We recently connected with Cristi Jessee and have shared our conversation below.
Cristi, we’ve been so fortunate to work with so many incredible folks and one common thread we have seen is that those who have built amazing lives for themselves are also often the folks who are most generous. Where do you think your generosity comes from?
We live in a culture that is very ¨me focused.” I had been a victim of this mentality most of my adult life with little to show for it and no inner peace. It wasn’t until I allowed God to break me out of this mindset, that I truly began to serve others and I stepped into purpose. Since 2022, I have lived in Punta Cana Dominican Republic. I split my time between livning in Punta Cana and Las Vegas.
In 2022, I started my YouTube ministry which is all about helping people work in their God-given gifts and talents…moving into purpose.
I was selling luxury real estate in Las Vegas at the time and had never thought about starting a YouTube channel. I felt a strong calling from God to do it, so reluctantly, in September 2022, I uploaded my first video. At the time I had 6 subscribers. In just two years, the channel has grown to more than 83K subscribers.
In Feb. 2023 my YouTube subscribers raised more than 20K for Abba’s House, a Christ-centered school for impoverished children in Cienfuegos, Dominican Republic. Cienfuegos is one of the most poverty stricken area in the country. This is one of the the areas most foreigners do not see when they come to visit the beautiful beaches in this country.
I continue to use this platform to support the children at Abba’s House. When I am spending time in Las Vegas, I also am a regular volunteer at the Las Vegas Rescue Mission.
By allowing God to renew my heart and mind into more servant focused instead of “Me” focused, I have been able to live a life most people would only dream about. One of my favorite Bible scriptures is “With man it’s impossible, but with God, all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am a self-made CEO, & YouTube Content Creator. In 2023, I started my own real estate company in the Dominican Republic, Covenant Realty Punta Cana.
In 2022, I launched my YouTube channel which focuses on helping people move in their God-given gifts & talents. Shortly after launching the Youtube channel, I relocated to Punta Cana from Las Vegas. From 2018-2023, I worked as a luxury real estate agent in Las Vegas.
For the first 20 years of my career, I worked as a TV reporter and news director at local TV stations in Minnesota, California & most recently Las Vegas. In 2018, I left my job as news director in Las Vegas. I felt God moving me in a different direction. I felt like He was leading me to go into real estate. I left news in Feb, 2018 and by May, I was a licensed Realtor in Las Vegas.
What you won’t see on my resume is that I went through a difficult divorce at 30, where I began raising three beautiful children under the age of 5 on my own. I went back to work during this time as a reporter at the local ABC news station in Sacramento. It was extremely difficult to juggle a 6-month old, 2 year-old and 5 year-old and getting back into the workforce full-time all while going through the divorce process. People ask me how I did it. I just did.
Through the pressure of working in the news business as a single mom, I began to drink heavily every day to cope. From the outside looking in, you never would have known. I knew how to keep a good appearance even though my family suffered for it.
By the time I was in my mid-forties, I had continued to cycle through toxic habits and toxic relationships. Not understanding why I continued to turn to the same toxic means of self medication.
It wasn’t until I woke up one day in early 2022 so sick and tired of being sick and tired. I said, “God, what am I missing here?” I had been raised in the church and had always considered myself a Christian, even if I didn’t act like it. I prayed for wisdom. That was the day everything started to change.
God began to show me WHY I continued these toxic patterns in my life. It all stemmed from unhealed childhood trauma. I started going through a healing and deliverance process. By April 2022, I got sober and got serious about my relationship with God. He began to process me for purpose.
By Sept. 2022, He called me to start the YouTube channel. Now I help others get in alignment and processed for purpose. In July of this year, I married my Dominican husband, Marlon in a small ceremony in Punta Cana. God continues to bless me in so many ways!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1. Work in your God-given gifts.
2. Don’t listen to the nay-sayers & negative people, including family!
3. If you have toxic habits in your life, get to the root of it. Go through the healing process to get healthy.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
The Bible has so much wisdom! Most of the advice I give on YouTube comes from Biblical scriptures. I encourage all of my subscribers to spend daily time in relationship with God through prayer and meditating on the word of God.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.covenantrealtydr.com
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@CristiJessee
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