We recently connected with Janel A. Young and have shared our conversation below.
Janel A. , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
Faith has always been a constant in my life, both openly and privately. I wholeheartedly believe in the law of attraction and the power of affirmations as they relate to manifesting change. My internal mantra, which I often call upon to shift my mindset during challenging times, is “THINK. SPEAK. BE POSITIVE”. With a prayer and a plan, I will continue to work hard to achieve my goals! Life itself is a risk and I’ve never been afraid to bet on me. There are no guarantees and no do-overs. To not strive to live the life of your dreams, in my opinion, is an unforgivable gamble against an uncertain and unpromised future. Taking that into account, why not dedicate time and energy pursuing your passions, goals, and the life you truly want? By the age of 19, I was fully independent, living with my fiancé, working part-time and going to college. My first life changing risk was getting married and owning real-estate at the age of 21. At this age, this was unchartered waters in my family and circle of friends. None of this was by accident. Now as a family, we continue to learn, plan, strategize and support each other in the manifestation of our goals.
Education + real-estate is the start of generational wealth, and as a young couple looking for a better life, two incomes were better than one. It was time to make things official and stop “playing house”. My fiancé was working full-time, going to college and his job at UPS offered exceptional benefits. For me, marriage was a pivotal shift in the right direction, immediately providing access to healthcare, savings, life insurance, and homeownership. Homeownership = stability, financial equity and a better quality of life. Now in my 40s, after purchasing four properties and calling three states home, taking the risk of owning a home at an early age was definitely the right decision. We are now planning and looking forward to putting our sons through college and gifting them with the down payment to purchase their first home.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am just a girl that decided to go for it. As an only child, my mom made sure I spent time around other kids my age. I was frequently in sports, dance and other extracurricular activities. However, I still had many moments of loneliness, personal insecurities, and I would frequently sit, watch, observe and internally process the people, surroundings and situations that had an influence on my life – both good and bad. Mental health, and self-care wasn’t a topic of discussion back then. Keeping food on the table and making ends meet was our primary focus. LIFE frequently got in the way of LIVING. In the inner city, its hard to dream when you can’t see beyond your neighborhood. Attending college was a life changing experience. I made friends from all over the world. I traveled many places and was able to witness the success of families, and women who looked like me. This was my confirmation and promise to myself – The life I want is absolutely attainable.
As a teenager, I always kept a diary, and over time it eventually evolved into journaling, mind-mapping, and brain dumping in an effort to understand and reflect on my decisions and thought processes. My wish list was chronicled in my diary and it secretly held my dreams and aspirations about college, career, marriage, a family of my own, travel, relocation and owning real-estate. As I grew older, with more responsibilities, I added a planner/organizer to my list of tools and resources to help me better achieve these goals and put my words into actionable steps. Currently, I wear many hats as a wife, mom, corporate executive and entrepreneur. About 7 years ago, I was introduced to the practice of Minimalism, and studied the art of how to use this practice to create a quality of life not driven by labels, brands or price points. Minimalism is living a life of intent and choosing quality over quantity whenever possible. If it no longer serves a purpose, remove it.
My husband and I launched SassiCat, a family owned and operated trendy life-style boutique that prioritizes self-care, wellness and rest. Sarcasm and laughter is our love language. We offer a variety of self-care resources such affirmation cards, empowerment notebooks, candles and trendy apparel such as loungewear, kickback sets, handbags and travel totes. With the use of our resources, we aim to help others stimulate personal growth, organize and achieve their goals, and prioritize rest, relaxation and empowerment. During my free time, I enjoy relaxing at home with my husband and our two sons. I love daily phone calls with my mom, journaling, reading, traveling, hanging out with our closest friends and enjoying a nice slow dinner.
Check us out at shopsassicat.com.
Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?
Yes, we are Ecommerce and we have a storefront in Painted Tree Cinco Ranch. The platform that we use is WooCommerce with Square as our “back office” to manage inventory, online payments and cash management. The two systems partner well together and manage our inventory in real time. Square offers tools, job aids and resources to help implement shortcuts that are extremely intuitive to the critical needs of a small business owner. Square has cashless equipment that connects via bluetooth to take payments via apple pay, track cash transactions and process credit card payments. We can also provide our customers with a printed and electronic receipt immediately after a transaction during onsite events.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
As an entrepreneur with a business rooted in empowering women, self-care, wellness, and rest, a quick lesson we had to learn is not all partnerships will align with the core values of our brand, business model, and our target audience. We’ve grown comfortable in declining invitations to collaborate, while remaining appreciative of the opportunities. We are very intentional about the quality and source of the merchandise we offer to our customers. We now ensure our branding strategy is carried comprehensively when we agree to participate in events, conferences and retreats. We want to remain consistently connected with our customers.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.shopsassicat.com
- Instagram: @shopsassicat
- Facebook: @shopsassicat
Image Credits
Kiara D. Jackson and Blue Whispers Photography