Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Hello out there, good morning, good afternoon, good evening wherever you are in the world. It’s Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman with Relationship Matters. I want to thank all of you who are tuning in. We have a special guest today. Originally, we had scheduled Deborah Ann Davis; however, her mother took a fall and so she’s in the hospital. But I want all of you to send out your good wishes, your kind thoughts, and your prayers so that her mom will be okay. But I have with me today Miss Brenda Tucker Jeffries. Let me tell you about Miss Brenda Tucker Jeffries. Let’s see, let me hold up my hand and count on my fingers all the things that Miss Brenda Tucker Jeffries is about. She is an author, and we’re going to talk about her book and we’ll all want to know that information is in her book. She’s an influencer, she’s a public speaker, she’s a relationship coach, and she’s an over 50 model. Now when you look at her, you’re going to say, you know what, she must have lied about her age because she, no, she is not over 50. But I want to bring to you, oh and wait a minute, she’s the co-founder of the Gold Shoe Society. She’ll talk about that also. So let me bring to you this evening or this morning or this afternoon wherever you are, Miss Brenda Tucker Jeffries.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Hey there Dr. Janice, how are you?

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
I am great, how are you Brenda Tucker Jeffries?

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
I’m wonderful, glad to be here on your show.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Well, and I am very, very, very pleased to have you. This is Relationship Matters and we talk about all kinds of relationships. So this evening, I’m saying this is this evening because we’re in Chicago, well we’re right out, both of us, we’re kind of right outside of Chicago and uh so it’s evening here, it’s after 7 PM. We’re going to talk about all kinds of relationships. Now Brenda, tell me, you are a relationship coach, what do you do? So tell me about that.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Well, it actually started when I was working with my daughter and planning her wedding events and out of that came the book “Mother of the Bride: Stuff Happens.” But then even after that, I realized that being the age that I am, I have a lot of wisdom and experience that I would like to share with others. So I decided that instead of just talking with people who are planning their weddings, I would like to get involved with coaching other individuals throughout the life cycles. So that includes students that are middle school and high school students, young adults, adults, and even seniors like myself. So that’s how I do the relationship coaching is through the life cycles and not just one age group.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, so let’s go back to your book about “Stuff Happens.” This stuff happened when you were planning your daughter’s wedding. So what made you, you know, what made you write that book? What stuff happened?

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Oh, there was a lot of stuff, believe me. There was a lot of good stuff which happens at everyone’s wedding, but the reason that I wrote the book was because there are a lot of things that happen that should not have happened. And once the wedding was over, I decided that I know this can’t be happening only to us, that has had to happen to some other people, but nobody would ever let you know that because really it was embarrassing some of the things that happened. Because even though we had planned everything and everything seemed to be going just fine until the day of the wedding. The wedding was great, the things that happened that should not have happened actually occurred at the reception and even after the day after the reception was over, things were still going on that should not have gone on. So that’s what led me to writing the book so that I could share those experiences with couples that are planning their weddings and hopefully early on in the engagement so that they can become aware of these things and avoid them at all costs.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
So just give me one example of a stuff.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Well, for instance, one thing that happened that I couldn’t even repair was I was so busy running around fixing things at the reception that I didn’t get a chance to be in any of those photos that were taken at the reception. So I didn’t get a photo with my husband, with a wedding party. I’m running around fixing everything from parking issues to they put people in the wrong rooms, me and my husband for one. So I’m having to move our stuff from one room to the suite that we were supposed to be in, you know, so that couldn’t be fixed because the day is not going to be redone. So I don’t have those photos, my daughter doesn’t have those photos.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Wow, no mother of the bride photos?

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Not at the reception. Luckily, we have beautiful ones at the wedding because it was at a different venue.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Oh, and you know right now, I think it’s a good idea to get your book because I think people now that COVID is winding down, thank goodness, and people are planning weddings. Is your book available? How can people get your book?

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Yes, it is. It’s entitled “Mother of the Bride: Stuff Happens.” It’s available on Amazon.com. You can use it from there and um, let’s see, it’s available right now. You can just go to Amazon.com right now and order it right to the person.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yes, all right. And I’m urging all of you who are planning your weddings to go ahead and get this book. And I read the book and even though I, you know, not getting married anytime soon, but I definitely recommend that if you’re planning a wedding or you know someone who’s planning a wedding, get this book “Mother of the Bride: Stuff Happens” and it is available on Amazon.com. So let’s go off into your coaching now. You said that actually you don’t focus on one particular age group.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Yes.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
So now as far as like high school kids, so that’s where you start, correct?

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Middle school.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, middle school, yes. All right, and you talk about lifestyle. So what are some of the, I guess, coaching procedures or what do you coach middle school students about?

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Well, basically I coach middle school and high school students about some of the same things because need to be reinforced. For instance, the high school students have heard it before, but you know that sometimes it takes you seven times to hear something before it actually resonates with you. So I could start out talking to the middle school students about the ability for them to know that they need to be responsible for taking care of themselves, no longer depending on their parents to wake them up to get them to school or to make sure that if they feel that they’re being bullied or peer pressure that they need to recognize that and report that to a responsible adult that can help them get out of such a situation. So those are topics that I can talk to both middle school and high school students about.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, so do you go into the schools or do you do, how do you do your coaching? Do you do like one-on-one coaching if they needed or is it primarily group oriented?

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Well, right now it’s group oriented generally because it’s virtual. I mean, you know, if I have a group of young ladies, basically I’m more involved in dealing with the young ladies because there are a lot of mental groups out there for the fellows, the guys. And in fact, I was in one of Lauren Michaels Harris’s groups earlier like three, four years ago and one of the guests that came said to me, he said, you know what, we really need to have someone talking to our girls about life issues because there are a lot of students out there that are getting information from the men, but there are very few individuals out there giving information to our girls and they’re being left out. So that’s how we planted that in my head and I decided it’s about time I did something about that.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
That’s great, that’s great. And I imagine that bringing up a daughter gave you a lot of items that you could address with practice.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Yeah, wow.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
You know, that’s really great when Brenda because, and like you say, girls really need this. I’ve seen that myself where the young ladies for some reason or another have a problem sometimes really opening up to their moms. I know that at one point in time I did a career day at a school and I had these 7th and 8th grade girls, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade girls and we were supposed to be talking about, you know, reading and math and it ended up with talking about something totally different. As a matter of fact, it was personal stuff. I had to end up closing the classroom door and really asking them, well, why aren’t you discussing this with your mothers? There are certain things I cannot discuss with you, you know, I can discuss some general things, but they really had a lot of questions. And not only that, there was one young lady in there who the other girls told me she had been bullied, she was being bullied. And when I looked at the young lady, she was in seventh grade and she kind of, you know, shy, had her head down. And when they started telling me about her being bullied, you know, I talked with them and told them, you know, well, then you’d have to help her, you know, if you know she’s being bullied, you can’t stand around and let her be in bullying. I told her, you’re a beautiful young lady, you know, but I think that’s wonderful what you’re doing because girls, girls and boys really, really, really need that. And so now, so now we, that’s middle school and high school.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Right.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
And so now what about like college students? What about young adults? That’s something for them too.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
I can reflect back on when I was graduating from high school and some of the things that I got involved in unbeknownst to me that if it hadn’t been for individuals that didn’t know me but who cared about me because they saw something was about to happen that I had no idea was about to happen, that’s how I got out of it. Not one, two, or three times, but several times because I, growing up, I was naive about a lot of things. So I let them know, you know, that you can find yourself in situations where a stranger can help you get out of it, but you have to recognize that you don’t want to be in that position again and learn from that because that’s the only way that I’m here today. I have to thank those people who actually demonstrated to me that they cared about someone that they didn’t even know, but they saw that I was in a situation that I didn’t need to be in and didn’t know anything about. And I can share those situations with them because I’m sure some of them have already been there too and they didn’t tell their parents about it like I didn’t tell my parents about it, but I’m willing to share with them so they don’t be in that position again.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, all right. Yeah, well, I look back, you are right. There are some things that you really, when you look back, especially in college, you know, when you really think you know it all and you know you’re invincible and especially young ladies and now it’s so dangerous.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Oh, definitely.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
You know, well, I’ll say back then, see back then, it’s farther back then for me, but it wasn’t as dangerous. And then when you look at some of the situations that you got yourself in and you, like you say, being naive, you know, growing up in the streets, so to speak, but kind of being sheltered in a sense and naive that you can get yourself into some situations. And like you say, when you look back, you thank the people, guys or a lot of times it was guys that they told you, you don’t want to be in that situation. It’s all about relationships, all about relationships. So now let’s go to adults. Now we talked about young adults, but let’s talk about say middle-aged men and women. Now, do you coach men and women before I ask that question or just women?

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Both.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Welcome to both, you know, because everybody has their own opinion and sometimes people just need to have someone to actually listen to them. And I’m a very good listener, you know, I can just sit and just nod my head, yeah. And a lot of times when they hear themselves say something out loud that they’ve been thinking about, it gets a different reaction. They’ll say, wow, did I really need to say it that way? Or that really didn’t sound right. I really didn’t mean it to come out like that or I didn’t, that’s not what I want. So sometimes they fix their own problem just by hearing it out loud coming out of their mouth. I may not have to say anything, they just need somebody to listen to them sometimes and I’m all for that.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, that’s like, I guess you would call it communication, not only communicating with other people, but I’m sure you help them communicate with themselves.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Yes.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
So that’s what that sounds like. So now what about, now do you coach senior citizens?

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Yes, I do. I have a particular subject entitled “Are You Really Ready for Retirement?” that I like to bring to the attention of my seniors because I found that a lot of them are not really ready. And I’m not just talking about financially because I’m not a financial expert. So I’m talking about emotionally and mentally, are you ready? And as I take them through the exercises, then they figure out by the end of the session whether or not they are really ready or if they need to put a pause on and do some work to get ready before they exit.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yes, I am. I’ve been retired since 2010 and loving it.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Were you ready?

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Oh, I was ready. I was ready before, years before I retired. I had thought about retirement around the age of 50. I worked for the federal government so I could retire as early as 55. So by the time 55 rolled around, I stopped really wasn’t thinking about it and all of a sudden something happened at work that made me decide it was time to go. I had been there for 38 years, I had done all that I could do. I knew that I wasn’t going any further because the manager that was there at the time in leadership had practically told me, you know, he didn’t want me as part of his team, whereas I had been a manager before. And I figured, okay, so if he doesn’t want me here, why am I here just to have someone work me to death? No. So one year, it was 2009, right before Christmas, I decided that I was going to come into work instead of taking my two weeks off that I would normally take off because the workload had gotten so bad that I had things on my desk that I didn’t want to see when I came back in the new year. So as I was working on those things, my immediate supervisor was leaving on vacation and before she could get out of the door, her phone rang and she had to come back to her office. And when she came back out of her office, she informed me of all the new glamorous work that we were going to have at the beginning of the year when I got back, when she got back from vacation. So she started running down the list, my facial expressions changed because I really had a problem with that at work because she didn’t realize that all the things that she was talking about, that wasn’t new at all. It was work that we had previously had there, they took it away from us, gave it to consultants, took it away from consultants, gave it to central office, and now they were bringing it back to where it was in the beginning. And that’s when I decided it’s time to go. So that was 2010 and I’ve been happy ever since.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
All right. And so when you, with your coaching and with your subject matter, are you ready to retire? I know you said that it’s not finances that you talk about. So what is it? What is it? I see you, the sun is going down here right here. It’s like I cannot fix this picture to save my life.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Oh, we’re gonna go to commercial in a minute and then don’t worry about it.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
So it’s actually about, are you mentally prepared? Okay, I’m painting the picture for you for someone who hasn’t really thought about it and letting them know what it’s like going from a well-structured day, five days a week, where you know what you’re going to do to not knowing what you’re going to do and having a structure every day yourself. Are you ready for that? Many people are not. And when they come to that conclusion, it’s okay for them to decide I need to stay where I’m at until I am ready or I’m willing to take this risk. And when people take that risk and they’re not ready, they end up going right back to work, but there’s somewhere else that isn’t paying them as much money as they were making before they left that job or they end up in Walmart as a greeter. And we don’t want that to happen.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
No, no, no, we don’t. And you’re right as far as, because I’ve been retired since 2007 and I mean, that was from being an educator with Chicago Public Schools. But for the first couple of, I would say the first couple of months, you know, I just kind of like, well, I had to relax, of course, but then like you said, you got to find something to do. It’s almost like you have to have a schedule, a flexible schedule, but nonetheless a schedule because you have to keep active. And like you say, that’s when you’re supposed to, to me, really start enjoying your life because you don’t have to, unless you want to. It’s a difference I found. And I’m not a morning person and I hated to have a job where I had to be there early in the morning. Okay. However, I work out and when we had a trainer, I was getting up at five o’clock in the morning, out of the house at 5:30 to work out at 6:00 AM, you know, so now, yeah, I get up now at six so we could get there at seven, but it’s because I want to. And it’s a totally different feeling. It’s like you say, but you have to be ready up here. So Brenda, I’m going to have to go to a quick commercial then, and I’m gonna do two or three of them and then that way you can, you can try and fix this.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Yes, the sun is killing this.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yeah, the sun, I’m saying, yeah, yeah, because the sun is going down. So anyway, we’ll be right back with Brenda Tucker Jeffries and we’re going to talk about Miss Brenda Tucker Jeffries and she’s a over 50 model.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
High fashion model, go along with you dear, don’t forget.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Well, don’t, we talking about you today. Okay. So Brenda, we will be right back. [Music]

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Father’s Day is coming up soon. So now if you’re the man in your life, love cigars, be sure and order that beautiful package that you just saw and you can order it from sugarplease@gmail.com and that’s sugar, H-U-G-A-P-L-E-E-Z.com. We’re gonna come back with Brenda Tucker Jeffries.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Yeah, I got so much light in front of my face. Oh gosh, I tell you, this is crazy.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
But you look fine.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Everything, yeah, everything is fine.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
So, you know, I was trying to, I don’t know what it is. I guess it’s because it’s, I don’t know if it’s hot or something like that, but all of around here, the internet’s been acting up, but I wanted to show something. So I’m gonna take you off because I want them to see this really, really good. So I’m hoping they can see this. Let me hold this straight. This picture, they could see it, that they could see it. Yeah, that’s high fashion model. It’s Brenda Tucker Jeffries.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
That was a fun photo shoot.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yes. So now tell me, Brenda, what made you decide that you were going to be a model? Now you’ve been a model for a while.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Yeah, I have. In fact, I think I decided it when I was at a cancer event and they had this fabulous fashion show from the Pope Entertainment Models. And girl, they did it up so good. I said to myself that day, I’m gonna be up there next year. And just so happened as a member of the Speaker’s Publishers and Authors Association, we had an event in Park Forest and this modeling troop came there and Dr. Wilkins introduced me to the person who was running the troop. And so she started using me in her fashion shows. And that’s when I saw you in one of the fashion shows that I was in, whether you saw me, I think you were with Maxine that day. So I started modeling with Dr. Pope in her fashion show.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yeah, I remember that.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Yeah, and that’s how it began.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
You had on some furs and you were strutting your stuff. And you know what, and this is what I want to say to all my viewers out there who are seniors, because you know, once you get to be 50, you’re going to get that little letter from AARP welcoming you. That was one thing with me. But you know what, you pursued a dream. And I love that about you. It’s never too late to pursue a dream. You can be 50, you can be 60, you can be 70. If you want to be a model, you can be a model. As a matter of fact, it’s Conceda Jones, lovely, fiercely real, baby, real, baby, because seriously, real, baby, because you are a part of her troop, the fiercely real models. And fiercely real really means you’re real. So you don’t have to be 5’10” and weigh 90 pounds, you know what I’m saying? And you know, well, we’re all beautiful, but in other words, you can be you, you can be real. And so, you know, of course, since you know me, I do my shameless plugs. So we were both in this particular, we’ve been in, how many calendars have we been in? Three?

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
I think so.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Well, you know what, she can tell us how many. So of course, okay, so since I am also a fiercely real model, I have to show my last one. Wait a minute, oops, wait a minute, I can’t turn it right. There you go.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
She, oh, okay, she said we’ve been in three calendars.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, I lost, yeah, we’ve been in three calendars. It’s so much fun, it’s so much fun. So anyone out there, if you’re looking for over 50 model, you know where you can find at least two. [Laughter] So I’m very happy to see that you are pursuing your dreams. And like you say, it’s all still all about relationships. And now, oh, hello, Lauren Harris. And I met Lauren Harris through Brenda Tucker Jeffries. And so he has become, and we form a relationship and we’ve become good friends. He’s our coach, but we’ve also become good friends. Now let’s talk about you being an influencer. I see you on your Facebook Lives talking about all kinds of things. And some of them are hilarious, some of them are serious. So what made you decide that you wanted to do these Facebook Lives with all your different subject matter? And how often do you do them?

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Okay, well, it started out when I had the “Talking with Brenda” videos that I would do as a wedding strategist. I would talk about not only the subjects, the 20 lessons that you learn when you purchase my book, but I will talk about other things such as whether or not the bride is going to change her last name. Has she had that discussion with her husband to be? What it’s going to be like after you get married and you find out now you have to make all the decisions about whose paycheck is going to pay for the life insurance, the health insurance. You only have 30 days sometimes in order to make those decisions. So it started out with that. And then as I delved into becoming a relationship coach with other age groups, I said to myself, well, now I need to talk about other subjects that relate to these age groups. And like you say, some of them are funny, some of them are serious. And I just, you know, think about them as I’m going through my day every day, whatever comes up. Normally I’m doing that on a Tuesday or Thursday, or if for some reason I miss that a Tuesday or Thursday, I’ll do it twice a week. So that’s how that happens.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay. And I saw one recently and I started laughing about it because it asks, it asks, what was your favorite cartoons growing up? And you could tell by the answers who was, I’m not gonna say old, but who was a senior and who was young folks. And I said, my favorite was, I’m like, I know I’m dating myself and probably some of these millennials don’t even know what I’m talking about, but I said Bullwinkle. [Laughter] And Rocky Squirrel, I loved me on Saturday mornings, some Bullwinkle, you know. And, but I just thought that was cute because some of your subject matter, like you say, is serious, but this one, this recent one, and I think it said something about what would your, I think you said maternal grandmother, is that what it was? What was she, so exactly what that, I don’t want to misquote it.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
The thing, I think, I think I remember asking what was your ancestor, who is your maternal grandmother, say about what’s going on in the world today?

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, okay.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
The answer was, the first answer, and my answer was, you better not ever go on the Maury show. That’s what Mama Turner, great grandmother, would say. You better not ever, because she didn’t play that. Our family did not play that.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, and then I got a lot of good answers, which made me laugh, which was the purpose of it, you know, because sometimes you just don’t want to be serious, you want to be jolly and have a good time.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Right, right. I hadn’t answered that yet because I had to give that some thought, you know, like what would my maternal grandmother say? I don’t know, she was so mean, I don’t know exactly what she, she’d probably say, now don’t you be listening to that boy, just like that, don’t listen to that boy. Oh, okay, all right, contender, she said, I know Bullwinkle is, thank you, Lauren, Lauren Michael Harris, I showed a picture, you missed it, so there. And here we have this person talking about relationships, all of this about relationships, even when you talk about your maternal grandmother and what she would say, that’s the relationship. And when you talk about cartoon shows that, you know, when you talk about, that’s relationships, it’s like if you think about cartoons and the cartoons you like, you had a relationship with them, you know, it was an internal kind of relationship because it was something about that particular show that resonated something within you, even when you were a kid.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Yes.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
You know, even when you were a kid. So I had some other things I’m going to ask you, let’s see, oh, you talked about on one of your Facebook Lives about going to the doctor, and that’s one of the things that I want to talk about, especially women.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Okay.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
And so what was that about?

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
I think I’ve done several of those, but one in particular that I remember was when my mother had moved out this way with me for the second time moving to Madison, and she still wanted to continue to use the doctors that she was used to, which were more than 30 miles away. So we did that for as long as I could possibly do it, and then I just got to the point where it was too much because she had several of them, and you know, they didn’t do making the appointments on the same day where I could get it all out the way, it was back and forth and back and forth. So when we finally decided that she was going to have a doctor out this way, we found one, and luckily the one that we found was perfect for her and for me, because now she’s my primary care doctor. She did such a great job with my mom, who at that point in time was sicker than we ever thought, but she got us to where we needed to go so that my mother could stay here as long as possible. And I decided that as a primary care doctor, that’s who I wanted to be mine, and I’m with her today.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, okay. Yes, it is very important for men and women to advocate for themselves and to choose a doctor that they really feel comfortable with. And like you said, took care of your mother. And I think that’s a very good, I kind of remember that, I know that’s been a while before you did. So now, well, before we leave that, Marcy Hill says her maternal grandmother would tell her not to go on the porch in house shoes and air bunnies.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Yes ma’am, I heard that, do not go outside like that.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, exactly. Now Brenda, we know where to get your book, okay. And now if people want to see your Facebook Lives, where do they go?

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
They can actually go to Relationships Are Us, that’s my business page.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, so I’m going to put this down here. Now, is that a website?

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
No, it’s actually a Facebook.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, all right, Relationships Are Us.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Yes, yes.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, and they can see all of your Facebook Lives. I hope I did that right, Relationships Are Us.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Okay, that’s right.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yeah, yeah, okay, all right, that’s great. So I know you’re going to continue being your relationship coach, and I want to just let everyone know if you have a middle school child, high school child, a young adult, and if you are yourself an older adult and you need some coaching about lifestyle and just for someone to listen to you and direct you, actually what happens is, and I know this, is that she helps you to listen to yourself and coaches you along the way to a better life and a better lifestyle. And I think when you talk about retirement, I’m going all the way back, how important it was and is, but how important it was for you to find your passion from being a relationship coach to a model to an author. But before we go, Brenda, are you writing another book?

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
No, not yet. I’ve got so many thoughts in my head and so many things that I’ve had to get involved in that I wasn’t aware of these last three years that the book writing has been pushed off until a later date. But I’m sure I’ll be coming out with something in probably the next couple of years, maybe.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, okay. Now, one more thing before we go, you are one of the co-founders of the Gold Shoe Society. Now, what’s that?

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
That’s actually a group on Facebook that was started by yourself, Carol Rodgers, and me to celebrate women over 50, no matter where they are in life, because there’s a lot of experience and wisdom that’s within all of us. We’re multifaceted and we’re not ready to just sit back, watch soap operas, and eat bonbons. Celebrating one another, we have a lot more life to live and we’re fiercely real, like Conceda Jones says. So you can visit us on the Gold Shoe Society and join us. That’s a Facebook page, and then there’s another Facebook group that is called the Gold Shoe Society. So you can visit us and participate with us on Facebook that way.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
All righty, so we are inviting all of you senior ladies, mature women, 50 and over, to join Gold Shoe Society and you’ll see a lot of Brenda’s memes. She puts some great memes on there and her Facebook Lives. Brenda, it’s been a plum-pleasing pleasure to have you on the show this evening. I really appreciate you coming and, you know, I learned some things about you that I didn’t know.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Oh, it’s been great. I really enjoyed you and I hope everyone enjoyed you also.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Well, I know they did, I know they did. So remember, Relationships Are Us, and you will find some of her Facebook Lives, well, you’ll find all of her Facebook Lives and you can participate and you can answer questions, answer her questions, and you’ll enjoy it. So thank you, Brenda.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
You’re welcome.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, now, oh, who is this? I like to delight to be a part of these wonderful groups, Fiercely Real and Gold Shoe Society. Facebook user, I don’t know who you are, but we know that you’re a part of both groups. I think that’s Carol, actually.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
You think so? Okay.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
I think so, but that might be Carol. I enjoyed you too, Facebook users. And so next week, we have on the show Miss Felicia Houston, and Felicia is going to talk about race relations and mental health. How does that impact our mental health? I want all of you, yes, I want all of you to join us. I know that it’s going to be an excellent show, an excellent theme for the show, especially for the environment that we’re living in now and what’s going on now. So Brenda Tucker Jeffries.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Yes, ma’am.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
I want to thank you.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Thank you.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
And it’s, as I said, it’s been a plum-pleasing pleasure. I want you to have a blessed rest of your evening. Go outside, girl, and enjoy some of this 90-degree weather in the sun.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Definitely.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, all right, bye-bye.

Brenda Tucker Jeffries
Bye-bye.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Well, I have definitely enjoyed, I like, I just love to say her name, Brenda Tucker Jeffries. I have to say her whole name. So I’m gonna have one more quick commercial before we go. [Music]

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Now, if you would like to advertise on this show with some eye-catching videos, if you’ve seen some videos that you like, we make them in-house. And if you have a product or service that you would like to promote and increase your visibility, you can contact us at 1-877-667-7325 or janfornow125@gmail.com. I want to thank all of you all for joining us today, and I want you to have a beautifully blessed rest of your day. Remember, relationship matters, and there are all kinds of relationship matters. See you next week. Bye.