We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jasmine Danielle a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Jasmine with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
This is such a great question – very thought-provoking! I believe my work ethic primarily comes from within. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been a hard worker especially when I was in school. Growing up, my parents always encouraged my sister and I to do our best in school. Although this wasn’t from a place of “you have to get straight A’s all the time”, to me, I interpreted it as doing so because it felt good to do the best I could and get the best grade. I remember distinctly over the summers, my mom would buy my little sister and I a workbook from Sam’s Club. We would take time out of the day to work on our spelling or complete practice math problems, in an effort to make sure our brains wouldn’t “get slick” while out of school. My sister wasn’t a fan (understandably since summer is a time of rest) but I didn’t mind it; in fact, I sometimes kept my workbooks and taught my stuffed animals while playing teacher. Some may call this “nerdy” but I say I’ve always been a person who loves to learn and be excellent at what I do. Honestly, I thank my parents for creating an environment where learning was encouraged throughout the year. This really set the foundation for me. Plus, I have to admit, the reward for hard work in school was exciting too: gold stars on report cards, 100s written on the top of my tests with a smiley face, and praises from my parents & family for great grades. These moments were confidence boosts and they affirmed that my hard work was not in vain. As you can see, my work ethic was really developed first in school, and it’s been further developed through the work experiences I’ve acquired over the years. At this point of my life, my work ethic is a core part of who I am; I care deeply about the work that I do and I always want to do it with excellence because one day it may inspire someone else to do the same.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’m the “mom friend” of my friend group who always has snacks, gum, and germ-x available in my purse. I’m an old soul in my mid-twenties who loves the Lord (my faith in Jesus Christ is the foundation of who I am as a person) and I currently work in the Marketing and Media Department of my home church (Fun Fact: This is my first full-time position so it’s special that I get to serve and start my career at a place I grew up attending!). During the work week, you can find me managing various social media platforms or working on various video shoots and creative projects. I’ve been in my role for almost two years now and I’ve really enjoyed exploring more of the media side; I hope to become more well-versed in the media world as I continue to build my career. Outside of work, I like to cook, spend time with family and friends, and create content on my social media platforms. I’ll be honest and admit that since graduating college in 2021, I haven’t been consistently creating content; however, I hope to re-spark my passion for this creative outlet this year because I really enjoy sharing bits of my journey (my faith and life lessons) with others. If you would like to stay connected with me or take a peek at the journey I am on, I have an Instagram page and YouTube channel named “Hey Jasmine Danielle”. I hope whatever content you consume of mine, it leaves you feeling inspired and encouraged!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The three most important qualities I’ve acquired so far in my life are vulnerability, self-reflection, and creativity. I wear my heart on my sleeve and there have been times where doing so has allowed people to take advantage of my kindness and compassion. Because of this, vulnerability hasn’t always been an easy thing for me to display. It used to make me feel as if I was weak and too emotionally driven; however, I’ve learned to view vulnerability as a hidden strength. It gives me the ability to connect with people on a deeper level and it feels freeing to be honest and open about the way I feel about certain situations or people. This has led me to my 2nd quality, a quality I used to avoid but now deeply appreciate: self-reflection. When I was a Resident Assistant in college, my Resident Director would ask us various questions that prompted us to stop and really think about who we were, what we were doing, and why we were doing certain things. I was resistant at first – it felt uncomfortable to explore my internal thoughts and feelings. Shouldn’t I be helping my residents do the internal work instead? But once I allowed myself the space to really answer her questions, I began to enjoy the process, especially through journaling. And to this day, I still journal and this act of self-reflection has really helped me learn more about myself. A beautiful by-product of vulnerability and self-reflection is creativity. I’ve been a creative person since I was a kid – I’ve explored mediums ranging from origami and coloring books to photography and creating YouTube videos. Creativity serves as a key that has opened many doors for me in my life, and I know deep down in my heart – no matter what I do in my life and career, I want to always use my gift of creativity to impact those around me positively.
My greatest piece of advice for you – if you desire to foster spaces for vulnerability, self-reflection, and creativity in your life – is to start small. These skills are felt internally but displayed externally so give yourself time to explore them with simple activities. For vulnerability, whenever a close relative or friend calls to check in on you, challenge yourself to say a little more than “I’m good.” You don’t have to give all the details but opening up slowly over time will help you be more vulnerable with yourself and others. For self-reflection, try going on a walk and recording a voice note for yourself where you share how your day is going so far or how you are feeling at that moment. You might find doing so to be cathartic. For creativity, give yourself permission to do a fun activity that encourages you to think outside the box or feel like a child again. Sometimes our best ideas come from a place of joy and relaxation.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
When I feel overwhelmed, either at work or in my personal life, I typically release the tension through tears. It might sound like I cry a lot or that I am an overly emotional person, but tears are a healthy release for me because it allows all of the weight and stress to be felt externally and relieved internally. Other ways I manage overwhelm is by taking a walk outside, journaling, praying or sharing with close friends or family. In general, I encourage you to not hold onto the situation, person, or thing that is causing you to feel overwhelmed. Remove yourself from the environment, temporarily or permanently. Release the heaviness in a healthy way (Identify what outlet or outlets help you process your feelings). Once you remove and release, you will be able to clearly think about how to best handle the situation, person, or thing that triggered the overwhelm.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heyjasminedanielle/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwXyJaKj178T0dYa2bM1m6Q
Image Credits
Headshot: Tyson Campbell Photography Photo of Myself Sitting In A Chair With A Book In Hand: Jayda Iye Photography
