return to Make A Difference > Local Treasures

Mar 2010  |  By Liz Logan  |  Comments

Successful Women–Jenniffer Weigel

Jenniffer Weigel just wanted to have a chat with her dad, sportscaster Tim Weigel. Only problem: He had died six months earlier. But that didn't stop her from getting in touch with him.

The Emmy-Award-winning CBS broadcaster headed to Chicago-based intuitive Therese Rowley, who recounted an entire conversation that happened between Weigel and her father when no one else was present, as well as everything that had happened to Weigel that day.

The experience prompted the skeptical Evanston mom to quit her job at CBS and embark on an "Eat, Pray, Love"-esque spiritual journey across the country, guest-starring gurus James Van Praagh, Caroline Myss, Deepak Chopra and don Miguel Ruiz. She documented her quest in "Stay Tuned: Conversations with Dad from the Other Side" (Hampton Roads, 2007), which sold well and will come out in paperback soon.

But Weigel doesn't take all the "woo-woo" business, as she calls it, too seriously—in fact, she's seriously into being funny.

"It's spirituality with a sense of humor, climbing the mountain of enlightenment with your martini in one hand and your pumps in the other," she says.

She turned the book into a one-woman show, "I'm Spiritual, Damn It!" which had a sold-out run at the Viaduct Theatre, followed by two more successful runs at the Chicago Center for the Performing Arts.

Her second book—which she describes as "The Secret" meets "Sex and the City"—is based on stories from people "with gifts" and is due out in September. One time, a man in the front row of her show had three 20-something children who all claimed they saw dead people.

When she's not consulting a medium, you'll find Weigel working on the Tim Weigel Scholarship Fund or donating her video production services to various Chicago nonprofits. This spring Wiegel is starting "Wednesdays with Weigel," a monthly performance at the Wilmette Theatre in which she interviews notable people.

And don't worry, she's not trying to convert you. "I'm not advocating anything," she says.  "I'm not making any of it up, and a lot of it's making me scratch my head, so I thought I'd share."