Jess Lively

[originally posted October, 14th 2009]

A few weeks ago I realized that I haven’t ever clearly explained why I started MakeunderMyLife. People have asked me about it in person, but I’ve never taken the time to share the background here. Which is a pretty sad reality, considering that you might be interested to know.

Planting the Seed

In college, I had a huge realization that my best self was laying dormant beneath a pile of “stuff” (read: clothes, junk, head junk, candy bars, fat from said candy bars, and illusions of perfection). At that moment, I realized that my purpose, my vocation, is to share and inspire others to makeunder their lives.

Charting a Path

At the same time as this epiphany, I had an extraordinary mentor named Mary who completely believed that I could become and do anything that I wanted. So I started to research how other women have shared their personal visions (namely, Martha Stewart and Oprah Winfrey). In Martha’s case, the path to her success was clear. After starting a successful catering business, she wrote a book called Entertaining. This book became extremely popular. In many ways it launched her media empire.

After reading about her success, I decided to do the same. I wrote attempted to write a proposal for a book called Makeunder Your Life. But the process was overwhelming and I was concerned about content and authority. Who was I, as a junior in college, to tell people of all ages what they should do with their stuff? Taking a step back, I realized I was a green banana, unripe without any post-grad experience to share. So I let the project marinate in my head.

1.5 Years Post-Grad Later

As you may know, I moved to Chicago after college and started Jess LC full-time. I envisioned a point in my life where I could juggle the jewelry and writing the book. But starting the business took all my attention the first year and a half. I barely had a moment to consider Makeunder Your Life and put it in the back of my mind.

January 1, 2009

In my new year’s intentions, I decided to revisit the book concept. I had been reading blogs for a month by that point, so the natural step was to start a blog to collect personal content for Makeunder Your Life. This way I could improve my writing, gather new ideas for the book, and start my vocation a bit early.

I never imagined anyone would read it.

But lo and behold, it did find an audience (Jess LC customers clicked the link to the blog and started reading) and here I write today. I have realized that since Martha’s Entertaining was published, things have changed quite a bit. I don’t need to have a book to start helping people all over the world. I just need a small corner of the internet to publish my thoughts and learn from readers as I go along.

Who knows where this blog will take me or Makeunder Your Life. But one thing is for sure: ever since I’ve discovered and pursued my purpose, some amazing opportunities have come my way. And if you are fortunate enough to know your own vocation, I urge you to follow it and see where it leads.

For those who are still finding your calling, it never hurts to makeunder and see what’s beneath your “stuff.” You might even find your life’s work.

And hey, it doesn’t hurt to blog along the way.