Hi Friends!
Is it still okay to wish you a Happy New Year?
I’m going with yes because, here in the PNW, we need every reason to find joy in January. Though I have to admit, this winter has been insanely sunny and dry. It’s giving Boulder, and now I understand why everyone flocked to Colorado in the early 2000s.
I am so happy you’re here.
Writing this newsletter is how I stay connected to this community, and I truly appreciate every one of you who takes a few minutes out of your month to read what I’ve put together.
And while I used Gemini to clean up my sentence structure and punctuation, all of this is 100% curated by me.
This month, we’re digging into:
Let’s dig in, friends!
What I’m Practicing
Maybe it’s the January energy, or maybe it’s because Etta bought me Atomic Habits for Christmas, but I’ve been on a major James Clear kick lately.
One thing he says that I love:
“The best thing that can happen to a bad idea is that it’s forgotten. The best thing that can happen to a good idea is that it is shared.”
It reminds me of economist Tyler Cowen’s advice: “Spend as little time as possible talking about how other people are wrong.” Abraham Lincoln perhaps inspired all of this with: “I don't like that man. I must get to know him better.”
How much time do we waste stewing over people we think are wrong? We wring our hands trying to figure out how to convince them to see it the right way (our way). In reality, there are almost always multiple paths to the right solution—but the only way to see them is to slow down and listen.
Ray Dalio speaks often about how the most charismatic leaders practice presence. It’s more than just putting the phone away; it’s the radical act of giving someone your full attention. Listening to learn, not to respond. They create a gravitational field with their attention.
So, I’m practicing this, too. When someone sees the world differently than I do, I’m trying to slow down enough to see it through their context, not mine. And when I find a good idea? I want to be the one who gives it flight.
➡️Prompt: Rather than talking about the people we disagree with, what if we spoke "well" about the exciting ideas we just heard? I’d much rather be someone who talks less about people and more about ideas.
What I’m Loving
I want to tell you a story about an old acquaintance of mine, Jay Baer.
Jay has had a multi-decade, hall-of-fame career in B2B marketing and digital strategy. He’s a keynote speaker who has graced every major stage. He reached the point where he probably didn’t need to work anymore—but he had another idea.
He looked at the Tequila industry and asked a very strategist question: “Why is every brand positioning this as a party drink? Why aren’t we treating it with the same sophistication we give high-end whiskey?”
He started making educational videos, sharing his favorites, and applying his marketing brain to the agave world.
Now he is the second-largest tequila influencer on the web.
Is Jay a lifelong F&B stalwart? No. Does he have deep roots in CPG? No. Does his family farm agave? Not even close.
Yet, he just partnered with La Pulga to launch his first signature single-barrel tequila.
Who does that? Someone who understands that authority is transferable.
Jay is a masterclass in reinvention. He took the skills he honed in the digital marketing world and maximized them in a space he’s passionate about—and he’s having a blast doing it.
➡️ Prompt: Maybe more of us should remember how truly transferable our skills are. If you’ve been sitting on an idea because you don't have the right background, consider this your permission slip to go do that thing anyway.
I actually bought this as a New Year's gift for my husband. It’s fantastic. Check it out here.
Bonus: If you’re doing Dry January, you’ll definitely want this waiting for you on February 1st. 🥃
Shining a Light
Shiv Singh is one of the sharpest minds in marketing and somehow I’ve just recently discovered him. As founder of Savvy Matters and a former CMO at LendingTree and marketing leader at Visa and PepsiCo, Shiv brings rare clarity to the messy intersection of leadership and emerging tech. His latest book, Marketing with AI For Dummies, makes that future feel more human and more possible.
I am sharing Shiv’s Five Takeaways for Marketers in our AI Era with my comments embedded:
Stop treating authenticity as a production problem. No amount of raw footage, behind-the-scenes content, or unpolished aesthetics will protect you from AI commoditization. Authenticity is not how content looks; it is how consistently a brand shows up with intent, values, and a point of view. (JJ: Trust is built when you say and do things consistently over a period of time.)
Invest in narrative coherence, not content volume. When audiences are flooded with infinite AI-generated media, they gravitate toward brands that help them make sense of the world. Your job is not to say more things more often, but to say fewer things with greater clarity and emotional continuity.
Assume belief beats proof even if that feels wrong. Marketing strategies that rely on educating customers with facts will struggle in a post-visual-truth environment. (JJ: I’m talking to you 99% of the B2B tech world.) Strategies that connect to identity, aspiration, and worldview will outperform, even when the facts are fuzzy or incomplete.
Treat AI as a creative tool, not a creative replacement. The winning teams will use AI to scale expression, test narratives, and explore new formats, while humans remain responsible for meaning, judgment, and culture. Creativity shifts from execution to orchestration. (JJ: Being a conductor sounds pretty good to me.)
Finally, recognize that your brand is now a trust interface. In a world where people cannot rely on what they see, they rely on who they know. Every interaction either strengthens or weakens that trust. Marketing is no longer about persuasion alone. It is about stewardship of belief. (JJ: Bam. Be who you say you are.)
And if you’re someone who likes a good infographic over text, you are welcome:
ICYMI
Why your silence is more expensive than you think.
I recently sat down with the team at Six Figure Business Mastery to discuss a massive gap I see in executive leadership: the transition from brand-led to leader-led communications.
Most execs are walking right past the low-hanging fruit of digital influence because they’re waiting for a perfect moment that doesn't exist.
Case in point: My recent appearance on their show. The hair? Great. The camera angle? I look like a floating head. Come on Jess- basics.
I’m sharing it anyway. Why? Because the message matters more than the production value.
We covered:
The Credibility Gap: Why "PR-posting" (the sanitized, boring stuff) is failing you.
Strategic Visibility: How to be human and authoritative at the same time.
The 2026 Mandate: Why presence is no longer optional for senior leaders.
If you’re still waiting for the perfect strategy to fall into your lap, stop hiding.
➡️Prompt: Watch the episode (and laugh at my camera angle) here 👇🏼
Pro Tip
Practice makes progress.
It’s one of my all-time favorite quotes. For the Enneagram enthusiasts out there, it won't surprise you that I’m an 8 Challenger (more on that another day), but my wing is a 1—the Reformer. 1s are the teachers and advocates who are constantly striving to improve.
I like to repackage this as having an Editor’s Eye. I’m wired to see the 1% optimizations—those small shifts that can create massive momentum over time. I’ve also realized that mastering a new skill, like executive presence online, requires hearing it and experiencing it in multiple ways before it truly sinks in.
That’s why I’m launching something new this spring:
Altitude: LinkedIn Branding for Small Business Owners on the Rise.
After conducting 50+ LinkedIn audits since September, the patterns are clear. While I love the 1:1 deep dives, there is a specific magic that happens in a group. You get the accountability, the shared learning of peers, and the benefit of me facilitating a zoom full of bright people.
By the end of this 6-week cohort, you’ll have:
A fully dialed-in LinkedIn profile.
A sustainable editorial strategy.
A clear plan to convert "likes" into actual business.
➡️ Prompt: Want the Early Bird heads-up? I’m only opening eight spots for this. If you want to be on the VIP list to hear about it before I go public on social, hit reply and say Spring Cohort.
Where’s Jess?
Shout out to Jon Sneider for correctly identifying last month’s "Where’s Jess" photo on Boston’s Freedom Trail. I had a feeling you’d nail that one, Jon.
Since everyone is currently obsessed with the "2026 is the new 2016" trend, I figured I’d play along.
This photo takes me back to a YouTube video shoot in the Bay Area. We were filming a reality series for Qualcomm called #InventOff, and we managed to secure a truly legendary director for the project.
So, this month's challenge: Can you guess who is standing next to me?
Your only hint: He produced a world-famous food show. 🍽️
➡️ Prompt: If you’re the first to reply with the correct name, I’ll give you a shoutout in February and send something fun to your physical mailbox.
Thanks for being here. 💛 Remember: You are wildly capable.
— Jess
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