How To Find Your Passion

It’s 2017, and we’re ready to start the year with a bang. How about tackling one of the most important aspects of our lives—our careers? We spoke with Jessica Semaan, Lebanese poet and founder of The Passion Co., a program created to help you find and cultivate your passion. In this exclusive interview, she tells us how she ended up leaving her job at one of the hottest tech companies in San Francisco, and shares some of her biggest fears when it comes to running her own company. Read on for some true inspiration and kickstart your new year (and possibly a new career).  

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.

My name is Jessica Semaan, and I was born and raised in Lebanon. I moved to the U.S.A. seven years ago to attend Stanford Business School. After working for four years at Airbnb, I now split my time between writing poetry and running my company The Passion Co.  

What is The Passion Co.?

The Passion Co. is an organization that offers in-person programs to help you find your passions and launch the passion project of your choice.  

Were there any specific moments in your life that led you to taking that leap of faith and leaving your 9-to-5 job?

Absolutely. The first one was watching my mother be an entrepreneur at a young age without even a high school degree, in an Arab country. The second one was when I was at Airbnb. I went out to interview people who are doing what they love full-time, and it reinforced [the fact] that following your passion is possible.  

What advice do you have to people who want to quit their job and start something new?

Dont quit your job. I really mean it. Start working on what you want to do on the side, on the weekends, or after work or during the holidays. Start small, then grow big. [imgcaption]Image courtesy of Jessica Semaan[/imgcaption]

How do you find your passion?

A passion does not have to be a job. It could be something we do on the side, and that is more than enough. Passion comes from the word “to suffer” in Latin. It is anything that generates emotions for you, anything that make your heart beat. It can be a childhood dream or favorite pastime, or a cause that is dear to your heart. It could even be something that scares you and intrigues you.  

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced when building The Passion Co.? How did you face your fears?

Some of the things I was afraid of: Running out of money (as a startup this is bound to happen and it is scary), losing some of key teammates, and getting burned out myself. I am learning to accept and embrace my fears as they come, and I strive to become intimate with them versus rejecting them.  

What does “self-love” mean to you?

The most important relationship is the relationship you have with yourself. It is how we end up approaching the other relationships in our lives. If I do not have compassion for myself, how can I have compassion for others? If I do not know how to care for myself, how will I care for others?  

What are some lessons you’ve learned from running your own company?

You learn a lot about yourself. It is a personal growth bootcamp. You will make mistakes, many of them. At the end of the day, it is important to remind yourself why you are doing it and have an honest conversation about it with the team to make sure it is still in alignment. [imgcaption]Image courtesy of Jessica Semaan[/imgcaption]

Because you followed your passion, I’m sure you’ve had so many incredible experiences. What have been some moments that have inspired you the most?

Being on stage and kickstarting our first conference, Start, was a dream come true. Some of the most inspiring moments are watching the students graduate with completed passion projects.  

What are your goals for the future?

I would like to deepen my knowledge and I’m considering going to pursue a master's degree in psychotherapy. For The Passion Co., we are working on taking the program online, so it reaches as many people as possible.  

What are some of your favorite quotes or books that have inspired you?

Many. My favorite quote is: “Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” - Howard Thurman Books that inspired me: Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl, The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. These are the classics, but I also love reading poetry and my current favorite is Salt by Nayyirah Waheed.