Jennifer Suhd-Brondstatter

For the month of December, I’ll be shining light each day on some extraordinary women I know. They represent various fields and backgrounds, and I admire each for their passion and strength. These are bold, beautiful, brave women — artists, businesswomen, union organizers, nurses, writers, teachers, movie makers, designers, reporters, and all-around badasses.

Jennifer Suhd-Brondstatter is a bi cis Jewish woman who uses the she/her pronouns. She is a teacher, nurse, student, and scientist in no particular order. She is intensely curious and alternates between adventurous and grandmother-esq in her hobbies, which include but are not limited to: scuba diving, cross-stitch, traveling, gardening, reading, tea and wine drinking, political activism, outdoor exploring, foodie, and board games and tabletop games. She is a nerd in every sense of the word and delights in exploring a wide variety of endeavors and activities. She was born and raised in Santa Cruz, but currently resides in Sacramento (with stays in Boston, South Caicos, San Francisco and New Jersey in between). She co-habituates with her lovely husband Michael, and four rescue animals (of the canine and feline varieties) in their renovated 1950s bungalow.

Jen’s original career list

1. What did you want to be “when you grew up?”  Here’s what I wanted to be as of age 4.5 (see photo). Numbers 2 and 3 are done, we shall see about number one. If we don’t end up having one biologically, Michael and I want to adopt or foster at some point in the future.

2. What makes you the most proud of yourself?  I am proud of myself for saying yes to different experiences. Change is very scary for me (as is with most people) but I decided when I went to college that I would say yes to any opportunity that came my way as long as it wasn’t at anyone else’s expense or extremely risky to myself. This means I have had the opportunity to do so many things I would have never tried on my own, from travel to facing my fear of heights (which has never gone away despite me not allowing it to stop me from doing things), to new jobs and careers. It has been the best commitment to myself.

3. What darkness have you overcome? How did you find strength?  I don’t know if I have overcome any particular darkness. I face some challenges, I have chronic pain and autoimmune issues, depression and anxiety that certainly make life a bit harder but it also makes me more compassionate and grateful. Plus I am hardly alone in those and many people have it much much worse.

4. Where will we find you on a Saturday morning at 10 a.m.?  Either in bed reading, brunch or out on an adventure if traveling. Brunch has always been a favorite for me, we even had a brunch wedding. Low-energy days I tend to read with some tea in the morning. During travel, I don’t do rest well other than sleeping so I love getting up and exploring wherever I am at, especially if it involves getting in the ocean or a river

5. What makes you smile the most?  I smile a lot. Sparkles, stickers, pretty things, other people being happy. I love terrible dad jokes and puns. My animals, husband, and friends. Inappropriate moments when random things pop into my head. I pretty much alternate between smiling or laughing and my WTF face.

Bonus: What advice would you give your younger self?  I would remind myself to stop worrying so much about other people’s perceptions of me. Not that it would do much good, but there is something so freeing about allowing yourself to be your weird self. I spent so much time worrying about who people thought I was (aside from when I was in select company), I didn’t enjoy who I was for a long time.

Today’s #OneGoodThing is sharing this extraordinary woman and my friend from Temple youth group, Jennifer Suhd-Brondstatter, with all of you! We are stronger together, so let’s shine a light on our extraordinary sisters! If you’d like to participate or nominate a woman to participate, please send me a note or leave a comment! What was your #OneGoodThing today? Please share in the comments! Kindness is Everything.

Day 358 of 365. And Day 1,454 in a row (here’s the first 366, & the following 365, & the third year of 365 good things)!

1 year ago today: A free iPhone!

2 years ago today: A nice quiet Sunday

3 years ago today: Boston Terrier earrings for Mama