Book Review
Social entrepreneur and author Jess Ekstrom believes that success is not born out of skill, school, where we’re from, who we know, or how well we did in our exams at school or college. In her new book, Chasing the Bright Side, Jess Ekstrom shares her own inspirational story of how optimism helped her overcome multiple challenges, and the dynamic ways her mind-set propelled her as an entrepreneur, international speaker, and philanthropist.
Jess Ekstrom believes that we are all born with something more important than skills. We’re born with optimism, the initial seed for success. Optimism fuels the belief that you can be the one to create the good the world needs. But you’ve got to hone it. And practice it. And determine to live from it. In her book, Chasing the Bright Side, Jess shares her own personal entrepreneurial journey and experiences, launching not just one high impact business but two. Her journey will inspire you to embrace the power of optimism in your own life, and help you reimagine your purpose so you create good in the world while fulfilling your own dreams—right where you are. So, if you have dreams for yourself and the world that are tucked away in your box of somedays, ask yourself what would happen if today was the day you opened the box? And what if that box was the key to a better tomorrow? This is a book to read if you want to learn how to harness the power of optimism and turn your own big audacious dreams into reality.
Author quotes
I saw a need that wasn’t being met, so I wanted to create a business that filled a gap. To me, there’s a lot of fancy words surrounding entrepreneurship. But at its core, entrepreneurship is just the action to create what you wish existed.
I want to pull back the curtains on success. I want you to forget the highlight reels we see on social media and the perfect narratives we hear of overnight success.
If you peel back the layers of anyone’s success, optimism is the first seed that has to be planted for any great movement, change, startup-up or revolution to begin.
Let’s debunk this myth that to be successful you have to have it all figured out, because that’s impossible.
Optimism is the combination of how you think, how you react, how you connect your life to something greater. Living optimistic will set you up for a wild and meaningful life.
About the author
Jess Ekstrom is a social entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Headbands of Hope, a company she started as a junior in college in 2012. For every headband sold, a headband is given to a child with cancer. Her first brush with success was selling all of her toys on eBay when she was twelve. Since then, Jess and her company have been featured on Today and Good Morning America and in Seventeen, Vanity Fair, Forbes, and People. More importantly, they have donated hundreds of thousands of headbands reaching every children’s hospital in the United States and in fifteen countries. Jess is also a professional speaker and founder of Mic Drop Workshop, an online course with the mission of empowering more women to share their message as a speaker. Jess and her husband, Jake, travel around the country in their Airstream with their dog, Ollie.
Why LoA loves it….
Everyone knows that entrepreneurship is hard, but the one common thread tying all big thinking, hard working, successful entrepreneurs together is optimism, a glass half full approach to life and business. Jess Ekstrom’s wonderful new book is a personal guide to harnessing the genuine power of optimism to get you through the inevitable tough days and the disappointments when things don’t go quite as planned. It is a good dose of ‘can do’ spirit and lots of personal and practical examples of how Jess herself has dealt with many of the hurdles that entrepreneurial life can throw at you, all with a refreshing honesty and authenticity. This is a great read for any woman entrepreneur who needs a little encouragement to keep going and keep striving for those big goals. — Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo of Lionesses of Africa