Your personal strength will always guide your direction and your values. So how strong are you within your life’s circumstances? Adam speaks with Jeanette Bennett. She’s the founder and editor-in-chief at Bennett Communications, which includes Utah Valley Magazine, BusinessQ Magazine, and Prosper Magazine. Together, they talk about her cancer diagnosis, her strong ties to family and business, and how the circumstances never define you. Learn how to discover your personal strength and promising new directions on this episode!
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In this podcast excerpt, Jeanette Bennett talks with Adam Nugent about being a publisher in a digital world and shares with him what her one wish would be in life.
AN: We move more to a digital world, how has that transition been?
JB: That’s the million dollar question, and I feel like we’re still in the middle of that. Print is still our bread and butter. That’s what people pay us to do, and that’s what we do. The digital is a second language for us. I’ve loved my younger employees because it’s their native language. We still do all the same work for the magazine, but then it’s like these additional layers, putting the same content out on our website and all the social channels and knowing how to drip that out.
AN: Who’s somebody you look up to?
JB: I probably learned something from everyone that I’ve interviewed, but some people that stick out. Astrid S. Tuminez is the president of Utah Valley University and is a phenomenal person and a phenomenal leader. She came from nothing from the Philippines. Couldn’t read, just a lot of strikes against her. She is the most pleasant, happy person.
AN: Awesome. So if you had one wish, what would be your wish?
JB: I wish we could all see ourselves like other people see us. Sometimes I’m sad when I see so much goodness in someone and they’re so hard on themselves. It tends to be more women than men, or maybe men just don’t let you in on that as much. But sometimes we’re really hard on ourselves and don’t see our gifts, and I wish I could like wave a little wand and say, “I wish you could see how beautiful you are inside and out and see your potential.” I think I would wish that for myself, especially 20 years ago, when we started the magazine. I was so young and clueless and lacking in so many skills and confidence that I needed at the time.
AN: This is part two of that question. Would that still be your wish prior to you knowing that you would have cancer?
JB: It’s a loaded question, but yes. The cancer diagnosis has taken who I thought I was and turned it sideways. I see myself as more of a whole person now.
