What happens when women don’t just show up for a workout… but for each other?

In this episode of Live Your Jam, Ellen McGinnis sits down with Pam Stafford, community leader, former mayor, and the creator of a dance-based fitness class that has been running for over 46 years.

What started as a simple aerobic class became something much deeper. A space where women of all ages, from their 40s to their 90s, come together to move, connect, and build something that goes far beyond fitness.

Because this isn’t really about choreography, calorie burn, or getting it “right.”

It’s about consistency, belonging, and what happens when people feel seen in a space they return to week after week, year after year.

From leading a city through economic hardship to leading a room full of women through movement, Pam shares what it actually takes to build trust, community, and something that lasts. And why, after 46 years, women are still walking through those doors.

If you’ve ever struggled to stay consistent, find your people, or create something meaningful… this conversation will change how you think about all of it.

You will learn:

• Why women are more consistent when community is present
• What 46 years of teaching reveals about human connection
• The difference between a class and a true community
• How movement strengthens both mental and emotional health
• Why learning choreography challenges and protects your brain
• The leadership traits that build long-term trust and loyalty
• How to create spaces where people feel welcomed and seen
• Why perfection doesn’t matter, but showing up does
• The role of movement in healing, especially during hard seasons
• Why meaning, not motivation, is what keeps people coming back

👉 Watch the full conversation and subscribe for more stories about intuition, purpose, and living your jam.

We talk about:

• 00:00 What keeps women coming back for decades
• 02:00 From local leadership to 46 years of teaching movement
• 05:00 Lessons from serving on city council and as mayor
• 08:00 Why this class feels different from traditional fitness
• 11:00 The power of multi-generational movement (ages 40 to 90+)
• 14:00 How consistency is built through connection, not discipline
• 17:00 Why choreography strengthens the brain and builds resilience
• 20:00 The mental challenge of learning something new
• 23:00 Movement as a tool for long-term cognitive health
• 26:00 How the class adapted and stayed alive during the pandemic
• 29:00 Why people needed movement and connection more than ever
• 31:00 Creating a space where everyone feels welcome
• 33:00 Why you don’t need to be “good” to start
• 35:00 The difference between showing up and belonging
• 38:00 What 46 years of this work has given Pam

Connect with Pam:

• Website: https://cityofrohnertpark.hosted.civiclive.com/city_hall/departments/community_services/classes/teens___adults/dancercise

Connect with Ellen

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liveyourjam
• LinkedIn: https://www.instagram.com/liveyourjam
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liveyourjam
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnj7_LS2kaxfyPsAd1Hne8g
• Website: https://liveyourjam.com/

What if the thing keeping you stuck… isn’t weakness, lack of discipline, or even trauma itself, but the story you’ve built to survive it?

In this episode of Live Your Jam, Ellen McGinnis sits down with psychologist, former Air Force captain, and trauma specialist Dr. Don Zaksek to unpack the silent reality many men are living through, high-functioning on the outside, quietly unraveling on the inside.

From combat veterans to elite performers, Dr. Don has spent decades working with individuals trained to endure, push through, and never break. But beneath that strength often lives isolation, shame, and a relentless inner narrative that keeps them stuck.

This conversation goes beyond surface-level mental health advice. It explores identity, purpose, emotional suppression, and what it really takes to heal when your default has always been survival.

If you’ve ever felt like you should be fine… but you’re not, this episode will challenge how you see yourself and what healing actually looks like.

You will learn:

• Why high-performing men often feel the most alone
• The difference between primary pain and the suffering we create on top of it
• How emotional numbness becomes a survival strategy (and why it’s so hard to break)
• What Dr. Don calls “the cracked lens” and how it shapes your reality
• Why over-responsibility leads to self-blame and burnout
• How trauma rewires your identity, not just your emotions
• The role of vulnerability in real, lasting healing
• What “healthy masculinity” actually looks like today
• How to reconnect with your inner voice when you’ve lost it
• Why meaning, not happiness, is what most men are actually searching for

👉 Watch the full conversation and subscribe for more stories about intuition, purpose, and living your jam.

We talk about:

• 00:00 Why men who “have it together” are struggling the most
• 03:00 Strength vs. suppression, what’s really underneath
• 06:00 The hidden cost of discipline, performance, and control
• 09:00 Primary vs. secondary suffering explained
• 12:00 Why numbness feels safer than healing
• 15:00 The loneliness epidemic in men and loss of meaning
• 18:00 The “cracked lens” and how trauma distorts reality
• 21:00 Learning to observe your thoughts instead of believing them
• 24:00 The role of vulnerability in healing
• 27:00 Reconnecting to your deeper self (self one vs. self two)
• 30:00 Why you don’t need to fix yourself, you need to understand yourself
• 33:00 Letting go of fear-based identity and control
• 36:00 What transformation actually looks like in real life
• 39:00 Choosing self-love when self-hatred feels justified

Connect with Dr. Don:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dzaksek
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576433303574
• Medium: https://medium.com/@dzaksek

Connect with Ellen

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liveyourjam
• LinkedIn: https://www.instagram.com/liveyourjam
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liveyourjam
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnj7_LS2kaxfyPsAd1Hne8g
• Website: https://liveyourjam.com/

What if the exhaustion you feel isn’t burnout… but misdirected energy?

In this solo episode of Live Your Jam, Ellen McGinnis introduces what she calls The Quiet Revolution, a powerful shift where women begin reclaiming their energy from the systems, roles, and expectations that have quietly shaped their lives.

Through a deeply personal lens and grounded in systems thinking, Ellen unpacks why so many women feel depleted despite “having it all”, and how invisible labor, cultural conditioning, and societal structures have normalized self-sacrifice as identity.

This episode is not about blowing up your life. It’s about something far more radical, choosing yourself in small, consistent, courageous ways.

If you’ve ever felt like your energy is everywhere except where it truly matters… this conversation will help you see it, name it, and begin to take it back.

You will learn:

• Why women’s exhaustion is often rooted in systemic conditioning, not personal failure
• What “energy leakage” is and how it shows up in daily life
• How invisible labor impacts your mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing
• The difference between living from expectation, survival, and inner knowing
• A powerful exercise to audit your life decisions and reclaim clarity
• Why small, consistent choices create lasting personal transformation
• How to shift from “what’s needed of me” to “what is true for me”
• The role of attention and awareness in reclaiming your energy
• Why boundaries feel difficult, and how to begin setting them anyway
• How reclaiming your energy impacts your family, relationships, and future generations

👉 Watch the full conversation and subscribe for more stories about intuition, purpose, and living your jam.

We talk about:

• 00:00 Introduction to The Quiet Revolution and women’s energy
• 01:30 The question that can change your life
• 03:00 The hidden exhaustion many women feel
• 04:30 Systems theory and how it applies to women’s lives
• 05:30 Workplace structures and inherited expectations
• 06:30 Family systems and the invisible mental load
• 07:30 Cultural conditioning, religion, and self-sacrifice
• 09:00 Why selflessness became identity for women
• 10:00 Ellen’s personal story of work, motherhood, and burnout
• 13:30 Health breakdown and early signs of depletion
• 14:30 Moving to Switzerland and gaining perspective
• 16:00 Auditing your energy and life decisions
• 17:00 The reflection exercise (expectation vs survival vs inner knowing)
• 19:00 Patterns of self-abandonment and awareness
• 20:00 Why you don’t need to blow up your life to change it
• 21:00 The power of attention and where your energy goes
• 22:00 Asking “what is true for me”
• 23:00 The Quiet Revolution explained
• 24:00 Feminine energy vs hustle culture
• 25:00 Living in alignment instead of performance
• 26:00 Invitation to Inner Courage workshop

Resources:

• Inner Courage Workshop

Connect with Ellen

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liveyourjam
• LinkedIn: https://www.instagram.com/liveyourjam
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liveyourjam
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnj7_LS2kaxfyPsAd1Hne8g
• Website: https://liveyourjam.com/

If you have ever wondered why you react the way you do, especially in moments of stress, conflict, or growth, this conversation will feel like someone finally handed you the missing map.

In this episode of Live Your Jam, Ellen sits down with renowned Enneagram teacher and coach Beth McCord for a powerful and deeply practical exploration of self awareness. Together, they unpack why the Enneagram goes far beyond surface personality traits and instead reveals the core motivations quietly driving our behaviors, decisions, and emotional patterns.

Beth shares her personal journey from feeling overlooked as a Type Nine to building a global platform that has trained thousands of coaches worldwide. Through real stories and clear examples, she explains how understanding your Enneagram type can help you notice unconscious habits, regulate your responses under pressure, and move toward healthier patterns in leadership, relationships, and everyday life.

If you are ready to stop reacting on autopilot and start leading your life with intention, this episode offers both insight and practical next steps.

You will learn:

1. Why the Enneagram focuses on motivations, not just behaviors
2. How childhood coping strategies shape adult leadership patterns
3. The difference between healthy and unhealthy expressions of your type
4. How to use the Enneagram as an internal GPS for personal growth
5. Why high performers often stay stuck without deeper self awareness
6. How to recognize your triggers and course correct in real time
7. What makes each of the nine Enneagram types distinct
8. How faith, psychology, and personality work can complement each other
9. Why understanding yourself is the first step to living your jam

👉 Watch the full conversation and subscribe for more stories about intuition, purpose, and living your jam.

We talk about:

1. 00:00 Welcome and why the Enneagram still matters
2. 01:00 What makes the Enneagram different from other personality tools
3. 03:00 Beth McCord’s origin story and pivotal turning point
4. 07:00 The Type Nine pattern of self overlooking
5. 10:00 Using anger and activation as growth fuel
6. 13:00 Internal motivations versus external behaviors
7. 18:00 The Enneagram as your internal GPS
8. 22:00 Overview of the nine Enneagram types
9. 28:00 The Type Eight and vulnerability paradox
10. 34:00 Nature versus nurture in personality development
11. 41:00 Integrating faith and...

Some call it a passion. Others call it a side hustle. But beneath the labels is something more honest, the quiet pull that never fully goes away, no matter how busy or accomplished life becomes.

In this episode of Live Your Jam, Ellen is joined by three lifelong friends, Amy Moskalewicz of Campbell & Co, Juliann Reviglio of Simply Scrumptious, and Laura Reilly of Chicago Wilderness Alliance, for a deeply human conversation about purpose, timing, fear, and the courage to follow what you love.

Together, they explore what it looks like to answer an inner calling alongside real life responsibilities. From environmental conservation and leadership, to building a family-run event business, to launching a cottage baking brand and supporting women through hair loss, each story reveals the same truth: purpose doesn’t shout, it persists.

This episode unpacks why meaningful work often calls louder later in life, how passions evolve through seasons of career and motherhood, and why listening to that inner nudge isn’t selfish, it’s stabilizing. You’ll hear about imposter syndrome, saying yes before you feel ready, and how following what you love doesn’t require burning your life down, it can quietly enrich it.

You will learn:

1. Why the pull toward meaningful work never fully disappears
2. How passions evolve across careers, motherhood, and life transitions
3. Why timing matters, and why it’s rarely accidental
4. How fear and imposter syndrome show up when you pursue what matters
5. The power of saying yes before you know how
6. Why purpose-driven work expands your life instead of replacing it
7. What happens emotionally when you ignore what you love for too long
8. How to trust your instincts when the path isn’t linear
9. Why following what you love is courage, not indulgence

👉 Watch the full conversation and subscribe for more stories about intuition, purpose, and living your jam.

We talk about:

1. 00:00 Welcome and why this conversation matters now
2. 01:00 The shared truth, doing the thing you can’t not do
3. 03:00 Lifelong friendships and how purpose reveals itself over time
4. 05:00 Conservation, caretaking, and impact beyond job titles
5. 09:00 Building a creative business alongside a full-time career
6. 12:00 Family, creativity, and collaboration across generations
7. 15:00 Starting something new later in life
8. 18:00 Baking, creativity, and trusting yourself before you feel ready
9. 21:00 Supporting others through meaningful, heart-led work