Jessica DeRose has a powerful story, and in our conversation, there are a lot of unique pieces you might find resonance with. Jess is clear that walking away from her secure career as a teacher wasn’t courageous, it was necessary. As I listened to her share, she also clarified that, although her results are astounding, there were years of experience and effort that coalesced to make it all possible. Perhaps the key was walking away from the safety net and focusing on the next part of her path. Jessica has continued to find ways to evolve, even moving past her impressive role as a celebrity personal trainer, to find new ways to grow and give back. You need to hear her explain it, but her perspective on how your willingness to grow determines the growth of everything around you; is powerful. 

Our conversation is an excellent addition to your January arsenal of expanding your perspective and taking on 2023. Be sure to check out her reading vault, and learn more about The Digital Business Evolution, her way of inspiring change, making a massive impact, and leaving a lasting legacy.

Since leaving her teaching job in 2017, Jessica turned her once “cute side hustle” into a multimillion-dollar business. Read her full bio on her website.

Listen now to learn how a podcast was the final wake-up call that led to her leaving her teaching career and how she found success by reverse engineering her goals.

Connect with Jessica

Resource mentioned: Reading Vault

Website: www.jessicaderose.com

Instagram: @iamjessicaderose

Podcast: Digital Business Evolution with Jessica DeRose

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iamjessicaderose

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dbelive

Episode Timeline:

[00:43] Introducing Jessica DeRose

 [02:14] Leap of Faith

 [13:21] About Digital Business Evolution

 [16:18] The universe connecting her to Pencils of Promise

 [19:53] Knowing yourself

 [25:16] The growth of Jessica’s company

 [32:30] Self-care is slowing down and getting quiet

 [36:26] Trusting where you need to be

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Jessica DeRose 0:00

When I look back on my journey of personal development, or the business or anything, it's really just been a reflection of me. And so when it comes to something like business, I believe that your business will only grow to the extent that you do. In relationships, I believe your relationships will only grow to the extent that you do, right? And we're mirrors for one another. So whatever it is that you're looking to do, if it's on a personal level, if it's a goal that you want to set out for, I really do deeply believe that the quicker you can get to know yourself and understand and discern how you view the world and maybe make some changes even, right? Because we have the ability to rewrite and rewire the way that we think, the faster you're gonna see those results or feel that happiness or fulfillment or whatever that growth value might be for you.

Shawna Rodrigues 0:43

Welcome to The Grit Show. Growth on purpose. I'm your host, Shawna Rodrigues, and I'm happy to be here with you as your guide for all of us growing together as seekers and thrivers.

Shawna Rodrigues 0:56

Jessica DeRose 1:46

Oh Shawna, thank you so much for having me. I'm excited.

Shawna Rodrigues 2:14

Yes, I'm really excited to hear a little bit more about how you built all of this. And I love that you have this focus on the philanthropy and like pushing things forward. That is such a beautiful perspective to have. And I think that everyone here today is excited to learn more about that as well. So tell us a little more about how you made your transition and that 18 month period and what led you to find your purpose and find this new way of of doing things in business?

Jessica DeRose 2:38

Hmm, well, I don't think I've found my purpose fully yet. I don't know that, I'll ever, I don't think it's a destination to get to, I think it's a journey to be on, I think the doing is in the destination. So I believe I'm still uncovering my purpose. So I'll be 39 in just a couple months, and I'm just figuring it out. I feel like Bambi you know, and a little leg's all wiggly. And you know, I love the, the bio. And I'm always super grateful when people read it. And it's really, really cool. And actually our numbers have changed quite a bit from what you read. So it's really,

Shawna Rodrigues 3:06

oh, that's exciting.

Jessica DeRose 3:07

Shawna Rodrigues 3:07

Yeah,

Jessica DeRose 3:13

Shawna Rodrigues 6:00

Yeah. And that leap of faith is huge to go from like going, I need to end that mindset of whatever it takes, and not saying, Oh, I'm gonna make a million dollars doing this, but like, oh, I need to do whatever it takes to make this work. Because I need this shift. I need to find something that really makes me feel fulfilled and connected and doing what's gonna make me happy. And that's what I'm gonna go in for.

Jessica DeRose 6:27

Shawna Rodrigues 9:00

That is important. It's important for people to hear that and for them to recognize and see themselves in that because I think a lot of people end up in a place where they keep doing what they're doing and don't realize that they're in a place where they can't move and they can't breathe, but they just can't also leave it and so burning the boats is huge. So that that feels courageous to me burning the boat. That definitely feels courageous to me, but I can see why you're like I know it wasn't for this brave. You didn't feel more brave place doing it. You felt like there was no other choice when you did that.

Jessica DeRose 9:33

Yeah. Yeah.

Shawna Rodrigues 9:34

I guess. So, how did that feel the next day? Like after you did all that? The next day where you felt, did you feel empowered the next day that or did you feel like oh my gosh, but I just do?

Jessica DeRose 9:44

Mm hmm. Yes. And so your first step in was stuff in the fitness marketplace where you've been working and doing things for the past five years, is that right? You've been doing that for some time then?

Yeah, about like, 14. About 13, 14 years. Yeah. So I had already been a trainer for well over a decade. And it was just a very natural progression. I was even working as a trainer, when I was a teacher, it was a side hustle, you know. So I just continued that. I took on more clients and just switch the gym that I was at. And at the time, I was doing bodybuilding competitions and writing for fitness magazines and doing some fitness modeling. And so it was just a very natural and organic kind of step for me to take. One that actually later on, I realized was actually another worst case scenario situation where I was just like, kind of replaced my job for another job that I knew I was good at. And I was using it as a safety net, again, a little bit of a cushion because it was easy for me. And so it wasn't until I really pulled the plug on that and started to pull back on my client load that the business really, really exploded, at that point.

Yes, yeah, no, that's great. That's quite a journey trying to find your path and find the way that you're supposed to be into unplug all the things that you're doing, because they were safe. And you are good at that and people told you you could or you found your way and doing those, you still have all those things that are in the background. So now like tell us more about where you're at now and what you get to do now that you get to really live even though like you said, you're still finding your purpose, you know, like this is it for you. Still like on that path of you finding the things that you're really good at, that you really love and you're passionate about?

Yeah, I would say part of my purpose is definitely teaching. I've just, I've always been a teacher, I've always been a leader, I love being in the forefront, I like to go first, I like to get the bumps and the bruises and then turn them into lessons and bring them back and let everybody know what happened out there, you know. So it's definitely part of my purpose. And in what we do today, I actually get to help so many people create their own businesses that that ripple effect happens where now I'm not the only one teaching and sharing but all of our clients are teaching and sharing. And so even though I finally after 18 years, I did leave the fitness industry officially in 2020, which was not that long ago. So many of our clients are still in the fitness industry, in health and nutrition in you know, spirituality, dentists, doctors, lawyers, and so we get to just make a massive, massive impact. So what we do today, what I do today, is actually solely business related. I'm a business coach, mentor, consultant. And we have a company Digital Business Evolution, which I'm the founder and CVO. So I'm the visionary officer, and we run this company, we've got a really incredible team. We've got an executive leadership team of five and then we have a coaching staff of about 12. And so we help people build businesses online from the ground up from launching, you know, ideation phase of their concept, to all the legal, all the tech, all the financial and actually launching programs, courses, using digital marketing, organic marketing as all of their marketing platforms and we've had now twelve clients scale to a million dollar business, which is pretty cool. And our clients have done now over 22 billion in revenue, of known revenue. So that's when they're just working with us after they leave. I'm sure that continues to go up, but they're in all different niches, all different industries. And so that's really what we're doing. But it's, it's solely based around education. So I'm still a teacher, and I'm still educating. It's just in a digital landscape now.

That's so exciting. That's one thing with our podcasts, we've had different guests that we really thought of this idea of skill stacking, where like, as you're finding your way that you take the different things you've done. And like the magic really happens when you start taking those things and putting them together and putting them on top of each other. So you take your experience as a teacher and your experience with fitness and in health and all those pieces and your experience with marketing. They were also good and you also loved and in business and you put them all together and you found this like magic combination of all these things that you are so skilled at and so amazing at. And then you find a need, where people really need all these things you have and you have created this incredible opportunity to connect and to give that is done beautiful things. That is so exciting.

Thank you. I love that. Skill stacking. Yeah, it's the little toolbox, right? And I love that so much I'm gonna borrow that.

You can definitely, definitely take that and have it. It's so exciting. And then you have this incredible project that you've done that it sounds like it's the year anniversary of launching this school in Ghana. And so how did how did you find time? How did you managed to do that project? That is so exciting.

Yeah, I'm really, really proud of that. And I can't wait to get over there and visit. We haven't been able to go yet. But gosh, if we go back I mean, even to our honeymoon, we honeymooned in Kenya, we fell in love with Africa. And when I left teaching, I knew I always wanted to be involved in education. And for years, I was going back to my old school district and helping out with the Girl Scouts and just going to my old student's sports games. And you know, I just, I just loved it. So the universe sort of dropped Pencils of Promise in my lap. And it was a couple different divine interventions were just kept coming up all around the same time. And so I looked into it. And of course, when I started to make the decision of oh, this would be really great to give back to Pencils of Promise, I went out to dinner with a group of friends and was with a bunch of mutual friends and sitting next to a man. And I didn't know and we started chit chatting and you know, what do you do? What do you do and at the time, we were giving back to different charities. So every month, we would let our clients pick the charity that they wanted to give back that's always just been a really big threat of ours. And so this idea came of if I were to give to one charity, and we go deep rather than wide, we could maybe make a bigger impact. And so this was when I was on the fence trying to pick the charity. And so long story short, I was telling him this, and he said, Oh, have you, have you thought about charity? I said, Yeah, I think Pencils of Promise, have you heard of it? And he just ear to ear was grinning. And I'm like, Oh my gosh, you've heard of it. He's like, I'm on the board. This was a random man at this dinner, who was on the board. So he connected me to the CEO. And that was it. We just decided at that moment. We're committed. And we're going to do a Tom situation. So one to one. So every client that we work with that comes through our programs, we donate education for one year for one student overseas. And then in addition to that, we've been donating for the past three years, four years, to our fund. And our fund was to hopefully one day, maybe 5, 10 years down the road, build a school. And we were about a year into our, our fund and Pencils of Promise called and said hey, would you still be interested in building a school we'd love to break ground. So we actually broke ground in June of 2020, which was about a year and a half after our funds started. And yeah, our doors opened in January of 2021. So pretty incredible. They're anticipating about 1000 students will go through that school and it's all community driven. So we continue now to support the school, both the teachers which are all local to the community, the wash program, hygiene, sanitation, there's a menstrual program for the girls, obviously, the the books and the pencils and all of that, but now we sort of continue to give to that or anywhere else that the organization needs funding.

That's so wonderful. How exciting. And then we just kind of came together and fell on your lap that that would be the right program for you guys. Yeah, of course. So, so focused in that way.

Yes, it's really cool. And then we, we teach that within our programs too. So of course, we can't force you to do anything, but we love our clients to add a charitable component to their programs. So we've actually now had clients who have been able to help, you know, three, four kids get out of foster care or a certain amount of animals get adopted or a lot of our clients are also very involved with OUR, which we just went to a gala this past weekend for OUR, which is sex trafficking and removing those children and so it's really cool to see, I mean, we have clients that work with like endometriosis and breast cancer and so all of our clients for the most part, give back to different charities and it's it's just really special.

Yeah, that great way to keep them connected to do that. That is so exciting. So for our folks who are listening to The Grit Show and as they're launching into 2023 and trying to like, figure out ways that they want to focus and better themselves, do you have resources and ideas and topics for them to kind of explore ways that they can kind of get closer to where they want to be in their goals?

Yeah, my best piece of advice would be the, it's knowing yourself, right? It's self awareness. And self awareness really is the biggest piece. And so when I look back on my journey of personal development, or the business or anything, it's really just been a reflection of me. And so when it comes to something like business, I believe that your business will only grow to the extent that you do. In relationships, I believe your relationships will only grow to the extent that you do, right? And we're mirrors for one another. So whatever it is that you're looking to do, if it's on a personal level, if it's a goal that you want to set out for, I really do deeply believe that the quicker you can get to know yourself and understand and discern how you view the world and maybe make some changes even, right? Because we have the ability to rewrite and rewire the way that we think, the faster you're going to see those results or feel that happiness or fulfillment or whatever that growth value might be for you. So with that, I think great resources because they're free our podcasts, I love podcasts. I mean, one literally changed my life. We have a podcast, you can come listen us. It's Digital Business Evolution podcast, it's not all business stuff. It's a lot of kind of spirituality and woowoo, and personal development as well. But the other thing is books. I mean, I do believe that readers are leaders, and I say it all the time, note takers are moneymakers. And there's so much power and be able to being able to collapse time. So when you read a book, you have the ability to read what someone maybe learned over a lifetime, like 30, 40, 70 years of life lessons, and you can read it in 200 pages. I mean, that's incredible. So I do love, love, love books. And I think it's also a really great way for you to sort of dip your toe into something new. And see if you are interested if you do like it if you want to learn more about it. So for me, it's books all the way and podcasts all the way and, and the last part would be getting yourself around like minded people. So if you know that you maybe want to try something new, you can, there's free Facebook groups, I mean, there's so many ways that you can connect with people on the internet, looking up hashtags, and just starting to reach out to people. But maybe you want to try knitting or you want to get into pottery, or whatever that might be, a really great way to learn more about that and learn more about yourself is just to start putting yourself in the room, even if it's a virtual room, and you don't have to pay for it. There's so many free opportunities. So I would say reading, listening to things like podcasts, and then connecting with like minded people would be a really great way for you to sort of start that journey of what could be next.

That's wonderful, and you have some reading resources that you've mentioned, too, right?

Yeah, we have something called the reading vault, it's totally free. And it's two different things. The first thing is a reading list. So it's some of my favorite books, I think there's about 200 of them on there. I've read every single one that's on there. And they're listed into categories. There's eight different categories. There's like mindset and health and spirituality. But there's also some business and marketing. So they're broken into categories. They have, they're listed out with a quick link, you could just grab the book. And then I also put in there a speed reading training. So if you want to get stronger at reading and maybe a little bit faster, you actually don't have to read every single word in a book to capture the essence of a book. So there's a speed reading training, there's a book list, I even have, I don't know if you're into oracle cards, but with the book list, there's a tab that has like kind of like Tarot oracle cards, some of my favorite decks are in there, too. So super fun. It's totally for free. And we can share that in the show notes.

Oh, that's perfect. Yeah, that'd be very fun. That's what we're looking at 2023. And even to inspire things you might want to focus on to have, but as a way to look and see like what are some different areas to look at and, and say, oh, yeah, this is a new area, I would like to focus on more in 2023 to be able to develop and do that. And so as part of your, your work, you guys actually have, you take people that are starting their own businesses and have a whole pathway that you can kind of lead them on through digital business evolution, correct?

Yeah. All the way from like crazy, stupid idea, time, is what we like to call it. Yeah, we take you from ideation phase all the way up, you could be scaling a company with team, we can take you through the whole entire process.

That's so exciting. And so, that's a good way to get connected. And you can get connected to that. We'll have links in the show notes, too, to learn more about that. And if you get on the list to get that information, even just with the reading vault, that'll get you connected for emails for that too, or

Yes, absolutely. And we have text message lists where we also send out some goodies during the week and give you a little mantras and affirmations and things to think about or business tips. So lots of different ways to connect. I'd say the place that I personally hang out most is Instagram. So if you want to talk directly to me, you can absolutely shoot me a DM it's me. I'll talk to you. I love it. I love voice memos.

Oh, nice. Yes, the little tricks that are on there that people can check out and get to connect to other people. It's amazing how much more connected we are than we ever imagined 10 years ago to be able to do that. Like when you were first launching and thinking about your business. You will have all these tools.

I know, it's crazy. I wasn't even, Instagram wasn't even around when I first started my business. It started, I think, a year or two after, which is so wild.

Yes. And all the tools keep evolving, you can have to keep up with different options to being able to connect with friends

I know,

by doing that. So what are some of your favorite stories with your clients that you've been able to do the work and the ways that they've been able to evolve their businesses?

Oh, that's a great question. I mean, the first thing that comes to mind is just some of their success stories. And so we've had clients, which is so crazy when you think about what I'm about to say. We've had clients leaving toxic relationships or going through like a separation of a spouse, which ends up being the thing that they wanted to do all along, or is the better choice for them. But it wasn't until they were on this personal development journey of trying to build a business that they started to recognize that maybe their values weren't the same anymore. So we've had people end relationships, we've had countless people, I mean, absolutely countless people leaving their nine to five jobs, or retire their spouse from their nine to five jobs, buying second, third, fourth homes, investment properties, maxing out 401ks, paying off student loans. I mean, that type of stuff is it happens every day in our company, which is really cool. But then when I think about the other side, which is what impact they've been able to make, like I said before, with the donations and the charities, but then also just the work that they're doing. You know, we've been able, our company alone has had clients on every single continent except Antarctica. So if you're in Antarctica, and you're listening, I'd love to have a conversation with you. But yeah, it's really cool. I mean, we're super, super global, we have coaches on our team that are in different countries as well. So just being able to reach people, I mean, I'm on the phone every day with people in Dubai. It's so wild. And so to think about the little pockets of the world that our clients are living in and what they're creating and who they're helping, again, through that ripple effect, I mean, I could never even have dreamt of being able to make an impact in some of these tiny little countries across the world. Or even the big ones like Australia, right? Or New Zealand. I mean, it's it's absolutely crazy. So, again, it's doctors, lawyers, nutritionists, real estate agents. I mean, we've worked with over 150 niches at this point. It's so crazy to think about the work that they're doing. So yeah, I think that's the impact we're making. Yeah.

That's exciting. And is it largely like you've mentioned, you know, doctors, nutritionists and real estate agents? Is it people in the businesses that they've had a long or is it people starting with crazy ideas and going in different directions that you're largely working with?

Yeah, it's both. But I would say the majority is crazy, stupid idea time. So it's, I mean, we have dog trainers, we have home organizers, it's people that are just like, wow, you know, people are always asking me for this thing. I'm really good at this thing. I didn't realize that this thing could be a business. And so left and right, we have lots of parents too who come in, and they're like, well, actually, I'm really good at making this product, or I love making homemade food for my kids, or, you know, homeschooling my kids or creating new toys, building swing sets. I mean, we've had some of the craziest, the craziest niches, but it more often than not comes from people. Just, it's your lived experience, plus your unique perspective of the world plus your knowledge base. And so when you add those things together, we all have things that we can teach. And so yeah, we've had people building courses on how to start a podcast or how to monetize your YouTube. I mean, it's just crazy. Yeah,

that's so exciting.

Yeah.

And what, what move for you to get you into this space of teaching others? Was it like from going from being the personal trainer, and doing this in the fitness space to recognizing that other people needed the knowledge and what you had to offer? Like, what was that shift for you?

Yeah, it was super organic. And it just happen because people were asking me, so like we had said earlier, when I left my teaching job, and we, I was able to scale the business pretty quickly, it was in that time, because that was all in health and fitness. And so, in that time that a lot of the trainers that I worked with in New York, were asking me, what are you doing on the computer all the time? Like, why are you on zoom in between clients? How are you making all this money, you know, that type of stuff. And so I just started helping friends for free and one friend turned into three and then five, and then seven. And like, every Thursday, we're sitting behind my computer in between clients, you know, on the fitness floor studio. And I was just teaching them how to build email lists and put together landing pages and how to use social media to market themselves. This was back in 2017. And then I helped a friend launch a program and she had an $80,000 launch. And it was in that moment that I was like, wow, I think I can charge for this. And so my teacher brain went into curriculum writing mode, and I found a curriculum, which is now our signature program in power. We're currently, we're just about to graduate our 16th class of that program. And so that's really where it was born was out of just helping some of my friends and I was doing both for a while like I said, I didn't stop the fitness stuff until 2020. So that was still, that was still pretty fresh that I have officially finally closed that chapter after 18 years.

Was it really hard to close that chapter since you've been doing so much for so long in that space?

You know, closing the chapter as in like stopping to train clients and no longer offering things online was very easy. What was difficult was April of 2020. When I got a notification in the mail that my Cert, I had like 10 different certifications, and they were about to expire. That was really hard for me because it's the first time in almost two decades that I didn't re up them. And letting that go was very cathartic. I actually, I cried, and I journaled it out. And I did feel like I was finally, really, truly like putting it down when I let those expire. And I could always get them again if I want to do but that was when it felt really real.

That's interesting. So I have a clinical license, and I haven't let it expire, because you can't get it back if it expires partly. That's why I haven't done it. But I'd be interested if I ever get to the point where I do let that expire. Be like, Oh, yes, I finally did let it go. So yeah, I can see why that would be a big indicator of actually, like letting it go. Let that expire.

And I think for me, there's so much ego for all of us, right? But for me, I'm an Enneagram three, and I'm a control freak and a perfectionist and recovering eating disorder survivor, like, like, to the max, you know, just absolutely got to be perfect. And so, awards and recognition and accolades have always been really, really big drivers of mine. And as I said earlier, I'm almost 39. I'm just finally sort of learning that I'm worthy, regardless of those things. And it's taken me a really long time to learn that. And so the ego of the title, not trainer, but celebrity personal trainer, and being on the news and being in the magazines, because I had been many, many times over. And all the as seen on my website, it was like, oh, but I'm gonna let that go too. And then if I let that go, who am I?

Yeah. That's a big shift.

That's hard. Yeah.

And to hold on to the other, the other pieces and let yourself evolve into this new space. We talked, we talked about that. And so I've done an author and done writing. And we talked about even with the the author's space and people's websites, and how it talks about them being a lawyer and talks about all this stuff, instead of being the author. And it's like, you need to let go those things and you need to be an author go and to me that's like, go this, I would be this. And it's hard. It's hard for people that are progressing through these different phases as they stack their skills and find their way to let go of those other things that defined them, to be able to embrace who they are and where they're at now, and it's can be a very hard thing to do. So

yeah, the evolution. That's why I named the company that.

I love it. It all makes sense. I love that. I love that. So it's very good. So one thing we do in each of our episodes, we talk about self care, because we really love for our, the people here listening, that are part of our conversation to kind of reflect on self care and how they take care of themselves and to be given ideas, or different ways that we take care of ourselves. And I think it's useful to hear different ways. So what are some of the ways you take care of yourself on a regular basis?

That's a great question. This has changed so many times over the years as well. It's funny if you ask this to me five years ago, I would have had some like checklist of these are the five things that I do every single day and they have to go in this order. And now and now it's the opposite. So I actually am gonna say for me, it's a little bit more intuitive. So self care now is really asking myself, what do I need? What do I need right now? What do I need today? And whether that is calling my mom, phoning a friend, journaling, meditating, going to take a dance class, taking the day off work, like, it's literally what do I need right now. And hearing myself is the practice, because it's really hard for me, I think a lot of us there's so much noise and movement, and the to do list and the go, go, go and all of it. It's been very difficult for me to actually hear myself. And I've been saying this for years, people are like, listen to your gut. I'm like, I can't hear her. Like, I can't. I don't hear my intuition. I don't hear my gut. And so, for me, self cares is slowing down and getting quiet. And if that's a three deep breaths, or a 25 minute meditation, it again, it depends on the day, but it's, how can I just slow down? How can I get quiet and something that we didn't talk about, we don't need to. We used to live in New York City, we left during August 2020. We put all of our stuff in storage, and we bought a 40 foot motorhome. And we traveled the country for 14 months. And we went to 27 different states. And we were in the middle of nowhere, a lot of the time. And I had been practicing meditation and breath work for almost a decade at the time. Never missed a day in New York. Remember, I had like a morning checklist for my self care, right? And when we hit the road, it was, it was the first time in 36 years that I had actually heard my own thoughts. And it was like, Oh, I don't know if I like what I hear. And so the last couple of years, the self care is, let me lean into that. Let me lean into that. Let me lean into that. You know, what is she saying? How does she feel? What does she need?

Yes, yes, that's amazing. And you have to realize that where you're at can be such an important part of listening to yourself and hearing yourself and to have that, unless the environment complains to this thing. So yeah, that's an important discovery.

Yeah, and we didn't go back. Now we live in Arizona. We literally just never went home. We fell in love with it here. It felt good. It sounded good. So we stayed.

That makes, that makes perfect sense. That definitely makes perfect sense. You found your way to a place where it was quieter. And that's what you needed.

Yeah.

So you don't know till you have a chance to travel and find that. It's interesting how much things have changed for folks over the pandemic in different ways and what they found.

Yeah,

and that time, that's exciting, yes. So one thing that we do on our show is we actually offer all of our guests as a thank you for your time, because your time is very valuable for being here and sharing with our audiences, we actually offer you, we have a series of coloring books called the Color of Grit. And so we offer you a coloring book, and so,

stop.

Yeah, we do that. It's that gonna be fun?

That's really fun.

So we have, so one of them, the one that you can, the two of them we have we have the Magnificent Ocean, the Vintage Mermaid and Magnificent Ocean is one of them. And the other one is You've Got This, which is inspirational quotes and sayings. So which one of our coloring books can we send you as a thank you for being here and to add to self care arsenal for you to listen and see during Thursdays when you feel like coloring?

I love that. I'm gonna go with the You've Got This.

All right, You've Got This. Well, I will get your, I will email you because you keep it as a surprise. So you don't know that I need your address. So I will get your address after this so we can send the You've Got This to you so you can get your inspirational quotes to have as well to help with your 2023 plan for self care.

I love that so much. Thank you.

Yes, you're welcome. So for our audience, as they're looking at 2023. Like, what is something you think we can give them as their takeaway that they can start doing? We talked a little bit about them getting to know themselves and reflecting a little bit. So what's a takeaway that you can give them they that they can apply immediately, for them to take away from this?

This is one of those weird takeaways, because you can't do it right now. So I'm a huge advocate, and just lover of delayed gratification. Most people aren't, especially in this day and age. So this comes from a Steve Jobs quote, which is like one of my favorite quotes, and I live by it, and it goes something along the lines of, "You can't connect the dots looking forwards, you can only connect them looking backwards, and you get to trust that the dots will appear". So as a teacher, I love analogies and metaphors. And so the way that I teach this, the way that I see this is that, life is kind of like a river. And we're inside the river during our life, and we're jumping from one stone to another, and those can be our dots. And sometimes there's even a tree branch that's fallen down that maybe you could scurry like 10 feet across, instead of just one hop, some of the, some of the rocks that you're on are really big, and you could fit like 10 people on them. Sometimes you're by yourself and your toes get wet, because they're really, really shallow. And sometimes you actually have to go backwards in order to go forwards, right? So when you're imagining trying to cross this river wall, oftentimes on this, we're in this race, we're trying to get there really fast. And what we need to remember is the only way to get to the other end is to no longer be here. And so again, what I started with the doing is in the destination, it's all happening inside the river. But you don't necessarily know which rock you're jumping on next. And as leaders, which we all are in our own right, it's our only job is to turn around and yell to the people behind us. And let them know that the green ones are really slippery, right? Or this one's really wobbly, don't jump on this one. And you have to sometimes go backwards or to the left or to the right. And it's our job to yell to each other. It's our job to reach out to each other and to hold our hands out and help each other across the river. And so when you're looking into your 2023, make all your goal lists and do your vision action boards and read the books and do the things and get in the room. But at the end of the day, there's an element of depends what word will resonate with you. But trust or surrender or faith, whatever that might be, there's definitely an element of that, that I would encourage you to really lean into. Because what you said before with skill stacking, every rock that you step on, every dot that appears is a skill, it's a person, it's a network, and you might not know what it's going to turn into in the future, but it's happening for you. And so if you can sort of just trust in that, and just take that one tiny little baby step to the next rock and the next one and the next one and just enjoy the time that you're doing it, it will all unfold as it should.

I love that. So trust that where you're at and what you're stepping on and the path that you've taken and that you are taking is where you need to be and will lead you where you need to go. So you're gonna get there. Just breathe and be where you're at. So yes, I love that. That's a great takeaway. Thank you so much, Jess, that is wonderful. And we touched on this a little bit, but the best place to find you is Instagram, probably?

Yes, I am Jessica DeRose. I'm on TikTok, same thing. Website, JessicaDeRose.com. We're on YouTube, we've got our podcast, Digital Business Evolution with Jessica DeRose. So come say hi.

That is perfect. And we'll have all of that in the show notes. But I know that I'm auditory. So it's always nice to get to hear them as well. So this has been wonderful. I feel like there's a lot of little nuggets that you've offered in our conversation to kind of inspire people as we launch into 2023 from having this idea about ways to give back and keep this philanthropic lens on things as well as to have an idea about where we're at is being in the right place and we're getting where we're going and also to have this idea that it is okay to dream big and to not be living in our worst case scenario that we can take steps to get us to bigger and different things if we just take those steps. So yeah.

And Shwna, thank you so much for having me.

Yes, thank you, Jess.

Thanks again for being here. It's so great to spend this time with all of you. I just wanted to take a minute and read to you some of the fantastic reviews that folks have been leaving us online. Again, if you're on Spotify, you're able to give us a rating, which we very much appreciate. You're welcome to send us notes about what you think of the show, you can put reviews on Facebook, we also appreciate that. Or if you go on to Apple podcasts, they have a place for you to leave reviews there. And I'm gonna read you a couple of those. But I really appreciate them. We have one that says, I'm in love with his show. It's funny, witty, encouraging, and educational. Thank you for that. Another one says, thank you for sharing your gift. The discussion and love languages was really fun. We use this in our family, even with our eight year old son. That's incredible. That applies so much for kids. And I'm glad it's being used in your family. Another one of them, truly fantastic podcast that is sure to gain a ton of momentum. Every episode is engaging, gritty and full of purpose for guests. That is awesome. Another says, so glad I found this show. Super helpful topics. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave your words. We appreciate it. We love hearing from you. And we appreciate the support. A lot of love and effort goes into this. And it's nice to get feedback that you guys are enjoying it. So take a moment, send us a DM or put a post up for us on one of those outlets. We'd love to hear from you. I hope your week continues to go wonderful. And in case no one has told you lately, you're the only one of you that this world has got and that means something.