“Every woman deserves to live the life that she wants to achieve, and that’s a complicated concept,” says actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas on a call from a film set in Australia. The conversation is taking place on behalf of her affiliation with Marshalls and its Good Stuff Social Club, a social initiative helping women overcome research-identified obstacles to achieve their desired life trajectories.
The award-winning actor makes a natural role model for women: she balances a flourishing film career with her family, which includes a 2-year-old daughter with husband, Nick Jonas. With appearances on “top 100” lists by publications like Forbes and BBC, she serves as an inspiration to women hoping to balance it all – from a thriving family and career success, to a glamorous wardrobe with some much-needed downtime in sweats. It hasn’t been without hard work, however.
“The best career advice I can offer is not being afraid of what you want to achieve. Be ambitious, but also understand your self-worth,” Chopra Jonas tells PS. “That’s not just for your career, that’s in life. When I was younger, I didn’t understand that – I didn’t know how to advocate for myself.”
Despite the fact that she is a high-profile star, she has had to learn along the way like many of us. What’s more, she navigated her journey while under the scrutiny that comes with being a public figure.
Chopra Jonas recently posted on social media about her alternating filming schedule with her husband, so I ask her about the difficulty of balancing her high-powered career with having a family. “It’s not the easiest. I think a lot of women feel a sense of guilt,” she says. “You have to constantly prioritize what’s important to you, and be fully engaged when you are with your family.” This, she hints, helps to quiet any negative thoughts that might come up when wrangling the competing demands of work and family.
Chopra Jonas mentions the importance of family multiple times, beginning with her childhood; it’s clear that family has been a top priority throughout her life. She also expresses the importance of leaning on one’s greater community for support, and recalls learning to intentionally foster her support system.
“Confidence is self-taught. It helps to have a community that empowers you. For myself, it was my family, my friends, my team – and I built that. I tried to surround myself with people that helped me feel empowered, and helped me feel confident,” she says. “I’m very, very passionate about this because I was lucky growing up to be able to have a family surrounding me that gave me the ability to access my dreams and opportunities.”
This emphasis on social support, and Chopra Jonas’ intentionality around creating an empowering community around her, aligns closely with the Good Stuff Social Club mission, which has funded social research to better understand the individual factors limiting women via the “access gap.”
What is the access gap? “It’s a lack of resources, a lack of confidence, a lack of guidance, not understanding financial literacy,” Chopra Jonas says, adding that these factors are crucial for women pursuing their goals.
“What Marshalls wants to do is to close the access gap, which is also [achieved by] having a supportive environment where you feel you can turn to for technical resources and to seek out the opportunities you want to achieve,” she says. Through access to community, inspirational leaders in the space, and expert-led panels, Chopra Jonas hopes more women will be able to “achieve their best lives and live the lives they dream of.”
The inaugural Good Stuff Social Club event took place last year in New York, and it invited attendees to connect with mentors, network, and attend panels on topics ranging from financial literacy to reframing rejection and finding empowerment through style. Chopra Jonas enthusiastically recollects the way it instilled attendees with the hope, inspiration, and actual tools to take steps forward.
“At this point, it’s not just words anymore – it’s actually [connecting] women with the resources to pursue their goals. It was mind-blowing to see these incredible women come together to access leaders and talk to people that can help them achieve their dreams,” she says. “The Good Stuff Social Club created an environment where, through conversation, networking, and workshops, women found opportunity within themselves and the positive community it fostered.”
Jessica Ourisman is a freelance beauty and wellness editor who frequently writes about skincare and cosmetic dermatology for PS, Harper’s Bazaar, Allure, InStyle, The Zoe Report, Coveteur, WWD, and more.
