Why I Lead with Authenticity, Not Approval

By Jenna Schroeder, Author of Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza and the Case of the Missing Hat at Dolphin Hat Games

I didn’t always know I would become a writer. But I always knew I had something to say. 

When I was little, I journaled through diaries and wrote poem after poem—pages filled with feelings, questions, dreams, and wonder. I acted out stories with my siblings, sometimes through enchanted forests with fairies, sometimes as comedy sketches for our family’s entertainment. The story was always in me. I just didn’t yet know where it would take me. 

I couldn’t have guessed then that I’d one day write children’s books, launch my own publishing imprint, or step into leadership roles that blended vision, voice, and creativity. Or that I’d have to lose my footing before finding that path. 

Somewhere along the way—through motherhood, burnout, striving, and the sheer exhaustion of trying to be everything to everyone—I stopped hearing that young storyteller’s voice. I knew how to hustle, how to show up, how to make things work. But I didn’t always know how to listen inward. Especially when the world around me echoed louder with expectations than encouragement. 

After my fourth baby was born, I remember standing in the kitchen with dishes piled and a to-do list three pages long. I felt swallowed whole. Not just by laundry or logistics, but by the invisible weight of trying to prove I was enough. Enough mom. Enough professional. Enough dreamer. Enough woman. 

But something inside me cracked open during that season. Not in a fall-apart way, but in a breakthrough way. 

I started writing again—not for approval, not for a platform, but because it brought me back to myself. I wrote about the mess and the miracles. About postpartum grief and spiritual healing. About the ache of wanting more and the peace of choosing less. And in doing so, I began to lead differently. In my home. In my work. In my life. 

That shift changed everything. 

Working at Dolphin Hat Games, I learned how to take an idea—from a wild creative spark to an actual product on a store shelf. I saw firsthand how play and purpose can coexist. I learned that creativity doesn’t have to stay in the margins—it can lead. It can sell. It can connect people. 

 And in the theater—onstage and behind the curtain—I learned what it means to lead, to collaborate, and to build community in unexpected places. I stepped into a role I never planned for—president of our local community theater—and found that leadership wasn’t about being the loudest or most experienced. It was about creating a space where others could shine. It was about knowing when to step in—and when to step back.

 When I launched my publishing imprint, Little Bird Press, I didn’t know all the answers—but I knew the mission: to create books that offered hope, wonder, and meaningful connection. I didn’t need to have it all figured out. I just needed to start. 

 Some days, leadership looks like launching a book or leading a board meeting. Other days, it looks like pausing emails to attend a child’s soccer game or scribbling down a poem that arrives during the early morning quiet. 

 I believe creativity is not an afterthought—it’s the lifeblood of innovation, empathy, and joy. And yet so many women I meet have tucked theirs away in the name of being “practical” or “responsible.” 

To them I say: your voice is not too much. Your dreams are not too late. And your story— especially the parts you think are too raw, too complicated, or too messy—is exactly what makes you a leader worth following. 

 These days, I still juggle multiple roles. Writer. Mother. Publisher. Speaker. Creative. But I don’t hustle for approval anymore. 

I lead with authenticity—because I’ve lived through the opposite. 

And I’ve learned that the bravest thing you can do is stop shrinking to fit someone else’s mold, and start expanding into the fullness of who you are.

About the Author

Jenna Schroeder is a writer, creative entrepreneur, and mother of four. She is the author of Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza and the Case of the Missing Hat and Are Enchanted Forests Real?, and the founder of Little Bird Press, a publishing company that creates hope-filled books for children and families. She also serves as the president of the Loveland Stage Company and leads with a passion for storytelling, community-building, and helping women rediscover their voice and joy.

Connect With Jenna

www.jennaaschroeder.com 

@jennaaschroeder on Instagram