Jenni Green, Photographer, Makeup Artist, Pet Mom

Jenni 0:00

If AI could go wash the dishes, do the laundry, that would be perfect.

Robb 0:12

Welcome to another episode of Chewing the Fat. I am your host, Big Robb. Thank you so much for the folks who have written reviews on Apple Podcasts. I certainly do appreciate that. It helps more folks find a podcast. And the folks who've given five-star ratings on like Spotify and Apple Podcasts, that helps too. And of course, the folks who supported the podcast by buying me a coffee at ChewingTheFatBR.com cannot keep going without you. So thank you so very much. It's a podcast where we tell beautiful, messy, human stories. And in front of me right now from Augusta. Please welcome Photographer Extraordinaire. It's Jenni Green.

Jenni 0:49

Hi.

Robb 0:50

Hey Jenni. How are you?

Jenni 0:51

Good. How are you?

Robb 0:52

I'm doing good. I'm doing good. Jenni is uh an old friend of mine. Not that she's old, I'm old, and she's we have known for gosh, over a dozen years, maybe. Yeah. Ten years or so, yeah.

Jenni 1:05

Yeah. I think it has been to twelve years. I think we met at Apple, right?

Robb 1:11

Yeah. Fruit stand, as we say.

Jenni 1:14

Working at the fruit stand and then just maintained that friendship ever since then. Neither one of us are there anymore.

Robb 1:21

So that's right. Well, uh Jenni is an amazing photographer. Matter of fact, any major milestones that I've had in in my life or my family, uh I've called upon Jenni to document through photography those things. Uh she did some great headshots that I still use, even though I probably should update those headshots uh for me. And uh uh when Jacob was taken off uh over to England to get married and stuff like that and took photos.

Jenni 1:51

Yes, that's right. The wedding.

Robb 1:53

The wedding uh

Jenni 1:54

wedding party.

Robb 1:55

The wedding party. Yeah, the the when they came back. Yeah, the U.S. the reception, U.S. reception, and yeah, all that. So you've you've been there, and and I can't think think of anybody better that I'd like to be there. So so one, thank you for that.

Jenni 2:07

Oh my gosh. I'm so honored to have even been asked by you.

Robb 2:13

No, you're great. You're great. So uh Jenni, you're over in Augusta. Is that uh home for you?

Jenni 2:19

Um so yes and no. North Augusta. I'm from North Augusta initially. Um I lived in North Augusta pretty much all of my life. Um I have jumped back and forth across the river um throughout time as well. So I've lived, you know, downtown and in Augusta and back to North Augusta um a few times. So yeah, the area in itself is just home to me, I guess, Augusta and North Augusta.

Robb 2:48

Yeah, yeah. Um now when you were growing up, was like photography a passion of yours? Um were you just liking to to capture moments like that? Or what what brought that kind of passion out? What were you like as a child?

Jenni 3:04

Yeah, so it's funny because I never I don't think so. When I was a kid, I kind of wanted to be what I think every human being has ever wanted to be when they grew up, which is a marine biologist. Oh I don't know why we all had that one career goal um in common, but I feel like so many people wanted to be that. Um and I photography and um you know I do makeup as well, and those type of things were not really ever on my radar, although I did really love art and art classes. Um I went to actually was gonna go to school for um fashion design or acting. Um I think once I got like in high school, those were some some goals of mine. And um, you know, you kind of just let what people say get into your head a little bit, and like you'll never make a living being an artist, or you know, that's has like a you know, one in ten chance of happening for you or whatever. So you just kind of go whatever the mo more secure ideal path would be. Um, but photography still it wasn't so as a kid and as a young person, um, I kind of just always loved taking pictures of things, and it didn't occur to me that I could do that for a living. Um, like I was the type of person who would see like a beautiful sunset or like a field of grass, and I would just stop the car and get out and take a picture. Um because I just loved finding moments like that and and just wanting to freeze it and like have it just last forever. Um and so I always loved to do that, and then at one point in time I was like, wait, maybe I can take this somewhere. And I was taking pictures all of the time anyway, so I shifted like my subject a little bit and tried to start taking pictures of people. And I had like my cousins, you know, model for me like in the in the early days, and my brother who like had started having a family, so I started taking pictures of him and his family. Um, and then it just went from there.

Robb 5:25

Yeah. Yeah. That's really cool.

Jenni 5:28

And I loved it. Yeah.

Robb 5:29

Yeah. It's it's so cool when you find something that kind of kind of ignites that spark that you have inside that you maybe had been, you know, sound like it laid dormant for a while because, you know, as we're creatures of community and some people are not kind, and they're like, oh, you can't do that, or you can't do that. You have to do you know, it seems like that always happens with, especially with people that want to do things in the artistic realm, a creative realm. It's like, oh, because I still get it. It's like, oh, how's that that old voice acting thing going? What's your what's your what's your backup plan? What's your you know what I mean? It's like nobody ever says that to a doctor. It's like, oh, how's that little doctor thing going? What's your real job gonna be?

Jenni 6:13

What is it gonna be? Right. You know, it's like the arts are meaningless in a sense. And it's like, no, they actually mean so much and they're fulfill they're fulfilling for so many people. And not to mention, you know, it it kind of makes the world go round, like having these memories and having, you know, entertainment and you know, hearing people's voices or watching TV. I mean, all of these things happen because of the arts. So it's it's not a backup plan, it's it's a it's a real thing.

Robb 6:46

Yeah, yeah. And and so many studies have shown that like if children are exposed to the arts or have the opportunity to take part in the arts in their, you know, school years, that they are so much more open and more intelligent, more adaptable, more you know what I mean, it makes them better people.

Jenni 7:09

Trevor Burrus Right. Just all around. Aaron Ross Powell Well-rounded, all around better people, yeah. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Yeah.

Robb 7:15

Not saying that they have to go into the arts. It's like but just to be exposed to that, to that different way of thinking, you know, as opposed to that kind of mathematical way of thinking, just you know, the artistic way of thinking, taking stuff outside of the box. I think that's very important. Um especially as we get into a realm where I say that art is being uh demonstratized and demonetized even more with like AI, because you don't have to have the creative process to do something with AI art or whatever like that. You just type in a few words, you know, write a poem about the sunset. And there it's and it's done for you, but yet you you didn't experience the sunset. How did you feel watching the sets? That's the important. How did you feel like what words did that evoke in you or or whatever, you know? Um I think that's the that's part of that cognition part of creativity is is connecting those dots within ourselves, within our our soul, our psyche, our you know that little thing that, like I said, that's that catches fire.

Jenni 8:31

Absolutely.

Robb 8:32

And when you take that part out and replace it with a five-word prompt.

Jenni 8:37

Right. You're just skipping over that. I mean, you're not I feel like to me, art a lot of times is a release, you know, and like um a way to feel things. And so if you're typing in a prompt, it you're just skipping over that part. And it's like, you know, for me, I'm I've always been very much into music as well. And so to me, a lot of you know, I look at mu music as kind of like a a poetry and a way to like feel things. So I'll only I only connect with lyrics that I can connect with. Um, and so that music is usually the most meaningful to me. And so like whenever I hear music, you know, I'll or new music, I'll open the lyrics, right? The the feature that shows you the lyrics as the song goes along, and I read the lyrics and I learn the lyrics a lot of times, and if it you know registers with me, if I can feel it, and I it can make me feel something, or like bring back up a past experience, or um bring up a a feeling that I'm currently having or something like that, it it's just kind of healing and it helps me to get through that. And so, you know, when you talk about AI and you just you really skip over the meaningful stuff, and I feel like art should really be something that makes you feel something, whether it be a photograph or a lyric or a poem or um you know, you're writing down your thoughts or how you feel, you know, it should come from from inside of of a human body, human mind, a human experience, yeah, not just a computer. So I'm really in that space right now with AI where I'm like really against I'm against it. But I know that you know, it's probably it's just like everything else that comes along. It's like it's here, and how do we figure out how to how to work with it? And hopefully people realize, you know, you see so many people posting photos and headshots and stuff online that you know they just put into chat GPT or whatever, some other platform. And I'm like, okay, well, that's my job. Right, you know, that stinks that they're you know relying on AI for that, you know, what what I like to do, but you know, I just don't think you can ever get the same results and you can't get the same feeling behind it, and it's like, well, this is a fake photo, and I think most people can you know realize that this is fake. It doesn't look like you. I mean it does, but it doesn't.

Robb 11:18

Right. Um, because it's not just you. You may have fed the photo in it, but it's also the com conglomeration of the million of other photos that it stole from the internet to make whatever, you know. Yeah. You know, that all of these other pieces of art that were stolen, all these brother pieces of audio or music or f you know, voices that were stolen to create this fake thing. And I bel and I believe that there is a way that we can use AI, you know, didn't didn't make sense to make life easier. Um, but art doesn't have to be art's not supposed to be easy.

Jenni 11:58

No.

Robb 11:59

That's that's part of it. Art leave let people create art. You AI go wash the dishes.

Jenni 12:06

Right. That's what I mean. Actually, I yes, I could use the extra time if AI could go wash the dishes, do the laundry, that would be perfect.

Robb 12:14

We put in a prompt and you go wash the dishes and then I'll have time to do the art.

Jenni 12:20

Right.

Robb 12:20

You know?

Jenni 12:21

Because I one of my favorite things too about taking photos of people is I have kind of more like a documentary style um that I'll gravitate to. And one of my favorite parts is capturing like genuine emotion.

Robb 12:37

Yeah.

Jenni 12:38

A genuine smile, um, you know, the little moments in between where at first, you know, things are kind of awkward because everybody's awkward when you get behind the camera at first. You're like, what do I do? But like when you start getting comfortable and you're with other people, maybe it be, you know, whether it be your family or your significant other or whatever, and there's just these moments that happen when you're just like vulnerable and you're not really trying to put a mask on. And those are like the best moments that you can capture. And when you put your photo or when you put a prompt into AI, like, I mean, sure, it it may look a little bit like you, but the emotion and the smile, it's not it's not genuine. Um, and it, you know, it comes across as such. It's just kind of it's fake and you know, it's obvious. So um it takes away that whole aspect and perspective um that a a human photographer can actually capture.

Robb 13:43

Yeah. Yeah. You know, it's funny to think about AI and how how quickly it's gotten better. To tell you the truth, I I was much more comfortable and and liked AI more when it was, you know, five years ago. Everybody uses the Will Smith eating spaghetti analogy of how far AI has come along.

Jenni 14:06

That's a new one to me.

Robb 14:07

Oh, yeah. If you've not seen the the the AI that first created Will Smith eating spaghetti. I mean, it's terrible, eyes are all over his head and forks going through the back of his head. I mean, it's terri-missive.

Jenni 14:19

Oh, it's terrible.

Robb 14:20

It's it's but there to me, there was a an awkwardness about how quote bad the tool was that made it cool to me.

Jenni 14:33

Right.

Robb 14:34

Because I wasn't trying to, you know, I it's like I don't want to see Will Smith eating a plate of spaghetti. This this this you know Picasso version is so much better than seeing Will Smith actually eating spaghetti to where is it now? It looks like video footage of Will Smith just eating spaghetti.

Jenni 14:52

I know. And it's very scary.

Robb 14:54

And it's scary. And it's you know, mm my mother's gone, but those were things that I worried about with for her, you know, like with voice cloning and somebody calling you know, somebody grabbing my voice somehow and saying, Hey, mom, I'm in trouble. Send me money.

Jenni 15:11

Oh my gosh, I haven't even thought that's new fear unlocked.

Robb 15:14

Sorry. But yeah, but it's happening. It's happening. You know? And then people taking it, you know, because everybody there's you know, who was I telling somebody that I was like, you know, locks are on houses for honest people, not crooks. Because crooks are gonna break the locks anyway. Right. They're gonna break them and if they want in, they're gonna get in.

Jenni 15:35

Yeah.

Robb 15:35

You know, these these tools were created for whatever, you know, whether it be art or whatever, but then there's somebody who's always gonna find a nefarious purpose for them. To use them in a way that's gonna take advantage of some to take something that you worked hard for.

Jenni 15:50

Right.

Robb 15:50

Or or to cause harm to someone you love. You know. Because that's you know, aside from the the money portion of that, the distress that your parents might feel or your loved one might feel, thinking that you're in trouble, that you've been kidnapped, or whatever it is.

Jenni 16:07

Right. You know, that's awful to think about. It I had to help, you know, in retail. I had to help so many older people who, you know, had just gotten scammed by thinking they were talking to I don't know, just the craziest people.

Robb 16:27

The IRS, and they want to be paid in Apple cards. They want to be paid in Apple gift cards. That is not how any anybody pays their bills.

Jenni 16:37

No, no, it's not not with not with an Apple gift card or a gift card of any kind.

Robb 16:42

No, not at all.

Jenni 16:43

Um, someone thought that, you know, like some I I forget it was a celebrity. Uh some celebrity they were talking to was gonna come bring them a new car because you know, she didn't have any transportation or whatever, and it's just like man, thinking about how easy it is for them to fall for stuff like that, like God forbid someone clone my voice and call my dad, you know, or my mom and tell them I'm in trouble. That's awful to think about.

Robb 17:17

Yeah.

Jenni 17:17

Especially as they, you know, get older.

Robb 17:19

Right.

Jenni 17:20

I'm like, oh no, please. I mean, because they still they'll, you know, screenshot emails from is this real? Yeah. Is this real? At least they're asking. Yes. I mean, thank God, please keep asking me. Um, I will always tell you, and that goes for anybody. Anybody can all text me, not just my mom and dad, but um yeah, is this real? And you know, there'll be like typos and misspelling and like punctuation in the wrong place and stuff like that. And to me, it's like a dead giveaway and very obvious. But you know, to them, they're like, well, maybe. Um so yeah, that's scary.

Robb 17:57

Scary thoughts. And that's where uh you know, I've heard like, you know, you gotta come up with like a a safe word for your family, you know, whatever it is. Like, hey, if I ever call or somebody ever calls and said that I'm in trouble, blah, blah, blah. Ask them what the safe word is. And if they don't know that, hang up immediately.

Jenni 18:18

It's sad that we have to do this, but yeah, that's a good good thought, good idea. Um, and a new thing that we'll have to come up with now.

Robb 18:27

Right.

Jenni 18:28

Because the crazy world that we live in.

Robb 18:30

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, you know, and it and the thing is, is it's not it's not all bad. These they're just they're you know, there's good, there's bad, and it's not all bad. I still am very optimistic and and hope for the best and think the best of everyone. But these are also realities of some of the stuff that we're that we're dealing with now.

Jenni 18:49

Right.

Robb 18:49

And uh and we have to adapt and overcome.

Jenni 18:53

Right. As we get more and more technologically advanced as a species, we will have to worry about, you know, more of we'll have to face more of these things, I'm sure. And figure out how to get past them.

Robb 19:09

Yeah. Yeah. You know, how to make it part of our lives, how to make it make it do the good things and not the bad things.

Jenni 19:15

Right.

Robb 19:16

Um You mentioned uh something a few moments ago about uh we're off of AI now. You can everybody can breathe now.

Jenni 19:25

We're done. We're done with AI.

Robb 19:27

Get off this AI so that's the same.

Jenni 19:28

Soapbox, oh God.

Robb 19:30

Yeah, but you mentioned uh about singing. Uh uh you are a singer as well. I've I've heard you sing. You sing lovely.

Jenni 19:37

Oh, thank you.

Robb 19:38

Um was that also a passion when you were growing up? Did you do like the choirs and things?

Jenni 19:43

I did. Um, yeah, actually singing is one of the, you know, after my marine biologist phase, um, that was one of the things that I thought that I might do. Um I loved singing from an early age. Like I remember I was probably really terrible at it because I have a memory of me and my dad being in his car and like we were listening to Mariah Carey, and he's like, and I'm just like singing, you know, belting my little heart out. And he's like, try to sound like her. He was like, just try, just try to sound like her. And I still remember that and to this day, and like I after that, you know, I was like, I'm gonna sound like Mariah Carey, and she was one of my top artists, you know, when I was young. She was one of my favorites. Um, and so I did church choir for a long time. Um, I did choir in school, chorus is what they called it, of course. Um and so I did that, and I just loved singing and I loved music. Um, I tried to pick up instruments a couple of times. Like my parents got me a guitar for Christmas one year, and I really wish that I would have gone, you know, to more I could have been like, you know, they put a guitar in Taylor Swift's hands and look at her. But you know, that didn't happen to me, and everybody everybody's path is different. Yeah. Um but I just always loved to sing. And when I was in middle and high school, you know, I would write lyrics and write songs or you know, w what I thought were songs and stuff at the time, and I would sing them in my head and with with not even having any music. But I just loved that whole aspect of it. So I still love to sing, but now I mostly sing, you know, screaming down the road in my car or like in the shower or at work, you know, in the break room so that everybody can get annoyed with me. There you go. Um but yeah, it's just it's just one of those things that's kind of like ingrained and I love it.

Robb 22:00

it so um music and lyrics have always had have always had a a deep connection too so yeah yeah so do you have you like been able to combine your love of photography and music together like you shoot any concerts or or do any work like that you know album covers for musicians and things oh my gosh that would be a dream I actually want I I've actually been thinking recently that I would love to do concert photography um because I haven't and I need to you know kind of knock on some doors and figure out how I can make that happen because I would absolutely love that would be a dream um the only I so I've done some some photography on set for you know some some projects for um movie oh wow um for film and for um you know Chelsea our friend short film so um I did some some stuff on set for her as well but concert and music photography is something that I would love to get into so if anybody has a way in let me know.

Jenni 23:12

Yeah because I'd totally be down to do that.

Robb 23:15

That'd be really cool.

Jenni 23:17

I mean you got combine the worlds.

Robb 23:19

Yeah you know with with everything especially like that it's just it just takes finding that one person who's who's going to give you the shot or be like hey I'm gonna show you the ropes.

Jenni 23:28

Yes.

Robb 23:29

Or I need a second shooter for this how comfortable are you are with this part of it or whatever. Something just to get that foot in the door.

Jenni 23:37

Mm-hmm and to get my foot in the yeah I'll do it for free. Uh for the first you know couple times while I'm learning yeah you get the first one for free. That's how it works. So I can learn. But yeah I when Taylor Swift was on tour um I can't I guess I can't make it through a conversation without bringing her up but she was on tour for two years to be fair. I know. By any chance if you didn't know um but there was a lot of smaller local photographers that were given the chance in each of the cities that she went to to take photos um I mean I don't know how I didn't submit for anything but um it was just very cool to see them get the chance to do that because that would be such a dream and so I saw so many photos online of course from her shows and that really like I had interest in it previously but that kind of ignited how cool it would be you know to be there and take the photos. I mean the lights the you know cinematics of it all and um would just be so fun to do.

Robb 24:51

So yeah and it's a and it's a different skill set other than like wedding photography or headshot photography or things like that because because of the lights and because of all the other you know there is a there is a bit of that kind of you know live in the moment things that are happening you have to you have to be ready to capture them. So I mean you have to be very familiar with your equipment. You have to kind of know what you're doing so that you get it because it's not going to come again.

Jenni 25:19

Right. And change you know change the settings super quickly or kind of sit in anticipation for you know something big and something beautiful to happen so that you can say oh well I got the shot. You're right, it's not going to happen again. And so it's a totally different ball game, but one that I would love. You know, it's just very different than like you know you're not setting anybody up for any poses. It's you know what they give you and that's it.

Robb 25:48

Yeah. Yeah because you can't you can't be like Taylor, Taylor over the Oh, that's right if you could look to your left or okay there we go.

Jenni 25:55

You can't fabricate like this beautiful shot, you know, of where where you can, you know, at a wedding you can say hey do this and I'm gonna slow down the shutter speed and we're gonna get some movement in here and we can just make really pretty photographs. It just has to you know it's it's on a whim and you just have to catch it.

Robb 26:13

So but that's part you know that's the that's the art in what you do.

Jenni 26:18

Yes.

Robb 26:19

That's the art in being able to ha see it in your mind and know what you have to adjust on your you know your whether it's your body where you're standing where you're holding the camera the adjustments on the camera to be able to capture that and do it you know in the in in the in the the length of a shutter spee shutter speed you know what I mean of a shutter click yeah at one six hundredth of a second. Yeah yeah no that's that's cool. I I can see that happening for you. I can see that happening for you. Yes you just have to have the chance yes and you'll get it manif manifest that's right I feel like it's gonna happen I feel like you're gonna get that chance.

Jenni 27:01

Thank you.

Robb 27:02

I hope so um so for you other than your photography which you do enjoy doing um what's what's bringing you joy in life now?

Jenni 27:13

What's bringing me joy? Um my dogs I love my dogs they're a constant source of of joy in my life they're goofy and perfect little angels most of the time um that and my friendships and going to the gym planning little vacations I went to uh Wilmington last weekend that was the first time I had been up there I know and um it was such a cool area um and we went of course to the beach so Wilmington is a is a city in North Carolina that's very close to the coast um but there's a long stretch of beaches of about three or four different beaches kind of that you can get to within 30 minutes of Wilmington. So um I spent some time on the beach and that was very nice. That brought me a lot of joy lots of joy um I love being by the water in the water around the water um and then cultivating new relationships at you know the new day job that I'm working um has really been something that has been like a a a good source of joy for me as well.

Robb 28:40

It's it's a pretty creative job that you've got well and you're at Freshwater. Freshwater yeah um I've been in there it's a great shop lots of cu it's very it's a very curated store. And I love the little sections that you have and there's some pieces that you guys made uh key keychains and things like that. Didn't I see that you guys actually have your product in like the LL Bean company store?

Jenni 29:10

Yes pretty big. So yeah keychains bag charms um we make leather goods all of it's like handcrafted in store um you know we actually make that um make all of those products in the back there's a big production room and um yes LL Bean the products are in LL Bean now which is um so cool and so crazy because I actually um did an internship for fresh water a couple years ago so like in 2024 and um I just came back to working full time there and so back in 2024 it was a much smaller shop down the street on Broad Street um you know just down the way a little bit it was very small. Um we had just a small production room where we were you know working and uh we were still you know we were getting a lot of wholesale orders and things like that. So even then, you know pet I think the pet tags that um we make there are were super big at the time and um so we were wholesaling them out you know to Paris and all kinds of different places which was really cool. And I've just always thought that it was the coolest little store and and coolest company and I you know I was a customer there for a couple of years of course before um that came up and I've just always loved it. But um during 2025 when I was not there um they got their you know contract through with LL Bean and um so we make a specific line you know of things just for them that they carry in their stores and online and in Canada LL Bean Canada now. So yeah it's really cool. It's a it's definitely creative you have to have um some creative desire right to work there because you're you're making things and um doing fun stuff like that but it's been very cool and and I like it. So um it's right now an all women team and the two um the girls that own it they're sisters so it's women owned and and a a bunch of ladies that work there and um and so I've been you know cultivating friendships and getting to know everybody there and that's been it's been so fun. I love it.

Robb 31:41

Jenni, This is the second segment of the show this is where we dive a little bit deeper into your mental health journey. I definitely believe the more we can tell the stories of the things that we've been through the easier it is for others to feel that they are not alone in this because I believe that's one of the things that that really sucks the energy out of us most is is that feeling of aloneness.

Jenni 32:04

So for you, how do you keep the darkness at bay um so I'll be honest with you um there's a couple of different ways I keep the darkness at bay but I don't think you know I'm I'm still not perfect at keeping the darkness at bay. I think um there are days when I kind of will wallow in the darkness or you know whatever I think that there it's not something that's been perfected but something that's you know keep being consistently worked at and I feel like it may be like that for a lot of people and so um one of the biggest things that helps me keep it at bay is the people that I have in my life. Um so you know I used to think I had to have you know I had to be surrounded by a ton of people and I had to have all these friends and and things like that. And I think you get you get to a point where you realize that you know the amount of people around you is not as important as the quality of the people that you have around you. Whether it be you know two or three good people or six or seven so I have you know I saw something on social media that kind of stuck with me. I saw it a while back and it's um it said something like you know surround yourself with the people who are not just gonna fight for you when you're with them in the room but the people who will fight for you when you're not in the room. Yeah. And that stuck with me for you know I mean it's been a while since I've seen it and it just really stuck with me. It always stood out because you don't need a ton of of people surrounding you. You don't need all the noise you need the few people who are really going to go to bat for you who are going to be there for you when you're going through the hard times and that are going to fight for you when you're you're not in the room. And that's really how you can kind of decipher how to cut people out. You know you you grow up and you have to cut people out. And it's not personal it's just like well these are the people that I can really count on and I have you know a few of those good people in my life and and they've been there every time I've been you know kind of wallowing in the darkness to to help sit in it with me and pull me out and help me out. Um and so I think one people are very important um and then two having you know making a healthy habit for yourself so for me a couple of years ago um I was going through like a really hard time and I started going to the gym and that helped me I mean immensely in so many different ways and I think there's so many like things that we think of when we think of oh what's a healthy habit you know that you you can have and you know I think like journaling and stuff like that I think it's amazing I think it's you know romanticized or whatever but and I've always wanted to be the girl that you know journaled or that could journal and I could just go home at night and like write down all my feelings for the day and everything like that. And I love that people can do that and I just never have been able to you know be consistent with that. Um and so it doesn't have to be a healthy habit that you know may be romanticized or maybe that everybody like says oh well you should do this. Find what what works for you because the gym really worked for me. Like I clinically have anxiety um and so I'll struggle with that um pretty often and you know I may have a good month a good week a good year a good two years but it's it'll always come creeping back and um it may be triggered by an event or it may just come out of nowhere. So um you know I'll go I mean a couple years ago I was just going through some hard things and I wasn't really sleeping well. I you know hardly at all I wasn't really eating sufficiently and things like that. And so I was like okay well I gotta you know tire myself out. So it started as like um you know me going and pushing myself to physical limits in order to just like be tired. Just to be exhausted. Yeah wow um so it started like that and then it it just kind of grew into like well now I'm seeing like you know not only am I sleeping better I'm feeling better and I am seeing results from this. I'm like learning everything there is to know about like strength training and nutrition and I'm learning all of these new things and it just became like a hobby like a thing that I really enjoyed and loved and I loved learning the new things and learning what muscle groups I was working by doing this exercise. And um so not only you know like I said not only was I sleeping better was I feeling better I was I had all this new knowledge and you know I started noticing differences and like I wasn't getting winded as quickly and you know I could pick up heavier things and um I was you know beginning to see muscle on my body and I was like you know this was all such a positive thing for me that it it really saved me. And so yeah I still enjoy it very much like with the nine to five you know all the the transitions that I've made in the last several months it's been kind of hard to find a consistent routine. I'm still working on it but um you know I'm I'm figuring it out and I'm getting there so that I can get back into that um that pattern and that you know because it's still something that I think about every day. And I you know I was going four to five times a week and now you know I'm down to like about three just because you know the scheduling situation and I'm yeah I'm still figuring it out. I can't I'm I've discovered I'm not a morning person.

Robb 38:45

Yeah.

Jenni 38:45

So I've tried to get up at like you know 6 a.m and go before work and that just doesn't happen. Yeah. Like you know as much as I want to be like a morning person and wake up and have my coffee and listen to the birds chirp and go to the gym, it just doesn't happen. So you know I've I've come to the acceptance of that. But then I get off at five and like the last thing I want to do is be in the gym at 5 30 in the busiest time of the day. Um so it's it's been an adjustment but I'm figuring it out and I'm just making it work. I'm going at 5 30 uh when it's busy and just just dealing with it.

Robb 39:20

Yeah. Well I can tell you right now you're going three times a week that's three times a week more than I'm going. So have feel good about that.

Jenni 39:28

Right. I know I'm trying not to beat myself up too much. I'm like but you know I mean beat I say beat myself up but I it is genuinely something that brings me like happiness.

Robb 39:40

Yeah so you you're wanting you're you're seeking that you enjoy it. And when we have things we enjoy we want to do it more. Yes. And I get that. And plus it is it's got to be a great confidence booster too like you said when you're like, hey I'm not getting winded walking from the car to the to the gym door anymore or I can pick up heavier things. You know that that has a way of alleviating that anxiety and that anxiousness too because I think a lot of anxiety by definition is is a fear of something a fear of whether it be not fitting in or not being able to perform or not being as good as the imagination that we've created of ourselves. So when you do something that then strengthens your body and gives you that type of confidence, you're like, okay, I can at least I may still have anxiety over you know if I'm making good choices or I'm making good friends but but at least like I don't have to be anxious over my uh physical ability anymore.

Jenni 40:39

Yes.

Robb 40:40

If if need to I can you know what I mean I can you know carry a 75 pound of potatoes you know worry about a pound bag of potatoes. You know, because that happens all the time to save somebody's life you had to drag a 75 pound bag of potatoes. But I mean but but you you don't have to worry about that part anymore. And you like what you see in the mirror more. We want to you know we we tailor swift ourselves and like I'll never be tailor. You know it's okay we have a tailor we don't need another tailor. We need a we need a Ginny green so being able to recognize the Ginny green in the mirror is is is a wonderful thing.

Jenni 41:23

Yes. You know I think you're 100% right. It's like a big confidence boost. I mean not only like you know physically whereas like of course like it is a boost to look at yourself and like recognize yourself again, right? Because I was always in sports and doing athletic things when I was in you know high school I've been cheered in college. So you know up up until college I was very you know athletic um and then I've been dealing with some health issues for like the last five years and um I struggle with I I'm still still don't have a diagnosis on um what's going on but essentially I have a lot of chronic pain um that could be related to um like some female issues and and we just I just don't have answers yet still so five plus years um of not having answers and just feeling physically in so much pain every day um I kind of lost myself. I didn't want to do anything I didn't want to move you know my body or um you know I couldn't imagine going for a walk even or lifting a weight um but I kind of just pushed myself through it thinking that maybe maybe it would help right if I just kind of tried to zone out of the pain and just push through it. And I noticed that whenever I would do more physical activity, like when I was doing physical activity like in the act of it whether it was like um you know playing tennis or playing basketball or playing pickleball or lifting weights I wouldn't have the pain during that time. It would be you know I would have it after or before you know throughout the day but not when I was doing physical activity. So that's another thing that it it became like something that I could do for myself where I wouldn't hurt.

Robb 43:37

Because you're focusing on something else you're focusing on the activity you're fo you're not focusing on that and you know going five years, no diagnosis, still trying to figure it out yes the toll it takes on your body and that you're in pain and you don't want to be in pain but also that mental toll is of what's wrong with me. Even the doctors don't know what's wrong with me.

Jenni 44:03

Yes.

Robb 44:04

I can't imagine the weight that that puts on you.

Jenni 44:06

It will eat you up. And you know, it chewed me up and spit me out, really. I was just like a kind of a shell of like, you know, what's going on. Like mentally, you know, I'm I was just all out of whack. And I can't I mean I can't say that I'm I'm not fixed, you know. I still don't have answers and I still have days where I'm where I struggle a lot. And mentally, you know, I'm just not in a good place because of how bad I feel. But um, you know, we're working towards some resolutions, and I feel confident, and I feel, you know, I I try to be as optimistic and as, you know, you know, as as possible. Like it's just gonna be around the corner. I I know it, I can feel it. Um and so that's another another way that I kind of like can assure myself, but you know, sometimes it's hard and you just deal with it the best that you can.

Robb 45:05

And so I think that's those days are probably where that first thing you mentioned comes in real handy when you have a circle of people and somebody can just come sit with you. Like, look, hey, I I know you're going through stuff. I don't know what it is, but I I know I love you and I know that I'll be here for you. And if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. But I can sit here with you and we can, you know, color.

Jenni 45:34

You can color, yeah.

Robb 45:35

Yeah, we can color, or we can read books, but we're in the same room and you know I'm here, and if you want to talk, talk. If you don't, that's okay too.

Jenni 45:43

Yes, absolutely.

Robb 45:44

You know, having something like that, having people that you can turn to. And if you don't have somebody like physically that's like that, you know, there are people that will talk to you and sit with you in silence on a phone, like you know, the the the what is it, the nine eight eight number. Um, you know, it's it's a suicide prevention line, but it's also a counseling line. So if you need someone just to talk to, you can call that number.

Jenni 46:11

Yes.

Robb 46:12

Um if you need just someone, if you don't have someone that you can talk to right now, there's always someone you can reach out to.

Jenni 46:21

Yes, there's always someone that you can reach out to. I I'm thankful that I have, you know, one of my friends, one of my closest friends, one of the ones that will go to bat and has gone to bat for me. Um that I definitely know will will fight for me when I'm not in the room. She's she doesn't live in the country, she lives in Australia. So um we have a 12-hour difference, but I know that you know, she knows and I know that we are there for each other. Like we're we'll always, you know, answer for each other and you know, we can FaceTime each other or just text. Um, like actually this morning, um she I woke up to a text that just said Jennifer, which is my name. So I was like, Okay, yes. Um, and then she just replied with I miss you. And so, you know, that was it was just so so kind and so thoughtful and so sweet, and and like I woke up in such a good mood because of that. And um I you know, luckily having people like that who understand you and who know like what you're going through, and you know, that my blank stares sometimes like when I get that far off look in my my eyes, or I'm looking like I might be mad or agitated or or whatever it is. It's really that I'm probably in a lot of pain right now, and like to someone else it might it might be intimidating, like someone who doesn't know me, they might think like, oh well, she must not be a very nice person, like she's got RBF or um whatever. But it's probably it probably has nothing to do with I'm probably in my own mind, like just trying to get through the moment. Yeah. Um, and so it's nice to have those people that you know just understand and they don't they don't even need you to say anything, they can just sit next to you and um or reach out to you through a text or you know, whatever, and and just just let you know that you're loved and you're thought about and you're cared about, and I feel like that's just such a big important thing. Um, and so if it you know my hope and my wish is that everyone has that. Um, but if not, there is always someone that that does care and they may not even know you. So there's always somewhere, someone that is willing to talk and listen. Um find those people or reach out to the you know the hotlines or um whatever it may be, but there's there's always those people. Just gotta find them.

Robb 49:08

Jenni, It's time now for the third segment of the show.

Jenni 49:10

It's time now for the Fast Five.

Robb 49:13

The Fast Five is time now for the Fast Five. I'm still working on that theme song. I love that.

Jenni 49:20

That's my favorite song. That's my favorite song.

Robb 49:25

The Fast Five is powered by Pod Dex. It's an app created by my friend Travis Brown. If you go to ChewingTheFatbr.com slash Poddex, it will take you to the link where you can uh download the app uh on your favorite uh you know app store. Uh but there's no wrong answers at all. It's just the first thing that comes to the top of your mind.

Jenni 49:47

I'm always like a deer in headlights during stuff like this. Someone's like, respond fast, and I'm like, oh.

Robb 49:54

No, you'll be you'll be fine. You'll be fine.

Jenni 49:58

We'll see.

Robb 49:58

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. You ready? Question number one?

Jenni 50:02

Question number one.

Robb 50:03

All right, here we go. What do you love to do for others?

Jenni 50:10

Oh, what do I love to do for others? Okay. Um I love to just find little um like trinkets or things that like remind me of people and get them for them. Because you like if we had a conversation, say it's like if we had a conversation about skincare or something like that, and you're like, oh, I have this problem. Um and I find it like if I have something or I find something, I will get it and like be like, here, you know, I hope I hope this helps you. Or, you know, if some if I know someone loves cats and I see something that, you know, has cats all over it. Um I love finding like little unique ways to just, you know, take in what people have told me and what I know about them. Um and I like getting like little unique things and little things that um I mean other people might not think about. I feel like um gift giving is underrated, and I think a lot of people don't know what to to give for gifts. I know you just gave a really thoughtful gift recently, the one that I saw on Denise's story. That was so thoughtful. The candles, um, just our mutual friend. Um, but yeah, things like that. I think um people kind of sometimes just go generic with things, and like I understand gift cards when you're far away from somebody and stuff like that. So, you know, no hate on the gift card stuff. But um I I just I love just what I know about people and and and just finding little things. It may not even be a reason to give the gift, but yeah.

Robb 51:55

As they say uh in the the southern phrase is a Cersei, a little gift for no reason.

Jenni 52:01

Oh, I did not know that that phrase, but I like it. A Cersei. A Cersei.

Robb 52:05

Just give you a little Circe. A little gift for no reason, but just just because. It's a little just because.

Jenni 52:11

A little just because, yes.

Robb 52:12

That's awesome. That's awesome. All right, question number two. Name one thing on your bucket list.

Jenni 52:21

Oh, uh okay. One thing on my bucket list.

Robb 52:26

Are you a bucket list type person? Uh I feel like everybody has a bucket list, whether it's officially written down somewhere or not, but you kind of have like a little internal bucket list, but yes.

Jenni 52:37

So, okay. I feel like anybody could guess this about me. Um but it would be um to have a pet raccoon. Yeah. Really? Mm-hmm. Yeah, so I feel like if you know me, you probably knew that that was uh maybe what I would say. But yeah, I want, I really want a pet raccoon. Um when I lived in North Augusta, I had a lot of raccoons in my that just like lived in the in the backyard, and they would I would feed them and they would come to me. And every single night they would come and they would and I would make them like little peanut butter sandwiches. Yeah. Now, wildlife people don't come for me, okay? Do not come for me. I have pictures and videos on my Instagram of my little baby raccoons, and I miss them, so they would come and like we got to the point where they were they would take the stuff out of my hands.

Robb 53:34

With their little hands.

Jenni 53:35

With their little hands. The cutest things that I've ever seen. Um I love raccoons, and and yeah, I know that they don't make good pets. I know that. But listen, I can handle it. I promise.

Robb 53:51

My best friend Dale, he has a air quote pet raccoon that was at his house. So he don't live at the live at that house anymore, but like he would make little plates and put out for it, and they'd take food out of his little hands, and he'd talk about the food and them getting them in the little hands and eating it and stuff like that.

Jenni 54:10

Me and him had the same life. Yeah. Yeah. I would make little plates, I'd put them on on like a little stool, so it would be like their little picnic table. And I'd put grapes in like a bowl of water, so I'd washed them or watched them well, you know, like wash them off. Um man, I miss them so much every day.

Robb 54:30

I love that. I love that raccoon. Oh my god, nice. Question number three. If you could learn any language fluently, what would it be?

Jenni 54:47

French or Italian.

Robb 54:49

We wee. That's it.

Jenni 54:50

Yeah, because it's wee wee. Uh croissant. Yeah, because it's such a beautiful language. I love like listening to I'll watching um movies or shows that are in French. Um I don't know what they're saying, but it sounds so beautiful. And I love that. Um the other one that I would say is Japanese because um my family, you know, my grandmother was from Japan. Um and so I still have, you know, she has two living sisters still, and and not many of my family speaks Japanese, but I would love to be able to speak Japanese and and go to Japan and speak to my family in Japanese. It's a very hard language to learn as an adult. Um I've tried, but um yes, I would love to speak that as well.

Robb 55:48

That's awesome. That's awesome. It's an app called Duolingo. Just saying.

Jenni 55:52

That does not work. Like y'all cannot convince me that Duolingo works. I was pretty solid on there for a while. And granted, this was Spanish. Um and I took a lot of Spanish in high school and college. I mean, I probably took five years of of Spanish. Um Duolingo does not work.

Robb 56:15

It's it's a bit clunky conversationally. You may learn some words, but I don't know that you can stitch them together in sentences that make sense.

Jenni 56:26

Exactly. And it's very like, I mean, I feel like I was doing it forever and I never got past the basics. So I don't know. I think you really need to like have someone to speak with on a daily basis. And there's probably better apps out there if anyone has any suggestions, throw them my way. But I'd love to be a fluent and at least I feel like I'd be closest to to being fluent in Spanish, having so much background. So I'd love to just be fluent in at least one other language.

Robb 56:54

Yeah. I love that. I love that. Question number four. If you could go back in time and give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?

Jenni 57:08

Whoa, that's a big question. Um so many pieces of advice. Um but I think the biggest one would just be be yourself. Be yourself, find who yourself is and love yourself because I think, you know, growing up is hard. It's probably even more difficult now, um, having so much access to everything, but you know, we didn't have the internet when I was you know, when I was a kid, um, or whether or it was just a thing that was coming around. Um but we certainly didn't have social media. Um, and I I think you know, I think I tried to find my identity in um the acceptance of other people a lot. Um like I've never been I've never been cool, right? I've just been like cool adjacent. Um like I would, you know, I wanted to do this and I wanted to be popular and I wanted to be like the cheerleader and I wanted to be best friends with the cheerleaders, and I think I was just always like kind of like on the outside just a little bit. You know, I did the things, but um and I think I just we sp I think we spend too much time looking for like what we perceive to be cool and trying to find acceptance and external acceptance. Yeah, external acceptance and try to find our identity and our and we put our identity and our worth in what other people think of us. And so I would you know, to just to to heal that little little girl, I would just say, you know, be yourself, find yourself in your own identity, in what you love and and your own passions and and concentrate and focus on that.

Robb 59:04

Yeah.

Jenni 59:05

And don't worry about the rest.

Robb 59:08

Yeah. I love that. I love that. Yeah. Question number five. What do you think is more important in a song? The melody or the lyrics?

Jenni 59:20

Oh, well, that's so easy.

Robb 59:22

It's random, and I realize you already answered this earlier.

Jenni 59:25

I know, it's random, and that was a perfect, perfect question for me. Definitely the lyrics. Yeah. Um It's funny too, because I just watched a show that talks about the melody and and lyrics of a song, and like, I don't know, it's just like the two one of the main characters. She's a musician, and she asks, you know, her love interest or whatever, this guy that she has a crush on, what is most important to him? Like, what does a song make him feel? And he's like, Oh, well, the melody is like so good or whatever, and and that's not what she was looking for. Um, and I'm kind of the same in that aspect. It's like it has to make me feel something. And the the way that that's gonna happen is the lyrics. I mean, the delivery, I love you know, a good melody and a good delivery. Um, so when a song has all of it, right, it's amazing. But lyrics to me is what draws me in initially to a song. Um, because if it makes me feel something, that's such a big, a big thing for me. Um like I said, I watched the lyrics on you know, Noah Khan's new album was lyrically very, very good, which is no surprise because his his past things have been really good too. Um, but they really make me feel something. And he writes from a perspective of his past traumas and things like that, and it's just very healing. And I think um that when you can relate to lyrics and music, it is so healing, and it can help you heal from stuff that you may be sitting in or going through. Um and it also helps you know that you're not alone, like other people are going through these same experiences and and feeling these same emotions and things like that. And so, and they're writing about it and they're putting that putting this art out for you to also know and enjoy that you're you know, you're not alone, and and this is for you too, and I hope you like it. And so um, lyrics are definitely the most important to me.

Robb 1:01:41

Yeah, I love that. I love that. Well, that is the fast five, and that is our show, Jenni. Thank you so much for being here.

Jenni 1:01:48

You're so welcome. Thank you for having me. We've been talking about this for a long time, and I'm glad we could finally make it happen. And um, I love that you're doing this. It's it's so inspiring to me that you you have this wonderful show that um just like a a song, it's for people out there to know hey, you're not alone, and these are some some things that could help you. And so I think this is amazing, and I feel so honored for you to have asked me to go.

Robb 1:02:19

Well, of course, of course, thank you. If folks want to keep up with you uh uh or your photography, maybe they need some photos taken, or there's somebody with a concert coming and needs some concert photos taken. What's the easiest way they can keep up with you, Jenni?

Jenni 1:02:33

Um, the easiest way to keep up with me is through social media. Um I have I I believe my information and email and everything is attached to the social medias as well. So um my Instagram for photo is Jenni Green Photo Co. And I will admit I haven't updated it in a while. I do need to get on top of that. Um, but yeah, you can you can find me there. You can reach out through the I think there's a contact button that has like my email. Um, and that is the best way of my personal Instagram. Of course, I'm I'm always very active on my personal Instagram. Um I try not to be as active, but uh yeah, that's a different story. So um that's Jenni Green IRL. So either one of those, they're both connected, and I've got um my photo Instagram linked in my in my personal bio as well. So yeah.

Robb 1:03:35

Well, I'll make sure to put those links in the show notes for this program. And again, thank you so much for being here and thank you for being willing to have such a great conversation with me. Uh I I love you and I love everything that you do, and I wish you nothing but success in your photography and those things that set your soul on fire.

Jenni 1:03:57

I appreciate you so much. I love you too, and I'm so thankful to uh be your friend and to be here. So thank you.

Robb 1:04:05

Thank you. And if you would like to support this podcast, I'd appreciate it if you bought me a coffee at Chewingthefatbr.com. But until next time, I look forward to the chance we have to sit a spell in Chew the Fat.