Lillee Jean: Five Ways To Develop More ‘Grit’
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Establish realistic goals for yourself; do not set yourself up with unrealistic goals for achieving what you desire.
As a part of my series about “Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success” I had the pleasure of interviewing Lillee Jean.
Lillee Jean is a digital social media celebrity on the East Coast, who is an actress, model, entrepreneur, beauty and health blogger, and lifestyle vlogger. She is self-taught in makeup, and, is also an advocate for bullying and the environment. Lillee Jean mainly focuses her content on beauty, lifestyle and health, which airs on her YouTube Channel. She has created her own web series called Lillee Jean TALKS! Live, which airs live on her IG TV channel, as well as runs on her YouTube, and her own website(s). She likes to explore additional subjects on her
channel, which range from digital art, too, mental health, and, enjoys interacting with her fans on a daily basis to see how they are doing.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what events have drawn you to this specific career path.
When I was a kid, I loved to sculpt and paint, and I was always the first one in class to sign up for dance recitals. Having been born into a family of entrepreneurs, it always made sense for me to attrition into this form of art and entertainment on the internet.
Can you share your story about “Grit and Success”? First can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?
In the beginning, nobody knew who I was, except for my friends who joined my blog and maybe watched my videos. I did not have the most advanced equipment to film with, and at times I wasn’t sure I could make it in the entertainment business. The pressure of this was compounded by the fact that I have been online bullied by an anonymous group of cyber criminals since I was 15. They have defamed me daily and stalked, threatened, and doxed my family and friends.
Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?
My sign is Aries, and we never give up. Even though we may experience despair at times, we get right back up again after licking our wounds. My mom once told me that no one could make me disappear, I could only do that if I wanted to, so I chose to stay and fight. No one, not even an anonymous cyber criminal, can scare me, or manipulate people with lies, to get me erased. This is where grit comes in, and this is why I am a warrior. Nobody can take what I have worked so hard for. The fact that this person is antisemitic makes it all the more difficult, and I have regularly received death threats and disturbing threats of harm to my friends and family. With these people, there are no boundaries or constraints, which just makes me more determined to keep growing and succeeding.
So how did Grit lead to your eventual success? How did Grit turn things around?
Anyone can have grit, it just depends on how they choose to express their courage. It is not my nature to run from problems, instead I endure and fix what is presented to me. I do not have room in my world for someone who tells me to get out of the way just because they say so. Due to my sheer defiance of ever allowing anyone to narrate my story, the fire lit within me fuels me on. Because I am Jewish, someone, one day decided, when I was 15, to start to dismantle me, and who I was trying to be, and take my accomplishments, as I grew in my industry. My journey has been forged by grit, and it will continue to be forged by grit. Imagining my grit metaphorically, I picture it as a sword from King Arthur, a symbol of justice, courage, and perseverance.
Based on your experience, can you share 5 pieces of advice about how one can develop Grit? (Please share a story or example for each)
To be honest, I don’t think you develop grit, I believe it is part of human’s DNA and it is just a matter of how fierce you can be and are. It is an inborn quality, but if you are afraid of things, such as failure, you may have trouble igniting it. Think about the movie “True Grit”, which my grandfather (we used to watch movies together all the time, I was very close to him) allowed me to watch with him (the original from 1969, with John Wayne).
You have Rooster Cogburn in the movie, who is the anti-hero. He is a downtrodden, older hired gunman, a former US Marshal who has no remorse for the deaths he has caused. Mattie is told that Cogburn has “true grit”, and that he is the person she needs to hire in order to bring justice to those who killed her father. Mattie truly is the person with grit, as the story unfolds. At every turn, she refuses to give up on her quest for justice and In this moment, grit is born in her. The fire will not go out until those responsible for killing her father are brought to justice. That, in my opinion, is true grit.
Some advice I would give anyone searching for their own true grit is this:
- Fire: ask yourself what it is that you seek that you haven’t achieved. Light the internal fire by knowing what needs to be done;
- Determination: once you’ve lit that fire, you must ensure nobody can take you off your course of action;
- Prevail: once you have lit the fire, and are determined to achieve that goal, you need to prevail, fairly and justly; whether you are seeking a new job, changing careers, or having a casual conversation with a friend about something that would distress them, you must prevail;
- Goals: establish realistic goals for yourself; do not set yourself up with unrealistic goals for achieving what you desire;
- Hope: never give up on your dream. You can’t get what you want for yourself, you have to do it, so never give up on your dream, tying in all the other points I have reflected on: determination, prevailing, goals, and last hope.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped you when things were tough? Can you share a story about that?
My family and friends have been so supportive of me all these years, and I am very grateful for that. There’s been a long road, and especially with the bullying, and defamation, that’s been hard on all of us, with what we’ve endured. Not everyone is lucky enough to have such a supportive network of people they can rely on as I have so far.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Generally, I try to touch on subjects that are meaningful to people in general, so we can have a conversation about what’s going on. Through sharing my own thoughts and feelings, I am able to raise topics that my fans might be afraid to touch upon.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
I am currently working on two very exciting projects, one a documentary, and one a federal law, both focusing on internet, social platforms, and accountability. Tying into that, the reality of online bullying, and racism, it is going to be an informative eye opening (I hope) documentary, that tells a cautionary tale to all, about the pitfalls of the internet and social media in general. Additionally, I want to see protective laws put in place to help people. The documentary comes first, the law may take years, but I am only 20, so I have a lot of time to make this happen. I’m patient in that way.
What advice would you give to other executives or founders to help their employees to thrive?
I am a big supporter of progressive for working conditions. The majority of people do use digital media, and resources to accomplish work that they do. Unfortunately some, such as brick and mortar retailers, cannot take advantage of these progressive ideas, but for the most part, I do believe that we can work towards a more prosperous, less stressed work environment with new ideas put in place.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
The goal would be for everyone to prosper and to help each other. When it comes to helping others, I see people congregate to hurt others, but they are absent when it comes to lifting one another. We really are one world, and I want to see people caring for each other more, and helping each other.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Since I am a huge comic book nerd, Captain Marvel is one of my favorite characters ever created by Marvel and Stan Lee. She is a strong female character, for all of us to look up to, and she is unapologetic in sticking to her own convictions. One of my favorite lines in the movie, is when she says “I have nothing to prove to you.” This is so true for anyone really. It is you who is your best and worst critic, so you need to please yourself.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lilleejean/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGQF-GZ2oWfgb1NN3QtJJlA (Lillee Jean)
Websites: https://www.lilleejean.com and https://www.lilleejeanbeauty.com
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/REALlilleejean/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RealLilleeJean
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/LilleeJean
Digital Art: https://www.deviantart.com/lilleejean
Giphy: https://giphy.com/lilleejean
Tenor: https://tenor.com/official/lilleejean
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10479689/
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
