Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Desiree Ochs. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Desiree, so happy to have you with us today and there is so much we want to ask you about. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others developed certain skills or qualities that we are struggling with can be helpful. Along those lines, we’d love to hear from you about how you developed your ability to take risk?
I think my risk taking developed with overall life circumstances. I think both risk taking and having empathy go hand in hand. Going through certain things in life allowed me to have more empathy. While I like to think it’s only congenitally that I have been quite known to take risks, I think straight from the womb there was purpose. In full transparency, I have quite an array of medical issues that most of my community, colleagues, clients and the world may come to know in depth or detail at some point or maybe not. I’ve debated and still do think about sharing but at this time I continue to explore it myself. Ultimately, it has pushed me to basically have a “prove you can” attitude to the world or “prove that you’re normal.”
Around the same time of a diagnosis, I experienced a great deal of tragic deaths of young friends and family. Witnessing such moments in life is hard to understand let alone those moments as a pre-teen and teen. There’s no time like the now. Life can be taken away at any moment. I’ve learned to give more grace, stand up
for myself, make a difference and accept what you cannot change and prove it to yourself more than the world!
I am an artist at heart and aim to create constantly. I think even with business I aim to connect empathetically with others and even that takes risk! Being vulnerable, caring and still completing tasks.
All of the above is what I believe led me out of a small town in the suburbs of Minnesota to the busy sidewalks of New York City and back again. It is a beautiful thing when you reflect on the past and realize how far you’ve come and when that risk that others would be quick to shut down, actually pay off. I am still nowhere near where I want to be and surely there will be more setbacks because such is life, however, my mantra now goes something like this: every choice we make is a risk, we are all normal and we must never lose empathy towards one another.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
As of this very moment, I am in the middle of revamping the aesthetic layout of D’Luxe Salon. It has been one year and a few months as a brick and mortar business. This year I am aiming to elevate my overall services and create unique experiences for the guests and continue my craft with staying up to date with trends and fellow beauty industry professionals.
The current year goal is to maintain the salon and be in the beauty business and bridge the gap with beauty, wellness and overall energy work. My next moves will be focusing more on the overall wellness of the customer. I have been looking into ways to incorporate other services within the salon from other professionals. I will be learning Reiki over the next few months and maybe even expanding or creating another separate business. It’s all still ‘in the works’ at this time. By the end of this life, however, I want to be creating and currently starting to work on a memoir or sorts, continue in poetry and lyric writing. This has been the ultimate dream since childhood. I’ve been grateful and remain grateful to be where I am now and while I absolutely love it, both the desire to love where you’re at and still aim for your next dream can be true!
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?
In anything you learn or do in life, all you need is one person who believes in you and says yes, “yes YOU can.” This person could be a friend, mentor, a family member and/ or even yourself! It is truly a game changer to have someone in your corner who is cheering you on. It is very rare and when it happens, and when it does you never forget them.
Find a good team and learn what to do and definitely what NOT to do.
Trust yourself, don’t tell anyone the plan until it’s is complete and actually happened. You will have haters,nay sayers, critics and fans! Remember to always believe the BEST in people. There are actually extremely kind people in the world who want to support you and see you succeed!
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
When overwhelmed or on the brink of burnout, I have to calm my mind by engaging in deep breathing exercises, taking a walk, listening to classical music and doing yoga.
I think breathing and breath work is one of the most underused tools that we have access to. There are books on this and in yoga, different types of breath work are used quite often.
Second to this, I create so many lists. To do lists, must do lists and to be lists. To be is the one I reflect on in overwhelming moments because how
can one do anything without being anything? If you just breathe and exist and be in the moment, the rest of the to
do lists will follow.
Contact Info:
- Website: dluxesalonsalonstpaul.com
- Instagram: by_desiree_
Image Credits
Simona B. Photography
