The Inspirational Woman Project believes that every woman is inspirational. It’s our mission to tell their stories.
Jacqueline Du Plessis is a marketing consultant and creative advisor to visionary entrepreneurs and multi-million dollar companies. She was raised in South Africa, college educated in the USA, and lives and works from all over the globe.
Give me your definition of Woman.
{du Plessis} Women are beauty and power. Women have a really special role here on Earth. Historically many women have been put as inferior but there is this new shift going on. I believe in the shift for women to have more recognition in our modern culture.
What does creation mean for you as a woman?
{du Plessis} Creation means connecting the dots between things that other people haven’t yet. There are a lot of people in the creative space that say there’s nothing new and unique to create - that it’s all been created before. But that’s only partially true. Energy is never created or destroyed - only transferred. A lot of the really cool things coming up today are putting two unseemingly related things together more beautifully.
Creation is making awesome and beautiful things.
What’s your relationship with femininity? How do you access that part of yourself?
{du Plessis} My relationship with femininity has been an interesting one. When I was younger I was a tomboy. I played sports with the guys - rugby and cricket. I had my hair cut short and was wearing Celtics baseball cap with a baggy t-shirt and small daisy duke jeans one day on the field, when I heard two guys walk by and say, “Check that guy in girls shorts.”
Later in my teens I started coming into my own role as a woman with fashion sense and style. When I was young I cared about school and sports. It was really only later that I came into femininity and started exploring this topic. I lived in Hawaii which has an amazing feminine energy. It was when I dated a guy there and for the first time in life I stepped into that feminine energy.
We live in the world where we have to have more of our masculine energy to get things done. Women can be just as competent and qualified for things, but can be ignored if they don’t have the masculine energy.
Becoming more aware of the feminine energy was a big thing for me. Really learning about this dichotomy of the two sides of energy we all have and recognizing how amazing I feel when I allow myself to be in that energetic space. When you can learn to step into your femininity you’ll learn that it’s actually very powerful and you can attract when you allow and draw to yourself without the masculine push/force.
What is your mantra?
{du Plessis} I am Enough, I am loved, I am present. Surrender, let go and breathe.
Talk to me about your girlfriends.
{du Plessis} It’s very interesting when you live and travel around like I do. Most of my girlfriends are not in the city I’m in. It can be a challenge to keep in touch. The relationships I have are there because we’ve both kept in touch equally. My girlfriends are awesome supports. I have them all around the world. I can’t live without them!
We need women in our lives. So many times as entrepreneurs we’re out in the world working hard at our careers or on our businesses, but it’s important to make time for the important relationships in our lives, and that includes setting up girls nights. If several weeks go by and I haven’t connected with one of my close girlfriends I’m just not as happy. It’s important to maintain and make the time to keep those relationships strong.
Who inspires you?
{du Plessis} So many amazing women. Brene Brown’s TED talk, and books have changed my life. Marie Forleo and her work teaching women about online business has changed my life, especially when I won a scholarship to her online course: Bschool. I’m a big fan of Danielle Laporte and Elizabeth Gilbert and the men and women out there sharing their authentic voices and doing creative work with the world. I really respect them because they are hustling and self-made people, who faced their fears and overcame the challenges in their paths and they keep taking action. They are out there, sharing their message and voice with the world to inspire and motivate others to create the lives they want.
My mom because she’s a great example of a woman. She got married when she was 19, had four kids, stayed at home and took care of us. She gave a large part of her youth to raising kids and being there for us. If ever I needed to talk to someone or was having a bad day I knew I could talk to her and be supported from my best friend and biggest fan.
What’s one thing you want to tell the women who will read this?
{du Plessis} You are enough. I find that this is a common play amongst women - we put ourselves down. We’re so quick to mention our faults and the shit going on in our lives. We forget how amazing, beautiful, and wonderful we are. Nobody is perfect but it’s ok. You are enough.