We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Abigail Blum a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Abigail , appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
Everyone faces their own struggles and battles in life and I by no means mean to paint a picture of my personal experiences being better or worse than others, but with that being said, I had a relatively challenging upbringing that pushed me to choose either resilience or defeat – so I chose the former.
Certain obstacles compelled me to mature in ways most children shouldn’t have to. People involved in those obstacles ended up setting prime examples of resilience and it allowed me to see first hand just how powerful humans can be and how capable we are of withstanding difficulties.
I’ve always taken that knowledge with me and applied it to most of my endeavors. Of course some days are harder than others, but that’s why you keep going. You have to be able to flex with the hills and valleys of life and learn the importance of recovering from the lows in order to celebrate the highs.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I currently manage a boutique, manage social platforms for several businesses, and have an ‘artisan side hustle’ where I repurpose denim jackets! I’m one of those people who just loves to try new things… I’ve started writing a book, taking classes to be a personal trainer, painting here and there… I find so much excitement in new projects. I could be absolutely terrible at them but even that ends up being a good time!
Managing the boutique is a passion of mine that I feel like few understand. Helping women find something as simple as a new pair of jeans that allows them to feel more confident or to see themselves in a new light is a beautiful thing. Meeting people in your community, dressing cute all the time, having incredible conversations with strangers? Can’t be beat for me.
As a content strategist, I get to intertwine my creative and business savvy sides. I LOVE capturing content in a way that tells a story to a brand’s audience. It’s an artistic challenge and I crave those! It’s also a great way to connect with other business owners and gain insight from their journey!
My ‘artisan side hustle’ is called Abi Jax! It was a little project I started back in early 2019 that was really meant to just be for me. One Facebook post later and it took off! I was super grateful for that as it really got me through the historical Covid lockdown. It’s been such a fun journey ever since.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Omg this is a great question. Confidence is key, listen to your gut, and know your worth! I hate the phrase ‘Fake it ’til ya make it’. You will never ever know every little detail or piece of info relating to your field of study/ project/ journey and that’s OK – don’t pretend to! There is always more to learn, no matter what stage or year you’re on. If you accept that from square one, you’ve already done more than so many others trying to do the same thing. Have confidence in what you DO know and simply build on it as you grow. Faking it won’t work!
Listen to your gut!! If you have a feeling about something… roll with it. Someone telling you how to do something different and you aren’t sure it’ll work for you? Don’t do it. The tricky part is really getting to know yourself and understanding if it’s your gut or fear talking..
Knowing your worth can be an easy quality to start with but also an easy one to lose sight of on your journey. Comparison can be inevitable, people trying to bring you down (for no reason) will likely happen, and moments of self-deprecation are bound to occur. Keep that head high, chin up, chest forward, and remind yourself of who you are. You’re capable of great things – don’t ever let anyone take that from you!
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
My parents have taught me two invaluable lessons and I can’t possibly pick one over the other, so you’re getting both. The first? ‘Your absolute best is always good enough’. I couldn’t stand that as a kid… if i fell off my bike, lost the soccer game, didn’t beat the boys in a race, I felt that I had failed. As I’ve grown up, I’ve realized what they meant is it’s not about the outcome, it’s that I got on the bike and tried, it’s that I played the soccer game as best I could, it’s that I ran my hardest in those races.. Sometimes our ‘good enough’ won’t get us to the finish line first, but it did get us IN the race and that’s what matters.
The second is to always work for what I want in life. My parents, even after separating in my early childhood, both stood firm on that lesson. Neither of them believed in handouts. While I know it was hard at times to tell me ‘no’, I’m beyond grateful now that they did. I work hard for the life I have, for the things I want, for the people and relationships in my life, and I’m not so sure I would had it not been for that lesson.
Contact Info:
- Website: shopabijax.com
- Instagram: shopabijax
- Facebook: shopabijax
