Meet Jesse Mendoza

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jesse Mendoza. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jesse , thank you so much for making time for us. We’ve always admired your ability to take risks and so maybe we can kick things off with a discussion around how you developed your ability to take and bear risk?

As a child I lived in a magical place. My house was in the side of a hill and the front yard sloped down into a field of daisies in the summer. We had a pottery studio to our left, a garden to the right and forest on either side of the house. A short walk through the woods took us to the river. In the summer, my sister and I played in the woods, in the river and with all the wildlife, usually garter snakes. Those were the easiest to find. We would jump off the roof with our umbrellas (the short side) and ride in our red wagon down the hill. In the winter, we’d ride our sleds off of the roof and all the way down the hill into the field if it was a good run. Once in a while, we’d get hurt, but most of the time it was just fun and the scrapes and bruises were worth it.

When I started to learn to drive, that was fun. Our driveway was a long, twisting, narrow dirt road with ravines on both sides that you would turn onto off of a turn in a 55 mile per hour highway. As you turned onto the driveway, you couldn’t see where it was. You just had to trust it was where you saw it last and hope that you adjusted correctly until you felt your tires firmly on the road. I have a March birthday, so when I started driving it was usually snowy and icy too. When we left the driveway, it wasn’t as scary, but you were still a bit blind to oncoming traffic from both directions, so you would check both ways and turn out quickly, just in case something was coming. What I learned from that is sometimes in life, you just have to aim for your goal, go for it and even if you can’t see it happening in the moment, you can have faith that it will be alright. You also cannot wait to be sure it’ll work, at some point, you check both ways and just go quickly.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I own a beautiful metaphysical shop in Plymouth MN called Healing House Energy Spa. There are so many amazing healers out there. We give them a place to work and interact with the community, and we want to bring more love and healing into the world. We have talented practitioners offering their services including Reiki, shamanic healing, medical intuition, mediumship, sound healing, animal communication and intuitive readings of all kinds. We have a calendar full of events and classes to engage people in healing experiences to shift perspectives and enhance their ability to heal themselves. This week we have a full moon Group Shamanic Healing, a Journey through our Akashic Records, Stretching for Trauma Release and a Group Family Constellations event. A full and ever changing list of events can be found on our website: https://healinghouseenergy.com. Secondly, we are a crystal and metaphysical tools shop. We have over 100 different kinds of stones and we feature products made by other local entrepreneurs like the amazing candles made by Breath of Life, sigils made by Rock Solid Mamas and wands made by GemMe Wands. We want to lift everyone up to create a healthy abundant existence for all.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

When I started my entrepreneurial journey, I was blessed to have studied business, managed people, products, schedules and projects in previous jobs and I am independently motivated to get things done. The most important qualities are not being afraid to ask questions, being organized or having people who are, and to be driven to get things accomplished.

There are a lot of moving parts when you start your own business and it is good to have an idea of these going into it. There are the amazingly fun parts where you get to create your vision from nothing and see it manifested in front of you, but there are also legalities, bookkeeping, contractors, taxes and personalities you will inevitably need to address. There is overhead and unforeseen costs of doing business. I have heard from many sources that a new business usually takes 3-5 years to become profitable. Obviously, some business models have less expenses than others, but I can confirm that it does take some time before the business is supporting itself and you. So plan accordingly, will you have another source of income while you are getting established? Do your research ahead of time. Find out what the process is. Ask questions. When you file your business with the secretary of state, call their office, they are more than happy to answer questions. In my experience that is always true. The IRS has been very cordial as well. If you have questions, there is someone who knows the answers, find those people and gain their wisdom. I like to go to the source, but accountants, lawyers and consultants can be helpful as well if you are more comfortable with them and for a fee, they’ll do the work for you.

If you have never managed anything before, are you an organized person? Ask yourself if there is a more efficient way to do the tasks that need to be done. If you are not an organized person, if you are a dreamer with grand ideas, I suggest surrounding yourself with people who are organized and good at management or it may be hard to get your dreams built in this world. I was in charge of inventory for years, and it is amazing how much information those numbers on a page can tell you. You know if you need to look at something closer if the numbers are off and it is usually pretty easy to find out what occurred. This is not as easy when managing people. Each person has their own personality and version of every story. The best advice my professor in school told us was, “Treat people how you want to be treated.” It is really that easy, That doesn’t mean uncomfortable situations won’t arise, they will. But put on your most compassionate glasses to view all sides of the circumstances and then address it. And please address it! Not managing will not make problems disappear.

Lastly, you will have tasks that need to be done and you will not have a boss or any deadlines, with the exception of taxes. Is this something that excites you or will you let things pile up and shut down when it seems overwhelming? Making lists and prioritizing things is an excellent way to break down the work load and if you are lucky enough to have help, you can delegate responsibilities. If you are doing it all yourself, do not forget to take care of yourself and ask for help when you need it. Do you get enough sleep, rest and relaxation outside of your job? Our bodies will make us rest if we don’t get enough by making us sick. And what happens to the business when we are sick? Does it keep going or shut down? What impact does that have? Can we take a break before we have to? Keeping a balance is important and a good way to do that is to stay on top of tasks so you do not feel like you must work 24/7 to make things work.

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 it is best to go in on our strengths first, find people who are good at the other things and learn from them. If we focus on our strengths, we find success and confidence. And if other people have strengths that you do not, they can do those tasks. The tasks are accomplished with high quality and they have that confidence as well.

My grandmother used to say, “Don’t learn to do something you don’t want to do.” Although that is good advice, it never really sunk in for me. I love to learn and to be self sufficient. But she was correct that once it is known that you can, sometimes people will expect you to do it.

There are skills that almost anyone can learn and you need to decide if it is something you’d like to know. If it is something you want to do, by all means, study it, have an expert show you, hone your skill. But if you do not have a great interest in it and there is a need for it, have an expert do it. My grandmother was an accountant and would do peoples’ taxes. She had all of the software and years of skill. She had always done my taxes for me. One year, I decided to do it myself. So, I picked up the forms and followed the instructions and filled everything out by hand. It took hours. Not completely trusting my work, I took it with me when I visited my grandmother and after 10 minutes of filling in the questions on her computer, with her guidance, I had my taxes correct, e-filed and done. To my credit, I was only a little off from putting royalties or child support or something in the wrong place. What did I learn from that exercise? Having an accountant do it is the easiest, blindly doing it myself is the hardest, most time consuming option and there is a nice in between, where an expert teaches me how to do it. This is probably true of most skills.

Not everyone is built the same. For example, I do not like being recorded or talking to large groups of people. My comfort zone is one on one or small groups. I am really good at supporting others and doing behind the scenes tasks. I have found so many lovely souls who are happy to be the speaker in large crowd settings and to be recorded while teaching what they know. I set up those events for them, I’ll do the recording. I’ll advertise and set up the rooms for them. Then, I take note on how they carry themselves, how they speak, what they say and I am learning from that experience. Now, I have taught some classes and they are recorded, but I still prefer to be behind the scenes.

I will never advocate for not learning if you are interested in learning, but using the strengths you already possess is a much more efficient way to run a business. Imagine if you are running a restaurant and the catering truck breaks down. Would you stop running the restaurant to go learn to fix the truck or would you hire a mechanic to fix it?

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.healinghouseenergy.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/healinghouseenergy