In Dialogue: Carissa Shapiro
In Dialogue: Carissa Shapiro
Big news! Wiley Canning Company has grown by one!
Meet Carissa Shapiro, an extraordinary woman who is my new virtual assistant.
It is with joy, gratitude, and ease that I introduce you to Carissa through our In Dialogue series. Carissa is a Nashville-based virtual assistant who supports several business owners. She joined Wiley Canning Company in January, and already, she has assisted me with the release of The Wiley Canning Company Cookbook, event planning, and website development. Carissa fully developed The Wiley Kitchen, helped organize our upcoming event at June, and assisted me in shipping each and every pre-order. You will continue to see her mind and heart come alive through Wiley.
I have known Carissa for nearly six years. Her presence alone immediately centers and softens me. She is a vault of wisdom and experience, and she very organically helps strengthen others’ strengths through her attunement, empathy, and goal-oriented mind. When I think Carissa, I think of a flowing current that keeps my river oxygenated and healthy.
Below, Carissa and I are in dialogue about career evolution, routine, family, and more.
Chelsea: We had the absolute pleasure of working together at Elizabeth Suzann from 2017-2020. Elizabeth Suzann, like many independently-operated businesses, was affected by COVID-19, ultimately downsizing and presenting us both with an opportunity to begin new jobs or our own businesses. I took this as an opportunity to dive fully into Wiley Canning Company, and you took this opportunity to create a thriving career as an independent virtual assistant. What is one facet you love about operating as an independent virtual assistant? What is one facet you miss about being a part of a larger team, like the team at Elizabeth Suzann? Are you able to creatively incorporate the facets you miss into this new season of your career and life?
Carissa: I am forever grateful for my years with the Elizabeth Suzann team. It was a time that brought much fulfillment and growth for me on a personal and occupational level. Those years were the bridge to my work now.
While the transition had its many heartbreaks and valleys, as many of us experienced during the time, it ultimately led me to start my own business. Hindsight is everything, isn't it?
I absolutely love what I do. I love supporting passionate, creative people who build their businesses with the dream of touching other people's lives. In my past work environments, my primary goal was to support a single person as their Executive Assistant. Now, my work provides me the capacity to support many people which brings me that much more joy and fulfillment. There are so many more reasons why I love working as an independent virtual assistant, but that one is the highlight for sure.
While I get to work with inspiring people in a virtual space (and sometimes in person!) I still dream of our days at ES when our team came together to work on a project. Our launches, photoshoots, and just about anything else we worked on brought so much satisfaction through our collaboration. Team collaboration is where we learn from each other, share ideas, ask questions, and ultimately grow. I miss this the most from our time at ES. I’m thankful I can create a smaller sense of this feeling when I work one-on-one with my clients.
Chelsea: Anyone who knows you will agree you are one of the most peaceful, grounding humans in our orbit. From where do you derive a consistent sense of peace? What practices sustain your calm, kind nature?
Carissa: That is so kind of you to say. Thank you. I believe that any sense of peace or “groundedness” I outwardly exude is equal to the highs and lows I often feel internally. It’s very natural for me to worry, stress, and feel unsure of things on any particular day. Therefore, I rely heavily on my anchors to help me return to an internal sense of peace and assuredness. Anyone who knows me knows that I practice hot yoga regularly. It has become a practice that is essential for my well-being. When I’m on my yoga mat, in a hot 100-degree room, all my concerns float away because I’m hyper focused on my breath and movement. It’s my safe space to practice patience, self-trust, positive self-talk, non-judgement, and contentment. Repeatedly practicing these essential pillars brings me to equilibrium, or what some would call my calm nature.
I also greatly value evenings at home with my family—my husband and our dog named Disco. Our connection brings me so much comfort, which then makes me feel grounded and balanced. I will often plan social gatherings outside of a Friday night because of how much I value our Friday evening routine together. Our dog gives me a sense of deep internal peace through her love and affection. My relationship with her equalizes my fears and my worries. She’s my unofficial support animal.
Chelsea: Recently, you made and shared homemade tortillas with me. It was such a special treat, one full of meaning and story. What prompted you to make homemade tortillas? What prompted you to then share them with loved ones?
Carissa: Oh, there is so much I could say about a simple homemade tortilla. I had never made flour tortillas until we were all stuck at home during quarantine in 2020. Like so many, I spent my newfound time in the kitchen experimenting with new recipes. During that time, I felt drawn to making my own flour tortillas for the first time. I guess I should say, making them by myself for the first time. One of my clearest childhood memories is of myself standing on a stool at the kitchen counter next to my grandma while she showed me how to make tortillas. She used to make them all the time for our family. She showed me how to roll the dough, cook them on the pan, and the joy of eating a freshly-cooked, warm tortilla. During quarantine, I explored cooking various meals from my Mexican heritage. I asked my mom and grandma what they ate while growing up and what part traditional Mexican food played in their lives. Their answers are a story for another time, but it gave me a lot to meditate on while I rolled out dough balls. When I make tortillas, I love sharing them with others because it allows me to extend the same care and love that my grandma shared, and continues to share, with me.
Chelsea: When you think of succeeding in your career, who do you envision as the recipient of this success? In other words, who, or what, drives your idea of success, as subjective as it might be?
Carissa: This is a great question and one that I will be pondering for a while. I think there are many people that fuel my pursuit of growth (or what you can call success).
Most obviously, my husband and I benefit from my growth. My success leads to our success. Our collective success leads us to live a life rich in love, laughter, exploration, community, self-enrichment, etc.
My family and my ancestors fuel my desire for growth as well. As a second-generation Mexican American, I know how hard, specifically the women, in my family had to work to get their families (i.e. me) to where I am today. I recognize and am so grateful for the privileges I have that they did not. I see them being recipients of my success because it proves their hard work led to the greater success of their family. I also must mention my girlfriends here. My girlfriends are some of the most inspiring women in my life. Their success is my success. My success is their success. We each benefit from each other because we learn, grow, share, and inspire each other to move onwards in our careers in our most authentic way. We are holding each other up and cheering each other on as we each walk through our lives (occupational or not) together.
Perhaps most importantly, my idea of growth and success is fueled by my desire to know myself. The better I know myself, and can confidently stand in who I am, the better person/friend/partner/daughter/sister I can be.
Chelsea: As a virtual assistant, you create routine and increase productivity for others. How important is routine to you? What is true about your life, your day-to-day, when you feel a personal sense of productivity?
Carissa: This may sound surprising, but routine is not the thing I want to pursue most. While I love creating routines and structure for others, I actually value spontaneity and variety in my personal life more. In other words, I really like to change things up. Here is why: I believe that routine comes very naturally to humans. We naturally gravitate towards creating rhythm in our lives. This of course will look different depending on the person and season of life they are in. Without thinking, I will spend my Monday through Friday going through the same motions in a very routine manner. Where is the magic? Where are we infusing joy, fun, and adventure? Spontaneity is so valuable to me because it brings in the spice of life. It’s the thing that pulls me out of my routine that makes me appreciate both respectively. I also must add that I’m in a position personally and professionally where I’m fortunate to allow for as much or as little routine as I’d like.
Chelsea: What is one food-related habit, priority, or value rooted in your past, with family or close friends, that you wish to carry forward into the future? If there isn’t one, what might you start?
Carissa: While growing up, my family ate dinner at the table together every night. My mom cooked most of our dinners. Although, my dad is a great chef as well. I would help set the table, and we’d eat together without distractions. When I think about this now, I feel so grateful. I’m grateful to my mom for cooking delicious homemade meals for us. I’m grateful to my parents for valuing this brief time where connection, along with great food, was prioritized. Our dinners were never rushed, and we’d often linger after finishing our meal to continue talking.
Sitting at the dining table with my husband, and any guests we have, feels like a sacred place to me now. While this may not be a nightly occurrence, it feels really special when we can set our phones aside (off the table, please!) and connect over delicious food. I will usually light candles while he puts on a favorite jazz record. Evenings like this leave me feeling an increased tenderness toward myself, our relationship, and our home.
You can reach out to Carissa by emailing her here.
Photos by: Chelsea J. O’Leary