Jessica Armstrong’s Stories, Lessons & Insights

Jessica Armstrong shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Hi Jessica, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
I feel now is an imperative time to give back and take care of your community. I am currently a new voice on the board of the Grand County Advocates focused on reducing/eliminating domestic violence. The joy comes from not only giving my time to something I am passionate about, providing progressive ideas to grow our outreach and outcomes but also knowing we are helping our neighbors feel safe, valid, and protected. When we feel hopeless the best place to find comfort is amongst out community members and looking out for one another.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am a woman with a lot of passions, ideas, and creative juices, so many sometimes I often have to reel myself back to reality. I moved from a place I felt stagnant in to Colorado to start a new life. I was looking for somewhere in the mountains on a ranch or resort, somewhere I could have room and board as well as big nature in my backyard. After applying to many places including Alaska, Colorado chose me. I packed up my bags and moved out to Summit County the winter season of 2014.
Due to my upbringing, I had become very independent so this was not scary but exciting. Colorado was my therapy (as well as my actual therapist), I was able to get healthy physically and mentally. I was able to discover more of who I was and wanted to be.
Eventually I started working in real estate as a career shift and having the entrepreneurial spirit I do, 2020 provided the perfect opportunity for me to start my own business, TCCREATED, which provides real estate agents across Colorado with exceptional transaction coordinating services for risk reduction, time recovery, and an exceptional client experience.
I always want to do things 100%, I want to create a quality product/service that stands out in the industry, I want to provide more opportunities for other women to thrive and be more in control of their time, space, finances, and workload,
If I am able to inspire, support, and cheerlead other women professionals then I know I am doing something right. That is the foundation of my brand.
I am currently working on expanding and giving a seat in TCCREATED to TCs all over the country that need more support to grow their own business and give more agents the type of assistance that sets them apart from the rest. Ultimately helping their community as well.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
There are many things that can rupture a bond between acquaintances, co-workers, friends, family, those closest to you, etc. I feel the basis of these interruptions is trust.
As people evolve, practice boundaries, develop morals and ideas of their internal and external worlds relationships begin to be tested.
When people are sharing spaces, ideas, business, and life choices, conflicts can shatter bonds.
Expressing vulnerability alone can significantly change how you see ones you’ve loved the most in an instant.
Trust is a foundational part of relationships and I would argue it is the most important because without it what can you really build from it. If you do not trust those who poured the foundation of your home how can you comfortably live in the house.
When you begin a romantic relationship you are trusting someone with your heart, the second they lie to you, that trust is eroded. When you start a business with your best friend it requires a significant amount of trust, yet can be some of the most fragile type of trust. Once one of you start disrespecting the other’s voice or efforts, resentment begins to grow and ultimately the trust is gone.
Early in life we find out how hurtful gossiping and talking behind someone’s back can be and the end result, whether it feels like it at the time, is loss of the trust you built. As we learn who we are and grown trust in our relationships becomes more and more important as we can’t truly be comfortable and feel safe if the trust is not there,
The only way back is rebuilding the trust. This has to be an individual effort by the one who caused the distrust. If the bond is repairable the person who broke the trust must come to terms and take accountability for this first. They must desire to do the work and trust in themselves that they are able to be trustworthy moving forward. This is true even if both are at fault, together you have to want to find to crux of the issue and how you got here.
Ultimately it takes a lot work and vulnerability to restore bonds,
We have to be willing to let go of our egos, put ourselves in others shoes and not be defensive because someone else’s experience is not the same as yours. to restore bonds.
Trust is a social foundation for us as social creatures who must work together to make our world better. We must be wanting to learn from others and expand our understanding. Learn how to be a trustful partner in what ever form as well as take accountability for actions that we have taken or contributed to which caused friction or hurt in others, that we may have not understood before and go to work making amends.
Ignite love and compassion within yourself, this will help guide your path to understanding what trust means to you, listening to what trust may mean to others, and how you can uphold your values around trust for yourself and your relationships.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
I love this questions, because it is definitely an aspect of my life that has truly influenced how I healed childhood trauma, how to listen in more meaningful ways, how to treat others, foundations for how I developed and run my business, and understanding the world around me.
Of course suffering looks different to everyone and effects people differently depending on a multitude of experiences. Yet, it can help us in very similar ways. Knowing this alone is a level of awareness that can help ease our frustrations around comparing, connection, and open-mindedness. You will also be a better leader and mentor if you understand these principles as well.
For me, at first, suffering felt like a solo trip, I never had many I trusted to not make me feel like a burden or complainer for having things that I now realize were truly abusive and effected my self worth immensely. Dealing with it on my own eventually lead me down a bad path and alcohol became my coping mechanism. The only thing that helped the suffering I was feeling but unable to identify.
Being alone in my suffering, in my darkest moments led me to serious self reflection, the do or die moments, will I choose myself? This is also a reason I trust the darker moments because it is usually where I find hope that leads me to clarity as well as learning more about myself and loving myself. Being able to get yourself through suffering is always an opportunity to grow if you are willing to listen.
From suffering I was able to focus on the help I needed to be the person I always knew I could be before the trauma. Fresh out of the womb full of joy, ideas, and ready to heal the world!
Therapy brought my origins and effects of my suffering and I was eager to enjoy life more often then suffer so I was willing to do the work and I continue to do the work so I can not only reduce my own suffering and manage the effects/triggers from it but also help others lessen their suffering. And my success in business and relationships is a direct result of this.
Success can teach you new things about yourself as well as how you deal with gaining success, you do not need to have experienced suffering to be successful, from my experience the suffering will provide more in depth nuance and define your success it a more significant way. You have more trust, faith, and curiosity in yourself, your work, and those on this human journey with you. It can take time to truly appreciate the outcomes of the internal work but remembering them can be the best motivation.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
Women in more leadership positions, I believe women are the heart of any community and are uniquely created to lead. Our society is lacking the message of togetherness, nurturing, and empathy. We are at a point where there only direction to go is towards compassion and envisioning new systems to ensure everyone has access to necessities, educations, and opportunity. The desire has to be there but it is constantly being suppressed. Supporting women in their passions and amplifying their voice will always be something I am committed to everyday for as long as it takes to see real change in how women are spoken about, represented, and protected.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
That taking care of your society by ensuring everyone is seen as a crucial member regardless of what our society has taught us over the millennia.
Prioritizing the most venerable of our society, education, ensuring everyone has food, healthcare, and housing, no matter what is the only way any of us can benefit from this experience and truly reap all that our time together can offer.
Changing the messages we receive from our government and media would be a huge first step to togetherness, appreciation, accountability, and empathy. As well as teaching these social fundaments in school. Addressing what is the absolute core issues of our society currently with true transparency.
This will require actively moving away from the patriarchy, white supremacy, and billionaire interests by installing leaders who recognize the paramount advantages of a strong, healthy, happy society full of diversity, culture, compassion, and connection.
Because we have decided that every member of our society, community, country, world has the right to dignity and are deserving of compassion and empathy and we want to see that reflected in the results of our funds and systems.
We can do things differently, we can progress forward and evolve. We can do hard things especially when it is so worth it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tccreated.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetccreated/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tccreated
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Image Credits
Kelly Weaver Photography