Dec 21 - Ballito Umhl

Unlock your freedom
When Westbrook writer, pastor, speaker and mother Jess Basson was diagnosed with
adult ADHD earlier this year, she discovered the key she was looking for to unlock the
pages of her first book, Empty Cages.
Text: Leah Shone
Like many women, before she was
diagnosed with ADHD, Jess was
treated for anxiety and depression.
She was 38 years old, had low selfesteem
and couldn’t figure out why
she felt so lost.
The bubbly mother of two and wife of
Grace Family Church pastor Tom, Jess
had been blogging and speaking for
many years, but it was only through
her diagnosis that she was able to find
the cover to a puzzle she says she had
been trying to figure out for years.
Originally from Empangeni, Jess
moved to Durban when she was
eight years old. She loved school and
was a ‘jack-of-all-trades’. “I was in the
B-team of just about every sport and
deputy head girl. I left school ready to
take on the world,” she smiles.
When she started studying, though,
Jess began to lose her way. Her
parents were in the ministry and she
knew for sure that wasn’t the path she
wanted to take. But when Jess met
and fell head-over-heels in love with
physiotherapy student Tom in her
third year, that all changed.
“I remember him sitting me down and
telling me that he wanted to become
a pastor - and then he begged me not
to break up with him,” she laughs. But,
having felt so lost at university, Jess
says she realised that this was what
she wanted too. “I knew it would give
meaning to my life and be a way for
me to make a difference. It is just who
I am.”
Jess’s dad encouraged the couple to
travel before settling down into a life
of ministry, which they did for three
years before returning to SA and
joining the staff at Grace in 2007.
Jess threw herself into the church,
following her passion for sharing
life-transforming ideas. She did this
through hosting chats, writing blogs
and speaking on stage.
In 2011, after six years of marriage,
22 Get It • Ballito Umhlanga Dec 2021 / Jan 2022