Life should be a wonderfully crafted!
Life should be a wonderfully crafted combination of daring elements, fulfilling work, and appropriately-spiced moments. Life should be like...gumbo. Jenell Gilyard, owner of the magnificent Neon Gumbo Design Studio based in Denver, Colorado, thinks life should be as satisfying as your favorite bowl of comfort and nutrients. Jenell is using her creative services to empower dreamers and the brilliant businesses they have. Having her fair share of rough times, Jenell works to not only allow the space and freedom for her to evolve as a human, but offers the same to her clients. Her journey with self-love reminds her that life is transformative: regardless if it’s personal or professional matters, you are able to add, alter, and remove whatever doesn’t serve you. While she’s not whipping up a thrilling new branding plan for her clients, Jenell is making good use of the app “Simple Habit” (she recommends you do too!). Thank you for fulfilling our creative appetites, Jenell. We’d love to introduce you to Jenell, Queen of Design!
What inspired you to start your business? What motivates you to keep going?: My start happened as a circumstance of being laid-off. Then I wouldn't say it was divine timing, then I was 400 degrees of anger, confusion and sadness, oh but now, now I know it was divine timing. Since then, I've been at this for going on 11 years, and I must say the best part are my clients. Empowering them and their businesses is my biggest motivation to keep going, keep designing and to keep empowering!
What does your company stand for?: Neon Gumbo's culture is for the culture. Everything that I love I pour into my brand. It's an amalgamation of everything I've learned as a human, but also everything I've learned in the industry. It's bold, it's spicy, and it's just good!
How do you create the life you want?: Creating the life I want is always an ever-evolving thing. I'm 100% not who I was 11 years ago, and I am also not who I was 6 months ago. The basis for creating the life I really want is allowing myself the space to always change and evolve. My highest self and inner child deserve that space to go left if I want, when everyone is going right. Simply put, creating the life I want starts and ends with authenticity of self and freedom of self!
What makes you HUMAN?: Every flaw, every stretch mark, every single time I fell, and every time I got up. Every time I dimmed my light, but also every time I walked into a room with it on 100 watts. Duality makes me human, realizing it's okay to not always have your shit together, but pushing through anyway makes me human!
What are three things your want people to know about self-love?: 1. You deserve it. You are a brilliant being who deserves unconditional love, unconditional forgiveness, abundance and joy.
2. There is no RIGHT way to do it. Your self-love rituals are all about you. It's your show. If self-love one day looks like a good masturbation session, then rub that shit out. If another day it looks like reading Abraham Hicks and meditating, DO THAT! Do what works for you.
3. DO IT AS OFTEN AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE! Self-love is transformative. It not only teaches you how to fall in love with yourself, but it will teach you how to fall in love with the collective all over again. It will open your eyes to things you've never seen before.
What's something we can incorporate today to start loving ourselves more?: Mirror work! Even if it's simply saying, "Hey J (that's my higher self, or Hey Jeanie Girl (meet my inner child, lol), you are beautiful and I love you, or just saying I love you!" All of it helps. Listen to your spirit, it knows exactly what it needs!
What has been your own journey with self love?: Man! That's a heavy one from being a survivor of sexual trauma to experiencing a Miscarriage, this journey has been stacked with situations that force me into it almost. And to be 100% transparent, I didn't realize how important it was until I had a miscarriage. There's so much that goes through your mind when you go through something like that, and a lot of those self-detracting thoughts are fueled by the loss. Whew, it has been a journey, and I'm all the more better for that journey.
Leave an affirmation for readers.....: Choose love over fear. You deserve the freedom that awaits you there.
Email Address: info@neongumbostudio.com
Website: http://neongumbostudio.com
Social media handles?: @audculture / @neon.gumbo.studio
Any books or apps recommendations?: Apps: Simple Habit
Books: Chameleon Aura and The Five Agreements