We recently connected with Clarita Bassett and have shared our conversation below.

Clarita, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. The more we talk about good leadership the more we think good leadership practices will spread and so we’d love for you to tell us a story about the best boss you’ve had and what they were like or what they did that was so great?

I feel fortunate to have started working in the fitness industry at a young age. My passion for ballet led me to study it when I was nine. As a teenager and young adult, I also pursued jazz dancing. Eventually, I became a professional dancer in Hollywood, California. Dancing never felt like a job because it was a dream come true.

However, the downside of being a professional dancer is the lack of job stability. Dancers have to compete in open auditions against the best of the best, and even if they’re lucky enough to get the job, it’s not permanent. Jobs can last for a season, a month, a week, or a day, and there’s no way to know when the next opportunity will come. A friend used to say that being self-employed is like waking up every day without a job.

I was lucky to have worked at a fitness gym whenever I wasn’t working in shows, commercials, or movies. It allowed me to take time off when I had a dance gig and then return to a stable job once the gig was over. The gym in West Los Angeles was called World for Women. My boss, Jim Shane, was an excellent mentor and taught me valuable lessons about people, business, and personal empowerment that have helped me become the successful entrepreneur I am today.

One of the most impactful lessons he taught me was that one day, I would realize that many of my friends would not follow me in pursuing a successful career and fortune. He’d say, Clara, there are three types of people in this world: people who make things happen, people who watch things happen, and people who wonder, “What happened?”

He would work with his staff regularly, training us in sales, personal development, and people skills. He taught us how to talk with customers and the importance of building their trust so they would tell us what they needed and wanted. He’d make us role-play; someone would be the customer, and the other would be the salesperson. He would also recommend we read books like Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”

I think about Jim a lot. He has since passed away. However, a friend of mine, who was also mentored by him, always reminds me that we were ‘Shane Trained,’ which inspires me to press on and level up.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I was born in Havana, Cuba. Our family immigrated to the United States as political refugees, and during the early days of our arrival, we lived in government housing and ate spam.

My Dad was very ambitious; he led rebel groups against the Cuban dictator, which was the primary reason we were forced out of Cuba. I vividly remember Dad holding secret meetings at our house; his comrades gathering and placing their pistols down on the dining room table while they plotted against Fidel Castro and his communist regime.

On the other hand, Mom was happy with having her family around her, a roof over her head, and security. She hated Dad’s counter-revolutionary activities and was scared that Castro’s reach could stretch across the ocean to retaliate and hurt us while we lived in Miami, Florida. She always chose safety and security over adventure and risk.

She was not supportive when I told her I wanted to dance for a living. She thought the dance world was insecure and highly competitive, and if I chose that route, I would never settle down with a nice young man to start a family. I think that because she was adopted, family was the most important thing in her life. However, Dad always embraced novelty and dreaming big. I guess I am more like my Dad than Mom, although Mom was much more dominant in my life.

Dad got sick when I was nine years old. He developed a brain tumor, and it aggressively affected his motor skills and caused excruciating headaches. I genuinely believe that the stress of being a stranger in a strange land, having to start his life all over again from zero while taking care of a young family, and dealing with my mother’s nervousness and fears about how the ‘boogie man’ would eventually get us played a huge role in creating his disease. He ultimately survived brain surgery, although he was severely disabled after that, which forced me to step into a caretaker role in my family.

I fell into the health and wellness business probably because of my Dad. First, I believe that we conjure up disease in our body when too much stress, inadequate nutrition, and a hostile environment are causing disharmony. That energy passes through the body, imbalances homeostasis, and causes disease.

I learned through my dance that if I were in a sad mood, it could shift into a positive one through movement, music, and choreography. I could change my emotional state just by dancing. I also discovered that an encouraging environment with strong role models helps one to focus on what’s essential; if I wanted to be like my mentors, I would have to practice what they taught me. I learned that to withstand the rigorous hours of continuous dance practice; one must energize the body by feeding it healthy food. And I also learned that once you make a creative choice, you stick with it and finish the dance. It’s not about doing it right or wrong; it’s about the art of the dance.

And so I became a dancer and a teacher. I love to help people because I developed caretaking skills at an early age while helping my Dad through his recovery. I love to share the joy of dance through movement and fitness because it helps elevate the body into a higher, healthier, and more positive energy. And I love to watch people smile when they discover that moving their bodies can begin a cascade of positive life choices that leads them to look and feel better, younger, stronger, and live longer.

I was in my fifties when I opened my wellness studio in San Pedro. I had lived a whole life between nine years old and fifty; I married twice, had three beautiful children and four grandchildren, and fell many times. However, I always picked myself up, dusted myself off, and made it part of the dance of life. This particular studio, Absolute Best Wellness Center, is the pinnacle of my dance and ‘health and wellness’ business experience.

I made sure I purchased the building because back in the ’80s and ’90s, I had experienced spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in tenant improvements while renting someone else’s building, only to lose it when the landlord decided to sell it to a huge chain store so they could build a parking lot. “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot!” Joni Michelle sang. I knew investing in commercial property was wise because I sold real estate briefly during that era. So, I promised never to place all my energy into an investment I could never own; I would never again jeopardize all my hard work for something that would never bring me a return. Instead, I promised to invest in myself.

My brand has always been about mind, body, and spirit. That inspired me to build a holistic center with chiropractic, acupuncture, and fitness as the three-legged structure to health, wealth, and wellness. Today, I’m expanding my reach through the digital world and hope to reach across the ocean to touch and enliven as many lives as possible through the spirit of dance, movement, and meditation. I teach traditional Yoga, Pilates, and aerobics. However, I thread the art of dance, my mentors’ energy, and my life’s lessons into everything I do.

I authored a book entitled ‘I AM’ Imagination, Action, Memorization — The Way to Your Absolute Best. I wanted to share step-by-step instructions with others on building their best lives, thriving, and using their imagination and intuition to create their future. I think dance helped me develop these concepts because I’ve learned to imagine my next move, what to do if I fall, discipline myself to get up and start over again, and repeat the moves that work while avoiding the ones that knock me down. Fear is always there; however, trying something new can take you to another level, another dimension, and if it’s a calculated risk, it’s worth taking. I am eager to share the lessons embedded into my cellular memory to help others achieve their desired creative results. I’ve realized along the way that all the success I’ve ever looked for is already here, within me, in my heart, and in my body’s ability to get up and go out every day to teach others how to be healthy, wealthy, and free.

I don’t want anyone to suffer debilitating diseases that can largely be averted through proper nutrition, mindset, and exercise. Science has proven that most people facing diabetes can turn their health around by adjusting their eating habits and increasing their activity level, and that goes for heart disease, cancer, and a myriad of other illnesses. Lifestyle choices are the determining factor in our success in life. If you don’t have your health, you will never have wealth.

I’m very grateful to all the excellent role models in my life because I genuinely believe they inspired me to live out my dreams. They were my mirrors; I saw myself in them. They gave me feedback: straighten up, get stronger, be bolder, be sharper, know where you’re going, commit to the move, and then dance. They brought out a talent in me by allowing me the space to move and encouraging me to believe I could do whatever I thought possible.

Today, I live in paradise, in Costa Rica. I run my business from my phone and computer, no longer having to drive three hours to and from appointments or work 12-15 hour days. I’ll never again wonder if the landlord will pull the rug out from under my feet. Today, I am the landlord, the owner of my life and destiny, and the biggest investor of my heart. No matter the choreography, my heart will lead me through the right moves, and I will joyfully finish the dance.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

In March of 2020, the world shut down because of COVID-19. I was in Costa Rica, expecting to stay for three weeks, and because of the lockdown, I now live there.

When I realized that our world had changed forever and that the government could pull the rug out from under our feet, just as the landlord did years ago, I knew I had to devote more time and money to my aspirations and move in the direction of my heart. That led me to focus on developing the Costa Rica properties my husband and I had purchased when we bought our Absolute Best building in San Pedro, California. “Burn the boats” became my motto, and I forced myself to find a way to survive and thrive in Costa Rica; I began to choreograph a new dance. I called my family and asked for their support, mostly from my kids, who had to learn alongside me how we were going to manage and run this business in a long-distance relationship.

The fear was sometimes overwhelming. “What if there’s no more business to maintain and pay for my building? What if we can’t make payroll and can’t preach and teach health because no one’s walking through our doors? What was I going to do? Who were we going to serve?” Then, I started getting messages, emails, and social media posts encouraging me to attend webinars, online classes, and coaching courses that promised to help me maintain and grow my business despite the tough times. I attended several webinars and found that our business made it through the storm; we didn’t have to shut down entirely, and I learned how to develop an online course—dusted off a book I authored a few years ago and diversified the delivery systems used for disseminating my health and wealth message.

I love one-on-one coaching. However, you can never grow exponentially if you trade time for dollars. It’s always best to duplicate your efforts through your students, employees, and followers. In business, I aim to create a machine that produces passive income and allows me to live my best life comfortably and with as little stress as possible. So, I decided to develop our properties in Costa Rica and build Yoga retreats for people who want to come to paradise to relax, meditate, and create a new vision for themselves. I thought of this brilliant idea during COVID.

Since I am now a landlord receiving passive income from my building in LA, I can take my time, relax, and explore the beauty of this natural paradise while I contemplate, plan, and execute my next steps. I want to grow, expand, and give back what was graciously given to me. Positive energy that encourages creativity, happiness, and discipline through movement, mindfulness, and spirituality. It’s empowering to pass this energy forward. At least, that’s how it felt for me whenever I experienced transformational lessons from my mentors; they shaped me into the woman I am today. Whether through real estate, the wellness business, or digital marketing, the expansion of my empire will always equal the expansion of my heart; as long as it keeps a beat, this dance of life will never stop.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

I think Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People” is the most foundational book of all time for me. I think about Jim Shane, my mentor, who always said, “The sweetest sound to someone’s ear is their name,” or that we weren’t in the health club business; we were in the “people business.”

George S. Clason’s “The Richest Man in Babylon” is another classic that shaped my view of money. I came from a family that exuded limiting beliefs, lack, and fear of government. That book helped me see the practicality of money management and disciplining oneself to develop the skill; if you practice the basics of any skill often enough, it becomes second nature.

Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich” profoundly impacted me. One of the most impactful lessons was about staying open to the council of my elders, those who have already transitioned into the great beyond. Because of this book, I now know how to sit at the round table with my council to discuss my intentions and plans while listening to their contributions to my ideas.

My Mother was a very intuitive woman. She had the gift of connecting to people’s energies. She could move into different dimensions and foretell the outcomes of different scenarios. She taught me to listen to my instincts, and no matter what others around me were saying and doing, I had to follow my path with unwavering commitment.

All these things have crafted my philosophy and belief about life, business, and health.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.myabsolutebest.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myabsolutebest1/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clarita-myabsolutebest/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAgZtcKEb1BIt5y2A26T_Nw

Image Credits
Photo credit – Ash Gupta, 838 Media Group