THE BEST IS YET TO COME.
about.
hey I'm Jessica Guthrie
I'm a visionary leader that desires to shift the status quo of caregiving.
We should care for our loved ones with the utmost dignity & respect. I want to acknowledge that doing so requires a deep compassion, patience and consistent curiosity (that takes work and is hard at times).
Over the course of my eight year journey as a caregiver I've noticed that families are not equipped to care for each other well, especially those living with forms of dementia--often lacking knowledge, resources, access, skills or even the will to do it.
Moreover, in my experience I've also noticed that healthcare professionals--doctors, hospital workers, health care agencies, home health workers and even hospice--struggle to effectively communicate and support the family caregiver through this tumultuous journey, therefore, caregivers often leave those experiences defeated, exhausted and more often stressed than before their engagement with those professionals. We can say it's the "system" or that people are overworked and tired or that "it's not even a big deal" BUT I fundamentally we can do better by our family caregivers and their loved ones living with dementia to ensure they receive the utmost dignity, respect and compassionate care. And that will require us to shift the status quo of how we think about, approach and execute caring for our loved ones--as individuals, as families, as medical professionals working thoughtfully together.
Follow me as I share more of my lessons learned & big ideas around my desired future state of caregiving.
When Career & Caregiving Collide...
I created When Career & Caregiving Collide™ with the intention of sharing my journey as an only child, full-time caregiver of my mother living with Alzheimer's Disease and as a full-time professional that was just starting my career and determined to advance and succeed. Believe me when I say being a caregiver of my mom at 26 was NOT on my 'overachieving' plan a, b or c vision board. And what I also knew...because I was the only one, I absolutely had no choice but to work.
While doing caregiving and maintaining a career definitely feels like a major collision-- it's not impossible. It requires clear boundaries, vulnerability and honest articulation of your needs constantly. My hope is to share with you all the ways I've been able to navigate my professional career and caregiving so that you can learn from my lessons and mistakes and so that you feel fully supported in your work environment to thrive as a caregiver of your loved one. I didn't go from Manager to Vice President by sitting on the sidelines of my career and you don't have to (if you don't want to) either.
"I started sharing my caregiving journey with the [social media] world because I didn't see other young caregivers that were Black, women, single, early in their careers caring for their loved one with dementia as a long distance caregiver. Society has created a one-sided perspective of what caregiving looks like...and I want to amplify that there is absolutely more than one narrative and our unique and complex stories matter and deserve to be seen and heard."
Jessica on the start of her Instagram When Career & Caregiving Collide
STAY IN THE KNOW & GET CONNECTED WITH JESSICA
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."
-Lao Tzu
let's connect