JEWEL: Altantic Records was like, "we're gonna swoop you off to New York and take you out to dinner."

[Kate laughs] JEWEL: And I was like, do they have any idea I'm homeless?

KATE: It is Tuesday in the Big Apple, a cloudy day illuminated by a shining icon in the world of New York City restaurants.

JEWEL: They brought me to Tavern on the Green and I remember looking at the bill and being like, wow, like there's a whole other way to live out there.

[laughs] KATE: I am meeting multi-platinum singer-songwriter, Jewel, at a restaurant she's only been to once before, but a meal that changed her life.

JEWEL: I was like, there's no way they're just gonna give you a million dollars.

Like that doesn't happen.

KATE: We are hearing about her tremendous journey from a painful and abusive childhood.

JEWEL: I gotta figure out rent.

I gotta figure out how not to become a statistic.

KATE: Yeah.

JEWEL: I gotta figure out how to stay off the stripper pole.

[chuckles] Not be an addict.

KATE: To what she did to beat the odds.

JEWEL: When you invest in your character, it pays dividends.

It's like a whole different stock market.

Like you invest in your humanity and like magic happens.

KATE: This is a story of restoration and healing.

JEWEL: I didn't have any delusions that being famous would make me happy.

KATE: And now that healing has inspired her new vision to improve mental wellness worldwide.

JEWEL: I want my life to be my best work of art.

And I'm so deadly serious about that.

♪♪ KATE: What's better in life than a bottle of wine, great food and an amazing conversation?

My name is Kate Sullivan and I am the host of To Dine For .

I'm a journalist, a foodie, a traveler, with an appetite for the stories of people who are hungry for more.

Dreamers.

Visionaries.

Artists.

Those who hustle hard in the direction they love.

I travel with them to their favorite restaurant, to hear how they did it.

This show is a toast to them and their American dream.

To Dine For with Kate Sullivan is made possible by... ANNOUNCER: At American National, we honor the "do"-ers and the dreamers: the people who get things done and keep the world moving.

Our local agents are honored to serve your community because it's their community too.

American National.

KATE: Hi everyone.

Today, I am in the middle of Central Park on my way into restaurant, Tavern on the Green.

I love this place.

The person who chose this as their absolute favorite restaurant is not from New York.

In fact, she spent most of her childhood in Alaska and wow, does she have a story to tell.

I can't wait for you to meet singer-songwriter, Jewel.

KATE: Jewel.

How are you?

JEWEL: Hi.

How are you?

KATE: Wonderful to meet you.

JEWEL: Ah, thanks for meeting me here.

KATE: Thank you for agreeing to be on To Dine For.

JEWEL: Yeah.

Excited.

KATE: What an amazing spot you've chosen.

This is magical.

JEWEL: Ah, isn't it pretty?

KATE: It's beautiful.

JEWEL: It is.

KATE: Tavern on the Green is more than just a beautiful spot in New York.

It is an iconic landmark originally built in the 1880's as a place to house sheep in Central Park.

Yes, I said sheep in Central Park.

Tavern on the Green was converted into a restaurant in 1934 and it wasn't just any restaurant, it was the restaurant.

Tavern on the Green was lavish in every way from the start attracting high society actors, musicians and politicians.

JIM CAIOLA: It's been open except for the seven years prior to me, since 1934, straight through.

And each owner sort of puts their own stamp on what it looks like and what it is.

KATE: Jim Caiola owned restaurants in Philly before buying this national historic landmark.

His stamp on its history: creating an elegant farm to table American menu in an approachable atmosphere.

JIM: It sort of touches you in a deep way when you come here, because where it is in Central Park in New York City, it's sort of like entering door after door into the magic world of Narnia, but it's Central Park and it's Tavern on the Green.

So it's, it's just so special.

KATE: Tavern on the Green holds a special place in Jewel's heart too.

But I'll let her tell that story.

Today we're dining on some of Tavern's signature dishes.

To start: we ordered up the fig salad.

It's an original menu item with goat cheese and honey drizzled on the plate with fresh arugula and figs on top.

Jim's goal was to use the figs to connect to nature, a nod to the olden days at Tavern as a sheepfold.

Next up, we're having salmon with warm lentils and a side of truffle mac and cheese.

The black truffle isn't just shaved on top.

The truffle oil is also mixed into the noodles, making it a next level dish.

It is the perfect lunch for a Tuesday in New York with a 12 time platinum folk star.

KATE: I'm so excited to be at Tavern on the Green.

Thank you for bringing me here.

JEWEL: Ah, what a treat for me to come back.

KATE: Tell me what was the story that brought you here?

'Cause I know you had a very special moment that happened at Tavern on the Green.

Tell me about it.

JEWEL: So my life story is kind of fable at this point, but if anybody doesn't know I was homeless when I got discovered and the labels didn't know I was homeless.

Nobody knew I was living in my car at the time and there started to be a bidding war where all the labels were competing over getting me to sign for them.

So it really was like being Cinderella.

KATE: Yeah.

JEWEL: And this label, Atlantic Records, was like, "we're gonna swoop you off to New York and take you out to dinner."

And I was like, do they have any idea I'm homeless?

[Laughter] JEWEL: Like this is so weird.

Like the plane ticket cost more than I'd spent in a year.

KATE: Oh wow.

JEWEL: They brought me to Tavern on the Green and I remember looking at the bill and being like, wow, like there's a whole other way to live out there.

This is not how I'm living right now.

[laughs] KATE: And did you go with them?

JEWEL: I did end up.

It wasn't just, I mean it was a lot to do with Tavern on the Green, but mostly it was 'cause of the contract.

KATE: Yeah.

Do you remember how you felt sitting at dinner, homeless and then having that interaction?

What was, take me back to that.

JEWEL: Back then they had like these amazing chandeliers everywhere.

And it was like being Cinderella, like you really, I really did feel like whisked away to another world, but also with the dichotomy of like, I'm gonna be put back in my car.

KATE: Yeah.

JEWEL: And just the intensity of whether my career works or doesn't work, isn't gonna matter as much to them.

As it's gonna matter to me.

KATE: Yes.

JEWEL: And so it felt dangerous.

And how do I make sure that I don't get swept up in the story of this, but have a strategy where I win.

KATE: That's a lot to put on a young person.

How did you handle that experience of saying "yes" and kind of moving into that phase of your life?

JEWEL: I almost didn't sign the record contract because I moved out at 15.

It's a very dangerous thing to do.

Like my, I had an abusive household.

I wanted to move out at 15, but I knew that's dangerous.

It doesn't go better for you [laugh] 'cause you move out typically.

Like that movie doesn't end well.

KATE: Yeah.

JEWEL: So you fast forward three years.

It didn't go very well.

[laugh], I'm homeless.

I ended up homeless 'cause I wouldn't have sex with a boss.

KATE: That's how you ended up homeless?

JEWEL: Yeah.

KATE: Really?

Tell me that story.

JEWEL: It's interesting in the press, it was always like depicted in the nineties as like, "that spunky Jewel.

She lived in her car to chase her dreams.

That plucky kid."

[Kate laughs] JEWEL: I just wouldn't have sex with a boss.

And I knew turning him down meant I wouldn't get my paycheck and I knew my rent was due and I knew my landlord would kick me out.

And so it was one of those like moments where you're like, all right, what am I made of?

What do I care about?

I grew up singing in bars.

KATE: Right.

You knew you could survive.

JEWEL: I knew I could survive.

And I also saw the outcome of what happens to people when they compromise their humanity.

KATE: Mmmm.

JEWEL: Not a lot of people made it out.

KATE: Mm.

JEWEL: Thank you.

KATE: Thank you so much.

This is the fig salad, the famous fig salad.

SERVER: Enjoy.

KATE: Thank you very much.

JEWEL: Oh, it looks great.

KATE: Oh, that looks incredible.

Take me to Alaska.

Take me to singing in bars with your dad.

Right?

Singing in, uh, hotel bars.

Yodeling.

That was really how you got your start.

Right?

JEWEL: So I came from a very musical family.

My grandmother was an aspiring opera singer and a poetess.

And my dad sort of really picked up where she left off.

He made several albums.

My mom and dad had like a dinner show for tourists and that's where I was raised.

KATE: How old were you when you started singing as sort of act with your dad?

JEWEL: I joined the family show when I was five.

KATE: Wow.

JEWEL: And started yodeling and then my mom left when I was eight.

And then my dad and I became a real duet, where it was like five hour sets in bars.

Very different than like kind of a cushy hotel hour long gig, you know?

KATE: So it was those moments in those hotel bars that really gave you your best education into what people do, how the bad choices they make, et cetera, et cetera.

JEWEL: Yeah.

I was in so much pain, like when my mom left and then my dad became abusive at that age, he started drinking.

So it was just, I mean obviously really difficult and traumatic for me, and now I'm singing in bars, not hotels, now I'm in lumberjack joints, fisherman haunts, biker bars, tough places.

KATE: Yeah.

JEWEL: And I'm watching people and I'm like, wait a minute.

The one thing we all have in common is I think everyone's in pain.

KATE: Yeah.

JEWEL: And I had a front row seat to pain and I just recognized it so acutely 'cause I was in so much pain, I was so confused.

And I was watching this person drink and this person do PCP and this person get in this volatile relationship.

And I saw it play out over years.

And so it's one of the first things I remember writing in my diary was, you can't outrun pain.

KATE: You can't outrun pain.

JEWEL: Nobody outruns it.

KATE: So what became your North Star?

How did you find your way through that?

JEWEL: I had to move toward my pain.

And what I saw everybody else doing was moving away from pain.

And it never worked.

I mean, we sang in parking lots outside bar rooms to buy wooden coffins.

KATE: Mm.

JEWEL: For like career alcoholics that didn't even have enough money for a burial.

Like.

KATE: Oh my goodness.

Yeah.

JEWEL: I saw it didn't work.

I made it really, it was very clearly illustrated to me.

And so for me, I made a promise to never drink.

I made a promise to never do drugs and that I would try to move toward pain.

And that became my North Star.

KATE: Mm.

JEWEL: And then I kept kind of leveling up North Stars, if that is a way of saying it.

KATE: At just 15 years old, Jewel was trying to make it on her own in Alaska and started cleaning buildings for cash.

One of the building owners had a dance studio and recognized her vocal talent.

With his help and the help of her town raising $10,000, Jewel scored a spot at the prestigious Interlochen Center for the Arts, a private fine arts school in Michigan.

It was at Interlochen where she first began writing songs.

JEWEL: Started writing songs because I wasn't allowed to stay on campus for spring break or winter break, which I had a problem: going to Alaska wasn't affordable.

KATE: Right.

JEWEL: And so I started hitchhiking around the country and that got me writing songs so I could earn money street singing.

And that's what got me.

I wrote "Who Will Save Your Soul" as my first song.

Believe it or not.

KATE: That was your first song?

JEWEL: That was my first song.

And I wrote it on that spring break where I was trying to like, to figure out what to do if I can't go to Alaska and I can't stay at school.

Thank you.

KATE: Thank you so much.

Wow.

Look at those capers.

That salmon looks incredible.

JEWEL: And lentils, beautiful.

KATE: Wow.

JEWEL: Did you order what I ordered?

KATE: Yeah.

JEWEL: Did this happen accidentally?

Okay.

I'm like, oh my God, we're twinning.

KATE: You're like, how did you order exactly- JEWEL: How did you do this?

JEWEL: Thank you.

KATE: So on this show I always have what the guest has.

[Laughing] I always have the same experience.

JEWEL: I was like, you're a witch [laughs].

KATE: You never know.

Wow.

That is delicious.

JEWEL: The butter sauce is really good.

KATE: It's the butter, isn't it?

JEWEL: Mm-Hmm.

KATE: The butter sauce, the salmon.

JEWEL: Mm-Hmm.

KATE: And the saltiness from the capers.

JEWEL: Yes.

KATE: You live in Colorado.

Do you cook?

JEWEL: I used to.

KATE: Mm-Hmm.

JEWEL: And then suddenly I had a baby and I lost interest in cooking which isn't convenient.

Cause you need to feed babies.

KATE: Right.

You need to feed yourself too.

JEWEL: [Laughs] Um- KATE: You just stopped eating totally.

JEWEL: When I was 15 I didn't have a car to go to work and I started hitchhiking and one day this guy picks me up and he goes, "you're beautiful."

And I was like, thanks.

KATE: What do you want [laughs]?

JEWEL: Yeah.

We're driving, it's really awkward, it's really quiet.

And he goes, "you're really, really pretty."

And I was like, "oh my God."

Like it's making me worried.

And he goes, "you need to be very careful out here."

And I was like, and he goes, "I mean you could be raped."

I had a knife in my boot.

I pulled the knife out and I stuck it under his chin.

I didn't cut him, but I like, I remember it like going into his chin.

And he leans his head back and he laughs and he goes, "sister, we're gonna be friends."

[laugh] Super nice gay guy, was not trying to harm me.

He was literally just worried.

KATE: He was trying to warn you.

JEWEL: Shocking.

KATE: Yes.

JEWEL: And he was like, if you ever need food, if you ever need firewood, like just come to this restaurant, come to the back door and I will get you anything you need.

I showed up on the back door of this restaurant, Cups Cafe in Homer, Alaska.

And he would give me food and he would sometimes give me firewood when I needed it.

KATE: Wow.

JEWEL: He never pried.

He never asked questions.

He still lives with me.

KATE: He lives with you?

JEWEL: Yeah.

So he, he... KATE: He cooks.

JEWEL: He cooks.

KATE: He's your chef.

JEWEL: He's my chef.

KATE: Oh my gosh.

He became a lifelong friend.

He was, he was not kidding.

You know when you think about how you grew up, the dangers and the risk you took, sleeping in your car, being homeless, hitchhiking, you took an awful lot of risks.

What do you think helped you get through that time in your life and navigate it?

JEWEL: Yeah.

I call it brilliant resilience.

We've all heard of coping mechanisms.

KATE: Yeah.

JEWEL: You know, and that's like a negative way of trying to survive.

KATE: Right.

JEWEL: A lot of us have really positive ways of surviving.

And we don't give it enough credit.

KATE: Right.

JEWEL: I was naturally independent.

It's just how I was born.

KATE: After graduating from Interlochen, Jewel moved to San Diego to take care of her sick mother.

Once again she was on her own: living out of her car and trying to catch a break in the music industry.

In the nineties in San Diego, it was all about grunge music.

It wasn't exactly a place to start a folk singing career.

KATE: Take me to San Diego to really the first time you knew this might be something or you were going somewhere, that's an exciting time for any musician.

What was it like for you and where was it?

JEWEL: There was a little coffee shop.

My friend sold it out.

He was really popular in town.

He let me split his gig with him.

I was pretty excited about that because I think he was going to split the money with me too.

I wasn't sure, but I thought there was a good shot.

And we do the gig: packed house.

All because of my friend.

I go to settle out.

I've been settling out my whole life since I was young.

So I go to the owner and I was like, "Hey, here to settle out."

And she was like, "no you sing for tips."

KATE: Uhh.

JEWEL: It made me so mad.

Like that little fighter in me came out.

KATE: Wow.

JEWEL: I was like, "I will never play here again."

And she was like, "great kid.

Never heard of you."

[Laughs] So I found this coffee shop that was going out of business and I said, "could you stay open for a month?"

KATE: Yeah.

JEWEL: "And will you let me try to bring people in and if I bring anybody in, I get the money and you keep the coffee and the food."

And she, we shook hands.

Her name's Nancy Porter.

She's so sweet.

And so that was it.

We struck a deal.

I started handing out flyers and I was like, this is my moment.

I'm either that kind of writer or I'm not.

KATE: Mm.

JEWEL: And so my very first show for two people, I just... bled all over the stage, my emotions.

KATE: They got to know the real Jewel.

JEWEL: They got to know me for five hours.

I sang for two people for five hours.

[laughs] KATE: They stayed the whole five hours?

JEWEL: They stayed the whole time.

They cried.

I cried.

KATE: At what point do you get noticed?

For real?

JEWEL: About a year into being homeless.

Yeah.

KATE: And what, what happened?

JEWEL: Nancy was like, "Jewel, we got a call from Sony Records, they're gonna come down tonight."

And I was like, the heck.

Do they know grunge is everything and I'm a folk artist?

Are they idiots?

Like [chuckles] I wasn't what was popular.

KATE: Right.

You were a completely different genre.

JEWEL: Very different.

And then it was like RCA called and then Atlantic called and then every label.

KATE: And this was the bidding war you talked about that brought you here, to Tavern on the Green.

JEWEL: Yeah.

You know, I grew up on a ranch.

Nothing's free.

KATE: Right.

JEWEL: I was offered a million dollar signing bonus.

Free money, a free million dollars.

Well.

KATE: And what was that like?

JEWEL: Well, very fairy tale like, very... like pinch me.

Holy smokes.

I cannot believe this is happening.

This isn't what I thought would happen when I turned my boss down.

KATE: Yeah.

JEWEL: Like when you invest in your character, it pays dividends.

It's like a whole different stock market.

Like you invest in your humanity and like magic happens.

So that was all really good and really positive.

And I was singing music that was honest and authentic and I was being honest and authentic.

So those are all really good things.

The million dollars seemed like a bunch of bologna.

KATE: Mm.

JEWEL: I was like, there's no way they're just gonna give you a million dollars.

Like that doesn't happen.

Like I do know that much.

So I went to my local library and I asked for books about the music business and they gave me a book called "Everything You Need to Know About the Music Business."

KATE: [laughs] For dummies?

JEWEL: For dummies.

Basically, it was before the series, but yes, it was written by a music attorney.

KATE: Wow.

JEWEL: And I read about contracts and how they worked and yes, of course like the million dollars wasn't free.

KATE: Right.

JEWEL: Now, if I failed, I wouldn't have to pay it back.

So that was the risk they were taking.

KATE: So that first year of your album, when people really got to know who you were and you really became a superstar, what was that experience like that first year?

Was it tough on you mentally or was it exhilarating?

JEWEL: Well, first of all, I turned down the million dollars.

KATE: You did?

JEWEL: I did.

I asked them to help me pay a very humble rent to move my mom and my brother in with me.

And then I took the biggest backend anybody had ever gotten.

Because when I did the math on how many albums I'd have to sell to recoup a million dollars plus the expenses it would cost to maybe break my career, promote my career.

KATE: Yeah.

JEWEL: I would be several millions in debt.

KATE: And this is something that you figured out- JEWEL: Yeah.

KATE: -From books in the library?

JEWEL: Yes.

My album failed.

I'm really glad I didn't take the million dollars.

KATE: Your album failed?

I don't remember it being a failure.

I remember it being a huge success.

JEWEL: I know.

It failed for several years.

KATE: Did it?

JEWEL: Yeah.

And if I had had like a multi-million dollar bounty on my head, they would've dropped me.

I would've ended up back in my car.

KATE: You were very self-conscious about it and very intentional about how you were going to handle yourself moving forward.

JEWEL: And I didn't have any delusions that being famous would make me happy.

KATE: Yeah.

JEWEL: So I signed that contract with a promise that my number one job was to learn how to be happy.

My number two job was to be a musician.

KATE: Wow.

JEWEL: And under that, I wanted to be an artist more than I wanted to be famous.

And then I had a hierarchical North Star way of making decisions and then I just stayed loyal to it.

KATE: It's almost like you were at that moment, paving your way for being in mental health awareness.

JEWEL: Yeah.

KATE: And, and in your work that you're doing now with mental health awareness, it was, it was, it was in you back then, wasn't it?

JEWEL: Yeah, I'd say about 22 years ago, I wanted to see if these tools I developed for myself, they were all behavioral.

Like, how do I stop shoplifting?

What do I do instead of shoplifting?

I'm going to write instead of shoplift.

Like really behaviorally driven tools.

KATE: Mm-Hmm.

JEWEL: I wanted to see if those worked for other people like me that didn't have therapy, didn't have access to therapy.

KATE: Kids.

JEWEL: Kids.

KATE: Yeah.

KATE: 20 years ago, Jewel helped start the Inspiring Children's Foundation.

The Foundation's goal is to help youth and families rise above their struggles and challenges through a 10-step program.

What began as hundreds of children being served in inner city parks has now reached millions online and includes a three-day wellness festival.

JEWEL: Yeah.

I think we don't see the other side of suicidal ideation very often.

KATE: Mm.

JEWEL: And I think that's one of my favorite things.

Like when you hear my kids, my kids talk, the kids in my Foundation talk.

KATE: Yeah.

JEWEL: All of our kids have made it through the storm.

They faced the heart of their darkest days.

And every child, I always say, "there's gonna be a day when you call me crying, but because you're so happy to be alive" and they all say "it's impossible, it'll never happen for me."

KATE: Mm.

JEWEL: And I've never had it fail.

KATE: Mm.

JEWEL: I always get that call where like, they call me weeping, going, "I can't believe it's happening.

I'm so happy to be alive right now.

The best thing just happened."

I mean, oh!

KATE: What's better?

JEWEL: What's better?

KATE: Let's talk about Inner World.

Um, what is it and why did you create it?

JEWEL: Inner World is a mental health platform in virtual reality.

So you can use it on your phone or your iPad.

You don't have to have the VR headset.

[chuckles] JEWEL: Uh, but you go in anonymous as an avatar.

KATE: So it's not just a virtual Zoom meeting with a healthcare person.

It is, it is an you are an avatar.

JEWEL: This is an immersive environment.

This is not a one-on-one Zoom meeting.

KATE: Okay.

JEWEL: So it's two aspects.

I'll walk you through it.

Uh, let's say it's 2:00 AM, your cat dies, you're having a panic attack.

You don't know what to do.

You can come into Inner World, you can go into our social platform where it's just hanging out in a room like this with other people that are awake at that hour.

It's all over the world.

KATE: Like a chat room.

JEWEL: Mm-Hmm.

Yeah.

But it's real.

There's like spatial awareness.

KATE: Wow.

Okay.

JEWEL: And you find a guide.

There's a guide there.

We have trained guides 24-7, you know, all the time.

We have like so much safety protocols for being able to be here.

It's a really safe environment.

And then the guide might say "tomorrow at one is a class just on grief.

Do you want to come?"

And so let's say you sign up for the class the next day at one o'clock there's up to 30 people, all virtual, all anonymous.

And you have a trained guide that teaches you behavioral tools.

And so what we did with Inner World is we trained lay people like you could train to become a guide.

We have a really rigorous training system and you can learn these skills and how to moderate a class.

KATE: That's fascinating.

JEWEL: And so you could just specialize in grief and be like, "I'm gonna help teach people about this skill.

That's really helped me with grief."

KATE: Very powerful.

JEWEL: Yeah.

Mental health just hasn't had a revolution.

There's a paradox of we have better care than we've ever had.

We know tools better than we've ever known them, but we have worse outcomes.

KATE: Mm.

JEWEL: We have worse mental health.

So it's a real problem in how we're administering mental health.

KATE: Yes.

JEWEL: And there's also a terrible bottleneck.

We're short 500,000 therapists in America.

KATE: Wow.

JEWEL: The very best patient to therapist ratio in America is like 159 patients per therapist.

KATE: Mmm.

JEWEL: That's the best.

It gets way worse in other states.

So we think if everybody sought care that wanted it, we'd be 5 million therapists short.

I just don't see that bottleneck getting solved in a way I know how to solve.

I hope people go to school.

I hope more people want to be therapists, but the need is so acute.

I don't see it getting solved to help these people- KATE: Right.

JEWEL: Right now.

KATE: I get that.

Yeah.

That, that's really interesting.

When you were just becoming a singer-songwriter, did you ever think this would be your journey?

JEWEL: No.

KATE: That it would really take an entirely different path towards mental health and mental health help?

JEWEL: And when you struggle, you know, with mental health issues, it just, you have so much empathy.

You don't want anyone to suffer.

KATE: Yeah.

JEWEL: Like I love being a musician.

Being a rock star is a pretty cool, fun job.

Helping people want to live...

It, it just pales in comparison.

Like...

It's so rewarding.

It really feels like what I was built to do.

And not that I have all the answers, but I spent my whole life: this is all I've cared about and music was the byproduct and it made me an incredible career.

And I'm so lucky, my music career worked.

It was against all the odds.

KATE: You will turn 50 in 2024.

As you look forward when you talk about those, you know, decisions that you make, what do you want to be known for as you look to the next 50 years of your life?

JEWEL: I don't know.

I don't think about what I'm known for.

I know what I want my experience to be.

KATE: Yeah.

What is that?

JEWEL: Connection.

Love.

Trust.

KATE: Mm.

JEWEL: Creativity.

KATE: Mm.

JEWEL: I shouldn't be loving, I shouldn't be trusting.

I shouldn't be capable of those things.

Like the greatest act of rebellion for me has been healing.

KATE: Mm.

JEWEL: I call it being abused twice.

Like getting hit takes one second.

The decisions I make based on being hit lasts the rest of my life.

KATE: Mm.

JEWEL: That's me abusing me.

It lasts my whole life.

KATE: Mm.

JEWEL: And I think realizing and making peace with the fact that I don't get to choose how life changes.

KATE: Mm.

JEWEL: Bad stuff happens.

KATE: Mm-Hmm.

JEWEL: I only get to choose how it changes me.

And so, how do I want it to change me?

That is the most rebellious, defiant, beautiful act a person can participate in.

So that's what I want my life to be.

And then I think everything that flows from that will probably be pretty fun.

[laughs] KATE: Cheers to you and happy birthday.

Thank you for this amazing conversation.

JEWEL: Aww, thank you.

KATE: Talk about a full circle story.

I loved my time with Jewel.

Her funny and authentic spirit shining through.

And now as a successful entrepreneur, it's her ability to find a way to help others struggling mentally.

That is so remarkable.

Life can be awful and indescribably wonderful.

Jewel is living proof of both.

♪♪ KATE: If you would like to know more about the guests, the restaurants, and the inspiring stories of success, please visit todinefortv.com or follow us on Facebook and Instagram at To Dine For TV.

We also have a podcast, To Dine For the podcast is available on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

To Dine For with Kate Sullivan is made possible by... ANNOUNCER: At American National, we honor the "do"-ers and the dreamers: the people who get things done and keep the world moving.

Our local agents are honored to serve your community because it's their community too.

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♪♪