I've known her from the moment she was born. I was the first to hold her.
I thought she might follow in my footsteps one day, but I wasn't sure. I wanted her to follow her own path, not mine.
Six months ago, after she and her boyfriend broke up, my daughter, Jade Gordon, told me she was ready to overcome her fear and start speaking. She had a lot of fear that kept her from pursuing what she truly wanted to do.
But one day while working as a hostess at Nobu in Malibu, Jade met a customer who changed everything. The woman had a poor experience with her waiter, so Jade apologized and began to have a nice conversation with her. The woman then asked if she could pray for Jade and proceeded to say that fear was keeping her from her destiny and then asked God to help Jade live out her purpose and calling.
The woman didn't know what I did for a living, nor did she know that Jade wanted to start speaking but was too scared to do it. My daughter told the woman what was in her heart as they hugged and cried together. The woman proceeded to tell Jade that she had a vision of her speaking around the country, and this surprising, profound experience was the catalyst for Jade to face her fears and step into this work.
At first Jade spoke to her old high school lacrosse team. Then a youth group. A boys lacrosse team. Clemson baseball. A high school in Texas. And a month ago she spoke in Iowa at a woman's conference, a business event, at a high school and to two businesses.
Here are a few of her speaking clips:
People say, "you must be proud." Proud is not my first thought. It’s more so "amazed" at what God is doing with her so quickly. I certainly didn't expect this.
But when I saw her speak, I realized she was born to do this and create her own path. She's going to make a big difference and impact a lot of people and that’s what I'm proud of.
She has a bunch of speaking engagements lined up the next few months but has room on her calendar for more engagements if you are interested in having her speak to your organization and group.
Jade Gordon speaks on positive leadership to teens and adults. She does Energy Bus assemblies for elementary, middle and high schools. And she has created her own talk on developing confidence and another talk on living your purpose.
You can contact her at jade@jongordon.com if you are interested in learning more about her speaking to your team, organization or group. She's moving to Austin in August which is fitting since Austin was one of the first cities to embrace me when I started my speaking career.
As I write this, I want to say I'm so thankful for all of you who read this newsletter and embrace my books, trainings and talks. You made it possible for me to do this work and allowed my daughter to see what it looks like for her dad to make this his life mission to make a difference and now it has become her mission too. My heart is full of gratitude.
- Jon
