Meet Jacy Kirby | Health Coach & Author

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

Hi Jacy, career-wise, where do you want to be in the end?
The end goal, truly, is to be able to look back at the end and go, “I am fulfilled. I am at peace.” I have always let my passions guide me. Writing, whether it be poetry, flash fiction, short story, or even novels (still working on those!) is an outlet that lets me prosper both professionally and personally. I would love to be able to publish many more books in my career, both fictional and nonfictional pieces.

I am also a health coach and have always had a love for the health and wellness space. I often use my writing for advocacy in relation to mental health surrounding body image, eating disorders, and the many seasons of tribulations and triumphs that come along the journey of personal growth. Professionally, I would love to continue on the route I am on now. Helping others through health in all of its planes; physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

In the end, as long as I have pursued my passions to their greatest extent while helping others along the way, I will be fulfilled ten times over.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I think what really sets me apart from other creatives is my ability to relate my struggles with so many others. A lot of my work, especially in the poetry scene, revolves around my experiences with a binge eating disorder and bulimia through exercise. A lot of my work also focuses on the other mental health struggles that often come alongside an eating disorder like depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, body dysmorphia, body shaming, etc. I hold nothing back. I lay my experiences and my life out on the paper so that others can read it and go, “I know exactly what that feels like.”

I don’t just focus on the struggles though. What story would be complete without some of the successes mentioned as well? I think what also sets me apart is that I have conquered a lot of those demons I used to wrestle with. I’ve found recovery. I’ve found fulfillment outside of my eating disorders. I’ve made a life that doesn’t rely on something that kills me ever time I take part in it.

I’m able to write from a place of both lived in experience and from places that let others know that they will be okay. They just have to keep moving forward. One day at a time. One breath at a time. The journey has not been easy in the slightest, but no story worth telling is. “The Lord of the Rings,” would be all of ten pages if the characters didn’t have to first brave the darkness so that they could then see the light.

Mental health, comes with many pitfalls. At its worst it’s debilitating. At its best, it’s slightly less debilitating. Kidding, kidding, but it can seem like that a lot of the time. I still deal with many of the struggles I have dealt with most of my life, but I have a much better grasp on them now. I know how to go about them in a much more productive way. Therapy has been a big help with that. There’s a stigma, for men especially, to shove their emotions down. It’s not seen as masculine by the outside world to share your inner world if its anything less than sunshine and pickup trucks. I’m here to bring back healthy masculinity when it comes to mental health. We don’t prosper if we can’t openly communicate our struggles. Strength comes from acknowledging your struggles, not from pretending they’re not there.

I want the world to know you should fight for yourself, but make sure you’re not fighting against yourself.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
A week long trip?! With MY social battery? I’ll take four days at most, and not a day longer for $300, Alex. Superficially, I’d say let’s go do axe throwing, maybe bowling, most certainly an escape room let’s hit the gym, let’s definitely hit Chipotle, put on some fights (boxing or MMA) and then maybe some late night card games back at the house. Rinse, repeat.

On a deeper level, though, I just want to talk to that friend in the quiet comfort of my home. I want to speak of life, theirs, mine, and at large. I want to know their thoughts, I want to know their dreams. I want to hear their struggles. I want us to speak from a deeply intrinsic place. I love deep conversations. It itches a part of my brain that I think attaches to my soul. The most interesting experience for me is the human experience. I want to explore it from as many angles as I can hear and perceive from. You can’t forget Chipotle, though.

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 feel like a broken record every time I get asked this question, but the immediate answer will always remain the same: my wife, Chloe, deserves ten lifetimes of credit for the role, the support, and the love she bestows upon me in this life. Without her, I would not be where I am, and I very well might not be on this earth. It is in such large part because of her that I have gone on to publish books, achieve awards in both the literary and fitness scene, and have pursued my eating disorder recovery as consistently as I have. She is the very breath that kept me alive for so long, in so many dark moments, and I owe her the most credit always.

I also would love to shoutout another who has been instrumental in my personal growth journey. The teachings of Alan Watts, a western philosopher who brought many eastern philosophies over to the U.S., has helped me tremendously. His talks surrounding Daoism, in that things will be how they will be, and in the end, we will be okay, among many other lessons have really aided in my personal journey. I highly recommend checking his recordings out, or looking into his book, “Alan Watts: The Way of Zen.” Your mind and your spirit will thank you. In a world of chaos and ever moving parts, it can be really beneficial to be able to sit with yourself in the quiet moments and not be uncomfortable. Being comfortable with yourself is one of the most powerful things we can do.

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