92 - Having a Peacefully Productive Business and Life with Jess Massey of The Hustle Sanely Podcast

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE HERE:

Our amazing guest for this Episode, Jess Massey (the host of the Hustle Sanely Podcast) is a planner creator and the founder of the community-centred productivity brand, Hustle Sanley!

In this episode, Jess shares her journey of how she “accidentally” started her business when she posted a digital planner that she had made on her stories, people asked if she could sell it, so she started an Etsy shop and since then she’s grown this incredible thriving community and she teaches women how to use The 5 Keys to Hustling Sanely™ which she shares about in this episode.

Jess teaches ambitious women how to pursue their dreams while also prioritizing their mental health and relationships. I am excited for you to learn from Jess how to adopt a positive mindset, the importance of moving your body, having healthy routines and everything to create a peacefully productive life.

Connect with Jess:

Instagram: @jessmmassey and @hustlesanely

Planners: hustlesanely.com 

Free Hustle Sanely Workbook: jessicamassey.com/start

The Heart of An Accidental Entrepreneur

Jess shares her background and how she started her business accidentally when she posted a digital planner that she made on her stories, and people started asking her about it. She started selling it on Etsy, and, from that, Hustle Sanely grew into a productivity company that teaches ambitious women how to pursue their dreams and prioritize their mental health and relationships. 

Jess realized that her approach to achieving her goals was not sustainable and started Hustle Sanely in September of 2018 to make shifts and help other women avoid the same mistakes.

The Power of Community

Community drives an authentic business! Getting feedback is SUPER important to success - this comes from bringing value to honest, one-on-one relationships and building the community of loyal people that would give feedback on products and services. 

Jess emphasizes the importance of transparency and pulling back the curtain to show the community the outcome of what they are trying to give, practicing what they preach and showing rather than just telling. 

Being honest and vulnerable and sharing failures and personal things builds trust and makes your brand more personal.

The Five Keys to Hustling Sanely 

These keys include taking care of your relationships and practicing self-care, to help create a well-rounded and sustainable routine.

  1. Positive Mindset

  2. Moving Your Body

  3. Having Routines

  4. Prioritizing Relationships 

  5. Rest

The key to a successful productivity routine is to prioritize your mental health and to recognize that you only have a certain number of truly productive hours per day. You HAVE to prioritize mental health and relationships while pursuing business goals -  working long hours is necessary for success is a myth!

Our Top Business Resources to Support Female Entrepreneurs:

Connect on Instagram:

Connect with Danielle Wiebe @danilivinglife

Connect with Business Babes Collective @businessbabesco

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TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00] Danielle Wiebe: Today I have the amazing Jess Massey on the podcast. She is the host of the hustle sanely podcast, a planner creator, and the founder of the community centered productivity brand hustle sanely. I so enjoyed this conversation. I feel like Jess and I could have talked for days, honestly, her passion and love for her community is so inspiring and you guys know how much community means to me. So I love that we had that in common.

[00:00:26] And in this episode, Jess shares her journey of how she accidentally started her business when she posted a digital planner that she made on her stories, and people started asking her about it. So she started selling it on Etsy and, I mean, the rest of the story you'll just have to tune into the podcast, but she teaches women how to use the five keys to hustling sanely, which she shares about in this episode.

[00:00:51] And I love that Jess teaches ambitious women how to pursue their dreams, but also prioritize their mental health and relationships. I'm so [00:01:00] excited for you to learn from Jess on how to adopt a positive mindset, moving your body, having routines and everything to create a peacefully, productive life.

[00:01:09] I know you are going to love this conversation just as much as I loved having it. So before we dive into the episode, I wanted to share a quick reminder that we are hosting a free workshop. So mark your calendar for September 28th, at 12:00 PM. PST. This workshop is gonna be all about organic growth and how we can get massive exposure for our businesses through the power of strategic collaborations.

[00:01:36] So if you are feeling discouraged by trying to rely on social media, to grow and build your business to get more visibility and you feel like there must be a better or faster way to get in front of your ideal clients and customers. And you wanted to create these strategic partnerships and collaborations in order to grow, then you have to be there. So go to businessbabescollective.com/workshop. Get registered. It's [00:02:00] completely free. Block it out in your calendar.

[00:02:02] And I cannot wait to hang out with you live. So if you are listening to this After the fact, then still go to businessbabescollective.com/workshop, because we will definitely get you a replay. All right, now that you're all registered. Let's go ahead and dive into the episode.

[00:02:18] Welcome to the business babes collective podcast. I'm your host, Danielle Wiebe. In this podcast. You'll learn tangible business tips and strategies on how to grow successfully and sustainably. We'll also interview seasoned entrepreneurs so you can listen in on their stories and see behind the scenes of what it took to grow and scale their businesses. Let's dive in, as we discuss the wild, exciting, crazy, challenging, rollercoaster ride of entrepreneurship.

[00:02:49] All right. Hello, Jess. I'm so excited to have you on the business babes collective podcast today. Welcome.

[00:02:55] Jess Massey: Hi, Danielle. Thank you so much for having me on. I'm so excited to be here.

[00:02:58] Danielle Wiebe: Awesome. Well, let's [00:03:00] jump in. I would love for you to share with our listeners a little bit of backstory. First of all, tell us about your business. Tell us about your amazing podcast and then what inspired you to become an entrepreneur?

[00:03:13] Jess Massey: Yeah. Okay. So I am the owner of a productivity company called hustle sanely, and I always tell people that I kind of started it on accident, which sounds weird, but it's a hundred percent true. I'm gonna answer your questions in reverse order just because I feel like...

[00:03:30] Danielle Wiebe: awesome. I love that

[00:03:31] Jess Massey: It'll flow better. Yeah.

[00:03:33] Danielle Wiebe: Perfect.

[00:03:34] Jess Massey: So I was actually, let me get my timeline straight here. I feel like with the pandemic everybody's timeline is just like, wait a second. What year are we in right now? But I was in school for speech language pathology. I started grad school in 2017 and I started working toward getting into grad school in 2015. I don't know how much you know about the SLP field. It's intense and it's very competitive to get into the [00:04:00] graduate programs. So I am an Enneagram three and I kind of have a habit of getting tunnel vision when I'm working toward a goal.

[00:04:08] And it's very easy for me to kind of neglect my mental health and the important relationships in my life. If I have a goal that I'm working toward, like I said, I just get tunnel vision, and I don't even realize that I'm doing it until I'm already too far in the tunnel.

[00:04:24] And then I'm like, oh my gosh, how did we get here? What is going on? Why do I feel like crap? And why am I so disconnected from all my friends, my family, like what is going on? So I could feel that happening once I got into grad school, because you know, it took two years of my time, my life, my energy to get into grad school. And then by the time I started grad school, I was like, okay, this isn't sustainable.

[00:04:48] I can't do this for three years. Cuz I was in a three year graduate program. I was like, okay, I have to do something different while I'm working toward this goal. Like, I don't wanna give the goal up. That's [00:05:00] not what I'm saying, but the way that I'm going about it, it's just not working. It's not healthy for me.

[00:05:05] It's not sustainable, so I've gotta make some shifts. And that was in like 2017 that I kind of realized that how I've been operating my whole life is just not gonna fly anymore. So I remember I started hustle sanely in September of 2018 and we actually started as a digital planner company on Etsy. So like we still do that, but it's like a very, very small part of what we do now.

[00:05:34] Like sometimes I forget that we still do that, but I created a digital planner for myself so that I could just kind of keep myself organized. It was really cool because digital planning was like, kind of on the up, it was like a newer thing.

[00:05:49] And so I just kind of taught myself how to make my own digital planner cause I couldn't find one that really kind of encapsulated everything that I was looking for in a planner. So then I started sharing it on my Instagram [00:06:00] stories cuz I was already sharing my grad school journey. So I had a small community built there and people freaked out. They were like, oh my gosh, Can you sell that?

[00:06:08] And I was like, well, I mean, it's a PDF. I don't see why not. Like no skin off my back, I already made it.

[00:06:14] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah.

[00:06:14] Jess Massey: So I created an Etsy shop and it started selling that. And then people wanted more, they were like, okay, well now we have the planner. What are all these strategies and tools that you're using to create this life where you're kind of still taking care of yourself, doing grad school, showing up for your friends and family?

[00:06:34] Cause I was working three jobs at the time. Like I had a lot of kind of plates in the air, spinning. And so it was, I didn't recognize that it was a gift of mine, once I tapped into it, time management, productivity organization, like those kinds of things. And so I started talking more about it on social media, like my stories on Instagram mostly, and there was really a need for it.

[00:06:57] And like I said, I just didn't realize that there was a need for [00:07:00] it until I was getting questions. And I was like, oh my gosh. Okay. There's something here. So I did that from like September 2018, and then in January, 2019, I actually dropped out of grad school because things had just kind of taken off and I was at a crossroads.

[00:07:16] I was like, okay, I have to practice what I preach. And like, I have to prioritize, I cannot do both of these things anymore. If I'm gonna take care of my mental health and be important relationships in my life. So I decided to leave grad school and go all in with hustle sanely. And now it's such a full circle humbling thing, because what I do is I help women prioritize their mental health and the important relationships in their life while they're working toward their goals. So that's pretty much. Everything in a nutshell.

[00:07:46] Danielle Wiebe: I love that so much. Okay. There's a few key things that I wanted to kind of like take away from that because I think it's so important. So one is that, often, people look at, you know, people like yourself who have built these really successful [00:08:00] communities, uh, businesses and they're thriving.

[00:08:02] And they think that must have happened so quickly for her. And I love that you said like it started so small. Like you built something or you made something for yourself that you really needed. You shared it on your Instagram stories. People, it was obviously something that other people wanted and that's where it started.

[00:08:17] And that was like the jumping off point. And then from there you've been able to add value to your clients. Obviously there's the podcast, there's other things that you have now as well. And it's just so cool how that has just like naturally kind of, one thing, it feels like has flowed into the other. So I wanted to kind of mention that.

[00:08:36] And then also I love that you've built a community around your brand, which is something that I'm really passionate about is building relationships, building community, collaborations, all of those things. And so I would love to ask you what made you think I'm gonna launch a podcast around this, and I'm gonna start actually helping people?

[00:08:54] Cuz you said, you know, people were asking you questions on how do I use this planner and like [00:09:00] productivity tips and you know, instead of maybe messaging everyone on DMs like over and over again,

[00:09:06] Jess Massey: right.

[00:09:07] Danielle Wiebe: Like what made you think, oh, this is something that maybe I should create resources around or kind of build that side of the business? Because that side of the business is very different than like your product based business, right?

[00:09:21] Jess Massey: Right.

[00:09:21] Um, and I think not a lot of people see that opportunity of like having a product based business and then building this really thriving community around the brand and using that as like a engine to grow the business as well. So tell me a little bit more about that strategy or was it kind of a natural thing that kind of progressed into a podcast?

[00:09:42] I think it was more of a natural thing. It definitely, there was not a lot of strategy behind it, which I'm always kind of hesitant to say that a lot of my business has not been based on strategy now that I've grown and I'm working on scaling. The tables have turned and I'm focused a little bit more on [00:10:00] strategy. But it's really, I'm also very passionate about the community aspect of hustle sanely and pretty much everything that I've ever created within my business, so the podcast, our courses, our coaching, it all kind of stemmed from the community asking for it.

[00:10:19] So that's, I've never really gone, and I think because when I started hustle sanely, there was no pressure to make money, cuz like I said, I was in grad school for something else. So I was just kind of serving people. And so that's kind of how my mentality started as an entrepreneur. Well, in this entrepreneurial entrepreneurial journey, like this part of it.

[00:10:38] I just was so in tune with building relationships and connections with the women who make up the hustle sanely community, because I really, I was learning from them as well. I was like, okay, this is where kind of the gaps are, and I don't know how to fill gaps that I don't know exist. So in order to figure out what the gaps are, I have to [00:11:00] kind of get to know and build those relationships with my community. And it's just, it's made everything, just have a sense of ease if you will.

[00:11:08] And like you said, it's kind of just been like a natural kind of progression almost in my business because I feel like the brand is growing with the customer. We're kind of meeting them where they're at and then over cuz a lot of, um, the hustle sanely community has been around since the very beginning.

[00:11:24] So they've kind of been able to master the skills that I teach, you know, when someone is first getting into the hustle sanely lifestyle, and then they're like, okay, like now I'm ready for the next step. What's next? So that's kind of how we have a monthly membership called the BFF community. And that's how that started.

[00:11:43] People were just seeking more and they wanted a place where they could kind of meet together where it wasn't just like me and the DMs, kind of chatting. And that's how the podcast started too. I would spend, this was before Instagram had the limit of like four stories that you can record at one [00:12:00] time, so it was very easy to just like talk and talk and talk and talk and talk on stories cuz it wouldn't cut you off.

[00:12:06] And so I would just have, do you remember an elementary school, the like arts and crafts projects that you'd have to do where you'd have to like cut on the dotted line and the line was like, very lots of dots. Okay. That's what my stories look like every single day there was just so many of them and people were like, oh my gosh, can you say that to a highlight? Oh my gosh. Like, can this be a highlight? And it was just my Instagram page, just getting like very chaotic. I was like, okay,

[00:12:30] Danielle Wiebe: right.

[00:12:30] Jess Massey: This is not working. So people were like, why don't you start a podcast so that everything like lives there, and it's easy to kind of search and navigate and find. And I was like, wow, you guys are brilliant. I always credit the hustle sanely community for like the success of my business. Cause it's true. Like even our paper planners, everything we do, like, I feel like we do it together and I just feel like I'm in the middle of my community.

[00:12:55] Like, I don't feel like I'm up on a pedestal and I really do feel like that's how they view me as well. Like [00:13:00] more of like a friend and a mentor rather than, you know, some mogul or something like that. Um, so it's really, it's really rad and I'm really grateful for the community and just the direction that they kind of keep the business going in, cuz it wouldn't be a thing without them.

[00:13:15] Danielle Wiebe: So. Cool. Okay. I love, love everything you said there because I think it's so important to get feedback from your community and be able to really create things that they want. Cuz I see it a lot in business where people will just be like, okay, like I think this is what my community wants or I think this is a really cool idea and it might be a great idea, but you won't really know until you ask for that feedback or get that feedback, right?

[00:13:44] Jess Massey: Really.

[00:13:44] Danielle Wiebe: And so I would love to ask you too, because if people are listening and they're like, oh, well, I would love to be in that scenario where people will be, you know, actively giving me feedback. So what do you think were some of the key things that you did to build that community in the first place?

[00:13:59] Was it [00:14:00] like actually building kind of one-on-one relationships? Obviously you said through social media as well? Like what did that look like at those beginning stages building up that sort of community of loyal people that would say to you things like, Hey, you should start a podcast? Or, um,

[00:14:18] Jess Massey: yeah,

[00:14:18] Danielle Wiebe: you know, this is, this is the type of product or, or service that we would want next.

[00:14:23] Jess Massey: For me, I think the biggest thing was kind of pulling back the curtain and it kind of showing the hustle sanely the community, the outcome of what I was trying to give them in my own life. So I was showing them like, okay, this is how I started. And now look at where I'm at now. Like they're seeing my habits, my routines, my journaling practice, how I'm kind of building out my weekly schedule, how I'm showing that yeah, I'm resting, even though I have a to-do list, like I'm choosing rest over that.

[00:14:53] So kind of like practicing what I preach and showing rather than just telling. I think that really makes [00:15:00] people recognize that they can do it too, because when you're kind of just reading a bunch of words or hearing people say like, okay, do this, do this, do this, it can be a little bit overwhelming and it can feel kind of out of reach.

[00:15:12] But I feel like when you're showing them the, the outcome that they're after, they're like, oh my gosh, if she can do it, I can do it. So I think that was kind of the biggest thing that kind of got people invested in hustle sanely as a brand is just, I'm not just spouting off like productivity tips and time management strategies.

[00:15:32] Like I'm showing them, I'm letting them into my life in a way, and kind of making the brand a little bit more personal and showing them like, Hey, this here's what I'm saying to do on the podcast. Like the action steps, 1, 2, 3. Come hang out with me on Instagram stories and I'll show you it in my life.

[00:15:50] Like it actually kind of playing out and what it looks like. And I think it just kind of, like I said, it, it gets people excited because then they can envision themselves kind of [00:16:00] doing that. Um, and it just, it makes, they get to know you as a person and that they are excited to support what you are doing. Does that make sense?

[00:16:09] Danielle Wiebe: Oh, a hundred percent. And I, I really love that cuz definitely I feel the same with how we build community. I think like the transparency and, you know, bringing people behind the scenes and, and sharing your own failures and, you know, things that don't go according to plan or, you know, like I I've listened to your podcast and you're super honest about that.

[00:16:31] And I love that. And I think that people are a little bit nervous to share those personal things because they think that that's gonna make them sound like less of an expert, or maybe they, I don't know? Maybe they've just never shared anything personal or anything, you know, vulnerable online before. And of course, like it's a scary thing.

[00:16:52] So how did you, did you ever feel that way of like, oh, like I'm kind of sharing, you know, these things in my life and [00:17:00] this is kind of uncomfortable? Or, I know people talk about, um, cuz we used to do in-person events and after we would do a panel, often those speakers, cuz I would, we would get really deep into like conversation and things would just come up and people would say like, I'm having like a vulnerability hangover today.

[00:17:15] Like I feel like I shared too much of my life. Like, I don't know. So have you ever felt that way or has that just been natural for you to kind of share behind the scenes?

[00:17:26] Jess Massey: For the most part, it's been pretty natural to share behind the scenes. I've always, since I've been a little girl, I've been kind of like an open book, like maybe too much sometimes. Where it's just like, I don't know, I like to let people in, but the more that the business has grown, I think I've kind of had to just be a little bit more mindful of what I'm putting out there. And

[00:17:47] Danielle Wiebe: mm-hmm,

[00:17:48] Jess Massey: how I'm putting it out there, especially and there of course have been times where I'll say something and I'll be like, oh, like, It doesn't feel like I'm oversharing in the moment, but then the [00:18:00] responses that I get through, you know, messages or whatever, it makes me kind of like take a step back and I'm like, mm, okay.

[00:18:06] Like, I don't really wanna dig into this anymore. Then I've shared, so maybe I should kind of draw a line and, you know, create some boundaries and just be a little bit more mindful about what I'm sharing in the sense of, I really don't mind sharing most things like surface level, but there are some things, you know, you just wanna leave surface level. You're not trying to like dig all the way in.

[00:18:28] Danielle Wiebe: Totally.

[00:18:28] Jess Massey: And so I think it's important to kind of pay attention to that, especially I'm expecting my. First daughter. And so I've already had to like put in a lot of mental boundaries. I mean, she's not here yet, so there's not much I can share about her life right now, but people are already asking, like, are you gonna share your birth story?

[00:18:48] Are you going to, you know, kind of talk about how, how you're parenting? And I've decided no, like that's just not something that I'm interested in sharing as far as on social [00:19:00] media. Um, I'm maybe I'll share parts of my birth story, sure.

[00:19:03] But like, I am not intending on becoming a parenting expert or kind of

[00:19:07] Danielle Wiebe: right.

[00:19:07] Jess Massey: Sharing that part of my life because I don't really feel like it really ties into hustle sanely, and like what, I'm, what I'm kind of doing as with that mission. So I think you just have to, before I speak, I ask myself, okay, what kind of questions do I think me sharing this with the community is going to bring in? Am I comfortable answering those questions? If I'm not, then I'm like, okay, maybe this is something we just shouldn't share online, you know?

[00:19:37] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah. That is such a great question to ask yourself. I think often we can, we don't really know where those boundaries are. And we've talked about this on previous episodes of this podcast, about the importance of setting boundaries and all of that.

[00:19:51] But sometimes we just, the reason we don't set them is cuz we don't really know how to set them or where to draw those lines because we are not really [00:20:00] sure. We don't really know what we need as far our boundaries go. And so we're not really sure. So I love that question. Like, would I be comfortable with people asking me follow up questions to like things that I'm talking about?

[00:20:12] Jess Massey: Mm-hmm

[00:20:13] Danielle Wiebe: but also, I think it's important to realize too, like if we're sharing things online and people do ask us follow up questions, like we're never like obligated to answer those

[00:20:22] Jess Massey: totally

[00:20:22] Danielle Wiebe: questions, but also, yeah, I think that's a really great kind of question to sort of draw that line. So that's great. I love it.

[00:20:29] Jess Massey: Right.

[00:20:30] Danielle Wiebe: Awesome. Well, I am so excited for you. I can't wait for you to dive into this motherhood journey. It's just amazing.

[00:20:35] Jess Massey: Yes. Thank you.

[00:20:36] Danielle Wiebe: And, um, yes. Such an exciting stage of life. So, um, but I would love to, for you to share a little bit more about what you're an expert in, which is, you know, productivity, but then also I love when I found your podcast, I'm like, okay, this is amazing because that is my journey as well of going from working 60, 70, 80 hours a week in my business, just like burning myself out and then [00:21:00] being like, Hey, this is not sustainable and this is not healthy.

[00:21:04] And then kind of trying to implement these practices and routines and all of the things like you share. So I would love to know for our entrepreneurs out there who feel like they're in that space of like, they feel like they're working all these hours, they're, you know, doing all the things they're wearing, all the hats, as you can relate to.

[00:21:25] And they feel like they're just, maybe they're not making the progress that they want to. And so they feel like, well, I can't take care of my mental health or I can't work less hours because I'm not even making the progress right now. What advice do you have for those people?

[00:21:40] Jess Massey: Yeah, well, right off the bat, there are so many studies that have been done that kind of disprove those thought patterns as far as like, we actually only have, which this is so crazy to some people they're like, wait, what? Between, depending on the person, between three and six productive hours a [00:22:00] day like that, that's where we kind of max out.

[00:22:03] Danielle Wiebe: I believe that. Right. I totally believe that. Yes.

[00:22:06] Jess Massey: So think about it. If you try to kind. Spread yourself out and you're working like 10 or 12 hour days, which we've all been there when we are starting our entrepreneur journey. Like it's very easy, like you said, to just feel the need to kind of like do all the things right this minute and just be, you know, kind of wearing all of your hats in one day and you know, doing all of that.

[00:22:27] But if you're spreading yourself, So thin the work that you're gonna be bringing to the table, isn't gonna be your best work. Whereas if you prioritize your mental health and you kind of take a second and you honor the fact that, okay, my energy, maybe for you, that number is five. Like you have five truly productive hours a day.

[00:22:46] Wouldn't you rather show up and give your best work for those five hours then kind of like flounder for 12 hours and trying to piece together some sort of something that you feel good about? So that's kind of like my logical response.

[00:22:58] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah.

[00:22:59] Jess Massey: And then what [00:23:00] I teach through hustle sanely is something called the five keys to hustling sanely. And it's, it's really helped me see my life as a whole, rather than kind of compartmentalize business and then life. And I feel like when you're an entrepreneur it is So easy for that business sector to kind of take over. Like, if you're, if you view your life as like a pie chart and you kind of have all your sections, like family, mental health, spiritual life, you know, what all the sections of your life. Work kind of tends to take over the pie chart when you're an entrepreneur, right?

[00:23:33] Danielle Wiebe: Mm-hmm

[00:23:33] Jess Massey: but it becomes our norm as an entrepreneur. And so we don't really recognize that we're doing it. And a lot of the time when you're an entrepreneur, you surround yourself with other entrepreneurs. So you see them living that way. And you're like, well, this is what I'm supposed to do.

[00:23:46] I'm a business owner. Like my business has to be taking out my whole entire life when really. Your business is just like a piece of your life, not your whole life. And so the five keys to hustling sanely, they just kind of help me, like I said, [00:24:00] and they help the community just kind of get a bird's eye view of life and it it's really, it's really grounding and it's really humbling to see like, oh my gosh.

[00:24:09] Okay. This is how much time and energy I'm dedicating to my business. And this is how much time and energy I'm dedicating to my family. You know, like you kind of have to look at those numbers in the face. And so if you're, if you're open to it, I'm down to talk about the five keys to hustling sanely.

[00:24:25] I was gonna ask a little bit, so I'm glad you brought it up. Can we Dig into that?

[00:24:30] Awesome! Yeah. Of course. Absolutely. So the five keys to hustling sanely, they're the foundation of literally everything that I teach, everything that I create just it's what sets hustle sanely apart.

[00:24:42] So key number one is get your mindset right. I'll kind of run through them just so you can have like a broad overview, and then we can dig into whichever ones you want to.

[00:24:50] So key number one is get your mindset right. Key number two is get clear on your vision. Key number three is define your priorities. Key number [00:25:00] four is create your routines and your schedule. And then key number five is implement hustle sanely. Five every day. And I'll talk about that one a little bit, because if you're not familiar with hustle sanely, you're like, okay, what is that? I wanna know more about that.

[00:25:13] So hustle sanely five or HS5 as we call it in hustle sanely community, they're your five action steps for living a peacefully, productive life every day. So like, if you're brand new and you're just completely overwhelmed, you don't know where to start. You don't know where to dig in, I always suggest like, just start doing HS five every day.

[00:25:32] Danielle Wiebe: Mm-hmm

[00:25:33] Jess Massey: and they're just they're five habits that we do every day to make sure that we're making progress toward our goals, cuz that's important, but while prioritizing our mental health and the important relationships in our life. So the five habits that make up HS five, number one is complete your focus three, which are just your three most important tasks for the day.

[00:25:52] So I'm all about prioritizing to do lists, not having like a giant run on to do list every day. So that's number one. Number two is [00:26:00] move your body for 30 minutes. Number three is tidy for 15 minutes. So whether it's your physical space, your digital space, like just spending 15 minutes, kind of taking care of your environment.

[00:26:11] And then number four and number five, kind of play off of one another. Number four, if say, or do one kind thing for yourself. And number five, is say or do one kind thing for someone else. So that's kinda an overview. Yeah. Thank you.

[00:26:26] Danielle Wiebe: So good. I love that. And I really love that you are kind of bringing in the productivity piece of it, but then also, like you said, it's the mindset, it's the, like taking care of your relationships. And, and I love that it's like saying a kind thing to someone else, cuz sometimes we, yeah, we get so caught up with all of the work that we have to do. And so we're like, oh, I should really, you know, like call my grandma or call my best friend that I haven't talked to in forever, but I don't have time cuz I have to do this like one more productive thing.

[00:26:59] But if it's [00:27:00] like built into our routines, Like that's when it becomes this like healthy routine that we're just always doing it. So I, I love that you shared that and I love that you said that. Cause I think it's so important and you know, I can totally be guilty of this too. And I've admitted this to my podcast community before, but I'm, I think I'm similar to you where I get very like tunnel vision with stuff I'm like an all in or all out type person.

[00:27:25] And so it's very easy for me when I'm like, Going towards a goal or when I'm working on something to just everything else kind of falls by the wayside. And so I love, you know, bringing in those routines. And so I would love to ask you, as you mentioned, mindset as well, and I love that you mentioned that because I think it is so important and people try to go right to like the, can you tell me the plan? Which I'm, I'm guilty of as well.

[00:27:52] But tell us a little bit about the mindset portion of it, because I would love to kind of dive in more to that. What, where does your mindset [00:28:00] have to be at, to kind of implement these things with success?

[00:28:03] Yeah. So it's key number one for a reason. I am so in agreement with you that it's just, it's our mindset is the foundation of everything that we do in our lives. You know what I mean?

[00:28:13] Mm-hmm

[00:28:14] Jess Massey: and I'm sure everybody listening has heard some variation of what I'm about to say, but if you really pause and think about it, there's so much truth behind it, that our, our thoughts, they become our words and our words become our actions. And then our actions, that's what makes up our life experience.

[00:28:32] Like that's how we show up. So how we show up for our lives, it starts with our thoughts. And so if you are kind of letting your thoughts just run 'amok all day, and they're just kind of a little bit scattered or not even scattered, but just kind of heavy and negative. That's gonna affect how you show up, not only for your business, but for yourself, for your loved ones, just for your entire life.

[00:28:53] And I just think our minds are so powerful and I think a lot of us kind of surrender that power. And we [00:29:00] don't really, we let it, our minds run us instead of using our minds to kind of work for us. And so, um, I'm a big, big advocate of journaling. We have a journal called the peacefully productive journal, just to kind of give yourself a chance to, as an entrepreneur, there are so many thoughts running around in our mind all day, every day. And I'm not saying to like clear your mind, like you're gonna have like a total peace up there. Like that's not realistic and that's not what I'm saying.

[00:29:30] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah.

[00:29:30] Jess Massey: But it's more so of just taking ownership of those thoughts and kind of, uh, let, choosing the ones that you wanna hold onto and releasing the ones that aren't supporting you, because it's so easy to, if you don't like actually pause and intentionally pick out the thoughts that are just kind of swirling around in your brain, they're just gonna keep swirling. It's one of those, um, you know, from the high school science class, like the Newton's law of motion or something like an object in motion stays in motion until like an outside [00:30:00] force stops it. So you have to kind of be that outside force to be like, okay, I'm cutting off this unhealthy thought pattern that just keeps going around and around and around my head because that unhealthy thought pattern is becoming a reality. If you're not stopping it, you know.

[00:30:15] Danielle Wiebe: Mm-hmm.

[00:30:15] Jess Massey: And so it's just, it's, it's such a simple concept. And I noticed some people, myself included, I used to think it sounded a little bit like, woo woo. Or just like you said, like, okay, just gimme the strategy. Like, I don't have time for that, but when you make the time to just get your mind in a, like a place where you're operating from like gratitude and abundance, like so much flows from that. It just makes everything else a little bit easier. I'm not saying easy, but it makes it easier, you know, like there's less resistance happening when you get your mindset right.

[00:30:47] Danielle Wiebe: That is so important. And I it's, it's so interesting cause I see this often and I've seen it in myself because I, I think like the first, probably at least probably three years of my business, I could extend. [00:31:00] Grace and encouragement and support to other people. But I had a really hard time doing that to myself. It was always like, Nope, not good enough. Like, okay, you hit that goal. What's next?

[00:31:08] Jess Massey: Mm-hmm.

[00:31:09] Danielle Wiebe: I was my own worst bully. being completely honest. Well, and like, when I think back to that, I'm like, man, that's so unfortunate that I chose to take that approach because you know, like you said, your mind, it's not that things, you know, when difficult things come up, it's not that it's gonna be so easy, but it's gonna be easier because you have you're coming from a place like you said, of gratitude, of just feeling good and feeling happy and feeling positive and maybe encouraging yourself. And then you can go into your work or tackle this challenging situation with like grace and love.

[00:31:48] And cuz I know for me, I let my emotions dictate my day, basically. So if I would get an email or something that would like trigger me and all of a sudden, the rest of my day, [00:32:00] you know, I'm spending it like crying and like wondering if I should even be in partner and like just going to this crazy spiral and it's not like necessary to do that. And so...

[00:32:11] Jess Massey: right.

[00:32:12] Danielle Wiebe: Um, I love that you shared that and, and I think it's so, so important. And I know that, like, I think some people, they, they they've, they have their mindset, right. They're like, okay, I'm ready for the strategy. But for others, like if you're feeling like, okay, no matter what, you implement no matter what kind of steps you're taking, are you the routines that you're trying to create and it's not working? Cuz I love that. You said like that's why it's first. That's why it's the first key...

[00:32:38] Jess Massey: mm-hmm

[00:32:39] Danielle Wiebe: is because that's the first thing that you need to get in place. So if someone needs to hear that right now, you know, if you're trying all the strategies, whether it be with productivity or business, but things just like are not clicking, it might be, you know, the mindset. So let's get practical with the mindset things now.

[00:32:54] Jess Massey: Yes, let's do it.

[00:32:56] Danielle Wiebe: So with, with that, can you share with us some of the things that you [00:33:00] share with your community on, if we feel like we are in that spiral where everything feels negative, we can't see a light at the end of the tunnel, maybe things aren't going well in our business or things in our personal life or affecting our business, whatever that might be, where would you start to kind of shift that perspective and shift that mindset?

[00:33:18] Jess Massey: A really, really practical way to start is journaling. And I know a lot of people are intimidated by that if they, you know, haven't journaled, and it can be, especially if you open up to like a blank page and you're just like, uh, okay, what do I do now?

[00:33:31] yeah. So I think journaling is, that's kind of what I teach in my community. It's like mindset hygiene in a way. So it's like, you know, to take care of our, our, our teeth, we brush our teeth to, you know, take care of our bodies. We take a shower. And so that's kind of how I view journaling for our mindset is just kind of it's hygiene.

[00:33:50] It's making sure that you're getting in there and you're kind of cleaning out the junk. So nothing is like lingering up there because it's, things can feel a lot bigger in your mind [00:34:00] than they actually are. Once you get them out, whether it's talking about it or journaling about it, journaling is just a little bit more practical, cuz you're not, you're not waiting for somebody else to kind of be available to talk to, or, you know, whatever, you can just grab your journal and go.

[00:34:13] And so the journal that we have, the one that I mentioned earlier, Fully productive journal. It's a guided journal. So it's part guided and part free write, which I have found is really beneficial for getting your mindset, right, because you're answering the same series of questions every morning. So we start with a gratitude list.

[00:34:33] And then we move into, okay, how am I feeling mentally? And you kind of rate your, how you're feeling mentally, a one through five, and then you jot down why you chose that. Then you move on to physically, like, how am I feeling physically? And you jot that down, cuz I just think there's such a connection between our mental and our physical health, um, and vice versa.

[00:34:51] And so I think kind of doing that just every single day, just like actually pausing to check in and assess like, okay, what's going on up there. And then there's [00:35:00] a blank page next to that morning check in where you can just go to town. Like any thoughts that are coming up, we call them limiting beliefs in the hustle sanely community.

[00:35:09] Just kind of getting those out so that you can look at them on paper, because like I said, a lot of time, they feel so real and so big when you're just kind of hitting play over and over again in your mind. But when you write out that limiting belief or that negative thought, or that doubt that you're having, and you see it on paper, a lot of the times you're like, okay. That's ridiculous.

[00:35:32] Like that's not true at all. And then from there I encourage the hustle sanely community to take each limiting belief that kind of pops up into kind of counteract it with an affirmation. So I'm huge on affirmations. Again, there's so much science behind the power of affirmations and I'll be the first one to tell you, I used to think affirmations were absolutely insane.

[00:35:57] Like when people would be like, okay, say a positive [00:36:00] affirmation. I was like, okay, you have fun with that. Like, lemme know how it works out for you. um, and now I have like affirmations posted like all over my office, all in my planner, all in my journal. And it really is true because what you're consuming on a daily basis, like, that's, what's gonna come out.

[00:36:14] Danielle Wiebe: Right.

[00:36:14] Jess Massey: So if you're feeding yourself positive affirmations, like that's how you're gonna show up for your life, right?

[00:36:19] Danielle Wiebe: Right.

[00:36:20] Jess Massey: Um, so that's kind of a good place to start. Some sort, it doesn't have to be the one I'm talking about, but some sort of guided journal, especially if you're new to journaling and you just feel a little bit overwhelmed by it, or it just feels kind of daunting, just a journal that allows you to check in with how you're feeling. And like what kind of thoughts are kind of rumbling around in your mind so that you can kind of work through them instead of just kind of pushing them down, pushing them down, pushing them down, cuz you're gonna run outta room.

[00:36:46] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah.

[00:36:47] Jess Massey: And then you're gonna implode, right? And we've all experienced that before.

[00:36:52] Danielle Wiebe: I love that you said writing down the limiting belief and then creating the affirmation from there. Because I think that [00:37:00] sometimes we just like, we're like, okay, create affirmations. And you're like, I am this, I am this. And it's kind of out of thin air, and then it's not really...

[00:37:08] Jess Massey: right.

[00:37:08] Danielle Wiebe: You don't necessarily maybe feel connected to it because maybe not tied totally to something that you believe about yourself that is wrong. And I love that.

[00:37:18] Jess Massey: Yeah.

[00:37:18] Danielle Wiebe: Cause that's definitely something, if you write something down a lie that you're telling yourself, I am this, or I can't do this because of this or whatever, because like you said, you write it down and then you look at it and you're like, what? And then you can ask yourself, like, is that really true? Is that something that what actually is truth? What actually is true that can really, like you said, make a huge difference for your days. If you are actually, what we do often, I think in our own minds is we feed ourselves lies.

[00:37:49] Jess Massey: Mm-hmm

[00:37:50] Danielle Wiebe: and they just kind of pile up over time. And we don't realize that we're feeding ourselves those things every day. And so, yeah, just like what you put [00:38:00] in your body, it's like what you're telling yourself too. So...

[00:38:02] Jess Massey: a hundred percent. Yeah.

[00:38:04] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah. So good. Okay. So when you have your mind, right, actually, Having these routines, you talked about moving your body. Love that. So give some examples for people who may have little kids running around being like, I can't do, you know, a spin class or like something crazy, totally like that. Is there some kind of easy ways that we can do that? And then how do we fit that into our days? If we feel like right now, we're not able to get to that? Cause I, I do think that that's important too.

[00:38:32] Jess Massey: Yeah. So this is a great question and I worded it very specifically for a reason, move your body for 30 minutes, move for 30 minutes, not exercise because I want people to know that's not where I'm coming from. I'm not like, yeah, you have to go to the gym and like lift weights or pound on the treadmill, or, you know, take a cycle class or whatever. If that is what you can do, and that's what you wanna do. Amazing. Like,

[00:38:55] Danielle Wiebe: yeah.

[00:38:55] Jess Massey: I love that for you. That's what I do right now.

[00:38:57] Danielle Wiebe: Yes.

[00:38:57] Jess Massey: Um, but I know when baby comes, [00:39:00] things are gonna look a lot different. And so a lot of the times I think my move for 30 is gonna look like maybe dancing with my baby in the kitchen for 10 minutes while we put dishes away, right? And then maybe. For like a 20 minute walk in the evening with my husband and the baby and the stroller.

[00:39:17] It's more about just because, especially as entrepreneurs, we can, we can chain ourselves to our desks. Um, which, you know, it sounds silly, but it's so true. Or we're like just one more email or just let me just finish this project and then, and then I'll get up.

[00:39:36] And by the time you, you realize that you've been sitting in your desk chair For 10 hours straight, maybe you've gotten up to go to the bathroom or to feed your baby, or, you know what I mean, to check the mail, but you're not moving your body. And so it's just, it's coming from a place of just wholeness, like taking care of yourself, like in a whole way, like mentally, physically, emotionally, all of it.

[00:39:55] So think about it like that. You can play with your toddler in the back yard, like [00:40:00] pushing them on the swing, you know, chasing them around in the backyard, playing with them in the pool. That can be your move for 30. And you don't have to do it, I think a lot of people get stuck in the mind, like, oh my gosh, I don't have a 30 minute window to do that.

[00:40:11] Danielle Wiebe: Right. You can break it up.

[00:40:12] Jess Massey: Doesn't have to be in a row. You can break it up. Yeah. Go on two 15 minute walks one in the morning, one in the evening, do some, do 10 minutes of stretching when you wake up. Go on a five minute walk, do however many minutes of stretching before bed. Like it doesn't have to be 30 minutes in a row.

[00:40:28] Danielle Wiebe: Right.

[00:40:29] Jess Massey: The biggest thing when it comes to hustling insanely, and these habits, it's all about sprinkling them throughout your day. And because they're meant to support you, they're meant to fill you up. They're not meant to be these things on your to-do list that you check off and you feel this pressure to check off.

[00:40:45] They're meant to make your life better and to help you show up as the best version of yourself. So I always teach in the hustle sanely community that our schedules and routines are tools, not chains. And I think, so often, we get caught up in the [00:41:00] mindset that it has to look exactly the same every single day. You have to do the 30 minutes all in a row where it doesn't count. It's like we talked about, like that all or nothing mindset.

[00:41:09] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah.

[00:41:09] Jess Massey: Life is not all or nothing. There's a lot of gray areas happening all day. Every day, lots of things are happening in life that we kind of have to be flexible and we have to be willing to adjust.

[00:41:19] When I worked in the classroom as an SLP, that's something that we taught our students is being flexible is really, important. And so I feel like it's so easy for us to teach that to our kids and our students, but we kind of forget, oh wait, we have to be flexible too. Like with ourselves, that goes along with showing ourselves grace, like you talked about earlier.

[00:41:40] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah. Oh, amazing. I love that so much. And then also relating this to entrepreneurship, and I think sometimes, and I would get into phase too sometimes, where I would be like, oh, I just have to finish this one thing. And I would be stuck. Like my brain wasn't working properly. I felt like, I couldn't think clearly.

[00:41:58] And I used to just try to [00:42:00] push through that and I think it was actually a perfect time to be like, okay, closing the laptop. I'm gonna go on a walk and just clear my head. I don't think our minds are meant to, yeah, like you said, stay productive for that length of time. And I love that you shared that at the beginning that we only really have three to six hours of productive time a day.

[00:42:18] So are we trying to force ourselves to be productive for eight to 12 hours? And I know for me, I definitely was trying that at the beginning of my journey. So if anyone's like, oh, that's me right now.

[00:42:31] Jess Massey: right.

[00:42:31] Danielle Wiebe: Then take some of these things, make sure you're, you're taking notes right now. And, um, yeah, so I would love to try, I mean, I could talk to you all day about the stuff like this is this, I love it so much, but before we kind of wrap up, I wanna, I want you to share a little bit more about how people can find you and be a part of your community.

[00:42:49] But before we do that, I wanted to ask you, your entrepreneurial journey so far, you know, you started by putting something up on Etsy because people were asking of it.

[00:42:59] Jess Massey: Mm-hmm

[00:42:59] Danielle Wiebe: and now [00:43:00] you've built this incredible community and this, this thriving podcast, all of the things. So what are you most proud of with your entrepreneurial journey so far?

[00:43:08] Jess Massey: I think that I am the most proud of giving my husband the opportunity to leave his nine to five so that he can pursue a dream of his own. Because my husband is, it makes me emotional talking about it, it's not just the pregnancy hormones. I cry every time I shift,

[00:43:26] Danielle Wiebe: you're gonna make cry. So, OK, go ahead.

[00:43:30] Jess Massey: my husband, he is one of the hardest working people that I know he's very logical thinker. I'm the dreamer of the family. Like I'm always like oh, my gosh, I have this idea, like, this is amazing. Let's go for it. Let's do it. We'll figure it out on the way down kind of a thing. And he has always kind of operated, he's the oldest of five kids, so he's, he's always kind of like, okay, but what's the plan? How is this actually gonna work out? Like. We, we, no, like we can't just jump. We have to have the parachute before we jump where I'm like, let's build the wings on the way [00:44:00] down, like that kinda a thing.

[00:44:01] And so when hustle sanely got to the point that I had kind of replaced both of our past incomes, I was like, Hey. Do you want to explore something else? Cause he worked in HVAC, air conditioning, which in Florida is huge. And he was always so busy.

[00:44:18] Danielle Wiebe: Yeah.

[00:44:18] Jess Massey: He wasn't passionate about it, but it was a fine paycheck. It was consistent work. And like I said, he was just kind of show up, go to work, do what I need to do to provide for the family and that's that. But I'm the most proud of it was actually January of this year, he left his nine to five. He had been at, working at the company that he was with for over 10 years.

[00:44:37] And yeah, my family actually owns that air conditioning company. So it was really hard for him to kind of think outside of the box and just actually have that desire to pursue something different. So I think that's my most proud moment as an entrepreneur is just kind of providing that launchpad for him to. Be able to tap into something that he's passionate about and excited about rather than obligated [00:45:00] to.

[00:45:00] Danielle Wiebe: Oh, that's so beautiful. And so inspiring. Thank you for sharing that. And so exciting because you know, when you have your baby on the way, and you're able to have that kind of more flexibility, and that is so huge. So thank you for sharing and thank you for joining us today.

[00:45:15] Jess Massey: It's funny that you said that, because I actually journaled that in my gratitude section, in my journal today that I'm already so grateful that we both have such flexible schedules. Like now that we're starting a family, like it is not lost on me how big of a blessing that is. So it's funny that you said that today, specifically.

[00:45:34] Danielle Wiebe: I love it. I love it. That's so great. Um, well, I am so grateful that you came to share with our community, all of your amazing strategies for being productive, but in a way that is healthy and in a, in a way that actually is looking at your whole life as a whole.

[00:45:53] And so thank you for sharing that. Thank you for everything you do. And can you tell people if they're like, oh my goodness, I need more of Jess in [00:46:00] my life. Can you share with people, where can they find you? Tell us about your podcast. Tell us about all of the ways that we can be a part of your community.

[00:46:08] Jess Massey: Yeah, totally. Thank you so much for having me on Danielle. This was such a life giving conversation, like you said, I could just keep talking you for like hours. I'm like I'm done. Oh my

[00:46:17] Danielle Wiebe: It goes by so fast.

[00:46:18] Jess Massey: Pretty much everything I do online lives at jessicamassey.com. That's where you can find my courses, our planners, the podcast, which the podcast is called the hustle sanely podcast. And I would say that's where I put my most like time and energy into content, is the podcast. That's like where I'm the most consistent it's where, what you can count on. Um, and we release an episode every Tuesday. So that is where I hang out a lot. And then on a day to day basis, I hang out on Instagram stories on my personal account, which is @jessmmassey.

[00:46:49] Danielle Wiebe: Love it love it. We'll definitely connect with Jess and her incredible community and grab one of her planners. If you're like, oh my gosh, I need that in my life. Then definitely go grab [00:47:00] that. And, uh, yeah, we will see you very soon. Thank you so much for being here. And I hope our listeners have a amazing rest of their days.

[00:47:12] If you love this episode, make sure you screenshot, post, and tag us on Instagram @businessbabesco. Want to know when the next episode goes live? Subscribe on your podcast app, and while you're there, leave us a review. Until next time, keep dreaming big, setting goals and taking action.

Danielle Wiebe