Up Close & Personal with #BossLee

Hello everyone and welcome back to the V Spot. I am beyond, beyond excited for today's special guest. Jesse Lee Ward, also known as Boss Lee, is the number one network marketer in the world. A serial entrepreneur, investor, business coach, and host of The People's Mentor podcast. Jessie Lee is a multiple 7-figure annual earner who currently helps people make 6 and 7 figures from their phone. Jessie Lee, thank you so much for joining me in the V Spot.

I'm so excited to be here, and I love what your podcast is about. I think it's super important, and, uh, I'm, I'm ready to share whatever you'd like me to share and, uh, hopefully serve your audience today. So thank you for the invitation to be part of this.

Yeah, thank you so much for accepting the invitation. You know, I couldn't sleep last night. I felt like a little kid, um, like Christmas Eve, you know, when you know Santa's coming. And I was thinking about, you know, what was all the jitters about. And aside from being so inspired, motivated, and, um, encouraged by you on a regular basis, I was thinking about the fact that one of my dreams was coming true today, you know. And yeah, like, and how, how exciting and overwhelming. And I was thinking about my clients and this idea of how surreal it is when you pray for something, when you, you know, work towards something, and you are actually arriving at the eve of a big event. And it got me thinking, and I just want to kick off to say to everybody listening, you know, your dreams can absolutely come true, right? But it's not enough to just wish for the dreams and hope for the dreams. It's about taking inspired and committed action and ensuring that the dreams turn out, you know, and that's what, you know, taking the risk and asking you, Jessilee, to be here today was absolutely that committed and inspired action, you know. So I'm so grateful. I love that.

And you might be shocked at how many people, when you, when you have conversations with successful people or people who you might look up to, the amount of people who just say, I don't know, I was just willing to take a chance. A lot of people are not willing to swing or they would never even ask. And you asked. So that's why I'm here. The amount of people who maybe would have said yes, that people don't, don't ever ask. I mean, I remember just a quick story really fast. I remember when COVID happened in the very beginning of 2020, my mentor said, oh gosh, this is going to be a make or break season for people. Some people are going to lose their entire businesses and some people are going to explode. And I was like, well, what's it going to take for people to explode? He said, you're going to have to 10x down on everything you're currently doing? And I said, I can 10x down on everything I'm doing. And at the time, my podcast, I was uploading like an episode every 2 weeks. And I said, I think this is one of the things that I just need to kind of go crazy on. And I realized around March, everybody was sitting at home, which meant all the celebrities that I wanted to get on their shows, or I wanted them to be on my show, or I wanted to have a relationship with them. If I was sitting at home because of the pandemic, so were they. So that's how I got people like, you know, and I had some connections anyway, but like the Rob Dyrdek, the Trent Shelton, all these people I just asked and everyone was like, yeah, my events are all canceled. I got time for a podcast. So kudos to you. You're the one who did it. You're the one who asked. And so here I am. Yeah.

Thank you. Thank you. I'm so, so excited. Well, I wanted to kick off by highlighting the fact that you are currently a multiple 7-figure annual earner. And if we rewind the hands of time to 2011, I would love for you to paint the pictures, you know, the picture for folks who may not be familiar with your story about what life was like for you leading up to your decision to step into direct sales and network marketing.

Yeah, I love that you're asking this because I'm trying to get better at telling parts of the story instead of just telling the story of, oh, like life wasn't good. And so I joined a direct sales company for $310. My goal was $300 a month and that, that all that's true. But, you know, you asked about like what life was like and I think that discomfort in certain people can just breed absolute success. So life was not great. I was living in a basement at the time. I knew I wanted to get out of that situation. I knew that there was more to life than just going to my job every single day. And this is not to turn down— this is not to deify people who have jobs. I think that's great that you have a stable job. I just know, and I've known for a very long time, that it's not for me. So I felt like part of my soul was just getting sucked out of me every single day that I that I drove over to that lab. And, but, but really the journey to being who I've become is because I saw that money in the hands of right people can change everything for the positive. It can change it for the better. And I realized that if I could control hard work and if I could control who I was, life could shift very quickly. So my life, you know, I grew up in a really small country town in Maryland. So I grew up in Middletown, Maryland. I went to school at Hunter College, by the way, which is why I was like, okay, there's that accent. I lived in Brooklyn. 4 years.

Yeah.

Brooklyn girl. Yeah. Well, I don't have an accent.

No, you didn't pick up the accent.

No, I did not. But I really— I realized really quickly, you know, you can control your life. You're just going to have to do things that other people are not willing to do. Because I watched what inactivity did in my childhood. I watched what not changing your circumstances when you could change them did to my family. I watched when I watched all of these bad things happen to seemingly good people that were just not willing to take the steps to change their life. I was like, it's not going to be me. So when the business opportunity was presented to me in 2011 and I was just a Google search, I Googled at-home businesses that make the most money. It was nothing spectacular. And joined, you know, the very first thing I was like, okay, I'm in, I'm in, I'm in, I'm in, I'm in my first credit card. I knew that if I was going to be that 1%, because I remember looking at the little chart thing where it was like the 1% is going to make all this. And I went, well, I'm going to be the 1% then. If you're telling me there's a chance, well, then I'm going to be the 1%. I just knew that in order for that to happen, I would have to do things that most people weren't willing to do. So I was the person— I just heard a story about this today on my Instagram, actually. But I was a person who was willing to drive hundreds of miles a day to go to an event that I may or may not sell anything. So I may or may not make money. I may or may not. I mean, I may or may not be able to afford the food on the way back. Right. There were many times Oh, when I was learning how to sell, you know, you're, you're, you're trying to do everything to conserve gas and you're not stopping at the gas station to grab a snack or even a meal. You're not staying in a hotel even though you've driven 4 hours from your house one way. I was willing to make those sacrifices. I was willing to make the phone calls that people aren't willing to make. For me to get my first team member, I had to call A all the way down through K in my phone, dialing for dollars. So every A, A-Ron, you know, all the way down, all the B's, all the C's, all the D's, all the E's, all the F's. You know, the whole freaking alphabet all the way down to K until Kisa McCoy joined. I was willing to do it. I was willing to go to the trainings and carpool to get there because my car at the time was not reliable enough to get there. So I was willing to drive partially to somebody else's house 15 minutes away, carpool with them, offer them $5 in gas because gas was cheaper. Whatever it took. I was just— I was just hungry because I knew there was more to life. And I don't know how I knew there was more to life except for maybe it is because I went to college in New York. And so I saw the people with their fancy bags and their fancy shoes and fancy lifestyle. I guess I probably wondered what it would be like to not have to take a train, but be able to take the car, you know, taxis, like taxis, black cars. Oh my God, these people are rich. You know, I mean, I knew Central Park existed. I knew Fifth Avenue, Madison Avenue existed. I knew all that. And I don't know, like, life was nothing like it is now. But hard work, dedication, grit, never quitting, getting around the good people, spending the money on education. We are.

Yeah, you know, I— it never gets old to hear the beginning of your journey because I really believe that it provides inspiration and possibility for folks who may seem so far away from, you know, where you actually are. And so I, I love it. I love hearing different takes on the variations of the stories that you are sharing about your beginning. Um, you know, and I'm curious to know, intentional healing is the coaching work that I do with clients, and a process of supporting people with discovering and disempowering limiting beliefs on purpose, right? As opposed to waiting for time to have it change so that they can live the life they dream of living. What were some of the limiting beliefs that you needed to overcome throughout the course of your journey from 2011 to get to where you are today?

Well, first, I want to beat, beat, back it up and give you some credit where credit is due for what you're doing. I think that work is wildly important, and I think we shifted dramatically maybe in the last 6 years, I think you'll know where I'm going with this, into this. You just sit there and you manifest and then everything falls into your lap kind of society. And I think it's really dangerous and I think it's really dangerous and almost predatory towards women because they're speaking to women. These coaches are speaking to women like sit in a corner, kumbaya your way to millions of dollars. And it's just not the reality. The mindset is wildly important. I think the mindset is the most important thing. I do coach this a lot, but I love that you saying intentional healing instead of just wanting something to happen, you know, you're actually almost You're almost teaching people how to will it to happen through their actions, through their— through, through the mentality, through getting around the right— all the, all the steps that both of us coach on. So I love that. I want to give you credit for that. That's, that's really amazing. My limiting beliefs. Wow. Wow. We're just, we're just jumping right in.

You know, just jump right in.

I'm kidding. Here's the fact of the matter. Anybody who says they don't still have limiting beliefs is lying because there are different iterations and different levels of who you are and where you will become. As you continue to stretch and you continue to grow and you continue to educate and you continue to surround yourself with people who are further along than you, you will identify parts of you that are almost like shadows where you go, oof, I don't like who I am in that state. Oof, I don't like that, how that feels. Oh, I don't like— oh, oh, oh, oh. Or I don't feel like I fit in here. I don't think I'm good enough for that. Or fill in the blank. It's different for everybody. So we still have that. I don't think that that goes away with success. And something I like to tell people who look up to people is I want you to remember that those people you're looking up to are still human. So they still have insecurities, they still have limiting beliefs. I would be lying to you if I didn't say that I do. I'll give you an example of right now and then I can go back into time. But I coach with Ed Mylett. He's my, he's my personal coach and my personal business coach. And this year he's like, you're putting out a book, but you have a hell of a story. He's like, I don't even know it. And I know you do. Yeah.

I mean, you're like, true.

You guys wouldn't even like— I'm starting to put out more about it, right? Like little captions here and there and whatever. And people are just like, well, that's why you're making millions of dollars. That's where it is right there. That's why you're on the path to billionaire. Right? And so is it a limiting belief? Yeah, of course. The ability to write the book?

No.

I know I'm good with words. I know that I can storytell. I know I could sit down and I could do it. It's more like the limiting belief around would anybody buy it? Will it perform well? What's going to make this a New York Times bestseller? What's going to make my name be up in lights? What's going to make me fill stadiums of people on a book tour? What's going to make like, you know, so you start having all these things like, and then, and then this is one that might sound kind of weird, but like, I coach people, you know, to tell their story, tell their truth. And the great thing about the internet is you can be super introverted and utilize the internet. And I love the internet because you control the narrative. You tell whatever you want to tell or you don't tell whatever you want to tell. And so I tell what I want to tell and the rest I keep secret. But for the first— but even saying that, you know, I coach people, they say, oh, I don't want to hurt this person's feelings. I don't want to hurt that person's feelings. I don't want to whatever. And I've never really understood that until this book thing, because I realize, I mean, it just feels like a book is finite. You know, it's this, it's this tangible thing that people will hold in their hands and they will read for all eternity. And there's no take-backsies on that. There's, there's, you know, there's going to be people especially family members for sure, who are going to be like, she told that story. So I have a bit of a limiting belief around, around should I put it out? Should I kind of dull down certain things? Whatever. But going back in time, sure. Limiting beliefs of why would anybody book me? Limiting beliefs of do I deserve to have this abundance in this apartment or this car or this whatever? Limiting beliefs around No, I don't. I don't need to spend time or time or money at these events with these mentors. Why me? Limiting beliefs. When people would ask to book me for a podcast, first time I got a paid speaking gig, I sat there like, I have to overdeliver. I can't believe they're paying me $1,000. Like, $1,000? You can't even book a 20-minute coaching call with me now for that. Yeah. Or a 5-minute coaching call doesn't exist. Like, my time is wildly, you know, it's like, but you have to like break through this. And then even same thing, it's like making the decision to say, okay, my speaking fee is $30 grand and going, no, it's not. Like, okay, if the boys are charging $80, I'm at least $50 because this is crazy. And then I'm going to get there where I'm like, no, screw all of you, I'm $250 like GaryVee, you know? But, but we all have these things, you know? I've had the moments where I'm like, oh, maybe I'm just not pretty enough. Maybe I'm just not, you know, feminine enough because I have masculine and feminine energy that I'm great at balancing the two. I've had limiting beliefs around expansion. So I had limiting beliefs around, you know, stepping outside of just network marketing, going into coaching. Limiting beliefs around— gosh, I'm sounding like I need a therapy session— limiting beliefs around, you know, can I juggle brick-and-mortar businesses and e-commerce businesses and network marketing and coaching and my investments and, and, and, and, and, and then, you know, the crazy thing is you start to realize once you become more successful, everybody is just screwing around and figuring it out.

Yeah.

So quit counting yourself out because the people you are in these streets just idolizing, like, look at her, just look at Mark Cuban. I was at a car meet just this Saturday and somebody who grew up with Mark Cuban played basketball with him right down the road. He's like, it's so crazy. Like, Mark is just my friend. He's just my buddy. Like, and now he owns the Mavericks and now he's Mark freaking Cuban. He's like, but Mark was a screw up too. Mark was just my dude. We'd shoot basketballs. I'm like, that's what I'm talking about. Like, I don't try to put myself on a pedestal. I don't pretend I'm any better than anybody. When you said I value your time so much and I said it right back to you, it's because I value your time. Your time is just as valuable as mine. So I don't know, I'm full of limiting beliefs, but I'm— I'm getting better every day, girl.

Yeah, you certainly are. And thank you for being so vulnerable and sharing so generously of them. Right. Because I think that, you know, myself included, there are times when I look to someone like yourself, other successful people, and think there's such a gap, you know, in between mentally where we are. And I think it's so important that everybody listening, like you all hear Jesse Lee sharing um, in abundance that the limiting beliefs occur. And what I also hear, Jesse Lee, is this aspect of doing the things scared, right? I talk to clients about that, about it's not about having all those layers of what you just named, the end, end, end. It's about, yes, being scared of all of it and doing it anyway, going after it. And so I love that I hear that in the share.

I, I, I won't elaborate too much. I'll just say one thing: it's only scary the first time. So maybe sit on that for a minute. It's only scary the first time.

All right, all right. I'm gonna take that in, everybody. It's, it's only scared the first— scary the first time. All right, well, um, in keeping with the, the V Spot, right, we're here for vulnerability and all of its glory. Um, I recently heard an interview that you did where you talked about being in a depression, and I believe it was 2017, if memory serves correct. And, um, you know, I am a mental health counselor, and this is one of the pillars of the work that I do. And so when I heard you speak of that, I was like, ah, this is so good, because given that so many people are struggling with depression right now, what can you share about your process in terms of how you moved through those challenging times, especially while still maintaining your success?

Yeah. Oh geez. So first of all, I just want to give some love and appreciation to anybody struggling right now because it's the, it's the invisible battle, right? And especially in a social media world where people are so fast to be mean, they're so fast to be nasty, they're so fast to act like they know everything going on in your life, they're so fast to judge and leave nasty comments. There are implications to everything you put on social media. So every time you post something horrific as a comment on someone's thing, I want you to ask yourself, what is wrong with you that you're posting that? Because you could you could be harming somebody. So just an awareness around that. And then just like a little call to kindness, you know, be a kind person, be nice. And then if you are struggling, you know, there is help out there. So please make sure you reach out to people. You are loved. You do matter. So with that said, yeah, 2017, I mean, I've had moments obviously outside of 2017, but 2017, my whole life came crashing down. So I'm super open about this because I think when people realize that even the people you look up to the most have potentially had their whole world come crashing down, you start to realize— and I know vulnerability is your word— you start to realize, oh my God, again, we're all human. We all have vulnerabilities. We all have bad days, some of us bad weeks, some of us bad months. Right. And what happened in 2017 was everything fell apart. My health fell apart. I ended up in the hospital. You know, I guess it was partially stress-related from everything else, but my body started shutting down. It was a really scary time. My nana passed away who raised me. So people who know my story there. It's like it was literally losing my mother. I lost my business, which was— I was bringing home over $200,000 a month at the time, which luckily I lived very frugally. But to go from, you know, queen of the castle to you're destroyed, you're being deified, you're being slandered, you could sue for defamation of character. My friends betrayed me. I'm just trying to, like, show people it was really— I'm not being dramatic. It was bad. My marriage fell apart. It was just the whole entire— the whole entire castle came crashing down, which now I see as, oh, Okay. God does this thing where he nudges you. He whispers, I say. And then when you don't pay attention, he hits you over the head.

Yeah.

So I got a hit over the head and I just— oh, geez. Oh, my God. Okay. And so then it became, how do I fight for myself? And that's really what you have to ask yourself because I hate to say it, but it's the truth. Nobody came to save me and nobody's coming to save you. Okay, so if you don't reach out, you can't expect people to reach out to you. If you're in a dark hole and you're not letting people know and you're not asking for help, we don't know. And people are really good at putting facades on, on the internet, making things look like everything is great. They're unbothered, they're whatever. Like, you're— you end up turning into a physical manifestation of what's going on on your inside. So like, I didn't look healthy, I looked ill, you know? And so pay attention to these things. But people are still good at hiding. They're good at hiding. And then all of a sudden, you know, you're like, that's the face of depression. But so I started fighting for myself and it became— I started with what I could control, which is, first of all, taking control of my health. So I went on a health journey finally, right? And I started eating right and I started getting sunlight every day and I got exercise every day and I was drinking the water, which sounded like crap to me. Okay. At the time when I'm Googling this, they're like, get sunlight. I'm like, shut up. I don't want to get out of bed, you know? But just kind of, you know, push, pushing myself and things I could do. And then it was get around good people. You know, some of you, you're not— maybe you're not depressed. Maybe you're surrounded by assholes. Sorry, I don't know if we cuss on your show or not. Oh my God. Like, how are you ever going to be happy if you're listening to people who all they are is doom and gloom, for God's sake? But one of the most important things I did is I realized I could not stop what was going on in my head. So when you have— and maybe it's anxiety too, but anxiety, depression, any of these things— what I find is like your brain is just— you're like collecting this stuff from, I don't know, the universe or something. It's like all these awful thoughts and you keep replaying them in your mind. I kept replaying my mistakes. I kept replaying the situations. I kept replaying the scenarios. I kept asking myself, what could I have done differently? I kept thinking, oh my gosh, what? Like, there was— instead of thinking, okay, this is done, Jesse Lee, like, move this direction. You cannot keep living here. But I could not shut it off. I couldn't shut off the noise. And so if that's anyone listening to this, you just can't shut off the noise. That was when I realized that AirPods, if you put AirPods in and you, and you only do one at a time, you can do this and they will never die. So like you can charge one and then do this. And so what I did is I played any like motivational video, podcast, Audible, whatever, you know, just anything that was uplifting or, you know, yeah, you know, peace, love, positivity, motivation, whatever, this kind of stuff on repeat. I would fall asleep with it in my ear. This is what I had to do because it's not that I was listening all the time. Is that when I would catch myself slipping back into the my life is falling apart, I hate everything, I'm so sad, I'm so upset, I don't want to do this. Like all this, but I could just like close my eyes for a second, pick up wherever they are in whatever I'm listening to, finally have something in my head that was not my out-of-control thoughts and then move forward in my life. And that was months. This was not like, oh, just put an AirPod in and then tomorrow you're going to feel joyful. It wasn't right. Yeah, it was a process. But, and, you know, affirmations, it was being nice to myself for the first time. People can Google mirror work. I'm a really big fan of it. It was mirror work and talking to Jessie Lee like she's a human instead of like a successful robot. And then, and then I will say the last thing that really helped me is I set really aggressive goals. And this might not work for everybody, but for my personality type, this pulled me out of a lot. Because I was angry. So not only was I depressed, but I'm anxious and I'm angry, which is this, like, horrible combination. Don't recommend it. 0 out of 10.

Don't try it at home.

Don't try this one at home, folks. But when you're in the middle of all of this, I said, you know what? I'm angry and I can control how hard I work. So even when I didn't feel like it, I would sit down and I would just rattle off. I would do the power list thing that Andy Frisella did because the scheduling and my mindset wasn't there for that. But I would say, here's the 5 things in this day that I'm going to do that are going to move my life forward. And I would do them. I would just do the 5 things. And I set a really, really aggressive goal in my business, almost as like a let me prove these people wrong who betrayed me and did me wrong. Let me just show them how great I am in my business because I believe I can control this if I can control my work ethic. And I blasted running like hell to a very large goal in the, in the next company that ended up being part of. And so I just stayed really focused on that, controlled what I could control, and then those little, um, those little tips I just gave, uh, they made a big difference.

So, so good, so powerful. And everybody listening, see, I love this because sometimes the foundational action steps, right, you said water and these different things that can seem so annoying when they're offered as suggestions as it's all occurring, can seem like, oh please, what difference is that going to make? But it clearly lays the foundation for everything else to be different. I think that's so powerful. And when struggling with depression, and I'm someone who the thoughts go and it's everything you described, I'm like, check, check, check. And thank you because, you know, the People's Mentor podcast is one of the things that I would put in. And, you know, at nighttime while my wheels are turning, I'm listening to, you know, do you know what 168 is? How many hours are in a week? And what would you do if? And like hearing these episodes, this is the, you know, what I consider like therapeutic intervention to sort of pull from the racing thoughts and allow for one day at a time, one moment at a time, you know. And so, so good. So, so thank you for, um, for that. Um, I know we're, we're like at a half hour here. Do you have a few more minutes to, um, go through a couple of questions?

Okay. I'll say, by the way, one other thing that I thought of when you said it— get dressed every day. That was the other thing. I was like, wait, like you don't feel like it? Hell no, you want to be in your PJs. No, like make yourself, especially if you're working at home or whatever, like get up, get rest. It's these little things. And you'll start to notice when you're slipping in, when you've had depression and you start slipping into it, there's little things you can pay attention to. Like, how do you get out of bed? Is it apathetic? Right. That's one thing I notice. I notice if I'm starting to drag getting myself to the gym, I'm like, uh-oh. That one's really big for me too. If I spend extra time in bed. And then another one. This is really common with depression. I found out after going through all this and I've had my moments since, like I said. Make sure you're showering every day. It's so weird, but like I'm telling you, you don't think about it because you don't— you're not trying to care for yourself. So yeah, there you go, my friends.

Yeah, thank you. Yeah, such, such great ways to recognize that's, you know, it's starting to sort of creep in. So I appreciate that. Well, you know, one of the things I want to highlight before we start to make our way to the end really two points. First, when I think about compassionate leadership, I think about you. You are one of the people who come right to mind because I'll never forget last year hearing that you were planning like a pop-up in Central Park. And I was like, Jesse Lee's planning a pop-up in Central Park? And so I cleared my schedule and went there. Um, you know, I'm a huge fan of, um, Think and Grow Rich, and you are part of my masterminds. And so when I hear that I have the opportunity to be with you in Central Park, I'm like, Clear the schedule, get into Manhattan. And I'll never forget how you poured into us in the park for 90 minutes, like, just question and answer, question and answer, um, with your security guard, with your best friend. And I really got to understand that day why and how you are the people's mentor. And I think it's so unbelievable to experience. I got the goosebumps just thinking about it. And I wanted to ask you, to share a little bit about what drives your decision to be that kind of leader.

Oh, this is easy. I don't have to write— I write down everything people say so I can answer it. Now, is there anything down first? So I love it. And for anyone that maybe saw that or didn't know I do that or whatever, the reason why we are collecting meetups like in my Instagram DM and stuff, like we have a whole forum, is because I'm going to do a lot of those this year. So a lot of pop-ups in cities all over the world, actually. So I'm super excited about that. Yeah, I was awesome. It was hot though. Sweating like a pig. It was hot.

It was really hot that day.

Dress like, oh my God. Why am I like this? I am like this because I was a kid that was bullied. I was the kid that didn't fit in. I was the kid from the misfit family where I like— and I hate like going back to the book that Am I Let's Make a Me Write. Like, I hope I can use names. Like, I won't use last names, but like, You don't forget moments where you're doing your freaking best and that's all you can do. And you're a kid especially, or maybe you're an adult, doesn't matter. I'm talking about me as a kid right now. I'm doing everything I can do, everything that I can control. And these kids that were more privileged and I guess more attractive and I guess had more resources and more friends and more whatever made me feel like crap. Like, like this one, I'm going to use his name. I'm not going to use his last name, but I do know the last name. This kid Blake, there was a day when— so my dad struggled dealing with some mental health stuff. Um, this is before I sent him to prison. This is elementary school, so this is like 3rd grade. And I don't know why he brought the dog to school, by the way. Like, he brought us to school late because he was struggling anyway. Like, he would wake up really late sometimes. We were late to school all the time. It was super embarrassing as a kid to begin with. But I still remember 3rd grade, and, uh, my dad gets us into school late. My dad's wearing like a Hawaiian shirt and like yellow shorts or something ridiculous, right? And he walks in with my dog Grover.. And we're walking into the classroom and Blake makes fun of my dad in front of me and is like, your clothes never look right either. You have weird clothes. They're either hand-me-downs or you got them for free or something like that. You look terrible and look at the way your dad's dressed. And then I think my dad might have like come to give me a hug because I was like very visibly upset. And my dog Grover like got loose in the school, like chaotic, right? And I just remember being like, why would you be like that? Like, why would you be like that to a, to a what, a 7-year-old, an 8-year-old? How old are you in third grade?

Right?

And it was like everything that I had nothing to control, like nothing I had personal control over, and I would get bullied for it. And so then I got— I was sitting alone all— no one sat with me at lunch in elementary school, middle school, or high school. I was the kid that couldn't afford to go on field trips.

Trips.

So like the $10 deposits and stuff like that, that's before you could do like the— there's programs now, thank God, where like, yeah, people can donate and then they're paying for field trips and stuff. Like, I'm the kid who had to sit in the cafeteria alone, read library books, which is maybe part of the reason I'm intelligent. I don't know. But like all of these very real things where I was excluded just because I didn't have the resources or I came from a family who maybe didn't have resources. And so that I was looked at differently because I never had the cool anything. Well, then of course, when I see people where it's like, oh, you just need a little bit of access, or you just need a little bit of coaching, or you just need to listen to my podcast, or you need to follow my— ever like, or, hey, I'm in Central Park, just come meet me. I'm going to be nice to you. I don't put myself on a pedestal. Like, yes, you can hug, you can do whatever. And yeah, okay, so security guards because there's crazy people out there. But like, yeah, yeah, I never feel threatened. You know, it's like I just want people to know that it doesn't matter what your background is. There's opportunity. And so maybe I can be that example for people where I didn't come from a great situation, and I certainly didn't have the, you know, the, the lavish lifestyle or the, you know, bajillion friends who were always like, Jesse Lee is the greatest. No, I didn't have any of that. But you can change your life. It's really around getting— it's about getting around those right people. So I want to— I want to create a seat for more people who at least have that drive and that hunger and just want to get out of it. So that's why I am the way I am about that.

Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Right. Because I think we've heard it before, by the way, ever. So, yeah. So, so, so, so, so good. And I just think that it's a testament to hurt people hurt people and healed people heal people. And hearing how childhood bullying really does shape who we are, um, the fact that you decided to move in a direction where you are forwarding people is just a powerful, um, testament to your character. So I certainly want to say thank you. Well, I know before we go to the speed round to close us out, um, everyone's talking about your physical transformation, right? We know this, this is not shocking. You look beautiful, and, um, you looked beautiful before your transformation. But I'm curious because part of my work also recognizes that the physical transformation is nothing compared to the inner transformation. And so the fact that, you know, you are showing up these days the way you are, can you talk about what we are not seeing regarding your transformation? Because that's, I feel like, the, the juice of it all.

Um, what are you not seeing aside from the physical appearance? Well, geez, I don't know, that's a deep question. It was a decision. You know, I said this before, it's like I always knew it was coming. I just knew I needed to get in the headspace where I was really focused on Jesse Lee. Like, you got to love yourself fully. And I think you're just seeing a physical manifestation of that. You know, people talk about, you know, you can take it through this shortcut or that shortcut, or people try to say, oh, she's on this, she's on that, she's on whatever. Like, you can go look at my vitamins. Like, I got nothing to hide from you guys. Like, whatever. I just took everything a lot more serious. And I think that when you start to love yourself it starts to show when you're genuinely happy. It starts to show when you are actually taking care of yourself. It does look a certain way, right? I will tell you, you know, you met me right after I got my teeth done. So the teeth were there when I knew that was coming, you know? And yeah, I mean, I wish there was like some amazing shortcut I could give everybody. I just think the only other thing I'm— and I did make a TikTok about this— is that you know, diets should not just include— should not just be foods you cut out. It should be people too. And so I said, for the first time ever, wow, really dramatic boundaries around who is going to have access to me, who I respond to. I used to be a super fast texter back to everybody, anyone, whatever. And now I get the text, I read it, I recognize it, I whatever. But it's like I mean, my love for people has not changed, like certain people. But you have to learn that you've got to set the boundaries around the people that are maybe really destroying your energy or making you question yourself, or who's the person who says, just eat the blah, blah, blah, or, hey, don't worry about that exercise, or, hey, it's okay, you don't need to take— you don't need to take your vitamins today. You don't need whatever it is for people. And I really prioritized a couple of things that I guess I don't really talk about this, but it's nothing crazy. I've prioritized my sleep more than ever. So my cortisol is a lot lower, a lot more chill. My schedule is a lot different too. So it's super heavy Monday through Thursday, like, I mean, aggressive. But now I have Fridays that are— they're not off, but they're a lot less crazy. And I actually take off the weekends. You know, I do calls and stuff like that. There's an event, but I used to just be running no less than 18 hours a day. And I did that for at least 10, 11 years straight. So it starts to take a physical toll on yourself like that. And then, yeah, I guess that's it. The boundaries. It's crazy. So good. I guess the one thing.

But yeah, no, I mean, but we're witnessing the embodiment of self-love on a whole different level. And I think that that's, you know, it looks great on you. And so it's inspiring for all of us. So, you know, shout out.

All right. There's that quote, happy girls are the prettiest. So, you know, what can I say? Yeah.

Well, we're going to close out with a speed round. I call this the Forwarding Four. So I will ask you 4 questions and you can answer quickly with the first thing that comes to your minds. Okay.

I'll try not to ramble, you know, girl. I mean.

All right. Tell me when you're ready.

I'm ready. Go ahead.

All right. Name one area of your life where you are intentionally healing.

Okay, intentionally healing. Oh my God, are we getting this deep? This— okay, intentionally healing. I would say I'm intentionally healing the most in my life right now around my own expectations of what I am supposed to do and what makes me feel proud.

So good. Okay, number 2. It's the opening night of your first sold-out stadium tour. What song is playing as you make your way to the stage?

Yeah, I mean, I turned my song this year into that Iggy Azalea featuring T.I. song Change Your Life. I am— it is— I don't know, I heard it popped on a thing and it just gave me the chilly willies and I just, I was like, that's it, that's the song.

That's it. All right, all right. Um, what words of wisdom can you offer to people who are working towards fulfilling their dreams right now?

Um, if it would be easy, everyone would do it. Do not give up. Make the little you proud. Uh, you are going to be tired. You are going to have people disappoint you. You are going to feel like things are happening to you. I want to remind you they're happening for you, and every single bad thing that has ever happened to you is a learning lesson. So when you get knocked down, get back up again. But don't just get back up again. Learn from it, grow from it, and become a better person. You got this.

So good. So good. All right. And number 4, what forwarding words would you like to extend to the woman in the mirror?

Like me? I'm talking to me. Yeah. Uh, okay. Uh, let's see, what would I say to me? Uh, you need to dream even bigger. There are no limits. Make yourself proud. Don't worry about other people so much. And you can have everything you want, just not necessarily at the same time.

So, so I got the goosebumps. You, you can't see. Um, Jesse Lee, amazing. Tell me, tell everybody, where can folks find you and how can they work work with you these days?

Awesome. So bosslee.com is the easiest because you can find all my links, but Instagram's @imbosslee, Facebook's @jessicaleeward, TikTok's @imbosslee, uh, YouTube's @jessicaleeward, but it's all on bosslee.com, my coaching programs and everything as well.

Yeah, yeah, shout out to the Accelerator. That's so good. So, um, thank you first and foremost for being a vital member of my masterminds. Um, I appreciate you. You are a phenomenal mentor and coach. I want to say thank you publicly, um, the way pour into us on the Accelerator call, in the park, in your podcast, on social media. It's, um, invaluable, really. And, um, thank you so much for spending quality time with me in the V Spot.

Absolutely, girl. That's my favorite love language, so I want to give you a little bit of love today.

Yeah, thank you. And thank you everyone for tuning in to this very special episode of the V Spot. To be continued.