Reignite Your Recruiting Career: Overcoming Burnout and Finding Purpose with Jasmine Escalera

Rhona Pierce:
00:01

When burnout and frustration become part of daily life, whether it's from a long job search, multiple layoffs, or toxic work environments, burning it all down might feel like the only option. But what if reinvention didn't have to be so chaotic?

Jasmine Escalera:
00:17

Reinvention does not have to look like that. It's really about identifying an anchor point in your life, a point or a thing in your life that if you transformed that area, it would essentially have a ripple effect, and it would create change throughout your entire life.

Rhona Pierce:
00:35

That's doctor Jasmine Escalada, the queen of reinvention herself. She helps women break out of toxic work cycles and realign their careers with what truly matters. In today's episode, she's sharing her exact process for how you can create lasting, meaningful change without the chaos. We spoke about how to break out of toxic patterns, mindset shifts to unlock reinvention, regaining control to avoid burnout, and how to redefine success on your own terms. Whether you're navigating a long job search, recovering from multiple layoffs, carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders as an HR team of 1, or wanting to learn how to set better boundaries at work, grab a notebook because this episode is filled with actionable advice you can start implementing today.

Rhona Pierce:
01:32

Let's dive in to my conversation with Jasmine. I am so happy to be joined by the queen of reinvention herself, Jasmine. Thank you so much for being on the show today.

Jasmine Escalera:
01:44

Oh my gosh. Thank you for having me. We have been in each other's fear on LinkedIn for so many years. I mean, I think since I first started coaching, I've been following you and, respectively, you've been following me. So it's always great to just see you and to be here with you.

Jasmine Escalera:
02:01

It's wonderful.

Rhona Pierce:
02:02

Yeah. It's always amazing, and I always love I love all of my guests, but I always love when I have to when I get to have friends or people I've known for years on the podcast.

Jasmine Escalera:
02:12

I know. That's always so fun.

Rhona Pierce:
02:15

So I know your story, and I know that, like me, you have lots of pivots throughout your life. Mhmm. What made you decide to focus on reinvention?

Jasmine Escalera:
02:27

Yeah. It's kind of a whirlwind of a story because I was career coaching, specifically career coaching, job search coaching for quite a few years. And I felt as though I had lost the love for it in a way, and I was still doing it. I was still having immense impact with so many women, helping them to find positions, helping them to find their passion and purpose within their career. But I I felt like I needed to listen more to myself and create something that I think was a little bit more hard aligned.

Jasmine Escalera:
03:02

I feel like in business, one of the things that sometimes can trick us a little bit is, you know, you follow these business leaders on Instagram, on on LinkedIn, and they talk about these major milestones, you know, not just the 10 k month, but now we're talking about the 100 k month. And I think we can get lost in that shuffle a lot and forget that the reason why we created a business was to give us freedom and flexibility and to honor that internal voice and passion that we have and bring it to the world. And so I was very passionate about career coaching, but I felt like I was so now far removed from the corporate world. And I had changed, like, so much of myself had changed. So I wanted to focus on reinvention because when I asked myself, what am I really passionate about?

Jasmine Escalera:
03:51

What I was passionate about was helping women to honor their internal voice, listen to their internal voice, and start to make decisions that more closely aligned with not just the woman they wanted to become, but the life that they wanted to create. And I wanted to help women start to prioritize themselves and their goals. And to see that reinvention, although a very roller coaster ride of a journey because you are breaking down limiting beliefs, you are tapping into old belief systems, you are healing, You don't have to go through that alone, and it doesn't have to be a struggle. So reinvention coaching for me was to pivot into something that was more heart aligned, but also to go back to the root of why I started this business, which was to create a service that connected to to my heart.

Rhona Pierce:
04:41

I love that. And I know also as a business owner that once you get to that point where you're not feeling it, where your heart isn't in it, like, that comes through, especially us who we create content as part of our business strategy, business development strategy. Like, you can just start feeling it. And as soon as I start feeling it, it's like, oh.

Jasmine Escalera:
05:04

Yeah. Yeah. The energy bleeds into the content. It bleeds into the marketing, and you show up for your clients because, obviously, you care so much about them and their transformation, but it it ends up showing up in other places. Like, I just didn't feel as though I was as happy in my life as when I had first started my business.

Jasmine Escalera:
05:22

And I was really questioning if I'm working this hard and doing something that I'm not enjoying as much, did I essentially just recreate my career, you know, where I was working I was the workhorse and I was putting in the hours, but I wasn't happy doing the thing that I was doing.

Rhona Pierce:
05:40

Yeah. So when people hear the word reinvention, at least I know me at first, I think, okay, burn it all down. Let's start over with something drastic and start

Jasmine Escalera:
05:54

from scratch.

Rhona Pierce:
05:55

Is that really what reinvention means?

Jasmine Escalera:
05:58

You know, it's so interesting. I love that you're asking this question because at first, reinvention was that for me. And what I recognized and noticed going through many healing journeys was that I was actually very addicted to chaos and scarcity, and I was incredibly addicted to fixing things. I grew up in the projects in Brooklyn. We're fairly, you know, we're fairly poor.

Jasmine Escalera:
06:25

We didn't have much. And so I was really used to living in chaotic family systems and chaotic structures and chaotic communities and with barely, you know, anything to get by. So when I first started really transforming myself, the way that I did it was I would throw freaking bombs in my life. You know? And I would wait to fall to a rock bottom before I finally said to myself, like, I have to change.

Jasmine Escalera:
06:51

But reinvention does not have to look like that. And in fact, the way I teach it with with my community, with the courage crew, is it's really about identifying an anchor point in your life. A point or a thing in your life that if you transformed that area, it would essentially have a ripple effect, and it would create change throughout your entire life. So, for example, if you really want to be able to create this thing called generational wealth, you wanna get out of debt, you wanna start to really create investments for yourself, You may step back and ask yourself, well, where am I gonna generate this money from? And, traditionally, it's through your 9 to 5.

Jasmine Escalera:
07:32

So the focal point for that individual would be to really build the courage, the confidence, the strategy to reinvent within their career to create or generate additional income so that they have the disposable income to then create that generational wealth. So I like to really work with my clients to understand, like, if we change one area of your life, how could that essentially then just have a ripple effect for other areas that naturally you start to feel transformation so that it doesn't have to be like what I used to do, which is like boom boom boom

Rhona Pierce:
08:03

blow it all

Jasmine Escalera:
08:03

up. It can be something that really you are thoughtful around, you're strategic around, and you love yourself through the process. You don't have to hurt yourself through the process.

Rhona Pierce:
08:15

I like that you mentioned the whole addiction to chaos and scarcity. I I identify with that. A lot of the pivots that I've done have been, like, burn it all down Yeah. Start over type thing. How does that manifest for people who are working a traditional 9 to 5, not necessarily business owners like you and I?

Jasmine Escalera:
08:39

Mhmm. You mean, how does it how does it manifest in terms of the transformation? Or

Rhona Pierce:
08:45

in terms of, like yeah. Like, how do you see your people, like clients that you've worked with, who work a traditional 9 to 5, who are Mhmm. Burning it all down even though it doesn't look like, okay. I'm starting a new business. How does it look for a 9 to 5 person?

Jasmine Escalera:
09:00

Yeah. So reinvention in a 9 to 5, a lot of times for the women that I work with. Traditionally, I've worked with women of color. I've worked with women who have come up in the career world and had had a lot of barriers towards growing and growth and getting to the place that they wanted to be. So for a lot of my clients, reinvention actually is starting with the rebuilding of their mindset and the rebuilding of their confidence after toxic workplaces, after feeling like you haven't been listened to, after feeling like you couldn't speak up or be your authentic self in the workplace.

Jasmine Escalera:
09:36

And I tend to believe that mindset truly is the foundation to anything, including reinvention. So what I like to do with my clients is we wanna take bold, courageous action towards having the life that you deserve. But bold, courageous action means that you really have to take action. You have to be bold, and you have to be courageous. And that starts with you believing that you have the capacity to create the life you want, believing that you deserve that life, and then really believing that you can do it.

Jasmine Escalera:
10:06

And so a lot of times, the foundation, whether it's a 9 to 5, whether it's starting a business is always the mindset. So with the women that I work with in their career, a lot of times it's about learning how to bring that confident version of themselves into the workplace so that it can have that trickle effect into, I'm now increasing my visibility in the space. I'm now bragging about myself. I'm now promoting myself. I'm now asking for promotions.

Jasmine Escalera:
10:35

I'm now really getting that pay raise, or I'm not gonna tolerate this BS anymore. I'm gonna find a work environment and just an environment and culture in general that's going to accept who I am. So I think for a 9 to 5 or and for anyone who's undergoing reinvention, the number one thing is really to ask yourself, what am I trying to create? And before I try to take any actions towards creating that, what are essentially the limiting beliefs or the negative thoughts that I have towards even the creation of that? Because you can implement a strategy, but you're not gonna implement it effectively if you don't have 100% belief in it.

Jasmine Escalera:
11:14

Now that doesn't mean that you can't take action while creating belief, and that's something that I had to learn as well is that I can build a business while both starting to continue to believe I can build a business. But you have to start the process of belief.

Rhona Pierce:
11:31

Yeah. It's really all about the mindset. And I know for my listeners and the audience that that typically follows my content, we usually work in TA and HR, which are are roles where you're, like, taking care of the company. It's about people. It's about taking care of everyone else.

Rhona Pierce:
11:51

And I've seen, at least in my life, when I was an employee, it manifest as, like, I would go to from company to company, and I would, like, go to the companies with the biggest problems, like red flag alert in the interviews. I knew this was a hot mess, and I was thinking, I can fix this. I can come in here and fix this. And, like, after a while, you just, like, go chase and chase that, and it's like, yeah, you get more money, you get everything, but you yourself start feeling, like, the burnout and the, like, the stress of everyone else's issues. Have you worked with many people who have manifested, like, the the whole, like, burning it all down means going to something that looks shiny and new, but in the end, it's exactly the same thing you were just running away from?

Jasmine Escalera:
12:43

Yeah. So there's so much to say here. First off, within talent and HR, I don't think we really talk enough about burnout for HR leaders, executives, managers, people in that space. The burnout is real. The trauma is also real.

Jasmine Escalera:
12:59

I've worked with people in HR who are seriously have PTSD from some of the experiences that they've had to go through change management, laying people off. I mean, that's traumatic, you know, to be the one in charge of something like that. So I don't think we talk enough about the burnout that HR executives and talent acquisition executives, all of the leaders, anyone in that space is really feeling on a day to day basis. So if you are in TA, if you are in HR, please know that I I am sending you so many flowers right now because, I mean, you're right. These are individuals who hold up organizations and typically don't get, like, recognized for what they do.

Jasmine Escalera:
13:43

I think that in in that specific space too, you are kind of chasing the organizations that are a hot mess because that means that you can go in there and you can help. And essentially, that's what you're there to do. Yes. So it's a challenge here. So one of the things that I recognized in my own journey, and then this became something that I very I was very hard at teaching.

Jasmine Escalera:
14:08

Like, I I wanted this to be a major point for everyone. I posted on this on LinkedIn. The hardest position to start after a traumatic position, after a toxic work environment, the hardest position to start is the new position. Right? And the reason for that is because oftentimes, we are running from one thing and we run right into the arms of the exact same thing.

Jasmine Escalera:
14:31

And so there's a lot of processing that has to happen between you leaving that position and you stepping into the next one. And a lot of it has to happen before you even accept that role. You have to really identify what is it that that company or organization did not provide to me? What is it that I truly need? Who do I wanna be in this next organization?

Jasmine Escalera:
14:57

And then a tough one is, like, what am I gonna leave behind? And if you're doing that reflection in that middle ground, right, like, as you're searching for the new position, it essentially helps you to identify the right organizations. What I love to do with my clients is I love for them to map out what do they wanna see, not just in their next role and position, but within their next organization and within their next leader. And then to craft interview questions that are specifically based on those things. And so it almost kind of allows you to do this reflective exercise, but then map that out so that the questions that you're asking during interviews are really thoughtful around what you want and what you don't wanna ever encounter again based off of your past experiences.

Jasmine Escalera:
15:46

Now, everyone always ask me, well, you know, I could get in this job, like, how do you really know, like, a 100% certainty? You don't. Right? You don't know with a 100% certainty. But I can tell you that with thoughtfulness, with reflection, and with the courage to ask the right questions, you are limiting statistically the possibility of you starting the cycle again.

Jasmine Escalera:
16:09

Because really what I truly believe from a spiritual standpoint is that you will continue to be in the pattern in the cycle until you change it. Right? And that often requires us taking a step back, recognizing the pattern which very many of us do but then actioning on changing the pattern. And that's where we sometimes fall short.

Rhona Pierce:
16:35

I love that. I love the whole, yeah, we know the pattern. We we just we know it. But recognizing and taking the action to me is like, okay. I see this happening.

Rhona Pierce:
16:45

This is what I'm going to do to get out of it. That all starts with you shifting your mindset.

Jasmine Escalera:
16:50

Absolutely.

Rhona Pierce:
16:51

Burnout can be so draining. Yeah. What's your go to strategy for helping people, like, rediscover their spark and their purpose and their passion, especially after toxic workplaces or long job searches, layoffs, things like that?

Jasmine Escalera:
17:08

Yeah. It's so interesting because burnout is a really interesting one because, you know, I work and I'm sure you do too, quite a lot on my business. Right? I have never experienced burnout unless I was doing something that wasn't aligned with the purpose of why I started this thing. And so, burnout can have a variety of different factors.

Jasmine Escalera:
17:33

I think there's an internal factor, meaning, I am not aligned with the purpose of my life, my soul, my intention, my career, whatever that is. I'm just completely out of alignment. And so I'm working harder thinking that that's gonna make it feel better when it actually has the counter effect. So there's that internal component where if you're experiencing burnout, it could quite possibly be that that's a signal that you're just out of alignment and that requires you to do that internal work of like, am I in the right work environment? Am I in in the right space?

Jasmine Escalera:
18:08

Am I in the right business? Which was something that I had to ask myself. Then there's the external component. Right? The external component is you happen to be in an organization where burnout culture is just, that's just what it is and that's the norm.

Jasmine Escalera:
18:22

But you also have control of that too. Right? So I always want for people to understand that you have control over your circumstances. You have control over where you are. You may not be able to throw up the deuces and quit this job today because financially, that's not within the cards for you.

Jasmine Escalera:
18:42

But you do have the capacity to do the things that I'm sure you and so many of your guests have talked about, the networking, the starting the resume, the getting things started. And I can tell you that when you take your power back and when you take your control back and when you really stand in that, I'm not allowing this to happen to me anymore, the power that you take back helps you to start setting those boundaries. Right? Because oftentimes, people will have a hard time setting the boundaries and saying no, but it's because you haven't made the affirmation yet that this is no longer in service of you. Once you finally tell yourself, this is no longer in service of me and I am not gonna let it happen, the boundaries just naturally start to unfold.

Jasmine Escalera:
19:29

So I think burnout really does you have to look at it from those two kinds of lenses are of, you know, are you doing what you are aligned or what you are supposed to do? And then externally, are you in the right spaces? You know? Or are these environments just essentially triggering you to start to work too much, to do too much, and that's causing you the burnout?

Rhona Pierce:
19:51

Yeah. Yeah. I can see as you're talking, I can see so many examples and remember so many times because even when it's not a job search, even when it's not after a layoff, just regular day to day of being a TA professional, you're working with different hiring managers. You're working with different candidates. All the pressure, all the expectations, usually budget.

Rhona Pierce:
20:15

I always say budget is a trigger word for anyone in TA or HR because we usually have no budget, but we're expected to do so much. So burnout creeps in really quick if you don't know how to set those boundaries. If it's like, great. You want me to do all of these things. You're also not giving me the money to do all of these things, and that's fine.

Rhona Pierce:
20:37

We don't have the money. This is what you're gonna get type of thing. Those conversations are the ones that help you not get into that stress and that burnout and that, like, let me go burn this all down and start over somewhere else and do the exact same thing.

Jasmine Escalera:
20:54

Yeah. And, you know, the career space is a tricky one, I have to say. Because when you think about the career environment, right, like, it would be it would be awesome for us to all be able to say, like, no. I mean, this is how much you pay me and this is how much you're gonna get out of me. And I'm sorry, there's just no other thing that's gonna happen.

Jasmine Escalera:
21:12

But the career space is challenging because the career space is is actually tied to your your livelihood. So you get paid to work, and when you get paid, you then pay your rent, you pay your food, you pay your taxes, you pay all the other things. This is a tricky space to navigate because it can be really challenging for people to see themselves taking that stance when essentially their livelihood is actually connected to this position. And, if you are someone who is triggered around money, so you grew up in scarcity or you didn't have financial safety or financial security or stability. Now you're going into ingrained very deep trauma around money.

Jasmine Escalera:
22:01

And so it is a very tricky one, the career space, and I think it's that's why we sometimes, you know, have clients or friends or people or women or people we know who were like, come on. Just stand up for yourself. But it just it's a really one hard one to navigate.

Rhona Pierce:
22:20

Yeah. What are some of the biggest fears or obstacles that people face when they're considering reinvention?

Jasmine Escalera:
22:28

I think the biggest one is when you decide to change and reinvent your life, when you decide to walk a different path, there's a lot of healing involved in that, like, a lot of healing. You have to the reason why we are walking the path that we're on right now is because it's comfortable and it's safe. And if it's comfortable and it's safe, that means essentially your brain, your biological system, everything is like, why would we ever change? You're alive. You're eating.

Jasmine Escalera:
22:57

You're paying your bills. You're doing fine. There's no need for us to go through this thing called reinvention. Like, why would we ever do that? So you're fighting biological systems, but then you're also fighting your mind.

Jasmine Escalera:
23:11

Right? So you're fighting your body, which is used to doing things in a certain way and having a certain chemical balance, and you're fighting your mind, which is used to thinking a certain way. So there's a lot of healing. There's a lot of breaking down old belief systems. Reinvention also, which is something that no one told me about, but I figured it out through the process is can sometimes be very lonely.

Jasmine Escalera:
23:37

Because when you start to shed all of those old belief systems and you start to say that life is no longer in service of me, I'm gonna go out and seek the one that is. Well, there's a lot of people who are not gonna go on that journey with you. And even people who you can't just release and let go of, like family members, that relationship is gonna change, and it's gonna look different. And so there's a lot of, like, shifting that has to happen in reinvention. And it can sometimes feel a little lonely.

Jasmine Escalera:
24:08

It can definitely feel pretty uncomfortable. And so knowing that is, I think, really important. It doesn't mean not to not do it. Actually, I think the best thing that ever happened in my life was going through multiple reinventions because the calmness, the peace, the freedom that I have in myself, I wouldn't trade this for the world. But it does require that level of work.

Jasmine Escalera:
24:31

And what I always tell individuals is during every reinvention, there was always a point where I was just so sad. And it was because with growth comes grief. You have to grieve the version of you that you are changing. You have to grieve the people that you are releasing. You have to grieve so much, and it's almost kind of like your body is just going through a process.

Jasmine Escalera:
24:56

But growth is always on the other side. So when I find myself getting stuck in this place of grief, I always know I'm on my path to some really beautiful change.

Rhona Pierce:
25:06

Is there any specific, like, things that you do to overcome these fears? Because no one likes feeling uncomfortable.

Jasmine Escalera:
25:16

Yeah.

Rhona Pierce:
25:16

But we know we all know, like, if I do this, if I get out of my comfort zone, there's change, there's growth on the other side. But still, like you said, our body is comfortable. Our brain tells us, why are you doing this? Are you why are you wanting to be uncomfortable? Is there anything that you do?

Rhona Pierce:
25:32

Any, like, tactical things or any specific things that you do to, like, overcome that.

Jasmine Escalera:
25:39

I think there are 2 really great things to consider and one is activators. So we often scroll through Instagram and we look at what other people have and we get this trigger envy or jealousy response. Right? I always like to look at what other people have as a way to activate myself to possibility. And so when I see things, I always ask myself, do I want it?

Jasmine Escalera:
26:06

You know, do I want this? How do I get it? What can I achieve? How do they do it? How can I talk to them?

Jasmine Escalera:
26:10

How can I find someone who did it? So, I think it's one part is finding activators, finding people who show you what's possible when you get to the other side because it gives you something to anchor into. One thing that I realized is that because I was so used to living in scarcity, when you're in scarcity, your create the creative side of your brain just shuts off because there's no creativity in scarcity. And so, if you're going through a reinvention, you're going through these feelings, you're changing your life, the creative part of your brain might actually start to shut down. And so what you wanna do is you wanna find creativity.

Jasmine Escalera:
26:49

You wanna dream. You wanna open up yourself to exploration, not your your shut yourself down to it. So finding individuals who have what you want to create, and they don't have to be people that, you know, are right in your vicinity. I didn't have any of those. You know, I didn't have people who had what I wanted in my space.

Jasmine Escalera:
27:08

I found them through LinkedIn. I found them through Instagram. I found them through other means. So I think that's one thing because that helps you activate that creative side, that innovative side, that visioning side, that dreamer side. And then I think the other part is of it is very often, I would go through these things by myself because I didn't understand what I was going through, and so I was doing it alone a lot.

Jasmine Escalera:
27:33

And what I always tell people is that there are so many people out there creating the life that they wanna create and having that sense of community, those supporters, those cheerleaders who are gonna help you in those moments where you're like, I'm really feeling it today. That's another really great thing to have. So I would say finding people who can activate that part of your brain that helps you see possibility and then getting that support. Right? That tangible, like, you're gonna do this.

Jasmine Escalera:
28:00

You're gonna make it through is also incredibly, incredibly helpful.

Rhona Pierce:
28:05

That's why I love what you're doing with your community, and I love that it's free because you're surrounded by people who are wanting to go through this. They're actively going through this change, this free invention period. So being surrounded by other people who are doing it can help you because I know when I'm going through those periods, my brain tells me at times, like, you're delusional. You're never gonna get that. It's like, oh, yes.

Rhona Pierce:
28:32

I am delusional, and I will be delusional until I get exactly what I want because this other person has it too.

Jasmine Escalera:
28:39

Yeah. No. I mean, I I I use that exact same word. I mean, I wake up every single day and I tell myself I'm a multimillionaire. My bank account does not agree.

Jasmine Escalera:
28:49

But there is that part where you have to anchor into the delusion because on the other side is the reality. Right? So it's current state, delusional state, and then reality. You have to sit in that middle ground. And that middle ground is a very important moment because if it's not happening and, you know, in this in this day and age, we want everything to happen yesterday.

Jasmine Escalera:
29:14

We want it on Amazon Prime Time. So it's not gonna happen like that typically, but it's gonna happen. But that delusional state is where you can falter back. And I think, one thing for everyone to know is it's okay if you do. Right?

Jasmine Escalera:
29:31

Like, I think that reinvention and transformation is a daily process. And there are gonna be points during the day where you're gonna have it. You're gonna feel powerful. You're gonna feel strong. You're gonna feel like the delusion is your reality, and then there are gonna be moments where you don't.

Jasmine Escalera:
29:47

There are gonna be days where you falter, but always wake up the next day and just restart. It's okay. Like, there's there's nothing wrong with it. So that middle delusional time is really the time where you have to anchor in, but also know that it's okay if you falter because you know how to get back up. Right?

Jasmine Escalera:
30:07

You always know how to get back up. You have the strategies. You have the toolset. You can do it.

Rhona Pierce:
30:12

Taking gears a bit, I know sometimes it's hard for TA professionals to, like, let go of traditional success metrics. Right? We've all been told, go in, get this job, do this, 401 k, all of that. Right? How can we redefine success on our own terms?

Rhona Pierce:
30:31

Oh, lord. Oh my gosh.

Jasmine Escalera:
30:33

This is a a big one because I tell you, like, there was a moment in my life and I I can really remember it and it's it's a tough one for me because there was a moment in my life where I realized that everything I was told was a lie. Like, every single thing that I was taught was a freaking lie. And, you know, my parents told me, get the 6 figure job, the 401 k, you're gonna be set for life. I was traumatized on a daily basis. I was so unhappy.

Jasmine Escalera:
31:02

I was just experiencing tremendous lows to the point where I never checked myself in, but I'm pretty sure I was an alcoholic because I there was no I couldn't handle it. Like, I just couldn't. You know, they told me get married, you have a husband, you'll be safe, you'll be secure. I was in a not good marriage and I was miserable in that too. So there was just this point where every single thing that everyone told me to do to have this safe, secure, and stable life was just a facade and it was just so fake.

Jasmine Escalera:
31:37

And I just that was one of the hardest moments in my life because then it was, you know, I wasn't I wasn't a child. So, it wasn't like someone could could say to me, like, Jasmine, this is actually the path. Like, this is the way you walk. I was an adult. I had to figure it out myself.

Jasmine Escalera:
31:53

And that was a challenging place to be because I was like, well, if it isn't this, then what in the hell could it possibly be? What I had to really do was was every single day just tell myself, I don't know. I don't know what it is, but I'm gonna wake up today and I'm gonna collect experiences. I'm gonna try some things. I'm gonna talk to some people.

Jasmine Escalera:
32:15

And at the end of the day, I'm just gonna sit down and reassess. What did I hear that I liked? What did I hear that I didn't like? You know, how am I living that I'm enjoying? How am I living that I'm not enjoying?

Jasmine Escalera:
32:25

And just really come face to face with the lie. And, I think that's the biggest thing is creating what success means to you, you don't actually have to have the definition. Like, it doesn't have to be defined. In fact, all you have to do is just say, well, this isn't it. I know that.

Jasmine Escalera:
32:48

Like, for confirmation, this is not it. Then all you have to do is say, well, if this isn't it, then what can I do to just have experiences? You know, people ask me a lot, like, how do I find my purpose? I think your purpose in life is just to give yourself a shot and have experiences, like, just every single day to give yourself a shot and have experiences. And then through those experiences, assessing and asking yourself, what's the next thing I wanna do or try?

Jasmine Escalera:
33:20

What's the next experience I would like to have? What's the next thing I would like to just kind of give myself a shot at? I think purpose is really about collecting experiences and knowledge of self to help you really figure out what the next step is. So it's the same with success where it's like you don't have to you don't have to have it defined today. You just have to know that that's not it.

Jasmine Escalera:
33:42

You don't want that anymore. I'm committing to making change and change just means opening myself up to experiences and possibility. Alright. What does that look like? Maybe I can have a few combos with people.

Jasmine Escalera:
33:53

I always thought maybe I would try that. Let me see what that's about. So it's just this beautiful research phase, but people are really scared to be in that phase because as humans, we need to have anchors. We need to have control. We need to know what's next because uncertainty biologically triggers a lot of things within us that equal potential death, and we don't want that.

Jasmine Escalera:
34:14

So if we can just realize that our body is just going through a biological mechanism and it's not real, we are safe, we are okay, and we can explore, we will allow ourselves to do that.

Rhona Pierce:
34:25

Like you said, I mean, maintaining stability and security and not activating that danger zone danger zone you're about to end of the world type thing is important for us as humans. Can you share any practical tips or any practical steps that you can take? Like, yeah, you're wanting to do the change. You're going to redefine success. You're you're defining this for you, but in the on the way there, how can you, like Yeah.

Jasmine Escalera:
34:52

Balance and maintain that? Yeah. So there's a few different things here. So one thing is I'm a firm believer in that internally, we traditionally know what we want to try. Like, because we we usually have that internal voice that's telling us, like, you know, or pointing you in a direction.

Jasmine Escalera:
35:11

It's that traditionally, we're just not listening to it or we listen to it for a second and then those fear mechanisms pop in of, like, well, how do we make that happen? And then we just shut it off. So really, what it's about is it's almost kinda like you're wearing, like, dirty goggles or dirty glasses. You just have to start, like, desmudging your glasses so you can see a little bit more. And oftentimes, the desmudging process really is about listening to the internal component of yourself.

Jasmine Escalera:
35:40

It's also about digging into like my life thus far in this area of life, my career for example. What have I enjoyed? What have I not enjoyed? What would I like to do or try next? What kinds of experiences would I like to have?

Jasmine Escalera:
35:53

What am I interested in learning more about? And going through that research and exploration phase. So many people are like, I don't have time for that. Blah blah blah. Look, you can stay on the path that you're on for the next 30 years.

Jasmine Escalera:
36:06

How do you think that's gonna feel? I don't think that's gonna feel so good. So even spending a few day a few minutes a day doing this kind of reflection 100% gets you to the space of where you need to go. So in the courage crew, we have a 30 day challenge where we do exactly this, where it's like set a goal. And for 30 days, you're gonna spend a few minutes every single day working towards that because we deserve that.

Jasmine Escalera:
36:32

But then there's also, like, on the path, you were kinda mentioning the biological component. Right? Like, you're gonna get triggered. You're going to experience discomfort. And that's really about leaning into mechanisms that help your mindset and your nervous system to relax.

Jasmine Escalera:
36:50

So, you know, doing things like journaling which is a baseline wonderful practice for everyone to do. Doing things like breath work, doing things like taking a walk in the middle of the day when you start to feel a little bit stressed and just letting your mind wander. You know, everybody kinda kinda like laugh at these things, but it's like they really help. So I think you have to have the tactical processes to help you go through this moment, but you also have to have the grounding processes. And I won't call them mindful processes, just grounding processes to get you back to you.

Jasmine Escalera:
37:26

Because when you are triggered, you're just moving a little bit further away from your best self. So these processes just help you move closer to that representation of you.

Rhona Pierce:
37:37

Yeah. And and I love that you you mentioned the practical things like journaling and the breath work and walking. I mean, I just I rediscovered walking Yeah. Last year because, you know, just like me, you're a CrossFitter.

Jasmine Escalera:
37:50

Yeah.

Rhona Pierce:
37:51

And I love CrossFit, and I I try to go every day. And that's a great stress reliever. But walking Yeah. Really, I just found it to be, like, so peaceful. And depending on how activated my my stress is at the moment, sometimes I walk and listen to a podcast.

Rhona Pierce:
38:09

Sometimes I walk and listen to I like Brain FM. Anyone who's heard my podcast knows I've spoken about Brain FM, which is like music, scientific music to, like, help you Yeah. Either focus or de stress. But sometimes, I just love walking and listening to what's happening around me.

Jasmine Escalera:
38:28

I think that's the best. I really do. And sometimes I forget how powerful it is because I usually always put podcast, you know, like, podcast or music or a walking meditation. And in those moments when I put nothing in my ears and I'm just walking, I find that I get more calm and centered just doing that because the natural sounds of nature. I mean, I live in a city, so it's it depends on what what's around me at that time.

Jasmine Escalera:
38:56

But the natural sounds of nature, like, when I walk on the beach, like, that's a whole another experience. But that can be really soothing. And there are great walking meditations that I've tapped into recently that are so incredibly helpful, you know, in terms of just helping you to regulate your nervous system, but also connecting you to who is that highest version of you that you wanna really connect to right now. So, yeah, I think those are great practices. And CrossFit also is definitely a stress relief for me.

Rhona Pierce:
39:26

Yeah. I I think CrossFit is so challenging. Like, every day it's something new new. You don't have time to be comfortable while you're there. You just have time to focus on, like, how am I going to survive this workout and do this right now?

Jasmine Escalera:
39:43

Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's really great because I I do believe that the more you can make yourself uncomfortable, and it doesn't matter in what space. It kind of very similar to, like, what I was talking about earlier in the episode about the ripple effect. Right?

Jasmine Escalera:
39:59

If you work on your strength, if you work on getting out of your comfort zone, if you work on, you know, stressing the body in a healthy way, right, a healthy way in one area, you naturally start to just move a little bit differently in another. And I think that's the power of exercise no matter what it is, is that you really do start to, like, change your personality to be more confident doing it. So, it's great. Perfect.

Rhona Pierce:
40:28

So this has been an awesome conversation. How can listeners connect with you?

Jasmine Escalera:
40:34

Yeah. So I, you know, I'm beyond the LinkedIn streets all the time.

Rhona Pierce:
40:38

That's where I feel like

Jasmine Escalera:
40:39

I mostly am. You can definitely connect with me on LinkedIn. I post about the Courage Crew pretty much daily, but if you wanna link to join the Courage Crew, you have any questions for me about it, please definitely hit me up. The Courage Crew is the only free online community for women who are undergoing a reinvention, and the whole goal of that is to provide community and a space for you to do this without feeling like you have to do it alone. It's just a wonderful support system for anyone who's interested in doing this.

Jasmine Escalera:
41:10

So, definitely hit me up there, and I would love to see you in the crew.

Rhona Pierce:
41:15

Cool. Any last things? Anything that I didn't ask that you think is important for someone considering or going through reinvention to know? Well, I have a question for you, actually, if you don't mind. Sure.

Jasmine Escalera:
41:27

I would love to know what what is one of the most powerful lessons that you've learned in one of your biggest reinventions? Because I know through our personal conversations, I've followed you in the last few years, go through a lot of change and a lot of transformation. And so I'm curious to know through those moments, like, what was the biggest lesson that reinvention taught you?

Rhona Pierce:
41:50

That is an amazing question. I think the biggest lesson really is knowing that I can do it, knowing that no matter what, I'm going to be okay. Because even when I felt and I'm going through a reinvention right now. I just launched a new service. It's the scariest thing I've ever done.

Rhona Pierce:
42:10

It's like I know I have this amount of money in the bank account and if I don't make it happen in this amount of time Mhmm. Something's gonna happen that something's most likely means I'll go get a job. I don't know whatever like but I know because of everything that no matter what

Jasmine Escalera:
42:28

Yeah.

Rhona Pierce:
42:29

I'm going to be okay.

Jasmine Escalera:
42:32

How did you I mean, now I'm turning the podcast episode on.

Rhona Pierce:
42:35

That's fine.

Jasmine Escalera:
42:36

But how do you think you developed that mindset? Because that's you know, I didn't have that in the earlier phase of my life. Right? That came through tremendous trials and tribulation where I then was reflecting on, like, damn, Jasmine. Like, you you got you.

Jasmine Escalera:
42:53

No matter what, you got you. But where do you think that sort of resilience and mindset of, like, I will always be okay? Like, how did that come about for you?

Rhona Pierce:
43:03

I think that comes from really reflecting and looking back. I've gone in the past couple of years since 2016. I've gone through 4 layoffs. None of them have been any performance related or anything. It's either the company shut down, ran out of money, things like that.

Rhona Pierce:
43:23

So you put all into things like that, and then you go through these periods and you still think, like, what could I have done better? Like, company shut down. That has nothing to do with me, But you still go through that. But then when you get out of that period and you look back, you're like, even though I was scared, even though I was trying to find my what I did or what I could have done better, You are so strong and I just I like writing things down and looking back to how I was feeling in that period. And when I'm on the other side, I look back and think, wow.

Rhona Pierce:
44:01

Yeah. You did that.

Jasmine Escalera:
44:03

Such a powerful exercise. It's one that I tell my clients to do all the time, like, when did you feel the most confident? When did you feel like you overcame the biggest, you know, trial or tribulation in your life? Because that's essentially what shows you who you truly are. Right?

Jasmine Escalera:
44:19

My clients sometimes tell me, like, I'm going through a really hard time. I wish I wasn't going through this. But the hard times are what shows you who you truly are. That's what builds your character. And it's not to say that we don't all wanna be in those good soft wonderful moments, but you don't really appreciate the good unless you've gone through the fire.

Jasmine Escalera:
44:43

Right? Like, you have to know what good really means. And good really means something special when you have a journey like yours. And it's not to say that we want to go through those journeys, but those are the journeys that truly make us who we are. So I know I think that's beautiful.

Jasmine Escalera:
44:59

Thank you so much for entertaining my questions.

Rhona Pierce:
45:02

Of course. No. I love this. I might make this part of the podcast. Like, do you have any questions for me?

Rhona Pierce:
45:08

You

Jasmine Escalera:
45:08

should because there's such a you know, I I think you have such an amazing wealth of knowledge. I have seen you go through journeys. I know your story. I mean, when I first met you, you were helping people do video resumes, and video resumes were not even a freaking thing. And now we're talking about this all the time about how you have to do video and blah blah blah.

Jasmine Escalera:
45:30

You were a pioneer, so you should for sure have people ask you questions.

Rhona Pierce:
45:36

That's so interesting. I'm back to video now, not video resumes, but I'm helping my fellow TA people and HR people really create video content. And I've done it in a way that I think is although I'm not a pioneer in it, I think it's a way that that really helps people be themselves and be authentic, which has always been a thing. But it was so scary for me to go like because when I was doing video and you know no one was doing at that time, I got mad hate of like, oh, this isn't gonna work blah blah. And I'm like, look at you people now.

Rhona Pierce:
46:11

All the people that were saying not to do it now offer the service. Imagine that.

Jasmine Escalera:
46:17

Yeah. No. It's a huge thing. I mean, with job seekers now,

Rhona Pierce:
46:20

one of

Jasmine Escalera:
46:21

the biggest pieces of advice that I say to them is like, hey. Look. Everybody is doing what you're doing, dude. Like, everybody. Everybody's doing what you're doing.

Jasmine Escalera:
46:29

The base, the minimum right now is not cutting it. You gotta get yourself a free Loom account. You gotta start doing some video thank you notes, all of that good stuff. So, yeah, you were you you started you started that way before anybody was talking about that.

Rhona Pierce:
46:44

So it's it's interesting now, all of that, and I went back to video. And I'm like, you know what? But this is what I love. I love video. So I was happy to find a way to merge helping the TA community, which is what I really wanted to do.

Rhona Pierce:
46:59

I think the way you fix the broken hiring process is you empower the people that are in power in the hiring situation. You don't tell job seekers to adjust and adapt to the broken things that the industry is doing. You help and empower the people, and I think just it's just so interesting how all my husband told me all roads led back to video.

Jasmine Escalera:
47:27

Well, I think it's, I mean, it's the wave of the future for sure. And, I mean, I tell people the same thing where it's like, look. Corporate America is is a poop show right now, you know, but it always was. So it's really more so about, like, what is it that you want? What is it that you're looking for?

Jasmine Escalera:
47:42

Let's take our power and control back and reshape the narrative for ourselves. Or else, we're just sitting around waiting waiting for the system to change, and that has never worked. So I love what you're doing. It's fabulous. Video is the wave of the future.

Rhona Pierce:
47:57

Thanks to Jasmine for being on the show. Before we wrap up, I wanna share something that's been a huge help in my own reinvention journey, Especially when I need to de stress and gain clarity. It's called Brain FM. They create science backed functional music made specifically for your brain. Whether I'm taking a walk to clear my head or just trying to reset after a stressful day, Brain FM helps me refocus and find balance.

Rhona Pierce:
48:27

Brain FM isn't sponsoring the show, but I love it so much that I became an affiliate so I could share it with you. You can get a 30 day free trial by visiting brain.fm/ronapears. That's brain dotfm/ronapears. And you'll support this show in the process. The link is in the show notes.

Rhona Pierce:
48:52

Now as the THM market starts to pick up, we're all looking to get back in the game stronger than ever. Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing episodes packed with strategies to help you reinvent your approach to talent acquisition. Don't miss out. Subscribe to Throughout the Playbook wherever you get your podcasts. And if today's conversation with Jasmine inspired you, please leave a 5 star review.

Rhona Pierce:
49:18

Reviews help other TA folks find us. Thanks for listening, and I'll chat with you next week.