How to Reinvent Yourself Creatively (Without Burning Out)

In this episode of MINDBODY Method, I sit down with one of my oldest friends — art director and creative force Stephanie Jones — for a real conversation about evolving identity, creative careers, and what it actually means to come home to yourself.

Steph and I go way back to New York, but her story starts in a small  town outside St. Louis. From there, she built a career in New York publishing, navigating the gig economy long before it was trendy — contract work, major brands, digital, print, constant reinvention.

We talk about what an art director actually does (hint: it’s way more than “making things look pretty”). Steph breaks down how she shapes visual identity, translates story and copy into design, and balances creative vision with corporate deadlines.

We get into:

• Being “born creative” in a practical world
• Family expectations vs artistic calling
• Perfectionism and burnout in creative careers
• How deadlines shape art
• The reality of freelance and contract-based creative work

And in this season of her life? We talk about what it meand to pivot at this point.

This is a conversation about creative identity, career transitions, burnout, reinvention, and giving yourself permission to evolve.

If you’re navigating a creative career, thinking about a pivot, or wondering how to build a life that actually feels aligned — this one’s for you.

For more about Stephanie, go to SeeJones.com

Write to me at: Questions@MindBodyMethodPodcast.com

You can follow me at @JoshGrimm_FITNUT

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome to Mind Body Method, the podcast where health and fitness go beyond the weights and the workouts. I'm your host, Josh Grimm, and every week we'll dive into what it truly means to build strength, not just in your body, but in your mind and your life. From movement with purpose to building a resilient mindset, this podcast is about empowering you to thrive in every aspect of your life, inside and outside of the gym. So let's get started. What if becoming who you're meant to be requires letting go of who you thought you had to be? Today's talk is about discovery, the kind that doesn't happen in a single breakthrough moment, but in quiet pivots, bold decisions, reinventions, and the courage to trust yourself when the path isn't necessarily obvious. We're talking about a sort of evolution, about creative shifts, about building a life that feels aligned instead of necessarily impressive to the outside world. What it means to change cities, change careers, change identities, and still stay rooted in who you are. Because discovery isn't about starting over. It's about coming home to yourself in a much deeper way. And sometimes the strongest thing you can do is to give yourself permission to evolve. Welcome back to the Mind Body Method. Hi, and welcome back to the Mind Body Method podcast. And I am your host, Josh Grimm. My guest today is one of my closest friends and has been for over a decade. She is a powerhouse creative. She has been an art director for some of the biggest names in publishing. She has an impeccable eye for design and can turn anything into more beautiful and more precise. She has been by my side for a very long time, helping me make better decisions and sometimes not so good ones. Um please welcome my very, very strong, wonderful, beautiful friend, Stephanie Jones.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Thank you, Josh. It was such a nice intro. Right? You like it? Yeah, I was I'm impressed.

SPEAKER_00 2:04

Do we have to redo it?

SPEAKER_01 2:05

No. Oh, it's good. Yeah, I like it. Yeah. Bravo. Thanks for being here. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

So let's introduce you a little bit and kind of talk a little bit about who you are, where you're from, and just say hi.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Hi. Um, I am originally from a very small town north of St. Louis. Um, a very artsy town, which I think influenced me from a very young age to go into the creatives. And to be honest, I honestly think it's you're born to be a creative. Like it's in your head, it's in it's in the way you think, the way you see the world. Um I'm happy to be one. I don't know how anyone else exists. Um and then I moved to New York um after college and got into publishing not quickly, um, probably about 10 years after, and um started at L magazine and then have been in um other publications since. I worked at a magazine by the name of DeJore, um, worked at Yahoo when it was a media company, and also um did a stunt at The Four Seasons and ran their magazine. And now I've gone, I've worked for Forbes, I've worked for LA Times, um, InStyle.

SPEAKER_00 3:10

That's crazy. Yeah. That's a thing. When you list it, when you list it like that, it's insane.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

Yeah. Um, I've been very lucky, you know, but it's also a hustle. Like being a creative is definitely um, you know, not for the faint of heart.

SPEAKER_00 3:21

So uh being like who you are, um, is it more freelance work or is it that you are someone that is um working for these companies or for these magazines and things like that? What is what is the job?

SPEAKER_01 3:35

So now it's become a gig economy. It's not, you know, you sign up for a job and you get to keep it for, you know, 50 years or even like let's say five. It seems like the jobs have become shorter or quicker. Uh there's more chaos in corporations, um, and the creative is always the one to be affected. And so I've found myself in doing these little sort of, you know, contracts that have added up to having been able to touch a lot of different major companies, which has been nice for my portfolio and also my experience, just based off of, you know, I have a portfolio that has a lot of major names. Um, you know, I am moving myself towards more of an in-house position. Um, with that being said, I've really enjoyed working for different companies because it sort of broadens your high horizons and also just allows you to like, you know, see the world from a different, you know, perspective.

SPEAKER_00 4:23

You worked at you worked at some pretty big names at the beginning of your career, right?

SPEAKER_01 4:28

I mean, was that always kind of like a goal or did did it kind of fall into your lap or how Yeah, a friend of mine had a job at L, um, Annie Ladina, she was a great stylist, is a great stylist, and uh she got me at my foot in the door and sort of um I come from a design background, but it was always art first. And so I went right into digital design when it was like old web. And so I got to really uh hone my craft at that job because it was like 2010. So I would work on these like little posters for a week, and then they would be posted for, you know, let's say another week, and then they would go away, which was kind of weird just based off of the fact that you wanted to keep them. So I started like a tumbler and was like holding on to all my little posters. And you know, if I couldn't figure something out, I would go to YouTube and really try to figure out how to do it. Like, how do I make a style of war haul? And then I have I was handed a bucket bucket of assets that were so beautiful. So I would have like runways and like, you know, professionally shot images, and I had and it was a palette for me, and I got to slice and dice and like put them back together and create something new from them. And so it was really like it was such a like special time. And then from there, I kind of was thrown into like print publication. So I kind of went backwards a little bit, and that was also great. It's just that like you have more time with it, you refine it further, and it has to be bigger. And so it's there's like some limitations there. So I've kind of spent my career like straddling this line from digital to print, digital to print. And you know, even now I still work at a print publication. I, you know, I do digital as well. Digital never will go away, let's be honest.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

So well, so you said that you know, you were born a creative. I mean, what does that what does that feel like when you're growing up and trying to make a decision about like what you want to do with your career?

SPEAKER_01 6:08

Is it like well, I came from a family of bankers. So it was um, you know, to this day, I think my father's trying to push me into real estate.

SPEAKER_00 6:17

So yeah. Mr. Jones.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

Yeah, I know, right? And so, you know, it's never been like the it's never a straight path, you know. And so it's difficult. My I had an uncle that was a painter, um, a brilliant painter. And so I kind of always like look to him as a as a uh guiding light. Um, he's long passed away, he's my great uncle. But, you know, I think it's hard to describe your creative path to anybody that doesn't really fully understand it, mostly because, you know, those guys are usually into making money, and creatives are like, we're doing this for the art the sake of art, and the better I make it, the more hours I spend. Um, you know, or maybe less, depending. Like that's the other thing about creative. It's either you are um you find an idea very quickly and you can execute execute it because it's like a fast, easy hit, or it could take you a long time.

SPEAKER_00 7:05

Do you ever find yourself having to defend being a creative to the finance bros and to anyone else that you're meeting? I mean, it's I'm sure it's hard for people to understand. I mean, I think I've you and I have been friends for oh my gosh, I don't know how long, I don't know how many years, but you you've had to explain your career to me many times because sometimes I just don't understand.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

Yeah. I mean, I I do think everyone has, you know, I think it's a spectrum, right? It's not just like, you know, you you are an I'm, you know, you're not an I am. It's more of like there's a spectrum of where that is. And I'm obviously not, you know, the best creative that there's ever lived, but I do think that there is this line that um is difficult to navigate when you when you try to understand how we see the world, right? And so, you know, I see the world, I think, you know, in a in an array of colors, whereas like maybe my dad or somebody in more of like the finance space sees it in black and white, and it's very cold and sad in my opinion. But, you know, like he like, you know, he's just very like um uh what's the word? Um matter of fact, practical is what he always tells me. Yeah, say I'm practical and I'm like I'm not.

SPEAKER_00 8:16

I mean you have you have tidbits of it though.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

Sure, yeah. You know, I'm I'm I think I'm supposed to put more money into my bank account than I am supposed to take it out. So I do keep that in mind.

SPEAKER_00 8:26

It grows on trees though, no?

SPEAKER_01 8:27

I think yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00 8:29

Oh, money tree right there. I love it. You moved to New York when? What was your your first year here? 2001. Okay. And you and I met when? In 2000 and I'm so bad with timelines. I I'm terrible.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

But well, I had already gone to LA and came back. Right. So that was my second trip back to or my second move to New York. And so I moved back in 09. Yeah, it's not a good thing. And I so I think we I think we met in 09.

SPEAKER_00 8:54

Yeah, we met as bartending. We bartended. We bartended at nightclub for many, well, I was there for many, many years. Yeah. And um, we sat together um swinging drinks. But but no, we I met you because we were in like um initiation or oh yes, whatever it's called. Yeah, and we sat in this room together, and you were and we were inseparable that summer. Remember? We were like biking around the city in the rain, yes, everything was great.

SPEAKER_01 9:20

We were like 12-year-olds, like with bikes.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

Yeah, it was perfect.

SPEAKER_01 9:23

Yeah, it was a great welcome back to the city. And the the only reason I can look back to that job and say that's why it happened.

SPEAKER_00 9:30

Yeah. So why did you start to kind of go back and forth between LA and New York? Because you went to LA for work at some point.

SPEAKER_01 9:39

Well, no, I've always kind of had a fascination with LA, to be fair. Um, I think as a Midwesterner, especially because where I'm from, a lot of people don't understand New York, which I always kind of scratch my head with because I think New York is the greatest city in the United States, you know, like hands down. And however, I do think that New York gets a little it gets harder the older you get. Like that's just the way it is. And so the Midwesterners always go west. And so there's always been like even when you really oh my god, yeah. Like my uncle's out there, my cousin, my cousin, my brother went to Seattle, right? You know, and so there's always been like even if I think of California when I was growing up, it was like the font, California, the sunset, you know? And you're like, California is the answer to everything. And then you get out there and it's like you, it's like like you're I don't know, in my opinion, it's strip malls. Yeah, no, just that's like not an LA dude, but yeah, it's not sad. It's just like there's you know, like you have to create the energy there. Whereas New York, you can kind of just sit there and it kind of comes to you.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

Oh, so that kind of brings me into a little segue here, which I wasn't gonna talk about yet, but you have a little um alter ego. Not I don't think it's self-pre. I mean it's like kind of self-pre. I mean, we all we all buy into it. We all want to uh me, me and Miss Jones.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

Yes, exactly. Me and Miss Jones.

SPEAKER_00 10:54

What is Miss me and Miss Jones?

SPEAKER_01 10:56

Well, I guess it was like years ago when I was like trying to come up with like my Gmail handle. Like my name's Stephanie Jones. So it's like there's many of us. I've lost a lot of laundry and dry cleaning because Stephanie Jones, another Stephanie Jones has taken it away. Um, so I was like, well, when I go out at night, I always was, you know, because we were night owls. Yes. I would always have trouble like kind of remembering what happened, which is not really probably the best, you know, you know, case of in the 20s. I was young, yeah. Yeah. And then so I would be like, I would meet people the next day that I hadn't met previously, and I was like, oh yes, you must have met Miss Jones. I don't know. I have no idea. And so it became like me is me, and then Miss Jones is, you know, her.

SPEAKER_00 11:40

I mean, basically you're sitting here um in jeans and a sweatshirt. This is this is this is me. Yeah, this is a good one. And Miss Jones looks amazing.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

I've never met her, really.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

Yeah, we all have. Your experience in LA, what made you decide that you wanted to come back to New York a little bit and like kind of dip your toes back into the city?

SPEAKER_01 12:00

I think a big part of it was that the creative for me is out here. I'm not in sort of the movie business. I'm in publishing. Publishing, the Mecca is New York City for publishing. There's definitely, you know, publishing out there, but it's more movie business, and I've been in more of like the fashion sort of lifestyle. Um, that was a lot of it. But the other part was uh I had an apartment that came due. And so uh you can't lose your apartment in New York. I mean, you work so hard or you chip away if that's done. Exactly. You know, so it's like so important to me.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

What does an art director actually do? Like if for the layman that doesn't really understand, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:35

Um we take a lot of times, either we're brought in before assets are creative, and then we put a vision behind uh a production that might be happening, right? And then we either see that production through, depending on the creative director. Creative director, you're a lot of times I'll have a creative director who kind of oversees like a whole like uh more of the the creative process in total. And then once those assets are created, we're handed them uh a bucket of assets, which I like to call, and we deal with copy. So it's a big funnel. So it's like you're dealing with copy, you're trying to understand the story, and you're also trying to understand the vision of that story. And then it all comes through you on the output. And so it's like I have to put it together. I have to like really think it through. It's not just, oh, you just throw it on a page. A lot of times I'm really trying to understand what the editor wants to say or what it, you know, the story is supposed to say, and what's the quickest, fastest way to get to that execution.

SPEAKER_00 13:29

Are you super over analytical about your work as far as like when you're when you're submitting a design or your your projects and things like that?

SPEAKER_01 13:37

Uh I wouldn't say analytical, or I'm not sure what you mean by that.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

I guess are you um very overly critiquing your own work or are you Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:46

I mean, if it doesn't get through me, it doesn't, you know, make the cut kind of thing. It's like for me, it's like if it's not where I need it to be, I won't submit it. And so, you know, it's like the most important thing when I think of design, it's like at the end of the day, if my name is on it, then it's like it has to be at a level that I'm approving of. And so it's weird because I to me it's like I can design very quickly and very fast, and it's like, okay, fine, shoot it out the door. But if it's something that has like uh an art feel behind it, like I go into a space that's like very different. And so I mean it's hard to define. I imagine anybody else that does sort of what I do can come to that. And it's also like depending on what I'm doing, it's like layout is one thing, you know, asset creation is another, illustration is another. So there's different pockets that you can kind of go into.

SPEAKER_00 14:32

I kind of think as like as a person who's actually like, let's say if I'm opening up a public uh magazine and I see uh it's a fashion magazine, or I'm opening up a a car magazine or a magazine for hotels because you worked for the four four seasons. You know, for us as the reader, we're looking at those magazines because of the actual um the the topic of the magazine or whatever the magazine is for. Like I want to look at a car magazine, I want to look at a at a hotel magazine, but you're designing, you can design for anything, right? So you don't really see it as you you see it as the actual art itself.

SPEAKER_01 15:07

You're seeing it as actually just Well, I think that if you it's like principles of design, right? So principles of design, I think, can go in any sort of context. So it's not you know, if you don't have experience per se in cars or experience in travel, but you know kerning letting and sort of hierarchy.

SPEAKER_00 15:24

I guess that's what I'm saying. It doesn't matter to you. Like your mind doesn't, you don't see differently, right?

SPEAKER_01 15:27

No, it's like I'm just looking for, you know, the best assets in order to create the page, or I'm looking for, you know, what is the what it like what is the answer to this uh creative problem.

SPEAKER_00 15:41

Right. Did you, whenever you were younger, um, were there things that you did to prepare yourself, you think, for being this creative with design? I mean, was it like art school, art classes? Like what did you do?

SPEAKER_01 15:51

Yeah, I it's I had this teacher, I w so I went to a very small school, and I had a teacher, his name was Mr. Barnes, and he studied I studied with him from kindergarten through high school. Like it was the only art teacher. But I he was br I loved him. He was brilliant, and he was my favorite teacher, of course, because it was my favorite subject. And so that I think was like a great foundation, also coming from this very like artsy town in the middle of nowhere. And so I think anytime you're a kid and you're in the middle of nowhere, you go to an imagination and you're not sort of like, you know, sitting in front of a television all the time, like I'm running through a field and like, you know, and sort of you know, playing with you know, grass and that and like looking at the trees and finding faces in the in the branches. Like I remember doing that for hours when I was a kid. And so I think that that definitely prepared me. And then I went to school um for design, fine arts. Uh and then when I came to New York, you know, it was sort of, I mean, a different experience, and you're just sort of bombarded with you know inspiration everywhere. And so all of that I think adds up to like where I am now.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

Are you do you ever get presented a project um or a a job where you're like, I just have no idea what to do with this, or is it some more difficult than others?

SPEAKER_01 16:59

Or yeah, I mean, right now I'm like dealing more in video. I haven't really dealt with video, especially just sort of like um shooting and then also taking it and cutting it and putting it back together. Um, I've done it for myself, but haven't, you know, had like a company being like, and when will you have this ready for me? And I'm like, let me work on that. So, you know, I think that you know, video is a different beast. I've done a lot of photoshopping and imagery and layout, but um, as we get in further and further and further into the digital space, um, video is so important.

SPEAKER_00 17:31

But also like being a creative kind of um parallels with a word in my head freedom. I'm not saying it because I'm not a freaking I'm not a creative, but you know, as being a person that is a creative, like you have the freedom to kind of work at your own pace because you can't force a creative to just like work on a timeline sometimes, right? Because the the process has to evolve. That's where I think, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:52

Well, I will say two things. One, I think you are a creative. Um, you know, I think that like what you do is very creative. It's not um, you know, it's not an Excel spreadsheet. Um, and like I said, I think that there's people that have Excel spreadsheets that also paint on the side. I think everyone is capable of creativity. Um, and then I think that the forcing of the deadline is where you get art goes into corporate. And when art goes into corporate, it almost, I don't want to say it ceases to become art, but there's a lot of hands involved. And so when that happens, you know, you're forced to deliver. Um, you know, you as a person who's working in that space getting paid for that, you want it to get to the point where it's the best possible case based off that timeline. So a lot of times you are leading up to a timeline and you're hoping that that timeline's gonna come and go because there will be changes up to that point, because that's just sort of like what people do.

SPEAKER_00 18:43

Do you have some favorite work that you produced that like sticks in the front of your mind?

SPEAKER_01 18:47

I've had illustrations I've done because I think that that is where I can kind of merge or blend this sort of line between getting paid for something and also really, you know, going into more of the fine arts where I can paint in Photoshop. It's not just uh, you know, layout and you know, like what's the word count, like that sort of thing. Like you really can get in in it and like tweak it to the point where it feels like you know you're in a studio.

SPEAKER_00 19:14

Do you ever feel because I know you so much since I know you so personally, and I know you're always working, you're always on your computer, you're always designing. What is your burnout like? What is your where's where is the uh level the level of burnout?

SPEAKER_01 19:31

Um let's see, right now, ah man. I think at some point you just have to keep going. I was an athlete in college, and it's like, you know, when you're at the, you know, I ran the 400 and when you hit the 300, you know that you have a hundred left, but that's still a what, a fourth of the race. Um you just have you you when you burn out, you have hopefully submitted. And if you haven't, you will kill yourself until you do. And it's, you know, I don't want to say it's shit, but it is absolutely that.

SPEAKER_00 20:00

I mean, your work ethic is so strong and you do, you work, you work to the bone, which I love and admire so much. And um, I think that you and I probably have always kind of aligned ourselves a little bit because of our personalities that way. Um do you ever think that you wish that you would have had just like a not a nine to five, but a different path as far as I don't know what you're doing. Is there is there is there like a is there a world as a creative where it could have been a little bit maybe easier?

SPEAKER_01 20:27

Yeah, I mean I think that you know someone said once that like you're allowed to be a creative because usually you have like a f it's not necessarily a finance back backing so much, because I don't necessarily have that. You know, I work, you know, I was caught off very young, like or whatever you want to call it. But there is a team of people behind you that like hopefully if you do fall, you will be caught. And I think that when you're in the creative space, you know, it's like a real thing. Like you're not just sort of like putting one foot in front of the other, you know, like I've submitted briefs or whatever and been fired over because it's like I didn't get it right the first time, and you're like, we can pivot here. And so it's like, you know, other people don't trust you until you've like proved yourself, and proving yourself takes a long time. Like, you know, I think when people can't see a vision that you're explaining to them because they're not capable of seeing visions, then it's very difficult to sort of like tell somebody, I got this, until you've worked with them for a long time.

SPEAKER_00 21:27

Do you have any kind of like kind of um rituals that you do to keep yourself grounded or you know, on track with your projects?

SPEAKER_01 21:36

Or what is your kind of I th well in LA I was work I was doing a lot of fine arts, which actually was like really great because I wasn't as you know, New York has anytime I come to New York, they hand me all sorts of work, which is great. But in LA, when I was out there, I was like, Oh my gosh, look at all this free time I have, you know. And so I always go to, you know, fitness because I, you know, I come from, you know, was very athletic in my younger years. Um and the The other thing is that I was doing fine arts, so I did welding in LA, which is so funny. You did the welding process here. It was so fun. And then uh I also did sculpting when I was in LA.

SPEAKER_00 22:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:10

I tried to do painting here when I was in New York uh one summer. It's not for me. I prefer like three-dimensional.

SPEAKER_00 22:18

Right. Yeah. So do you ever kind of practice any meditations or work like that? You're not that's not you.

SPEAKER_01 22:25

No, I do do yoga. And I feel like I feel like that is like a a form of that.

SPEAKER_00 22:29

Did you do Pilates too?

SPEAKER_01 22:30

No.

SPEAKER_00 22:30

No.

SPEAKER_01 22:31

No, hot yoga is usually where I find like I haven't really found much like love of Pilates.

SPEAKER_00 22:36

What is your fitness routine? I mean, because you're in shape. You you always look so so fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 22:40

What is your you know, I it's it's very all over the place. It's like what appears. So, you know, I do play pickleball when I'm in LA. I love that. Right. Even though um, you know, I do hot yoga, I would hike in LA. Here it's I find it more difficult because I work to like work more and the the weather is never, you know, what you want it to be. So I have some weights at the house, I do that kind of stuff. But in terms of like, you know, I'm lucky because I reap what I sow. And, you know, I worked out, you know, every day for most of my life up until I was 23 and like at a high level, you know. So I feel like I've got a lot of that still. And so anytime I go back, it's like very quick for me to like get back in shape.

SPEAKER_00 23:23

Whenever you have um some demanding um deadlines or things like that, does your fitness kind of fall to the backburner?

SPEAKER_01 23:32

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Um, it's funny because I get really it's you know, nobody wants to hear this, but I will get thin when I when I stop working out because I just sort of like, you know, I get by, I graze, you know, I I start to lose muscle mass, you know, start to waf out. You know, it's not the worst thing, but like you know, for a female, you know. Right, of course. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:52

Whenever you have all the all these um work demands coming out at you from your clients and people who are, you know, wanting the project to be done, how do you keep your creativity kind of you know untouched, right? Without having the pressure.

SPEAKER_01 24:05

I you know, I I make a list and I write it like I have to handwrite it or it does not get done. And I like to scratch it out. I'm like old school in that regard. Um, and then I think when you're in it, you are so like right now I'm in it. I'm I have a list on top of a list that I have to get through. And I do think when you have your head in that space, it's quicker to execute than when you're like kind of coming in like a little cold because it is a muscle. Like you can like, you know, you bring it back to life. And so it always takes me a minute to lay out the first page of a magazine, but like by the time it's over, I'm like boom.

SPEAKER_00 24:39

Right. So what what would be kind of maybe a dream project or something to work on for you?

SPEAKER_01 24:45

I've been watching a lot of movies because I've been going out to LA and um, and so part of me thinks that like you know, especially now because I'm gotten into video, but that's feels far out for me. But I am kind of getting bored of like 2D. And so to me, is I don't think video is 3D, but but you know, motion, I think, would like, and even like, you know, diving more into that, sort of like learning that. I'm not saying it would be around the corner, but like sort of like Yeah, that seems like that would be kind of like a new craft, right? Totally, totally. And it's like, you know, I've been studying um film basically. I want to say for the last like, you know, I say that very low. I've been watching a lot of movies, you know.

SPEAKER_00 25:26

Right. And so, you know, and not just like I mean as a creative, you could say you're studying it because you're putting it in your mind for like the future.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

Yeah, but you see, you know, you see how a film is made and sort of like the nuance of it, and also like a storytelling to like like an another level. I think as a new like that's one of the things I really admire about LA, that the creatives in LA are so into what they do, you know, and it's such a creative town. And I almost feel like it's you know, if you're not in that space, you don't see it as much as if when you were like smack dab in the middle. And I really appreciate that um that form. And you know, I would like to get more into that. You know, I don't know if it's possible, but even if it's just sort of like picking up a new tool, like editing, you know, small footage, you know, that I put on social media or whatever that is, I do think that it's like super fun.

SPEAKER_00 26:18

I I ask this to all the people that are like kind of entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs like adjacent. Have people reached out to you for mentorship at all?

SPEAKER_01 26:28

I mean, do you kind of have people that you mentor and I've always had like like an intern and I've had like you know, junior people under me. I was very lucky in the sense that I basically was hired as a designer and went to an art director within like two months. I also started kind of late in life, but I think that I say that like I didn't start right after college. I got into bartending first and then eventually found it my way back. And so, you know, I became an art director very quickly in terms of like a timeline, but I've always had somebody underneath me. Um so I would say that those guys would be my mentees, is that the right word? But it's more about a conversation with people that are in the same industry and just sort of like encouraging them to like dig a little deeper and then you know, geeking out over fonts and like, you know, like photographers or you know, what's new, you know, like the coolest thing to me about publishing is that it's so of the moment. And so, you know, when I was working for fashion magazines, for instance, it was like, you know, we would shoot celebrity too, but it's like you're never gonna get, you know, this celebrity in this outfit, you know, on this page again. Because, you know, this is the time, you know, it's fall 2024 or whatever it is, you know. And so that part is like it's always like the idea that publishing is so of the moment has always been like really, you know, part of like why I do it.

SPEAKER_00 27:51

During COVID, you spent a lot of time in Washington State. Yeah. Your family's I mean, your family is amazing. I've met all of them, they're fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 28:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:01

Um, did that feel a little bit like a kind of a lapse in your creative energy being there? Or was that did it feed you? Because I mean, from the I haven't been, but the photos that you sent me of the house and the the trees and everything, it's just it's magical. Yeah, I I that's it feels like it would be like a reset or something.

SPEAKER_01 28:19

Yeah, I think that that that it's funny because you, you know, I came from I came from New York where you're just kind of like in it. And then I went to Washington and it did feel like a major like stop, you know. And then I went to LA and I never really found my footing in LA in terms of like what I did. And then when I came back to New York, it's like, oh right, I remember why I've been here this long, you know, and why, you know, this place is so good for me for work. So, you know, I think that the journey definitely was creative and like in that regard, like I think that if you stay in New York too long, you're kind of like in a in the same rhythm, you see the same stuff. But if you go in your, you know, you you take in different forms, like whether it's just a different state, like you would find something that you would like to do.

SPEAKER_00 29:05

I mean, you're you're a country girl at heart, a country-ish, country adjacent. I mean I I mean I'm a country boy, right? It's like you know, it's like you're from the six same. Yeah, you know, you're from St. Louis. Oh my hat. Yeah. St. Louis hat that you brought me to the. Thank you. Um, but you know, I remember just you know, whenever you were in Washington and the days that we would face time, and yeah, you would be out there like kind of like I don't know, I don't know if it was chopping wood. I wouldn't say chopping wood, maybe you would like be moving logs. I don't know, like chopping and chipping, doing things, yeah, right. I mean, I feel like that stuff is always so energetically re sounding. I just think it's so it's so good for the soul.

SPEAKER_01 29:37

Yeah, I mean, I think that a lot. I think one of the things that you you get out there is time, and you don't get that here. And so you get time and space. And those are two, those are two.

SPEAKER_00 29:45

So you're not Miss Jones out there, you're me.

SPEAKER_01 29:47

Yeah, I mean, you're me.

SPEAKER_00 29:49

Not me, but as far as me. Me and Miss Jones. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:52

Yeah, you get time and space. And so I built uh my portfolio when I was out there and like had time to really like wrangle working, you know, wrangle all my like work and try to figure out what that meant in terms of like how to put it together. Right, you know, and that you know, that was great. Um, but it's definitely, you know, I think you know, also, you know, just being a human during that time was like, you know, just kind of confusing.

SPEAKER_00 30:17

You and I both think that New York City is one of the greatest cities in the world. I mean, I don't have that feeling where people kind of curse at it and get mad at it all the time. I think I just let kind of let it slip by. I mean, I still believe in New York. Uh, will you always have a place here?

SPEAKER_01 30:34

Oh, that's like a hard-pressing question. Um, that's the plan. I feel like that is the plan. And I'm investing in my apartment right now in order to like get it to where I feel, you know, like it's perfect, you know. And to me, if I if I let that go, it feels like something of you know from me is gone. Because I do feel like when I came back to my apartment, it was like, I remember thinking, I was like, wow.

SPEAKER_00 30:59

It's a sanctuary.

SPEAKER_01 31:00

Yeah. I was like, wow, I can't believe that this is here. Because I rented it for like two years. And I was like, oh my God, like past life me set this up for me now.

SPEAKER_00 31:09

Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:09

And it felt really like like, I don't know, it was like a moment.

SPEAKER_00 31:12

Right. I mean, do you think that we're gonna be 80s definitely here in our city? Definitely. I mean, can we have a house somewhere else?

SPEAKER_01 31:17

Yeah, definitely, yeah, all the above.

SPEAKER_00 31:20

I mean, maybe not can't be just here in the walls. No, definitely not going into the future. What do you think with your work? I mean, is there something that you really want to create that you haven't even tapped into besides working in with film and things like that? Is there something that you see?

SPEAKER_01 31:34

Yeah, you know, it's weird. It's like I keep like, you know, I scroll down like various social media avenues and they're like, if you don't know where you're going, you're on the right path. And I'm like, this is great, perfect for me because it's like I'm like, I've been putting one foot in front of the other for like five years. And so I'm like, you know, I think now it's you know, I have clients and that sort of thing, and I feel like more secure because I'm back in New York. I didn't feel as secure in LA in that regard. But um, I think I think you just have to like keep pushing forward, you know. Right.

SPEAKER_00 32:03

And I think that you're you're such a quiet strength. Um quieter now as we've gotten older. Obviously, it's a little bit more abrasive when we were younger, perhaps. Um my temper right is gone. I don't have it anywhere.

SPEAKER_01 32:16

I know it's just like serenity now, serenity now.

SPEAKER_00 32:19

Um I think it'd be fun to do a little bit of a rapid fire.

unknown 32:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 32:24

Do you know what that is?

SPEAKER_01 32:24

Yeah, like I just shoot it back with one word.

SPEAKER_00 32:26

Yeah. What is one thing that you always notice first in a room?

SPEAKER_01 32:30

The most handsome man. Ah okay.

SPEAKER_00 32:32

All right, same. What is a design trend that you secretly hate?

SPEAKER_01 32:37

There's so many. Give us two. Bad design, it it's everywhere. It's like, I think it's like, sorry, I'm not supposed to long, you know. It's like, you know, I think one of the reasons I went into the field I went into because I was just like, it's so easy to fix. It's like, you know, it's in my, you know, it's like there's people that come here for certain reasons, and I really do think I mean if you look at a page, is it is it like, does your eye go to the fonts?

SPEAKER_00 32:59

Does your eye go to the floor?

SPEAKER_01 33:01

Like it depends what's bad about it, you know? I'm like, oh, what is that photo? Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_00 33:05

Okay. What is a habit that keeps you sane?

SPEAKER_01 33:08

Probably living alone.

SPEAKER_00 33:10

Oh my gosh. I'm love, right?

SPEAKER_01 33:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:12

I know that's why I have I love a long distance anything. Totally. Yeah. What is one thing that you're currently working on internally?

SPEAKER_01 33:20

I would say getting back to sort of pre-COVID self. And it I don't mean it because I I'll never get back there. It's just more of when I I'll feel better when I have, you know, I have a couple things still floating around in terms of like where I left from COVID. And so I'm still working on that, which is crazy because it's been six years.

SPEAKER_00 33:40

I don't think I don't think that's crazy. I think it's like it's I think it's important and smart to take time to figure it out. I think that's beautiful. Um, this is gonna be the hardest question. Um, and I don't know the answer to this one myself, but what is a word that feels like a season of your life right now? Home. Oh, okay. What's the method? I love that.

SPEAKER_01 33:59

Yeah, definitely. That's it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:01

For being here today.

SPEAKER_01 34:03

Yeah, thanks for having me. So fun.

SPEAKER_00 34:04

I know. So thank you for joining us on another episode of My Body Method Podcast. Um, wherever you're watching or listening, please like and subscribe. If you want to hear or see more about my guest, Stephanie Jones, you can go to her website, C Jones, S-E-E-J-O-N-A, J-O-N-E-S. Um, or if you want to learn more about me, Josh Grimm underscore fitnut, f I t-n-t, at on Instagram, or questions at MindBody Method Podcast.com. And we'll see you next Wednesday. Thank you. Thank you for joining me today on Mind Body Method. This podcast is part of Pride House Media, hosted by me, Josh Grimm, produced and edited by Josh Rosenspike, original music composed by Neil Balavin. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. And while you're there, leave us a rating and review. It really helps others to discover the show. I'd love to stay connected with you, so join the conversation by following me at Josh Grimm underscore fitnet on Instagram and by emailing me at questions at mindbodypodcast.com.