152 | Chasing the Bright Side with Jess Ekstrom, Headbands of Hope

Hey friends! With the current state of our world, I thought it’d be great to bring someone on the podcast who radiates optimism and confidence. In this episode, you’ll be hearing my conversation with Jess Ekstrom, founder of Headbands of Hope and the author of Chasing the Bright Side.

Jess and I dive deep into how she’s built her business and it’s growth over the past eight years. Through her years in business, she’s learned how to find new solutions to support her customers on both the retail and wholesale side.

We also talk about how she’s had to pivot her business during this time which prompted her to host a virtual conference. She shares how she got the co-founder of Netflix to speak at her conference (pretty cool, right?!) She also talks about why she believes in “throwing darts and seeing what sticks” in her business.

We get into what it truly means to chase the bright side. She gives her advice about maintaining your childlike optimism throughout life. Jess and I discuss how to use downtime to recenter yourself (which can bring forth more creativity and innovation!)

ON TODAY’S EPISODE:

What prompted Jess to write her book, Chasing the Bright Side
Being optimistic about your products and the impact they have on the world
Her advice on the steps to take to become more optimistic
Why Jess believes confidence is more important than knowledge
Maintaining a childlike optimism as you get older
Why Jess started Headbands of Hope
Trusting your gut when making decisions
How she’s shifted her mission for her business over the past year
How Jess has built her business on “throwing darts and seeing what sticks”
Hosting a virtual tradeshow on YouTube
Figuring out how to continue to provide value during this time
Pivoting their donation model to help overcome the mask shortage that hospitals are facing
Using your downtime to recenter yourself to help spark creativity and innovation
What the My Bright Side campaign is and why she started it
What’s coming next for Headbands of Hope
How Jess got the cofounder of Netflix to be a speaker at her virtual conference

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KEY TAKE AWAYS

“Once you start talking to people, you realize that no one had that overnight success, that there's that middle part that they're leaving out.” - Jess Ekstrom

“We can continue to believe in better and be the one that creates it.” - Jess Ekstrom

“Optimism is more of a strategy and less of a mood.” - Jess Ekstrom

“Every expert that we know was once a beginner.” - Jess Ekstrom

“I feel that that confidence does bring knowledge. It does bring experience and things that we can weave into how we're growing ourselves as individuals, as well as our companies.” - Katie Hunt

“It gets harder and harder to maintain kind of that childlike optimism, that belief that you're going to make it, because when we get older, we have more story and data to pull from that tells us that maybe we should hesitate or maybe we should plan more, when, really, we just have to keep throwing darts.” - Jess Ekstrom

“Now maybe virtual trade shows will be a regular part of our business that we never would've done had we not been presented with this new problem at hand..” - Jess Ekstrom

“We all need to go at our own pace and with what feels right to us.” - Katie Hunt

“if you're in the thick of it and going through a tough time, realize that you're in your story. There will be meaning, and there will be a silver lining. Just don't pressure yourself to jump there.” - Jess Ekstrom

“Be patient with yourself. Be kind to yourself. Let yourself process it. Let your mind wander a bit.” - Katie Hunt

“We can't control what's happening right now, but we control the meaning that we give to it and the role that it plays in our life.” - Jess Ekstrom

RESOURCES

The Bright Side Conference
Chasing the Bright Side: Embrace Optimism, Activate Your Purpose, and Write Your Own Story
150 | Getting Back to Basics
That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea

MEET JESS:

Jess is the founder and CEO of Headbands of Hope, a company she started as a junior in college in 2012. For every headband sold, a headband is given to a child with cancer. The company has been featured on the TODAY Show, Vanity Fair, Seventeen, Good Morning America and more. But more importantly, they've donated over half a million headbands to every children's hospital in the United States and 15 countries. Jess is also a professional speaker and has a book coming out with Harper Collins in November 2019. She's also the founder of Mic Drop Workshop, an online course with the mission of empowering more women to share their message as a speaker. She’s currently traveling in an Airstream with her husband, Jake and standard poodle, Ollie.

CONNECT WITH JESS EKSTROM

Website: www.jessekstrom.com | Headbands of Hop: www.headbandsofhope.com
Facebook: @jessekstrom | Instagram: @jess_ekstrom

Connect with Katie Hunt

Katie Hunt is a business strategist, podcaster, mentor and mama to four. She helps product based businesses build profitable, sustainable companies through her conferences, courses and coaching programs.

Website: prooftoproduct.com | Instagram: @prooftoproduct