Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Zara Jones. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Zara, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Back in 2017 when I was a freshman in high school. I was a student-athlete during that time. I played basketball in and out of school, all year round, and trained up to 3-4 hours a day. As a student-athlete, you eat, sleep, and breathe school work, and sports. It comes with the lifestyle. My dad played basketball in college and my mom was the definition of a straight A+ student. I always tell people I had to live up to their expectations in both sports and academics because the number of points I scored in a game didn’t make up for my grades and my grades didn’t make up for my points, so I had no choice but to be the best at both. In 2017, beginning of the school year, I was excited to finally try out for my high school team. This is the moment I’ve been training for. Scouts and colleges watching the games, having a huge gym full of my fellow peers and parents cheering in the stands, feeling the adrenaline kick in while doing our game warm-ups, doing our team chant before the game starts, and celebrating our wins in the locker room. It’s what I lived for, it’s what every athlete lives for. Sure, I played in middle school, but high school is real, it’s when sports get serious, and I was ready for it. At least, I thought I was.

One weekend, a few weeks before tryouts, I was on my way to the movies with my aunt, cousin, and brother when we got into an accident with the most impact on my side. At that moment I was in shock. My seatbelt was stuck, I was in so much pain, and everything happened so fast. I had kidney trauma, a lower back fracture, and a concussion. When I was told I had to miss tryouts and sit out for months, I was devastated. Not only did I miss a lot of school, but I missed tryouts. The one thing I was looking forward to was my high school tryouts and I had to miss them. I was depressed, I felt isolated, I felt alone, and it was hard to get myself out of the toxic, negative mindset that I developed during the time I had alone to heal. Although I eventually played towards the very end of the season, it wasn’t the same. I was always in pain when I trained, but I kept pushing. During my sophomore year of high school, I eventually quit and I had to come to terms with that. It was hard for me to quit because I felt like I was a quitter and I just gave up on my dreams even though my back pain, which I still have to this day, became unbearable at times and affected my performance. I felt like I had let my family down and disappointed them because I could no longer push through.

Fast forward to 2019, I decided I wanted to start my business, Zest Of Life W Zara. I wanted to be a blogger and creator. With my parents being entrepreneurs themselves, I felt really passionate about it. I started Zest Of Life W Zara with a focus on positivity, self-care, and all things curly hair. I wanted my readers and followers to learn about what self-care really means, how to practice it, why it’s important, and as a curly girl myself, giving curly hair tips! While going through the healing process and being isolated, I developed a negative mindset. A mindset that made me feel worse, physically and mentally. I didn’t want to feel that way anymore so I changed my habits. I started writing out how I felt every day, saying positive affirmations, practicing gratitude, and eventually I started to feel better. Going through this process made me realize that our mindset matters. What we tell ourselves, whether it’s positive or negative, affects how we think of ourselves.

I started writing blog articles about steps to self-care, how to start the journey, why it’s important to our mental, physical, and emotional health, and so many other topics centered around mental health and self-care. Recently I created workbooks to help kids and teens start their self-care journey, practice positive affirmations, and work on growing self-esteem and I’ve also had amazing opportunities to share my story by speaking at events for kids, students, and adults. Zest Of Life W Zara is created to help people grow, develop healthy habits, and practice positivity, but most importantly, I’ve created this business to help people rediscover themselves. I want people to understand that we are not confined to one or two titles. We are not just students, we are not just athletes, we are not just business owners. We are community volunteers, we are creators, we are peers, we are co-workers, we are friends, there are so many different hats we wear, so why be confined to one or two titles? I love being able to share my experiences with others and teach them the importance and true meaning of self-care.

Zara, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am 19 years old, and a student at Dallas Baptist University. I am a Podcast Host, Blogger, Self Care Advocate & 6x Published Author that helps inspire others to rediscover themselves by sharing her experience of tragedy & loss. My business, Zest Of Life W Zara, shares how hitting rock bottom as a teen became a living nightmare of isolation, depression, pain, tears & fears which eventually helped me rediscover myself and embrace my new life. I have created blog articles and workbooks for my readers, and followers so that they can practice and apply healthy habits to their life. I believe self-care is not a trend, it’s a lifestyle and it’s easy to see the glamour of it, rather than the reality of how much self-reflection you have to go through during the self-care journey.

In 2022 I’ve learned that even adults need to know what self-care is and why it’s important, just as much as kids do. I’ve had some amazing opportunities to speak in front of different groups from kindergartners to professionals about rediscovery, having a positive mindset, and self-care. Zest Of Life W Zara has opened up many doors for me to inspire and push people to start their journeys and I love that about my job, to be able to inspire those around me.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I first created Zest Of Life W Zara, it was not primarily about self-care. It was mostly about curly hair and testing and blogging about beauty brands. I switched my business to focus more on self-care because I felt that people needed to know what self-care is about. We see things on social media that may portray self-care as a specific day where you get your nails painted, go shopping, and have a fancy bubble bath, but that’s a very, VERY small portion of self-care. It’s about applying healthy habits, coping mechanisms, and practices to our daily lives. While pivoting to a self-care-focused business, I stopped selling scrunchies and jewelry because I felt that it was too common during the pandemic, and instead I wanted to create something more unique and helpful, so I started creating the workbooks. I can truly say that I’m glad I made the change in my business because I feel like it impacts more people in a positive way and it’s something that I’m truly passionate about.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I started Zest Of Life W Zara because of a car accident that I went through during my freshman year of high school. I was a student-athlete during the time, academics and sports were my life. Unfortunately, when I got into that accident it left physical and mental scars. A year later I had to completely step away from basketball because it physically hurt so much to train due to my back injury and it took a toll on my mental health to know that I could no longer do something I love and brought me so much joy. About a week after I quit basketball, I told my family I wanted to start a business and I wanted to blog. I found a passion for writing and practicing self-care while I was healing from my injuries after the accident, so I wanted to create a business out of it. I felt like I a found a new calling, a new mission, and I had to take action on it immediately because I knew there was a need for self-care advocates and I believed that if I could get myself back into a healthy mindset by practicing self-care daily, I can help others in their journey even before any tragedy strikes them.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ZaraMJones.com
• Instagram: @ZestOfLifeWZara
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/zarajones

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