Own Your Resilience, Jennifer Ballou
Own Your Resilience, Jennifer Ballou
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Own Your Resilience
An Army Leader and War Widow Shares Tools to Live with Courage and Joy

Author: Jennifer Ballou, Tom Sileo

Narrator: Jennifer Ballou

Unabridged: 7 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/10/2026


Synopsis

An Army veteran and professional life coach's battle plan for overcoming challenges and leading a joyful life.

Jennifer Ballou is one of the only known US military service members to lose her husband while serving simultaneously in the same war zone. Just after Father’s Day in 2010, Staff Sergeant Edwardo Loredo was killed in action in Afghanistan, leaving behind his wife and their infant son, as well as a step daughter and a daughter from a previous marriage.

After returning from Afghanistan and laying Eddie to rest, while still serving, Jen centered her life on caring for her children while also opening herself to the wisdom, support, and hard-earned guidance of those around her. What she could not yet see was that this instinct to listen, help, and improve systems was quietly shaping something larger. Those early choices helped lay the foundation for what would become the US Army’s Master Resilience Training program. By the time Jen was asked to lead resilience efforts for service members, families, and civilians at Fort Bragg and later at the Pentagon, she had already put the principles into practice in her own life, proving that resilience is not theoretical, but lived.

Own Your Resilience isn’t just Jen’s story of surviving and thriving after her husband’s battlefield death; it offers an actionable plan for anyone navigating profound loss, life-altering challenges, or unexpected change and seeking a life filled with purpose and joy.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press

About Jennifer Ballou

Jennifer Ballou is a retired U.S. Army Master Sergeant and now serves as Chief of Staff for the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation. After more than two decades of military service, she has dedicated her work to helping others cultivate resilience, navigate life transitions, and reconnect with a sense of purpose and joy.She is the founder of A Joyful Life with Jennifer, where she integrates coaching, yoga therapy, and lived experience to support individuals seeking greater clarity, strength, and well-being. Jennifer holds a Master of Science in Yoga Therapy and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and is a certified professional life coach and registered yoga teacher.She lives in Ohio with her husband and their family.

About Tom Sileo

TOM SILEO has authored or co-authored six military non-fiction books about heroes of America’s post-9/11 wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Those titles include Three Wise Men; Tom’s widely praised 2021 collaboration with combat veteran and Gold Star brother Beau Wise. Tom is a recipient of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation’s General Oliver P. Smith Award for distinguished reporting. He is a graduate of Rutgers University and lives in Delray Beach, Florida.


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Quotes

"As a former Vietnam prisoner of war, I have long believed adversity is a terrible thing to waste. In Own Your Resilience, Jennifer Ballou shows readers how to transform hardship into purpose through resilience, courage, and choice. Her insights are practical, inspiring, and hard-earned." —Charlie Plumb, Captain, U.S. Navy (Ret.), Former Vietnam POW

"For anyone who’s suffered a devastating loss, Jennifer Ballou’s story shows how we can find a life of joy and meaning on the other side. Own Your Resilience is a beautifully written testimonial, one that affirms a wife’s love for her husband, and how those of us who are touched by loss can be made stronger by it." —Elliot Ackerman, Marine veteran and New York Times bestselling author of 2034

"
Jennifer Ballou's book inspires, motivates and teaches us how to use science backed tools to work through life’s hardest challenges. Equally important, Own Your Resilience shows us how to create a life of deep connection and joy. Jennifer writes with wisdom, honesty, and humor which makes this book uplifting and energizing to read. Through the stories she shares and strategies she teaches, we gain a roadmap to find our own pathway through the adversities we face and reach our fullest potential." —Karen Reivich, Ph.D., co-author of The Resilience Factor: 7 Keys to Finding Your Inner Strength and Overcoming Life's Hurdles

"Jennifer Ballou is a soldier, a leader, and above all, a beacon of resilience. In Own Your Resilience, she shares her deeply personal journey of unimaginable loss and, through it, teaches us all what it means to live with courage, purpose, and joy. Her story is not just one of survival, but of choosing hope in the face of heartbreak—and inspiring others to do the same." —LTG (Ret.) Michael Linnington

"Jennifer’s story is so much more than an amazing journey of strength of a Gold Star family, spouse and Soldier. Her story of personifies courage not only to survive, but to thrive through personal courage and vulnerability. Her example is for everyone." —COL Gregory D. Gadson, USA (Ret)., co-author of Finding Waypoints: A Warrior’s Journey Towards Peace and Purpose