We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cristal Ortiz a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Cristal, thanks for joining us today. What’s one of the most important lessons you learned in school?

“A ship in a harbour is safe but that is not what ships are built for” -John A. Shedd

I first saw this quote on a fortune cookie. This was my freshman year of high school. It was a quote that I had not heard before, but one that had impacted me. One of the most important lessons I have learned in high school and especially in college is to make the most out of every opportunity and to not be afraid to venture out and do what I am supposed to do, like the ship mentioned in the quote.

Not every opportunity crosses into your life more than once. When an opportunity arises, one must be afraid to take the chance or the risk. But how many opportunities rejected have caused another story to play out? How many rejections of opportunities will cause regret? I think it is important for you to also take these words into account, do not be afraid to venture out and pursue what your heart desires.

Cristal, 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 Cristal Ortiz, I am 21 years old and I was born and raised in Sampson County, NC. I am currently a college student majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Chemistry at Duke University.

I am mainly a college student and work as a graphic designer for my college campus student affairs department. On the side, I am a content creator and have partnerships with different brands such as Bulk Supplements and C4 Energy, I have my own brand Cristal as well as my rental subscription service known as Cristal Clothes.

Growing up, I have been inspired by my hardworking parents, and have been taught that hard work will get you where you need to be.

During high school, I would post content consistently, even though the audience was sub 10k followers on Instagram, Once I got to college, I started to take content creation as a side hustle more seriously and managed to grow my platform over the next three years. I am currently at about 120k followers as a Junior in college. I focus on clothes, working out, and just the everyday college life. It has been a trial and error situation, in which I am managing being a full-time student, working, and extracurricular events such as clubs and volunteering, but one thing is for sure, where there is a will, there is a way.

Along the way, I have picked up projects and skills that have honed my ability for future use.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

There is a specific book that I highly recommend called “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu. Sun Tzi was a Chinese military general and philosopher who lived in China during the Eastern Zhou period. This collection of quotes contains advice that is beyond wise and can be universally applied.

Here is a quote that I have highlighted:

“Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.”
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

This applies to many aspects of life, but most importantly to how you visualize your image. Yes, there is a reason why it is important to be weak when you are strong, morally, it can keep you humble and appreciative of the moments you feel when you are strong. Yet, it can also keep you ready for when life can switch on you again because with every high there can be a period of stagnates, so it is important to keep up the good habits as if you were weak, and not quit routine and discipline in the moments you are strong. You can always be better. A better person, a better child, a better parent, and a better human being. Of course, still, take care of yourself in the process.

To be strong when you are weak is important in gaining a mental advantage— you want to have the ability to believe that you are capable even in the weakest of moments. You need to visualize and internalize that you deserve to be strong and continue working towards it, eventually you will reach your goal.

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

During my second-year spring semester at Duke, I screened a patient who desperately needed housing. This is an experience that has deeply impacted me. The process to make sure the patient was safe and stable was a long process, that took close to 1.5 months. This was my first time experiencing the pressure of helping someone else in their own life when it came to their direct safety and well-being. At first, I was very overwhelmed. I had adapted their stress to my own, which was a mistake on my part. I just had not had the experience before when it came to these types of situations that involved a stranger’s whole life and well-being.

I had to learn to take a step back and not to take their stress as my own but as a motivation to help them. It was a process of being persistent and hopeful, but also being appropriately adaptive to the situation with weekly calls for 5 weeks to make sure we were going on the right path. At the end of this period, I am very grateful to say that the patient is finally in secure housing. I have learned through this experience that to be a true and helpful leader in this community is to accept the situation but find a way to be persistent through such a situation. The need for flexibility is also important, there was no strict timeline of when housing would be provided, but rather it was to be flexible with what came up and how to handle it. When it comes to leading, it relies on adapting to a situation but learning to be resilient, because at times other people also need that resilience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cristalsclothes.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cristal._.ortiz/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cristal-ortiz-5492b1228/

Image Credits

RyzziEdits