Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jane Donahue. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jane, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
Confidence is deeply rooted in self-knowledge!
Confidence to me is emotional resilience.
To begin with I am an introvert…..
Emotional resilience takes effort, practice and mental strength. I deeply process and remind myself of what I am grateful for and focus on what I can control in the moment. Overcoming challenges without them breaking me. My perspective in situations and circumstances is always to remind myself that it is not who I am and therefore it can not define me. To accept that life isn’t always fair, and hard things happen, but not to take things as personal, because its part of the journey. Emotional resilience is believing that nothing in life is permanent. We can work to process and know that with time each day is up to us to allow feelings to get better. To be able to transform the mind out of a dark place and figure out how to empower yourself to rise above. Emotional flexibility is being able to adjust the intensity of my emotions and process them by taking a moment before I respond or make any big decisions. Self confidence can surface when I’ve had time to acknowledge whats difficult. Turn towards the positive and good things that I am thankful for to arrive at a place mentally of acceptance. I can regain myself and move forward, knowing the situation has less power over me.
Self-esteem to me is believing in a firm set of values and principles, and being able to express and defend them but always learning new things, and sometimes recognizing the old doesn’t fit anymore and making adjustments can support a positive self=esteem mind set trusting my own judgment and not swaying if others don’t agree. Being present, believing in my ability to solve situations, adjust, and seek assistance. Believing that I am valuable, self-worthy and equal to others regardless of external differences.
I have spent my life “reading the room” paying attention to the abundance of details around me and in this way I have discovered how that has served me in developing my own healthy self confidence and self-esteem. This “reading of the room” way of thinking takes multiple layers of my surroundings and helps me discover how I can be in the moment that will give me the best opportunity to express myself, my thoughts, and be open and not closed off.
My need for lots of physical activity is also imperative to my healthy confidence and self-esteem and this starts with a daily exercise routine that can not be missed! The benefits of physical movement at all levels is my life blood that gives me oxygen for both my body and my mind. Because I am a physical person I enjoy everything that has a physical challenge to it. My day is sparked with a great level of serotonin that propels my attitude and self confidence. I have a independent nature, and have always enjoyed learning and discovering who I am on my own, and enjoying and adjusting these discoveries over the years has helped me to understand that who I am is enough. My ideas and style emerged at an early age through my expression in clothes and my love of them. My mother had a saying that I regularly received which was ” that looks like you!” Now this comment didn’t always mean a compliment but I knew I was expressing what I saw as my authentic style and knew regardless of others I was comfortable with that for the most part.
As a quiet introspective thinker and observer my confidence came in the ability to cope with whatever life threw my way, both good and bad. Coping is believing that you’ll be able to handle challenges by spending less thought on actually having the ability or not to really do so. Believing is essential to confidence and helps to know you can do hard things. Having a strong coping sense helps me to do what I care about and feel good about it.
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 created BeeKissed Caramels which is my business that I have been focusing on for eight years now. My idea of developing a business started around food, specifically candy. My ideal ingredient is honey, the love I have for honey is extensive, there are many flavors of honey, colors of honey, and uses of honey. I have spent time working with bees and beekeeping groups and will be setting up some bee hives in the near future for myself. Up to this point in my business I have been enjoying the caramel making process and participating in local events. Being new to Tennessee has been a busy time of getting familiar with all this area has to offer and how I might be able to participate with everything. Finding an apiary that I can work with to provide me with the large quantities of honey that I need has been good. My Sea Salt Honey Caramels is my original caramel and is still the #1 pick, but I created a Whiskey caramel since moving to Tennessee which has become a requested standard offering as well. I am currently working on a new item called Honeybee Truffle which is a truffle with a creamy chocolate center and crushed pecans surrounded with honey caramel on the outside and wrapped in gold foil. They are not quite ready yet but I am hoping to have them ready by Fall and the holidays. Ordering is through DM either Instagram or Facebook. My caramels are also available in Claremont California at “The Cheese Cave.
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If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
* Creativity seems to be a flowing stream of ideas that don’t ever dry up for me. I can have a idea and get started with it and already know what additional adjustments I might need to try before I confirm my final approval. Creativity is expressed fresh everyday in my attitude and energy even if the tasks are the same as the day before. * Self-reliance and motivation are together as one driving me, I work well alone and can maintain an efficient pace when there are minimal distractions.
*Passion. To care deeply about what I am doing, so much so that it requires me to work long hours and even dream about it in my sleep.
If I can give some advice on getting started I would say find a resource that can give you some foundational help in knowing the basic requirements of creating a small business. For example I took classes at a commercial kitchen to help me know the What, Why & How of getting started in Pasadena California. It is important to collaborate with someone or something to get started and learn. Second, create a goal sheet and time line and use a check list to stay on track with developing yourself and your mindset to accomplish your ideas.
This is a life changing journey that requires humility which will show you your own limitations and in that you can build confidence in asking for help and remain grounded even in your success.
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?
My parents were opposite personalities, my Dad was an introvert and my Mother an extrovert. I learned how to appreciate both ways of being, even though my nature is an introverted one that loves my own space and time. I am the first born in my family and was given a lot of responsibilities starting very young. My parents both worked and my Mother had to be very organized to create the structure and routine that allowed our home to function according to her requirements. She taught my sister and I how to cook and clean starting in elementary school. My Dad taught us as well how to maintain the yard and outdoor jobs. Everyday after school we stayed at a neighbors house until it was time for her to come home, at which time we walked home. Our Mother wrote a chore/Task list for each of us the night before and we followed it each day. As I got older it was a challenge to accomplish what was expected and to negotiate my time to enjoy what I wanted to do. The most impact my parents both had on me was this statement “Where’s your committment?’ My responsibilities to them came before my plans for myself, I had to learn how to accomplish their requirements first. It is this work ethic that I have engrained in me that gives me the ability to achieve what I want. We did lots of amazing things as a family and I can appreciate the balance of learning that I was given by both my parents.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://beekissedcaramels.com
- Instagram: @beekissedcaramels
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/honeycaramels
- Linkedin: Jane Donahue
- Youtube: Jane Donahue @24GIJane
Image Credits
my photos are all mine, and I would like to put them in the email as well as here in case this link doesn’t show them. All Complete!
