. How can we find Jaden, Joe, I know I said the the website, but give us a website, give us all your social, how can the, the audience just, you know, break the internet when it comes to your site, . So tell us how to do that.
So yeah, we’re at jaden joe.com. That’s the website. We also have, um, a shop on Etsy, which is Jaden Joe Foods. And that, uh, we have a special detox tea. that we just put out that we’re only selling via Etsy because it’s such a small amount of tea. And the cool thing about that tea is we collaborated with a company called The Roof Crop in Chicago.
They use organic plants and they grow everything on roofs, the roofs of Chicago. It’s an urban farm. It’s super cool. And it’s an umami detox tea. Uh, so that’s, that’s available on, on Etsy. And we, we recommend Using that T for about a week before you start the, the phasic T’s. And we’re also on Instagram, on Jade and Joe.
And we have a Facebook page as well. And there’s links throughout the site, uh, the website where you can find us on social media as well. Cool. And Joe is without an E, right? It’s J A D E and then J O dot com, right? Yes. Okay, great. Great. Oh my goodness, woman. Well, thank you for being with us. This is, oh man, this is, I’ve been really looking forward to, to chatting with you here and, and sharing the story.
So, I can’t wait for the ladies listening to check out your teas, check out the bars when they’re back in stock, check out those soups in time for the fall and winter. And definitely this umami tea, I’m all over that. Yeah. Who doesn’t love some umami from an urban farm? What you’re doing here is simply incredible because at every step of the game, it’s a reflection of what you value.
I think you’re a really amazing example. Not only of a woman who keeps saying yes, but a woman who lives by her values and that’s I mean that’s Integrity and and I think that it sets a really great example For the payoff of being a woman who lives With integrity, so thank you for demonstrating that for us.
Thank you for being with us and everyone check out jadeandjoe. com So thanks jennifer Thanks for having me. Loves, wasn’t Jennifer awesome? She embodies the trifecta of amazing. She’s a miracle mom, an unwavering purveyor of feminine badassery, and she’s a woman having an impact on the fertility world. I wasn’t kidding when I said that I get to work with some of the most amazing women in the world.
So Love, if you want to take what you learned in this episode to the next level, I want you to grab a piece of paper, like I always invite you to do, and I want you to write. It’s time for you to get crystal clear on whether you are living this journey on purpose, or are you just allowing your fear, freak out, negativity, and doubt to run the show.
Are you living it on purpose, or are you letting fear run the show? And, if you’re in a place today where you’re doing everything you can to get pregnant, and you are starting to worry that you are getting in your own way, And most importantly, you’re ready to do something about it, my darling. After having listened to this series of podcasts, it should be abundantly clear how powerful what you think and believe can be.
My ladies are women who leave no stone unturned and they are unavailable for looking back on their journey with regret. They cover their bases, mind and body. They think and believe and therefore act like women who succeed on this journey and that’s where they win. Enrollment in my new Fearlessly Fertile Method program is open.
This program is for women who intend to get pregnant in the next 12 months. It’s some of the best work I’ve ever done and I am extremely excited that it is out in the world and already changing lives. So if you’re doing everything you can to get pregnant physically and nothing’s working, we gotta take a look at your mind, my darling.
So, go to www. frommaybetobaby. com and you can apply for a breakthrough session with me and interview for a spot in my Fearlessly Fertile Method program. Again, www.FrommMaybeToBaby.com and right there on the home page you can apply for a breakthrough session with me. My methodology is help women around the world make their mom dreams come true and this could be the missing piece for you too.
Till next time my darlings. Change your mindset, change your results. Love this episode of the Fearlessly Fertile podcast? Subscribe now and leave an awesome review. Remember, the desire in your heart to be a mom is there because it was meant for you. When it comes to your dreams, keep saying hell yes.