When Jalynn was starting ALIVE, she was given a piece of advice by someone she respected that always stayed with her. “Surround yourself with people smarter than you!” On the one hand, it’s great advice. No one has all the answers! For a small business to thrive you need a team of people with different strengths, varied perspectives, and skills. She believes that “smart” is subjective, and that every individual brings numerous strengths that when combined, contribute to an exceptional team or community. This philosophy is integral to ALIVE’s ethos, which aims to enhance self-awareness and emphasize the importance of the company you keep. Jal believes that if you look at the rest of the ALIVE team, you will see that she is surrounded by exceptional individuals.

Jalynn has learned a lot as a business owner, mostly from trial and many errors, especially in the initial stages. When telling her story about getting ALIVE off the ground, she often talks about the beauty of being naïve. If she knew now, what she did not know then, ALIVE may never have happened. It would have seemed too daunting.  She is grateful she was just too persistent (stubborn) to give up. Some of her greatest lessons have stemmed from mistakes along the way, as well as countless meaningful conversations she has had with students and instructors. She seeks to be around people whose words and actions are aligned. Reliability matters to her greatly. She believes that time in nature, guided by strong role models can keep people anchored in the real world, and help maintain balance in today’s digital era. 

Jal often marvels that she still sleeps on a vinyl camp bunkbed mattress several weeks a year, often under some glow-in-the-dark stars and a wad of pink bubble-gum that seems almost as old as she is.  She likes that the smoke of a campfire is embedded into most of her clothes, and she still finds great joy, purpose and reward in the work she does. 

Jal leverages her diverse skill set in experiential program development to guide schools in creating tailored experiential programs that support their vision and strategic plan. She is a regular guest speaker in several B.Ed programs at various universities, is a keynote speaker and provides active consultation to schools on program development, risk management, and scope and sequence planning on a national and international level. She is a caring listener and someone who works diligently to nurture relationships that are rooted in honesty. One of her main goals with ALIVE is to empower young people to be authentic, confident and mindful, ideally guiding them towards a grounded, meaningful and intentional life.