Meet Jamie Zayac

We recently connected with Jamie Zayac and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jamie, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?

I was not born with the confidence and self esteem that I have now. I was an outcast growing up as a child; I didn’t fit in to groups or cliques. This was exemplified when I had to switch schools halfway through high school. Growing up, I did exactly what I was told to do. I had to be a perfect child and student, despite the hardship of switching schools, facing severe bullying, and having a tumultuous life at home. Eventually I graduated high school and I worked three jobs to pay my way through my two degrees. Graduating college led to a path in its own obstacles and hardships; working full time in a pandemic as a bedside ICU nurse while going to school and going through a divorce. These things were challenging for me because I used to be a person of routine and comfort zones. I hated change back then and was scared to make my own decisions because they had always been made for me. I had no trust in myself or my decision-making, but decided the best route for me would be to pursue travel nursing. Between contracts, I faced a near-death experience while being in an abusive relationship. I went to take my dog for a walk, and he saw a bunny; before I knew it, I landed flat on my abdomen on a huge garden rock and was dragged a certain amount of feet on the sidewalk. A hospital trip, blood products, a level one trauma transfer to the bigger hospital for an emergent surgery, in and out of consciousness until I woke up in the trauma ICU with an arterial line, an NG tube, and a catheter. The pain was the only thing I remember after surgery. The first day was the worst, and the second worst was getting out of bed for the first time with PT. Recovery with an abusive boyfriend was perhaps harder than the stay in the hospital. After my near-death experience, and final escape from the abusive relationship, I finally realized it was not worth simply doing what other people have told me to do. I become a solo-preneur and had began developing products that aided my recovery: protein packed snacks and drinks. I was casted for a reality TV show for entrepreneurs and was featured on season 12 of The Blox, but this only re-ignited the flame I had in me since I was young: to become an actress. Soon after the reality TV show, I found myself signing onto multiple talent agencies, booking feature films, commercials, modeling shoots, and the rest is history. My self esteem came from believing in myself the whole time. I could have stayed in situations that weren’t in my best interest, but I developed a trust in myself that there were better things out there for me. Instead of just keeping my mouth shut and doing as I was told, I spoke for myself: I am not happy in this environment and I want more for myself. I deserve more. And that is exactly what I did. Repeated exposure of putting myself out there on film, in casting auditions, and allowing myself to be seen made it easier and easier for me to become confident in who I am. I would say my resilience and optimism are the two drivers behind my unwavering belief in myself and my abilities.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

Firstly, my company Vortex Nutrition, is in a product development stage. I anticipate this to take a while, because I am a perfectionist. Of course between small cohort studies and subjective data, I become closer and closer to my goal everyday of finally launching a product. Secondly, I am an actress for commercial and film. A project I am super excited about to be on the lookout for is called “The Travelers Team,” the brainchild of Trisha Gianesin.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

This may sound silly, but I think the first thing someone needs to do is get to know yourself. Especially if you are someone like me, who didn’t speak for themselves growing up and didn’t take your goals and dreams into consideration when making plans for the future. Learn who you are all over again: try new things, go somewhere new, and meet new people. Once you know who you are, you will be able to know exactly what it is you want to do and strive for. Secondly, develop a sense of trust in yourself and decision-making. This does not come easy or quick, but overtime. You can start simply with things like making a to-do list and accomplishing them. And as time goes on, you will trust yourself when it comes to big decisions. And lastly, remain optimistic. When times are troubling, it is extremely easy to throw in the towel and give up. What is not so easy, is a brave decision to keep going–to create new, higher goals for yourself and keep moving forward. The only person I had at the end of the day to count on was me. At a point I finally decided the only way was up. Do not dwell on what has happened, and instead, use the experiences to transform yourself into a new version: one that is wiser, one that is stronger and more resilient, and one that doesn’t stop believing in the good.

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

I believe that both of these things must be done, but you must improve areas of weakness first. Weaknesses do not immediately present themselves, but they are insidious and may only be realized through experience. I recognize that one of my weak points in my character was the ever-revolving narrative I kept that change is bad. I think that change is not only necessary, but without it, you would not become who you are meant to be. Now I consider my adaptability to change as one of my strengths. The same can be said about my confidence. I was extremely shy as a child, though my heart wanted to be outgoing and free spirited. With shaky hands and a trembling voice, I’d turn bright red when it was time to do a presentation. I recognized this as one of my weaknesses, so I took a public speaking class, began pitching my business as much as I could, went on a reality TV show that emphasizes presentations, and continued speaking in front of the camera as an actress. I think weaknesses are the clues we need to use to discover our true talents and gifts.

Contact Info:

• Website: vortexnutrition.io ; jamiezayac.com
• Instagram: @jamie.zayac
• Facebook: Jamie Zayac