“JESSICA ARANA, ARTIST, DESIGNER, WORLD TRAVELER; COMPLETE WOMAN” By Kim Somers Egelsee

Jessica Arana is a complete woman; multitalented, kind, inspiring, giving, creative and brave. She is a great example of a strong woman. Jessica has always explored the unknown and her journeys are her biggest accomplishments. She has: trekked the span of Mexico on her own; lived within an Indigenous community; explored Peru solo, climbing Machu Picchu and sharing native clothing with the women of Lake Titicaca; and independently traveled through England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Costa Rica. Jessica’s passion has taken her to more than twelve countries, had her work in NYC, the UK, Mexico, and LA; and has proven that a non-traditional path is ALWAYS worth it. Jessica’s mission is to celebrate and narrate her vivencias (lived experiences) through art, research, and community work. Her hope is that she can empower others to live colorful and spirited vivencias of their own.

I had the opportunity to interview Jessica, who also happens to design all of the gorgeous branding and flyers for my inspirational speaking events and workshops, and I found her to be extremely intriguing.

Jessica Arana grew up in a very small town in Pennsylvania, and has been creative since birth, having a long line of creative women in her family, At age 14, she began earning money painting faces. At age 18, she took a huge brave step and moved to New York to study art and graphic design and received a fine arts degree. Her talent led her to the chance to intern at MTV, work in impressive corporate positions with huge magazines like InStyle and People and work and rub shoulders with Derek Jeter, Donald Trump, Moby, and Jimmy Fallon name just a few. However, she began to feel like it “was not all of her”.  Jessica took new classes, met new people, and allowed herself to search. She explained that if she has learned anything in this crazy life, she has always allowed herself to take many varied paths that were true to her true self.

            Her next step was moving to California to be with her English boyfriend, and everything shifted. All she had ever gone after in her life so far had resulted in success. California shook everything up. She felt out of sorts, and began asking the question, “what is here that I cannot get anywhere else”? Being half Mexican and half American, she realized the gift of being surrounded by that culture in Southern California, and decided to go back to school to get her Masters in Chicana/o Studies. Jessica then experienced some challenges of difficult content and others being discriminatory of her mixed ethnicity. She soared through with strength, a positive attitude, and straight A’s. She learned that she could really get through anything thrown at her. With this degree combined with her art degree, Jessica can combine art with the topic of biracial identity development to reach others in the world. Her professors expressed to her that her work is valid, encouraging her to share her experiences and artwork. As a result, she was recently asked to sell one of her pieces to a famous Chicano art collector.

            Travel has truly inspired Jessica along her path. When she needs creative energy and new inspiration, she plans a trip or retreat.  Travel helps her to find her true self. She goes far away, to say, “there I am”, and feed off of new experiences, languages, colors and people. It creates huge amounts of passion and excitement in her life, and results in extreme creativity and wisdom. Travel has brought Ms. Arana many gifts, including her boyfriend whom she met in Peru, while traveling alone, her belief that she can do anything, which she earned by climbing Machu Picchu, and the realization that when you’re not looking for greatness, you will often bump into it and to allow herself to believe in herself.

            Jessica is also the branding guru/designer and creative director for The Respect Institute, a non-profit that tours through schools with workshops about connecting, bonding, sharing and non-judgment instead of bullying and violence. She plans to continue following her dreams by empowering people with her art, speaking to women and girls, traveling, and creating her own unique brand of uplifting, inspiring, and powerful stationary and paper.

            Jessica Arana is truly an example of a complete woman, continuously improving, growing and getting better and better, while giving back, helping others, and all with a smile of strength.

 To consult with jessica go to http://www.jessicaarana.com/

To see her designs and flyers/contact Kim go to http://www.kimlifecoach.com/