Meet Ariassa “Rees” Wilson | Confidence Coach & CEO

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ariassa “Rees” Wilson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ariassa “Rees”, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
I absolutely love this question because it is actually at the heart of why I do what I do. Into my late 20’s I did not believe in balance. Nor did I believe that work life balance should be a thing. I did not believe in balance because I did not have any. It was all grind, with some play, but no true rest or relaxation. I did not believe that work life balance existed because it was as if work is not part of your overall life. Balance was not something I saw modeled in any area of life, and it is still a “new” thing. Because I am extremely committed to my purpose and do not want to burn out, I knew I needed to make changes if I was going to endure the journey. That meant assessing how I equip myself with strength spiritually, mentally, physically and emotionally. After intentionally reflecting over how to achieve a holistic healthy life style, I realized it had to start with cultivating balance. Though, before I could do that, I had to create my own definition of balance. Balance to me is the ability to feel peace and be present in every moment. In order to achieve this type of balance, daily I have to “intentionally seek healing, so I can internally secure my health”. That means taking space to myself to equip myself with the strength I need to execute throughout the day. I start my day with prayer, meditation, journaling, visualizing, then exercising. This is called my Rees-ish time. This gives me the energy to pour out everywhere else. Logistically, I create a schedule based on my OPE philosophy, Organize, Prioritize, Execute. I chart how many hours a day and week I plan to dedicate to every area of my life, then prioritize execution accordingly. Seeing my whole life as 100% and not 50% work and 50% life. This allows me to execute on my priorities and rest. Balance becomes an energy I feel, called peace rather than a never foreseen destination. I am passionate about helping others achieve confidence and this level of peace in their life, by developing their own “ISH” time.

What should our readers know about your business?
I Ariassa Wilson aka Coach Rees, am the Founder and CEO of YOU-ISH. YOU-ISH stands for “Centering You, to intentionally seek healing, so you can internally secure your health”. We believe that YOU-ISH provides the ultimate growth experience for those seeking to live out their purpose. One cannot truly live out their purpose while being unhealthy internally, so it is our mission to help leaders create space to pour into themselves daily, so they can continue to pour out into others.

The YOU-ISH community has 3 spaces, one for everyday humans, athletes, and those of Faith. Each space is dedicated to helping others cultivate a mindset for confidence. We believe it is our birth rite to be confident, yet we have to do the work to ensure our confidence has a healthy place to grow.

Through growth coaching, we focus on mindset, habits, and execution, in the areas of life, leadership and money.
We are a growing community that is committed to authenticity, and supporting people to be themselves, because that is where true confidence lies.

I recently retired at age 31 from working in Higher Education full time to build the YOU-ISH community. I am passionate about encouraging others to live out their purpose daily. I was able to retire due to establishing key financial habits early, which assisted me in building a real estate portfolio that allowed me to enter the next stage of my purpose. I saw every job I had as a paid internship, giving me the game I needed before I could fully go out on my own.

I got to where I am today because I am truly someone who is committed to their passions. I believe in majoring in your passions and learn everything you can about what you’re gifted in so you can share it with the world. If I am not passionate about something I will not commit to it, this life standard has lead me to live the life of my dreams. While playing college basketball, I started a non-profit that focused on serving youth. It was called TCSA (True Christian Student Athletes). It was a Sports specific, Academic, Life Skills Academy. Through TCSA, I was able to learn all the skills I need today to run YOU-ISH. While earning my degrees, I was able to apply what I was learning to what I was actually doing in life. This is where I feel in love with immediate alignment. I believe there is alignment in your assignment. And that whatever you do, can give you what you need to execute at the next level or your next assignment.

There are organic challenges that come with being who I am. A Black, Woman, Lesbian, Christian, Scholar, Athlete. My intersections alone are problematic. Whether the challenges were due to identity, time, execution, or just life itself, I have learned it is best to take it one day and moment at a time. I have had to face the murder of my little sister and the death of my unexpected death of my mother at a young age. To preserver through grief is one of the toughest challenges one can ever face. Yet, still I thrive.

At the age of 18, I tasted what hard work can actually produce, and I got addicted to it. In the last decade, I have earned multiple degrees, became a professional basketball player, started businesses, was a head women’s college basketball coach, a college professor, visited all 50 states and 31 countries, built a real estate portfolio, earning a doctorate, and am just getting started. The best lesson I learned is to pair that hard work with rest, that is what will elongate the journey and prevent burnout.

What I want the world to know about YOU-ISH and my story is that everyone deserves to live out their purpose, indulge in freedom and to experience balance. And I would love to help you achieve that.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I had a friend visiting the city, I would develop a TikTok Itinerary. Each day we would randomly pick out dope spots to visit based off of the best TikTok videos and reviews, then we would do our own review of the spots we checked out.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The people that deserve a lot of credit and recognition in my story are my brother and sister, Taliesha and Lawrence Garrett. They have poured into my life in numerous ways, through mentorship, love, game and flat out unconditional support. A huge part of the woman and entrepreneur that I am is because of them. So it is only right to give the 828 Crew some love. They are both thought leaders, visionaries and continuously push the bar and elevate the standard for our village and I absolutely love it. I love you both.

Website: You-ish.com

Instagram: @youishcoaching @coacheees1

Twitter: @coacheees1

Facebook: Ariassa Wilson

Youtube: YOU-ISH Coaching