An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Great communication. We struggled with this in the beginning because it was new to the both of us. But since we work together and people look at us as a team, we had to know even the smallest little details about scheduling, conversations, etc, so that we would not look unorganized when speaking to other people. There was a huge mix-up one time because we did not go over certain plans we each had for a specific area of our business, and we then went on to discuss the same thing with the same person, individually, but both expressed it very differently leading to canceled events and a ton of other miscommunications that cost both time and money.
As a part of our series about lessons from Thriving Power Couples, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jessica Alzamora and Trey Sazon.
Jessica Alzamora and Trey Sazon, who are a thriving power couple out of Chicago. They both come from humble beginnings and have built their notoriety from 0. They inspire hundreds of thousands of people via their platforms and are still growing!
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you two to your respective career paths?
We were both kind of doing our own thing in different industries for a while, while both being influencers at the same time. He is a musician and I was a fitness influencer at the time. One day, we had a talk about where we wanted to take our careers long term and realized our goals aligned. I wanted to be more behind the scenes after being the face of my company for seven years and he was ready to fully focus on his music career. So we decided that I would be his manager and I would represent him as a musician. We jumped right in and took off. Within two weeks of me managing him, we got him signed to an amazing record label and haven’t stopped working since!
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you two got married?
(We are not married) We, unfortunately, were driving home from a dinner one day and a semi-truck hit us very rapidly. We went from celebrating a huge milestone in his music career one minute to nearly losing our lives the next. We were both hospitalized immediately and for quite a while, it was actually the longest we had ever been away from each other our entire relationship (we were taken to different hospitals due to the difference in our injuries). All of the doctors kept telling us how lucky we were to be alive and we were immediately so overcome with gratitude, despite our severe injuries, and it really just made our relationship even stronger.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Jessica: We had never worked together in this capacity, so talking about the financial side of things was extremely awkward (ahem, the manager getting a fair cut of the artist’s income). I also didn’t want him to bring me on just because I was his partner, so I didn’t want to be pushy about anything. So it wasn’t until we were down to the wire that I was like “ok we need to make decisions, draft contracts and… talk about money.” And he was just like “Yeah, ok. I trust you more than anyone and I want you to be protected so let’s just do it.” That was when I realized that the fear of these awkward conversations, which I was holding on to for weeks, was completely unnecessary and we really could have avoided the awkwardness by just jumping in to the conversation from the beginning.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
We are a young couple basically managing our own thriving careers, together. We fully trust each other and feel most comfortable with each other, so when we have to have conversations about career moves it’s super easy because we know each other so well and we are so comfortable just bluntly speaking our minds about things to each other. When we had other people managing our careers, we couldn’t be as straightforward about our needs, wants, thoughts, etc, so we were constantly settling for less than we really deserved. Now that it’s just us, we fight for each other more than anyone else would fight for us, which means we are getting our career needs met much more consistently.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
We are working on so many exciting new projects right now! They are mostly secret for now, but they are all going to be extremely motivating and inspiring.
What advice would you give to other CEOs or founders to help their employees to thrive?
Create a comfortable environment where people can really feel comfortable being themselves and comfortable expressing their thoughts and concerns.
How do you define “Leadership”?
Influencing people in a way that maximizes effort.
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 get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Our parents! They helped us through our hardest times, always believed in us, and supported us even when things weren’t looking bright. Also, our followers. They have been our biggest supporters and have always kept us motivated to keep moving forward.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
We have been big on keeping people motivated and inspiring them through our own story. We share the hard times as much as we do the good times, that way people know they are not alone.
What are the “5 Things You Need To Thrive As A Couple”? Please share a story or example for each.
- Great communication. We struggled with this in the beginning because it was new to the both of us. But since we work together and people look at us as a team, we had to know even the smallest little details about scheduling, conversations, etc, so that we would not look unorganized when speaking to other people. There was a huge mix-up one time because we did not go over certain plans we each had for a specific area of our business, and we then went on to discuss the same thing with the same person, individually, but both expressed it very differently leading to canceled events and a ton of other miscommunications that cost both time and money.
- Trust. You need to trust that you both have each other’s best interest in mind at all times. You are a team, not each other’s competition. If you can trust that you are both on the same team and are both always looking out for each other, then you can both go on and get work done without having to keep tabs on each other every single moment of the day. This makes it so much easier to get things done and progress in your life together, so it is mutually beneficial.
- Organization. Being organized is so underrated for couples, but as a couple, it cuts out so many little frustrations. We decided to get on a shared calendar because we were constantly making plans and forgetting to tell each other about them so one of us would make another plan that would conflict with something else and it was a huge mess. Once we got organized, though, so many little annoyances were easily resolved.
- Alone time. It is important for each person to have time to be alone and work on things they are passionate about. You are not both going to like doing or watching all of the same things, so make sure you each still take time to do the things you enjoy for yourself. For example, I hate massages but he loves them and I love taking long baths. So sometimes it’s necessary for him to go to the spa and get a massage while I take a long, warm bath and relax. It helps us both regroup and re-energize.
- Fun. That being said, it’s also important to find things you both enjoy doing together. Keeping the fun alive in your relationship is important to avoid burnout. We love to travel together but also to exercise together and do a ton of other stuff. Finding a balance between your own time and your time as a couple is super important.
You are people 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. 🙂
It would definitely be something that reminds people how short life could be and how quickly things can change, as a way to motivate people to appreciate the little things and the life they have now while they work towards the life they want in the future.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Your comeback is always bigger than your setback! When we were in a horrible car accident, we didn’t even think we’d make it out alive. But once we took the time to reset, recharge and heal… then we came back with a vengeance and new outlook on life that made us work smarter and harder.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂
There are so many! However, it would have to be Elon Musk. The fact that he didn’t come from wealth but was able to build so much wealth has always been inspiring.
How can our readers follow your work online?
www.instagram.com/jessica.a156 and www.instagram.com/treysazon
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
Lessons from a Thriving Power Couple, With Jessica Alzamora & Trey Sazon was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.