Meet Victoria Field

We recently connected with Victoria Field and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Victoria , great to have you with us today and excited to have you share your wisdom with our readers. Over the years, after speaking with countless do-ers, makers, builders, entrepreneurs, artists and more we’ve noticed that the ability to take risks is central to almost all stories of triumph and so we’re really interested in hearing about your journey with risk and how you developed your risk-taking ability.

It took me many years to develop a sense of “self”, and really until I was forced to take a risk, I never did, I lived life black and white, inside the box. Then one day, things changed. In early 2019 I started to develop a strange illness, one that we wouldn’t discover the diagnoses for another year and a half. At just 26 years old I was diagnosed with Gastroparesis, paralysis of the stomach. After this year and a half of constant sickness, dietary changes, financial struggles and trouble with my marriage, I had lost over 80lbs, no answers and this in all affected my mental health as well. I had developed bipolar disorder, there were days I didn’t want to be alive. But I made sure on the days I felt better, I did something with those days, I went out of my comfort zone, I started checking things off my bucket list. I think one day I went to visit a friend in Seattle and decided to take the next day off, got up before sunrise and drove myself to the ferry to catch a ride to the San Juan Islands, just because I could and had the time. I’ve always wanted to go, I always wanted to see orcas, ride a ferry and just wander. It was a great day, alone, after a year into my marriage I wanted to be alone. I was happier doing things by myself, and I didn’t know why. I kept going on trip after trip without him, we weren’t attached anymore and after months of marriage therapy things just weren’t making sense still. Between my Gastroparesis getting worse and all of these troubles and weird unanswered questions, I wanted to give up. In early 2021 I went on a spontaneous cross-country trip with a friend, she was moving and driving herself to South Carolina and I decided to tag along. after nine adventure filled days, I only missed my dogs. I didn’t want the trip to end, I didn’t want to come home. After two weeks back home, I found out why and after almost two years of marriage I decided to be brave, take a risk and file for divorce. I had my reasons, many of those I’ve healed from, but it wasn’t easy. I was very manic at first, very chaotic, but I was taking a huge risk which in turn ended up being the best decision I’ve ever made. My life did a complete 180, nothing was ever the same, and I was okay with that. Now fast forward a few years and we’re in 2024, my life is thriving. I honestly couldn’t be happier.

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?

Well, my career path has changed tremendously over the last few years, initially I went to college/ Cosmetology school in 2011 and developed a career in being a Fantasy Colored Hair Specialist of nearly a decade. I worked behind the chair at a locally owned salon and then started running my own suite through the pandemic. With moving states, licensing and fees, I decided it was time to try something new.

Now I help purchase Cannabis and Cannabis infused products for nearly 50 recreational dispensaries in the state of Oregon. I am the Receptionist and Purchasing Assistant for Nectar Markets, LLC. I am basically the middleman between our vendors and our stores, I communicate with 30+ vendors to supply our stores with the best award-winning products. I believe in cannabis as medicine and have used it myself for the last 8 years for not only my mental health (bipolar disorder) but my gastroparesis symptoms as well.

Cannabis has saved me from myself and my illnesses more than once, and it’s also helped me create tremendous bonds with people all around the country who believe in the medicine cannabis provides. I’ve been at my job for two years and don’t see myself going anywhere, every day I’m reminded how blessed I am to be where I am at! I’ve never said that with a job before, besides the freedom of being behind the chair, which I don’t really miss. I suffered from severe imposter syndrome and with what I do now I’m no one but myself and it’s helped me soar in my position.

On top of my day job, earlier this year my mother and I decided to go in on a small business together, running a website selling graphic tees and clothing! This has given me a new outlet to be able to express myself creatively and also putting a little money in our pockets. Each month we donate a portion of our sales to a charity or fund, and we’ve had so much fun building this together. The website is Vol. 29 Collective, my mom’s always joked that she’s 29 forever and when I turned 29 just a couple years ago is when I was going through an extremely transformative time in my life, thus Vol. 29.

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?

I would say having great communication skills is beneficial in any area, not just being able to respond in a timely manner but actually making someone else’s life easier by communicating.

Being able to take criticism and not personally, because nine times out of ten at a job, it’s not personal. Nothing is a fire, truthfully.

Having the ability to separate work and home is extremely important too! I never used to “clock off” as a hairdresser, now as soon as I clock out of work at 5:00pm, that’s it I’m home and in my world again. I never used to do that, I was constantly tending to clients and their wants and needs, advertising for myself and responding at ungodly hours. Now I go home and have a separate life that I love, filled with art, home cooked meals and belly laughs from watching my favorite comfort shows.

Make sure you make yourself a priority over anything and anyone, at the of the day you can’t go to work if you’re not taking care of yourself.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

When I’m feeling overwhelmed, I usually like to check out of the world for a little while, whether that’s indulging in our cannabis products, taking a bubble bath, getting out of town, seeing my family, traveling somewhere new. Or my favorite thing is to do with my partner is repeat our first date, it truly checks me back in. We go downtown Portland and go to the arcade bar, get an RC soda, play a few games of pinball, Pac-Man and zombies and then walk up to Sizzle Pie for our favorite dairy free pizza. That for some reason brings me back down to earth, reminds me of the simple things in life and that nothing is that serious. Ya know? I’m a kid at heart living out my dreams, and I wouldn’t be able to do that without a little risk.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: torinuggs_37
• Other: I have a clothing line with my mom called Vol. 29 Collective the website is www.vol29collective.com

Image Credits

I took all images