We’re looking forward to introducing you to Jessica Pappas. Check out our conversation below.
Hi Jessica, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
My most cherished time of day is early in the morning. I love the predawn quiet–there’s a peace in the morning that seems to slip away as the day goes on. I usually wake up about 4:30, but before I get out of bed, I have to conjour, grasp, and interpret my usually very in-depth dreams. It’s like therapy.
I started writing down my dreams when I was young, as a way to release anxiety and understand what my mind was trying to tell me. Putting my dreams on paper helped me identify my personal dream symbols. For instance, I know I’m dealing with fear when I dream about the house I grew up in. Sometimes I wake up in a bad mood, and if I don’t work through it, I might lash out at the innocent. The process of working it out before I get out of bed helps me to neutralize my mind for the day. I don’t write them down anymore, but I still think them through before getting up.
Once I’m up, I have my coffee, meditate, exercise, and get ready for the day. Maybe I’ll spend some time writing, if I’m working on something. And recently I started Greek school, again. so I have homework…which I love. By nine, I’m ready to start taking on the weight of the world : /
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
It’s always been a difficult question for me, “What do you do?” What I do and who I am have always felt like two very different things–though that might just be my own warped perception.
Who I am, in that perception, is a writer–a tortured one at times. A nobody with a longing to be heard, but often silenced by my own self-doubt and relentless overthinking. I am a worrier, a chronic analyzer, someone who wrestles with meaning on the page and in life.
What I do, though, is something more grounded. I own a boutique background artist service called Jessica’s A-List. When I started it twenty years ago, I wanted to create a home for the best of the best in the field–a place where everyone felt seen and valued. From the start, I kept it small on purpose, because I wanted each client to know that we cared as deeply about their careers as they did. That whoever answered their call would know their name. That they would feel special, respected, and part of something.
While I still run Jessica’s A-List, and the business has evolved over the years, I’ve also taken a new leap: my memoir will be published in 2026 by Dreamfield Press. Both the business and the writing come from the same place for me–giving the care and personal attention to my clients in the way I long for it myself. I do my best, usually unaware whether it makes a difference.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
I’d say it was around twelve years old that I adopted the belief that I was unworthy of love. It wasn’t just one moment, but it crystallized when my mom sat me down and told me she was moving to San Francisco to “find herself.” I asked if I could go with her to which she said, no. She also muttered some other things that I locked away, “you don’t seem to need anyone anyway, and you can take care of yourself, you’re so independent.” I can remember the urgency in which I built a wall around myself. My heart in particular. A part of me thought her perception of me as self-suffcient was a compliment. I was independent, that was true. But her words were confusing and stuck with me for a long time. Eventually, they became a weapon to use against myself.
When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
I’m not sure I’d call it using my power, but I do know I stopped hiding it when I started writing my memoir. I’ve always been willing to face my pain, my fears, and my anxieties–in my dreams, in therapy, and on the page. But when I began writing the memoir, I didn’t really know what was going to come pouring out-what was stored in my memory, in my body, in my cells–that needed to be released. I just started writing and didn’t stop, and what came through me was deeply cathartic. My hope is that by being so raw and unguarded on the page, someone might relate.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
I am committed to making a short film I wrote called *Filotimo*, in Greece. Hoping to shoot it there in 2026. The word Filotimo is complex and full of meaning – but not easily translated. When I first heard it I was so moved. It was weird, how a word, had me in tears–later I began to understand why. It conjured my beliefs, my values and my views, on humanity. It was the meaning I had been looking for. The meaning of life. My co-writer and I have written something that we think is expresses Filotimo–a thing that seems lost in the world at the moment.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What will you regret not doing?
I will always regret not going to college.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jessicasalist.com
- Instagram: @pappasjessica
- Linkedin: Jessica Pappas
- Facebook: Jessica’s A List
- Other: Also on FaceBook Jessica Pappas
Image Credits
#1 Marjorie Salvaterra
#3 James Henderson
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