Jenny Block - Be That Unicorn: Find Your Magic, Live Your Truth, and Share Your Shine

Praise for Be That Unicorn

Sometimes being a unicorn is lonely. After all, were pretty unique creatures. Jenny Block teaches us all how to embrace our inner unicorn, let our magic shine, and find our herd!

Desiree Asher, philanthropist, technologis t, unicorn

This book is a valuable guide to have by your side as you make the tough calls, keep the culture positive, and take a little time to reflect on your own inner unicorn.

Carrie Welch, cofounder of Feast Portland and Little Gr een Pickle

Jenny brings a magical energy to every room shes in and people notice. Be That Unicorn reveals her journey of becoming her authentic, wonderful self. Thank you for sharing your magi c, Jenny.

Celebrity chef Duff Goldman, founder of Charm City Cakes and star of Food Networks Ac e of Cakes

We need Jenny Block and Be That Unicorn , her wry, insightful, poignant, and hilarious guide to discovering and harnessing the magic that lives inside of all of us and that, when unleashed, allows us to be our very bestand most authenti cselves.

Noah Michelson, editorial director of HuffPos t Personal

Be That Unicorn has a lot of valuable tips, that even That Unicorn may forget sometimes. Its a good read that everyone should have the pleasure of pi cking up.

Maddie Whitley, trans model an d activist

Find Your Magic, Live Your Truth,
and Share Your Shine

Coral Gables

Copyright 2020 Jenny Block

Published by Mango Publishing Group, a division of Mango Media Inc.

Cover Design: Liz Hong
Author photo credit: Lisa Hause, Lisa Hause Photography lisahausephotography.com
Unicorn Watercolors Credit: Suzanne L. Vinson suzannelvinson.com
Layout & Design: Morgane Leoni

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Be That Unicorn: Find Your Magic, Live Your Truth, and Share Your Shine

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication number: 2019948837
ISBN: (print) 978-1-64250-184-1, (ebook) 978-1-64250-185-8
BISAC category code SEL023000SELF-HELP / Personal Growth / Self-Esteem

Printed in the United States of America

For Pa pa Herbie.

My papa and m y unicorn.

Contents

Ive always wanted to be that It Girl. The one people were drawn to. The one who could garner the attention of everyone at a dinner party. The one who was so captivating that, no matter where she was or who she was talking to, everyone around her just glowed. The It Girl has some sort of magic force about her, and just being around her allowed you to become envelo ped in it.

I used to think you became an It Girl through clothes or beauty or money. Maybe it was her travel or her experiences or her access to the world. The messaging from that world is confusing. Be rich. Be young. Be beautiful. Then everyone will love you and youll have the world at your feet. But some of the most banal people I have ever met get top marks in all three of those categories. So it sent me out on a journey pondering, If that wasnt what made the girlor the guywha t was it?

It wasnt until I truly listened to the words my father had been saying to me since I was a little girl that I realized what the magic quotient of the It Girl truly was: authenticity. She feels so comfortable in her skin that she cant help but let it spring out from her like so many sparkly strands that surround and delight everyone a round her.

Because she feels good about herself, she makes others feel the same way. Theres no one easier to adore than someone who reflects back to you the image of yourself that you long to see: the smart, funny, clever, enchanting, kind, calm, inviting version of yourself that knows just what to do and how to do it in every situation.

That girl (or guy) is Tha t Unicorn.

I used to get angry when my dad would tell me to be myself. That plan had gotten me rejected in the most grandiose of ways, including when I went to Camp Louise the summer between eighth and ninth grades. Everyone else had grown up and arrived at camp with luggage packed with Bloomies underwear and magazine pages to hang in their lockers of the latest hunky movie stars. I showed up with my monkey puppet: Hi! Im Jenny and this is my monkey, Henry. It was social suicide at fi rst sight.

But what I didnt know back then was that those girls were even more insecure than I was. It was that very desperation that pushed them to follow the crowd in every sense, to dress the same and talk the same and drool over the very same heartthrobs. I was too nave to know any better. I was just being, well, me. That summer was the beginning of me deciding that that whole be yourself thing was for the birds. All it got you was a seat at the dork table in the cafeteria and a lot of lonely Saturd ay nights.

But years of following the crowd did me no good, either. Not in the long run, anyway. Why? Because I wasnt being me. I was faking itand not in the fake it till you make it kind of way, just in the plain old fake it cause you dont know what the heck else to do kind of way. Thats never good. When I was faking it, I felt fake. When I was my actual self, I felt so much better. Slowly it became clear to me: being yourself might not always be the easiest, but it is always the best.

So, when I got to college, I decided it was the perfect time to retest my dads be yourself and they will come theory. And, go figure, it worked. People liked to be around me because I knew who I was and I was happy and comfortable in my own skin. From then on, that was my path. Sure, I had and continue to have plenty of days plagued by insecurity. But most days are pretty prancy. I became That Unicorn by not trying to be any girl othe r than me.

That Unicorn is the best you. That Unicorn is a glittery, rainbow-maned metaphor for ones joyful selfthe kind of person we are all drawn to. That Unicorn is you. My mom has always said that people are drawn to me because I make everyone feel good about themselves. Throughout my life, people have echoed that sentiment. Its the thing I love about myself the most: Im the big sister, the BFF, the mom, the cheerleader, the coachthe little unicorn that could who everyone deserves.