Meet Jessica Pates

We were lucky to catch up with Jessica Pates recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jessica, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

My resilience came from my upbringing and my mother. I grew up in a low income community. Police sirens, gunshots and helicopters everywhere was always the white noise I fell asleep to. Drug dealers on every corner and being raised by a single mother taught me survivor skills and how to be resilient and know that no matter where I come from, it does not define where I am going. My grandfather was a maintenance worker for a popular clothing store in Highland Park, TX and was a social butterfly who they loved. Since I often spent my weekends with my grandparents, as my mother worked, I would go to work with my grandfather since my grandmother worked as well. I would help him clean the offices and bathrooms which was a very humbling experience. I was also given the opportunity to model for their clothing catalog as a child, which is where I birth my confidence in my appearance. I have always been told as a child I was different and I was going places that were far beyond, Highland Hills, TX, which is where I was raised as a child and I did just that. I was the first in my family to not only go to college but graduate with both my bachelors and masters degree. The first in my family to be licensed through the state of Texas. The first in my family to have my own business. This is because I never liked working for “the man” Throughout my career, I have worked for many different agencies which include: the state, county and local authority and I did not like the politics of it all. How they made it so difficult for families to access the free assistance that was available for them. So I never stayed at a job for more than 5 years. But while I was there, I was a sponge. I soaked up all the knowledge and wisdom about every entity I worked for and was always nice and courteous to those I met because I learned the importance of networking from seeing my grandfather do it as a child. Finally in 2023, I said I need to leave corporate America and take a chance on me.Every job I had was interconnected to one another so I would leave one job and still work with them in some capacity at my new job. This allowed me to be able to give my new job at the time insight into how they could better connect with the agency. In taking a chance on me, I started my therapy business through BetterHelp and now in the process of venturing off into my private practice by getting on insurance panels and establishing my website. The goal of what I do is “to help people become the best versions of themselves”. To connect with those in the community, especially those similar to where I was raised and advocate for the importance of mental health. In my community, it is believed that mental health is not important. Well through my time on this earth, I am here to dis-spell that myth. In all actuality, mental health is the most important because if you are not doing well mentally, it will manifest physically. As our bodies were created to be a natural defense mechanism and has the ability to heal itself, if we are depressed or anxious and fail to address it, it will manifest physically. Through headaches, shoulder tension and gut issues. When we are depressed or anxious, we over eat or don’t eat enough. So the healthcare system should really focus on encouraging Americans to take care of their mental health rather than waiting to someone to be placed in a psychiatric facility. It is my goal in my work that I do on this earth to advocate for change in the world. To speak on the importance of taking care of your mental health to avoid any physical ailments and live a happy and fulfilled life.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in the State of Texas. Who is just a girl who never felt I fit in anywhere in life. Who personally dealt with not feeling good enough or appreciated. Who dealt with depression, anxiety and suicidal ideations. But overcame it by realizing the importance of seeing the value in me. My uniqueness meant that yes I am different, I don’t fit the mold and I do stand out and shine a light in any space I occupy because I was born that way. There is nobody on the Earth like me and that means I hold a special gift that no one else does. It is my life long goal to get others to see their uniqueness and find the gift that they possess within themselves because we all have one.

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?

My faith in God, respect for all man kind despite their race, gender or upbringing and being kind to anyone I interact with. From the janitor to the CEO of the company.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

The #1 challenge I had to overcome is me. I had to get out of my own way. We have the ability to be our own worst enemy, and for many years, I allowed the negativity of others to feed my thoughts and started to believe I was not good enough, I could only go so far and that I would be nothing without them. Once I learned that these are myths from people with limited perspectives who did not have the ability to tell me about what I was going to do with my life and where I was headed. I started believing in myself. Loving myself and knowing that there is nothing I can’t do. I began to challenge those negative thoughts and beliefs and counteract them with positive ones.

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JCPenny

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