Trusting Yourself & Hustling Towards Your Goals with Justina Blakeney of Jungalow®

JUSTINA BLAKENEY is a designer, artist and New York Times bestselling author. She is the founder and director of Jungalow® a blog, brand and online shop. She is known for her vibrant, jungalicious style, for hand-painting the surface patterns that appear in her product lines, and for speaking on creative entrepreneurship at conferences worldwide.

Justina Blakeney's wildly popular collections include home decor, furniture, stationery, textiles, travel, kids, accessories and Band-Aid Brand Bandages. Her collections are sold at Jungalow.com as well as at retailers like Anthropologie and Target. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Jason, daughter Ida and 52 house plants.

@justinablakeney
@thejungalow
Jungalow.com
JustinaBlakeney.com

Hosts:
Stephanie: @giveasweat
Bradley: @bradley.rancourt

Transcript

spk_1:   0:00
when you do what you

spk_0:   0:01
do and you love what you do. Having the confidence in yourself and in the work is everything.

spk_2:   0:16
After spending years growing, a business rooted in a mission of giving back, Brad and Stephanie are here to give strength Teoh all areas of your life. Get ready to hear from experts in every field, from finance and fitness, toe mindset, relationships and entrepreneurship. This is the gives strength podcast.

spk_3:   0:47
We are here with one of my favorite people, Miss Justine A Blakeney of the Jungle. Oh, I can't believe us. We nab some of your time. I know you're finishing up a book, right? You're working on a book to So let's make you do something else for a little while. Uh uh. I need a break. Good. Well, we like to start things out with asking a few quick questions and let's dive right into those. So number one, what is it that you do?

spk_1:   1:17
Well, um, it's a good question, but I should have an easy answer, but it doesn't, um, I'm a designer that's,

spk_0:   1:25
like at the top of my slashes. And then you've got slash artist slash entrepreneur slash

spk_1:   1:32
Mama. I do losses stuff, but basically I'm a

spk_0:   1:35
very creative person and I figure out how to get aid to exert my creativity.

spk_3:   1:41
That's huge. Hopefully, we can dig into that a little bit more and help some other creatives as well. Awesome. Well, quick. Question number two. Do you have a favorite book podcast, TV show movie, something that has provided a lot information to your value to you recently, or maybe something from your past that stuck with you?

spk_1:   1:59
I I have a hard time with

spk_0:   2:01
the favorites game. I think it's because I'm so all over the place. So I love, like gleaning little things from all over, as opposed to, like gleaning a lot from, like one source. So, um, I have, like, you know, 15 books on my night

spk_1:   2:19
stand, and I'm always like

spk_0:   2:22
getting a little bit from each one. But I think that's really true. For for life in general and especially as a creative entrepreneur is, you have to kind of reach out and be alert and alive and kind of do as much as you can to get as many resources as possible. You can't just rely on one thing,

spk_3:   2:44
Urus. I feel like I definitely noticed that about you. You don't have idols or anything. You just get a little bit here, get a little bit here and you take what serves you and you dismiss the rest, which is awesome.

spk_1:   2:55
I tried Teoh, I think,

spk_0:   2:57
Yeah, I think it's like collage in. You got a collage together

spk_1:   3:00
like a true creo, Not her. Uh huh. All

spk_3:   3:08
right, final quick question here because this is the give strength podcast we love to highlight people that gives strength both to themselves and to others. So I'd love to know a time in recent memory where you feel like you did that you either gave strength to someone else or to yourselves.

spk_0:   3:25
One of my reasons for being here on Earth, I believe, is to help people tap into their own creativity. Because I believe that everyone is profoundly creative. I reject when people are

spk_1:   3:39
like, Oh, just you know, you're more

spk_0:   3:40
creative than other people or or that I think we're all really creative. I think that some of us have had more luck with having parents or teachers or communities that help foster that creativity more than others. So for me, the way that I like to give strength is toe help. People sort of realize their own level of creativity. And I try and do that through my books and my social media channels and my blog's and all those things, giving people tips, ideas of how to better tap into their own creativity and regain something reconnect to it in a way. So I think some of the ideas that you know, I've been sharing on my social channels about how does get your home ready in this time or at any time, you know, so that when you get home, you can really support your family life and yourself and your future self and all that art projects that you can do to tap into your creativity, that people of all abilities are all incomes or all ages conduce. Oh, and you could do so much with so little. So for me, that's how I like to give strength. Is is through helping people tap into their own creativity and see how amazing it iss.

spk_3:   4:53
Yes, I've definitely seen you do that for a long time, but especially now as we're reporting this during the cove in 19 outbreak you've shown, you know, the one line drawing that you like to challenge people to Dio she does this incredible thing where she puts pen to paper does one line and we'll draw like a beautiful portrait of someone. And I tried it some

spk_1:   5:12
reason it doesn't come out the same. When you're touting your activity, I will say it just looks different from maybe it is your dexterity

spk_0:   5:24
that you're doubting, not

spk_1:   5:24
you're a little bit about the little boat. But you also do

spk_3:   5:28
that, Um, like the found foliage one where you, you know, what

spk_1:   5:32
do you call that? One base The foliage face the

spk_3:   5:35
foliage. Such a creative, beautiful portrait out of like grass and flowers and things. So, like you said that stuff, people can Scott into their front yard or down the street and find things and create. I

spk_1:   5:46
think people are

spk_0:   5:47
always looking for excuses of, like, why they can't do

spk_1:   5:50
things. I'm sure you know, I do that. I think what I'm training. I get knew that my elbow because of money, But I find people

spk_0:   6:01
doing that seems saying, um, with with creative

spk_1:   6:04
like, oh, I don't have,

spk_0:   6:06
like the right supplies or, you know, I don't have enough room to Pete or I I don't have this or I have that. And so the thing that I like toe show people is that you don't need a lot to be ableto exercise your creativity just like being in until the exercise your body Use your body weight, Right? So saying with, uh, you know, with the creativity you can you can use literally, just like there's a leaf blowing down.

spk_1:   6:32
You're like it's snowing here. I can't do that. I'm like you can do it because there's always gonna

spk_0:   6:38
be like a tree with some twigs and a couple of dead leaves. You could literally make art

spk_1:   6:42
out of that. Yeah, I love that big tons. When you say everyone's creative, it makes me think like maybe everybody is creative. We just don't practice it. And the reason that you look like you're more creative is just cause you practice it all day every day where me I do push ups. So my elbows been that way really easily, But I can't draw pictures. Yeah, you can drop it. I know I'm noticing a theme here, See, But Brad didn't learn it takes practice. I I love

spk_3:   7:18
that you are constantly encouraging people. Teoh start that business to try painting, to just live big and do big things. And I wonder, Have you always been that way? Have you always been ableto like cheerlead other people's endeavors?

spk_1:   7:37
I think I get off on on that a little bit. I think

spk_0:   7:40
for me it's really fun to see people stretch and reach and achieve. And I know how fun it is for me when I, you know, reach goals that I have been eating for for a long time. And I also know how easy it is for us to get in her own way. And so I think sometimes really all people need is a certain amount of encouragement or a certain amount of hearing that I not too long ago was in a similar place. But this is how I overcame that challenge. And what I've learned over the years is that I think people are so used to getting their ideas shot down and people are so used to being rejected and then having to get back up and, like keep keep on going in the slogs and I think it can grind on people. And so having a moment where you say to somebody, Look, you've come this far I was there once, enemies with a few simple things that I did to get to where I am now. It doesn't mean it's not hard work and it doesn't mean that it's not a lot, because I believe that in order to be successful in this life, you have to work hard. That's just that just comes with it. But you can't and you can get there. And so I think, yeah, I really enjoy, um, if I'm able to giving people a little bit of advice or encouragement and then seeing how they're able to take that and run with it cause I've seen it happen a lot and it's very empowering, and that's why I love talking to people about money. I love keeping it real with people about what success actually looks like or what it doesn't actually look like, because we are given such a false idea about things like success and money to make things seem so much less attainable. I think that they actually can be if you position yourself correctly But ultimately I really think that if you really put the work in and you angle yourself in a certain way and your agile and you don't define success is only one thing you can keep striving and you can get

spk_3:   9:48
there. Yes, and I've seen you definitely do that for people. And be very honest about your journey. And I want to tap into where you are right now for a moment, just in case people aren't familiar. Which sounds crazy, because when I told people that I was interviewing you, I had a 1,000,000 people, literally a 1,000,000.

spk_1:   10:06
Uh, but GM

spk_3:   10:08
here instagram here, uh, shoot me a text. Me like, Oh, my gosh, I have a girl crush on Justina So a lot of people know who you are, But in case we go, let's highlight you have a thriving online business, The jungle. Oh, you are a New York Times bestseller. You've been featured in a ton of different magazines online. You're just featured in Bogue Online. I believe, uh,

spk_1:   10:31
last week it was so funny cause my mom was like, How's business going for you right

spk_0:   10:35
now with all the covert stuff? Is everything okay? and I'm like, surprisingly, we're doing okay right now. It's like because we just got a rush of press like in the last few weeks, cause everyone's needing tips and ideas for what to do in their homes stuck at home. And we're very well positioned to be able to help people

spk_1:   10:56
out. So yeah, yeah, I run

spk_0:   10:59
a lifestyle brand. It's called Jungle. Oh, it's all about color, pattern and plants living an exuberant life, a wild life. And yeah, I've got two books out of called the New Bohemians and the New Beginning handbook. I'm working on 1/3. I am a product designer and surface pattern designer. So I designed everything from furniture to yoga gear to pretty much anything that you would have in your home is something that I might design. And, um and yes, so I have a small teen, amazing ladies, and then beyond that, I'm a bit of, ah, sort of lifestyle, expert slash personality type. Um, and I really enjoy that part of the job as well, where I get to go out and do stuff like this and talk to people about design and creativity and plants and all the things I'm passionate about.

spk_3:   11:56
Yes, you're constantly doing like public speaking engagements and being interviewed. And it's your

spk_1:   12:02
big mouth. She is very talkative. Sometimes we work out together

spk_3:   12:08
and I have to tell her, All right, just Sina. You gotta stop

spk_1:   12:10
talking now, magnet my way through those squats. Hey, as long as you can

spk_3:   12:16
talk and squat at the same time, it's side. So I learned that I've learned that Well, so that's where you are today and from the outside. I mean, you have millions of followers on the drug low, and you've got hundreds of thousands of followers on your personal account. Year has to be these big interviews. Um, from the outside, everything looks pretty pretty perfect, right? You got this picture Perfect family. This house with the beautiful casita in the back in your hot tub. Um, is everything is perfect. Does it seems a motive

spk_1:   12:47
question ever. I mean, yes and no, I again like, it depends on how

spk_0:   12:53
you define perfect. And it depends on how you define success. I've I've always been a very, very ambitious person. So the goals that I have for myself are, you know, huge and way beyond where I am currently. So in that sense I have such a long way to go. But also fuck, man. Lots of gratitude for where I'm at right now. You know, I I do. I have an incredible family, have a very supportive husband. I have an amazing seven year old daughter, Ida, and it's the three of us here now in our little house in Frog Town where we live in Los Angeles and it's it's awesome. And I am so grateful for everything that we have, and in that sense it really is perfect. And I really couldn't ask for for more, but But I always do. One asked for more. Um, but I think part of that's just the Hustler and me, I like I love bustle. So yeah, I've got more greens, dreams and goals greens and fills singles and and I'm going to keep reaching and keep growing and,

spk_1:   13:58
um, and as far as things that aren't perfect,

spk_0:   14:01
well, sure. I mean, we're in a global pandemic. There's a lot that's not perfect right now, and I think just on a personal level, I'm just not where I want to be financially, and that's sort of The big next chapter for me is figuring that out because I have not prioritised financial success for the 1st 41 years of Ryan Matt. Now, um, and I've have achieved a lot of the things I want to achieve. I've traveled the world. I have this this wonderful family. I have a great career Now.

spk_1:   14:37
We're not struggling, you know? So I don't want to

spk_0:   14:39
make it sound like, you know,

spk_1:   14:42
I've got a good situation.

spk_0:   14:43
I'm just not where I want to be. And it's important to me to be there to feel secure, how I want to feel.

spk_3:   14:48
I feel like that's something that I really respect in love about you is that you are often able to look at where you are and recognize that you've worked your butt off to be where you are. And the success has come because of the hard work and because of your skills and sitting in that and feeling good about it, but also saying, you know, we've talked about this. We both like to hustle. We both like toe work hard, and we both have big dreams so that you're never quite there. But you're really good about being transparent about the things that you feel like you lack. Like

spk_1:   15:19
you said financially, like you have a house in l.

spk_3:   15:21
A and you travel and you know, you you're fine, but you have bigger goals, You have bigger security goals. And so I feel like the fact that you can recognize that and know that there's work to do there is huge and also liberating for people that might be in a similar situation.

spk_0:   15:37
Yeah, absolutely. And I think there's just some element also of the dreams that I had as a little girl and sort of what that looked like for me and who I was able to look. You know, you said, Oh, you don't have, like, I don't remember the exact were used a one icon or something like that, someone who you looked through that way, and it's like I really didn't feel like they're really was anybody toe Look at in that way, When I was a kid as a young a woman of color, I remember like looking at Lisa Bonet and thinking that she was sort of like the only

spk_1:   16:08
person I could relate to. She's also black into it. It was like her, like she was the only person I would look at me like what? She kind of looks like Like a pretty rush. You know, that's kind of beautiful. So when I could look at, But I just didn't really have

spk_0:   16:25
a lot of Not that everyone who you look up to has to look like you. I just didn't look looking around. It was really hard for me to relate myself to, um, sort of a vision of what success could look like for someone like me. And so that was hard. That was hurt. I didn't have a lot of mentors or someone to look up to in that way. Yeah,

spk_1:   16:48
definitely. So as we talk about success, I am really curious. Like, how do you define your success now? Such a good question.

spk_0:   16:56
And I know that a lot of people who you know might be considered successful from the outside say things like, Well, as soon as I reach one goal, the goal post gets moved further out, and I definitely agree with that. I know for me 10 years ago, if I could have, like, fast forwarded and looked at where I'm at now. That would have been successful because I remember on my 30th birthday freaking out like it

spk_1:   17:24
was like a quiet, existential freak out. But I

spk_0:   17:26
was like, Oh, this is my life. And this is what it's gonna look like. And, you know, I'm never gonna have family. And I'm never gonna, you know, find find a guy to marry And I'm never gonna have a house in L. A. Because it's too expensive and, like just all those things. And now I've achieved those things. And so and, you know, it's not all about the guy in the house. It's It's also just about sort of my own personal growth and all that.

spk_1:   17:51
So for me, what

spk_0:   17:52
success looks like right now is where I am in a position where I'm comfortable enough with my own success in my own goals, to be able to help others achieve their dreams for what success looks like and spend most of my time doing that. That's when I will really have felt like success. Like like when I'm

spk_1:   18:19
Oprah Wake, are you December, not a car. Something better. You get a tree and you get a truth whatever it is, I feel like I can still feel myself too

spk_0:   18:35
cautious to be able to do that. And I do it as much as I can. But like, right now I'm still building my own shit. And once my should has built, then I'll feel like OK, cool. Now I could help all y'all build y'all shit on, and I will feel like a real success story to me.

spk_1:   18:54
Well, I love that you

spk_3:   18:55
touched on to the fact that you are a woman of color and visibility that way because growing up, I felt as a white girl underrepresented just cause I didn't see women doing things, so

spk_1:   19:07
I can't

spk_3:   19:07
even imagine being a woman of color. And like you said, you had, like, one person that you could look to me like. She looks like me and no, like he said, It's not the most important thing to have someone that looks like you. But when you are younger and you're looking for someone to look up to and you're looking for a visual of success, Yeah, having a similar skin tone, having a similar gender, having any of those things is crucial and is important so the fact that you're finding success will not finding it. You're working your ass off for success, and then you want to in turn be that for other people to look up to is huge and so noble and you really do it. And also, I've talked to some of your staff who field your D. M's, and they say she has to stop helping

spk_1:   19:52
people I know she's got. She's trying to be too generous, so you definitely

spk_3:   19:59
walk the walk on that for sure.

spk_0:   20:02
Try and you try. And maybe an idea. How did you do too much? Sometimes

spk_1:   20:08
it's something

spk_3:   20:10
I've heard before about because Brad and I are companies built on charity and giving back. And but we of course, we still prepare on bills, and we have our financial drains and goals, and I want to be on the Justine a level on by an l. A house. The rial savior is insane, and someone gave us advice a long time ago like you've got it, you gotta build up yours first. You gotta build up your business because you can't pour out of an empty cup. So I feel like you've worked at so much into your business that it's never gonna go away like you are always gonna contribute and get back. But you are working to be in a place for your super stable and can do more of that

spk_0:   20:43
totally. And I love that cup analogy, and I'm getting close to being able to, you know, have the tough run. It's over,

spk_1:   20:52
but not there yet. So we've talked about your success now and how you're doing, and then I just want to know What was that journey from Like being a creative to having your business That's now right. Very, very

spk_0:   21:08
wind e not a direct path. Um, just a frame. My adulthood I I

spk_1:   21:16
grew up So I grew up in

spk_0:   21:17
Berkeley, California I moved to L. A. When I turned 18 to go to U. C L. A. And I studied world arts and cultures and I did my year abroad in Italy. Um, when I was in school and I fell in love with the country and a boy who was living in that

spk_1:   21:33
contribute because he was tell them OK, so I moved back.

spk_0:   21:39
Um, right after I finished U C L. A and my sister came with me and I ended up living there for six more years. So 77 years total. I lived there for almost my entire twenties, Um,

spk_1:   21:53
many jobs, many boyfriends, many situations

spk_0:   21:56
in in that almost decade of living in Europe. And when I was 28 I moved to New York and felt like I wanted to experience what that was like, you know, before I got too old to just bounce and live in New York for a few years. So So I did that. I did not thrive in New York. I felt like it was an extremely challenging adjustment from having lived in Florence, Italy, and kind of been a big fish in a little pond to being like, ah, guppy in an ocean with

spk_1:   22:28
sharks at my sin that it was It was very

spk_0:   22:33
challenging for me and I moved back to Los Angeles after those two years in New York and I was sort of a creative for higher, though I was doing everything from designing logos and websites and doing consulting for small businesses. Teoh doing styling for magazines. And then I started doing home decor projects as well. So I was just sort of like anybody would say

spk_1:   22:54
like, Oh, I know a girl, She's I think she does interior design

spk_0:   22:58
or whatever and people recommend me. And I just started doing work and I started my blawg around that time in 2009 when I was just sort of this creative freelancer and, um and so I kept doing that alongside blogging for about five more years, and little by little, my blog's started to take off. So I had sort of been blogging for about five years before anything really happened with my BLAWG. And that was also around the time that the other social media platforms were starting to gain popularity. Pinterest, instagram, Facebook, Twitter, all that stuff. And so you know, to 2013 around there. So I just started Teoh realize that this was a really powerful tool and tried to kind of channel and figure out how I could grow my social media presence. And I think I was pretty early on, especially in the design world, for that, because a lot of people in the interior design space specifically got a slightly older demographic. A lot of people are maybe a little bit reluctant. Or at least they were. You know, if I were six years ago to kind of share sources and things like that because people are very protective over their sources in the design world. Um and so I just didn't have those same kinds of fears. Are, um or at least I saw the value in in what growing a social media channel could mean. And so I worked really hard at growing my channels and sort of before the term influencer or content creator was even a term was kind of creating content specifically for these channels and giving tips and giving sources away in a way that other interior designers were not doing. End, you know, little by little, my platform started to grow. I started to gain the attention of brands and started working with brands which paid a lot

spk_1:   24:57
better creative freelance work I have been doing up until then.

spk_0:   25:05
And once the brand work started to happen and do well, you know, brands have foam. Oh, so they see one brand working with, you know, like, who is that? Maybe we want to work with her, and it just started to snowball from there. And then, in 2015 my first solo book came out, which was the New Bohemians, and it became a New York Times bestseller and

spk_1:   25:30
natural casual. I couldn't believe it. I'm sorry. Wait table, But do the coffee table books even become your six? Um so that was That was a huge

spk_0:   25:45
moment for me. And it was so validating, I think also, just because so much of the work I had done up until then had been, you know, in unusual channels I wasn't a traditional interior designer. I wasn't. I had, you know, gone gotten that kind of schooling. I had just been in Italy for seven years with my sister, faith. And, you know, we had a boutique and I had been writing and just hustling and doing all kinds of different things and everything was nontraditional. So to get kind of this traditional, sort of like the crowd of traditional accolades was very, very special. And and after that, I would just say that that kind of just, like, validated everything that I was doing from an external place. Like, I think I always had that internal validation where I was like, I knew what I was doing was different and special. But, um, getting that external validation was also important. And it kind of put me on the map in a way that I think very little other things could have.

spk_3:   26:46
I think what's really cool and what I've noticed about you is that faith in what you're doing is that trust in your uniqueness because your design, if you've ever been on the jungle or just you know Blake needs Instagrams, they look so different than what you see in most interior design magazines or books or, you know, you break the rules. Essentially, it's like you know the rules, you know what they are, and then you break them because it feels good, and you also encourage people to do the same thing. When I've talked about our apartment and you know, I'll say, I'm afraid of putting something in there like just do it. If it if you think it's good you like it, then that's correct. And I think that permission you get two people really speaks to them, too. Do like a wild print wallpaper with plants in front of it, and you also talk about you know the benefits of having the plants in your life for oxygen and for good mood. It's not just about having pretty things to look at. It is an entire lifestyle. So the fact that you have stuck so true to what feels good to you and giving other people the permission and the fact that that eventually led to outside accolades is huge. You weren't You weren't seeking out those accolades. I feel like from the beginning, they became

spk_0:   27:59
well, thank you. First of all for saying

spk_1:   28:01
that, but yeah, I think What would you do? What you

spk_0:   28:05
do and you love what you do. Having the confidence in yourself and in the work is everything. And if you like that confidence, I think that's like, what? The starting places, you know, how do you build that confidence back up? How do you get to a place where you're not questioning yourself at every step and you're just owning your work? You know? Do

spk_1:   28:32
you love it? Do you love it? If you love

spk_0:   28:35
it, it's good, like that's the place where you need to get

spk_1:   28:44
good morning, I e your job. It is not cute. Even if I've been talking for an hour straight. Can you clear your throat? And your mother t o have a tickle. There

spk_3:   29:03
will be no throat tickling years. I actually like when you coughed. I, like executed back a little bit. Is

spk_1:   29:08
this instinct? No, I don't think it. I don't think it's transferrable through Zoom, but we'll find out. Well,

spk_3:   29:17
awesome. Just Dina, I don't want to take up too much more of your time. I really appreciate you coming on here and talking to people. Apple. I know that people really super excited to hear about your story. Do you feel like you have any, Like, a final parting word or any last tip? I know you talked about doing what you like, you know, putting the work in to anything else you'd like to share with anyone that might be listening

spk_0:   29:43
Well, so brand touched on this a little bit earlier, but I really feel like it's all about ah, practice. And, you know, I've definitely learned this when it comes to working out when it comes to sort of the physical exercise, and it's the exact same thing with business and creativity and everything in your life that you are trying to grow that. It's not just that you wake up in the morning and your muscles are bigger and your leaner and you're healthier if

spk_1:   30:21
you have to work at it. And if you

spk_0:   30:24
stop for a little while, you're

spk_1:   30:27
should go get flabby on. And I so, um, clear and obvious that that happens

spk_0:   30:36
with your physical body. The same thing happens with your mental state and your level of creativity or your business or your social media channels or anything.

spk_1:   30:51
You have to practice and you have to

spk_0:   30:53
work at it and you

spk_1:   30:54
can't stop because if you dio you go get flat. Here you go get you know you're not gonna be flexible or, you know, And so I think the

spk_0:   31:04
parallels between you know, working out and and sort of giving your body strength are so similar when it comes to creativity or creative entrepreneurship, or or anything that you're trying to do in your life, you have to work at it, you know, a little at least a little bit every day, if not a lot every day, in order to, you know, get your shit list

spk_1:   31:30
it. I absolutely love that

spk_3:   31:34
awesome. Thank you so much. Just seen a really, really appreciate you taking this time while you're in the midst of running that business and running your socials and, you know, writing a book casually so

spk_1:   31:47
quit compute will find all these things where people find you with your business, your funk, all that good stuff. Yes, thank you. So you can find me

spk_0:   31:57
on Instagram at Justine a Blakeney Justine at B l a k e N E y. My business on instagram is at the jungle. Oh, or at Jungle Oda

spk_3:   32:10
her. But we will link all that in the show notes as well. Thank

spk_1:   32:15
you so much. Just you.

spk_2:   32:24
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