Jen Satterly is the co-founder of the All Secure Foundation, a nonprofit organization created to help veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress.
Jen has left her successful film company and dedicated her life to understanding PTSD and helping those afflicted with it.
Trudy has experienced many challenges as a female entrepreneur- discrimination, personal setbacks, disrespect from male counterparts. But she fought through it all and still found success. Having gone through these challenges herself, she has decided to become a voice for women everywhere and a means to tell their incredible stories of overcoming adversity – and she has with www.TrudyJacobson.com.
Which is how she found Jen Satterly.
Trudy recognized the battles Jen has overcome and understood the level of commitment it took to get there. And now Trudy wants to share her experience, along with the experience of other women through her platform, Jacobson Talent Press. Her goal is to give these women a voice to let the world know the great things these, and other great women, are doing.
Jen Satterly’s Story
Post traumatic stress disorder is a debilitating condition. After living through a traumatic experience, whether it was a one-time event, or recurring events (such as those found in military service), it will certainly change a person.
No one sees that more clearly than the spouse who’s living with a person who has PTSD.
And that is Jen Satterly’s story.
Jen is the spouse of a former Delta Force veteran who spent over 20 years in the special operations unit. Her husband, Tom, was involved in over a thousand combat missions. It was no surprise that he left the battlefield with some mental and emotional scars.
And Jen dealt with it all.
Who is Jen Satterly
Jen was a videographer and owner of a film company over a decade ago. Like Trudy, Jen was independent, strong, and always took life by the horns. But that didn’t mean she was invincible.
At the time, Jen was working alongside Tom filming him and other veterans conduct military-style training exercises.
As the two worked together, they grew close and eventually began dating. Throughout the relationship, she began to notice that Tom and other veterans were exhibiting a lot of the same negative behaviors; angry outbursts, high-risk behavior, impatience, excessive drinking and so on.
She became accustomed to the behaviors and learned to live with them despite knowing in her heart that they weren’t healthy attributes.
“Jen reminded me of the people I had in my life that weren’t always a positive influence. I have moved on from most of them. This is why Jen’s story is so impactful and inspirational. She found a way to manage the people around her,” Trudy added.
But it wasn’t until the night of Tom and Jen’s wedding where everything reached a climax.
Tom was drinking heavily that evening – a sight Jen was somewhat used to. Towards the latter part of the evening, the two got into an argument. It wasn’t until the morning that her husband got the full scope of what occurred the night prior.
“When I showed him my bruised arms…his face, I’ll never forget. Shock, disgust, and embarrassment contorted his features. He jumped out of bed and fell to his knees in front of me. ‘Please God, please tell me it wasn’t me that did that to you,’” Jen said.
Jen had never experienced anything near that in their relationship. After reflecting on the experience, she gave serious consideration to annulling the marriage.
This is a part of the story that hit home with Trudy. Having been focused so long on her business ventures, her marriage paid a price for it. Trudy also nearly had her marriage end, but like Jen, she found a way through it.
Jen’s Life Changed That Night
Jen chose to stay. Part of her decision was understanding that her husband, as well as countless veterans out there, are struggling with PTSD. Being the fighter that she is, she didn’t want to walk out on him and let him struggle alone.
She then gave up her successful award-winning film company and both her and Tom decided to dedicate their lives to understanding PTSD.
“The amount of strength Jen has exuded is a source of inspiration for not only me, but women all over the world. This is why I wanted to tell Jen’s story – to help women learn how strong they can be if they chose to be,” Trudy said.
Once Jen dove into learning about PTSD, things started to make sense.
Jen said, “I started to understand why Tom would unconsciously switch lanes under overpasses to avoid snipers or move away from roadkill because one too many times the terrorists had used roadkill to hide bombs. He didn’t think, he reacted.”
But it wasn’t an easy road learning about PTSD. Despite Tom getting additional treatment and counseling, it was a long, slow process. During which time Jen had to challenge him on occasion.
“This is a very dangerous game to play with someone who can kill me in a single move, someone who in a fit of rage is capable of great acts of violence; others in his unit have killed their wives under similar situations,” Jen said.
But Jen continued to fight.
“This is the part of Jen’s story that was so inspiring to me. Knowing that there are realistic dangers but having the strength and courage to proceed anyway… that was raw and real – something all women should approach life with,” Trudy added.
Jen and Tom have since started the All Secure Foundation to help other veterans in need. She also created a subset nonprofit organization called Virago.
“This is why the All Secure Foundation created Virago, to support women who are in a relationship with either a military serviceman, veteran, or a first responder who is suffering from service-connected PTSD; everyone is welcome,” Jen said.
Trudy has really found a special woman in Jen. The two have a lot in common, but can still learn a lot from each other.
Jen Satterly is a testament to other great women out there and what it means to be dedicated to a cause. But she knows the work will never end and we know she will never quit.
To learn more about Jen Satterly and the All Secure Foundation, visit their website, www.allsecurefoundation.org, and follow her on Instagram and tune in to her podcast.
Who is Trudy Jacobson?
Trudy is an entrepreneur and leader. Her path to success and entrepreneurialism started in the trucking industry decades ago. She encountered numerous obstacles in the male-dominated industry- like discrimination. She was even conned out of a lot of money in a fraudulent scheme. Despite all that, Trudy always fought hard and pushed forward. Once she realized she was capable of anything, she went on to start her own company and excelled. Now she empowers other women to do the same and to learn from her experience. Trudy now highlights their stories for the world to see in the Great American Women Series. Trudy wants women everywhere to know they can achieve their goals.
