Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenny Wise Black.
Hi Jenny, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
For most of my life, I’ve been drawn to the spaces that help people come back to themselves. As a therapist, writer, and curator of experiences, I began noticing how many people were living disconnected from their own lives , overstimulated, rushed, digitally saturated, and unexplainably lonely. People didn’t need to learn more about their mental health or the media; they were lacking presence, meaning, and spaces that let them effortlessly feel peace, calm, and joy.
What started as simple gatherings and intentional “phone-free” experiments evolved into what I now call Soul Scavenger Hunts. I wanted to create something playful, reflective, and relational, experiences that help people notice beauty again, reconnect with their environment, and engage life with curiosity and wonder. Part guided adventure, part inner exploration, these soul-reset days invite people to slow down enough to actually be where they are and notice who they are becoming.
Over time, these experiences began resonating with people far beyond what I expected. The Soul Scavenger Hunts became a way of helping people reconnect to a pure enjoyment of being alive. Today, that work continues through locally hosted experiences, storytelling, and helping others create more intentional rhythms in their own lives and communities.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely has not been a smooth road, but the struggle itself shaped the direction of the work.
I started in traditional one on one trauma therapy, sitting with people in some of the most painful and vulnerable moments of their lives. Over time, I moved into group work because I saw how healing often deepened when people realized they were not alone. From there, I began teaching and speaking more broadly about media trauma and the psychological impact of digital life, especially how constant stimulation, comparison, and disconnection were affecting people’s nervous systems and relationships.
One of the discoraging realizations came from watching clients work incredibly hard in session to regulate, reconnect, and heal, only to leave and immediately reenter digital environments that were dysregulating them all over again. It started to feel like they were reparing in therapy and then their phones and media habits were undoing between sessions.
That awareness changed the direction of my work.
There was also the challenge of trying to explain work that did not fit neatly into one category. I was a therapist, but also a speaker, teacher, writer, and someone creating real world experiences for people. For a while, I felt caught between worlds professionally.
Eventually, I realized the common thread through all of it was helping people reconnect to presence, to themselves, to each other, and to the world around them. That is what led to the Soul Scavenger Hunts. I wanted people to not just talk about being more present, but to actually experience it. To feel wonder again. To pay attention again. To remember what it feels like to be fully alive in a moment instead of constantly pulled away from it.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My work focuses on helping people reconnect to themselves, their relationships, and the real world in an age of constant digital distraction. Through therapy, speaking, trainings, writing, and experiences like the Soul Scavenger Hunts, I explore the impact of media and technology on the nervous system, attention, and emotional health.
What sets this “brand” apart is that I do not primarily operate through apps or online engagement. Much of what I create is intentionally physical, relational, and experiential. I recently started mailing handwritten newsletters because I want people to experience something personal and tangible again.
The Soul Scavenger Hunts are designed to help people slow down, notice beauty, reconnect with their environment, and experience presence in a real way. I am most proud that the brand feels honoring to human limitations and potential. In a culture built around speed, performance, and consumption, I want my work to feel grounding, honest, playful, and deeply alive.
What makes you happy?
Eye contact, smiles, rain, sunshine, thrifted outfits, avocado toast, black coffee. The way that babies look so intensely and unapologetically at people, High fives make me really happy. The surprises of each season (and living somewhere that has four seasons). Kisses, hugs, dancing. Being in love. Hearing my kids make each other laugh. Making someone a meal they gush over. Card games. Old movies. Chess. Wallpaper. Time with my nieces. Handwritten letters. Stamps. Long phone calls.
You know why 🙂
Pricing:
- Soul Scavenger Hunt: $2500
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mediatox.net
- Other: https://substack.com/@jennywiseblack
