Co-Founder of Find the Others

This Sunday, 7pm, online catch up.

I will pop the link in the comments.

We'd love you to join us 🥰

Justine & Cherie

x

Have you ever wondered why you keep doing something you know is exhausting you?

Maybe the question isn’t:

“What is wrong with me?”

Perhaps the better question is:

“When did this behaviour first make sense?”

Children attach a meaning to everything.

When something happens, we try to explain it with the understanding available to us at the time.

You may have heard me say that kids will make a decision about what something means with the emotional maturity of a carrot, because how could we possibly decide what something means with no mature context?

We may decide:

I need to keep everyone happy.
I must not need too much.
If I am useful, I will be loved.
If I make a mistake, I will be rejected.
It is my job to keep the peace.

Those conclusions then become our strategies.
And those strategies follow us into adulthood long after the original circumstances have occurred.

Your behaviour, and the circumstances you’re allowing or repeating, are not evidence that something is wrong with you.
It may be evidence that, once upon a time, you found a very intelligent way to survive.

What behaviour in your life might make more sense if you stopped judging it and became curious about it instead?

'I didn't die'..

People who follow me know me for saying it and I want to clarify something.

This isn't humour, even though I might say it in a cheeky way, or even smirk when I say it.

It's my way of saying:

'My worst day wasn't the end of story'.

I have had people say to me, 'how are you dealing with this so well?'.

Because 'this' is far from some of the worst things I have survived.

Yes, it's fu***ng horrible and in the middle of it all we feel like we are drowning, reeling in shock, paralysed with fear, and all the things, and we're convinced that we won't make it.

Yet we do.

And sometimes even though we are doing all the right things to move forward (often despite someone or something else applying the handbrake or slashing our tires when we least expect it along the way) we feel a rush of despair, anger at the unfairness, grief of what's been done to us, all of that.

It's almost like we're being tested.

Here's the thing..

We don't have a choice.

We must survive. We don't WANT to not make it. We just can't see how right now. So we 'just keep swimming'.

And we don't die.

Nobody is saying your situation is more or less extreme than others. Judging yourself is never helpful.

Give yourself some grace, patience, love and compassion.

JD x

PS This is me when I was little. I am so proud of her, she's been through a lot, and she turned out ok 😉 See less

What if the best thing you did for yourself this week was simply pressing "Join"?

We spend so much of our lives taking care of everyone else that it's easy to forget we need looking after too.

This Sunday at 7 pm, I'm hosting an online Women's Circle for you to pause, breathe, and reflect before the week ahead.

For 90 minutes, you can step away from the noise, the responsibilities, and pressure.

You don't have to have the right words.

You don't have to be "doing okay."

You don't have to carry it all on your own.

Just come as you are.

This is a small circle, limited to 12 women, so there's time and space for everyone to feel welcome, heard and connected.

My hope is that when you log off, you feel a little lighter, a little more connected, and a little more ready for the week ahead.

Because sometimes 90 minutes really can make all the difference.

💛 Sunday
🕖 7:00 pm
💻 Online
✨ 90 minutes
🥰 $22

I'd love to welcome you.

https://justinedean.as.me/circle

It’s been nearly two years since my world was completely levelled.

You may remember the post I shared last August. Stolen money, absolute financial and personal betrayal, and my terrifyingly close call with homelessness.

As I said back then: I didn’t die.

But I did take a necessary, quiet hiatus from the public to recover from the shock, rebuild after abuse, and get myself back into a life I love.

My life and career have been built around navigating high-stakes transitions. As a mother, sister, and former spouse of veterans, I have spent twenty-five years living and breathing the unique complexities, structural challenges, and invisible sacrifices that come with the Defence community.

That depth of experience is exactly why I became a coach over a decade ago. I intimately understand the complex journey of navigating connection, identity loss, and support during and after service. For years, I have worked extensively with veterans, Defence families, and the public, to find their feet, rebuild their confidence, and map out their future.

Then, I had to apply everything I’d ever taught to my own survival.

When it all burns to the ground, you discover exactly what you are made of. You learn how to navigate blind panic and paralysing shock, make critical decisions when the fog is thick, and how to build a fortress around your boundaries.

I am officially stepping back into my coaching practice as part of launching Find the Others this month with Cherie McGee.

I bring a diverse coaching background combined with raw, unfiltered lived experience.

I’m a little unconventional, warm, fun, and compassionate. I create spaces of psychological safety for women veterans, Defence partners, and those navigating complex life pivots who need an objective circuit-breaker to find their way.

My door is open again, and my booking link is here: https://justinedean.as.me/

If you’re currently hitting a wall and are ready for some tailored support let’s connect.

Welcome!

We've updated our look, and I completely forgot to add my name to the official title line!

While Facebook makes me wait 60 days to fix the typo, I'm still right here.. 🥰

If you'd like to join our mailing list or have questions about what we do or how we might be able to support you, we invite you to reach out via our connect button in the Find the Others website.

Soft launch pending 😉

Justine

Cherie McGee

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