#90: Making Things Happen with Homeschool Consultant Jamie Heston

Jamie Heston is a former professional singer and executive assistant, entrepreneur, and homeschooling advocate and consultant. She joins Lisa this week to talk about how she got to be a singer, the skills she honed and learned as an Executive Assistant in Silicon Valley, and how she stays organized and on top of her many interests and responsibilities. Jamie is instinctively a happy person, and has actively made sure she is living her most full and rich life to honor herself and those in the past she has lost. Jamie explains how she decided homeschooling was right for her family, her involvement with nerf battles, and how she became a consultant to provide resources for others.

Highlights:

Jamie’s parents gave her a foundation of service to others, curiosity and creativity. She was constantly learning and engaged through extra curricular activities, which is very similar to the model of homeschooling now.
Jamie’s interest in music peaked as a band girlfriend, and eventually she replaced the singer and found herself in the mix of many gigging musicians.
As an Executive Assistant for female CEO in Silicon Valley, she honed her skills of being very organized and efficient. She gets many things done by handling them right away rather than waiting and letting them fall to the wayside.
It’s important to be super intentional about self care, especially when you are as busy as Jamie.
When Jamie was 24, her mother was murdered, which was incredibly hard for both herself and her father. This combined with illnesses and deaths in the family including her father and brother were devastating, but at each turn, she embraced her own strength and was determined to live life even more.
Jamie and her family got into something called Nerf Modding, and she runs East Bay Area Nerf Battle. This is a huge business of upgrading the nerf blaster, and this has given her children the benefit of being at the center of being an engineer, designer, entrepreneur and business leader.
Jamie grew the nerf community by reaching out to the homeschooling community, and very quickly got involved with homeschooling when her kids were 3 and 5. A true joiner and advocate, she was led to be a consultant and get paid for the time she was already spending helping others transition and thrive while homeschooling.
The commonalities Jamie sees in people looking for homeschool are parents feeling lost and doubtful that they are equipped, all the things she loves help coach them through.

Life Lessons:

Life is short, so just do it. Don’t let an opportunity go by.
Take chances.
Honor your relationships and personal connections.

Quotes:

“It’s all about doing things when it presents itself, rather than putting it off.”
“If you want something done, have a busy person do it.”
“A lot of people didn’t get to live, so I am living life for them.”
“If I’m adjacent to an organization, I’m going to be in a leadership role in some shape or form.”

Mentioned in This Episode:

Jamie Heston

Jamie Heston Facebook

East Bay Nerf Battle

The Homeschool Association of CA

Follow Lisa