BOSS Spotlight Feature: Jordan Madison

Jordan Madison is a marriage and family therapist, speaker, entrepreneur, and author of The CBT Journal for Mental Health. She’s the CEO of Therapy is my J.A.M. and believes in using her “J.A.M. Method” of journal prompts, affirmations, and mindfulness exercises to help prioritize mental health.

What were some obstacles that you faced in the beginning process of starting your business or
career? I think the hardest part for me was knowing when to leave my job and start my own practice. I
had been a part of the group practice for almost three years and it was not a decision I took lightly. So my
biggest obstacle was honestly myself and the fear that I was too young, didn’t know enough, or wouldn’t
be able to make a living for myself as my own boss.

What inspired you to break into your industry? I often say it was an episode of Grey’s Anatomy that made me want to be a therapist at 13. It was watching the main character in a therapy session and her therapist helped her to have an aha moment. And I knew I wanted to be able to do the same. To help people better understand themselves, patterns, meanings and relationships from their life. It wasn’t until my junior year of college that I became more focused on the type of therapist I would be and my why. Right before my junior year of college, Michael Brown was murdered and I found myself being so emotionally reactive and concerned with the facts of the story and how his family was doing. I began to realize how often Black lives are taken away from their families way too soon, and our communities are constantly having to process traumatic events. So I wanted to create a safe space for the Black community to heal.

How do you balance your personal and professional life, or have you been able to find a balance? I think being a therapist requires me to do so. I try my best to practice what I preach to clients. So if I’m telling them the importance and benefits of self-care, setting boundaries, and balancing the aspects of their lives, I should lead by example. Some of the ways I do so are not seeing clients on Fridays or the weekends, limiting myself to a certain amount of sessions per day, scheduling breaks in between sessions, journaling, reading, taking naps, and going to barre exercise clients. I also try my best to have a balance with my relationships, making time for family and friends and pouring into them. But also set limits if I have had a long day and am tired of holding space for people or talking. I think it also helps if some aspects of your professional life are things you genuinely enjoy so that it doesn’t always feel like work. For instance, I’ll be starting a yoga teacher training soon. While I hope to use being a yoga teacher as a way to reach more people and help them use their bodies to heal, yoga is also something I have always enjoyed doing and I’m looking forward to deepening my practice as well.

What is an inspirational quote that you live by? “When you live in love and light, you will not go unseen.” Not sure who said it or where I first saw it. But I think it embodies the mark I hope to leave on this world.

Who were some influential people or mentors who helped or encouraged you along the way? At the beginning of my career, my first boss was a great mentor and helped me to think long-term about what I wanted my brand and legacy to be. Once I started my own business, my financial planner and accountant have been a huge influence, helping me to be in a good financial state to take the risk, and showing me the numbers as encouragement along the way. An old supervisor of mine was also super affirming during my journey and helped me to feel confident in my knowledge and experience as a therapist. And of course, my family and friends have been huge parts of my support system. When I was worried about how I would afford anything or felt overwhelmed by my responsibilities they reminded me that I can do this and everything would be ok.

What are your "must-haves" to keep your career or business going strong? On the literal side, a working laptop lol, a great EHR platform to keep track of all of my client info, payments, and session notes, and maintain a social media presence. On a deeper level, I must have God, a belief in myself, discipline, the passion to create safe spaces and normalize therapy in the Black community, and practice self-care in the community, spiritually, physically, financially, mentally, and emotionally.

What is your definition of a BOSS? Someone who uses their skills and passion to create better opportunities for others.

Provide us with two words that describe you.  Safe-Space Curator.

Learn more about Jordan at:

Website: www.therapyismyjam.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/therapyismyjam

Twitter: www.twitter.com/therapyismyjam