Jill Douglass

I attribute my success to keeping my priorities in order - God first, family, then career. I learned at an early age from my father, who was military, that it's service before self, and I've carried that with me my whole career. My personal mission in life has been to help other people achieve their personal and professional dreams. I was given an opportunity to open a business, I seized that opportunity, and when I was having success, I looked around and said, how can I help other people have this success? I think success comes from being willing to put in the hard work - the time, the effort, and the energy. The difference between myself that was successful and someone who wasn't was I just committed to doing the things I needed to do, even when it wasn't fun. I also learned to conduct myself in a way so that if it got in the newspaper, my mother would be proud - honesty and integrity first in all you do.

The best career advice I've ever received was to always conduct yourself in a way so that if it got in the newspaper, your mother would be proud. It's about honesty and integrity first in all you do, and then you never have to worry about something getting in the newspaper and your mother going, oh my god, what in the world. I also learned from a boss that communication is the source of all problems and solution to all problems. Another important lesson I learned was from a story about a ballerina who said her favorite food was ice cream, but when asked what she ate, she said she didn't eat it - she learned a long time ago that she was going to have to make sacrifices if she was going to be successful in what she did. That taught me what I was willing to sacrifice in order to build my business and be successful, because building a business from scratch doesn't happen overnight.

I would definitely tell young women to keep a work-life balance and keep your priorities in order. Never take shortcuts - one of the things about success is you have to be willing to put in the hard work. Any successful person is successful because they put in the time, the effort, and the energy. When people try to take shortcuts, they end up making compromises of values and they end up getting in trouble. I would also say, first of all, what do you love? Like, if you could do anything, be anything, what would that look like? And then go for it. But don't think it's going to become easy - are you willing to make the sacrifices of 12-hour days, 14-hour days? You have to be willing to put in long hours, and the difference between success and failure is just committing to doing the things you need to do, even when it isn't fun.

The most important values to me are keeping your priorities in order - God first, family, then career. It's very easy in the working world to get your priorities out of order and get all caught up in your career, but honestly, I think when you stay grounded with God first, family, then career, and you try to keep those things in order, ultimately your life will be much more satisfying. I've lived my life with the principles that are outlined in the Bible, which are love God, love others. I think if every day of everybody's life, they were just like, how can I be the best person today that I can be? How can I show others appreciation? What a world that could be. We're all imperfect, we're not going to be perfect, we're going to make mistakes, but if purely your mission every day was just like, let me be the best person I can be today, even if it was just for one person, if we all did that, what an impact that would make. It's also important to find a way to show kindness and respect for other people, even if you don't always agree with them.