We recently connected with Claira Dresher and have shared our conversation below.
Claira, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What was your school or training experience like? Share an anecdote or two that you feel illustrate important aspects or the overall nature of your schooling/training experience.
My time in college had 3 phases, my freshman year, 3 years in the school of hard knocks and then 3 years back to complete my bachelor’s degree. Each phase taught me important life lessons.
At the end of my freshman year, I dropped out of college. My mother received a job opportunity to move to Seoul, Korea to open a skin care salon where she was to be the primary aesthetician. It would take a few years to build up the business and I needed to work full-time to make ends meet in New York City. On the one hand I was sad and quite afraid, but on the other hand I was happy for and proud of my mother for taking this risk, even if it was on a wing and a prayer. Being immigrants, we were no strangers to hard work, sacrifice, and survival.
My first full-time job was at a doctor’s office where I learned very quickly how to multitask, including cleaning, office managing, scheduling, billing and medical assisting. The doctor was very nice to the patients but routinely unkind to me. I was treated like a servant robot with no emotions. I often cried when I went home after work, exhausted from enduring the day. I dusted myself off and persevered. I learned several important lessons: (1) I am capable of honoring my responsibilities with integrity despite the circumstances, (2) I am mindful to not treat others the way I was treated at this job, and (3) I am strong enough to focus on the lessons and move forward to create a better future.
My next job was an office manager position at a Samsung warranty service center focusing on customer service. I really enjoyed helping the customers and this job felt much easier simply because the work environment and culture were positive and respectful. To this day, I believe that sincere respect and integrity are key elements of emotional wealth, which cannot be bought with money.
When I returned to college, I felt motivated, humbled and grateful to have the chance to continue with higher education. I did not take anything for granted. I chose psychology to better understand the human mind and behavior, and chose economics to understand how society functions through the balancing of supply and demand of scarce resources. I was drawn to understanding both the inner and outer worlds of human nature.
Upon graduating from college, I worked for Goldman Sachs. It was an intense training ground to sharpen my professional and management skills, to take measured risks and to build teams and relationships in the corporate world. I learned to overcome disappointments quickly and to not take them personally. What I treasure most are the people I connected with along the way, and the shared lessons and experiences.
I have moved out of the corporate world into small business ownership and entrepreneurship. What I am doing today is a natural progression of the experiences that have come before. My life experiences have been the most important lessons because I chose to see and accept those lessons.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
One of my highest priorities is providing a healthy lifestyle brand and service to the community called Medi-Weightloss, a medically supervised weight loss program. The program provides one-on-one personalized support from a team of trained healthcare professionals. What makes it so effective, successful and sustainable is the program teaches you that you are able to improve your eating and exercise habits into healthier ones, and through ongoing support, long-term maintenance is not only possible but enjoyable.
You learn what types of foods to have for your meals and snacks, based on your metabolism and lifestyle. You learn to prepare and cook your own food through simple recipe recommendations, and how to balance home cooking with pre-made food or how to navigate the menu when you are eating out at a restaurant or are on vacation. You learn how to minimize the bad and optimize the good so that slowly but surely you are getting leaner, stronger and healthier over time at a pace that is sustainable for you. During different stages of the program, supplements and medications are reviewed and implemented at the direction of the medical provider based on your medical history and health. Because the program may not be suitable for those with certain health risk factors, an assessment and health examination is conducted.
The most important success factors are to have a sincere readiness to get healthier, the commitment to do your best to be consistent and the confidence to rely on the support and guidance of the Medi-Weightloss team. Maintaining a healthy weight across different life stages is no easy task. It is not a one and done situation, but a cyclical, ongoing and mindful process. Medi-Weightloss offers the support you need through these stages.
My other important priorities include working on my graduate degree in clinical psychology, which I look forward to integrating into my health and wellness work, commercial real estate management and being a kind human, mother, daughter, wife and friend.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
To pivot is to change direction, to shift perspective, to reframe or to adapt. It also means to detach from something old to allow for something new. In my career, my first pivot came during my pregnancy when I decided to take a break from my career to be a full-time stay-at-home-mother and homemaker. It was not an easy decision to part with my career, as my career was a big part of my sense of independence, but I knew in my heart that I wanted to give motherhood my undivided attention for a few years. When there are others in your life, a decision to pivot cannot be made solo. My husband was completely supportive and we made the necessary adjustments as a family to adapt to the change. The upside was that I got to bond closely with my daughter, be present for all of her important milestones and I learned to abundantly appreciate motherhood and the network of mothers and fathers. The down side was that I was perpetually exhausted and I missed my work friends. Interestingly, having time and space away from my career opened up my mind to other perspectives and I became increasingly interested in entrepreneurship and work-life integration opportunities.
The next big pivot was when we decided to move from New York to Arizona to become business owners. After thoughtful research and consideration, we made the decision to pivot together to take a leap into a new venture. In less than a year, my husband resigned from his career on Wall Street and we made the move. Although we had never owned a business, we both had transferable and compatible work and life skills. We had an honest conversation with each other, that no matter what happens we would look at the positive lessons that came from taking this risk. How else can you learn or develop experience in something you want if you do not go and do it? Taking that chance was a great decision, and one that has taught the both of us how to get more comfortable with taking risks. We also learned how to support each other through tough times, as life and business partners. We take turns during stressful times, reminding each other to reframe every challenge into a new learning opportunity, and to remind each other to take time to rest now and then along the way.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
The deeper lesson I learned was the meaning of the phrase “perception is reality.” If I want to change my reality, it is my responsibility to first change my perception, thoughts and behaviors. To realize this was enlightening and empowering. When I focused my gaze inward and saw the work I needed to do, I was no longer as easily swayed by the distractions of external expectations, other people’s perceptions, disappointments nor as attached to the outcome. I began to accept myself as I am, including my flaws and gifts, and learned to give myself a big hug for all that I was doing to improve from the inside out. Much like any other important journey, this is a continuing, cyclical process. Gradually my empathy expanded to better understand others who were also struggling with their perceived realities, and increasingly I find joy in connecting with others in supportive ways. Self-acceptance, self-work and growth take effort, honesty and courage, and it is worth it. When you improve and transform yourself, you transform not only your own reality but that of those around you for the better. To me, these are invisible, powerful and real miracles to be perceived with our hearts and celebrated.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://about.me/claira
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/claira.dresh/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairadresher/