I have always valued listening to and learning from strong, passionate, resilient women, and for the past several years now, I’ve been inspired by Clarissa Grace, both as a woman and entrepreneur. Clarissa is a business mentor, design expert, fashion designer, stylist, and fan of flamingos, musicals, ballet, and brie. Her designs have been splashed on the pages of Vogue, Cosmopolitan, New Idea and Woman’s Day and she has dressed some of Australia’s most shiny stars, such as Isabel Lucas, Kate Ritchie, Jodi Gordon and Ricki-Lee Coulter.

These days, Clarissa is passionate about working with female entrepreneurs “who want to find their dazzling core of confidence, shine bright like a damn diamond, and magnetize dream clients.” I find Clarissa to be a remarkable human being with a beautiful and big-hearted approach to life and business. It was my sincere pleasure to learn a bit more about her personal journey with entrepreneurship and I’m happy to share our conversation with you all.
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CM: Clarissa, I’ve been following your work for a while now and one thing I am always struck by is your zest for life. It’s lovely to witness.

You talk a lot about beauty, which we’ll get into a bit more later, but for now, I’d like to hear how you viewed beauty as a young girl. What was beautiful to you back then?

CG: My mom was amazing at nurturing my creativity and she opened up a beautiful world to me through the arts, and most specifically through dance. I loved to dance as a little girl. She used to take me to the ballet. She used to take me to art galleries. I used to go to art classes. So she really did a phenomenal job of nurturing that side of me. And I was very, very, captivated by beauty, by colors, and by shapes and illustrations. I used to just devour books with beautiful illustrations. I used to trace them and copy them and make my own little worlds. I was definitely a very, very curious little girl.

CM: You mentioned that one of your first passions was dancing and I know you trained for many years. What did you enjoy about that art form?

CG: Oh my gosh, I loved to dance. I love to dance. I remember being three years old and pestering my mom to take me to dancing and she kept saying, “No. You can start when you’re six.” She ended up putting me in when I was just about five, I think, or maybe still four. I was just enraptured by ballet because my mom was very passionate about ballet. Back in the day, when there were video [cassette tapes], she used to play videos for me when I was still at home with her.

And there were the costumes, and just the beauty, and the gracefulness — it just took my breath away. There were all these different worlds and I wanted to be a part of them, and I wanted to become those women, or those “princesses,” or whatever it was. I got to become a character. I got to enter these beautiful worlds and my imagination would just go in all sorts of crazy and wonderful directions. I really flourished in that environment.

CM: I know that your dancing career was cut short by an injury. What happened?

CG: I actually fractured my back. And it wasn’t because of anything really big and dramatic. It was just that I hadn’t warmed up properly and I got a back injury. I was around 15 at the time, so I was just starting to break into dance professionally. It was something that kind of happened over time, where it just got worse, and worse, and worse. Eventually, I lost all my flexibility and strength in my back. I went to physiotherapy for a long time to try and get that strength back and I just never did. I never recovered from that. Even today, my back is fragile. It was a nasty injury and it killed my [dancing] career.

The cool thing is that my dad would always harp onto me about how I had to have something to fall back on. He always used to say that and it was the kind of thing where I’d just roll my eyes. Like, “Why do I need something to fall back on? This is all I want to do.” I had the immaturity of a child that had no idea that things like that can happen. But clearly I really did need something to fall back on. And that’s kind of how I ended up in fashion.

CM: What did you learn about practice, discipline, and disappointment through dance?

CG: I think discipline was a huge one for me. There is just no doubt that you are taught discipline. I was literally there five nights a week. It was not an option. As far as disappointment, there were so many disappointments. The auditions to rejections, the feeling like I was never pretty enough, or tall enough, or blonde enough, or whatever. That was definitely a struggle for me. And then practice, which I think comes with discipline.

I think the interesting thing is, too, that being raised as a dancer and as a performer, I was taught to be extroverted. I was taught how to stand out and how to differentiate myself so that I was the one everybody looked at when I was on stage.

And this all might sound kind of self-serving, but I was raised in that environment. It’s very interesting because when I started my business, I remember doing immersion interviews with these women who were wanting to start their businesses and they would speak to me about wanting to hide. They were wanting to be like everybody else and wanting to blend in. And I’m like, “What? Why would you want to blend in?” I was so shocked by that. I didn’t even know and I realized that that was my dance background. My dance background had taught me that to stand out is a really good thing and it made me very comfortable with that.

The other interesting thing is people that don’t know me see me as an extrovert, but I’m actually not. I’m a total introvert. That’s my performance. I learned how to perform, you know? And that’s definitely served me in my business.

My dance background had taught me that to stand out is a really good thing and it made me very comfortable with that.

Clarissa Grace

CM: Tell us what first inspired your love of fashion. Had you always been drawn to fashion as an aspect of beauty or did you first begin to recognize its value a bit later on?

CG: Do you know what? I actually had no interest in fashion whatsoever. I actually went into fashion because I applied to go to NIDA, The National Institute of Dramatic Art, which is the biggest performing arts school in Australia. That’s where all our famous Australian actors and actresses go and so I applied to go to NIDA and they wouldn’t let me into the program until I was 21. And I’d left school. I was still 17. They literally said to me, “Come back when you’re 21.” So I had nothing to do.

My poor dad was like, “You’ve got to have something to fall back on.” So for me, the thing I wanted to fall back on was costume design, because that was something I was equally passionate about. I wanted to get into theater. I would have loved to do the costumes for the Australian opera, the Australian ballet. Those were the sorts of things that I was always excited and interested to learn. I had zero interest in fashion at all, but then what they said to me was, “We would love for you to go to fashion school and get all your foundation and then come and see us at 21.” I think because they want you to have some life experience. So that’s what I did.

I didn’t even get into fashion school. I applied for it, but I did not get in. And then one of my mom’s friends came over one night and just said to me, “Clarissa, you need to do what you’ve got to do to get into that program.” His family had really nurtured my talent to that point, so he was just the right person at the right time to be there when I got the rejection letter. He was like, “No way you’re going to accept that.” He actually helped me draft a letter to fashion school and plead my way in and they accepted me. I slipped in by the skin of my teeth, my love. So that’s what happened. There was definitely no desire to begin with. It was just, “This is what I got to do to get to the next step,” which, for me, was to become a costume designer.

CM: Eventually, you wound up in Paris, studying haute couture at The Paris American Academy. Tell us a bit about your time there.

CG: So, that’s actually something that I applied for when I was in fashion school. There was a scholarship they were offering. I applied for it and got into the program around the end of my first year. I was enough in the fashion world by then to kind of get the industry and how it all worked. I did know a little bit about haute couture, but I didn’t know a lot. I definitely didn’t have an understanding of the history or the magnitude of it, so going over there was a huge eyeopener.

Coming from Australia, being a little Australian, you know, this beach-y girl, it was a bit of a culture shock, but it was phenomenal. It was just phenomenal. We were taken to all the ateliers. We went to the most incredible fashion houses in the world. We were taken into their work rooms and we were taught draping and pattern making there. All these skills that actually aren’t taught anywhere else. There are things that I never would have learned in Australia, even in America. Even now, we don’t have these kinds of skills in our countries. And so it was just a phenomenal experience.

I didn’t know French, so we had translators wherever we went. I just remember going to Versailles, and eating baguettes every day, and oh, it was just stunning. But you know what? I was so young too. I think I definitely drew what I could, but at the same time, I look back and think I could have done so much more. I could have explored so much more. I could have pushed myself so much more and saturated myself more in that experience. I really don’t think I understood the magnitude of that opportunity. But at the same time, it put that spark in me. So I’m so grateful. I’m so grateful for that. I feel so proud and happy and thrilled that I was able to do that.

I look back at that time and think I could have done so much more. I could have explored so much more. I could have pushed myself so much more and saturated myself more in that experience…But at the same time, it put that spark in me.

Clarissa Grace

CM: I know that, sometime later, you received a check that would forever change the course of your life. Would you like to share about that day and what that gift meant to you? Can you talk about the power of having even a single person who believes in you and your dreams?

CG: Oh my gosh, that was such a beautiful day. I was struggling. I just don’t think I’ve been created to be an employee. Everything in me wants to rebel against that concept. And so I was an employee at the time and I was miserable. I was desperate to start my own business. I was working in this bridal company and it was a very well known, highly-respected, and established bridal company. And I just was miserable because I wanted to take over and I wanted to do everything differently.

My dad one day just said, “Clarissa, you’re ready.” He was an entrepreneur, so I’d been raised in that world, and I knew what was possible. I knew that it’s what I wanted to be, but I just felt like the whole world was saying, “No, you’re too young. You can’t do this.” You know what I mean? It was just so out of the box for somebody so young to even consider doing something like that. And particularly where I was from, I didn’t know anybody that was an entrepreneur. I knew nobody except for my own family. And so even just being an entrepreneur in itself was very unusual in my environment.

So, yeah, my dad handed me this check for $10,000. It was just phenomenal. It actually wasn’t even just the check of $10,000. The $10,000 check paid for my first bridal collection, but then he also gave me a year free of rent on a studio, which actually became my first shop. I don’t know if I’ve ever told that story, but yeah, it wasn’t just the $10,000. He gave me these opportunities and I created my first collection out of that, and that’s really when my first company was born.

CM: Had you anticipated that level of success for yourself? What were some of the most rewarding aspects of your work at that time?

CG: I actually didn’t go into business to be successful. That’s just the truth. I went into business because I had this burning inside of me that had to create beautiful things. It actually had nothing to do with money. It was just this thing that I could not, not do. Does that make sense? So when I first started, that’s literally all it was. I just wanted to create the most beautiful gowns that I possibly could. And that’s all I cared about. I actually didn’t care about the money whatsoever. I was a kid when I started. I became a business woman over time.

I had that company for nearly 15 years, so I grew up in that company, and I eventually learned that business was more than just making pretty things. I learned how to be a business woman. I don’t think I anticipated that level of success at the start, but after a time, I think that I probably did because I had learned what could be, if that makes sense. I learned what I could be capable of, and to be honest, I didn’t even actually reach the success that I knew I could have. And a part of that is just that my journey got cut short.

There is nothing more rewarding than going through the journey and having something in your mind that, you know, you work on for months and months and then all of a sudden it’s birthed into this thing. That’s what it was like for me when I was doing any collection. Like, it started in my mind and then it became this really gorgeous, incredible thing that I got to capture, not only in the gowns themselves, but also through photography. I got to create that whole world, and there is just, there’s nothing like it. There really isn’t. And seeing them on catwalks and in magazines, and you know, all of that is just phenomenally rewarding.

I think when I closed the business, that was the thing I missed. I missed feeling that awe over the journey that I was able to complete it and that I was able to see it and it was a real, living…for me it felt like a breathing thing.

CM: I know your family means so very much to you, and some years later, your family experienced two devastating back-to-back losses. What can you share about that time in your life?

CG: So in 2009, my business was right on the cusp. We were just about to launch officially, internationally. We were already selling internationally, but it was definitely about to go to the next level. We were at the stage where we were looking at getting new workrooms and new showrooms and I’d just done a new collection, which, you know, for me was the best collection I’d ever done. So there was a lot of buzz around what was going on in my company.

And then, very suddenly, my dad died of suicide. I had just had my third little baby boy, and then two weeks later my dad died of suicide, which was just outrageously shocking to me. I was completely shocked over it. I just had no idea that he could do something like that. No idea that he was so broken, that something like that could happen in my family. It was just a devastating time. And then, two weeks after that, my [newborn] son was diagnosed with heart disease. It was actually on the day that I was meant to go and see my dad’s body. His funeral was the day after, but our Loxley, our little boy, turned blue one morning. We rushed him back to the hospital. He was healthy, he was beautiful, but then he was diagnosed with heart disease. I missed my dad’s funeral, which was the day we were in hospital with him, and then he ended up dying a week later.

So, those were just exceptionally horrific losses in my life. From going from the absolute top of the world, feeling like life was just spectacular, to life is just obliterated in one fell swoop. It was a ridiculously challenging time. It completely changed me. It completely changed my business. And it was a really long journey to feeling like I could function, you know? I don’t even know if the healing on that sort of thing is ever done. I think it’s a constant thing.

CM: How did your grief color how you experienced your work, your days, your dreams during that period? How did it alter how you felt about beauty, which had been a deep inspiration and companion for you?

CG: To be honest, my world went black. I really describe that period in terms of color and colorlessness. I just remember the world went black and there was just nothing. There was nothing. And so beauty just wasn’t even a thing anymore. It wasn’t accessible to me. It didn’t feel like color was accessible to me. Or life. Those just became these things that I couldn’t have anymore. But that did change over time.

I actually remember specifically when I felt my world going from complete blackness and darkness to gray. Where it wasn’t as acute. It was still horrible, but that was around the time where I started feeling like I could breathe a little bit, you know? It was months later, even years later, when I felt that the color started coming back in. And that was through really, really small things. Like, I remember doing small things for myself. I would buy myself flowers or I’d just get a pretty candle and light a pretty candle. I used to have photos of my son and I would just sit there and look at them for hours. So just little things. I didn’t crave beauty at all at that time, but I needed something of it to wake me up, and to keep me present. I feel like that was a healing thing, that I was able to invite that beauty into my life as I was able to make more room for it. And because I’m such a visual person too, that nurtured me, and encouraged my healing. It encouraged me to allow myself to be pulled out of that darkness.

I didn’t crave beauty at all at that time, but I needed something of it to wake me up, and to keep me present. I feel like that was a healing thing, that I was able to invite that beauty into my life as I was able to make more room for it.

Clarissa Grace

CM: You touched on some of this just now, but in taking the time you needed to mourn and heal, were there additional things you found helpful? How were you able to cope with all you had experienced?

CG: I just find that in our society, we don’t know how to talk about death, and we don’t know how to deal with death, and I didn’t know how to talk about it or deal with it. And to be honest with you, my experience of relating to people within that circumstance was not great.

I think people didn’t know what to say to me. I just became the person that all this horrible stuff had happened to and I wasn’t me anymore. Like, people didn’t see me anymore. So I found that very hard. But also, at the same time, I didn’t know how to deal with that. I didn’t know how to say, “Please just say his name. Just acknowledge that this happened to me.” Everybody carried on like nothing had happened.

Being in relationship with people after that was really difficult. People just didn’t know what to say and they didn’t know what to do. Nobody in my world had dealt with anything like that or similar to that. So it wasn’t a great experience. But in saying that, as I healed, I came to know what I needed. I came to see where I went wrong in that, and it’s complex, so there’s definitely no resentment or bitterness from me. And it’s not because people don’t care. It’s that they do care that they worry about what to say and what to do. I think we live in a culture where we’re not taught how to deal with this stuff, so that if it happens to someone, people don’t know how to deal with it. If it happens to you, people don’t know how to deal with it. So that was very much my experience.

CM: You have said that while you were grieving, you dressed how you felt and eventually decided to change that. What is the significance of that for you?

CG: Oh my gosh, that was so weird. I remember I just refused to wear anything in my wardrobe. I actually remember going shopping for my dad’s funeral because I had to wear something black. I wanted to wear something black because it just felt right. It felt reflective of what had happened. And I did not have a single black thing in my wardrobe. I actually went that day and bought a whole heap of black stuff and that’s all I wore for a really long time. I did not want to wear color. I did not want to wear beautiful things.

Your clothes are so much a part of who you are and what you want to reflect to the world. And for me, black meant that I could be invisible and that people wouldn’t look at me. I was so used to using my clothes as a way to express myself and as a way to stand out, and all of these things that we spoke about earlier, just coming from my performing background. Like, that’s who I was. And so, I think for me to wear black, that was like putting on my little invisibility cloak, hoping that nobody would notice me. I really did just get stuck in that for a long time.

And then I just came to a time where I felt ready to at least try to be a little bit of who I used to be of myself. And I think there was just this knowing that I would never, ever be that person again. But at the same time, I wanted to find something that felt like me. And so I did start to do that through my clothes. That was a gradual process, but it does change you. I think what you put on your body is reflective of how you feel inside. But I think also, if you’re feeling something inside that you don’t want to feel, it can absolutely impact the way you feel about that, if that makes sense. So for me, it helped to pull me out of myself. It pulled me out of my state of misery and feeling sorry for myself. And it reminded me of who I was, in a really physical and tangible way.

CM: When and how did you begin to redefine what a beautiful life would look like for you? Was there a specific moment when you thought and felt, “I’m ready now.”

CG: Yeah, there was definitely a specific moment. After we lost my dad and Loxley, there was obviously just a time of gutting grief in that. But then my next dream became for us to have another baby, which took longer than we expected. A part of that dream was for me to be able to be at home with her. And eventually we did have my little princess, Primrose.

I was a business woman when I had my boys, and so, although I had a little bit of time with them, it wasn’t much. I was working, and I was in the store, and I was running a team, and all of these things. I didn’t have the opportunity to be at home with them and be a mum and bake muffins. And so my next dream was just to be able to be at home with my daughter, at least until she started preschool. And that’s what I did.

I’d always said, “When she starts preschool, then I’ll start exploring the idea of business.” I’d really loved my label, Clarissa Grace, but I wasn’t sure if I would go back or if it would be something else, or what that would be. But in my own mind, I wasn’t even going to contemplate it until that time. And it’s interesting, because as soon as that time happened, I felt ready. I just knew. I knew that was something that I had planned, and so when that time came, I did feel really ready. And at the same time I knew that I would take it very slowly. It wasn’t something that I was just going to jump into. My daughter was only at preschool for a couple of days a week. So I was opening myself up to starting to research and starting to dream and starting to think about, you know, what that could look like. And how I wanted my life to look, and what I wanted for my life, and all those sorts of things. So that definitely happened when she went to preschool.

I was opening myself up to starting to research and starting to dream and starting to think about, you know, what that could look like. And how I wanted my life to look, and what I wanted for my life, and all those sorts of things.

Clarissa Grace

CM: Today you have a new and thriving business that you love, where you help ambitious women with thirsty hearts create meaningful, premium businesses online. Please tell us about the journey to get here and a little bit more about your mission and vision.

CG: I am incredibly passionate about providing opportunities for women. I think we have come a long way, but I also think that it is a lot harder for us to get to the places that we dream of getting. Particularly for mothers who want to be at home with their kids, who don’t want to miss out on the life of their kids, and who have this burn inside of them, that I think for so, so long hasn’t even been an option. For me it was an option because my dad opened me up to a world that was not normal. That was not normal back then. But today I think it has become more of an option for women, and it has become a lot more normal, although I wouldn’t call the life of an entrepreneur “normal.” It’s definitely become a possibility for a lot more women. What I’m really passionate about is being able to give women that opportunity to dig into that thing that begins in their hearts. I think for so long we’ve ignored that.

I’m a big believer in working out our purpose, and I’m a huge believer in designing and creating the life that we dream of. And I know that entrepreneurship is the most powerful, and perhaps even the only way, that we can truly do that, where we can truly design that life and what that looks like. So that’s why I want to be able to help women to be able to design that life that they want, to be able to be home with their kids, to be able to listen to that burn that’s in their hearts. That knowing that there’s something that’s so much bigger inside of them that they want to release. That’s why I’m doing what I do.

And the fact that it’s premium, obviously I’ve had the whole haute couture background. So that’s very much a part of my background. But I also know that with premium prices comes transformation. And so that’s something I’m really passionate about too, is that by charging premium prices, what we’re doing is actually forcing women to take action. When we charge cheap prices, people don’t do anything. It’s very easy to buy a $500 course and not even open it. But when you’re paying premium prices, it’s forcing you to act. It’s forcing you to get the transformation, and that’s what I’m passionate about. I really just want to help women not only create transformation in their lives, but be able to create transformation in their clients’ lives too.

CM: One of your core messages, which I love, is “Begin with beauty.” I have to be honest, I’ve always struggled with that word and concept, but you’ve really changed how I think about beauty. I’d love for you to share your thoughts on beauty these days and how your idea of beauty informs your choices today, both in business and in life.

CG: It’s actually always been a challenge for me to be able to articulate what this means. I think when we think of the word “beauty” today, we think of fashion magazines and lingerie companies. We think of runway shows, and Instagram, right? We think of what the media presents as beautiful.

But I believe that the media does not know what real beauty is and that it’s not what they’re presenting to us. For me, real beauty comes from something that is bone deep inside of us. It’s the calling that’s in our hearts. It’s the thing that makes us who we are. It’s the thing that we were born to do in our lives. And it’s also the thing that comes out of that place. So it comes out of our hearts and it’s expressed visually. It starts inside of us and then it’s expressed outside of us. It’s expressed by what we’re naturally drawn to, what is naturally beautiful to us, what brings us joy, what bubbles up inside of us when we see something genuinely beautiful. And that’s very much a part of what we can surround ourselves with and what we can nurture for us to be able to create a beautiful, rich, and abundant life. Because the things that come from inside of us that are bone deep are the things that will actually create that life that we dream of because that’s the thing that’s been placed inside of us. And so it’s there already. It exists. All we have to do is nurture it. And that’s basically how I teach my women to create that life, so that its comes from that place, from that deep place.

For me, real beauty comes from something that is bone deep inside of us. It’s the calling that’s in our hearts. It’s the thing that makes us who we are. It’s the thing that we were born to do in our lives. And it’s also the thing that comes out of that place.

Clarissa Grace

CM: You encourage women to create a single business that brings together all of their unique passions, interests, and skills. How does one go about doing that? Did you experiment with other business ideas before arriving at this one? And if so, how did you finally figure out which area to focus on?

CG: This was such a journey for me. When my daughter was in preschool, I knew I was going to start another business, but I had no idea what I wanted to do. But in saying that, I knew three things: So number one, I knew that I wanted to be at home with my kids. So I did make that decision. I did not want to relaunch my label because I wanted to be at home with my kids. I did not want to have teams of people that I had to manage. I did not want to have to be in-house. I didn’t want to have to be in studios or work rooms or whatever. I didn’t want to have to do all of that. And so I knew that having an internet business was definitely the perfect answer for me. And that’s pretty much all I knew. I wanted to do something online and I did not want to do something brick-and-mortar. So from there, it was a real journey for me and I took a long time to figure it out. And a part of what I do now is helping women so that it doesn’t have to take that long.

I think there was so much pressure on me to do something fabulous and amazing, because I’d already run a successful company. The pressure came partly from other people, I think, and I obviously had put a lot of pressure on myself too. So it was a real journey for me to figure out what I wanted to do. I’m the kind of person that’s had a lot of experience in a lot of different areas. There were a lot of different things I really could have done. But I ended up creating a business around style to begin with, and because I got a lot of interest around the branding side of style, I started working more with entrepreneurs and with their branding.

And so I absolutely loved that, but at the same time I still felt like something was missing. So it’s not that I didn’t love what I did, but I just felt like there was a piece missing, and I couldn’t figure it out. And it was such a long time for me to figure out what that piece was. I started having some of my clients asking me to do business coaching with them, and it wasn’t even something that I had considered to be honest with you. And then I started doing that and I absolutely loved it. Like, I couldn’t believe how much I loved it. And I’m like, “Oh my Goodness. Why wouldn’t I do this?” Like, this is what I’ve done my whole life, right? I’ve been surrounded by this, I know this stuff, and I’m so good at this. It’s really weird because I didn’t even think about it, but at the same time, it made so much sense. And that was the piece that I searched for for a good couple of years. It took me a little while to find that final piece. And, now that I’m doing that, I can’t even tell you how incredible that feels!

I think we’ve got to accept that sometimes it takes time, you know, but you’re not going to get anywhere by thinking about it. Like you’ve just got to keep doing. You’ve got to keep stepping into it. And sometimes that’s not a quick process, and that’s okay, but you’ll get there as long as you keep stepping into it.

CM: Who have been some of your most important teachers along the way and why?

CG: I would definitely say that my most important teacher has been my family. My dad has been hugely impactful to me when it comes to designing my life. I think he was an absolute master at designing his own life. And so he opened that world to me. He made it possible for me that I could design my own world. That’s just an incredible concept when you think about that. He taught me that and he lived that, so I really got to witness that in him, in the way that he went through his life.

I think my mom was just incredible at nurturing my dream, you know, and I think to her detriment, to the point where her dream was my dream and I feel like sometimes that she let her dreams go, and her whole world was about making my dreams come true.

My dad has been hugely impactful to me when it comes to designing my life. I think he was an absolute master at designing his own life. And so he opened that world to me. He made that possible for me that I could design my own world.

Clarissa Grace

But that’s something I’m very passionate about in my own kids, that our job is to do everything we can do to make their dreams come true. That’s something that I’m very intentional about with my children. And then my husband, he was also an entrepreneur and just phenomenal. We’re very different in the way that we run our businesses, but I really value the way he runs his businesses, and my brother, too. So I would say my family’s definitely been the most impactful to me because I’ve seen it up close. I’ve seen the experience, I’ve seen the nitty-gritty, the good, the bad. I’ve seen businesses go insane and thrive and I’ve seen businesses just hit rock bottom. I’ve seen it all, and I’ve seen the way they have conducted themselves in all those experiences and I think that, for me, that has been the most valuable.

CM: It definitely sounds like you’ve had a great deal of experience with entrepreneurship, and it makes sense to me that you are now sharing some of what you’ve learned. What are some of the services you now offer to female entrepreneurs?

CG: My business partner, Keeley Elizabeth, and I have created a 90-day system our clients use to smash self-doubt, and gain the focus they need to build an online coaching, consulting, or service-based business that is DRIPPING with purpose.

With a unique blend of delicacy and audacity, and a kaleidoscope of experience in business, fashion, film, haute couture and fine art – we help our clients define style, create desire and deliver transformation. And we teach them how do all of this without the trial and error, without the overwhelm and exhaustion, without fumbling around aimlessly in the dark feeling like they’ve burnt themselves out when their business has barely begun.

CM: What is something you wish for all of your clients today?

CG: I would say transformation, change, and healing. There’s so much hurt and there’s so much pain and there’s so much sadness related to what we wanted our lives to look like, you know? And so my dream is to make as many of the dreams of my clients come true. And my dream for them is to be able to do the same for their clients. For me that’s transformation. That is deep, lifelong transformation where I am helping women change the trajectory of their lives forever, and to be able to design the life that they want. So that’s definitely something that I wish for and know that that’s something that I can offer. So that’s a huge honor for me.

CM: What has been the most gratifying part of this adventure you’re creating for yourself and other women?

CG: I just love doing the journey with them. I love the big wins. We all love the big wins, but I love those tiny little things too. I love being a part of their lives and a part of their journey and a part of their family and all that, that I know their children, and even their struggles and insecurities. I feel honored that women invite me into those tender places of who they are and those vulnerable places that they don’t share because there’s not an environment for them to be able to do that. I think that’s my favorite bit.

CM: There’s a quote by Elsie De Wolfe that I know you appreciate, where she talks about making everything around her beautiful and how that will be her life. Would you say that’s your aim in life, too? What does that look like for you?

CG: That is absolutely my life. And it’s not just physical. I think physical beauty, visual beauty, comes from something inside of us, and so, for me, that beauty starts inside and then that is radiated to the outside. That is absolutely my heart.

I think physical beauty, visual beauty, comes from something inside of us, and so, for me, that beauty starts inside and then that is radiated to the outside. That is absolutely my heart.

Clarissa Grace

CM: What are some small steps you believe we can take to pull more beauty into our lives? Why do you believe we should make that effort? What would you say to those who might not know where to begin, who might feel stuck in a difficult place that feels entirely devoid of beauty?

CG: I think for women, I think a lot of the time there is a lot of guilt wrapped around the idea of beauty. There is a lot of misunderstanding. I think for a lot of women it feels selfish and self-serving. But for me, I think if we can fill ourselves with beauty from the inside, then we have more to pour out, right? We have more to give. We’re able to become more of ourselves. And there is nothing selfish or self-serving about becoming more of who we’re called to be. For me, that begins with the small things, like buying yourself a bunch of flowers, or buying yourself a lipstick, or even getting yourself a massage…These things might feel unimportant, but they’re not.

I think it takes baby steps to understand the importance of those things, to be able to put ourselves in a place of importance. I think that’s really hard for a lot of women. And I think if you can take baby steps towards that, you will see the outflowing of that. You will reap the benefits of that and people around you will notice that because you cannot be in the presence of beauty, or experience beauty, without that having some kind of impact on you and the way you are, the way you are moving in the world, the way that you relate, the way that you treat your children, the way that you feel about yourself. It’s just the snowball effect. So I would encourage women to start small, to start however you can, but to start. And to really work on that mindset of “this is selfish” because that’s not the truth, right? It’s a lie. So tell yourself the truth, tell yourself the truth about your own beauty, about the beauty that’s been given to you, about the beauty that’s been put in your heart. And remember how important that is, how crucial that is. It’s been put there for a purpose, right? It’s not there for no reason.

CM: What beautiful dreams are you most excited about today?

CG: There are three things that are really important to me. One of them is financial, one of them is that I am being purposeful, and the other one is that I have a really balanced and beautiful lifestyle. If I’m very strong in all of those three things, then that, for me, is my dream come true.

I am not building businesses for the sake of building a business and for it to look successful to everybody and to have this thing that I can say, “Look at this thing that I’ve just built!” This is about creating an abundant life. And I think our industry is bombarded with people that look really successful on the outside but who are broken, and shattered, and exhausted, and burnt out on the inside. For me, that’s not success. That’s not a beautiful life. That is really, really sad.

I’m excited about that balance that I’ve been able to create in my life. And I’m excited about being able to help women create that in their lives to where all three of those areas are flourishing. Without one of those things, there’s always going to be something that’s missing and there’s always going to be something that we’re losing because of it. That’s the thing I’m most excited about and I just want to be able to keep doing that. The other thing is that, as I said before, I want to make other women’s dreams come true. There’s nothing that makes me happier than that.

CM: How can people learn more about Clarissa Grace?

CG: I invite people to check out our free Masterclass, 5 SECRETS TO CREATE AN ONLINE BUSINESS THAT ZINGS WITH PURPOSE. They can also learn more on our website or connect with us in our EntrepreneursArisingOnline Facebook group.

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To learn more about Clarissa, please visit her website at www.wakingupinparis.com.

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What are your thoughts and feelings about beauty? How do you pull beauty into your daily life? How has cultivating beauty helped you to heal from painful experiences in your own life? Please share your experience in the comments below.

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PLEASE NOTE: The opinions, representations, and statements made in response to questions asked as part of this interview are strictly those of the interviewee and not of Chloé McFeters or Tortoise and Finch Productions, LLC as a whole.