Work From The Inside Out 113: From Grief to Giving, One Step at a Time with Jenny Lisk
At nine years old, Jenny Lisk wanted to be Perry Mason. She loved the books and watched the TV show, imagining herself as a lawyer and doing something meaningful. In college, still aiming for a legal career, Jenny studied political science and economics and enjoyed Washington, DC-based internships in both Congressional and Senate offices. After graduation, Jenny secured a policy role with the Chamber of Commerce in her hometown area of Seattle.
Unfortunately, the position at the Chamber was not what Jenny expected. She left the job with another plan in mind. She wanted to write a guidebook for interns in Washington, DC. To support herself, Jenny did bartending while she worked on the book. Researching the book became unwieldy and Jenny felt it was not going to be a success. At that time, she had become interested in website development and taught herself HTML. Jenny started a website design business and began to engage clients. While she enjoyed it, she felt she needed something more and decided to get an MBA. At this time Jenny met and married her husband, Dennis.
Upon graduation, Jenny was interested in technology yet she wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to do. Her sister worked for IBM in New York and offered to pass her resume around there. Fast forward, Jenny and Dennis moved to New York a few months later, and her 20-year corporate career began. They spent five years in New York and returned to the Pacific Northwest, to Portland, Oregon and later to Seattle as a family with two young children.
Jenny was growing restless in her job, but could not identify what else she wanted to do. Life continued to be busy with the demands of work and family. Then, one day Dennis said he had been feeling dizzy. After a few medical tests, Dennis was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. Jenny’s life literally changed overnight.
In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about Jenny’s journey:
- Jenny is an author, speaker, and host of the Widowed Parent Podcast, which has been featured in The Washington Post and Parent Map.
- Her 2021 memoir, Future Widow: Losing my Husband, Saving my Family and Finding my Voice, tells the story of her husband’s battle with glioblastoma and how Jenny was a caregiver, wife, mother, and full time IT business analyst at IBM all at the same time.
Learn more and connect with Jenny here:
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