Discover how stillness and mindfulness transform your perspective on life, helping you pause amid chaos to truly see what matters and embrace personal growth through inner quiet.
Her Story
About Yasmine
My path has never been conventional, and I wouldn't change it.
Some of my greatest opportunities came during seasons when my life felt uncertain. Years ago, I entered the automotive industry with no experience, simply looking for someone willing to give me a chance. That chance came from a mentor who saw potential in me before I could see it in myself. Through hard work, determination, and a willingness to keep learning, I built a career that taught me far more than how to service vehicles—it taught me the value of integrity, honesty, and earning people's trust.
One of the parts of that journey I'm most proud of was helping customers, especially women, feel confident instead of intimidated. Too often, people walk into an automotive shop feeling like they have no choice but to trust what they're told. I wanted to change that. I believed that educating people was just as important as serving them because knowledge gives people the confidence to advocate for themselves long after they leave.
Today, I serve as the Customer Experience Manager at Jiffy Lube, where I continue to focus on building trust, solving problems, and creating positive experiences for every customer who walks through our doors. While my role has evolved, my purpose has remained the same: helping people feel heard, respected, and empowered.
That same purpose is what led me to pursue a degree in paralegal studies. I'm currently working toward becoming a paralegal because advocacy has always been at the heart of who I am. My goal is to work alongside attorneys who are committed to justice and to become a voice for individuals who often feel overlooked, underestimated, or unheard.
Whether I'm helping someone understand their vehicle, navigating a difficult conversation, or preparing for a future career in law, my mission remains unchanged: to lead with integrity, educate with compassion, and remind people that they deserve to be treated with honesty and respect.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Yasmine
01What do you attribute your success to?
When I think about success, I don't think about job titles, income, or society's definition of what someone should accomplish. To me, success is fulfillment.
It's waking up every day knowing that what you're doing has meaning to you. It's feeling proud of the life you're building, regardless of whether the world celebrates it or not.
Success looks different for everyone, and I think that's something we don't talk about enough. For one person, it might be building a business. For another, it might be staying home to raise children, teaching the next generation, serving their community, creating art, protecting the environment, or simply making one person's life a little better each day.
None of those paths are more valuable than another.
If someone goes to bed feeling fulfilled, accomplished, and proud of the life they're living, then I believe they've already found success.
That's what I strive for in my own life.
I've learned that fulfillment doesn't come from chasing someone else's definition of achievement. It comes from living in alignment with your values, continuing to learn, and using your experiences to make a positive difference in the lives of others.
For me, success isn't measured by what I have. It's measured by the impact I leave, the people I've helped, and whether I've lived in a way that allows me to look back with gratitude and say, I lived authentically, I kept growing, and I stayed true to who I am.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've ever received was simple: Find purpose in what you do, and the work will always mean more than the paycheck.
That advice changed the way I think about success. Money is important—it provides security and opportunities—but it has never been my greatest motivation. I've learned that if I wake up every day doing work that aligns with my values, challenges me to grow, and allows me to make a positive difference in someone else's life, then I'm exactly where I need to be.
I've also realized that purpose doesn't belong to one profession. You can find purpose as a teacher, a mechanic, a stay-at-home parent, an attorney, or an artist. What matters isn't the title—it's the intention you bring to it.
I've chosen each step of my career based on one question: Will this allow me to help people in a meaningful way? If the answer is yes, then I know I'm moving in the right direction
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
If I could give one piece of advice to young women entering the automotive industry, it would be this: never let someone else's expectations define your potential.
There will always be people who underestimate you simply because you're a woman in a traditionally male-dominated field. Some may question your knowledge before you've even had the chance to demonstrate it. Don't let that discourage you or make you doubt yourself.
Instead, let it motivate you to keep learning.
Knowledge is one of the most powerful tools you can have because confidence grows from competence. Ask questions, stay curious, and never be afraid to admit when you don't know something. Every expert was once a beginner.
I've also learned that professionalism speaks louder than ego. You don't have to argue with people to prove your worth. Let your work, your integrity, and the way you treat others speak for you.
Most importantly, remember why you're there. If your goal is to help people, continue learning, and take pride in your work, you'll build something much more valuable than a career—you'll build trust. And once people trust you, they'll remember how you made them feel long after they've forgotten the repair itself.
The automotive industry needs more knowledgeable, compassionate, and honest women. If this is the path you're passionate about, don't let anyone convince you that you don't belong. You absolutely do.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges I've experienced isn't the work itself—it's navigating difficult workplace dynamics.
Every workplace brings together people with different personalities, communication styles, and life experiences. Sometimes those differences lead to misunderstandings or situations where you don't feel heard, valued, or treated fairly. Those moments can be incredibly discouraging, especially early in your career.
One of the hardest lessons I've had to learn is that I can't control how other people treat me, but I can control how I respond.
Choosing professionalism over pride isn't always easy. Neither is choosing understanding when you feel misunderstood. But I've found that taking a step back and remembering that everyone is carrying struggles we may know nothing about has helped me approach difficult situations with more empathy. That doesn't mean accepting unfair treatment—it means responding in a way that reflects my own character rather than reacting out of emotion.
Ironically, some of the greatest opportunities for growth have come from those difficult experiences. They've taught me resilience, emotional intelligence, and the importance of leading with integrity, even when it's challenging. Those are lessons I'll carry with me throughout my career, no matter what field I'm in.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that guide both my work and my personal life are integrity, equality, compassion, and curiosity.
Integrity is important to me because trust is earned through honesty. I believe people deserve transparency, whether they're a customer, a coworker, a friend, or a complete stranger. I never want someone to leave a conversation with me feeling misled or taken advantage of.
Equality matters because I've experienced what it feels like to be underestimated. I believe every person deserves to be treated with dignity, respect, and fairness, regardless of their background, profession, or circumstances. Some of the strongest people I've met have simply needed someone to believe in them.
Compassion reminds me that everyone is carrying a story I know nothing about. That perspective has helped me approach difficult situations with more understanding instead of judgment, both in my career and in my personal life.
Finally, curiosity has become one of the values I cherish most. It's what has driven me to keep learning, to ask questions, to challenge my own perspectives, and to continually grow. I don't believe we ever stop learning, and I hope I never lose the desire to better understand people, the world, and myself.
Together, these values shape not only how I work, but also the kind of person I strive to be every day.
Her Content Hub
Articles by Yasmine
Introspective Lesson: Stillness
Finding peace not by escaping the noise, but by becoming still enough within to truly hear what matters.
When I think of stillness, I picture someone sitting in front of a quiet lake with their eyes closed, deep in meditation. I imagine complete silence—no cars passing by, no people talking, no distractions. Just peace.
But the more I've reflected on Gene Key 52, the more I've realized that isn't what stillness is trying to teach me.
Stillness, at least for me, isn't about escaping the noise around me. It's about becoming quiet enough on the inside to hear what my body, my mind, and maybe even the universe have been trying to tell me all along.
Stillness asks me to pause—not because life stops, but because I need to stop long enough to truly see what's happening. It invites me to look at a situation from more than one perspective.
It allows my nervous system to settle enough that I can think clearly instead of simply reacting. It gives me the opportunity to examine a situation, consider the possibilities, choose the best response, and, perhaps most importantly, recognize the lesson hidden beneath it all.
I've Noticed Something About Myself
When I'm overwhelmed or overstimulated, everything feels urgent. I move fast. I react fast. I make decisions quickly because I feel like I have to.
Ironically, those are usually the moments when I make the most mistakes. I forget things. I overlook details. I waste energy trying to force an outcome, only to find myself right back where I started.
But when I slow down—even if only for a moment—something changes.
Sometimes I don't solve the problem immediately, but I begin to understand why the problem exists in the first place. Then, no matter how difficult the experience was, I walk away with something that can't be taken from me: a new perspective, a lesson, more knowledge, or perhaps simply the awareness that the next time life puts me in a similar situation, I won't be walking into it as the same person. I'll be walking into it with experience I didn't have before.
That doesn't mean life won't repeat itself. It probably will.
But maybe I won't repeat myself.
That's growth.
I don't think stillness always feels peaceful. Sometimes stillness is uncomfortable because it forces us to sit with thoughts we've spent years trying to outrun.
Stillness and Mindfulness Go Hand in Hand
I believe stillness and mindfulness go hand in hand.
Both remind us that the present moment is the only place we actually live.
We spend so much time replaying the past or rehearsing the future that we miss the life unfolding right in front of us.
We don't notice that our baby's voice is changing a little more every day. One day, those tiny arms reaching up to be held won't be so tiny anymore. One day, they'll stop reaching altogether because they'll be grown.
We miss the warmth of the coffee we're drinking because we're already thinking about tomorrow's responsibilities.
We eat simply to satisfy hunger instead of truly tasting our food.
We rush through conversations.
We rush through sunsets.
Sometimes, we even rush through the people we love.
There is so much beauty woven into ordinary moments, but survival has a way of narrowing our vision until all we see are the next tasks on our list.
Eat.
Work.
Sleep.
Repeat.
Of course, those things matter. They're part of being human.
But life has so much more to offer than simply surviving.
Recently, I Discovered the Gene Keys
Recently, I discovered the Gene Keys, and one in particular—Gene Key 52, which is part of my spiritual and energetic blueprint based on my birth information—gave me a perspective I didn't know I needed. It helped me understand parts of myself I had never paused long enough to notice.
I'm not saying everyone has to believe in the Gene Keys. I'm certainly not suggesting anyone abandon the beliefs that already give their life meaning.
What I am saying is this:
Stay curious.
Take what resonates.
Leave what doesn't.
Every philosophy, every spiritual tradition, and every life experience has something it can teach us if we're willing to listen.
Set goals for the future.
Learn from the past.
But don't live in either one.
Life is happening here.
Right now.
And maybe that's what stillness has been trying to teach me all along.
A powerful testament to resilience and transformation, this article chronicles one woman's journey from losing her children to CPS to becoming a parent advocate, discovering that true ascension is not a destination but a lifelong commitment to growth, healing, and rising again.
Perpetual Ascensions
From Darkness to Purpose: How Loss Became My Greatest Teacher and Transformed Me Into an Advocate for Others
My ascension did not happen during the most beautiful moments of my life. It wasn't born from accomplishments, recognition, or even the immense joy of bringing my seven children into the world. My ascension was born in the darkest chapters of my life—chapters I once believed would define me forever.
I survived homelessness.
I survived addiction.
And I survived the moment that broke me more deeply than any other—the moment Child Protective Services took my children from me. My fifth son was only two weeks old.
There is no pain quite like being separated from the very souls you brought into this world. In an instant, everything I knew was stripped away. I was forced to confront every decision, every fear, every wound, and every part of myself I had spent years avoiding.
But what felt like the end became the beginning.
It became the moment I decided my story would not end in loss. It would begin in reclamation.
I fought my way back.
I rebuilt my life piece by piece.
I did the work, even when it felt impossible.
And eventually, I regained custody of my children—not because anyone handed them back to me, but because I earned my way back to them.
That victory did more than restore my family. It awakened my purpose.
To this day, I have never experienced fear as profound as the fear I felt when strangers entered my home, pinned me to the ground, and carried my children out one by one. I can still see their faces. I can still hear their cries. I can still feel the desperation of reaching for them while they reached for me.
Each of them looked back with fear in their eyes, unable to understand why police officers had their mother on the ground or why they were being taken farther and farther away from the place where they felt safest—their mother's arms.
That was not the last bad day.
There were many more.
Days when I felt so numb I could barely move.
Days when I blamed myself for everything.
Days when I had no confidence, no hope, and no belief that life would ever get better.
The anguish, despair, guilt, and trauma were so immense that no single word could adequately describe them.
Yet somehow, I kept going.
And winning my children back became the greatest achievement of my life.
After surviving the system, I refused to walk away quietly. I knew there were other mothers and fathers living through the same fear, shame, confusion, and heartbreak I had experienced. I knew there were parents being judged before they were understood, dismissed before they were supported, and silenced before they had the chance to tell their story.
So I became a parent advocate.
I became the voice I once needed.
I became the support I once prayed for.
I became a reminder that redemption is real, that families can heal, and that no one is beyond rising.
My influence is not theoretical. It is lived. It is earned. It is rooted in every step I took toward healing and in the relentless love that gave me the strength to break through every barrier standing between me and the people I loved most.
A Different Kind of Ascension
This is why advocacy matters to me.
This is why purpose matters to me.
This is why I believe lessons can become blessings.
Because I know what it feels like to lose everything.
And I know what it feels like to rise anyway.
My story is not about perfection. It is about perseverance.
It is not about image. It is about impact.
It is not about being admired. It is about being aligned with the woman I fought so hard to become.
If there is one thing my life has taught me, it is that growth is not a single event—it is a lifelong journey. Every challenge, every heartbreak, every betrayal, and every lesson has become another step in my perpetual ascension.
For many years, I believed strength meant enduring. I believed it meant carrying every burden without complaint, putting everyone else's needs before my own, and continuing forward no matter how heavy the weight became.
Life taught me otherwise.
Life taught me that true strength is not found in suffering silently. It is found in healing openly.
There have been moments of joy so profound they made my soul vibrate, and moments of pain so great they brought me to my knees.
Yet through every season, I discovered something powerful:
I was not being broken.
I was being transformed.
My story is not one of perfection. It is a story of resilience—a story of rebuilding when circumstances demanded it, of finding courage when fear felt overwhelming, and of choosing faith when the future seemed uncertain.
Every obstacle became an invitation to rise higher.
Every setback revealed a strength I did not know I possessed.
Like many women, I have worn countless roles throughout my life—mother, provider, caregiver, advocate, friend, professional, and dreamer. Each role has shaped me, but none of them fully defines me.
Beneath every title is a woman who continues to evolve.
A woman learning that her worth is not measured solely by what she does for others, but by who she allows herself to become.
There were times when disappointment, betrayal, and loss left me questioning everything. But those experiences became some of my greatest teachers. They taught me that healing is not weakness, vulnerability is not failure, and trusting yourself is one of the greatest acts of self-respect you can practice.
My journey has taught me that ascension is not about reaching a destination. It is about embracing growth at every stage of life. It is understanding that we can begin again as many times as necessary.
We can heal.
We can rebuild.
We can reinvent ourselves.
We can rise after every fall.
Today, I stand in a place of deeper self-awareness than ever before—not because life became easier, but because I learned to see challenges differently. I learned that every experience carries a lesson and every chapter serves a purpose.
The woman I am today exists because of every version of myself that came before her.
When people see strength, they often see the outcome. They do not always see the sleepless nights, the difficult decisions, the tears shed in private, or the moments when giving up felt easier than continuing.
But true strength is built in those unseen moments.
It is forged through perseverance.
It is strengthened through faith.
Perpetual ascension means refusing to believe your best days are behind you. It means understanding that growth has no age limit and that your story is still being written.
It means choosing to rise—not once, but again and again.
As women, we are often taught to shrink ourselves, to doubt our intuition, or to wait for permission before stepping into our power.
My journey has taught me the opposite.
Our power has always existed within us.
The challenge is not finding it.
The challenge is believing it.
My life is proof that we are capable of far more than we imagine. We are capable of healing from what hurt us, learning from what challenged us, and becoming stronger because of what tried to break us.
I am still growing.
I am still learning.
I am still ascending.
And perhaps that is the greatest achievement of all—not arriving, but continuing to rise.
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