GRATITUDE CITY // Episode 4 - Janelle Foligno

Welcome to GRATITUDE CITY! My guest on this episode is Janelle Foligno. Janelle is a dedicated supermom of three beautiful children, proud wife of Nick Foligno, captain of the NHL’s Columbus Bluejackets, children’s author, and co-founder of The Heart’s Playbook, a foundation dedicated to heart health, research, and care. Janelle, welcome to Gratitude City. Thank you very much for being here today, how are you doing?
In this episode, Janelle and I discuss (amongst other things):
 Her new book, Dear Heart
 Her and Nick’s new foundation, The Heart’s Playbook
 Raising kids born with Congenital Heart Defects
 Overcoming adversity
 The resiliency of children
I’m super excited for you guys to listen and I truly hope that this chat brings you value in some way, shape, or form.
Thank you, and enjoy!
For convenience, we've identified specific areas to make it easier to find exactly what you're interested in:
1:13 - Young Janelle, build a foundation.
4:30 - How Janelle and Nick met, a funny story about their perceived first date, and supporting Nick’s plan A only mentality.
14:59 - Managing a long distance relationship, leading independent lives, and the complexities of dating a professional hockey player.
18:51 - Janelle’s community involvement, and the start of her philanthropic journey.
24:15 - Nick’s trade to Columbus, packing up and moving to a new country, and the awesomeness of Columbus.
30:51 - The birth of Janelle and Nick’s daughter Milana, a brief description of her congenital heart defect, and the miracle the surgeons pulled off when she was just three weeks old.
42:52 - Not seeing the scar, and treating Milana and Evvy the same as their brothers and sisters.
44:13 - Being immersed in adversity, just getting it done and not being able to reflect on the intensity of the situation until after you’re through it.
48:27 - $1M donation to Boston Children’s and Nationwide Children’s, how Janelle and Nick decided where the money was allocated.
54:30 - The importance of participating in research studies to provide data for kids going through the same thing in the future.
56:50 - Striking the balance between using our Milana and Evvy’s stories to motivate and inspire, but not having them defined by their condition.
1:00:00 - The Heart’s Playbook, its mission, and the systems of support that are critically important to the families who are going through medical challenges.
1:04:18 - Introduction to Dear Heart (a children’s book designed to support and comfort children and parents while battling through cardiac issues), the genesis of the book idea, and the race to launch the foundation before the book was ready to hit the shelves.
1:10:30 - The birth of Ticker the Heart, how he impacts kids he meets, and Nick’s retirement plan.
1:12:11 - thank you to my parents and Lesley’s parents for the support and everything they have done for us throughout all of Everett’s journey.
1:14:44 - The brand new NF71 apparel line in conjunction with 614 Sports, with 50% of proceeds being donated to The Heart’s Playbook.
1:17:34 - The prevalence of congenital heart defects, and how minor issues can go undiagnosed and cause issues in the future.
1:20:49 - As Milana gets older, does she have questions about what’s going on, what her future looks like, and what the conversations look like that Janelle and Nick are having with Milana.
1:23:00 - Milana’s “old soul” and how to prep a five year old for open heart surgery.
1:24:42 - The resilience of children, their baseline of steadfast survival, and the pressure on parents to not hamper their baseline operating systems.
1:28:29 - Striking the balance between giving our kids everything they need physically and emotionally, while also encouraging her to develop resilience, grit, and everything they need to grow up to be well rounded individuals.
1:30:52 - Experiencing adversity builds positive personality traits that lead to success in life.
1:32:54 - The choice we have when presented with adversity, and Tim Kite’s equation of Event + Response = Outcome.
1:34:18 - Thank you to Mick Weaver for completely changing my frame of mind around purpose. I love you, brother.
1:38:00 - the relative nature of personal struggles, how people experience and manage adversity, and the importance of being empathetic to everyone around you.
1:39:40 - Bravery Beads, the importance of providing bright light, whimsy, and escapism to the lives of kids living in the hospital, and how managing the child’s emotional and spiritual needs are just as important at managing their physical needs.
1:43:58 - Parallels between Kris and Janelle, and a silly difference.
1:46:31 - Who/what Janelle is most grateful for.
1:50:13 - Where you can we find The Heart’s Playbook.
Intro music by Vodovo Music Productions - • Urban Traffic - Hip Ho...