Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
We need a new definition of success—one that harmonizes meaning and money.
Imagine diving into your workday with renewed energy, leaving behind the exhaustion or dread of a monotonous grind.
Traditional beliefs about success and the root cause of burnout are the same:
Prove yourself.
Work harder.
Take care of the business, and it will take care of you.
We’re recycling the mindset and practices that keep us stuck. Our souls need a jumpstart into The Age of Humanity.
Tune in for a new way of working that honors our nervous system and the bottom line, using knowledge of the brain, the Bible, and business. We’ll discuss timeless truths that amplify growth, ignite change, and reshape the world of work. No corporate speak or business BS. Let’s get to the heart of a rewarding career and profitable growth.
We speak human about business.
What’s in it for You?
Value, Relevance, and Impact (VRI): No, it's not a new tech gadget—it's your ticket to making your work genuinely matter to you and your company.
Human-Centric Insights: We prioritize people over profits without sacrificing the bottom line. Think less "cog in the machine" and more "humans helping humans."
I'm your host, Rebecca Fleetwood Hesson, your thrive guide leading you into the new Age of Humanity. I’ve navigated the highs and lows of business and life, from achieving over $40 million in sales, teaching thousands of people around the world about leadership, trust, execution, and productivity to facing burnout, divorce, raising a couple of great humans (one with ADHD), and navigating the uncertainty of starting a business.
I’m committed to igniting change in the world by jumpstarting business into profitable growth with the timeless truths of our humanity.
Sound crazy? It’s only crazy until it works.
Hit subscribe to never miss an episode, and leave a review to help other listeners discover our show.
Want insight and advice on your real career and business challenges? Connect with me on social media or email me at rebecca@wethrive.live. Your story could spark our next conversation.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:00:00]:
I'm not coming down I never knocked it on the ground I'm not coming down I wanna go higher, higher, Higher than that. Welcome back to the Business is Human podcast. I'm your host, Rebecca Fleetwood Hession, and we're here to bring you episodes that blend meaningful work with profitable success. Here to steward what I call the age of humanity. I believe if we transform the way we work, we can transform the way that we live. As always, my friendly request. If you like what you hear, hit subscribe so you don't miss any episode and leave a review to tell the other humans that they might like it, too. Always looking to help you and connect with others.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:00:41]:
All right, let's get into it, shall we? You hang out here and listen to a variety of episodes. You probably have noticed that I sort of fall in love with my guest really quickly, and then I will often say things like, will you come back? Because to me, this podcast just feels like we're sitting, having coffee together and just getting to know one another as humans, which is my favorite thing in the world. But this time, I really did have somebody back. Jenny Tod is on the show today, and she is an amazing creative. In fact, she owns a creative agency that she's going to tell you about. And she was on the podcast four years ago when I was just figuring out how to push the right buttons and how to make all this stuff work. And I've since followed Jenny on social media and just love the way that she represents creativity in the world in a variety of ways, which we're also going to talk about today. And so I'm just.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:01:42]:
I'm going to stop talking and just love to hear it. Here we go. Last time you were on the show, I looked at the show notes and the key takeaways were that you can run a business and have a rewarding life. Looks like to me that that's still happening, so yay. And don't rob someone else. The joy of helping. This is how we bless each other. And I actually put that quote in my book after we interviewed last time because it was so profoundly put for the point I was trying to make.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:02:16]:
So I don't know if you know that, but you were quoted in my book. And then the other thing that you said that we highlighted in the notes was showcasing our passions and our work for our kids is really important.
Jenny Tod [00:02:31]:
Wow. What a great segue.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:02:33]:
Now here we are to talk about your second children's book, which you had already written one back in 2019 before we talked, and we didn't talk much about that, but here we are. You, you now have taken that little conversation from a podcast four years ago and it's coming to life literally in, in this children's book.
Jenny Tod [00:02:54]:
So, yeah, tell us about this book.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:02:56]:
And why and how and all the things. Yeah.
Jenny Tod [00:02:59]:
Oh my gosh. So much to share. That's so incredible to hear back what we said then because it's been so long and just so much has happened in the last four years that it's really cool to kind of reflect back and see what the things were that I was saying then and see how they're relevant now. Over the last four years, I've continued to run my business, Jenny Tod Creative, the design studio that I run both with teammates and then kind of more solo. It's kind of ebbed and flowed based on the season of, of time and life for the people that I had working with me, but I've continued to do that. So I just hit the six year mark actually yesterday when we were recording this so mid November, and that feels really exciting. And then also I've had another child. So the last time we recorded, I had one son.
Jenny Tod [00:03:51]:
At the time he would have been around three.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:03:53]:
Yeah.
Jenny Tod [00:03:53]:
Now he's almost seven. Getting ready, just turned seven and then I have a 13 month old. So just over a year. So that's happened. And then just had some other like, personal ups and downs. My dad actually sadly passed away really unexpectedly from cancer, which is never something that you can plan for. Right. So I think just so much has changed that I felt really inspired that if any time was the time, it was now.
Jenny Tod [00:04:21]:
And so wanting to create something else for my children, something that I thought my dad would really have loved. He was a woodworker and so he did it on the side of his day job. He was in the insurance business, but he loved doing woodworking and was really inspiring to me over the course of the years growing up of teaching me about art and just encouraging me that I could do whatever I wanted to do. So I just felt really inspired after everything happened with him and my children and my business being so successful, I guess in my eyes, successful, right? I mean, it's providing, providing for my family. Yeah, it's giving me, you know, successful career and something I've been really happy to continue to grow in and grow with clients and in my skills. So I decided that I wanted to create a book that talked about careers that children might not know about in the arts so that they could be learning at a young age that creative jobs are careers and that they can provide a really wonderful life for an individual, a family, a team. And so that's what I just released pre orders a few weeks ago for my new book. It's called you're an artist, imagine what you can be.
Jenny Tod [00:05:38]:
And so it goes through 10 different creative careers, mostly like very art related in terms of like using your hands to create pieces of art and walks through kind of what they do in their job and what tools they use to do it and then kind of just inspires them that know the world needs art and art is something that makes our world beautiful and important and makes it shine. And so I just felt like it was a, it was the right time to put something out like that. And just, you know, selfishly, I wanted to do something for my dad and so I dedicated it to him as well and something that my kids would be able to enjoy.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:06:16]:
I'm already going to be crying this morning. There are so many things I want to dig into about what you just said. One is, yeah, let's take a moment and celebrate that you have created this business. It's supporting your family. It's not. It's no small feat to get past the head trash, to actually practically do it. And I know sometimes I still walk around in my house and think I created a business that pays for this. Like there's just this moment where you're just like, that's cool.
Jenny Tod [00:06:49]:
Yeah.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:06:50]:
And we need to celebrate that more because I'm sure, you know, we're just working, we're just doing our thing and we don't always stop and pause and just revel in that.
Jenny Tod [00:06:59]:
So, yeah, it's a good reminder because I am notorious for my husband even says it too. One project completed and we're onto the next. And we don't stop and take a second to just look back at where we've been and how far we've come and what we've accomplished. Right. As I was doing some, I had the honor of speaking at Patterns Creative Economy Summit to talk a little bit about the book. And as I was doing a little bit of research on that, it was a fun time to actually kind of look back at what all the business has accomplished over the years. And just the fact that we in lifetime revenue hit $2 million this year, which is just like, you know, you never plan for those things. Right.
Jenny Tod [00:07:38]:
Then you look around and it's like that has paid for my home and for my children's needs and my own travels and things. And so it just feels really, really Good to know that all the hard work that you put in, you're able to look back on and say, wow, I really have accomplished quite a bit. So, yes, absolutely.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:07:58]:
And I'm glad that that talk forced you into that reflection because usually it's something like that that does that for us.
Jenny Tod [00:08:04]:
Exactly.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:08:05]:
Well, on the show, business as human is about the intersection of business needs, human needs. And when I look at human needs, I look at the complementary nature of like, how our nervous system works, like our physiology. And I always want to look at spiritual truths and biblical truths of what that means for humanity as well. And when I saw that you had put your book out and I saw the topic, it lit my heart on fire. Because we were designed to be creators. And so often in the industrial age model of work and life and school that most of us have grown up in, we're kind of starting to get a new, new generation coming in, but that hasn't been so steeped in that. But back in the day, if a person would, a young adult would have said, hey, I want to be an artist of some sort, some well meaning adult would have said, oh, honey, you can't make any money doing that. You gotta go get a quote, unquote, real job.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:09:14]:
And real job was not anything that that person was interested in or anything else. And so you made a paycheck and you may have gotten benefits. Both kind of rooted in the fear of survival versus thriving on who you are. And most of those folks are now coming to me as their coach saying, help me find something that lights my heart on fire. Because the artist in them there was. Nobody was fanning the flame of that. And to me, when I saw your book, I was like, thank God we're elevating artists for who they are and what they're capable of in the world. And I'm so excited about it.
Jenny Tod [00:09:57]:
Yeah. Wow. I love hearing that. And yeah, everybody has kind of heard the term like starving artist. And there's this like, stigma that, that you can't make a creative job, an art job, a career. I thought it was really interesting when I was going to college, when I graduated, I got a full ride scholarship. I was amongst 25 other people and the scholarship was an academic scholarship. But out of the 25 people that received it, it was two at the time was IUPUI.
Jenny Tod [00:10:26]:
Now. Now has changed. But I was the only student that went for an art degree. And so every single other scholarship recipient went for dental school, medical school, something which are all incredible jobs, and we need those people too. But I was just so shocked that I was the only person in that group of 25 students to go to the Herron School of Art for a degree in Visual communications. And so I think even then it felt like that narrative had been told to so many people that you can't make a job out of something creative, something where you're making or creating or you know. And so I do think obviously businesses in any realm, any field take a lot of work. And so it's not like it's easy, right? But I know a ton of successful artists who have made an incredible living for their families doing what they love, working really hard.
Jenny Tod [00:11:26]:
Right. And running a business that is not easy. You know, a lot of people think sometimes, oh, working for yourself can be easy and there's not a lot of responsibility. You don't have to answer to anyone. And honestly, that makes it ten times harder. But you know, you work hard and you get to do what you love and it can be really successful. And so I just want that narrative to be told to young people as they grow up. Like you said, this generation is changing a bit and I think there's more viewpoints that are seeing that as an opportunity.
Jenny Tod [00:11:56]:
But I just want to continue to share that, that there are those of us out there who have done it and it can be done. And if you love it and are willing to work hard, you know, it can be an incredible career for you. And I've had jobs both working in agencies, I've worked in house at startup tech startups doing graphic design and I've also worked for myself. So you don't have to just own your own business doing it, but you can do any and all of these jobs as careers. And so I think it's cool to be able to show people that and teach them that. So I'm excited about hopefully the hands that it will get into and the young artists minds who will kind of hear that story being told and will be inspired. And it's cool to see how many people have reached out to me with a very similar feeling as you have that, oh my gosh, like I have a daughter or a son who's 7 or 8 or 9, and they love art, but I've never known really how to support them in that and show them what's possible. And so that's the reason I did it.
Jenny Tod [00:12:58]:
Right. That's the cool thing to hear, if nothing else, as long as someone feels inspired by it. That's what I'm hoping to get out of it.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:13:06]:
Well, I pre Ordered my two copies for my two friends that have little ones, and I'm excited to put it in their hands as well. That's exactly it. And I raise artists. I have a musician and a songwriter, and I have a daughter who went to college for a couple of years. No idea what she wanted to do. Didn't receive good guidance about how to channel her interest in art into something that was going to be a career, partly because she was a 2020 graduate. And so she was in a dorm doing online classes through Covid, and it was just chaos in general. But just recently she came to me and she said, mom, I'm.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:13:49]:
I think I might want to do like esthetician or, or something like that. And I said, great. And she looked into it and she came back to me a few days later and she said, actually, I might want to be a nail tech. And I said, awesome. And she said, I could just paint all day. Aw. And I got chills when she saw it and she's doing it. She just graduated from school, she's got a great little clientele already started.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:14:16]:
And her specialty is all these beautiful hand painted designs. And when I watch her do it, I can just see this light in her that it's so beautiful. And what I know to be true as a career coach and a business coach is, yes, you're going to work hard to be successful. That's the thing. But there's a very different thing about working hard at something that you have connected to your soul and who you are, and working hard at something just for the money.
Jenny Tod [00:14:47]:
Yeah.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:14:47]:
And when you can inspire the artists, especially in those, that. That's just. I think we all should have some sort of creativity that we embark in as a hobby or something. But when it's so deep that it needs to be your career, that's just a beautiful manifestation of your soul.
Jenny Tod [00:15:05]:
Yeah, absolutely. I love hearing stories like that. And I think there's a. There's times where I'll have friends or family members who, they'll see me working really hard or maybe working an hour or two after hours or catching up on things every so often. And I obviously try to do as well as I can with balancing it, but they make comments like, don't you get sick of working? Like, don't you want to put it down? And yes, of course. Like, there's times where I don't want to be working. But I, I love that I get to say, you know, I'm so passionate about the work that I'm doing that I get Excited to do it a little bit here and there because I get on a roll or I get an idea and I just want to execute it because I get really excited about creating something for a client or helping them tell their story or whatever that looks like. And so it's.
Jenny Tod [00:15:53]:
It's really neat to be able to say that. How many people can really say that they're so passionate about what they do, that they enjoy doing it even when they don't have to be, because they want to do it better? Right. And so I just. Yeah, I feel really lucky that that has become an opportunity for me that I've been able to seize. And so I think that there are a lot of people who choose different paths and who decide to work a job that is better suited for family, paycheck, benefits, all of those things. And I think that's great, too. But when you have the opportunity to do something you truly love and are really passionate about, why not?
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:16:31]:
Well, and it. Your husband's saying you're just onto the next project and you don't look back on the other ones. I'm the same way because I've already thought of three other things that I can't wait to start doing. And so, like, hurry up and finish that because I. I got this thing going. I. I suffer that same passion thing, too. I love what I do, and I'm constantly thinking of ideas and putting them up on my whiteboard.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:16:53]:
In fact, I started to be concerned that I didn't have enough other things in my life because I love my work so much and my kids are older, and so I got a puppy. Now that is my other distraction. So because there is that thing, it's like I could do the work that I do day and night for a long time without feeling any regret about it. Another part of this that I think is really important for such a time as this, about your book, is that In a post 2020 world, it was a time of global forced reflection. Like, literally, everybody shut your doors and go inside. And all we had was to think about our lives, right? We're in this bubble situation, and now it's being called the post 2020. You know, we went through the great resignation and quiet quitting and all that, and. And really what all of that was, was the great reevaluation of our lives.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:17:57]:
And so this is such a beautiful time to introduce your book at a time when people are now more aware and thinking about these things than they would have had we not had that traumatic experience together. So I think the Timing of it is really beautiful.
Jenny Tod [00:18:13]:
Yeah, that's such an Interesting point. 100%. You're exactly right. But I hadn't really even thought of it exactly that way. But I do think I've even noticed a lot of people in my field that are just kind of evaluating what's important to them, what are they looking for out of their career or their day to day, or the things that are fulfilling, you know, their time. And so people really reevaluating that a bit and just honing in on what's important, like you said, and I think both professionally and personally, I've seen a lot of that lately is just kind of like our time is limited. We never know when it's going to end and we want to do the most that we can with the time that we do have. And so why not take advantage of that?
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:18:55]:
And that's the beautiful thing about you taking that tragedy of losing your father and saying, you know what? I'm going to make something good come of this to honor him. And the more we can follow our soul about those kinds of thoughts and ideas, I think the world is just a better place for it.
Jenny Tod [00:19:10]:
Yeah, I have. I have some fun memories of he and I would talk a lot and he would ask me, like, what projects are you working on? He was always so excited to hear the work that I was doing because he just knew how passionate I was about it. And he told me a lot that he wished if when he was growing up he was a little older. My parents are both a little bit older. So in his generation, when he was growing up, there was no chance of him really getting encouragement to pursue his artistic passion as his career. And so that's kind of why he went into the field that he did. But he did it all the time on the side. And he told me a lot that he wishes that if he lived in kind of this modern era, that he would have loved to have made woodworking his career.
Jenny Tod [00:19:51]:
And he was so incredibly talented with what he did. Like, there's no doubt I get my artistic talents from him. And so it was just cool to like feel like I was kind of living out his dream a little bit too, you know. And so I think that he would have been proud of this. This would have been something he would have really been able to get behind and support.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:20:13]:
You know, I love a good connection. And I recently met a founder. Her name is Paige McFeely and her company is called Base. And what I love about her work is wealth. You know, Business is Human. And the humans running your business need support, but the support that everyone needs is going to look very different because we're all unique down to our fingerprint. So some people need help with an overloaded calendar or an overflowing inbox, invoicing expenses, personal appointments, social media, it could be anything. And finding the right virtual executive assistant can help with all of that.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:20:50]:
And that's what Base does. They're the expert in finding you not just an ea, but the right EA to ensure that the partnership is a success. They have been trusted for over 10 years, they have a proven track record and a highly skilled pool of US based EAs experienced in a range of areas. So getting started with an EA might feel overwhelming. So Base offers these resets for just $750. An executive assistant will come and clean up your. Well, they won't come there, it's virtual. They'll clean up your email, your calendar and no commitments, just results.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:21:27]:
And as a special offer, they're giving you, buy one, get one free resets. So get one for yourself and then give one to a friend, a coworker, your boss, your spouse. And then if you decide to continue working with Babe, to actually have a partnership with an executive assistant, they'll give you exclusive bonuses, making it even more rewarding for you and your friend. Mention my name, Rebecca Fleetwood Hession or Business is Human podcast to get your bogo and all the special treatment that comes with it. All right, let me know how it goes. What's your dad's name?
Jenny Tod [00:22:03]:
His name was Dwayne.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:22:05]:
Ah, I'm just sitting here thinking very similarly. My dad retired from Cummins Engine company as a, as an engineer but he woodworker, Beautiful watercolor. Like he's, he's an artist. But again, you provided for your family back in that day and it just made me think about times that I was with my dad and like his shop doing stuff. And as a parent, a kid doesn't snuggle up beside their parent and go, tell me about insurance, daddy. Right. That's just not a connection point. But making things and doing things hands on together is such a beautiful bonding experience.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:22:47]:
So whether it's for an occupation or just to build that connection in your family, I think art and creativity is just a beautiful way to do that. Yeah, I love that anytime I smell wood, woodworking, anything that's being cut or wood burning or whatever he was doing, anytime I smell wood, I have just these fond childhood memories of being in a workshop with dad.
Jenny Tod [00:23:11]:
And I remember I would always be, you know, because my creative mind, I'm always thinking of new ideas. So I would, like, sketch out these crazy, like, I want to build this thing, and this is what I want it to look like and do. And I'd show it to him and he'd kind of be like, are you sure? I don't know about that. He's like, but let's try it. You know? And then it would always turn out, and he's always like, I don't know why I ever doubted you. You know, like, you had a vision for something and you pursued it. And I'm just here to support whatever it is that, you know, you want to create and do, and we'll see what we can do together. And so, yeah, we do have a lot of really sweet memories and time together that.
Jenny Tod [00:23:46]:
That I'll cherish for sure.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:23:48]:
Which, from a subconscious perspective was logging this confidence in your own creative visionary abilities that you didn't know was happening at the time. It wasn't this big strategic plan that you and your dad had, but it certainly shaped that confidence in you. I love that. I love that.
Jenny Tod [00:24:07]:
Yeah, absolutely.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:24:08]:
Yeah. Tell us about a couple of the careers that you highlight in the book.
Jenny Tod [00:24:12]:
I could list them all, obviously, but.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:24:15]:
Leave something for them to buy.
Jenny Tod [00:24:16]:
Yeah, I know, I know. Yes, you gotta go buy it so you can see the rest. But obviously there's kind of the more expected ones, like the graphic designer. I had to obviously highlight that, and I took a likeness to maybe what my own look is for that one little nod. But I also wanted to highlight jobs like a tattoo artist, which feels like it gets overlooked a lot and even has some definitely, like, certain stigmas towards it sometimes. But I wanted to highlight, like, I know a lot of really successful and insanely talented tattoo artists who have made an incredible business and living for themselves. Obviously, you know, I. I have plenty of my own.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:24:55]:
Same girl, same. I don't. You can't see them today, but we can share that love. I want to pause on that for a minute because I agree. And actually, interestingly enough, that was something that my daughter considered was. Was being a tattoo artist. And the gal who does all of our family's ink, Brandi Gordon from native Ink Tattoo in Elwood, Indiana. She was one of the first female tattoo artists around.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:25:20]:
And in fact, Ink Masters contacted her to be on the show. If anybody that knows there's a show about tattoo artists, and we became friends. She was actually on the show as well about four or five years ago. I had her. I interviewed her while I was Getting a tattoo.
Jenny Tod [00:25:36]:
Ok, I feel like I've heard that name, so I'll have to go back now. And I've seen all the seasons, so I'm sure I know who she is.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:25:42]:
She actually didn't end up going on the show because she was at the time a single parent and she would have had to be out of money making work to film the show when it wasn't gonna work out. And she says now that she's glad it didn't work out because she loves her life. She has a great business in, in Elwood, but she's booked out like two years in advance. Colts players, famous musicians fly her out to do anything. She is, like, famous in the world of tattoos. So I wanted to just highlight that exact story. And in the podcast, she said the thing that she loves most is that she gets yes to use her art, which that was her thing. She was like, I'm an artist.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:26:22]:
What am I going to do for a career? And stumbled onto a guy who took her under his wing and, and helped her. But she said telling people's stories through her art is her favorite thing about that job.
Jenny Tod [00:26:34]:
And, and that's exactly what the page on the tattoo artist talks about is, like creating memories and referencing, like, special events in people's lives and capturing that in ink on the skin is a beautiful form of art. And so, yeah, I, I was really happy to be able to highlight a career like that or. Or even an art teacher, which is really also very important. My bro is actually an art teacher, and so it was really special to be able to highlight that. Like, we need other teachers teaching children about art in the same way that I'm trying to do that with this book. Like, we need other really passionate artists that are in schools teaching students about the importance of art and all of the theories and rules that go along with all the different artist skills. And so, yeah, I think highlighting some that maybe don't get a lot of recognition. You might hear of being a teacher, but maybe not spe specifically being an art teacher.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:27:33]:
That's another memory of if I smell an art room. Yeah, it just a wash of beautiful emotion comes over me. That was my favorite class and my daughter's too. It's funny to say that about the tattoos because when my daughter came to me a few years ago and she said, can we get matching tattoos for my birthday? I'm like, yes, girl, we can.
Jenny Tod [00:27:51]:
Absolutely.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:27:52]:
And I always say to my kids, let's just make sure we get something that means something at 8 years old. And Today, but.
Jenny Tod [00:27:58]:
And now. Right? Yeah, absolutely.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:28:00]:
The whole idea of creation and art is it's in everything that we do. It was created in somebody's imagination before it became a physical thing. I said that to my kids when they were talking about careers when they were. When they were young. And I said, look around this room. Everything in this room, someone created it in their mind first.
Jenny Tod [00:28:23]:
Yeah.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:28:24]:
And being a creator and being an artist is actually the start of everything that's in this room. And I always wanted to just inspire them not to be pulled away from that natural feeling that they had about being creative, because the world will try to do that.
Jenny Tod [00:28:40]:
Yeah.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:28:41]:
And so it's always stuck for us as a family.
Jenny Tod [00:28:43]:
Yeah. And even just how you can use creativity in any job. Right. Like, I think that's what you're getting at is that even if you're in a job that maybe doesn't feel like you're in a creative or artistic job, there are opportunities for creativity in every role that you might have or hold. You know, you have to try to think differently, try to understand the stories of the people that you're talking to or working with. So much about art is. I talk about, like, what I do in my business is visually tell stories and communicate ideas visually through. Through art.
Jenny Tod [00:29:16]:
And so even if that might not be art as the medium, whether it's through conversation or. Or written word, even just like ways you might interact with your coworkers or ways you interact with clients, like, there's so many opportunities to think differently, come up with creative ideas, step outside the box. And so I think just continuing like you've done with your kids, to encourage, you know, anyone, that in any role that you're in, there's opportunity to be creative and use that creative side of your brain for something that might not be the expected option.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:29:51]:
Agreed. And in fact, I am talking to a lot of leaders and groups of leaders in organizations about this post. 2020 world that we're in, that everybody's in this reimagining their lives kind of state, is that the leaders that will be successful today moving forward are the ones that have the desire and the ability to create new solutions for what's happening today. Because we all are different today than we were prior to 2020. That's just a reality. We all went through global trauma. It reshapes our brain. It has us thinking differently.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:30:28]:
And so the leaders who are trying to recycle the patterns of the past are struggling. And that's because people are saying, I'm not that person. Anymore. They may not know that. They're not saying that overtly. They may not even realize that's the case. But from a humanity perspective, the leaders who can look at things today and say I'm going to create something different are the ones that are going to win.
Jenny Tod [00:30:54]:
Yeah, a hundred percent. Feels incredibly accurate to what I've experienced with clients, with my own business, all of it so, so important.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:31:03]:
I'm excited for you. I'm just, I just can't. I'm, I'm like, what's she going to come up with next? You're one of these people. We haven't talked in four years but as soon as I saw this book coming out, I reached out and I do follow you on social because I love that you're always either redoing a house or creating something or showing something that you're doing and I get inspired by the stuff that you're doing. So keep going. Keep doing what comes from your heart and it's blessing us in really great ways. How can people buy the book? Where do they get it?
Jenny Tod [00:31:36]:
Yes. So pre orders are available now. The book will ship out hopefully mid December. So obviously it's all based on shipping and when we, when we'll receive them. But to preorder it you can go to JennyTodd shop. So it's Todd with one D. So Jenny T O D shop right on the front. It'll lead you to preorder the book.
Jenny Tod [00:32:00]:
We also have our other book on there as well which is called Brunch Brunch Baby which is what I released quite a bit ago now, but it's on there as well. So they can pre order that. Obviously we'd love to just continue to get the word out to share the story of what it is with people you may know or if you don't have any kiddos of your own, buy it for a friend or a special special kid in your life. So we were just excited to buy it in as many hands. Just buy it, get it in the way.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:32:28]:
Yes.
Jenny Tod [00:32:28]:
And I have, of course I have big dreams of all these things I want to do with it. I would love to turn it into a speaker series where we go around to different artists and highlight them and their stories and go and read the book. Yes. But also talk to like go to a tattoo studio and talk to a tattoo artist and talk to a painter and a sculptor and hear their stories and then learn about the other stories in the book. So hopefully one day we'll be able to, you know, fund something like that. But we're working on how that's going to happen. So if there's anyone who's interested in anything like that, please reach out, because I'd love to continue to figure out how we can make something like that happen.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:33:10]:
Oh, now you've just lit my idea. Heart on fire. It's like, let's do that. Let's do it today.
Jenny Tod [00:33:15]:
Let's do it. Yeah, I would love to. I really would. So I just want to be able to highlight other artists who are doing incredible things. And I think there's enough space, you know, not even just here in Indianapolis, but all over, for highlighting all these stories of these incredible artists who are doing wonderful things. So that's on the near horizon, hopefully, but we'll see.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:33:35]:
Okay. I think it's probably a TEDx talk, too.
Jenny Tod [00:33:39]:
Just, hey, I love that.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:33:40]:
Just going to throw that out there. So. So the Lord might want to bless that. Yes. I mean, because clearly what everything you said in 2020 is actually starting to come to pass in 2024. So we'll just put that out there for you as well. What about the design work that you do for business? And how would somebody work with you in that capacity?
Jenny Tod [00:34:01]:
Yeah, so like I mentioned, I run a small design studio and we really focus on visually telling stories, communicating difficult or complicated ideas through visuals, making things simpler. And that can come to life, obviously, in a lot different ways, but mainly it would be in the form of branding. So helping a company or an organization tell their story through their visual identity, through their messaging, and how they get out to the world through their website and digital media. So we do a lot of all of the visuals and a lot of the messaging and website work for that as well as just. We do a lot of ongoing work with clients where we come in and become a part of their team as an extension if they don't have their own design wing or arm of the business and help them really communicate some of these ideas visually. So more difficult concepts like how. How can we visualize these? How can we tell the story, and what's a principle of what you would.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:34:57]:
Call a difficult concept?
Jenny Tod [00:34:59]:
One of our organizations, they work with the Power BI system through Microsoft, which is all about data and how data is taken from all these different areas of a business and then how it's coming together and showing them this beautiful dashboard view of, like, so many areas of their business that you can't get otherwise unless you use software. And so we help them, like, communicate exactly what they're doing for businesses through visuals. So it's like coming up with a concept that people can relate to to understand what this product actually does for you, showing it in a way that makes sense to like the everyday person who might be using this, who's not so data and analytical in their head, but showing them how this actually works, like a system of pipes. And so all of the pipes run together and here, you know, so like creating concept out of something that's really difficult to understand and then actually visualizing it. So that's just one example, obviously. But a lot of things like that where we. We just help to communicate ideas that are more difficult to understand. So that takes shape in, you know, we do ongoing retainers with businesses where we create a lot of those visuals for social sharing or for longer form content or for trade show booths.
Jenny Tod [00:36:17]:
We're constantly kind of of distilling down a message for a company and showcasing it in a way that's really easy to see at a quick glance, you know, on a trade show floor. And how do we do that in a way that would resonate with someone quickly, but also kind of tells the story enough to get you asking more questions. So we do that a lot for clients as well. There's a whole slew of different things we do. But you can check us out on our website, which is jennytodcreative.com and kind of see a sampling of a lot of the projects that we've worked on and some of the brands that we've worked with both here locally and kind of across the country.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:36:54]:
Well, I can't not just also highlight that as we were talking about earlier, about this new world that we're in, the future of work, that if you can't connect to the way that humans process information through story with your work, you're really gonna struggle because, number one, people are just overwhelmed with information in general. But we make decisions on emotion, we validate it on facts. And businesses have this love affair with talking about data and facts that doesn't connect to our human spirit very much at all. So you and your team having that skillset from an artist's perspective to come in and help companies do that. I'm cheering for that 100% as well.
Jenny Tod [00:37:34]:
Thank you. Yeah, we like to say that it's a lot of times it's like the intersection of business and marketing and art, because so much of it has to interconnect with one another. Like, you have to understand what the business does and what message and story they're trying to tell. You have to understand what people are interested in hearing, but also how to connect with them visually through art and visual elements and graphics and identity and even through the brand. And so how all of those kind of play together is sort of where our sweet spot lives. So I love that.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:38:06]:
Well, I just had this conversation with a client who's a CFO just two days ago. She's frustrated about the lack of profitability for the business.
Jenny Tod [00:38:15]:
And.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:38:15]:
And she's got visionary big sales partners that are great at what they do, but there's not enough operational effectiveness. And she's coming across as the wet blanket all the time because she's giving all the data and the numbers and saying, yes, that's a great idea, but we're not profitable. And I said, okay, so the next time you go in there, say, I love that. You come to us with these big buckets of great ideas. They're like. Like a bucket full of water of greatness, but you're pouring it into a colander, and too much of the. Of what you're creating up here isn't staying in the business. I said, give.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:38:55]:
Give people some sort of visual.
Jenny Tod [00:38:57]:
Visual.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:38:58]:
Because when people look at data, they're just thinking about why they want to dispute the data. Usually that's typically the response that our human brains have about data. And I said, so if you can give them a picture that's different? And she's like, okay, I'm gonna try that. I'm like, yeah, it's a human thing. The more we know about our human things, the better we can communicate.
Jenny Tod [00:39:18]:
Yeah. And we connect with experiences we've had and, like, objects or physical experiences or places that we know and, like, creates a memory like, we've been talking about this whole time. Right. Is like, if you want to speak to someone, understand what pain points they might be having and how you can speak to those by showing them how this is probably what you're feeling, and they feel it, and then this is how we can solve for that, you know? And so creating that visual is so incredibly helpful.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:39:46]:
Yeah. Love that. Oh, my gosh. I could have this conversation for days and days and days. So, okay, so you'll come back when the TED Talk is ready, Right?
Jenny Tod [00:39:54]:
Perfect. Let's do it.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:39:56]:
We'll just make a regular. Like, every couple years, Jenny comes and tells us what she's doing next.
Jenny Tod [00:40:01]:
I would love to. Yeah. Awesome. Sounds perfect.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:40:03]:
Thank you. Thanks for being here. You can follow us on Instagram. Business is Human or Tik Tok. Rebecca Fleetwood Hession. It's a great way to share some of the clips with your colleagues and friends. All right. Make it a great day.
Rebecca Fleetwood Hession [00:40:22]:
Love you, mean it.