Exhibiting Elegance & Tips For Success

  • Photos by:
    Sara Cummins Photography
  • Published on:
    September 23, 2019
  • Reading time by:
    8 minutes

A sunshine-loving, wedding-obsessed writer, who’s passionate about helping other young women achieve their dreams. It sounds like a lot, but let us explain. 

At 18-years-old Anna Clarice dove face first into the wedding industry, wanting to be the woman behind-the-scenes helping brides and grooms with one of the most incredible days of their lives. 

Anyone could have guessed that the girl planning everyone’s birthday parties, and stashing wedding magazines under her bed was going to want to plan weddings someday. 

Then with years of experience and her nose being smashed against the grindstone, Anna Clarice discovered that while she loved weddings, pretty dresses, and decorations, she loved serving more. When she says that, Anna Clarice means that she loved how it felt to help someone find the gown that they loved, or see their face light up when they saw their decorated venue for the first time. Anna Clarice loved meeting with people and talking to them about their vision and dreams, then doing everything she could to make that a reality. 

”I found that my passion was far beyond a wedding, or just one day of a person’s life” 

So Anna Clarice decided that she wanted to serve women, because she is very much a, “girl’s girl”, in helping them achieve their goals in their careers, relationships, and lives. Of which, Anna Clarice do so through writing, designing, planning, and finding any way to get them the information they need. 

What’s Future Boss Lady Co about?

Future Boss Lady “the book” is ultimately more of a guide than a book. It’s made of lists, guides, graphics, and worksheets that are meant to help women build the foundation for their most successful selves. I found through experience, research, and observation, people in their late teens and early 20’s struggle with finding materials that are relevant to their needs and obstacles. 

In reaction to that, I decided to dedicate my content to the woman who is just starting out — whether that be in helping her apartment hunt, or learn how to study, create a resume, or how to navigate networking. I wanted the book to be a space where the reader could find all of the basics in one place and constantly be able to reference it whenever they needed. There are four chapters within Future Boss Lady with their own sub-chapters and topics, specializing in different categories of life and the pages are written in lists and broken up with titles and categories. This is intended for the reader to easily find the relevant topics and get to the content fast.

However, I knew that these topics would be ever changing and developing, leading to the development of Future Boss Lady as a company, because and I wanted to provide an extended platform for that information, i.e blog, podcasts, videos, public speaking, etc. I love the idea of Future Boss Lady becoming the go-to media platform for women and an aid to become successful not only in their careers, but in their personal lives and relationships as well. 

I also wanted to provide a space and community where young women can feel supported and related to. I personally felt very lost and overwhelmed when I first ventured off on my own and I was struggling to survive, let alone become the best version of myself. I didn’t feel like I could ask for help to let it slip that I was “struggling”. It would have made a huge difference to have someone just say, “Hey, I’m going through this too,” or “It’s going to be OK, this is how I handled it when I went through that.” I want my entire company to feel like a big sister, or mentor for my readers and to let them know that they’re not alone and they can find useful tools to actually help them thrive. 

Share us some advice from your book.

This is an excerpt from the section “Exhibiting Elegance” pulled directly from the book. 

Elegance is like having a sense of style for your personality. It’s often something that you can’t pretend to be. It’s not about being prim, proper, fake, or that you have to be this unreachable level of human that’s perfect in every way. Elegance comes from being truly comfortable and happy in your own skin and then encouraging others to do the same. It’s about being empathetic, thoughtful, honest, humble, and adding value to the world and people’s lives.

Tips for Success: 

You are not above others. You don’t have the right to ever treat someone as if they are less than you. Everyone has their strengths in life, and while one person may not be at your level in one field, they’re more skilled than you in another. You can always learn something from someone, and people deserve to be respected for that. 

Have empathy. It’s an important skill to know how to be understanding of people. Being able to step outside of your world, and try to view experiences through their eyes, is a virtue that will benefit you throughout your life. It will help you better understand your customers, audience, employees, bosses, friends, and significant others. People that can’t see past themselves will be extremely limited in life. A huge part of being elegant is about being mindful of your thoughts, interactions, and intentions. 

Your goal isn’t to be noticed, but to be remembered. To use an analogy, it’s the difference between the girl who went to the party, drank too much, was loud, and acted very sloppy, and the woman who spent her time making conversation, making memories, and truly enjoying the company she was with. That doesn’t mean that you have to be prim and proper and can never have any fun. It’s just the difference of trying to get attention, and obtaining it naturally. It’s easy to know the difference, and a way to determine which category you lay in, is to truly own your intentions. For example, when you go to a party are you picking your outfit based on what people are going to think you look hot in? Or are you choosing an outfit that youfeel hot in, and you love to wear? Exhibiting elegance is mainly about being in-tune with yourself; and the better you know yourself, the more elegant you will be. 

Speak with intention. When you speak, have something meaningful to say — this will add value to the conversation. Your words and your actions are not just what builds you as a person, but they will be what you’re remembered for in your life. Speak truthfully and with good intent. If you do that, you can easily stand by your words with confidence. 

Appreciate silence. You don’t have to fill every moment with words and chatter. Sometimes the best moments are formed in comfortable silence. It can be so refreshing to just “be” with someone and enjoy their presence. If you’re content, people around you will often feel that, and be comfortable themselves. Learn to appreciate these moments, and to allow people to appreciate them with you. 

Be simply you. “Simple” is often a word that people automatically think is negative, as in unintelligent or uninteresting, but it’s more about just not being complicated. You can be the smartest, most interesting person around, and not be complicated. Being simple means that you’re black and white, you know what’s right and you know what’s wrong. You know yourself, your passions, your beliefs, your weaknesses, and your strengths. You also know your intentions and you’re upfront and honest about them. Having the quality of being simple will help others trust you, and will make your interactions and relationships easier. 

Take responsibility for your life and actions. Acknowledge that your life is completely by your design, mistakes and all. If you make a mistake or a wrong choice, learn from it and move on. You can’t blame anyone for your decisions, as you can’t live your life following in the footsteps of everyone around you. All you can do is own up to your failures, as well as your success — and grow from them. Accountability is one of the strongest, most valuable traits a Boss Lady can have. 

Don’t complain, act. If you’re unhappy with your circumstances, or something happening in your life, act on it! Nobody got anywhere in life by just talking. You have to dosomething, anything. If you fail, at least you made progress and you have material to learn from. Being elegant is about being sure of yourself, and taking action in your life is the best way to gain self-assurance. 

Is Future Boss Lady Co your full-time job? 

Future Boss Lady is not my full-time job. Right now I am also a senior sales consultant and marketing coordinator for a local bridal shop. Originally, when I first started journalism school I thought I wanted to be the Miranda Priestly of bridal magazines (but nice). I needed to work, so I figured that it would be smart to work in a job where I could also learn and develop skills that I could, in turn, write about. 

I started as a junior sales rep just over four years ago, and have since doubled my hourly wage and made my way to one top sales consultants on the team. I have also gotten to experience things like bridal market, bridal shows, fashion shows, and other related events. It’s a job that required a lot of patience, expertise, and confidence, all of which I have learned and I owe so much of my growth to this job. 

Since graduating college my aspirations have certainly pivoted and I’m a little more passionate about working with everyday women rather than just brides now, but I think that bridal will always be a part of my life. I believe there’s a reason for everything and I was meant to stumble into this field at the time that I did. I know there’s going to be a time when I’m going to miss it, so I’m just trying to enjoy the experience while I get to be a part of it right now. 

To what do you attribute your success?

I would attribute my success to faith, believing that everything happens for a reason, and you simply need to prepare yourself for the blessings that are coming to you in life. 

Being completely honest here, I feel like I was called to do this for my life because of how exactly everything has aligned. Not saying in any way that it’s been easy, but everything just seems to work out. 

I somehow managed to juggle school, internships, a full-time job, changing jobs, graduation, and a relationship, while writing this book. I had no money and yet my eight-year-old laptop is still going strong, and I’ve been able to come up with the money somehow at every point. I also keep finding myself surrounded by people who truly believe in me and are buying into this dream with me. 

I feel like as long as I keep pushing and keep trying everything is going to turn out how it’s supposed to.

What is your next big goal? How do you think you can achieve this one?

My next big goal is to sell 10,000 books so that I make Future Boss Lady full time. Right now I’m still working a 9-5 and freelancing on the side while trying to write another book and develop a brand and business. As every day goes by I feel more and more anxious to do all the things and I’m just so eager to jump into every project. However, there’s also this thing called life and bills and sleep, which are kind of important and I can’t exactly just drop everything. Which means still burning the midnight oil and working seven days a week. 

I am hoping to achieve this goal by creating and providing free, useful content, and then mini 

e-books at a lower price point to build trust with my reader and community. I am so in the process of creating more video content and podcast content that will hopefully allow me to reach my audience of different platforms. The main idea is to provide value to my readers and give them useful resources which in turn will contribute towards allowing me to make creating that content a full-time gig. 

What sacrifices have you had to make during life?

When it comes to Future Boss Lady, what hat haven’t I sacrificed? I know it sounds a little dramatic but it’s true. I have sacrificed sleep, money, vacations, luxuries, relationships, and time… so much time. This company, and especially the book was like having a baby. It required constant attention and care since I was trying to create something valuable and meaningful with very little knowledge on how to do it, with even fewer resources. Sleepless nights, weekends, days off — one of the main sacrifices though I would have to say was the “college experience”. 

I didn’t go to parties or go out with my girlfriends every weekend. I wasn’t very immersed in the university life, mostly because I was so deep into Future Boss Lady, plus working, internships, and going to school. It was all just too much, so I sacrificed a lot of fun. I wouldn’t say I regret this or that I feel like I missed out, but it was a sacrifice and it had a huge impact on my life and the choices I made.

What is the one advice that has impacted you the most?

“Don’t let life dull your light”. My future sister-in-law said this in regards to a few things. First being that people are going to be cruel, times are going to get hard, and I’ll be put through a lot in my early twenties, and to not let these inevitable circumstances dull the hopefulness and shine inside of me. 

She also meant that there’s going to be a time when a decent 9-5 jobs are going to look really tempting and a steady paycheck with a title is going to seem like the best deal ever. In regards to this, she said to give my dreams a shot before I settle on anything while I am young with the drive to make something incredible happen. 

I think about her saying that to me every single day, and I try to remember this whenever money is low and I’m frustrated with my apartment, or where I’m at in life right now. There’s still that light inside of me, and I’m trying to use every bit of it to get to my dream life and career. 

How do you think modern women can be more fulfilled in their lives?

Stop comparing yourself. At this time in my 20’s, I am constantly comparing myself to my friends and peers. I feel like my life is really boring when I see my friends off on vacations and spring break, living it up. I feel like a failure when I see my friends moving to New York or LA for their careers and it seems like they have instant success. I feel like I’m not smart when my friends are going to grad school and I’m not. There are plenty if times in a day when I feel bad about myself just by scrolling through social media. 

Here’s the thing though, I’m investing my time and money in growing a company that will allow me to take all the vacations I want in the future, I don’t want to move to New York, or LA right now, and grad school is not where I need to be at this time. Every time I catch myself feeling lesser than compared to someone else, stop myself and ask, “If I had their life, would I be happy?” In most cases, the answer is “no”, because they have different strengths and aspirations. Comparison is the thief of joy, so turn that into inspiration then focus on your own life. 

What is a skill you think all women should learn and why? 

I believe that all women need to learn some kind of self-defense. Whether it be learning ways to combat physical aggression, or public speaking and learning how to eloquently defend themselves and their views. Preferably both. I was raised with a brother in Tae Kwon Do for ten years, so learning how to defend myself was second nature to me, and I genuinely feel like I could protect myself to some extent should I need to. On that same note, I am also very introverted and shy, so I often have a hard time speaking up for myself. Lacking in this area has kept me quiet for many years in many situations, and there are more times in my daily life when I need to defend myself verbally than physically — which is why it’s pertinent to have skills in both areas. If any woman has at least one way where she knows she can hold her own in a situation, that will give her power and confidence that will inspire self-worth and greatness. 

What has been your key (or keys) to success?

Laser focus. While I have a lot of ideas within Future Boss Lady and there are a lot of pies I want my hands in, the goal is still Future Boss Lady. To get this company off the ground and to a place where it can actually make an impact on people. I think about it every single day, I spend my mornings and nights working on it, and when I think of my future that’s all I see for my career. To me right now, there is no other option, because I know that I’m the kind of person that has to be all in. I just have to have faith and either it’s going to work or there’s going to be another avenue to take when the time comes. Shiny object syndrome or simply getting too busy for your dreams are the true downfalls of entrepreneurs — DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN and do whatever it takes. It’ll be hard for a while but then it get’s easier and all of a sudden you’re an “overnight success”. 

Turning dreams into plans. Everyone has ideas — great ones a lot of the time — but not everyone can take an idea and turn it into fruition. When I first started Future Boss Lady so many people said things like, “that’s a great idea” and then move on with the conversation. It stung and it would make me mad, and I knew that no one was going to take me seriously unless I actually made something of that idea. It took a while (like five years), but holding Future Boss Lady in my hands and being able to flip through the pages and see all of the work I put in was more than worth it. If you have an idea, figure out how you can make it happen and go after it, don’t spend all your time talking about it to people who don’t understand. 

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