In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Jessica Sheldon, a marketing consultant for City Grit Hospitality Group and USC student. Jessica shares a poignant personal story about a coworker’s accident in New Jersey, emphasizing the importance of living in the present. She offers industry insight, challenging the mantra that the customer is always right and advocating for listening with a grain of salt. Jessica stresses confidence as a key to first impressions, advises her younger self to trust timing and avoid over‑controlling the future, and defines happiness as daily time spent on a personal passion (running). She recommends Mindy Kaling’s memoir Why Not Me for confronting self‑doubt, and highlights the resilience quote “Fall down 7 times, stand up 8.” The episode concludes with a plug for her LinkedIn profile.
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Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Jessica Sheldon with us. She is a marketing consultant for City Grit Hospitality Group and student at USC. Welcome to the show.
Thank you.
Of course, thanks for joining us. We'll dive in. The first question I have for you, Jessica, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Spanish. So it's kind of a sadder story. But when I was working in New Jersey, I was talking to a friend clocking in from work, just a quick exchange because she was leaving. And she walked outside to go shop because we were working at Trader Joe's at the time. And actually right there, a car drove up onto the curb and hit her. And long story short, that a friend of mine lost her leg that day. It was a crazy and intense thing. It happened out of nowhere, but it taught me that you never know what's coming around the corner and you don't know how your life can change in an instant. So because of that, it's really important to just take every single thing as it's coming, not wish for the future to come faster, but just enjoy the present and enjoy what you have while you have it.
Yes, thank you for sharing that with us. The next one I have for you is, what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
So I've worked in the retail industry for 6 years, and we're always taught the customer's always right, the customer's always right. But for me, the best piece of advice is that the customer isn't always right, but should always be heard and acknowledged. Their issues are real, and to them, that's how it seems. but it doesn't necessarily mean that everything that they're saying is right. A lot of times, in the last job I had, people were trying to kind of wiggle their way into getting whatever they could from that organization, kind of as like a makeup for a bad experience. And we were always taught like, hey, they, they're important to us. We want their business. They're our guests, but not everything that they're saying is correct. So just kind of taking What your customers tell you with a grain of salt.
And what is your best piece of overall business advice?
To be confident. People are going to make their first impression of you within 7 minutes of meeting you, and they can pick up on so many more signals than just the words you're saying. So being confident in yourself, believing in yourself, dress for the occasion, do a superwoman pose, whatever necessary to set yourself up for success.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Just to believe that timing is everything. Things are always gonna work out the way they're supposed to, and not to be so anxious to try and control my future, but rather let opportunities come my way and take them as they come.
And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
Spending time every day doing something you love. For me, that's going for a run, but you know, whatever that looks like for you, make sure you spend some time doing that.
I love that. I'll chime in real quick. I run every day, so I respect that. Next one is, what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
So I'm not a huge reader, but Mindy Kaling's Why Not Me made a huge impression on me. It just talks about her life a lot, but it challenged me to form opinions about myself at a time when I really didn't know where my next steps were. I was kind of uncertain about who I was. But you realize, hey, I'm counting myself out for opportunities that I'm a candidate for. And distorting that, that thought.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
Fall down 7 times, stand up 8. Perseverance has always helped me accomplish my goals. There's always room for improvement. And there's always going to be someone you compare yourself with. But just because you get knocked down doesn't mean you're out of the game. You just need to adjust and calculate your next move before you swing.
Yes, I love it. Thank you so much for coming on. The last question I have for you before we let you go is where's the best place for people to find you online?
My LinkedIn page is the best place to find me. Thanks so much for having me on the show.
Of course. We'll talk again soon. Have a great one.
You too.
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