Hi y'all, Jodie here!

First of all I want to say thank you so much for being here, Listen Journal has been a long time coming, a true labour of love and has taken many forms before arriving at this concept. I hope everyone will bare with me as I navigate this new space and build this platform from the ground up! This journal is meant for collaboration and my hope is that it grows beyond what I originally intended and shapes into what the community wants and needs.

So who am I and what is Listen Journal?

I am a two time British Olympian, coffee lover and passionate advocate for women and girls globally. I was born and raised in Hertfordshire, England before moving to the US aged 22, I am currently based in Atlanta, Georgia.

As an athlete I experienced "success" at a very formative age and spent most of my teenage years in the medias eye. When I was coming up mental health was not something that was discussed, especially within sports and we were very much expected to be a monolith of wholesome, positive energy. The industry was also extremely male dominated so I spent much of my time surrounded by masculinity. This had a profound effect on the parts of me I thought were acceptable and which parts needed to stay firmly hidden. I buried all things associated with weakness; my empathetic nature, my quirks, my sadness, my awkward character and created a new, inscrutable version of Jodie.

I once allowed these things to hinder my interactions, I always wanted to connect with people on a meaningful level, I just didn't know how! Now, 10+ years on I have embraced the exact things I once thought were weakness. I know vulnerability to be strength, feminine energy to be powerful, failure to be the greatest teacher and wear my awkwardness on my sleeve.

With Listen I hope to create a community for women to come together and connect over mutual experiences. As the world becomes more and more polarised and popular opinion takes the place of critical thinking, I see less and less opportunity for genuine connection. I want to reintroduce nuanced discussion without shame attached, curating empathy and holding space for a variety of voices, so that we can see the similarities between us, especially in those with different lived experiences. I hope this will be a place to find useful, accessible resources and finally a place to be seen and accepted as you are.