Meet Jen Shaw, an inspiring woman who has overcome many social, mental and physical barriers from her youth to become a mum of seven, entrepreneur, and author. Jen is passionate about helping young people reach their potential, and through her own difficult journey has learnt how to live well on little, how to heal with food, how to deal with stress and anxiety, and how to support others to do the same.

Jen is the author of two healthy eating cookbooks, Living on Little, and Lovely Little Lunchboxes, which focus on eating well on a tight budget, and cooking from scratch. The recipes are gluten free and whole foods recipes, using basic ingredients, with updated versions of the good, old-fashioned food from her childhood.

Jen’s passion for reaching out to youth in need has caused her to begin a not-for-profit project called ‘Emerge’, which offers a holistic mentorship program and will be based at the Emerge Café in Toowoomba. The cafe is a social enterprise project that aims to deliver training and employment opportunities to youth facing barriers in the Toowoomba region.

Jen believes that by meeting young people facing challenges where they are at and supporting them through a holistic mentorship and training program, they can become valuable assets to our community and become the best versions of themselves.

The training program helps young people to take part in on the job training in a hospitality setting, and encourages healthy living through fitness activities, cooking skills, goal setting, self care and positive mindset. The participants are also given the help they need to ensure they have a safe and supportive home environment.

If you’d like to help get the Emerge Cafe off the ground, you can purchase Jen’s cookbooks which help with funding. Click here for more information.

Follow Jen’s journey with the Emerge project on her Facebook page, Barefoot Kitchens.

You can learn more about Jen here: About Jen