Jane Zimmer: Bold Beauty- Turning Moments into Meaning

About This Episode

In this episode, we sit down with Jane Zimmer, founder of Z’Est, to explore how bold, intentional living transforms ordinary moments into meaningful rituals. Blending leadership, creativity, art, gathering, wellness, and everyday beauty, Jane shares a practical system for clarity, connection, and joy. From go-to hosting tips to the power of handwritten notes to deepen relationships, the message is clear: start small and notice the beauty already around you. Tune in to hear how these intentional acts can help you create lasting beauty and a life you truly want to live.

About Jane Zimmer

Jane Zimmer is the founder of Z’Est, a lifestyle brand and philosophy centered on intentional living. Grounded in four pillars: art, gathering, health and wellness, and finding a little beauty in every day, Jane invites people to pause, notice what is already around them, and transform ordinary moments into meaningful rituals. Drawing on her extensive senior-level experience in business, operations, and client strategy, she blends creativity with leadership to help others cultivate clarity, balance, and purpose. Through her artwork, cards, bespoke gifting, and gathering expertise, Jane brings Z’Est to life as a creative brand that curates experiences like the Z’Est Brushstrokes Workshop, connections through her Gathering Table Membership, limited edition watercolor card collections, commissioned one of kind watercolor art and bespoke gifting experiences that are designed to honor the art of daily living.

Additional Resources

Website: zesthere.com

Instagram: @zest.here3

Pinterest: @ALittleBeautyEveryday

LinkedIn: @JaneZimmer

Transcript

Defining Bold

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Welcome to the Bold Lounge Podcast. My name is Lee Burgess and I will be your host. If you're anything like me, you love hearing inspiring stories of people who have gone on bold journeys and made a positive impact in the world. This podcast is all about those kinds of stories. Every week we'll hear from someone who has taken a lead or embarked on an extraordinary journey. In addition to hearing their stories, we'll also learn about their bold growth mindset that they used to make things happen. Whether they faced challenges or doubts along the way, they persisted and ultimately achieved their goals. These impactful stories will leave you feeling motivated and inspired to pursue your own bold journey. I believe everyone has a bold story waiting to be free. Tune in and get ready to be inspired. Welcome to the Bold Lounge. Today we have Jane Zimmer. Jane is the founder of Zest, a lifestyle brand and philosophy centered on intentional living, grounded in four pillars art, gathering, health and wellness, and finding a little beauty in every day, Jane invites people to pause, notice what is already around them, and transform ordinary moments into meaningful rituals. Drawing on her extensive senior level experience in business, operation, and client strategy, she blends creativity with leadership to help others cultivate clarity, balance, and purpose. Through her artwork, card collections, bespoke gifting, and gathering expertise, Jane brings zest to life as a creative brand that curates experiences, connections, and products designed to honor the art of daily living. Welcome to the bold lounge. Thank you for being here today, Jane. Thanks for having me. This is so much fun. I'm excited. Yeah, so having a conversation about being bold. We've definitely had a lot of conversations, but we're going to dig into kind of some of the details here. So we'll start off with your definition of bold. What does bold mean to you now at this time in your life?

SPEAKER_02 2:06

You know, I think it means embracing beyond maybe what you give yourself the freedom to think or do or believe. It's reaching out, stepping out with belief. So in the bold framework, like I'm always about the B because I think my own internal thoughts don't always support myself. It's easier for me to maybe support others than to support myself. So that reaching out beyond what you might normally give yourself the space, the comfort, the room to try and try it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

So like a mental stretch of possibilities.

SPEAKER_02 2:46

Yeah, yeah. But it's that mental freedom. You know, like we're I'm my own worst critic, and I'm sure I'm not alone in that space. And I think sometimes we don't give ourselves that mental freedom to say, like, why not? Like, try. Like, what's the worst that's gonna happen? It's not gonna work. Well, what's that gonna mean? Other than, oh, okay, I'll try again. I'll try something different.

SPEAKER_00 3:09

Yeah, I'll learn something. So we have so many bold moments in our life where those types of things can happen. Does one come up in particular where you thought bigger, bolder, allowed yourself to stretch?

SPEAKER_02 3:20

So there's one, and the reason why I start with that one is realizing how innate it was in me because it couldn't have been a mental choice. So the setting is Jane walking to Montessori at three years old, first day of school. So my dad drove me to school, and my visual was there was, I mean, it was in a the Montessori was in a church setting, and there was this really long sidewalk, like obnoxiously long sidewalk, you know. And here my dad, you know, holds out his hand to walk me into class. And I'm like, I'm not going, like, no way. That sidewalk's too long. I'm not going into that strange building. You know, how many ways can a three-year-old say no to her dad? And so that's what was coming out. And, you know, my dad, um, love him, you know, very yes, you will, dad, had a cigarette in his hand. So I said, I'm only walking into that school if you put that cigarette out. This is at three years old. This is at three years old. So he did. Nice. And we went in. To fast forward the story. Um, my dad had a heart attack when I was in college and at graduation of college was smoke-free. So I, you know, I kind of said to my dad, wow, that really booked it. Yeah, right. We both kind of laughed about it. But yeah, you know, I share that because it was innate, right? Like there's no way at three years old that I could have been over-analyzing. It just popped out. It wasn't premeditated. It was just, but I think it goes to like you don't know what you get if you don't ask.

Boldness As Innate And Learned

SPEAKER_00 5:01

Yeah, it's a natural embracing of real possibility without putting any limits on it, which is really hard to do, honestly, because we're so logically driven, right? Of here are the facts, here is the data, here's the potential. And geez, now we have AI and it can give us like probabilities and all these other things, right? A lot of information. We're inundated with so much output, you know, like that we can get. But being bold really is not something that very often like you get taught how to do. It's it's inside you. You can, I think, do more of it as you get maybe older and more comfortable with who you are. But I think at the heart of it, it is who you are or who you're becoming. Uh, would you agree with that? A hundred percent.

SPEAKER_02 5:42

You know, and the other little nuance I realized is in that story is, you know, at the time I didn't know I was asking for a wellness choice. Yeah. You know, I wasn't talking about what the American You had no idea. Yeah. I had no idea. I was just like, I'm a little girl. I gotta walk down this big sidewalk. Yeah, I don't like cigarettes, I don't like cigarette smoke, and you want me to do something I don't want to do, then you're gonna have to do something you don't want to do. It was as basic as that. And I mean, I've always been comfortable looking people in the eye because I'm only gonna say something that like I have a belief in. So I'm sure I did a stare down with my dad.

Creativity As A Lifelong Constant

SPEAKER_00 6:25

Give him the stare, but he did it. Yeah, I did it. Yeah, and thinking about your book ending of the bold of just you know, it's not just a one and done, too. I think it it it grows, you grow, your bold moments grow. And some of them are quiet and some of them are loud, right? Yeah, that might have been more outspoken one, and but I think there's quieter moments of bold too that that can happen. It's really embracing beyond. I really love that, and I think being natural with it, you know, and being yourself innately, you know. So very, very lovely definition. So when you think about you have your own company, uh you do multiple things within your company, and then you also help organizations from a consulting perspective, in addition to the things you do with your art. Has helping others or being an innovator or someone who can kind of be that catalyst for improvement always been in your DNA?

SPEAKER_02 7:14

I think it has, you know, I think ultimately I've always been a creator. You know, so whether I'm creating art, which I actually used to do back in my youth, you know, like I kind of, you know, in my own personal journey rediscovered that I didn't just start doing art, I actually am rekindling a passion that I had in my younger years that was put aside, just and not even consciously just put aside. You know, I've had a lifelong friend say, Well, you're my creative friend, you know, in just in raising our family, you know, in sharing gifts. Like, you know, I was given like, how'd you come up with that idea, whether it was a gift or how it was wrapped, or maybe I set the, you know, the table for a family meal? Like, how'd you come up with that? I mean, I've always just it was kind of um while I was in the throes of my career, it was my like creative outlet actually gave me some distress reliever because I was doing it out of just pure joy. And if I think about problem solving in a corporate setting, you know, my mind kind of always went to what if, what if, what if, you know, because you're always looking at, you know, whether it's more with less, or, you know, we tried A and it didn't work. We need what's option B, or you know, is if we still need to have a long-term strategy of that's the long-term strategy, what can we do short-term to get some relief? You know, that ultimately is creative problem solving. So I realized in my journey, creative been my constant. You know, how am I applying that? Is it in an artistic capacity? Is it in a gathering capacity? Is it in a problem solving capacity? You know, I've discovered, you know, and kind of isolated that creative nature has spanned all of my interests.

The Pillars Of Z'Est

SPEAKER_00 9:03

Yeah, let's talk about that. So you have really four pillars. So you have art, you have gathering, and then health and wellness, along with finding a little beauty every day. Can you kind of walk us through those pillars and the importance of them fitting into your overall brand and what you offer? So, like we start with art.

SPEAKER_02 9:22

Yeah, so and and maybe we start with a little beauty every day. Because like how I I mean, so just to say it, so a big plug to bold mastermind, like it and synthesize down my thoughts to a little beauty every day as part of working through the bold mastermind. And you know, the genesis of how my thoughts were going was because life is stressful sometimes. Sometimes a day is just crappy, you know, you just gotta call it for what it is, but you still need to go on to the next day. Like you need to take care of yourself, right? There's that mental health that if it's been tough, stressful, frustrating, you know, heartbreaking, you know, fill in whatever it was that's been the challenge, you know, you need some means to recover. And it usually starts with mental. So, you know, I was uh zeroing in on when I was having tough moments. What is it that helped me, grounded me to get back to, you know, being in a good spot? And it was art, you know, it's taking the pause. It is it's uh seeing a little beauty every day, right? It's seeing the goodness that's in front of you. Sometimes when your wheels are going so fast, you miss what's right in front of you. They miss what's right in front of you might be a touch of nature, the miss right in front of you might be a person willing and able to help you, but you have to pause long enough to take a moment to spend time with him or her, right?

SPEAKER_01 10:48

Yeah.

A Little Beauty Every Day

SPEAKER_02 10:48

You know, it can be family members, it can be a mentor. I mean, it you know, fill in the blank, that it's that's you know, pretty vast. But you know, being able to pause to see what's in front of you and appreciate it and have it help you on your journey. Like, I can't tell you how many times we all need more of that in our lives. And then manifesting that, you know, in terms of, well, what's helped me along the way? And then I realize, like, even you know, right now, I've always had a pretty calendar in front of me. I've always had a candle burning, you know, like Jane having a flower somewhere has been just part of how I do that. So, you know, channeling that into okay, well, how can I make that happen more often? You know, and that's how I got into, oh, and by the way, I love painting. Oh, by the way, I am professionally trained in calligraphy. I forgot about that. Oh, by the way, like I can have a little, you know, piece of art right in front of me that I can glance at. I can be in a stressful call and have right off into my visual, like I can just look sideways for a second and see a pretty little something, whatever's pretty little something to me, to give me that like pause, even if it's a second. You don't have to step outside of what your priorities are for the day. You can enjoy it right where you are. And so that was the genesis of you know, a little beauty every day, and then how that launches into the art aspect of it, of actually creating art so that we can enjoy it and make it super simple to have something that's just a touch of art right in front of you.

SPEAKER_00 12:22

Yeah, and you had asked a whole like you have I think over a hundred definitions potentially growing and the growing more, like you would ask people the definition of beauty. What did you learn, or what were some takeaways from asking that definition and talking to so many people?

SPEAKER_02 12:37

One of the things that was funny is how many people's first words were something along the lines of, I'm not gonna respond the way you're expecting. Because I think they were all thinking I was gonna expect a superficial response. I mean, so first of all, whatever you think is beautiful is beautiful. It is your perspective, therefore, it's meaningful for you, therefore, it is fantastic. Yeah. The number of people who started the conversation with some type of caveat is amazing. And yet the descriptions that people gave were more similar than dissimilar. You know, a reflection on nature, you know, with its grounding capabilities, relationships, and spiritual, all three of those pillars came through very, very, very often. You know, like what people do to manifest it, you know, what they do in their daily practices, what they do when they have an opportunity to influence it in a loved one, you know, those got maybe a bit more nuanced because we're all our own people, but the role that nature has in grounding us, you know, the role that spirituality has in terms of being able to see something for what it is and appreciate it. Those rang loud and clear. You know, the importance of relationships and the the heartfulness of it. It was more of a feeling.

SPEAKER_00 13:58

Oh, it's a hundred percent a feeling. There are beautiful things, like a candle or flowers or people. Like, I mean, there's certainly beautiful things that you see, but mine was like, if I remember correctly, like it was like, you know, the holding of the hand, the smell of a baby after their bath, like, you know, things like that. You know, like it was more of a feeling. Did you did you see that in the others too?

What Beauty Means To People

SPEAKER_02 14:17

Yeah, well, in relationships, right? So, you know, your family members stood out, right? Like relationships are super important. That's why I said most people's definition of beauty had heart strings to them, not as much a, I'm gonna say superficial, right? Like it might still be tangible, right? Like nature you could say is tangible, but it wasn't nature because I can touch it. It's because of the awe feeling that nature had, which was still in that spiritual, heartfelt, the world is bigger than me, life is bigger than me, kind of an impact. The smells, like when you describe, you know, like the smell of a baby, or you know, like maybe you've got a fond memory of a parent or a family meal cooking. It's not the meal, it's that togetherness, it's that aroma that puts you right back in that place that stands up.

SPEAKER_00 15:08

Yeah, that brings you to that memory. Yeah. So that really connects nicely with I think the gathering pillar that you have as well, like bringing people together, bringing concepts together, bringing organizations together. Tell us a little about what gathering means to you and how you see what you do impacting that.

SPEAKER_02 15:25

Yeah, thank you. So, you know, when I think of gathering, I think of connection, you know, in an office that might be an in-person moment, you know, and what are you doing to celebrate it? With families, it might be, you know, a celebration, you know, whether that's a birthday, whether that's a holiday, whether that's, you know, life milestone that you're celebrating. Like those are the moments that matter, right? There's a reason that phrase kind of keeps sticking and applying, is because that that is it, right? That is the coming together. So the other aspect is making it easy, meaning you can invite the person over. Don't over-engineer it. Like sometimes people think, oh, well, I don't have time to repair and get ready.

SPEAKER_00 16:05

We worry so much about does the house look okay? Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:09

Like, who cares? There was one time when, so I love cooking, I love recipes. There's a time when somebody asked me to bring an appetizer. I had limited time. I brought popcorn. Now I flavored the popcorn, but I brought popcorn. It was gone. Are you kidding me? Gone. And then she's like, and you know, I made it like, okay, so you can call it fancy popcorn, sure. But it was still, I microwaved a bag of popcorn, put butter on it, and put seasoning on it. That little appetizer took me less than 10 minutes to put together, and it was nummy and it was eaten. And when that person had to bring an appetizer at a gathering next, guess what she brought? Popcorn. Point being, like, people want to come over and want to just have fun. They don't really care, you know, on the fanciness level, on the effort level. So I love hosting. I host a lot. Sometimes it's extravagant, meaning where I plan a menu and I make things from scratch, I always cheat and buy something pre-made. And sometimes it's just easy peasy. It's popcorn is the appetizer.

Gathering Without Overthinking

SPEAKER_00 17:18

Yeah. I love that. What do you think the biggest like mistake or overthink that happens when people are having a gathering? Like we just celebrated the holidays, we kicked off the new year. You know, in that sense, like, you know, sometimes people over I know I overthink it sometimes or worry too much, you know. But like you said, you you included one thing that you didn't have to do from scratch. Is that one of the things that we need to remember?

SPEAKER_02 17:43

Oh, yeah, for sure. So I would say don't overtax yourself. Okay. So as a host or hostess, if you're stressed out, you just killed the vibe. So, like, if in prepping you're stressed, ask yourself what is it that's stressing you? And how can you take care of making that de-stressed? Well, whatever it is, like if it's too many dishes, okay, eliminate some, buy it pre-made, ask somebody if they can bring something. Like, you know, if it's music, delegate it. So with this last holidays, you know, it was pretty much just family, and we have super excited. We have two new son-in-laws. I gave my future son-in-laws an assignment. My husband's like, you're having them work at I'm like, Yeah. I mean, now mind you, I gave them like candlelighting and mixologists. Well, are you kidding? Pretty good. What can I make for you? Like, they were all into it because people like participating. So it just by handing out everyone a small little assignment, like everybody had something to do. It felt like our gathering, they were part of the gathering. Nobody wants to see a hostess doing everything stressed out.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

They all want to be a part of the action. See, I love that. I think I've I've pushed against that, I think, for the majority of my life, but I think now I'm more so into like someone says, Can I help you? I want to say yes. And I do much more often than I did before, because otherwise they're literally watching you run around doing everything, which they don't like, and you probably don't like either. And keep it light, right?

Hosting Tips

SPEAKER_02 19:12

Like, because you you still want somebody to be like, you know, so in essence. So one future son-in-law got the wine assignment, one future and son-in-law got the mixology assignment, my husband got the music assignment. Everybody got a little assignment, meaning having the assignment did not detract from them consuming their own beverage, their own dinner, their own appetizer, their own chit-chat time. Like you kept it light for everyone, but it had everybody engaged.

SPEAKER_00 19:40

Yeah. And then I think gathering too, and your last pillar is health and wellness. It doesn't have to be a dinner or something big. It can be gathering to take a walk with a friend or go look at art or sculptures or those types of things, or, you know, whatever it may be that you do, right? So when it comes to health and wellness, why is that important to you as a pillar of what you do and what you represent? Because it's you.

SPEAKER_02 20:05

Like we have to take care of ourselves, you know. So I have been a working parent my entire life, which means I always took care of everybody else before myself and recognizing that if I did that to too much of an extreme, there wasn't anything left of me. So, you know, we've all been on an airplane where they say put your oxygen mask on first before helping somebody else. That is why. Because if you don't take care of your own self, you don't have anything to give, you're not healthy and happy. So we just talked about in hosting, you know, a fun event is where the host hostess, you know, is enjoying him or herself too. Well, that's true in life. Like in order to enjoy what you're doing with whom you're doing it, you truly have to have joy in your being. Like it has to emanate from you on the inside. Well, the only way that's possible is if you're feeling okay, if you're feeling good, right, mentally and physically. So I think we all, you know, if you think about like a toddler where you're saying, well, don't eat too many sweets because you're gonna have an upset tummy. Well, it's kind of the same thing for us. Like if we don't have a balanced diet, if we don't have movement in our life, I'm big on water. I love lemon water. You know, like I can't tell you how many January articles I've read about how good lemon water is for you. I'm like, well, good thing it's already in my little repertoire because I like it. But I like, I feel good after it, right? Like there's sometimes when you do an activity or consume something that you're like, oh, I need a recovery from that. Yeah. There's other things where you don't because it energizes you. So, you know, the reason wellness is so important is because it is if ultimately it's to have joy in your life, you have to be healthy enough to experience that joy.

SPEAKER_00 21:50

Yeah. And you're also modeling it, like for your family. And and we're talking about eating right now, but it could be just in general your habits or how you approach time or you know, being on your phone versus having That conversation. And I think that's what people are longing for. Like people are longing for a connection, and you can do it through health and wellness, you can do it through gathering, like for an event, you can do it through art. One of the things that you do, which I absolutely love and have been present for, really is your brush strokes workshop that you do. Can you just give a sense of like what that is and then what you see happen in the room when you have people together for 60 minutes?

Brushstrokes: Where Art Meets Strategy

SPEAKER_02 22:28

Yeah. So a little bit the setting, you know, the setting could be any group of people gathering for a purpose, right? So a logical purpose would be like a leadership team, you know, kicking off a year or working on a strategy, whether it's an annual occurrence or it's, you know, there's a big project that's launched and leaders are gathering to kind of strategize together and launch it. Like think of that kind of a setting. Well, brush strokes is where within the group that's working on something together, you pause and you paint. So loved being able to do it with a group of women at bold retreat. And it was really amazing. So, you know, in prep, I had pre-drawn for each person, hand-drawn a design on watercolor paper, had a station set up so that the participant could sit down at the station and do the fun part of creating. You know, the whole point is it's whatever they like, it's whatever colors they like. Watercolor is meant to bleed. It's not meant to be this precise thing. It is about coloring outside of the lines. Therefore, who cares, right? Like using the colors that are most appealing to that individual is what's beautiful to that person, which is the point. I had drawn everyone's basically the same. The starting point, the same paper, the same image, the same set of paints. No two images were alike. They were all beautiful. Oh, look what she did. Look what that person did. Look how that one turned out. And I'd also left a blank space since it was a strategy session, and had encouraged that if there was a phrase or a word that was part of the strategy work that they were doing, for them to write that on it. So that when they were back at home, back at their desk, back in their workspace, back in whatever space they chose to display their artwork, that there was a visual reminder that took them right back to that day. It's a safe space where they were supported. It's the place that they were doing strategy work for their personal goals. It's a place that had beauty all around them, physically, relationship, emotionally, right? So we all know that scent that takes you right back to a childhood moment, that visual cue that takes you back to a moment. That then at their place they chose to display their artwork would be an instant take them right back to that strategy session, grounded in their strategies, grounded in that support, grounded in the purpose that they're working on at a blink of an eye, any moment they needed it. So that's brush strokes. It is absolutely that intersection of art and strategy that can be applied anywhere.

SPEAKER_00 25:21

Yeah. So you you can use it anywhere, your team can use it, you can use it as an inspirational thing, a motivational, or even like you were just talking, you know, as a way to bring people together around a concept, but now that everyone approaches it differently. It definitely has leadership applicability. Like for me, it'd be great if you're, you know, I think of college and I think of new teams, and I think of like, you know, where are their new moments, like of orientation, I guess. And in my head, it was just also an equaling of the playing field, so to speak, of like, we're we're all learning to paint, or we're all starting with the same template, but we're gonna approach it differently and still end up with a beautiful art piece, but taking different steps to get there.

SPEAKER_02 26:03

And so cool when they were different for them to be showing one another and appreciating one another's for their differences. Don't we need more of that in this world? So, you know, in this particular time I was physically in the room, but you know, it can also just as easily work virtually. And I do all the drawings by hand, like I'm just personally drawing them, which means it can be anything. You know, it can be words that you, you know, it can be a lettering exercise. So, you know, really what the content of that is painted is, you know, because I'm hand drawing them, it can be literally whatever makes sense. And it's really easy for me just to come up that creativity part that can be used for whatever the spirit of the strategy session is.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

Yeah. So I love that. So want to learn more about Jane, the things that she can offer your organization, um, your groups, your memberships, those types of things, please do check out all the information in the notes. The other thing that you have is your collections, your art collections that you turn into cards and other things coming this year. But tell us a little about how do you come up with what collection's gonna be next or the creative side of it? Like, is it something that inspires you? Is it somewhere you've gone? Like, how do you capture what's gonna be in a collection?

Inspiration Behind the Card Collections

SPEAKER_02 27:16

Great question. So, one in my my first collection is a nature collection, and one of the cards that's in there is a purple lilac with a yellow butterfly. Very simple. I was on a walk, and you know, the lilacs were in bloom, and just as I was walking by, a yellow butterfly landed on the top of the and that's a little bit of beauty right there. Yeah, and so so the point was first of all, that you know, stop and smell the roses. Like I noticed the lilacs, but it wasn't until I paused to say, oh, they're in bloom, look it, that I noticed the yellow butterfly flying around it. If I had, and I was okay, wellness, I was out on a walk. If I had just kept on, you know, kind of in a power walk mode, I still would have noticed the lilac. I would have missed the yellow butterfly. So, you know, that one is like, what is it that's in front of me? You know, one that I'm currently working on in painting that's going to be in a collection to be released. As you're kicking off 26, you know, what are the 26 things I'm looking forward to in 2026? And some people include like a book list. You know, I I love a stack of books. Like, what are you reading lately? What would you recommend to a friend? You know, or people say, I'm looking for a book that would transport me back to, you know, whether it's the bold leader book, whether it's a favorite historical novel, whether it's a gratitude journal, right? Like the the breadth of what the book might be can cover lots of genres. So I'm currently working on painting a card, you know, that is on the topics of books that people love to read. You know, so it's it's what it literally is what's right in front of us, whether it's the beautiful lilac that was in bloom that I happen to see, whether it's the book recommendations of people that I, you know, respect and appreciate. It's literally what is around me that I'm experiencing. That a little beauty every day, see the beauty that's in front of you. So I'm painting the beauty that's in front of me and just trying to make sure that I look at it from different perspectives.

SPEAKER_00 29:20

Yeah, I love that. So really it's almost like an exploration in your own adventures, your kind of your daily life. It doesn't have to be something super fancy, just like I think just when someone says art, art has so many levels of you know, one ability, as well as what art could mean or could be. And so I love that you're really inspired by your life, like what's happening right now, what's in front of me. It may be, you know, it may be a bird, it may be a plant, it may be books and just excitement about the new year. So excited about that. Your collections and those are coming out. You also have a membership and you have a subscription so you can actually get cards all year long and not have to run to the store, which I love that part.

SPEAKER_02 30:01

Yeah, so for on Zest, you know, the ideas certainly want to make it meaningful. So, you know, they are sold in collections. I want you to have a variety so that when you need a card, you can just, oh, I can just turn to the collection and I can find something that I need. It's already there. And so if you're thinking, oh, you know, sometimes it's you do want to send a card to somebody, it's like, oh, I don't have the extra time to run out to sort of get one. Well, you can very easily, you know, buy a collection and you'll find multiple choices to be able to use and/or sign up for a subscription. You know, so if you sign up for a subscription, then each quarter I'm dropping you a collection where you know no collection is the same. And I've been using it for myself. Whatever a card needs, I have. So if Jane needs to send a card, can I do it from my own collections and not have to buy a card? So I launched my first collection in September of 2025. So far, I have been able, whatever life is thrown at me, I have been able to, you know, fulfill my own send a card to somebody by just fulfilling it from the collection. There's enough variety in there, and most of them are blank on the inside, you know, so that you can tailor it to whatever your needs are.

SPEAKER_00 31:17

Yeah, I love that. And I think, in the sense, too, it's also like they're they're limited edition. So these aren't things that are going to come out again, or you'll find anywhere else, and you do them in small batches. I love the care and intentionality to even how you receive the package. They say you write the book that you're supposed to read. I think like you make the cards that we all need.

SPEAKER_02 31:37

Yeah. Thank you.

The Care In A Handwritten Card

SPEAKER_00 31:39

Yeah, absolutely. Like you've already thought about it, right? So I don't need to think about it. You know, I think we'll end with this because I think it's something that I've seen. I've seen a lot of articles, I've seen a lot about the art of it. But actually, writing a card to someone, it doesn't mean it has to be pages and pages and pages, but just handwriting something to someone, even if it's just two or three sentences, means so much. Why do you think there's so much more meaning behind that? I mean, there's the logical part to it. But what do you think is special about getting when you get one or when you send one, a handwritten card? Well, care is what comes to mind.

SPEAKER_02 32:11

So if you think about our everyday lives, and if you're on your device and you're clicking, you don't even have to type responses now. I don't know about you, but on my phone, like the thank you, like you can just literally click the word thank you. Mind you, in the right setting, I love technology, I promote technology, you know, like that is not it. Yeah, but when you're talking about a relationship, I don't know that autopilot is always the best means to facilitate a relationship. And so that I'm gonna go back to that word care. If what you want to express, like if you're sending a card to someone, it's probably because you care about them, whether that is professionally or a personal close relationship, right? Because you couldn't be on autopilot, just by writing a card, like when I receive one, I'm like, oh my gosh, that means they took time out to write it themselves and then drop it in the mail. Like there's inherently more thought in doing it, which is felt by both the giver and the receiver. And then they've got the card. Do you put them on your fridge? Do you put them on your desk? You know, so the Zest cards are all based on original art. There's nothing digital about them. You could frame them, the person could keep it on their desk. You know, if you've got a mantle on your fireplace where you like to put cards, like they're designed such that they could be referenced, and that person can be reminded of the care that you have for him or her.

Connection, Community, And Presence

SPEAKER_00 33:44

Yeah, I love that. I like visualized it when you said it. You you had said something to the effect of, you know, the things that you had created, the art that you created was going out into hundreds and thousands of people because you sold out your holiday collection. Congrats on that. That's incredible. But I love the just the visualization of your beauty, the beauty that you created, like getting into hundreds and hundreds of hands. Is this something I think that also goes along with you know your overall brand of being present and gathering together because community is what we're really innately made to do, be together, not be by ourselves and tackling everything on our own. And recognizing community can be virtual now.

SPEAKER_02 34:26

Like when I see people reaching out, where they're people that I used to physically live near and don't anymore. Right. I still care about them. Like they've been a part of my journey, like we became friends for a reason because they're incredible people. So the fact that this gives a way to connect without physically being near one another, but still feels special, you know, more than just an electronic connection, I think is fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 34:54

Yeah. And I love just all of your offerings kind of hit on different tones or ways that you could, you know, see a little bit of beauty or be part of it or give it to someone else. Like that's just all the different levels.

SPEAKER_02 35:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:07

When you think about your bold move to get to this point, I mean, you've made a lot of bold moves, you've invested in yourself, you've taken the time to learn or do certain things that you didn't know before. Because you've never done this. You've been an artist before, but I mean you never did it at this level or sold it. What's your advice for someone who's like, oh, that just seems too big or too hard, and I'm just not sure if I can do it? What would be your advice?

Just Begin: Start Small And Ask

SPEAKER_02 35:29

Try something. I didn't start with all of this. I started because I painted one tree. And I remember I didn't even print it. I just painted one tree. And I took a picture of it on my phone and I showed it to people. Well, it was before I even had launched Zest, but they're like, You painted that? And I'm like, Yeah. They're like, Well, are you gonna print it? I'd buy it if you printed it. Like, that's how the You heard that a lot. Started. I didn't say, Do you want the card? I just said, I painted something. Can I show it to you? And that's how it started. I would just say, start, start with like whatever your first thought is, try it. Just start with that. You don't have to have it all fleshed out. Right. I didn't start with it. I didn't start with the name. I didn't start with a little beauty every day. Like that I figured out after when I said, Oh, there's something here for me to leverage. It started because I just sat down and I would I was trying, I'm like, you know, I used to love art. Maybe I should try try painting something. And I tried it.

SPEAKER_00 36:37

That's how it started. I love that. Just begin. And I think, you know, you don't get what you don't ask for, is kind of where you started with your definition and kind of being bold in some of the moments that you don't really even realize you're being bold. You're really just being innately you. That's a good thing. So thank you so much for being on the bold lounge. All the information about Jane, her membership, her collection, getting her to your brush strokes workshop that you might want to have are in the notes, along with her socials. Uh, please follow her on LinkedIn, Instagram, and all the other wonderful places she is located. Thanks again, Jane. Have a wonderful year, and thank you for being part of it.

SPEAKER_02 37:12

Thank you. Bye for now.

SPEAKER_00 37:17

Thank you for listening to the Bold Lounge Podcast. Through the continuum of bold stories, vulnerability to taking the leap, you will meet more extraordinary people making a positive impact for others through their unique and important story. By highlighting these stories, we hope to inspire others and share the journey of those with a bold mindset. We hope you've enjoyed this podcast and look forward to sharing the next bold journey with you.