We recently had the chance to connect with Jessica Miller-Merrell and have shared our conversation below.
Jessica, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: Who are you learning from right now?
Right now I’m knee deep in psychology reading and learning from Carl Jung at the moment. I’ve been listening to audio books on various topics and right now Carl Jung has my attention. I am fascinated by his archetypes and his interpretations of symbolism and how they show up and their meaning in our every day life. His work is really complex so I’m taking my time to absorb, research and understand.
I have been researching more about trauma, physical and mental responses, and psychology over the last 12 months since finishing starting my 300 hour YTT for yoga training. I’ve been thinking more about how life experiences and stress show up in our lives and whether it’s at work or in our personal lives.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My company, Workology provides online training and resources for human resources and people managers. We focus primarily on workplace and leadership training in professional development for human resources and for managers on compliance and employee development topics.
Workology started out as a blog in 2005 for job seekers and after being recognized by Forbes as a top 50 job search resource, we transitioned to focus on workplace and leadership topics. Much of my work is a mirror for my personal and life professional life. I love finding ways to inject my passions into the work I do. For example, nearly three years ago I completed 200 hours of yoga teacher training and now provide training on stress reduction, breath work and sound healing in corporate settings. I love sharing my own journey with others finding ways to help provide them with resources, information, and support especially when it comes to the world of work.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who taught you the most about work?
Bad bosses really taught me the most about the kind of leader and manager I wanted to be. I was able to experience first hand working in a retail HR role how important good leaders can be on even a small ecosystem like a single retail store location. I had my share of micro managers and aloof leaders who I learned from. I realized that if I didn’t like how I felt working with them that everyone at the location was suffering and often in silence.
I’ve always tried to look at problems and challenges especially at work differently than most. I focus on what I can learn, and what non-traditional paths might provide solutions that others don’t see. It’s how I started first using the internet to recruit. In 2003 faced with no hiring budget and the need to hire for the retail store I was the HR Manager for, I turned to dating websites to source for candidates. This was long before social media, but I saw these online communities as a place to search for qualified talent to fill open jobs at the store locations I was responsible for and it worked. I hired all kinds of people from cashiers to store managers, and so my love affair with technology and the internet as a resource to support HR and managers began.
What fear has held you back the most in your life?
The fear of not making others happy has been a real struggle for me. As the oldest daughter to a family that struggled financially, I bore a lot of responsibility at an early age. I was caregiver to my younger siblings and I didn’t want to let anyone down. My childhood was one where I stressed a lot about the happiness of other people and only recently did I put myself first.
As we get older it’s interesting how these old patterns of being something like a people pleaser creep back in. My dad was diagnosed with a rare blood disease a couple years ago and I spent most of 2024 caring for him and my mom. I really had to fight hard not to fall into these people pleasing patterns especially when you return back to the roots of your childhood. What was good is that I realized what was happening and was able to talk about it with my family. My dad is in remission and I feel like his disease was a real turning point for me because I was able to heal some old wounds and really look back and see how much I’ve grown.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
I’m most committed to me. The last five years I have focused on me, my mental health and my own personal well-being. The journey to get to where I have has been long. I have had a physical transformation. I’ve lost over 80 lbs. but I also feel so much happier and better about who I am now and the person I am working to become. It’s easy in life to put yourself on the back burner whether it’s your career, kids, or something else. During the pandemic I really sat with that and decided that I was ready to make the commitment to focus on me.
What’s great is that I’ve been able to share my own personal transformation with others through not only Workology, my online training but in my yoga and breath work classes in the Austin community and soon to be online. I’m launching a yoga and breath work membership to help people find themselves and who they are meant to be. I’m calling it Yoga for Calm.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
I’ve sat with this question a lot over the last couple of years because I’ve been a sandwich caretaker supporting my mother in law who had a serve stroke in our home and my dad who was diagnosed with a rare blood disease while also being a parent to a teen. Those things really put your life into perspective because it can be over at any time. And what’s really hard is watching the people you love struggle but in this case I was more inspired by anything. I watched my dad fight for his life and his blood disease is now in remission.
We don’t really know how much time we have left and what resources we will have to support us. And so my focus has and will continue to be on enjoying my time here, loving as many people as I can and finding ways to turn work into things I love. Because when we can do things we love things just flow and so caretaking for my parents help remind me not to take that for granted and choose you above all.
My goal is to not take life so seriously, focus on the things and people you love above all.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://workology.com
- Instagram: https://instagram/com/jmillermerrell
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/jmillermerrell
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/jmillermerrell
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessica.millermerrell/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@workology
Image Credits
Ashley Edwards – all photos but yoga in desert.
Jessica Jones- Mostafa
