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Meet Jennifer Graffice of Qlife in Scottsdale

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Graffice.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I Graduated from Bowling Green State University in Ohio with a Sports Medicine Degree. I was the Head Athletic Trainer for a local High School and worked at The Medical College of Ohio in the Sports Medicine clinic for two years where I truly found my love of working with athletes. I met my husband and we moved to Arizona. where I began my career in Fitness and Wellness. I spent the next 23 years Managing Country Club and Private Athletic Clubs and Spas. I was an International Speaker for the Industry and loved managing my teams of employees. I launched Qlife initially as a side hustle, where I did consulting, speaking engagements and ran boot camps at hospitals and resorts. When I finally had enough of the corporate world, I decided to take that big leap of faith and took Qlife full time. As a single mom, Qlife became my motivation for everything. I began personal training out of my condo complex, traveled to clients homes and continued consulting, writing meal plans and doing anything I could to pay the bills. My daughter was a competitive cheerleader at the time and her coach asked me to come to speak to the team about injury prevention since a few girls were struggling with injuries. I did and they loved it.

Since I was driving my daughter, Ashley, to practice everyday, I offered to speak to the team once a week. I became the “Monday Motivator” I spoke to them each week about different topics…. nutrition, getting along, mindset, leadership, or whatever coach felt they needed at the time. This weekly 15 minutes of motivation quickly became my favorite session of the week. I worked with the team all year and 3/4 of the way thru the season the team was falling apart! They had fallen during every competition. The same flyer had fallen all six competitions, the parents wanted the girl kicked off the team, the girls were turning against each other and were very disconnected and the coaches didn’t know what to do…So I came up with a vulnerability exercise to break them down and show them that we are all human and while these were all beautiful girls with pretty makeup and big bows in their hair, The exercise I did, helped to connect them on a deeper level…I asked them to share something about themselves that no one might know. You know, the sad and painful and ugly things that no one likes to talk about. Unlike social media only sharing the “my life is perfect’ stories. I invited them to do the opposite. Over the course of the next hour and a half these beautiful, seemingly all put together athletes started to share their painful stories “I’m the reason for my parents divorce, I have sex with boys for attention, I’ve tried to commit suicide, My dad lost his job and we have to move, my dad died in a car accident, my mom is dying of cancer, My mom is an alcoholic, My dad has never told me he loves me…” And once they started sharing and finally got past the uncomfortableness of being not so perfect, they wanted to go deeper and share even more; some girls spoke two and three different times! The coach and I stayed there until every last girl was done… It was by far, the saddest yet most profound experience of my career…..so heavy yet also so healing…That night left me depressed for two weeks.

However, from the exercise we did on Thursday night to our final competition on that Saturday, Something changed within the girls and they saw each other differently, treated each other with a little more compassion and kindness and on Saturday they walked away from the competition hitting a PERFECT routine with zero deductions and a bid to Worlds! It was spectacular to watch! The power of the mind is so amazing and I knew there was something so special about how we brought those girls together in such an incredible way that it affected their athletic performance.

It does not matter who you are…we are all broken and kids these days truly have no outlet! From the experience that night in the gym, I knew I needed to do something to help them! To help all kids! There is so much personal development out there for adults, yet not very much for kids. And so, I came up with my Qlife Camp, a half-day session educating, motivating and inspiring kids to live the five PILLARS of a QLIFE (quality life) and that vulnerability exercise has now become my signature event that I do with everyone at the very end of Camp! To date, I have touched 3,500 lives through my camps, speaking engagements and one on one coaching! And my business has transformed into being, for the most part, an athletic performance, mental mindset, leadership and empowering youth company! I am so blessed to be able to do what I love and love what I do each and every day!

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not at all…but oh so worth it! The struggle is what makes you stronger and the journey so much more beautiful. The biggest struggle was being a single mom and not knowing where my next paycheck would come from! I had a lot of Faith over Fear moments where I would just believe in myself and my purpose and go for it and things would somehow always seem to work out in the Nth hour! In the moments, I would never be sure and I was scared to death, but I just kept pushing through. I was blessed with kids who also believed in me and were willing to sacrifice and go with less for the sake of my dream. One day, I was so bummed, and went to my kids (14 and 16) to tell them I needed to go get a part-time job and maybe put things on hold a bit, and my son said “No mom, we can just eat Mac and Cheese, you are not getting a job, you need to keep going!” And so I did! I didn’t want to let them down!

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Qlife~Jen Graffice – what should we know?
Jen Graffice Qlife is an Athletic Performance and Mental Mindset Company who specializes in working with athletes and youth groups to teach them about peak performance in sport and life! I am making a difference in the lives of those I serve! I am so blessed to connect with coaches and athletes and organizations that serve Youth through Young Adults! I believe what sets me apart is the fact that I am truly living my purpose and my passion! I love what I do so much that it doesn’t even feel like work! I am most proud of the fact that I never gave up on my dream and kept pushing through!

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
My INTEGRITY, my FAITH and not being afraid to FAIL! We learn and grow so much from our failures and every time I fail, I learn and grow stronger and more wise because of that experience. That is a beautiful gift! And I only surround myself with people who believe in me and are bigger, greater and better than myself and are where I want to be in life! I truly believe in Surrounding UP when it comes to business.

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