We had the good fortune of connecting with Rashida Jackson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rashida, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
This is something I have been reflecting on a lot recently. It goes without being said that a work/life balance is important to overall quality of life, regardless of the profession. As with everything else in life, change and progression are great indicators of managing this. It all boils down to perspective, though. Perspective determines what you view as valuable (time vs money vs accomplishment vs experience, etc.). My balance used to be 99/1, work leading, lol. I was hyper obsessed with building a successful brand for myself out of college, then that turned into being a successful entrepreneur. I sacrificed a lot of life’s quality experiences in my 20s because I wanted the success and prove to myself, I could make something of myself. When I had leisure time, I would still be glued to my laptop, on a call, or working on a task. So there rarely was any pure life balance. Admittingly, I still am this way these days to a certain extent, however my perspective matured. After working full time 40 hours in a job, I did not enjoy plus being a full time realtor, a job I DO enjoy, I experienced extreme burnout. The right sale, mixed with traumatic personal events forced me into a grace period where I reevaluated what’s important, and how my need for instant gratification was not the reality of my journey. Now, I believe balance is extremely important, if not necessary to see true growth. You can be a busy body and barely make a difference to your day to day, or you can be intentional about knocking projects out while gauging and maintaining mental wellness and be productive. I choose the latter. I also chose to only complete work that I enjoy, which makes the balance easier. That may not be the luxury of everyone, but I’ve become content with understanding what’s for me will always be for me, and that God always works in provision when we are walking in His will with intent. FIND THE TIME, or it will force you to waste plenty of yours resetting.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My business is ME. I used to be hyper focused on branding the name that I sign contracts with, but the talent and expertise comes from me directly, so my business is RASHIDA JACKSON. I am an entrepreneur who specializes in real estate sales in the capacity of a real estate broker in the states of GA, FL, and MA. In this role I am also certified as a real estate negotiations expert, seller representative specialist, and property management specialist. I have assisted countless individuals realize and achieve their real estate goals, as well as investors manage their rental properties in multifamily single family, and short term rentals. My value proposition and differentiator is the path that led me here, my natural ability to remain objective and see things through, my spiritual gift of administration, and the atmosphere I set and bring to the table.

Outside of my business in real estate, I am also a public notary, and I ama resource to small businesses and career professionals. I got to where I am today by not giving up. I wish I could say consistency led me here, but I’ve been far from that many days. Not that consistency isn’t important – it’s key – but when you lack the discipline to create ongoing habits that nurture consistency, you must make up for it in different areas. It’s no easy feat, but taking on each challenge with a solutions based mindset and focusing on the present is what builds you up to last.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Atlanta will forever be home to some of the best restaurants and hotspots for ongoing fun and activities! If my people came in town for a week, it would go something like this:

Monday:

Flying Biscut Café, any location (Breakfast)
Tropical Smoothie Café, any location (Quick Snack)
Café Social House, Mableton (Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner)
Tuesday:
J Christophers, Midtown (Breakfast)
Bell Street Burritos, Midtown (Lunch)
JJ’s Fish & Chicken, Atlanta (Dinner)

Wednesday
Gusto, Midtown (Lunch)
Slutty Vegan, Atlanta (Dinner)

Thursday:
American Deli (Lunch)
Juicy Crab, Fayetteville (Dinner)

Friday:
Zaxby’s (Quick Lunch)
Zoes Kitchen, any location (Early Dinner)
Edgewood Ave Bar Hopping
Chicago Pizza and Sports Grille, Smyrna (Dinner)

Saturday:

Peidmont Park (rent skates or a bike)
Mr. Everythings, MLK (Lunch)
Bougaloo ATL
Harolds Chicken, Edgewood

Sunday

ApexEverywhere online
Atlantis Day Brunch or Cirque Daiquiris
Pappadeauxs Seafood Kitchen, Marietta (for dinner)
Royal Peacock Reggae Night

Other notables are Nouveau in College Park, Top Shelf in Fayetteville, Rosas in Fayetteville, Rebello’s pizza in Fairburn, Sugar Factory in Midtown…

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My shoutout hands down goes to my pastors, but more specifically, my church, ApexEverywhere (Apex), formerly of Atlanta, GA – now a completely digital non-denominational church experience. I believe success starts from the inside, and I was all kinds of functional depressed and a mess to which my pastors saw right through and loved on me and mentored me back to life. What I love the most about Apex is the true meaning behind the word, and the commitment to match practicality to the spiritual. Apex means highest point, and the church was founded based on the principle in Matthew 5:14 – “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” (KJV). I was already fairly successful career wise in the corporate arena, but I wasn’t fulfilled. I had my license in real estate but I wasn’t utilizing it. I remember early on at the church I confided in my pastors and told them I wanted to do this thing called entrepreneurship for real, and they basically were like, “Say less…ima enroll you in this training, this training, make you teach thing training to build ya public speaking, etc.” They literally put me in positions to put myself in positions to succeed. On top of the pastors being entrepreneurs in their marketplace positions, Apex is full of entrepreneurs too, so the synergy was unmatched. It was like perfect alignment from God Himself. Since my pastors are also marketing and branding experts, they hooked me up with my starter brand kit, promoted me, and listened to my endless questions and though processes on how I would make myself, Rashida the Realtor. To this day, they are still extremely supportive both business wise and by spiritual covering, and I couldn’t express more gratitude for the orchestrating of our paths.

You can check out Apex Everywhere for yourself here: www.ApexEverywhere.com

Website: www.rashidarealtor.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/rashidarealtor | www.instagram.com/myatlnotary | www.instagram.com/rashidarevamps

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/rashidajackson

Facebook: www.facebook.com/rashidarealtor

Other: Virtual Biz Card: https://hihello.me/p/36a25251-9c7c-46c6-98b6-8db81885b5e2

Image Credits
JLavvi Photography

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