Jessica Fuller Shahid

I attribute my success to the people I've worked with along the way and the inspiration I've gained from them. The community in the wellness industry has that servant's heart way of doing things, and I've been able to learn so much from the women I worked with at Natura Bissé, who were all so innovative and fastidious in their ways. I feel like when you have a role in leadership, you learn from good leaders who help you come along. The person who gives me a lot of inspiration is someone I'm continuing to work with now in the oncology aesthetics space. She was my boss at Natura Bissé, and I'm learning from her and working in tandem with her. I also believe that other people's successes inspire me. The passion I see that people have and the successes they've had, as well as the inspiration they're able to share, really fuels me. I've been fortunate enough to work with people in the wellness industry who inspire me to be at my best, and we have to challenge ourselves and always find that next step as a continuous move.

Do what you love, and you will never work a day in your life. When you make choices on what you are passionate about, and if you find that you are passionate about doing something that you can be compensated for your time, I find that that's when people can finally be at their point of success and feel that they've accomplished what they wanted in life. When you're pursuing something that you passionately love to do, that's when you truly succeed.

I think what helped me the most is viewing your first opportunity, like working in a salon, as an apprenticeship that you're able to get paid for. You have to think of your first two years in starting out as it being an apprenticeship. This is an opportunity to take the mindset that the experience is what you're ultimately gaining out of the time you're spending. The experience will then work into giving you the compensation for what your intentions are, which is to provide and feel the fulfillment and the moments of accomplishment. When you focus on the mindset that the experience is what you will gain, you will then have that monetary success in return. It's the hardest part in those early years, and it tends to be the pattern in introductory roles that people play the idea in their head that they've got this new job and they're going to hit the ground running, but unfortunately it takes the time to gain experience. By that 2 years, most people are ready to move from that introductory level. That's where I find the most helpful mental state of mind that helps us understand things in a more linear way.

I would say the challenges are when we are not taking care of our bodies and not working in a way that is harmonious. Maybe it's the way that we're ergonomically working, and I think that creates burnout easily. Also, just putting a lot on our plates is a challenge, because if we don't re-energize ourselves and cleanse ourselves, then we aren't able to continue to be able to serve the way that we are encouraged to do. I find that it's very important for us to replenish and rejuvenate in order to be able to help and create the sense of comfort that we're trying to provide to others.

Authenticity is most important to me in what I really want. The inspiration can come from others to give you the drive to do the things that you want. Helping and looking outside of ourselves to help others is what I find fulfills that sense of purpose. That's the servant's heart that I have. I find that continuing to help each other in a way that gives us the idea that we're supporting one another fills that void and helps us within the moments that we need to continue on doing the things that we love to do. The idea of joy in my life is the mantra that I want to continue to try to focus on so that I can be joyful with others. If it doesn't bring me joy, I'm not going to participate. It's about safeguarding our energy.