Life & Work with Jennifer Cheek

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Cheek.

Hi Jennifer, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I spent 15 years working in the dental field and I never saw my life-changing directions like it has. It started in 2016 when we unexpectedly lost my grandfather. It was the first death experience for my son who is autistic. He would understand in the moment that his Papaw was gone but days later, he would start asking about it again. I wanted to do something to help him understand and get the closure he needed so I thought about writing him a story. One night, I woke up with the words flowing in my head and I wrote it all down. It took less than 20 minutes for me to write it and then I wasn’t sure what to do with it. At the same time, my cousin had been helping me get into the influencer marketing world on Instagram. I ended up meeting a fellow author through Instagram and she liked my story enough to share with her publisher. I published my book with a hybrid publisher and hired an artist in Mexico to be my illustrator. Once the book was published, a different publishing company contacted me and we worked together to make my book personalizable. You can now find my book “The Good Goodbye” with Mind+Matter books out of the United Kingdom. I have had other opportunities to create more books but my son and I have focused on raising awareness for autism through our social media platforms for the time being. We love sharing products and places that others with autism may enjoy. Our goal is to shine a positive light on autism and help others on their journey.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Back when I was still working in dental full time, my son was born and diagnosed with autism by age three. It quickly became a world I could not navigate easily and my anxiety was making me miserable. I was working at a job I thought I loved but the added stress of needing that job plus being a mom and a wife finally became too much. I always thought leaving my career and changing my lifestyle would be such a hard adjustment. I decided to trust God and take that leap of faith by quitting my job. Once I did that, things have fallen into place just as they should. Any type of work I do now on social media is done from home while I am raising my son and we couldn’t be happier.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I have recently started writing a blog called The Joys of Autism. It is still in its new stages with me trying to figure out how often to post and what content is worth sharing. My goal is to share our story with other parents so they can get ideas of things to try with their kids. I did not have anyone in my life that had raised an autistic child so my husband and I were left to figure things out on our own. I would love to give insight to what things have and have not worked for us.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I don’t think of myself as a risk taker but I have really had to step out of my comfort zone to publish a book and share our autism journey online. I had to put thousands of dollars into my book without knowing if it would pay off. Financially, I made my money back but all the opportunities that came from the decision to publish has been the biggest pay off. Also, sharing my personal life with everyone online has always felt uncomfortable for me but so many people reach out and tell me I inspire them so I know it is something I need to keep doing.

Contact Info:

• Email: Officialjenc@gmail.com
• Website: https://thejoysofautism.blogspot.com/?m=0
• Instagram: www.Instagram.com/officialjenc
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialjenc/
• Other: https://mind-matter.com/products/the-good-goodbye