Jann & Shari Simmons - The Journey

We began speaking as a mother/daughter duo after presenting to Shari’s graduate level students years ago. What began as an instructional talk about trauma turned into something much more significant when those same wide-eyed pupils urged us to share our message with a larger audience. They encouraged us to write a book…which we did and that ushered in speaking engagements to first responders, teachers, parents and in the corporate world across the United States. Our little presentation grew into a business brand called Which Way?. In 2019, we created our company vision board and pasted GET A TED TALK at the top. While we often dreamed of this accomplishment, we admittedly felt it was far fetched.

Through the pandemic, we continued speaking to audiences virtually who needed a message of hope and gained momentum from hearing that our content had inspired, challenged and offered healing. Listeners would come up after our talks and say, “You need a Ted Talk”. In all honesty, that dream lingering in the back of our minds, had continued gnawing at us to the point where…WE HAD TO HAVE THAT TED TALK! We dusted off our old vision board and found the courage to take a leap and apply, thinking that “at least the application process would be a good experience”.

When we were selected, we were over-the-moon excited…a dream fulfilled! We remained ecstatic until reality set in. We could visualize the awesomeness of the TED talk stage, the magnitude of what we were about to step into but fear hit us both. Now that we are well into the process, we still have butterflies. However, we cannot wait to deliver our message to the huge followers who faithfully listen to TED talks all over the world. The best part of preparing our talk is the thrill of searching deep into our own souls to discover the best way to convey our message. The most challenging part of preparing our talk lies in proactively getting out of our own way and letting the message just flow from our hearts.