Meet Jessica Hughes

We recently connected with Jessica Hughes and have shared our conversation below.

Jessica, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

I come from a long line of hardworking people. My grandparents on my dad’s side were farmers, my dad used to work the fields with them during harvest seasons. My grandfather on my mom’s side was a logger, so he too was very hardworking. This work ethic got passed to my parents and then on to my brother’s and myself.

When I first started working at age 15, I struggled with it a bit. Watching my parents and brother’s work hard, it didn’t take long for me to begin striving for that myself. I now work from home and hold myself very accountable for what the work I do.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

By day I work from home as a pharmacy technician for an insurance company. I also work as an editor for RawRiot Publishing.

I have been an avid reader all of my life. Last year, a good friend asked if I could work as an ARC reader for an upcoming novel.

I happily said yes, and asked if she wanted any editing recommendations or corrections. She loved the idea, so when I was done reading I sent over my thoughts.

As it turned out, I’d caught a number of things that were missed by other readers and their editing software. The publisher asked if I had any interest in editing books in the future, and I agreed. I have now worked on several books, most of which have been published.

Also, I have a passion for photography, and have been lucky to support my interest through many photoshoots and sessions, both professional and personal. While I’ve paused my professional work having relocated to New Mexico my camera is never far from hand.

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

I would say that hard work, dedication and being able to take advice and/or criticism from others has helped me along the way in all aspects of life and the work I do. I work hard, so being able to take advice and criticism is important to make sure I’m doing my job as well and as accurately as possible.

My advice would be to stick with it and don’t let other’s opinions get you down. Not everyone will like every thing, and that is ok. There are people out there that will, and those are your people.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

The most impactful things my parents have done for me is to be supportive and helpful in overcoming challenges. I’ve had my fair share of challenges throughout my life, but my parents have always been there to help or give advice if needed. Knowing they were there gave me a little confidence boost knowing they were there for support, words of encouragement, or just to listen.

Image Credits

Jessica Hughes, Bless Your Heart Photography