021: Breaking The Rules To Live Your Best Life with Jasmine Star

Hi, I'm Natalie Jill, fat loss expert turned high performance coach. When odds are stacked against us, how do we shift and create everything from nothing? How do we level up when we aren't feeling it yet or we've had a big setback? On this podcast, I'll be talking to some of the most inspiring and courageous men and women on this planet who at their worst learned how to achieve success greater than they ever dreamed possible. Leveling up and creating everything from nothing. Jasmine Starr is a highly sought after photographer and business strategist who's built an internationally recognized and award winning business. She's amassed over 700,000 loyal social media followers in a short period of time and she took the photography industry by storm. Despite all of this, Jasmine Star is as down to earth as they get. Raised in a hard working American immigrant family, she believes herself to be under average overweight and as she says, not that smart. It was trauma that brought her clarity and her vision. You see, trauma struck when Jasmine's mom was diagnosed with brain cancer. Now with that diagnosis, Jasmine learned that playing by the rules in life would bring on regret later on. She decided with that that she wanted to fully live life and have no regrets later on. This led to her following her purpose and her passion. I can't wait for you to meet Jasmine Star today and learn how she leveled up and created everything from nothing. Jasmine, I am so excited to talk to you because your name came up to me from so many people, so many mutual friends that we have.

Oh, this is amazing. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

So I didn't know who you were initially. I just kept hearing your name and so I started searching podcasts and listening to you and wow. I mean, you are a complete example of somebody who has truly created everything from nothing. So I'm thrilled to have you here right now.

I am thrilled to be here. Thank you.

When you look at you online, you've got this big social media following, you're this mega successful photographer, you're a brand strategist, you've got all these, you know, credentials behind you and you look like this incredible success, which you are. But I also know that it wasn't always that way for you. And I'm hoping you can dive a little bit into who you were before you were this massive success.

I would be more. Nothing would make me happier. But I should also, like, disseminate. Sometimes in podcast land, people are listening, you know, as they're dropping their kids off from school or at the gym or in their cubicle. Let's be real. You know, like they're supposed to. They're getting paid to listen to podcasts on the job. But I kind of want to just break this down because I think that social media, like anything online, has this way to, like, make people look and feel a certain way. So for people who are listening right now, I want you to envision this. I'm sitting on the floor of my living room on a coffee table. I'm speaking into a microphone that I got from Best Buy because clearly that's what professionals go for. All casting equipment, I have post it notes, I have a pen. I have like a $2 pair of earphones. And we're going to talk about taking what you have and making it work because, hey, I'm on the Natalie Jill podcast, okay? Like, girl came up in the world. So it's like, let's just, let's just leave all egos at, you know, the start of the episode that's we're coming in. We're going to talk about how all of us can take the little we have and make it work.

Yes, yes.

Thank you for this opportunity. And where should I start? Like, oh, my gosh.

We'll start.

Okay.

Well, one, I know. I want to hear about your parents and how because you didn't have much as a kid, you. Right, you were, you didn't have much. You weren't this ultra success as a kid. You didn't come from a hugely successful family.

Well, I think that there are different versions of success. So success from a monetary standpoint or like, vanity or physical items, zero success. But success in love and hard work and ambition, 100%. So for all intents and purposes, very typical American immigrant story. My father immigrated from Mexico. My mom was born in Puerto Rico and then later made her way to East Los Angeles, California, where my parents met. And I just feel like, you know, my dad didn't learn how to read until he was 25. My mom kind of barely graduated high school. Like, and so I think that they took the little they have and they just poured all of their love into their children. And they. What they told their children was, we will take all the jobs that other people won't take to ensure that our children don't have to. The sacrifices that my dad did, everything. He cleaned septic tanks, he cut trees, he was a cook at a university. And actually, for all intents and purposes, like, it was a really rough time in our family. My father also worked at a funeral home. Like, he had multiple jobs. He did whatever he could to pay the bills.

And, like, he literally took the jobs that others don't want to. What you just said.

Oh, a thousand percent. A thousand percent. And even within those disciplines, like, it's not very glamorous to be, like, a college cook, but within, like, the pecking order, when you're, like, a new cook, like, you're the fry cook, like, nobody wants to sit in front of the fryer. And there my dad was, sitting at the fryer. And every Saturday, his boss is really awesome, and I have a twin sister. And my father would take us to this university in Southern California where he was the fry cook. And he let us. He would give us, like, rags, and we would go wash the tables, and then on our break, we would be able to walk the campus. And my sister and I were like, wow, this is college. Like, people come here. Like, people have money. Like, we took the bus with my dad to work and to church. And so there were people. There were kids who were 21 and they had a car, and we were like, wow, this is the world. And I think that for all the jobs and all the experiences that my dad took, he always. We were there as his shadows to elevate us and show us that, like, there are opportunities for those people who really want to go after them again. Wow.

I love that about your dad. So it's like, that was. You knew what he was doing, but he also would, like, show you the vision of what's possible.

Oh, a thousand percent. Like, if there was ever a dreamer. Yeah, if there was ever a dreamer, you know, he was the one who implemented. Like, dreams are good, but the only way you make them happen is if you go after them and you actually do the work that's working.

And I love that because so many times you'll hear somebody whose parents were in that same, you know, same mindset of your dad with the working. But they would tell their kids, you know, work is hard. You know, life sucks. You know, you're not going to college. But it's like, he showed you the vision. He showed you the opposite.

Oh, a thousand percent. Like, my parents are literally, like, living examples of what it means to, like, set your mind to something and really work towards it and bring others with you. It was never, like, for their own gain or just for their family's gain. Whatever my parents learned, like, they took it to the hood and they shared with whatever they had.

Oh, I like that. So what did you believe about yourself as a kid growing up, looking at your parents? Like, what did you believe was Possible for you.

You know what I wish? I mean, so there's a part of me now, thank God, as a successful entrepreneur that I would like to go back and like say that things a certain way, that I would pontificate or that I was a really insightful kid. And for all intents and purposes, I was extraordinarily under average. Like, I was, you know, I wasn't athletic, so I wasn't picked for sports teams and I wasn't bright. I didn't learn how to read till I was 12. In fact, my SAT score is a 940 combined.

Hey, it's higher than mine now for sure. Because yes, that is higher than my combined score. So yeah, sat.

Yeah, exactly. And it has no bearing on who we are as people or the. To achieve. But for all metrics, like if we go back to how people judge and estimate others, like, I don't think that somebody as a child will look at me and think, oh, she's going to be a standout. And as a result of that, I just didn't have any thoughts about myself. I grew up obese. I was very, very overweight. And I didn't learn how to read until late. And so I wasn't the most talkative or center of the room. And so I did most of my life through adolescence and even into early adulthood watching. Standing in a corner and watching.

Which is opposite of you, really.

Well, actually it's not because I think that what social media does is that it really shines the 1% of your life. And then people say, oh, well, I know that 1% so. Well, she must. She's clearly an extrovert. She's clearly the center. And I'm like, oh, baby boo, if you ever saw me in a social situation, I'm still like that 10 year old by the fried food station who's just like gobbling, like eating her emotions. Still me. Still me.

Wow, I love that you just said that. Yeah, yeah, I love that.

So I think, you know, I didn't have opinions about myself. I was just the kid who said one foot in front of the. That was it. Every single day.

Got it. So you end up in law school, which is not what you're doing now. But how did that happen?

So I. Goodness gracious.

I.

When I got into high school, I was homeschooled until I got into high school. My parents, we lived in like a really rough neighborhood and my parents were just like sending our kids to school behind like chain link fences and just security guards. It just wasn't what they really wanted for us. And so we moved when I was 14 years old to a suburb of Los Angeles called La Mirada, California. I ended up getting into the school system and then doing really well in standard academics, and it was elevated to the honors and AP track. And I graduated at the top of my class even though I had terrible SAT scores. I got a full ride scholarship to college and then graduated at the top of my class in Mukumad. And I applied to go to law school. And I felt like at the time, like, this is what you do. Like as an immigrant child who's, you know, I'm not smart, I'm bright and I work hard. So for all intents and purposes, like there's a kid who has an opportunity to change the direction of her family, like, what do you do? And it's like, okay, law school, that's, that's what I'm gonna do. And again, this goes back to like the one foot in front of the other. And that's what I did. And it wasn't until I had a wake up call. I was 25 years old and my mom was diagnosed with brain cancer when I was a junior in college. And that required me to have two jobs. And then every three days I would go home to take care of my younger brothers and sisters. And I think it really changed my perspective. And I like that the gravity of how like, short life is and like the best thing that you could possibly have. If you have no money and you have your health, then you have everything because you have every endless opportunities to recreate an opportunity for you to do something. And so seeing my mom in like such a fragile state and she battled for eight years, and then I got a scholarship, I got multiple scholarships to go to law school, which was really incredible. But I chose to go to UCLA because it was local Los Angeles home. And during my first year, she had a relapse with brain cancer. And it was. The doctors had said, we've did everything we could for eight years for timing to come, and man, it was just like life was really, really, really hard at the time. And I quit. I quit. I did, I quit law school.

Okay. Wow, that was, that's powerful right there. I mean, you chose to be with your mom.

Absolutely. And I went on scholarship and they said, well, you'll have two years to come back and get your scholarships. And that was my intention. That was my intention. My intention was like, if her time has come, like, we have to make field arrangements. I'm going home. And this is What?

I'm going, yeah, you could have stopped right there and you could have taken care of your mom and maybe finished law school, maybe not. And you could have just stopped. You didn't have to become the success that you were. Why? What happened that there was something more?

Oh, that's such a great question. And the honest answer is that for the first time in my life, I was 25 years old and my mom was 50. And I thought to myself, if I have 25 years left in my life, I don't want to die a lawyer. I don't want to be unhappy. Like, my whole life I had been playing by the rules because I thought, you are just so lucky to be in this room. Like, you're just so lucky. And finally I thought to myself, forget the luck. Why don't I create the life I want to lead? And I thought to myself, I saw my mom and the only thing that she was looking back at her life was not all the things that could have, should have. She regretted the things that she didn't do.

Yeah.

Thought to myself, God, I don't have to regret.

You know, I hear that a lot from people, especially people that have near death experiences. If they didn't lose somebody, maybe they had a near death, but they this whole, like the bigger regrets, what you didn't do. So, gosh, there's so many people right now listening that are stuck with like they're, they are playing by the rules, they're doing what you said. They are playing by the rules and they are not happy, they're not thriving. They know there's something more, but they're not going for it. What would you tell them? Because not all of them have a near death experience or have somebody close to them that they've lost, where they have this epiphany, like, how does that, how can you translate that to everybody listening? What would you advise for that?

You know, I think that sometimes when we listen to podcasts, we have that like this rah rah feeling afterwards, like, I'm gonna go and I'm gonna make these sweeping changes. And like, the thing that I would say to that is that we all have one wild and beautiful crazy life. How are we going to spend it? And it doesn't mean that we walk away from our 9 to 5. It doesn't mean that we walk away from an unhappy relationship. What it really, really means is you accepting and being fully cogn you are making that decision. So often what we want to say is, I'm being held here or I'm doing this, and so I'm going to be perpetually unhappy. It is to. I could have gone back to law school, but. And been fine. I think I would have been a successful lawyer. I really believe that with all my heart. But I needed to be cognizant that that was the decision I was making. That was the path. And once I choose a path, you better freaking make the best of it. Yeah, think that right about now, I just thought to myself, I have the opportunity to write a different story. And that sounds so cliche, but my God, I did. I had no. I had no job. I was on scholarship. I moved back home because I couldn't afford my studio in Los Angeles. I had been dating my high school sweetheart at this time for almost nine years. And I thought, I need to get married. My mom, if anything else, she just needs to see us get married. And so three months, we plan a wedding, we get married. And then I thought to myself, this is it. This is the worst it's going to be. What are you going to do now? You have everything to gain, and you have nothing to lose because you have nothing. And that's when I decided to say, like, you know what? I'm going to take a risk. And I talked to my newly minted husband. We're literally married. Like, we're home from maybe like a week, and he's just like. We got a letter from ucla and it said I had to go back to reclaim my seat and get my. Like, I can't do this. Like, I was crying. And he said, if you could do one thing for the rest of your life and be happy, what would it be? And I said, I want to be a photographer.

So. Okay, so stop right there for a second. So that's crazy because, like, you weren't a photographer before, and I know that you didn't have a camera. I didn't even have a camera, girl. I didn't have a camera. So that so many people have these little whispers of like, maybe I should be in this. And then they, like, they shut it up with the reality of, like, no, but that doesn't. Logical. I don't know how to. Or I don't have the tools, or I don't have.

Right.

Where did that come from? And what made you listen to it.

Was the first time somebody paused and said, well, how did you get there? Because people hear this story. I love this. Because what you're getting is like, you're just kind of like you're getting into. I don't even know if this is the right word. But the fascia of the story, like, you're going to deep, girl.

I'm going deep. Yeah.

This is how I got to that point is like, so I leave law school and I get married in September of 2005. And we planned our wedding in three months. It was gonna be really small. It was like 22 people. And for three months, because I didn't have a job and I couldn't get a job because I was gonna be taking a lot of time off to get married and go on a honeymoon and take care of my mom, I went into full on scouring the web mode. Like, I. All of a sudden I was like, okay, it's time for me to plan a wedding. I guess I need food. And the photographer, like, okay, that's what I need. And so I started looking into photographers and then I just got lost in the vortex that is Google. And I started looking at, like, how photographers were running their businesses, what were they doing? What were the tools? I started joining photography forums when I didn't have a camera. I was under like, how are people actually doing the business? Like, wait, you're telling me that people can, like, make a living with a camera? It was as if someone handed me Willy Wonka's golden ticket and I was like, God, I'm Charlie Bucket. I'm walking into the chocolate factory and this unreal world exists. And so all of a sudden, this, like, it had sparked something. I was the kind of person that would always have a camera. Now I didn't have a nice camera. I would. The girl with like the disposable camera from like CVS or Walgreens.

Yeah.

So, okay, okay, okay. We're going way back. I just dated myself, but like, I would always take pictures. That was always what I did. And I never thought that specifically as a child of an immigrant in a first generation Latina and a first generation college student, postgrad student, that that would be like an option. And so all of a sudden I realized that it was. And so imagine I'm doing all of this and my newly minted husband thinks that I'm planning a wedding when I'm actually plotting a whole new life for me. And so he says, if you could do one thing for the rest of your life, what would be? I said, I want to be a photographer. And you know, it's like one of those, like Hallmark movie specials where everything gets like really slow. And he likes twice like, wait, what? And instead my husband chose like the very, very narrow path because most People would say, like, what do you mean? Or that's crazy. Or like, whatever. And his response was, okay, but you don't even own a camera. Just a minor fact. But it started off with okay. And when somebody starts with okay, it doesn't come from a place of, like, negativity, but, like, how are we going to make this happen? And that was the start, like, this inception of a dream for a girl who didn't have a camera and then three years later was voted one of the top photograph photographers in the world.

So I want everyone to hear that because so many times people get stuck in the how, like, they have an idea, random, crazy idea, like, I'm going to become this. And they're like, but I don't have this and how would I do it? And they get so caught in the how they forget their whole vision and then they don't even go for it. But you did the exact opposite. You said, I have a vision. I don't know how it's going to happen. I just know it's what I want. And the details worked itself out. And you become a top photographer, like, quickly.

Yeah. And I think that if we were just to, like, let's get grounded, because oftentimes people hear this and like, well, that works for her. But if we go back to, like, the when we started talking, it's like I started off by saying I was never the person that somebody looked at and said, oh, she's going to be a success. However, I was really good at just putting one foot in front of the other. And everything I learned as being an overlooked child really parlayed extraordinarily well to be perhaps an overlooked entrepreneur or a overlooked female business owner of overlooked female Latina business owner who had no money, experience, connections, or wherewithal. And yet. But the simple principle of one foot in front of the other is how empires are built.

So, Jasmine, questions. Did you ever have things pop up, like, you can't do this. You're not smart enough. You don't have the camera. Like, did those thoughts pop up? And if they did, how did you shut those up?

They still pop up, girl. You know, I think that what happens is I wasn't even at the point where I could say that I was suffering from the imposter syndrome. Like, I wasn't even there. Like, there wasn't even me and myself to say, like, I'm not as good as this person, or, who am I to do this? It was literally like, the truth. Like, you don't have a camera. Like, When I. And then, so this was the conversation that I had with my husband was late, early October 2005.

Okay. And I mean, we didn't have even have iPhones. I mean, there was like, there was nothing to take a picture except for your crazy.

Now that you bring that up. Yeah, I mean, and so I was like, at the time, I think I was like five years old.

Right?

I mean, just for all intents and purposes, so we don't age ourselves. And so then my. So then Christmas 2005, my husband gives me a very basic, what we now call a prosumer camera. So it's like not a pro camera, but it's not a consumer camera, so they call it a prosumer camera. And I opened it up and I put the battery in the wrong way. Like that was indicative of like, wow, girl, you have a long road ahead of you. And I started taking pictures and I wasn't bad, I was just terrible. Like, that was just like, I had these visions of like, oh, my composition. And then all of a sudden, specifically, even at the time, this was literally the advent of digital photography. Like, he had the choice to get me a film camera or a digital camera and he decided to go with the digital. He felt, and this was really pragmatic of my amazing sweetheart of a husband. He said, listen, just give yourself one year to try this out and if it doesn't work, we can go back to law school and we have a really nice camera to take pictures of our family. You know, it was what it was. It wasn't as if he's like, you know what? You're going to be the next, like Annie Leibowitz. He was just really pragmatic about it. And he had like, you'd gone through like a really rough patch with your mom and life and unexpected things, so give yourself a little bit of freedom. And that's what I did. And, and it was terrible. I enrolled in the university of Google because that's what people do when you don't have money. Just figure it out. And I decided to take a part time job. I worked three days a week and every other day all I did was I kept my camera attached to my hand. And the only way that anybody gets better, I mean we're talking about gets better, is like, you lose weight, you start a job, you ride a bike, you speak a different language. The only way you get better, there is no shortcut. You just gotta keep doing it.

I love it. And I always say whatever you obsess about, you possess. And that's basically what you just described.

100%.

You have to be obsessive about it. And that's what you did. You're just like, I'm a photographer. And you. And you really. You acted as if too, like you were a photographer. You might not have been good at the time, but you decided you were a photographer.

One thing to point out, too, is that, like, you know, I started my journey writing a blog. And so this goes back to 2006 when, like, blogging was like a very new thing. And. And it was the thing. And I had a blog post that I said, I am going to declare it as if it is done. I. Nobody is calling me a photographer. Some people call me a joke, a hack. Oh, pat your head. Bless your heart, sweetheart. Type thing like I'm calling it. Until people start using that as a point of identification.

Yeah, we don't.

If we don't claim what we want to become, nobody else will put us there.

Gosh, you just. I mean, there's three powerful things you said right there. I hope everybody's taking notes on this because. Because you had a vision. You didn't think about the. How you absolutely declared it, so you made it known. This is my goal. This is what I'm going after. This is what it is. And then you started acting as if it had already happened and you were.

Already there a hundred percent. And I want to be very clear. It's not as if it was easy. You know, a lot of times I casually joke that when people ask me what I did, I sounded like a really bad rapper because I was like, I'm a photographer. Like, question mark, you know? And it's like, what I can say now, 13 years after the fact is like, I'm a photographer, period. At the time, it was like, php H PH like, question mark, I'm a photographer, not sure. So I want people to know that, yes, I did declare it, but it didn't come easy. And yes, I did say that this is the thing that I wanted. I went after it, but it didn't come easy. Everything worth getting is hard and so sweet when you achieve it.

Okay, so two questions on that. Did you. One, did you care what other people thought and did you have any massive failures in it? Like, did you ever go take a lot of pictures and realize you didn't have film? Like, did you have any massive failures with it?

Oh, a thousand percent. Like, you know, was I. Did I care about what people thought? Yes. And I think that if I can go back and tell that person or anybody who's listening, who really does care about what people think. Like, what I learned a decade into it. It took me a decade to actually come to the realization that people will always have an opinion, regardless of what you do. Like, regardless of what you do, they will have an opinion. You will be too old, too young, too fat, too skinny. Your nose is too big, your nose is too small, your hair is too blonde, it's too dark. Like, everybody has an opinion. So when you embrace that, you say, I don't care, because no matter what I do, someone's going to have an opinion. So my dad had raised us to believe that if you do not want somebody to have an opinion, you do nothing, you say nothing, you be nothing. And he really pushed all four. No, he pushed all four of his daughters and his son and said, you speak up, you speak your truth always, and know that resistance will come. But if, as long as you walk to the beat of your own drum, as long as you are pursuing the thing that you know in your integrity, that at the end of the day, you will find a very small group of people who think the way you do, support the way the things that you do. And lo and behold, what dad said was right in the beginning. A very small group of people who saw the world that way that I did ended up supporting my business, and it really catapulted me into a different shadow sphere.

Very wise, very wise. What about failures along the way with that?

I mean, how long is this podcast? Are we going to, like, five days straight? Like, I can. We can start. Let me. Everything, like, everything. Everything from, like, minutiae to, like, oh, I didn't know that I actually had to charge tax on my clients the year I'm paying tax, like, sales tax out of my own pocket. Well, lesson learned. I didn't know how to file a dba. I didn't know that I needed the bookkeeper. I didn't know that I needed to keep mileage. There was a time where. So this is digital photography, where I shoot a wedding on a memory card and it gets corrupted. So what happens to those photos?

What happens to them?

Yeah, like. So I paid out the nose for, like, data recovery, and it was worth every penny. I lost money on that gig, so I ended up paying out of my own pocket just to retrieve the images. But, you know, your name is your worth, and if I ruined that, I just don't know how I would have been able to come back. So, I mean, there's just so many, so many.

When you have Failures like that. Like, how did you talk yourself to keep going? Because a lot of people would quit, like, okay, I tried this. I'm not so good. I had these failures. I'm done.

Oh, that's a really good question. I actually think that there's a very strong possibility that I am hardwired for resiliency. Either that, like, I could be genetically predisposed, or that, like, the life that I had lived up into that moment and still, the life that I live up until this day is so super grounding. My parents had nothing. Like, we had food donated on our. Our porch. Like, we were lucky if we were able to buy clothes from a thrift store. I saw my mom battle for her life for eight years. In and out of hospitals, in emergency rooms. I'm dragging my mom as she's going through chemotherapy, having a simultaneous asthma attack, and they have her on life support. And I'm sitting in the middle of the ER screaming for help because nobody is helping us.

Wow.

All I just think to myself is, I got through that. I will get through this. And I think that success goes to those who refuse to give up. Up. Failures come. Like, if you have a business or you don't, or if you're on your weight loss journey or you're not, or you have a discrepancy with a family member or a past failure. Failures come. Like, you're. No one is exempt from that. You just have to choose. What am I willing to endure for as long as possible to get where I want to go?

Yeah, that's good. That's huge. So you become a successful photographer. You see that, you've done it. You beat the odds on that. What? Well, why not stop there? What. What brought you to more? Because now you. You do so much more. Like, you.

You.

You're a strategist.

You do.

You're incredible. You're this whole brand now. What brought you to that next level?

I think that what happened was that I realized that at various points in my life, it was much easier to play things safe. And so for a decade, I had been able to build a personal brand and a successful photography studio and get international recognition and all the these awards. And it was great, and it was beautiful and it was amazing. It was humbling. It was really humbling that a girl who had no formal education and was received heavily with a lot of resistance in the photographic world. It's like I represented everything that was going to be a fundamental shift in the way photography was executed. Like, we're. I came in at this pivotal time where you were transitioning from film into digital, the industry was, you know, 80 plus percent male. You know, the industry was not online. And all of a sudden I came in and I embodied everything that an industry didn't. Like.

Yeah.

And then all of a sudden you.

Weren'T even portraying on it for like.

Yeah, oh, that was the worst. And I was charging a premium for my work and like, technically, like, wasn't very good and, oh, it just chapped people's hide. Let me.

Oh, you definitely got that. Either photographers.

God almighty. Like, seriously. And so I think that as a result of that, what happens is when you grow within a very small pond, when you get to be the 1% of the 1% and say that not out of the hashtag humble brag, it's kind of like you can look at it and assess. As a business owner, I have nowhere else to go. Yeah, Like, I believe that my purpose was with a camera, period. I didn't believe that my purpose was in a specific industry. And the thing that I realized was that for the girl who was always on the outskirts of the party by the fried food station, watching from the outside in, I knew that I had the capability of speaking to people who felt the same way and didn't want to step into the center of the room. And I knew how to, I knew how to do that with business owners. And I started training photographers on how to build better businesses. And then those photographers told their friends and other businesses and then business owners came to me and said, can you do that? Can you help us, like, do this for our business? And so one thing led to another and I was able to create educational resources, free videos, opt ins. I kind of did the whole like digital marketing thing, right? Like you come in and people what you know. And then somewhere along the line I realized that, like, education has always been a power play for me and I loved it. It. And so what I kind of kind of shifted in the past, like couple years is like, I just want to share free education. And then I've been able to monetize it on the back end with resources. Like, so I share what I do. And then if you want to invest in like the resources to get it done, you can. And I just feel like I'm in my place of power. Like, a couple years ago I had a conversation with my mentor, James Wedmore, and he said, like, you know, what would you do if you could do anything? And I said, I just want to wake up every morning working with my best friend and I want to write and I want to take photos and I want to make videos and I want to empower people to be in their place of power. And he's like, go and create it. I was like, it doesn't exist. Like, the way that I see my mind doesn't exist. He's like, go create it. And that's what we did. That's what we did.

Yeah. I love that. So when you say with my best friend, like, do you mean your husband, one person, or just people that you're working with, you want them to be people that you would like, can be, want to be around?

Well, yes to all of the above, but in that particular reference, it was to my husband. You know, we're high school sweethearts. He is the other. He's the Ying to my yang, and he is like the central nervous system to what the business has become. And so all outward facing things, you know, does have my face and name attached. But we are 50, 50 business partners, and he's truly, truly the nucleus to what we do.

Got it. So, Jasmine, you have this like contagious energy about you. I'm sure I'm not the first to tell you that you've got this like magnetic personality and so much energy. Do you. Are you always like that? Do you have days where you feel down? Do you have to talk yourself into that?

Do you know, I think that. And maybe this is a story I'm telling myself and I could be totally open to receiving it as such, but I do think that when people say that I have a contagious energy, what I think that people are attracted to is similar fractures and fissures in our armor. And it's like what people connect with is like the broken parts in somebody who's like, really aware of what those are and say, like, I, one, don't have it together. Two, I'm definitely not perfect. And three, when we move together, we're stronger than each of us independently moving alone. And I think that's what people are drawn to. So in that regard, no, I don't think that people came up to me like, girl, you're contagious. Like, I'm quiet. Like, I'm really like, you know, we have an opportunity and I understand that to live my purpose, to stand in what I have been put on this world to do and get uncomfortable. And that means sometimes being a little extra on podcasts, and that means standing on a stage and speaking my truth. But by and large, 90 plus percent of my day is sitting in silence. I listen to like Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes. And I write and I shoot and I'm very introverted. And in that regard, no one's like, well, there goes like that little orange vibe. Yeah, Orange energy girl vibes. Like, no, no, I'm pretty low chemo stuff days.

So how did you. How does social media plan to this? Because now, I mean, you really do a lot with social media and you teach that and you speak on it and that seems like you've got so many interviews about social media. How did that come about as part of this?

When you create content that people, like, watch and want to hear more of, like, you are elevated, like, oftentimes. And it rubs. It honestly does. I don't even know where this is coming from, but it really grates on me. It rubs on me when I walk into a room and there's people who are actively campaigning to get other people in the room to put them in positions of power or significance. It's like, turn the freaking pyramid upside down. The people who put you at the top are everybody at the freaking bottom.

Like, work.

Put in the work. Talk to your tribe. Like, I felt like, listen, for better or for worse, people have opinions about Justin Bieber, but when his documentary came out and he was the person who just went to the people and created the demand, it was like something shifted in me and I was like, I might not even be the biggest fan of your music. The way that you do life, it's how it's done. Power to the people. You want to be put on stages, create good content, have a message, speak your truth, say what you want to say and get a small group of people who will tell their small group of people who their small group people. And next thing you know, you have a herd of people behind you. That is how you get on the stage. I don't even know where this is coming from.

No, you're preaching it. I love that because it's so true. So many will think, oh, if I just get into this person's circle or if I am on their show or, like, they're going to build it for me. And it doesn't work that way.

And you smell it, though, and it's like the only people you're tricking are the other people who are doing the same thing you're trying to do. Everybody else who's out there just like, nose to the grind, doing the hard, uncomfortable, awkward work look at you and say, good luck, sweetie. Good luck with that.

Yeah. Oh, that's so good. So good. Such a Great job. So, okay, do you ever not feel like doing what you do? Like, do you ever wake up and you're like, I just don't feel like it today.

Yeah, of course.

And how do you shift your mood? Like, if you have a client that you're working with, or, like, how do you. How do you get yourself ready and creative and into it?

So for those people who are struggling with creativity, I think the best book that people could read is by Steven Pressfield, and it's called the War of Art. And they're tiny, tiny, tiny, like paragraph chapters and wow. It's just super amazing and foundational in getting this part going. But I also know, again, again, and this is just how I was raised. It's like. Like, my dad would wake up every morning at 5 o' clock and catch the bus, three buses to get to Los Angeles General Hospital, where he would clean decks and unload trucks. And my mom would go and pick up, like, mail and deliver it to people who were elderly and couldn't get out of their house. Like, I just know how freaking blessed I am that on my worst day as an entrepreneur is better than my best day working for somebody else. And the only way you get past your funk is by doing. Do not play to the. Do not play to the discrepancies or the deficiencies. You play to your strengths. And some days the strengths are prevalent and some days they're not. But your only objective is to do the dang thing again and again and know you are so blessed to do it.

That's good. I hear gratitude, which is. Oh, that doesn't seem so. You are. It sounds like you are very grateful and aware of that.

You know, I once heard that Albert Einstein would wake up every morning and he would start his day by saying, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you a hundred times. And so now every morning, I wake up and I have my morning routine. And part of that morning routine is to lay on the floor like the Vitruvian man, arms out, legs out, and I just say, thank you. Like, I thank God for the family I have, the home I have the pillow I slept on, the food in my fridge, my health, the coffee I drink in the morning. Morning. I. Somebody. I read. I read this thing on Pinterest somewhere. Gosh, I wish I can give it credit, but it's like, what would you have tomorrow for everything? You express gratitude for today. Oh, right.

Yeah.

I wake up and I'm like, thank you for my toothbrush. Thank you for flaws. Thank you for essential Water. I mean, everything. We should.

Yeah. Gosh.

Why?

What is it that people get comfortable? I mean, I'm guilty of it too. You get comfortable and you like, forget about the gratitude. You just want more.

It's like you want more my confidence wrong with that? Nothing's wrong with more. But how can you appreciate more if you're not thankful for what you have now? Yeah.

And you know what, Jasmine? I hope everyone is listening to like, I have not interviewed one person yet that hasn't brought up gratitude as part of their practice. So, like, yeah, this is every success story. Whether somebody made millions or they overcame huge health challenges. It's the gratitude is so present, a thousand percent.

It's grounding.

Speaking of how you start your day. So I'm curious about that. So you wake up every morning and you, Is that literally the first thing you do?

You. I know. I, I'm like, I'm so systematic. It's. I am type A ocd. Like I do the same thing every single morning. And I don't know if it's tmi, but I'll walk you through my process. Okay.

I want to hear it.

I'm an early riser. I have an internal clock and 4:30, like literally my eyes are like, bing.

Wow. I wish I could be the 4:30 riser.

Hi.

That I want. I don't have that.

I know, I know, I know, I know. So I go to bed around 10:30 every night. I, I, I am a big proponent of sleep. Different people need different amounts of sleep.

Okay, you're like six and a half hours then or seven hours. Okay. I'm like a nine hour sleeper, so.

And that's great. And that's phenomenal. We should all play to like what we do. So I'm averaging around six hours of sleep a night. I wake up and I, which is gross to some people, but I get my dog and I cuddle him and I massage him and then I gross.

We love it.

Wait, I didn't finish it because then I scoop him up from underneath the bed and I lay him next to my husband because I feel bad leaving my husband in bed. And so then I kiss and I pray over my husband and he's like asleep half cognizant every morning. And then I will go and I pray and meditate and I read and I take a hot bath. And after the hot bath is when my body is just completely at its most relaxed. And that's when I lay out and I do a gratitude practice. I do another guided meditation and I really Just set my intentions for the day and after that I hit the ground running. I'm actually.

How long is all that taking? Like from 4:30 to, to what?

4:30 to 5:15. 5:30.

Wow.

Okay.

And so you know what else I love that you just said? A lot of people will say, well, I don't get early up early because my husband's sleeping or I don't care, but like it doesn't matter, your husband's asleep. You're just like, I'm doing it anyway.

Oh, absolutely. And it was a conversation that we had to have. Like, how does he need to wake up in a way that makes him feel loved and supported? And so every morning around 6:50, 7:00', clock, I go back, I crawl into bed and then that's like officially like when he starts his day. I go downstairs, I make coffee. It's very systematic, but it works for us.

So okay, you're doing all your stuff till 5:15 or so and then you go down. Do you eat breakfast? Do you write? Do you journal? Do you plan your day? What do you do?

Right then I plan my day. I start off with a ton of water and then I plan my day. I dig into my email, which I know people say you should do your most creative work at the beginning of the day, but to me, emails, this thing that just like looms over me, that I can't work until I get it done. So I do my email, I go through my asana tasks, I plan my day, day. And that will take me to waking up my husband, come downstairs, brew coffee, French press girl, we walk the dog, we come back, I work for an hour, then I take a mid where most people are just starting their day, but I'm like, I've already been up for five hours. I have like a smoothie, a green smoothie before I go and work out. And then I work out and my workout breaks are around 90 minutes.

So this is around like 9 o'. Clock. Okay.

Yeah, 9:10 in that time frame. Frame.

Okay.

And then I'm home, I come home, I shower, I work for two hours, I take a 30 minute lunch break and then I work like another sprint for like four hours.

Do you stay committed to your schedule? Like when you travel? Like do you, is it like a no matter what? Like, no, I'm not budging on this. How do you operate that?

Well, I think that for over a decade it was just my husband and I in the business. And as a result, and I don't recommend that, it was just, I didn't know any better. And so as a result, a result of having so much to do for your business and like, as you're trying to scale from a six figure to a seven figure business, it's like you're just taking on a lot of responsibility. And so for me, and I don't put it on everybody, but like, my schedule is like sacrosanct. Like, do not mess. I do not depart from the schedule. I have, like, my schedule is broken down in like 10 minute increment. I increment like my social media when I have, like, nothing can throw that off.

Do you. I believe you so much because do you know of every guest I've interviewed, you were literally like the most difficult to schedule. Your assistant had it like jail. Like, he's available for these. Like, it was like, she can be laser focused in 20 minutes. I'm like, I don't want to like, find an hour on your schedule was literally the craziest thing I've ever experienced. So. No, but I love that that you have your. You're so committed to your system and what works for you to get you in the right mode. That's great. I think it's awesome that you did that. I had that experience yet that is.

That'S so funny because I will say that we are striving to have a very lean and profitable business. Like, I, I don't. It's not impressive to me when somebody's like, oh, I have a six figure business. And I'm like, yes. How much are you profiting? Like, it's not impressive to me that you have a lot of zeros after your, you know, after, like the number at the beginning. Like, I want to know what that profitability is. And I think for us, we've always been used to, like, not having a team. And so when we did bring on a team, it's a very small team and I'm still just as regimented as I was before, even though the business has gotten much bigger because we want to keep it like, really small and lean.

So, yeah, revenue is very different than profit. And so is your peace of mind and the quality of life you have.

So I think that's great. Great.

How are you able to stay committed to a rigorous schedule like that? Because I'm sure something comes up that you're like, well, I kind of really want to do that and it's in my way. How do you stay committed to the. No. And being committed to your schedule, is there anything you do to keep you.

Grounded in that Yeah, I mean, I create what I call them pockets in my calendar. And like, for me, like, so we have core principles, like, part of, like, I guess our mission statement for as we grow our team. And one of the top five core principles is self care. And I have to make sure that when we run at such a pace, like, we have to also be able to, like, downshift as needed. And so the pockets on my calendar, like, nobody touches the pockets. And if for some reason something gets derailed on another day, I know, okay, it will take a little bit of time outside of the pocket of self care. And so there are minimum one day a week that I take nothing. Like, nothing at all. Like, no calls, no podcasts.

Yeah.

No videos. And those days are the days that become my pockets. Like, to pick up other work or, you know, to go get a facial or go on a workout or just do something that's going to, like, make me feel grounded.

And you're saying that's during the week and do you vary that each week?

Yeah, it really just depends on, like, how much I'm traveling, where I'm speaking, what help the workflow that week. But it is one day that varies from week to week.

Yeah. Everyone, I want you to really listen to this because there's. It doesn't really matter how you schedule your day. Like, everyone's a different vibe on that. But, like, the rigor and commitment to that is so huge. And the fact that, you know, some people say self care is selfish, but it's not selfish, and it's giving you that capacity to be able to be so much for so many others.

Oh, I mean, it depends. Like, if you want to have, like, a really popular business in, like, 14 months, well, then good. You know, double down on what you need to know, like what you need to do to get there. But I want to have a profitable and popular business 14 years from now. And the only way you do that is by prioritizing self care and understanding. So they're having. Has to be a balance. You can't keep on grinding in that capacity long term and still be successful.

Yeah. Jasmine, who's in your circle? Like, who do you. What kind of people do you surround yourself with? I.

It's kind of like a Venn diagram. Like, I feel like for some reason my life has become extraordinarily segmented. And like, the people at the intersections of, like, the. The Venn diagram are like my closest, closest, closest childhood friends. And that's like a group of five amazing, extraordinary women who are just like, killing the game. And I have, like, people in my mastermind mentorship circles. I have people. I have a monthly membership for, like, marketing and social media for small business owners. And, like, those people become my tribe. Like, they're literally in a circle. And then another circle would be people from, like, you know, our charitable. Like, my husband and I are very into, like, charity and church and all that other stuff. And so the good thing is, like, the people on the closest part of me intersect and all of those things, like spirituality, business, and just, like, straight up, like, goodness. But in my life, it's pretty segmented.

But do you, like, are you. Do you have rules around, like, I don't want negative people or, like. Because a lot of people. I think people are truly the result of who they're surrounding themselves with. And I know some people listening. That's a struggle for them. Like, they don't have the right people in their lives or they feel like their family's not supportive, their friends aren't supportive or whatever it is. Have you had to make those hard decisions on, like, this is who I'm not letting in, or how do you get around that?

Oh, a thousand percent. And for better or for worse, I literally. The more. The more successful I became as an entrepreneur, the more the world became black and white, it was less gradations of gray. And it's like, if you do not add to my life, you will be subtracted from my life immediately. And some people think that that's like, the worst possible thing that somebody could say, but it is just the truth. Like, let me just save you years and years of just, like, painstaking conversations and agony with somebody who was toxic or somebody who just was actually impeding your growth. The only way you will get to where you want to go is if you are unabashedly supported by people who are positive and will empower. Empower you to get there. You speak so negatively to yourself that anybody else, in addition to that, is too much for the soul to bear.

That's really good. That's really good. And it's so critical to make that. To have control over that, because that's what you're letting in. I mean, that is what you're letting in. Who you're surrounding yourself with.

A hundred percent, 100%.

Gosh. Okay. I do have. And I could talk to you for hours. I have so many more questions for you. But I have a final question I would. I'm dying to know on how you'd help with this with others. Like, so if Somebody is listening in right now, and maybe they're in a rock bottom spot. Maybe they've got their family member that's sick, like you had your mom, or, you know, they're as you were as a kid and they, they just don't have a lot and. Or they feel that they're. They don't have the resources to get them to the next level and they're just. They're stuck. What are three pieces of advice you would maybe give them to start shifting and start to create everything from nothing the way you did with photography or with your brand.

Now, I think it's just going to be kind of like a CliffsNotes version of the conversation we've had thus far. And that's in order to move yourself from one point to another. It's going to start by simply doing one step in front of another. That point number one, point number two is going to be to surround yourself with people who will unabashedly support the dream and vision you have of yourself. And number three, that is every day to wake up and have a practice of gratitude and remind yourself again and again that you are enough, that you are doing the best you can with what you have. And as long as that becomes your outlook, as long as that becomes your mantra. I am doing the best I have. I can with what I have, because I am enough. That it is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when. You will ultimately get to where you want to go and on the understanding that it is never a destination. I said I wanted to become a photographer, but that wasn't it. I wanted to live in my purpose and every step, every day that I wake up and I get to do that, and every day that somebody gets to wake up and do that as well, even if they have success or not, even if it's monetized or not, that they're doing the dang thing 100%. That's how it's going to manifest.

Oh, that's so good. That's so good. Jasmine. Where can people find you? What do you want? Where do you want people to find you?

My website is jasminestar.com and on all social platforms, it's Jasmine Star. So nice and easy.

Yeah. And you guys, what I didn't get into with her, which I highly recommend you digging into and listening to, is she's been on a lot of other podcasts teaching tips on how to grow social media, how to really grow your brand, and she's got some amazing tips. I was telling her that I was listening to a bunch of episodes that she had been on before this interview and I literally like pulled my car over to the side and changed the things that I was doing what I learned from her. So this girl is knowledgeable so follow her. She's amazing. Thank you. Thank you so much. Jasmine. I appreciate you.

Natalie, thank you for the honor of being here and just connecting with your tribe. You are a beautiful soul. Thank you.

Thanks for leveling up with us today. Please share this episode if you found it helpful so others can join in. And don't forget to hit that subscribe so you don't miss out on future shows. And if you would leave me a five star review. I appreciate those so much. I read all of them and it's how I know that I'm giving you information that you find valuable and come interact with me over on Instagram at nataliejillfit. I read all the direct messages and comments over there. Make it a great day. Creating everything from nothing.