A few weeks ago while lost in the vortex that is my Instagram feed, I stumbled upon a photo of one of my acquaintances from DC preparing for a run. What caught my attention was the hashtag -- #missionIMpossible. Curious, I went further down the rabbit hole of hashtags and Instagram post only to land on the account of @sammyjofruition -- that is, Samantha Jo Alonso.Apparently I'm in the minority of people who had never heard of her before! Listed as one of Instagram's most stylish women by Complex Magazine, Samantha is the owner of the retail boutique, FRUITION Las Vegas, brand partner to Nike Women, and creator of the running movement MISSION: I'M-POSSIBLE.

As she elaborates in the following videos, Samantha brought FRUITION to fruition (corny pun totally intended) because of her deep desire to marry her love of fashion with her desire to be "a light in the midst of darkness" in her hometown, Las Vegas, NV. Opening the store at the age of 21 on literally nothing more than a hope and a prayer, FRUITION has since blown up into a premiere fashion destination in both Las Vegas and Los Angeles. What I like most about Samantha's story is that she opened the store not only to be a cool boutique with cool clothes, but to be a place that would provide hope and encouragement to her Las Vegas community. She even named it "FRUITION" because she wanted everyone who came in contact with her brand to be inspired to go after their dreams.As if having a successful retail store wasn't enough, Samantha recently started MISSION: I'M-POSSIBLE after having an epiphany while out running one day. As she was running, she realized that the sport of running was really a metaphor for her life. Having persevered through many obstacles and naysayers to make her dream store FRUITION come true, she realized that in many ways, her ability to run long distances had prepared her for that. She says sticking with running taught her "You know what, 'I'm possible'!" and she wanted to inspire others to develop that same sense of belief in themselves.So I say all of the above to say, this chick is amazing! I love her story; you will be so encouraged after watching these two videos. In the first video she talks about how FRUITION came about, her brand strategy, and her business mindset. In the second video, she talks about her faith in Christ, finding her purpose, and how she ultimately developed a vision that was bigger than herself:http://vimeo.com/80021751http://vimeo.com/88401995

Video Notes & Quotes:

• [When building a business] What are you providing to your customer besides the actual product you are selling? Think differently about what you are offering. How can you re-imagine what already exists? How can you stand out?
• What experience are you offering?
• "Why be comfortable, why be stagnant, why settle for something that is safe when everything is in front of you?"
• "Anything I do has to coexist with each other. There is no separation whether that's fashion, fitness, or my faith -- all three of those worlds are interconnected."
• Find a way to make what you do bigger than yourself and give back to your community
• [Referencing MISSION:I'M-POSSIBLE] "An idea brought to action has evolved into a growing and evolving community."

People will believe the impossible when they see you live it!

• "Grow and be the best person you can be and if you want to be that person, you have to be intentional about it."
• "Whatever is making you uncomfortable, you have to run towards it because that's the only way you'll see your dreams come to fruition."
• "There's a lot of pressure in our purpose and when faced with that pressure, a lot of people tend to fold and fall back and say, 'You know what, this isn't necessarily for me,' when really, God is calling us to be uncomfortable. "
• "What are the dreams you have in your heart? What are the desires that were placed in you so deeply that you're running away from? I want to encourage you that you have to run towards that dream. You have to fight for that dream. But when God is on your side, you cannot be defeated. You are fully equipped with the gifts and talents that nobody else has..."
• "When you activate your dreams in faith, the right people are going to be attracted to you. The right people are going to be brought into your life."
• "You can't give what you don't have. So it's important to feed ourselves spiritually."

I hope these videos inspired you! Let me know what you think!