Going it alone: building a life and a business after your marriage crumbles. An interview with Jennifer Magley

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Jennifer Magley

Jennifer Magley

Single parenting can be really hard.  Jennifer Magley talks about the unrelenting days, the economic challenges, and the misperceptions she regularly confronts as a woman of color. Jennifer also shares about rebuilding after loss, resiliency, the secret society of single moms, and how to help someone while still maintaining boundaries.

You can listen to the Handle with Care podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or Spotify. Or you can listen here:

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This important conversation was sponsored by FullStack PEO.  With experience in payroll and benefits, they take care of your people so you can take care of business. 

We are also sponsored by Handle w/ Care HR Solutions.  We all fall down, but empathy coaching through Handle with Care HR Solutions helps you create a community where people survive, stabilize, and thrive after life knocks them down.

I come away with many, many takeaways from my conversation with Jennifer, but I will close with just three.

  1. Jennifer said that she needed friends that were just available to listen, friends that sent text messages and were present with her as she worked her way through pain.  Be that friend…but don’t be afraid to communicate your boundaries.  If it is a difficult time for you to talk, communicate your constraint.  “I’m so sorry that you are going through this and I’m glad you reached out.  However, I’m at work right now and can’t talk.  Can I give you a call tomorrow night to hear more?”  A statement like this shows care while still communicating your limitation.

  2. Unlike a diagnosis or a death, men and women that go through a divorce often don’t receive an outpouring of support.  Friends and coworkers can be afraid of taking sides.  But, divorce can still turn your world upside down and leave you reeling.  So, if you are a friend or a coworker, consider sending a card, writing a check, or bringing a meal.  It could mean so very much. ‘

  3. Disruptive life events are universally hard...and they can be even harder if you are part of a minority.  Talking with Jennifer widened my perspective in an important way.  As a white woman, there is a lot that I am still learning about what it means to be a part of a minority in America.  Jennifer offered us a window into her experience:  the economic hurdles of making less and the social hurdle of people’s assumptions because of her skin color.  I want to keep learning, listening to stories and doing the grinding work of taking a long look at how I make these assumptions and how I help to perpetuate these hurdles in my personal interactions. 

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If you want to learn more about Jennifer, check out her work here: