Jen Shaw

20/10/2025

This is 40 💕

I could talk about all the things I’ve seen and achieved in my 40 years on the planet; street kid, turned teen mum, teen mum turned anxious young mum, writing cook books, building a social following, founding a youth charity, building cafes, working with some of the wildest kids on the planet, guest speaking, awards, travelling and cool adventures and man I’ve done and seen some really really cool sh*t in the last 10 years but when it all comes down to it….

This little person is really the whole point.

I turned 40 last week, quietly yet satisfied. 7 amazing kids; wild in their own ways but fundamentally kind and courageous, a bloody awesome husband who adores me, 4 absolutely asshole dogs, 3 farm cats, a mob of chooks, a few extra foster kids, a piece of paradise I call home, a handful of genuine friends I can count on one hand and this scrumptious little grand daughter with the chubbiest cheeks I’ve ever squeezed. When I look at her, I see me, I see her mum and a whole healed world we built around her so she can just step in and do amazing things when she’s ready.

I’m one lucky lady.

09/10/2025

This week I saved a Kookaburra, I mean I’m not one of those really cool animal rescuers wearing khaki and saving the day, and this certainly isn’t a story where I versed a lion, conquered and saved the flock.

But I was literally heading out to the clothesline for the morning to hang some washing out, I noticed one of the kids left the chook pen open overnight and the chooks we’re celebrating an early morning exit out into the paddock.

I pop my head in the aviary and instantly I find a kookaburra absolutely losing her sh*t inside, banging side to side desperate to get out. She’d flap, bang, drop,bang and every so often fall to the ground where the last remaining chook would attack the sh*t out of her. (Brutal little buggers they are with other birds)

Immediate panic set In; I usually send my husband in for jobs like these, but he’d gone to work and my kid helpers were all still asleep. There’s gotta be some kinda bad juju for letting a kookaburra hurt itself and not trying to help. So I quickly grabbed a towel off the line and headed in.

Now we have plenty of kookaburras on our property, they sit out on our fences every morning and night, fly me in as I drive up the driveway home, and they squabbled so loudly to let me know my daughter was pregnant last year. I’ve seen them demolish snakes and rats so I was pretty nervous about my fingers, and watching her flap around the cage had no idea how I was even going to get her. We had a few near misses, thud, crash, bang. And I just thought right instead of running around here like a crazy woman chasing this bird I’m gonna try and just speak to her with energy, keep calm, draw her In. Just like I do with the kids.

I told her, mate I’m not here to hurt you. You know me, you see me everyday through my window If you pop down on the ground, keep it calm and I’ll get you out of here. Big breathe. And then she did it, almost immediately she sat on the ground in the corner, let me wrap her in a towel and I popped her outside and off she flew.

For a minute she turned her head with her big beak and I decided if she bit me at least it’ll make for a cool story. But she didn’t.

This afternoon on the phone to a mate I turned to my right and she’s sitting there having a yarn. Didnt move the whole time I was there.

Got me thinking about the way I work with kids, when they are in crisis, trapped and struggling we can often panic and knee jerk and cause more harm or we turn and look the other way because we simply don’t know wha to do but occasionally some of us, take a breathe, draw them In and do what needs doing to get them through it.

I asked for a sign earlier this week that I’m on the right track with my mission to help kids doing it tough, went looking for it in humans, found it in a kookaburra 💕

27/08/2025

I recently joined the board of Teens Take Control Inc not because I’m a board type of person but because I just adore everything the lads do with kids doing it tough, so well aligned with Emerge and I recognised a kinda grit that I’ve had to rely on to get Emerge over the line and helping kids that fall through the cracks.

Street kid to CEO to board member. If I had told 14 year old me this is what I’d be up to now she’d laugh her ass off.

Working together to help as many young people who need a hand as possible 💕💪

When he was enrolled in school we would get a call almost everyday for sh*tty behaviour.

Jumping out of his seat, talking back, not doing his work, causing a nuisance; you know the kid.

The smart ass, the tough case, the “too hard”

It would have been easy to keep playing the same game. Behaviour cards, eventual suspensions and eventually a nudge to leave school. It’s the pathway for so many kids who find themselves in big trouble down the track.

A few months of doing it different and not one behavioural issue. Learning skills in a wide variety of areas; farming, workshop, first aid and we’ve even found a way to integrate him back to school in a way that’s flexible and individualised. Engaged in everyday.

Schools are overworked and doing their best to take care of the most.But what if the kid isn’t “the most?”

Being with Emerge and Teens Take Control means we can have a really dedicated and holistic view of the young person.

We get to spend individual and holistic time with young people; finding out what do they care about so we can help them find ways to learn about it.

What gaps are in their life we can holistically wrap around and fill.

We make sure they win so they get to know and feel what success looks like on their own terms.

This is early intervention, Pretty impressive.

25/08/2025

I’m pretty bloody lucky to have a lot of epic women in my life including these two champions who jumped in a car this morning to spend a few hours checking out all we are doing on the Sunny Coast with kids doing it tough.

I’ve known both of these ladies for so many years but when I asked them to help me on my mission of helping kids and building an organisation that competes with the big guns they have never hesitated to jump in.

They ask me the tough questions, they challenge my thinking, keep me thinking clearly and sometimes they even tell me no when I need it. 🤣

Jess and Emma, along with our entire board past and present. Thankyou for never ever giving up on me and in turn the young people I work so hard to take care of.

Love you all 💕

Today members of our board; Jess & Emma travelled to the Sunny Coast to learn more about Teens Take Control and The Food Harvest Project with tiny tour guide Michael at the helm!

Our collaboration with Teens Take Control brings together the love and heart of our youth work with the structure and toughness of Teens Take Control. Together we are delivering a holistic program that wraps around kids doing it tough.

You know what they say, if you want to go fast go alone if you want to go far go together 💕

Helping as many kids having a hard time as possible.

A big thanks to Danny from Teens for sharing The Food Harvest Project (and delicious cauliflower) and all the boys for being so welcoming today!

22/08/2025

The last couple of months have been tough, unimaginable loss of some of the young people I work with. Some of it I’m not ready to even talk about yet I’m not sure if I’ll ever be.

There are kids that I gave my absolutely all to who I will never have the opportunity to try again with.

It would have been so easy to just pack it all up and go home, so to speak. I thought about it too, surely in all of this I found some transferable skills to dig into other career pathways. Take a year off, go back to writing cook books. I almost offered to get back on the coffee machine at my local.

The heart was heavy and it wanted to run.

No way. This stuff, even when it’s ugly is my gift.

I chose this work right, without force or persuasion; over 20 years ago making a promise, creating a contract to commit to my life purpose of helping broken kids. 10 years in action, showing up for the most complex kids in our communities. Seeing them, unpacking chaos with them and loving them back to life.

They throw stones at me sometimes because I do it differently. I don’t clock off at 5 or swing around the sector under different titles, I’m just Jen; mum to 7 (and a few more ) youth worker, out of the box thinker, rule challenger, chaser of something better for kids who’ve been lost along the way.

A lot of people don’t love me for the difference, I’ve been hot headed in my advocation at times and I admit that. Sometimes I’m really really sh*t with adults But the intention has never been against people but systems. Broken ones who are failing our kids and communities on every level.

We just have to find ways to do better together.

In small but mighty moments I’m reminded about why I started the work to begin with. A regulated kid on the beach they told me escalates every other day and nobody can or wants to work with.

Regulated, engaged, hell he’s even working on gratitude and affirmations at lightning speed over adults I know who’ve been healing for years. Even the dog, who usually annoys the absolute sh*t out of me is learning to be calm, patient and changing his approach to work with the boy.

It’s an absolute game of inches though, it could sway in the other direction at any moment but how privileged am I to have something to bring to the table.

Dusting myself off and beginning again 💕🌸🌈

24/06/2025

Have you got your ticket yet?!

Here’s a chance to win yourself a brand new thermomix AND help young people doing it tough to get back on track.

Agriculture, mentorship, generosity and full wraparound support from Teens Take Control, Emerge and the Food Harvest Project!

https://foodharvestprojectthermomixraffle.floktu.com

Ok, it's down to the wire! WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Win a BRAND new Thermomix and support young people having a hard time!

We are so close to having everything we need to kick start The Food Harvest Project BUT in order to purchase a hot house and get the farm everything it needs to produce beautiful chemical free food we need to sell our raffle tickets for a theme!

Please share amongst your friends and family, pester your loved ones to grab an entry.. cook with class and support young people doing something beautiful for the community around them!

Grab your ticket here: foodharvestprojectthermomixraffle.floktu.com

10/06/2025

The Food Harvest Project - We need YOU!

So we are doing a thing...help us grow young people and chemical free produce one harvest at a time.

Over the next few weeks you are going to hear more and more about my newest adventure; everything I love about helping young people having a hard time coupled with beautiful produce grown with love and created into gorgeous nourishing food for some of our most vulnerable people.

I've had a big dream for a long time; help some of the most marginalized kids in our country in an environment that nourishes their soul, builds their confidence and skills and quite simply loves them back to life. A complete wrap around program that encompasses intensive youth work, education, physical training, job readiness, accommodation and well... whatever it takes to help a young person get their life on track.

If you had asked me a few years ago if I knew exactly how I was going to get there, I probably couldn't have given you the whole picture.. but now thanks to a beautiful collaboration with Teens Take Control Inc, a few mighty people in our corner, the most amazing young people you ever did meet and my promise to kids doing it tough to never ever give up on them we are one step closer to the big dream.

The Farm, The Food Harvest project; a collaborative venture that takes young people attending Teens Take Control and Emerge out of walled classrooms and brings them to nature has already started. But with a list of essential items we need to REALLY get the project pumping we need YOUR help to help us raise $25K to grow gorgeous food, tackle big challenges for incredible young people and start donating produce and meals back into family homes where they couldn't otherwise afford it.

It's a beautiful social enterprise that trickles goodness in every way.

The first of these fundraisers is a classic; A chance to WIN a brand new thermie and know that your support is providing real opportunities to learn, engage, belong and support young people getting life on track.

Get your raffle ticket below and share with everyone you know!

http://foodharvestprojectthermomixraffle.floktu.com

20/05/2025

I’m incredibly grateful to be able to live a life in pursuit of my passion. Helping as many kids doing it tough as possible.

I get to meet a lot of amazing kids yes, but even more importantly I get to meet some pretty epic adults who believe in wild kids as much as I do.

I’ve made some friends with a whole bunch of cool people across the country who do youth work a bit differently; innovators, thinkers, responders. All loving kids back to life the way I do.

Imagine my surprise when I met the lads from Teens Take Control Inc a local Sunny Coast youth org with an alignment of mission to my own.

These guys are THE real deal. Fitness, education, mentorship and whatever is needed in between to help young men falling through the cracks before things turn sour (and they end up at Emerge)

We got together a few months ago to find where we could work together, help the young people living in our Emerge program and home engage with what the Teens guys had to offer and I’ve been every bit of excited since trying to find ways to help them grow and learn from my own adventure and work together to make outcomes for the kids in both of our programs even better.

Next month I’m launching a crowdfund campaign to help them with their newest project; one pretty close to my heart.

The Food Harvest project; bringing young people to the farm to learn how to sow, grow and harvest and give beautiful chemical free food back to disadvantaged families.

Of course I wouldn’t be Jen Shaw if I wasn’t teaching them how to cook beautiful food and learn to fall in love with cooking as a means to take control of the chaos in their world.

Growing real food, helping young people doing it tough now this is my jam 💕

19/05/2025

If you ever think being a CEO with 7 kids and very much on the ground doing youth work is glamorous

Remember my face…

Some days I still wanna just chuck it all in the f**k it basket and go apply for a standard 9-5.

Go to work, do your shift, go home and leave your work at home. Now THATS glamour! 🤣

Someone asked me today how Emerge got so lucky to still be operating after starting in the trenches the way we did. I laughed, and laughed…

Luck?

Hard f**kin work, sacrifice and a deep love for broken kids who need a hand. (Even when they make your face turn like this)

A reminder to you, today that whatever your working on will be worth it; amazing, full of adventure but don’t be fooled by the glamour 🤣

11/05/2025

This year Mother Day is extra special for me; last month I became a grandma AKA “Mama - G” to a very special little girl, Eloise.

There is something pretty special about watching your own baby become a mama to their first baby. At 16 I was terrified I wouldn’t be able to give my first baby the life she deserved, but watching her fall in love with her baby, with a supportive partner, emotionally rounded; kind, respectful and integral. I reckon we did okay kiddo.

I think too about my grandma, in all the ways she loved her family, sorted them out, backed their hopes and dreams, arrived at every celebration and heartbreak. Oh man she loved her family. If I can be half the grandma she was, I’ll be doing alright.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums and grandmas, the dads and aunties and “other mums” who hold the fort. 💕💗🌸🥰

08/05/2025

It’s been a big journey filled with love, joy, heartbreak and devastation. I’m grateful for every bit.

I’ve been reflecting a lot lately about our journey at Emerge.

Almost ten years ago, a dream that started in the Toowoomba CBD; a rickety old drop in shed in the centre of town, a boxing ring a food van and absolutley no plan, no money and no real idea how we would make this dream a reality.

This early days in our first cafe and youth hub were our wildest. The kids we met back then, the people who jumped in to help; financially and on the ground have always given me the best memories and will always hold the biggest part of our emerge heart, backing us and our kids, taking a punt on an ex street kid with a dream and working it out as we go!

We saw fight nights, Christmas in Julys, markets and some of the best bloody meals in a Toowoomba cafe with some of the towns wildest employees.

Why the hell would anyone think employing a bunch of wild kids, with no skills and lots of challenges would be a good idea 🤣 but it worked.

We’ve seen kids at their lowest and absolutely at their highest. We’ve celebrated as they got new jobs, their first houses, birthed their children and even got married (yep I’m feeling old)

But man we’ve had some heartbreak, we’ve lost kids along the way to; some remain in the justice system, some still battling addiction, and of course some who’ve paid the ultimate price with their lives.

I’ve always considered it a great privilege to sit with broken kids, share their tears, help them pick up the pieces and just well… love them back to life.

I could have quit youth work a few years ago; I found myself at a major cross road. Emerge had no money left in the bank, we hit some pretty heavy criticism that we weren’t doing enough to “solve” youth crime and my personal wellbeing took a pretty big toll. Wearing the trauma of kids around you, answering the phone every night at midnight, doing whatever it takes doesn’t come easy.

And yet, I couldn’t let it go, I couldn’t let THEM go.

Right at breaking point, I reconnected with a special kid; lost beyond words, pretty bloody naughty too, with so SO much potential. She will never ever know the strength she gave me to keep pushing this little dream forward, a reminder of the work we do and why it’s so important; loving the unloveable, showing up and just trying to inch them forward, loving them when it seemed everyone else has given up.

And then I lost her.

Not sure if I’ll ever quite come to terms with carrying a kid to her grave. The absolute devastation and waste of potential,the honour of sharing her final journey.

I know one thing for sure, this work…her loss cemented for me that I’ll do it forever.

Right after she passed a series of strange but amazing events occurred… we found ourselves with a large donation in our bank account, not to fix and fund everything we do on the ground but enough to really plan for the end goal… and we were offered a home we could lease in Toowoomba, a pilot if you will of the big dream.

We’ve been working pretty hard behind the scenes in the background getting our ducks in a row, planning out the next ten years, building a professional board and making sure our governance is tight, looking for the collaborators to do the next part with and course working out how we pay for the rest!

And here we are in 2025 pretty excited to start sharing it with you.

Over the next few weeks we will be rolling out the plan, reintroducing ourselves sharing our next big dream. 🌈

In essence; purchasing our own place to call home, and working with kids from all over the country who get left behind. We’ve also partnered with some pretty cool people to help us get the job done to. And you guys are going to love them 💕

Watch this space…..

27/03/2025

10 years ago I was touring around the country side sharing my story and love of food along with a deeper desire to help kids having a hard time.

This has popped up a bit over the last week; conversations in community about my foodie days. Being recognised and remembered as “that lady who used to write cook books with heaps of kids” 😂

Nowadays I’m talking about kids doing it tough & getting life on track, managing budgets, leading teams of youth workers, building strategic plans rather than how to make a sweet potato hash or create a healthy meal plan on a budget all with 7 kids all tugging at you in different directions.

My world has changed enormously; we navigate running a pretty big not for profit in Queensland, we care for kids with messy stories who come to Emerge to get out of fire, learning about ASD and anxiety for one of our own children, the arrival of grand child and I’m soon to be 40 and need a whole bunch of different holistic stuff to keep my body and mind ticking away the best it can. What an adventure that is 😂🙄

Those early days though; doing the foodie stuff oh boy they taught me a lot for what I’m doing now.

What fun!

Did you ever attend one of my foodie workshops?