Moms to Know: Danielle Baynard Jackson

Moms to Know: Danielle Bayard Jackson, Female Friendship Coach, Educator & Author

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Danielle Bayard Jackson has shared her expertise on female friendship on the Mel Robbins podcast, Tamron Hall Show and countless other broadcasts and publications. But just eight years ago, she was a former high school teacher working in public relations when she was fired during her maternity leave.

“They said, I'm so sorry to do this to you over the phone, but we're gonna have to let you go,” Jackson says. “And I had to decide in that moment what to do for income.”

The ideal option was to expand the blog and friendship coaching service she’d been building on the side, but it wasn’t financially feasible. “I wasn't making any money. I mean, no one believed at that time that it was a valuable investment to pay somebody to help you with your friendship.” She was about to walk away from her dream job when one of her videos went viral.

What she did next proved pivotal. Armed with the skills and experience she’d accumulated and the extensive research she’d conducted, she seized the opportunity to build on the momentum and never looked back.

Danielle Bayard Jackson

How would describe your job?

Danielle Bayard Jackson: It’s my job to study what the latest research has to say about women's cooperation, communication and conflict. And then I have the privilege of traveling across the country and sharing practical applications of that research with everything from sororities to women's groups to professional organizations. I'm thrilled to be able to share evidence-based insights on how we can more deeply connect with one another.

You went from teaching to working in PR to becoming a friendship coach. How did you manage to successfully transition between each career?

Danielle Bayard Jackson: I knew I needed to transition out of the traditional classroom because the landscape had changed so much. I researched to see if friendship coaching was a thing … Working with high school girls, it was the number one thing that they wanted to talk about between classes and after school… their friendship issues. Then I got into public relations, and I was working with high-achieving, extroverted, charismatic women. And only to learn that behind the scenes, privately, they too were struggling connecting with other women. But at that level, they didn't feel like they were able to be open with that … And so when I realized that both as teenagers and as women, we are always working to figure out how to more deeply connect with other women, that's when I thought, well, maybe this is something I can help with.

What have you learned from your own evolution that might be helpful to other women, especially moms who feel like they're not where they'd like to be?

Danielle Bayard Jackson: It’s so tempting to want all the things right now. I'm so grateful for where I am right now, but this has been more than 10 years in the making. Everything I learned in the classroom set me up for where I am now. I don't know that I'd be able to have the same kind of impact and bring women to the same outcomes if I hadn't had an experience of teaching for five or six years in a classroom with people who push back and ask hard questions. I got so many skills and insights from that time. And so all of this time, none of it is wasted. The time with the kids, the time in old careers, none of it's wasted. We’re constantly learning, and so we might be preparing for something that won't materialize for the next five years. We're not behind, but we haven't met the right people yet. We haven't acquired all the skills yet. And we should give ourselves permission to stand with open arms awaiting our moment.

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Photo credit: Shaniya Clarke | Originally published in the March 2024 and updated for the August 2026 issue of Tampa Bay Parenting Magazine.