Jess Lively

From talking with my “midnight hustling” friends (people working to go from a day job to their dream job) I’ve heard over and over that the long hours juggling both jobs is lonely at times. And based on Why It’s Good if You Hate Your Job, there are a lot of other people out there [...]

Today I’d like to explain where Jess LC has been in the last year and how we are growing forward. There are a lot of important updates to the Diversey, Division, and Franklin (braille) collections as well. In addition, I also talk about the next jewelry pieces to launch on Jess LC (and when they [...]

(This post is brought to you by MML sponsor, Pip & Estella.) Hello MML readers! I’m Sana of So Does Estella. Last year, Pip & Estella donated proceeds from our charity shop to Vanessa of Turquoise LA for her work on the Upward Bound House project in Culver City, CA. So many of you showed [...]

Wow, what a resounding response to the Why It’s Good If You Hate Your Job post earlier today! Thank you for “getting it.” I want to share a few other posts for people in the Sucky Job Boat to stay inspired and encouraged. Many people are in this place now. And many more have been [...]

I’ve been thinking about writing this post for a long time. And rather than go into a long story, I think it’s best to just keep it short and sweet: If you hate your job, you are more likely to leave it and truly ask yourself what you want to do, what you are meant [...]

There is Enough In all of our business planning, one thing has stuck out above everything else as a point of anxiety: competition. Not money, not marketing, not even the unknown. It’s always competition. Even the word sends shivers down my neck, as I’ve never been that great at competing. I fold in most games, [...]

I’m not normally one to quantify tips, or really give out that many tips in general. But it just so happens that as I wrote this post, it turned out that I have a lot of ideas with what to do with business “free time.” Sixteen ideas, to be exact. During the early days of [...]

Yesterday Jess Van Den asked me some fantastic questions over at Scoutie Girl. Below are the questions she asked. Scoutie Girl Creative Biz Success Interview Questions Can you take us on the journey of your creative career path so far? Were you always planning on working for yourself?   How do you balance the different [...]

Okay, so maybe Mr. Lively didn’t say relax, but I like him better than Frankie. Either way, the point still stands. I sit here today in an “lull day.” I’m currently sandwiched between a big Jess LC initiative launched yesterday and an important bag appointment(!) on Friday. Given that I also have had the rock [...]

Ladies, this is big. We’ve decided to launch a new challenge at Jess LC: An outfit collage contest to win $200 and two pieces of Jess LC jewelry for the perfect spring look. Yep. I’ve decided to launch a contest that I myself would drool over. All the details are above and on our DesignYourLook [...]

Success Defined Writing the Dream Report is very strange. Don’t read too much into that sentence — it’s a great exercise for start up business owners and a great feature on Makeunder My Life. But as I sit here on Thursday night (procrastination is my specialty), I keep thinking about one thing: success. Not about [...]

Over the years I’ve been asked many times how I manage to get everything done with the business, blog, and life. Being self-employed means that I’ve needed to learn how to manage my time wisely, avoid burnout, and effectively build my brand. These aims sometimes compete with one another and the balance between them is [...]

Today I’d like to share an online video I did for FounderBuzz about social media strategy. In the five minute interview I cover what I’ve done in social media for MML and Jess LC as well as what business owner’s shouldn’t do in social media. Enjoy!

Recently I was speaking with an MML reader and soon-to-be small business owner. Leading up to her business’ launch, she was worried about doing the right things to make sure her business was successful. Even though she knew social media, blogger outreach, blog ads, and sweat-equity were the keys to success, she felt more confident [...]

I’ve been thinking a lot about the buzz around two popular blogging topics: authenticity and blogging etiquette. Last week I read Tam Style’s awesome post, Blogging Now. She summed up a lot of things that happen within the blogging community and called it like it (often) is. I was really impressed with her fearless truth-telling. [...]

I Now Pronounce You, Husband and Wife and Co-Workers I think it’s safe to say that Bryan and I are on the same team. When we got married three years ago in a little white chapel, we both agreed on a few terms: “to have and to hold for richer and poorer, through sickness and [...]

Today we have a huge dose of DIY DESIGN YOUR LIFE inspiration. Hop on over to the blogs below to see how four awesome MML readers have designed their lives around their intentions. After reading them all, I feel so lucky to be among such incredible women. Jennifer’s post is on Fort Saint Nowhere. Raj’s [...]

Scroll below to see our March Ambassadors! Whoa! I have to say, we have quite the bustling Ambassador group for March. You can check out the whole batch of Jess LC Ambassadors here. If you’d like to become an ambassador, simply follow the instructions above! March Ambassadors

Oh my goodness. I stopped working yesterday after posting I Will Figure This Out and tried to let my mind rest and recover from the frustration that’s been building around the handbag project. To be honest, I’d been doing a lot of praying about the situation this week and it was time that I took [...]

Okay. Truth time. I feel like my business is further along than ever before. I’ve conquered tons of business challenges, built the e-business of my dreams, and I know a lot about jewelry. I have 12 years of experience designing jewelry and running a company. As Mr. Lively says, “it’s my jam.” And now I’m [...]

Today I have a great peek inside the tilly | maison shop and blog. Carolyn, the designer behind the home decor line has graciously allowed me to interview her about her products, inspiration, and business experience. Read her MML sponsor interview below to find out how she came up with the idea for the adorable [...]

Over the weekend I read a fantastic post via Danielle LaPorte’s White Hot Truth. In the post she explains that her self-improvement methods over the years have been based on incorrect intentions. As she states, “Rather than doing whatever it is that you do to ease, mitigate and transform those states of being as acts [...]

Before I start on today’s post, I’d like to thank everyone for the sweet and encouraging emails and comments about my new Business With Intention consulting! I’m excited to say that I have a new booklet that describes the packages available for people thinking about a business idea, growing a business, or honing a business. [...]

Today I am excited to launch my second step (the first was creating MML) towards making my purpose – helping people design lives with intention – a full-time career! Though I still juggle Jess LC, MML, and my life, I want to open up time to consult with eight business owners a month to help [...]

Lose the Wait I don’t know whose research it was, but I believe there have been studies done to quantify how much time, through our entire lives, we spend waiting. Waiting for the bus, waiting in line at a store, waiting for the coffee to brew…so many of our everyday activities involve waiting in some [...]

Today I have a great DESIGN YOUR LIFE interview to share. Kevin “Mr. Peace” Szawala is a motivational speaker and friend of mine from the University of Michigan. He is also one of the most engaging, positive, and inspirational people I know. I am thrilled to present his intentions for his life and to share [...]

To be honest, the past few weeks have been a bit rough for me. No need to worry too much, but let’s just say that I’ve been struggling to find life balance lately. In fact, things are good overwhelmingly great. Which in itself brings a whole new set of lessons. I feel like the gratitude [...]

March Free Wallpaper: Click here to download the full-size version of the wallpaper above. Happy March! I am beyond happy to see this “warm,” sunny weather here in Chicago today. It definitely sets a great tone for the month to come. I’ve decided to design this month’s wallpaper with a quote from a recent post. [...]