Finding Yourself After a Lifetime of Adapting with Djennie Falle-Djedje

Djennie Falle was three years old the first time she left Paris to live with a Dutch family she barely knew. She adapted. She always adapted. Different language, different rules, different mother. By the time she was 24, she'd gotten so good at fitting in that she couldn't find herself underneath it all. In this episode of The Soft Power Project, Sherry talks with Djennie about the quiet cost of being the person who adjusts. What it felt like to constantly say goodbye to friends on both sides of a border. The breakup that finally exposed how little of her life she'd actually chosen. And the 10-year journey that followed, through leaving religion, sitting with a therapist who told her to do nothing for five minutes, and discovering that dance could release what her body had been holding for years. Djennie's definition of belonging has nothing to do with place. It starts with feeling at home in your own body. If you've ever wondered whether your ability to adapt is a gift or a shield, this one's for you. TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 - Growing up between cultures 0:33 - Meet Djennie: Paris to the Netherlands 4:11 - The first time she felt different 6:51 - Lessons from growing up between classes 8:57 - Making adaptation look easy 11:30 - The cost of always saying goodbye 17:00 - A breakup that started rediscovery 20:39 - Leaving religion, finding spirituality 23:15 - Dance as emotional release 26:29 - Movement beyond the dance floor 28:29 - Confident at work, cautious in life 34:03 - Burnout and learning to sit still 35:28 - What belonging really means 37:26 - Masculine protecting feminine energy 41:17 - Advice: sit in the silence ABOUT DJENNIE FALLE-DJEDJE: Djennie Falle is a multilingual professional and movement advocate based in the Netherlands. Born in Paris with roots in Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Spain, she speaks four languages and uses dance and movement as tools for emotional processing and self-expression. Instagram: instagram.com/dj.ennie/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/djennie-falle-djedje-55b76187/ CONNECT WITH THE SOFT POWER PROJECT: Instagram: instagram.com/soft_power_project/ YouTube: youtube.com/@SoftPowerProject Email: [email protected] #SoftPowerProject #SoftPower #CulturalIdentity #Belonging #PersonalGrowth #WomenPodcast #FeminineEnergy #Movement #WomenEmpowerment #Healing #SelfDiscovery #Reinvention Leave a comment and share your thoughts: https://open.firstory.me/user/cm5etbvm00a1i01sl6k6h99de/comments Youtube Instagram ✨About the Soft Power Coaching Program✨ For women who were told they were too sensitive, too nice, too quiet, or never enough, my coaching provides a safe and empowering space to: Channel anger into clarity and action (not chaos).Define their own power. Soft, bold, or a blend of both.Build strong self-connection and boundaries that protect their energy.Transform from fixing everyone else’s life to fully living their own.This isn’t about becoming harder. It’s about becoming whole. ✨Fill out the form and start reinventing! Free for limited time. ✨ https://forms.gle/w4hA9zB1MNCWTfjL8