Autism is the adventure. Feelin' Guru Vis the goal.
Greater
Understanding
Requires
Urgency
Vision & PEOPLE
Jen Hagen (Zen Jen) built the Guru V People website herself back in 2010. As a single mom of two children (now adults) on the autism spectrum she believes that her family's adventures could inspire a more inclusive world. Every week she exposed her family's autism adventures via short videos she called 'Guru V Minute with Zen Jen' where she shared stories and videos of their extreme life. Jen believes her children are her gurus and that the current model of isolation was socially inhibiting not only their growth but the expansion of the whole. Jen's vision of love, connection and adventure lead her to advocate for many families and in 2015 create the nonprofit corporation of the same name as the website she designed five years prior in hopes of touching more lives with her vision. Jen's vision is based in a paradigm shift where adventure and connection intersect. Outdoor adventures and the mindset of engagement and presence in any situation have offered Jen's family a feeling of freedom. They ski, skate, mountain bike, mountaineer, surf, camp, dance, play soccer, create art and travel across the country. Taking on these adventures is no simple task and requires extreme awareness, athleticism and perseverance and are incredibly rewarding. Autism adventures often require an extensive amount of support and attention and therefore are avoided by those living them, as well as those observing. There is a massive gap in care and community for families embedded in the gravity of autism, and therefore exposure to the outside world is often limited and laced with loneliness. Jen is on a mission to ensure that saying yes to adventures is more easy than it was for her family for obvious reasons. A few of those reasons being risk and reactivity. Jen has designed buildings, homes and systems that will deliver healing energy via connection with nature and gurus like hers. Within her meticulously-designed adaptive and all-inclusive settings, Jen envisions families FLYing high on adrenaline and love while engaging in Freedom Sports and creative self expression. DragonFLY Landing and FLY homes have the capacity to spring up in every community and provide families navigating the neuro-dysregulation that often prevents them from feeling included or capable of coexising in most societal shared spaces with a level of freedom from fear, danger and social isolation. Saying YES to adventures is essential to human healing and thriving...and those navigating autism need a little lift in order to FLY. Jen's vision and the designs she has created due to her 25 years of experience and expertise parenting two very complex people, as well as the avenues she insisted that they have access to have shaped and sustained her drive to help all families access the same, but with more support and ease. She hopes to see all people to fly big AND fly home. Freedom Lifts You so FLY...more people and more capacity to say YES is the fuel for feelin' Guru V. Jen hopes to collaborate with groups and families who wish to build more Yesses into their lives by investing in the inclusive infused within DragonFLY Landing & FLY homes.
Adaptive designed, sensory-friendly, low VOC and distraction-free spaces for maximum engagement are Jen's specialty.
From feng shui to freedom sports, DragonFLY Landing components are designed with the mastery her gurus have inspired and infused with solution-based innovation.
Zen Jen is the FLYgirl to call to get this vision off the ground.