We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jessica Gilliam. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jessica below.

Alright, Jessica thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

No Risk, no reward. Great risk, Great reward.

2020 was a year of chaos and uncertainty. I don’t have to describe the proverbial roller coaster we rode as a nation as covid-centric regulations dictated our way of doing business and life.
Personally, I stood at a crossroads. As our city went into shelter-in-place, my then 7 year old son came home to finish his first year via virtual education. The doctor who I was working for at the time shut down his plastic surgery practice in compliance to Dallas county and nation-wide ordinances. We worked remotely, consulting patients over Zoom and trying our best to keep our staff and our sanity. I turned 40 that year, and 4 weeks later to the day of my 40th birthday bash, the world shut down. The walls felt like they were closing in. I had considerable time to think about what my 40 years looked like thus far. What would I do with my life for the next 40? I had weeks to seriously contemplate what life would look like on the other side of covid, and more importantly, what would my life look like?

A little back story on me

I grew up in the industry of medical aesthetics, graduating from college in 2002, shortly after 9/11. My goal of becoming a graphic designer in a post-9/11 society had waned as entry-level agency jobs were scarce and the future of our country was somewhat uncertain. I didn’t have a lot of options for pursuing my passion, so I turned to my obsession: acne & skincare (this was eons before social media and Dr. Pimple Popper :) ). Fast forward to getting a professional license and organically promoting up within the industry for the next 20 years, (from medical aesthetician to team lead, ops manager, to office manager, to practice director), I saw the highs/lows, ins/outs, the good, bad, and the ugly of plastic surgery and medical aesthetics.

Sheltered in thought

If I’m being honest, when life came to a hard stop, I felt myself throwing up my hands in surrender. I didn’t want to direct anymore. My job and professional development had become stagnant. I had built a life building a life for others, all while sacrificing my life, health, and the health of my marriage and family on the altar of someone else’s dreams. For a paycheck. Like Ants Marching by Dave Matthews Band… But now I had been given a gift. The gift of a second chance- a chance to do life differently. It was time to break the mold I unknowingly made for myself.

Permission to Dream And Take Risks

After spending over a month at home, resting, and engaging with my son and his learning, our family made THE decision. April 19, 2020 was my last official day as a practice director. I had no plans, and I was scared, but excited-scared, if that makes sense. If you remember, we still didn’t know when the world would reopen, if we’d be able to pay our bills, keep our home, etc. I read a book called The Last Arrow- Save Nothing For The Next Life by Erwin McManus, and it opened my mind up to the possibility of what I could do and how I wanted to spend the rest of my life. I also read Terri Savelle Foy’s Dream It, Pin It, Live It- a book about goal setting and creating vision for your future using vision boards. I remember sitting in my bedroom for an entire day, mourning over lost time while daring to dream…writing a list of everything I wanted to accomplish in life over the next 40-50 years. It takes guts to sit in your bedroom and dream while the world is losing its marbles. But I needed this. I was hungry- no, I was starving to dream again.

I created my first vision board and went in full pursuit of my first me-first goal: getting my masters degree in digital marketing and data analytics. Believe me- I heard “all the things” from those closest to me: “there’s economic uncertainty, you’re too old to do this now, how will you provide, this is putting your family in a hard place, it’s not wise to do this now, just take a weekend class,” etc., etc.

I applied anyway and was admitted into St. Edward’s University’s DgMktgDa cohort beginning in January of 2021. I picked up part-time jobs while homeschooling our son. I basically harnessed all of energy and effort I spent previously laboring for others into pouring into myself and my family. It was risky. There were months where, financially, we barely scraped by.. I lost a handful of close friendships. There were moments where I felt very isolated and cut-off from the world. My previous identity was wrapped up in my job- what I could do for my boss and vendors, how to serve my patients. I would have moments where it would dawn on me just how much I had neglected myself. But NOW I was happier than I ever remember being before in my life. I felt liberated, excited to learn something new and to be able to apply my passion for medical aesthetics in a different way.

Risk Begets Rewards

Heading into my last semester of school, I took a digital marketing position for a highly successful and well-established plastic surgeon in Dallas, TX, and began applying my graduate learning to create an end-to-end digital strategy for his brand. I fell in love with plastic surgery all over again, but in a fresh way. Through the eyes of the customer via story-telling and architecting a customer journey that is married to a cohesively designed brand experience. I’m no longer putting out day-to-day internal office fires. I’m on fire about what I do and who I serve.

In November of 2022 I launched my own business, Blackstone Digital Marketing & Consulting, to help medical aesthetic professionals grow their professional brand and digital presence, and convey their unique value prop to meaningfully connect to their audience. We use data analytics to inform and optimize marketing efforts, and ultimately we hope to help raise the bar for all providers who desire to leave a unique imprint in medical aesthetics.

Personally and professionally, I am more fulfilled than I ever dreamed I’d be. When I think of the risk and the grit that took to dream again in a world that has since never been the same, I’m glad I took the jump by saying yes to a limitless future.

I follow another first-generation Iranian-American entrepreneur, Alex Hormozi, and was inspired by something he recently said. He said, that some people say the hard times build you, but he believes that hard times reveal the savage inside of you. I’ll go further to say, that you never know what’s inside of you if you don’t believe enough in yourself to pursue the greater you that waits to be discovered in your future. Risk drew out the reward on the inside of me, and I wake up grateful every day for a second chance to finally live the life of my dreams.

My advice and encouragement to anyone is to take the risk and dream an impossible dream for yourself.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Black stones are said to amplify the strengths of other stones in close proximity. Our goal is to strengthen your brand and online presence through strategic digital marketing to your ideal audience.

At Blackstone Digital, we pursue a culture of purpose, integrity, and results using effective marketing strategies so your brand leaves a lasting mark in the marketplace.

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

Your Divine Fingerprint by Keith Craft Leadshift by John Maxwell
Business Made Simple by Donald Miller
Belonging To The Brand by Mark Schaeffer
The Gap And The Gain by Dan Sullivan & Dr. Benjamin Hardy
Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek

Contact Info:

• Website: blackstonedigital.net
• Instagram: _jessica_gilliam_
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-gilliam-m-s-471219a0/

Image Credits
photo credit: Amber Tice Photography