Amber Krystal

I attribute my success to my faith, integrity, and morals - those are the values that carry me through everything. My number one value is faith, followed by integrity and morality. In the field I work in, which includes both media and ministry, it's so important to understand that if you're not healed, whole, and mature from within, success can actually make things worse. I've seen this play out in people's lives all over the media. When you have money, clout, and influence but you're broken inside, you can snap your fingers and get more brokenness - whether that's drugs or other destructive things. On the flip side, you can also become someone who gives everything away trying to help everybody and lose yourself in the process. This is why having strong values, morals, and faith is essential - these are the things that will carry you through and help you stay grounded. I teach people that you must be successful from within first, and then it will manifest outwardly. You can't just go out and be successful so everyone can see what you're doing - that's not real success. True success comes from being healed, whole, and mature on the inside first.

The best career advice I've ever received is to be your authentic self. I've been around a lot of well-known people and met many people in various places because of what I do, and one thing I've discovered in the era we're in now is that if you are not your authentic self, people are going to know it. They can feel it - even over the internet, in podcasts, wherever you are. People can sense whether you're authentic or not. I told my students this years ago when I was teaching: people can feel you over the internet, they can feel you in everything you do. If you're not authentic, you won't be effective in what you do. This has become one of my mottos that I use when I speak and talk with people, whether in ministry or not. Being your authentic self is absolutely essential because people will know if you're not, and then you won't have the impact you're meant to have.

My number one value is faith, and following that is integrity, morality, and morals. The field I work in includes both media and ministry, and we've seen all over the media what happens when people don't have strong values guiding them. I believe that if you're not healed, whole, and mature from within, you're actually going to manifest negativity onto others. This is something I taught my students years ago when I was teaching aesthetics - as estheticians, we touch people with our hands, and if you're broken inside, that brokenness transfers to others. Success can either make you or break you depending on your internal foundation. If you're a broken person from within, success will make that worse because you'll have the money, the clout, the influence to get more brokenness - like drugs or other destructive things. On the other hand, you can become someone who gives everything away trying to help everybody and lose yourself. This is why having values, morals, and faith is so important - these are the things that will carry you through everything. These values exist and matter all the time, not just when it's convenient.