*Note: Woman Wednesday is a part of our blog. Each Woman Wednesday post will feature a woman who would like to share information in the hopes of inspiring and motivating other women. Comments are welcome below.
Q and A with Jerusher, Atlanta, Georgia
“Time is priceless. Experiences are priceless. Memories are priceless.”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I am Jerusher Wiggins, motivational speaker, radio personality for a global internet radio station, and a business coach in network marketing/direct sales. I worked full-time for corporate America at CNN NEWS. My degrees are in communication and public relations.
After I had my first preemie son, I wanted time-freedom because he had many difficulties. I started a business, and I left that corporate job within a year and replaced my salary. I am passionate about inspiring and motivating women to live up to their full potential. I work with women who are looking to find their passion in life and who are ready and willing to take the steps to achieve their dreams. I get excited about helping women who have been working for corporate America for years and who are ready for a change. These women may be transitioning to motherhood or refocusing their life to concentrate more fully on what makes them happy. I am currently developing 100 new online leaders within my industry.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: I am from South Carolina, and I grew up in low-income housing. My parents are my heroes. They provided love and support that helped me and my three sisters excel in life. Education and activity were priorities growing up. I participated in all sports, cheerleading, dance, band, class representative, etc. My parents expressed so much love and belief in me. I knew I could be successful.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: What I know for sure is it takes grit, courage, confidence, and unwavering belief to build and maintain a successful business. I value my time with my 2 boys and my husband. I made the decision to leave corporate America to spend time with my family. I sacrificed to give my boys the same love and attention my parents gave me. Time is priceless. Experiences are priceless. Memories are priceless. I can provide a private education. I can attend class trips. I can travel with them around the world. I can leave a legacy. I believe anyone who is willing to do the work can make a difference…not just in their lives but in the lives of others. Women are amazing creatures.
Q: What does feminism mean to you?
A: From my experience, feminism is allowing people to dream and explore what they could be.
*Note: Woman Wednesday is a part of our blog. Each Woman Wednesday post will feature a woman who would like to share information in the hopes of inspiring and motivating other women. Comments are welcome below.
Q and A with Marina, County of Međimurje, Croatia
“Make brave decisions and just start before you are ready because “the right time” is just an illusion. Don’t wait until you will have time–create time for things that are important to you.”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: As an activist, entrepreneur, and gardener, I’m passionate about possibilities to constantly create and contribute to creating a better community. I help aspiring individuals develop competencies, careers, and businesses so they can reach their potential and achieve success. Also, I help companies create a healthy foundation for their business, develop their brand, and create business growth strategies.
After high school, the “box I put myself in” became too small for me. After I quit my first job, I started to grow–personally and professionally. I founded an organization, I worked as a manager, head of sales, project manager, mentor, consultant, and now–I am the CEO of my own company “Konekta,” where I help others find their passion, their life and business purpose, and create the life that they want to live. I am the creator of Successful Women podcast, #MOŽEŠ (You can do it) campaign, I organize conferences and networking events, create educational videos, write for Croatian business magazine “Poduzetnik” and last but not least, I am a Bio gardener, and I love to learn. So, if you ask me what my biggest passion is–the possibility to constantly create is my passion, as well as contributing to the community and helping others. This is what led me to this moment in my life where I can say that I am absolutely satisfied and happy.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: The atmosphere in Croatia in the ‘80s and ‘90s was not supportive of individual development. Priorities were to find a job, get married, have kids, and get a mortgage, and that’s it. My family was sometimes having a hard time accepting that my sister and I were not “like the other kids.” Today, they are proud of us both–my sister is also an entrepreneur and an author.
It takes a lot of courage to become the person that you believe you can be. But even though others sometimes couldn’t understand our choices, the strong women in my life– my mom, grandma, and my grandma’s sisters made a great impact on my life. My grandma’s lessons about integrity and respect for people and the community created my path. All my life, I was a human and women rights activist, and for a long time, I worked with unemployed and marginalized women. Today, I am doing very similar work in my own company–I empower people, mostly women, to reach their potential and create prosperous businesses they can be proud of.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: Never give up on your dreams. If you don’t have support, be your own support. Make brave decisions and just start before you are ready because “the right time” is just an illusion. Don’t wait until you will have time–create time for things that are important to you. Celebrate your successes–don’t just put new benchmarks to achieve even more. And most importantly–you can do it. You most certainly can do it!
Q: What does feminism mean to you?
A: For the last 19 years, I have been creating opportunities for women and supporting them so they can stand up, be visible, and become stronger and proud of themselves and their work. For me, feminism is based on love and pride; it is creating equal opportunities for all as well as equal distribution of power among men and women.
*Note: Woman Wednesday is a part of our blog. Each Woman Wednesday post will feature a woman who would like to share information in the hopes of inspiring and motivating other women. Comments are welcome below.
Q and A with Marae, Cuba
“Impossible, after all, is only an opinion.”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: I am passionate about travel and connections. I believe travel has the potential to make this world a better place by teaching us about acceptance, diversity, strength, and values. It also teaches us self discipline and self-worth. My life has been changed with every trip I’ve taken, and it is my biggest dream to help women discover the travelpreneur lifestyle so they, too, can reap the benefits of a life lived in their own terms while discovering the world. At first, I traveled for fun; vacations, adventures, etc. But then, I realized every place I went to had the possibility to gift me with unexpected lessons and surprises if I dug a little deeper. Unable to stay longer because of work or school restrictions, I started looking into ways I could stay in places longer, travel a bit slower, and develop deeper connections.
Now, I get to book travel for others and myself and make commissions on all of it. I also get to coach others on how to become digital nomads, and this has given a deeper purpose to my life than I ever could have imagined. Seeing others transition into this seemingly impossible lifestyle is my biggest joy. Every time I see someone making a living while traveling, my entire being smiles. I am currently working on a group coaching program that will allow more entrepreneurs to venture into this digital nomad lifestyle. I am also working on expanding my blog/social media channel and on learning how to be a mom for my first baby coming this June!
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: I was born in Cuba. I was not able to travel, let alone so much as speak my mind until I left my island country at the age of 12. My father escaped the country by swimming the Guantanamo Bay to seek asylum at the US base, and I knew from a young age that fighting from your dreams demanded doing things that people thought impossible. At the age of 16, I earned a scholarship to go study in Germany for a year, and since I had never traveled much before, and I did not know when I was going to do it again, I used all my allowance money to travel around Europe on cheap airlines and buses and staying in the cheapest hostels. That year, I visited 17 different countries and cities, and my life forever changed. I remember being mesmerized at how a place so “small” could be so diverse. I fell in love with travel and I decided I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing it.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: After I graduated from college, I got a grown-up job. I was making good money and had everything you’re supposed to wish for. I was selling commercials for ABC and Fox and I was living “the American dream” but life felt empty because I did not have more than 2 weeks a year to do what I loved most: travel. I quit everything and became a server at seasonal resorts and parks so I could live in different places every 6 months, and I would work vigorously for 5-6 months and then travel the rest of the year. When I found out people could make a living online, I tried many things. I looked into teaching online, started my own digital marketing agency, looked into drop shipping, worked as an online influencer, started a blog, and even worked for a couple of startups. None of it worked out perfectly, but it all gave me the skills necessary to be where I am at today.
Through all the jobs and businesses I started, there was only one constant: I was on my way to figuring out a way to make a living while I traveled the world. This was my goal, and I was determined to make it happen, no matter how long it took or how hard it was. After I became a full time “digital nomad” working solely from my computer, I had months where I did not know how I was going to eat, yet I kept going. Months where I did not see any progress in any of my endeavors, days where no money was coming in, and many times where I even applied to on-site jobs as a back up because I was so afraid to fail…. But every time I got the jobs, I kept reminding myself that if I took the job, I would go back to the thing I was trying to run away from…a life in one place that did not allow me to be fully mobile to do what I love doing the most, TRAVEL.
Today, I am so thankful I stuck by my dreams and did not give up on this dream because not only am I able to make a living online, and not only do I travel full time, but I get paid WHILE I travel, and TO travel. This is what I’ve dreamed of all my life and I only got here through perseverance and determination. Not everything works for everyone, but there is ALWAYS a solution if you don’t give up.
Q: What does feminism mean to you?
A: Feminism to me means possibilities. It means bridging the gap, filling in the blank, and opening the doors to opportunities. For everyone. It means standing up for what you know is right, and never taking no for an answer; impossible, after all, is only an opinion.
*Note: Woman Wednesday is a part of our blog. Each Woman Wednesday post will feature a woman who would like to share information in the hopes of inspiring and motivating other women. Comments are welcome below.
Q and A with Cait Scudder, Los Angeles, California
“Spend time getting quiet and getting clear on what you want to create and bring into the world. Vision is the birthplace of all creation, so you need to take the time to do this.”
A: I’m obsessed with helping women monetize their genius. To dial into exactly who they are, what makes them unique, and to help them bring forth those gifts into the world, and ultimately, turn them into a business that changes the world. I ‘ve always been most lit up and passionate when I am helping people. I am so passionate about helping women leverage the power of energy, strategy, and sales to grow a business because so many women struggle to believe it’s possible, that they have something unique to offer. Nothing could be further from the truth. To watch the women I serve A) fall in love with their own capacity and uniqueness of their genius and B) develop a roadmap to turn those gifts into a profitable business, I feel like I’m doing what I was put on this earth to do. I share these nuggets inside my FB group,podcast, and daily motivation on my IG stories. Outside of my career, I’m also passionate about my health (I run daily) and emphasize inner work-mindset and spirituality as much as maintaining my physical health. Now that we’ve settled in LA, I’m also loving the process of slowly settling in, setting up a home, and doing all the domestic things like cooking. After jet setting around the world and living in Bali for 4 years, I’m loving the change of pace.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: Ever since I was a little kid, I dreamed of going big. Be it on stage speaking, on the sidelines coaching, or teaching at the front of the room—I knew I was meant to be a leader.
I attended Amherst College and spent my undergrad years keeping straight A’s in the classroom and getting my hands out in the world. At the ripe age of 20, I became the Director of International Programs for a local non-profit organization, raised $10,000 of capital, and founded a thriving rural literacy initiative in Costa Rica that still, to this day, is one of my proudest accomplishments.
Upon graduation, I felt the urgency of the world’s needs and desire to bring my gifts to the table in an even bigger way. I knew that teaching, leading, and inspiring others was my core purpose and work on this planet, but I didn’t know how or what this looked like, yet. So, I did the safe thing. I dove straight back into academia and earned another degree because my mind told me I needed more letters after my name to be worthy of serving at the level I wanted to serve. I earned my Master’s in Teaching from Smith College at 23, shouldering twice the workload of required of me and volunteering 10 hours a week on the side (yes, while in graduate school). On the outside, I was a beacon of success. A peak performer and giver to boot.
But on the inside, I felt utterly depleted. I was an anxious, depressed wreck, burning the candle from both ends, leaving nothing for myself. And we all know how sustainable that is. I hit rock bottom midway through the year and knew there had to be another way. What kind of educator, mentor, and leader could I expect to be if I wasn’t taking care of myself first?
Two years later, I quit my teaching job and got a plane ticket to Bali to pursue a women’s leadership training and advanced yoga certification program that rocked me to my core. I invested in myself and my growth at an unprecedented level and taught myself in the process that I didn’t have to play by anyone’s rules but my own.
And guess what happened? I spent a month deepening my relationship with myself, and days later, I met the most mind-blowing, heart-blasting love of my life in pure serendipity. I traveled to 7 countries in 6 months and kissed goodbye for good to the conventional 9-5 life I thought I needed. I gave myself time to dream big and permission to have it all. I launched my business in mid-2017 and scaled to 6 figures in under a year, all from my laptop while traveling the world. There were times I thought I couldn’t do it. Times it felt scary AF. But staying trapped in a world where I was grinding myself into the ground, not using my gifts, and denying myself the fulfillment, freedom, and impact I desired was way scarier.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: Spend time getting quiet and getting clear on what you want to create and bring into the world. Vision is the birthplace of all creation, so you need to take the time to do this, and if your vision gets muddied by everyone else’s business [or dreams], you could very well end up creating a business [or dream] that doesn’t look like you.
And with that said, don’t try to be everyone else. In the coaching industry, there is a lot of ‘the blind leading the blind’ and women scrambling to imitate other successful coaches. The women know who are the most successful and have created sustainable success in their businesses are those who have done it their way and created a true niche for themselves.
Q: What does feminism mean to you?
A: Feminism to me means women taking a stand and having a voice that weighs equal to men. It means knowing I don’t have to marry into wealth and success, I can create it for myself. It means knowing that I don’t have to wish and hope for a boss who can provide me security, that I can go ahead and become my own boss. Most of all, it means knowing that by taking an unapologetic stand as a woman leader blazing a trail, I’m doing it for all the women who will come after me, and in so doing, be a living example that for them, too, everything is possible.
*Note: Woman Wednesday is a part of our blog. Each Woman Wednesday post will feature a woman who would like to share information in the hopes of inspiring and motivating other women. Comments are welcome below.
Q and A with Jessica L., Beijing, China
“When you start to doubt yourself is when you will fail. Follow your heart and believe in yourself and your calling–wherever or whatever that may be–one hundred percent.”
Q: What are you passionate about?
A: What I am most passionate about is helping people, animals, and the planet. I feel like legacy is important and leaving a positive impact on the world will make my life both meaningful and rewarding. When I can, I volunteer in doing animal rescue missions. When I have money, I donate to good causes. In my professional life, I spent most of my twenties having fun, but now I have started my own business.
With an MBA in international business and marketing, I have decided to use the skills I have to help people at a grassroots level. My business is focused on helping small service businesses find more customers through online marketing, as well as individuals who work for themselves forge important networking connections and find business opportunities through LinkedIn. In this way, I am able to see small businesses with potential grow and help those with genuine services to offer to realize their business goals.
Pictured: Jessica reporting on elephant rescue sanctuaries in southern China’s Yunnan Province in February 2019.
Q: What were your younger years like?
A: For the last nine years, I have been living in China. After graduating from Purdue University, I was lost about what I wanted to do with my life. A friend offered me a teaching job in rural China for a year and I accepted. There, I found I enjoyed working with local orphanages and found so many wonderful new friends as well as business opportunities. I hosted and helped produce a TV show for two years called Joy in China, which aired on ICN TV stations in the USA and Canada. I soon became a marketing manager for the Chinese market for a winery in California. Finally, I found an opportunity to work with China Radio International in Beijing as their social media marketing consultant as well as a part-time host. There I learned the skills I would need to start my own business. While working with large companies I didn’t always feel I was using my skills for good. Further, I hoped to help my own life by finding a business that could benefit others while also giving me a degree of independence in my life. Now, I am able to conduct business on my laptop from anywhere while also seeing the results of how online marketing can transform a small business.
While in China, I learned to never judge a person when you first meet them. It’s easy to say but often hard to implement in our own lives. Living in China gave me the chance to be the person who lives on the outside, who is judged immediately upon entering a room. This gave me the opportunity to really learn what that feels like and do my best to never do that to others.
In China, I found many Americans sometimes feel entitled depending on the situation. I learned to let go of my entitlement and go with the flow, so-to-speak. For example, when spending a holiday with Chinese friends, there is always that inevitable moment when plans change. All of the Chinese friends you’re traveling with will have changed the plans in Chinese and forgot to translate this to their “foreign friends” (as we are often called). When suddenly the Americans in the group find out something has drastically changed, they have one of two options. Get angry because something important was not translated, or be humble and realize you are a guest in a country where you do not speak the language and be understanding of the cultural differences and language barriers.
For over three years, Jessica was host of a television show that aired in the USA and Canada on ICN TV called “Joy in China” that introduced viewers to tourist areas in China that are off the usual beaten path.
Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?
A: Everyone I talk to is usually surprised I moved to China. Surprised I started my own business. Surprised at many things in my life. If there is anything I have learned, it is to not let fear dictate the paths you take on your life’s journey and to always believe in what you are doing one hundred percent. When you start to doubt yourself is when you will fail. Follow your heart and believe in yourself and your calling–wherever or whatever that may be–one hundred percent.
Pictured: Jessica interviewing Peyton Manning, former quarterback for the Colts NFL team in Beijing, China, 2017. Peyton Manning was there to promote American football in China.
Q: What does feminism mean to you?
A: I would never declare myself a feminist, despite sometimes living the life of one. To me, feminism has been associated with strong, forceful, and sometimes angry women that are too often punished for being assertive. Instead, I firmly believe in advocating equality between men and women, especially in the workplace, while also remembering that preserving harmony is an important persuasion technique. Too often I have seen others assert their opinions so forcefully it puts others off. I believe living through actions, as a strong woman with her own business, will help others see how important it is to take women seriously. Step by step, I believe women through their strength and actions will further advance the idea of equality for both genders in the workplace.
Jessica worked as both a reporter and social media marketing manager for various Chinese media outlets for over three years.
I’d love to connect with you!
Jessica Luo Digital was established in July 2019 to help small service businesses and freelances expand their online presence to find leads and new customers. For more information, please visit www.jessicaluodigital.com.
The Woman Wednesday Blog 