Meet Jennifer Smith | Podcaster, coach, author; specialized expert in recovery after narcissistic abuse and coercive control.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jennifer Smith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jennifer, what habits do you feel play an important role in your life?

The number one habit for success is persistence. Continuing, exploring, and patience; putting things up without being “perfect” and learning, tweaking, and updating as you go. There are so many aspects to a small self-run business. I do it all from content creation to coaching clients to marketing. Because the “brand” is “me”, in my voice, every social media post, every it of content on any platform or medium is original. An exciting new venture is the launch of my podcast, Narcissistic Abuse Unwound in September 2022. That’s been brilliant. The show ranked in the top 10% most globally shared in the “relationship” category within just three months. The content is off-the-cuff and unscripted. it’s just me in my recording booth, yapping away; I edit and publish. The podcast is up Thursday mornings at 10:10 AM PST each week with surprise extra episodes here and there. They’re short bite-sized pieces so it’s easy to listen to three or four in a row or repeat a few. In 2023 I’m planning to bring in guests. Expect a new book in 2023 as well!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
True Love Scam Recovery and the podcast Narcissistic Abuse Unwound have come out of my own life. They rose from a traumatic, horrific personal experience. I couldn’t have thought of this business in a million years otherwise. Without my own love scam by an international criminal, I wouldn’t have the inside track and understanding of this nightmare. The desire and the insights and knowledge to support others through this kind of experience comes from me; from me going through it. This was a natural move right out of the life-jacking I went through. Escaping, recovering, winning, and restoring my life after being married to a con man is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Not much is much of a challenge after that. The things I do daily for the business happen to use my natural talents and interests: writing, teaching, coaching, speaking, audio production, creating and presenting. It’s a heavy topic and I bring in humor as well, you can’t *not* have some laughter! So, it’s an organic fit. I can see what I’m doing now easily transitioning onto other contexts and this is key for me. There’s a natural flow from where I was to where I am to wherever I go.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

Not sure I’d have a week off, but okay…!

Mornings would be in Hillcrest with a visit to LIV for some to-go smoothies. If it’s a pastry kind of morning I’d hit Bonjour Patisserie. We’d go to Balboa Park wander around and see the sights live music whatever’s happening and Craft Cafe at Mingei. Calabria Caffè for coffee soccer, and an evening show at The Old Globe. Dinner and hanging out is key! Maybe Whisky House on the cozy couches. We’d go for a night out in Little Italy, stroll through a few spots, dinner at Nolita Hall or Civico 1845. One day would be a hike at Torrey Pines for the views and ocean air. One of the days maybe slip in a yoga class at Sojourn Healing Collective. We’d go to Liberty Station, lunch at Con Pane Rustic Bread. And there’s Panama 66 of some nightlife. We’d have to hit Old Town Tacos at the urban market and walk around. La Jolla Shores for a beach wander…or Mission Beach, there’d we’d get sushi at Canon Ball, that upstairs view of the ocean is so fantastic. – There’s so much to do and so many places to go in San Diego!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

I started True Love Scam Recovery out of the aftermath of my own experience marrying a conman. The need was there. There was nothing out there like this. I still hold a unique perspective and original and non-standard recovery techniques, and every session is specific and personal to each client. Responses from listeners, and coaching clients and on social media makes me keep me going. I’m so grateful for people reaching out and letting me know how what I put out there has helped them… Often I’m told that I’ve saved their lives. That’s how big the experience of being scammed in a fraudulent relationship is. They let me know I’m making a huge difference. There was one amazing, unexpected thing that led the build of my primary social media, Facebook from the first day I started. An unidentified person shared every single Facebook post I made. This continued until the likes and follows on the page reached a certain number that gave the True Love Scam Recovery page heft. They did this under a pseudonym, as I run my business under a pseudonym it made sense to me, and there was no communication between us. I’ve no idea who it was. Without this, I’m not sure it would have taken off as it did. Every so often I make a Facebook post thanking this person again in case they’re still out there. I’ve had a few different clients contribute significantly in their own unique ways to the growth of the brand and my first book, Breaking Up with Evil: Escaping Coercive Control is entirely made up of the generosity of five women sharing their true stories. I didn’t do any of it truly alone.

Website: https://www.truelovescam.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truelovescamrecovery/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-smith-true-love-scam/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/truelovescam

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/recognizesurviveasociopath/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbopjC7DoZ17qHWf3YjIT6A

Other: Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6qmuTg4dcIN4mdtpQQSQfp?si=f3597882117e4c4b

Image Credits
Jennifer Smith