Photos C/O: Paige Newton

Alexis Jones is the founder of the non-profit I AM THAT GIRL which has over 1 million girls involved in over 50 countries. Her new ProtectHer program addresses the ever-growing issue of domestic abuse and sexual assault on college campuses.

Growing up I really wanted to be

Pippi Longstocking… still kinda do.

My most-used emojiis are

The kissy face to my husband and the hysterical laughing face because I’m typically laughing at my own jokes!

My go-to order at a coffee shop is

Always different!  It could be a coffee with a little cream, a hot green tea or an iced hibiscus tea.

I don’t know how I ever lived without

My lip gloss. I’m an actual addict.

One thing people don’t know about me is

If I’m not in public, I almost always eat with my hands. I’m not sure if it’s a product of being on Survivor or backpacking through China. My grandmother was militant about proper table manners (which I obviously pull out in public) but if it’s just me and my hubby in our house, he knows not to hand me a fork.

My real life hero is

My mom. She was a single mom with five kids and got pregnant with her first at sixteen. Not only was she the first college graduate in her family, but she went on to put all of her children through undergraduate and masters/law programs.

What I love about my work is 

Every single day is different. One day I’ll be keynoting the 100-year anniversary of the Girl Scouts, a week later I’m giving a lecture at Harvard and four days later I’m speaking at the White House. I love that I made my job up: I’m a storyteller and I get to do it in so many different ways.

The hardest thing about my work is

The travel. It’s a blessing and a curse. I love the novelty of going to new places and meeting new people, but the inconsistency and being away from my friends and family can get exhausting.

How I got started with my current career

I made business cards that said, Founder/ CEO of I AM THAT GIRL and told people that I was a motivational speaker! I’ve never been afraid to tell people and the universe what I want my reality to be, even if it’s not quite yet my reality!

My typical day looks like 

Some days I’m bustling around airports and taxis, prepping for a big talk. Some days I have ten conference calls and am working on a new video. Some days I’m working on my super hero novel, slipping in workouts, hitting up the grocery store so I can cook dinner. Some days I sleep in, other days I’m swimming laps at 6am. Some days I curl up on my couch to catch up on my latest book, brainstorming for a new campaign or making time to snag lunch with my best friends. I wish I could say there was a constant in my life, but the only consistent thing is currently, the inconsistency of my day!

I used to think success meant

Making a lot of money, especially because I didn’t come from a lot of money. I was seriously wrong about that and sometimes it takes achieving something to realize that it’s not what you were really after in the first place.

My current definition of success

Success is measured in the quality of my relationships with my family, husband and friends.

An example of when I had to push through my fear was

When I signed up for a dance class. I was asked to do Dancing with the Stars in Austin, and that I agreed to do something that terrified me -- much less dance in front of a couple thousand people -- was quite possibly the greatest feat of my life. I pushed past my definition of impossible and it made me feel invincible.

I know my work/life balance is out of sync when 

I feel chronically exhausted. Because I travel so much, it’s easy for me to operate on fumes. It’s something I’m really working on. In the past I’d just go until I got sick and then my body would force me to rest and stay in bed. I’m doing a better job of preventing that from happening, but when I’m working too much, I know it because I actually wake up exhausted. I’m working on a better way to check in with myself, to slow down, do more things that fill my tank and make sure I’m spending quality time with the people I love the most.

The last time I created something I was proud of was 

When I made dinner two nights ago. Cooking a fabulous dinner that my husband geeks out over is pretty cool to me.

I wish I could tell my younger self

It all works out perfectly. The heartbreaks and disappointments will be your greatest teachers and they are essential to the journey. The good news is you survive all of them. Remember that defeat is temporary and only becomes failure when you allow it to be permanent.

The legacy I hope to leave is

That I left the world and the people I knew better than when I found them.

XO,

Alexis