What's the Healthier Hustle All About?

In 2012 I published a novel. Sometime around 2015ish I realized that no one would know about said novel unless I told them about it. With some (read: a lot) of reluctance I started to admit that I wasn’t just a writer but also a business owner and began to dip the tips of my toes into the concept of entrepreneurship.

I didn’t love it.

While this had a great deal to do with my own hesitant attitude, it also stemmed from the fact that disliked all the language around “hustle culture". The societal message that to have this creative side-thing going on meant I had to give up sleep and mainline energy drinks just didn’t resonate.

If I wasn’t a hustler I was never going to succeed.

My non-side-hustle work has largely been in higher education, specifically student services and my educational background is in counseling. I spend a lot of time talking with students about mental health and wellness and self-care. In 2018 my academic work moved out of more generalized student advising work and into the innovation and entrepreneurship center on my campus.

It was this juxtaposition of our empathy based design-thinking curriculum colliding with my work as a counselor educator that made me start to wonder— what if there is a different way?What if we can talk about well-being AND business creation?

What if being healthy doesn’t negate the hustle?

This newsletter is my ongoing exploration of this. On the health side, expect reflections on well-being and resources that are helping me and/or those I work with. As for the hustle, after a bit of a break, I’m gearing up another book project and I’ll share lessons from this journey and snippets from like-minded business owners and creatives. Expect some design-thinking talk sprinkled in, as well. I’m also excited to learn from you as a reader. Comments and replies are welcome and encouraged!

And finally, because I have a slight (read: huge) obsession with squirrels and think pizza is the best food ever— those will both show up here too.

I’ll be kicking things off with several editions of the Healthier Hustle in late November and early December, then regular issues will arrive in subscriber’s inboxes on the first and third Mondays of the month beginning December 20. Thanks for joining me on the journey and be well!