Marketing Happy Hour - Productivity 101: How to Hustle Sanely | Jess Massey of Hustle Sanely

Episode Date: May 19, 2022

In this episode of the Marketing Happy Hour podcast, we're catching up with Hustle Sanely Founder and "peaceful productivity" advocate Jess Massey.  Jess shares a behind the scenes look at how she started her own business out of her personal journey to get and stay productive while maintaining her peace, and offers a wide variety of helpful, practical tips you can adopt to boost your productivity, including: Her top 3 productivity tips How to establish and stick to a morning routine that works for you What "habit stacking" is and how you can utilize it The importance of creating an environment that fosters productivity and creativity How to build an online community of loyal brand advocates The inside scoop on developing digital and physical products + MORE! Grab a drink and listen in to this week's Marketing Happy Hour conversation! ----- Other episodes you'll enjoy if you enjoyed Jess' episode: Copywriting 101 | Ethical Copywriter + Email Strategist Karsen Murray Ask MHH: 5 Tough Career Challenges + How to Navigate | Cassie and Erica Why Every Brand Needs a Podcast, AND How to Build One | Rita Richa of Reignite Media ____ Say hi! DM us on Instagram and share your favorite moments from this episode - we can't wait to hear from you!  Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. NEW: Check out our website! NEW: Join our email list! Follow Jess on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessmmassey/ Resources mentioned: Journal | How to Create Digital Products Course | BFF  Membership Follow MHH on Instagram: https://instagram.com/marketinghappyhr Follow MHH on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/marketing-happy-hour/ Subscribe to our LinkedIn newsletter, Marketing Happy Hour Weekly: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/marketing-happy-hour-weekly-6950530577867427840/ Join our Marketing Happy Hour Insiders LinkedIn Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9238088/ Say hi! DM us on Instagram and share your favorite moment from this episode - we can't wait to hear from you!

Hey there, welcome to the Marketing Happy Hour podcast, where each week we're learning career-defining advice, powerful social media strategies, unique creative tips, groundbreaking influencer marketing tactics, and more from marketing experts that represent some of the world's leading brands. Let's dive in. Grab a drink and join your hosts hosts, Cassie and Erica, for this week's episode. Hey, everyone. I can't even believe it's almost the end of season four. We've had so many incredible guests this season and today's guest is no exception. Jess Massey is the founder of Hustle Sanely,

a wellness-centered approach to pursuing your goals, offering free resources, podcast episodes, blog posts, and even digital and physical products to help you stay peacefully productive. Jess shares a behind-the-scenes look at how she started her own business out of her personal journey to get and stay productive while maintaining her peace. She shares her top three tips for productivity, how to establish and stick to a morning routine, the process of launching digital and physical products, how to create an environment that fosters productivity, and how having a strong community of loyal brand advocates can help any brand succeed.

This is a must listen for anyone in your marketing career, especially if you resonated with our episode a couple episodes ago around burnout this season. I can't wait for you to hear from Jess, so grab your favorite beverage and listen in. Hey, Jess, how are you? Hi, thank you so much for having me on. I'm so excited to be here. We are so excited to have you here. I know we kicked off this season with one of your really close friends, Carson. So we're excited to kind of close out the season with you. But before we jump in, I have a very important question that I need to ask you.

And that is what is in your glass tonight? It is marketing happy hour after all, or I guess this afternoon, since we're around like two o'clock. Hey, it's five o'clock somewhere, right? I'm sure. I have two glasses going right now. I have a giant glass of water and then I have an iced coffee. I'm an oat milk latte kind of gal. I drink too many every day. So I'm drinking one now. I love that. Do you have an espresso machine that you use? I do not. I go to, there's a local coffee shop right up the road from us and we go, my husband and I literally every single day, sometimes twice a day. And I used to feel guilty

about it, but I'm like, you know what? Number one, supporting local. Okay. It brings me joy. And number three, we invested in this coffee shop earlier this year. So I'm like, really, we're just paying ourselves. So this is fine. Oh my gosh. That's amazing. Wait, can you say what coffee shop? Yeah. It's King state. King state. Oh, I love that. Oh, I'm a big fan of King state. Yeah. It's really good. Yeah. So good. And the branding. I know. I always tell my husband that I want our house to look like King state feels because I'm like, it's just so bright and all the plants everywhere. Like, Oh, I love going in there and working. It is my favorite place. Yeah. For anyone that's going to visit Tampa, you'll have to hit up King state because we all love it. And add it to your itinerary for sure.

Yes. And in the meantime, go to their Instagram because it's a great experience online as well. But yes, I have water typically just, I am double fisting as well. I always have nine drinks on my table at one time, but you got to stay hydrated. So, okay. Awesome. So we'd love to hear a little bit about your background and how Hustle Sanely came to be. So could you take us a little bit behind the scenes on that journey? Yeah, totally. So I started Hustle Sanely in September of 2018, which now it feels like so long ago, even though, I don't know, it's just, it's crazy. Time is flying by and I don't think the pandemic helped. But I always say that I started Hustle Sanely on accident. I was kind of solving my own problems and that's kind of how it came to be. So at the time when I started it, I,

in 2015, went back to college for my second bachelor's degree because I was a career changer. I was back in school trying to get a second bachelor's degree so that I could get into grad school for speech language pathology, which is very intense. I didn't know how intense it was going to be or else I probably wouldn't have done it. But I was working three part-time jobs trying to get into grad school. And then I did get into grad school. And then I was for the program that I was in, you had to do onsite internships. So I was onsite at a school or a clinic, just kind of doing hands-on training. Like I said, I was working multiple jobs. I obviously had to go to class because that's part of being in school.

And then I was just trying to still take care of myself, show up for my marriage, show up for my friendships, for my family. And it wasn't working out. I remember like very vividly, there was a moment where I was studying for, and I still get chills telling this story, like not the good kind of chills, like the kind where you want to like close your eyes and like never think of this moment again. But I was studying for a neuroanatomy exam and I had flashcards of the cranial nerves spread out all around me on the floor of my office. And I was cramming away. And I remember my husband tapping on the door and just kind of poking his head in just to check in. He's like, Hey, how's it going? You all right in there? And I was like, I'm not. And I just started bawling. And that's when it hit me. I was like, this isn't working. Like how I'm living my life right now is not serving me. It's not supporting my

mental health. It's not supporting the important relationships in my life. This isn't worth it to me. Um, but obviously I didn't want to stop pursuing the goal that I was working toward because I really did at the time want to become a speech language pathologist. So I kind of decided to go on what I like to call a personal development journey at that time. And this was probably, this was 2017, early 2017 when this happened. So that's what I started doing. I started reading and researching all about productivity, mindset, habits, like all of that kind of stuff. And I've always been like very type A. I don't know if you guys remember in elementary school, like agenda planner day, where they would like pass out your, do you guys remember that? Yeah. I was like, I wouldn't nerd

out over that. Like that was my jam. I lived for it. And so I've always just been like very kind of, I guess, naturally gifted when it comes to creating schedules. And that's how I was always able to do so much, even though I was doing too much at the time. So I just started, I was sharing my journey online of grad school and people started noticing that my attitude was changing. They were seeing like, I've made a digital planner on and started selling it on Etsy because people asked me like, Hey, I want that too. Can you show us like how to use that? So that's actually how hustle sanely started. It was a digital planner on Etsy because people saw it on my Instagram stories and they were like,

we want that. And we also need you to teach us how to use it. So that's kind of how Hustle Sanely started. And so that was September, 2018. And then in January, 2019, so really quickly after I dropped out of school and just started running with Hustle Sanely because it kind of took off. And I was like, there is absolutely no way that I can do both of these. Well, I've learned that the hard way. So I decided to go with Hustle Sanely. And that is kind of how I got to where I am today. Hustle Sanely has changed a ton since then for the better, in my opinion. But that's how it all started. That is incredible.

I love that story. I think that's so awesome to hear. Like the behind the scenes of you would never set out to like do this, but just because everyone was seeing how you were managing your schedule, it became a business. I love that so much. Thank you. Yeah. So I do want to know what are your top three essential productivity tips? I feel like this is a very great question, especially a couple episodes ago, we just talked about burnout and kind of how to avoid it and just all sorts of tips there. But I feel like you could probably really give some good tips around that as well.

Yeah. So I'm all about what we like to call peaceful productivity, just because I feel like when I think of productivity, I think of like the grind, like pedal to the metal, kind of checking off a billion tasks. And that just doesn't work for me. And that's just not what I teach because I don't think it's sustainable. So I would say my top three essential peaceful productivity tips. Number one is scheduling in your rest every single week, because if you don't schedule it in, it's not going to happen. And something that I am very, very passionate about because I've experienced the, I guess, ramifications of it is you don't

have to earn your rest. Like rest is essential in itself. Like you don't have to finish a list and then you get to rest. Like I believe in operating from a place of rest. And that's why I'm a big fan also of weaving little pockets of rest into our daily lives through habits and routines, and then kind of weaving a little bit of bigger areas of rest into your weekly routine. Um, that way you don't get to that point of burnout. It's like preventative maintenance basically for your life when it comes to burnout. So that is my first tip is scheduling in weekly rest. Even if you don't know what you're going to do, just block it out on the calendar, like an hour, two hours, whatever, just like get it on the calendar and you can figure out what kind of rest

you need when you get there, but just have it set on your calendar. And then I would say tip number two is I am also a big fan of energy aligned time blocking. So I am, I check in with myself every day. I'm like, okay, how do I feel? Like, what do I need today? Obviously you can't change everything every day based on how you're feeling because you have deadlines, you have other people depending on you, like totally get that. I'm not saying that that's the case, but I do think it's important to check in with how you feel at the beginning of the day so that you can assess your energy and then kind of allocate your tasks for that day accordingly. So if you're like, okay, I have a lot of energy, I'm ready to like do the dang thing, like do your high energy tasks at the

beginning of the day instead of waiting until the end of the day. Cause I know something I used to struggle with is I would reach for, I call them low hanging fruit tasks. Those easy things that like don't take a lot of brain power, but it feels really dang good to check it off of your to-do list. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. But I like to save those for the end of my day because I know that that's when I don't have as much mental energy. So that is tip number two is using energy aligned time blocking and just kind of scheduling your day according to that. And then tip number three is batching. And I know this is a huge thing, especially in the entrepreneur space. But I do think that there's ways that we can batch

like our personal lives as well, because we all have things that we repeat from week to week or day to day. And batching is essentially working smarter, not harder in action. So it's like doing the same task or the same type of tasks over and over in like a shorter amount of time

rather than spacing them out. So a big one for me, I do all of my, like, I call them life errands on Fridays. Obviously sometimes it doesn't work out and you have to like go run and do something like on the fly. But for the most part, I try to just stack all of my errand running on Fridays just so that I'm not like coming and going all week long. Another thing that I do for batching in my business, I take all of my calls and meetings on Thursdays. Again, it doesn't always happen, but that's kind of like how I build my week

to kind of structure around that. Just because it allows you to get in the headspace of a certain type of task one time instead of having to get there repeatedly over and over again, because that uses up so much mental energy. So I think those would be my top three essential peaceful productivity tips. Those are so good. And I just have a follow

up really quickly for someone who maybe wants to schedule rest into their, their work week, their schedule, but doesn't know what that rest could look like. Can you give some examples of what rest could look like? Is it a walk? Is it, you know, just reading a book? Like what is that? Yeah, for sure. So I say the way that I define rest is whatever refreshes you. And I don't think that it has to look the exact same every time you're going to rest. I don't know if you've heard of this before. Um, I believe her name is Dr. Sandra Dalton Smith. She is the one who kind of put this study out there.

There are seven different types of rest, which when I learned this, I was like, whoa, what do you mean? Like it absolutely blew my mind. I have a whole episode on it over on my podcast because it just like intrigued me so much. And so I think that's a really important step is learning about the seven different types of rest so that you can kind of check in with yourself and see what kind of rest you need. Because I think it varies depending on how your day is gone, how your week is gone. Like if you've exerted a lot of creative energy for work one week, you probably need to creatively rest. Whereas maybe a different week you were doing more like physical labor for your job.

Maybe you're moving into a new warehouse or if you're a teacher setting up your classroom, your body is probably going to be craving physical rest instead. Right. So for me, I love going on walks. That is something my husband and I go on an afternoon walk almost every day, if it's not too hot here in Florida, because that's just, I feel like with walking, it kind of checks a lot of the rest boxes for me. It gives me like a mental reset. It gives me a creative reset. It's obviously like pretty physical. So there's just a lot of different types of rest rolled up into one.

And then reading fiction is my other favorite one. I just got back into reading fiction and it's just something that makes me lose track of time. And I stopped thinking about things that don't need to be thought about in that moment if that makes sense yeah what are you reading right now right now I am reading it is Emily Henry's new book and it's called book lovers yeah oh my gosh I have that actually waiting for me in my pocket right now so that's awesome yeah I'm excited to read that one she's great I read beach read by her last summer when we took

a trip to Hawaii. And that was my first fiction book that I'd read in a very long time. And that's what got me back into reading fiction was that book. So I have a very special place for Emily Henry in my heart. I love her. That is amazing. I am very much on a business book kick right now but I need to get back into the fiction so I'll definitely have to grab that as well and read it these tips have been yes I will definitely grab it but these tips have been so helpful so far I've seen a lot of your content on Instagram too and I know you talk a lot about to-do lists, which is something that I live by. And I do know what to-do lists, it can either create a lot of overwhelm or it could be that piece that helps you feel less overwhelmed. So do you have any tips on building, keeping track of

your to-do list? What does that look like for you? Yeah. So I am, I have what I call a catch-all task list. And I have one for personal stuff and then one for work. That's just how my brain functions is I like to separate like work versus life. Um, but I think it's going to look different for everybody. And that's what I teach through hustle sanely. Like everything that I teach is like a foundation, um, but you have to build the house on top of it. Like you have to figure out what kind of door you want, what kind of windows you want, like how many stories, you know what I mean? Like that's your job. So everything that I teach, that's just, I like to put that out there. So you don't have to

copy exactly what I do, but like use the principles, like eat the fish, spit out the bones kind of a thing. I am a, so with my catch all task lists, I keep them digital, but then my weekly task list. So like when I'm going to those and grabbing off, like what is a priority for this week, then I'm a paper planner girl all the way. It does not make sense to a lot of people that I separate it like digital and paper, but it's just, it works well for my brain. I mean, it took me a long time to accept that because I feel like, especially as a business owner, you see so many like complicated systems with like bells and whistles and, you know, all of these crazy platforms online. And you're like,

okay, I have to figure out how to use this because this is what everybody else is using. But I just, I think, no, just don't do that. Like figure out what works for you and just do that. Do whatever you're actually going to stick with. That's what I always teach people. And then one tip that I teach that works for pretty much everybody when it comes to a daily to-do list is I teach a thing called focus three. So it's just prioritizing your to-do list. People kind of panic when I'm like, yeah, you have to pick like the three most important tasks every day to give your best time and energy to. They're like, wait, I have so much more than like three things to do. I'm like, girl, same. Like we all do. That's not, that's not

what I'm saying, but it's so important to go into each day knowing what are your three most important tasks. That way, like I said, you can give your best time and energy to those instead of pushing them off to the end of the day when you're kind of out of brain power and you're like, oh my gosh, like this was a big deadline. I was supposed to get this done and now I have nothing left to pour into it. So that's why I'm a big fan of choosing your focus three every day with your daily to-do list. That is amazing.

And I don't know if you've ever heard of the Kanban method. That is something, it's pretty cool. So I learned this years ago at a conference and like, it's again, to your point where just figure out what works and stick with it. It's something that I don't see a lot of people use, but essentially it's three different lists to do doing and done. And it's just mov's active throughout the day helps my brain process everything better. But I like how you said, just figure out the method, whether it's digital, having a paper planner, you know, just stick with what works and just use it and run with it. Yeah. People need to give themselves permission to not do these crazy complicated things.

You know what I mean? Because I feel like that's where people get hung up is when it comes to any type of productivity, people feel the need to create these huge life altering, you know, systems, but then they're like, oh my gosh, I have to keep doing this every single day for the rest of my life in order for it to work. And then it's overwhelming. So then people just, they don't do it. They're like, nope, nevermind, forget it. I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing, which is flying by the seat of my pants. But I think if you just simple, like simplify it and just focus on like what works for you and stick with that, that's totally fine. Like how you said the working to-do list is what works for you.

I've tried that and it does not work for me because I'm like, oh my gosh, I forgot to move the task over. Like it's in the wrong column. Like I can't go over that. But the fact that it works for you, it's just such a great example that we both found like what works for us and they're different things. Absolutely. Absolutely. And for anyone who is listening and is struggling with the balance of work and life, what would you say to them? What are some tips that you can share for people who are facing that? Okay. So I think it's a little bit different depending on whether you're a business owner or, you know, you work a nine to five. If you're a business owner, I would say the biggest thing is setting work hours. If you don't already have them, I did not have them the first year that I was running hustle sanely.

And I was working a lot, but I didn't realize that I was working a lot because I really do love what I do. No matter how much you love what you do, if you do too much, you're going to burn out because you're going to be pouring from an empty cup. You know, you've heard, we've all heard that saying before. So that would be my big tip for entrepreneurs is set work hours. I promise you your business is not going to implode while you're sleeping. Or if you clock out at 6 PM and you don't clock back in until 9 AM, like your business is not going to like crash and burn while you're sleeping. Okay. Um, so that's that one. And then if you work a more like nine to five or, you know, something similar like that boundaries, I think

creating boundaries for yourself, but not only creating the boundaries for yourself, but communicating them to your coworkers. And that includes your boss. And there is, there are so many good teachers on Instagram about boundaries and communicating them. But it's just, I think I really, that's something that I really appreciate about our generation as I feel like creating and communicating boundaries is kind of becoming the norm. Whereas, you know, my parents, whenever I talk about this with them, they're like, oh my gosh, you would say that to your boss or your neighbor or whatever. They're like, isn't that kind of rude or harsh? I'm like, absolutely not. Like it's protecting me so that I can be the best version of myself for that person that I'm

communicating the boundary to. So I think that the boundaries are obviously going to look different for everybody, depending on your personality, what the job is, what the job calls for, and all of that stuff. But I think just kind of getting really, really clear on what your boundaries are for your role at work, and just making sure that you communicate those, like I said, to anybody on your work team who they're going to affect. Yeah, absolutely. Boundaries are huge. And even setting work hours when you are, you know, running your own business, that's a form of boundary setting. Absolutely. Yeah, that's huge. That was a great tip.

Yeah, thank you. Of course, you mentioned a little bit around setting your top three to do list items for the day and things like that in the morning. Can you give us a look into your typical morning routine? And how have you? I would love to I love morning routines. I've always been kind of a morning routine junkie, but my morning routine has ebbed and flowed and changed depending on my season of life. And that's something that I always like to kind of put out there before I dive into my morning routine, because I feel like, you know, you see those morning routines on like YouTube or Pinterest where they're just like perfectly aesthetic. Like it's just, you know, everything is in its place. It's like a two hour ordeal. If you want to do that and you can do that, great. Like you do that, you know, everything is in its place. It's like a two hour ordeal.

If you want to do that and you can do that, great. Like you do that, that works for you, but your morning routine can literally be 10 or 15 minutes. Like it does not have to be this huge ordeal. And so I think that's what a lot of people get scared of who come into the hustle Stanley community. They're like, I do not have time for like a two hour thing before work. And I'm like, good. You don't have to, if you don't want to. Um, so my morning routine now is very, very simple. I wake up usually between five 45 and six. I'm an early morning person. I am, I'm a granny. I am sleeping by like 9 30 PM just because that's how my body clock works. Um, so I get up pretty early and my husband, he sleeps later than me. So I kind of get out of the room as quickly as possible, just so I'm not making noise. And then I go into the kitchen and I ice roll my face. I make some coffee and then I grab my

stuff out of my office and go sit on the couch. So there are, I would say four things that I do pretty much every single morning and it might sound like a lot but I really have it down to like a system that works for me and it takes me like 30-35 minutes and I can tell such a difference the days that I do it versus the days that I skip it like how I show up for the rest of my day is affected my mindset is affected um so it's so worth that time investment to me to show up for myself in that way. But the four things that I do, I read the Bible first and then I journal. So I actually have a journal called the Peacefully Productive Journal. It's through Hustle Sanely. And so I fill out my morning page every morning and then I write a prayer on the like free write page every morning. And then I write a prayer on the like free write page every morning. Um, so that's number two. Number three is I read a personal development book. So I'm always reading a fiction and a nonfiction at the same time, because that's just what I like to do. And then the last step is I spend a little bit of time in prayer and meditation, usually like three to five minutes,

nothing wild. I love that so much. I I'm writing so many notes to take away, like even the ice rolling, like that's something I did for a while back. And this is just a reminder. I need to get ice rolling again. One of my favorite things in the morning is I like to do habit stacking in the morning. So that way I'm not really thinking of like, oh my gosh, there's 20 steps in my morning routine. I'm just like, no, I make my coffee. And while I'm waiting for the coffee to do its thing, I grab the ice roller out of the freezer and then I just roll my face while I do it. And so instead of looking at like each individual task, cause that that's daunting to me, that's overwhelming. I'm like, oh my gosh, that's too

much. Like I don't have time to do that. So that's why I'm a big fan of habit stacking in the morning. And I think if you're new to starting a morning routine, do that. So like, and I don't know how everybody else does habit stacking, but for me, it's like something like an old habit that's already like ingrained in my mind that I don't have to think about, AKA drinking coffee right when I wake up. I don't got to think about doing that. Like, it's just like an automatic thing for me. So I attached like a new habit that I'm wanting to implement to that so that it's like less overwhelming. I just, I get excited because I'm like, I'm excited for my coffee. Okay. Now let me do this new thing in ice roll. And then another example of that habit stacking to something that I'm working on is stretching.

I am not the best at stretching. Um, so I, for my, whenever I'm doing my prayer and meditation, I have made a, like a new habit of I'll put on worship music in the background and just like stretch while like two songs play. And so that's kind of like a whole little thing that I do. I don't do that every single day, but it's just another example of a habit stacking. I love that. That's so awesome. And you talked a little bit about some of the physical products that you've created. So do you have any insight for anyone looking to create a merch line, physical, digital products, and also what has your experience been developing those products? Yeah. So I started with only digital products and to be honest,

I wouldn't have done it any other way. And that's what I always recommend people to do. Number one, obviously some products, you can't do a digital version, like a t-shirt. You can't be like, here's my digital t-shirt. But you know, like planners, journals, like book type things. You can, I started all digital and it was just, number one, it was a learning. Like I learned how to create products without having to put too much skin in the game, AKA money. Cause it's very, very affordable to create digital products.

Whereas physical products, it's a whole nother ball game. Um, and not only that, but I was able to learn how to make products that people liked. And then it was very, it's very easy to change digital products, paper products. Once they're out there, they're out there. So it's really hard to change them. But I was able to use the profits that we made from our digital products to then kind of turn around and start a paper product line. And that's something that I'm really, really happy that we did because a big value of mine as a business owner is I don't want to go in debt for anything in my business. And so we didn't have

to, we were able, like I said, to use those profits from the digital products to transfer over into starting a paper product line. So that's a big, big tip, but I don't really hear a lot of people talking about if you can start digital and use that to kind of launch your, your paper product line or whatever physical product you're trying to put out there. That is awesome. And I actually have a follow-up there. I wanted to know what your favorite tools are for creating digital products. Are there online resources that you've used? What does that look like for you? Yeah. So I, like I said earlier, I'm a very simple gal. Okay. I am not a designer or, you know, into super intense design tools. I use Canva to create like all of the graphics and stuff in my business, but I actually, and the first time I

ever told my web designer friends list, I think a lot of them went into shock. They were like, excuse me, what? So all of my digital planners and digital journals, I actually use Microsoft PowerPoint and Keynote to make them. And they were just like, what? That is not okay. And I'm like, well, it works for me. And so I actually have a whole course. That was the first course that I ever created, how to create digital products 101, where I teach people how to create digital planners, digital journals, like all of those kinds of things. So, yeah, those are my two go to tools. That is so cool. I love the old school Microsoft. But moving forward from your digital products and into your physical products, how did you go about doing that?

Where did you start? Because I know there's a lot of people out there who would really love to launch a physical line. They just don't know where to begin. What did that look like? Yeah, a lot of Googling is what it looked like. A whole lot of Googling. And I'm going to be very honest.

There is not, at least when I started. So I started my paper line. We started planning it in 2019 and our first planner came out in 2020, which also would not recommend launching a paper product line in the middle of pandemic. That was insane. Obviously I didn't know what's going to happen, but I was like, Oh, we're doing this. Okay. Um, but it, I Googled so much, watched so many YouTube videos. And like I said, honestly, there wasn't that much good information that I could find. So we're working on a course for next year to help people who are wanting to start a

paper product line. But what I will say is my first year, I went through like a third party. Honestly, I don't even know the term, like a third party company where they were kind of because we get our products manufactured overseas. honestly, I don't even know the term, like a third party company where they were kind of, cause we get our products manufactured overseas. And so it can be really hard to communicate with people overseas because of the time difference, the language difference. It's just, especially if you're brand new to creating products, you don't know the lingo anyways, most likely. So you're just like, okay, I don't know what anyone is saying. I don't know what any of this means. So we went through a third party company who they just act like a middleman.

Like they do all of the communicating with the manufacturer for you. It was more pricey, but I would do that route again for my first year, just because that it's like, you're drinking from a fire hose. Like you're just, there's so much going on. And so having somebody who's kind of in your corner, there's so much going on. And so having somebody who's kind of in your corner, who's, you know, kind of showing up for you, asking the right questions for you, making sure that the manufacturers have what you need and, you know, know what you're asking for, um, was really, really helpful. And then our second year, which we're in right now,

we're creating our third planner now, but our second one is out in the world. We went directly to the manufacturers ourselves because it was a lot more affordable and we felt more confident in knowing the lingo and just knowing the process. But that is one thing that I would recommend if you're just getting started is I think it's worth the money your first year to kind of work with that third party company that acts as the middleman to just help guide the entire process. That makes a lot of sense and super helpful because I know too, Erica and I have talked about building products and how to approach that. And there's just so many different options and it's kind of a daunting feat. So that's super helpful to hear your journey and how you did it. Yeah. And so I have

to ask, I'm looking at your office, a portion of your office through zoom and going back to productivity really quick. How do you think that environment and setting up your office space plays into productivity? And do you have any tips for creating an environment that is good for your mind, but also your work levels as well. Yeah. I think that our physical environment affects our mental environment for lack of a better phrase so much. It's just like you absorb what you're in and what you're around. Right. So like same thing goes for like what you're watching on TV, what kind of music you're listening to, what kind of conversations you're having with people, like those kinds of things get in your mind and affect how you show up and operate in your life. Just like the actual physical space that you're in, it affects how you operate and show up

for your life. And I think a lot of people think that they need like an entire dedicated room or office to be productive. You don't. You just need a little corner of your house. If that's all you have, but just optimize that corner so that it supports you. So I don't, it's different for everybody, depending on just like your personality, your work needs, like what your job is, like all that stuff. But for me, I love having natural light because it just keeps me

alert and awake. So I love having like my workspace by a window. Luckily, my office has two giant windows. So that is amazing. And then also this might sound silly, but having live plants on my desk is another thing that just like, I'm excited. I think if you're excited to sit down at your desk, you're going to be more productive because you want to be there, right? You're kind of getting rid of some of that resistance when it comes to going in your office, sitting down. You're just like, oh, it's pretty. It's nice.

It's inviting. I want to be here. So then you're kind of more inclined to do what you need to do. So having live plants is another thing that does that for me. I keep my vision board on my desk as well, just because seeing it reminds me of why I am doing the little tedious tasks that I'm doing every day sometimes. And then two other things, I have my monthly affirmation written on a little whiteboard on my desk as well, just because like I was mentioning earlier, I think anything that we take in consume affects us.

So I just always like to be reading positive words in front of me. And then I am also a big fan of essential oils and I know they're not everybody's jam, but they have helped me in so many ways and they smell really fricking good. Okay. So they just like, I love diffusing peppermint and something citrus in the morning because it just like wakes me up, puts a little pep in my step. So that is another thing, just kind of getting like tap into your senses, right? Like when you're creating a space that you want to help you be productive, like

think about what do you want to see? What do you want to smell? What do you want to hear? I love playing lo-fi music whenever I'm working. So just think about all of that stuff. Oh, I love that. That's awesome. And I'll also add, if you do not have a green thumb like myself, you could do like some dried florals or something like that. Cause that's what I do in my apartment. That totally works. Yeah. I love it. And it's so true. The environment that you're in really, really affects like your productivity and just like who you are during your day. So totally agree with that. Another thing that can affect who you are, your productivity and what you're doing throughout the day is community. And I know hustle sanely has an amazing online community as well. And you have your podcast and you're sending emails and you

have, you know, your Instagram community. So let's talk about that for a second. How did you build your community? And was it just through digital products and everyone buying those, or was it really first through social media? What did that look like? I think it's the inverse of what you said with the digital products. I think the digital products sold so well because my community is so amazing. And I, it's so funny when people ask this because I'm like, how did I build community? And it's honestly, I've always been, I love sharing the journey of solving a problem. So like, that's kind of what gets people excited about what you're doing is not just showing the finished product, but just kind of taking them along with you. So like, for example, when I got it, it was like I

mentioned at the beginning, it was really hard to get into an SLP grad school program. And I was scouring the internet, just looking for support and resources of tips to get into grad school. And just like, I don't know, wanting to hear other people's experiences. And so I couldn't find anything on YouTube or, you know, blogs. Like I could find people who are already SLPs, but it's just, I couldn't find anybody who was going through the journey. And I was like, this is my promise to the world. If I get into grad school, I'm sharing the journey. I'm going to share like how I got in, what I'm doing once I'm in, what it's like. So I started a YouTube channel and an Instagram account. It was

called The Social Speechy. And those blew up. They took off, I think because it was so niche, first of all, like who's talking about SLP grad school online back then? Not a lot of people were. So I think just taking people with you on the journey and not feeling like you have to show up with everything figured out and yourself put together. I really do think that's what makes the Hustle Sanely community so strong and so special is they accept me for who I am right now, not who, you know, I'm trying to be or you know what I mean? Like, it's just they accept every part of me. And that's with Hustle Sanely too. Like I've shared the whole journey of everything. I've shared the highs, I've shared the lows. Obviously I have boundaries of like what I'm

sharing versus what I'm not. But I'm not scared to be vulnerable online. And even when we created our first paper planner back in the middle of a pandemic, they sold out in three days because we took people on the journey. Like I sh I was showing people my desk covered in computer paper with like my sketches with like a fricking Sharpie on literal computer paper. And I was like, this is going to be our first paper planner. And like, you know, we unbox samples with the community and we do polls and get them involved in helping create the products because the products aren't for me. The products are for us. So I just think just bringing people with you is the best advice that I have.

So good. That's awesome. And Jess, you mentioned how you are working on another planner, which is super exciting. We cannot wait to learn more about that, but including the products that you're building, what is next for Hustle Sanely? What's coming up for you guys? Oh my gosh. So we, like you said, have a new planner coming out. We try to add one new product to our paper product line every year. So we have a brand new product coming out this fall that will be with the paper product line. And then next year we are wanting to do our first ever

Hustle Sanely in-person event. So like a retreat type situation. So I have a monthly membership called the Hustle Sanely BFF membership. And right now we're sitting at around 280 members. And so it's going to be just for BFFs first, not the entire Hustle Sanely community. Cause I'm like, let me start small. Like let me dip my toe in the water and like see how a live in-person event goes. But that is something that is major on our radar for next year. And then in the coming years, one of my big, big goals for Hustle Sanely is to write a book. So I would say those are my two big goals for the future. I also have a dream to write a book in the near future. So we'll see what happens. I love it. I love it. And I will have to figure out what, how Cassie and I can join in on the BFFs

community. We would love to support you in any way that we can. Finally, I'm sad that our interview is almost over here, but it has to come to an end at some point. We'd love to ask this question on Marketing Happy Hour. Is there anything that you know now, other than all of the amazing tips that you've already shared, that you wish you knew when you were starting your business? Yeah, I think, and I know people say this a lot. And so I'm kind of like, should I say it, but it really is what I have carried with me from the

beginning to now. It's okay to start messy and small. And what that looks like for me is I don't know what hustle sanely is going to be looking like in three years, five years, 10 years. And when people ask me, I'm like, I have no clue. All I know is that I'm okay with kind of fumbling through like the, the daily steps to get me to those bigger things that I want to accomplish. And it's just, I think you have to find, and this is another cheesy saying, but you have to find that joy in the journey because the journey is what makes up so much of our life. Like the actual accomplishments, like, yeah, they're amazing. They're great when you get to them, but the actual achievement of something, it, it takes

up so little time in our lives, right? Whereas getting to the achievement, that's where we're spending most of our time. So I think it's so important to make sure that you're finding a way to enjoy that journey, like making sure that you're taking care of yourself as you're pursuing the goals, because that's something that I didn't do at the beginning. That's why I started Hustle Sanely is because it's so, so, so important to really prioritize your mental health and the important relationships in your life as you're pursuing the goals, not once you've completed them. Awesome. And Jess, because we are closing out, we'll definitely be linking all of your different resources in the show notes, but

where can people stay in touch with you and learn more from you online as well? Yeah. So the place that I hang out the most is Instagram and I am at Jess M Massey over there. And then literally everything hustle sanely lives at Jessica Massey.com like that will shoot you off to anywhere on the internet that you want to go that has anything to do with hustle sanely. I love it. Awesome. And we're so excited to continue staying in touch with you and seeing what you have coming up. You have a bright future ahead.

And thank you so much for sharing everything today with us. Thank you, ladies, so much. This was such a life-giving conversation. You guys are great. Catch me running to Jess's website to find all of her amazing resources and join her BFF community. We had so much fun learning from Jess and I cannot wait to meet up IRL in Tampa soon, hopefully at King state. Thank you so much for tuning in this week. If you loved this episode, please remember to write and leave a review. And as always follow us on Instagram at

marketing happy hour. That Instagram at Marketing Happy Hour. That's at Marketing Happy HR.