Today’s the day we’ve all been waiting for!

Well, at least I’ve been waiting for it, WORKING FOR IT, and begging it to just get here already. It seriously feels like a second birthday.

Today marks the official launch of my business, Jess, XO.

I hope I can help you gain clarity in your dreams and your business, and help you nail down how exactly to put your passion into words worth sharing. 

I have my cute husband, Diana Kerr’s coaching, my bestie Lindsay‘s virtual + in-person support, and Kristen Fulchi’s branding genius and friendship to thank for the whole of this business. And so many more people I’m not mentioning! (They’re playing the “get off the stage” music!)

But here’s the funny thing, even before I started with Kristen, even before I started nailing details down with Diana, or Marco-Poloing Lindsay, this flutter in my heart to start a business has been YEARS in the making. In fact, I stumbled on a blog post I drafted for a launch. It was the business I wanted to start before I ever began teaching. But, you know what?

I wasn’t ready. (You’ll see why that’s funny in just a minute.)

The business I wanted to start was all about me, but this business that launched yesterday and that I’ve been grinding away in for months is ALL ABOUT YOU.

This business is my love letter to you. It’s my pep talk that says, “Hey. Being you is EXACTLY enough, and I want to help you grow into that instead of growing away from it.”

Even so, I love looking back on that old launch post because it really reminds me what a crazy story God has written me into. It also shows what a FREAKISH, futuristic thinker I am to actually draft a launch post without anything to launch yet. 🤣

Below I’ve included some snippets of the post, and I’ve included my modern-day commentary in bold italics because I JUST HAD TO.

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“Look, there’s no button to push to get you through this. You just gotta jump in and be scared and stick with it till it gets fun.”

— LUKE DANES

You see, on Gilmore Girls, Lorelai decides to open an inn. She had a really hard week, and asks Luke for business advice. She says, “Does it ever get better?” and he responds with the above remark. When he’s done, she says, “So there’s not a button? What about a lever?” 

It has always been my dream to own a business.  

Flashback: In 2nd grade I had the brilliant idea of decorating pencils with writing. As in, with PEN, I wrote names on the teensy tiny flat surface of number 2 pencils. Brilliant. I charged $.25 a piece. Then the ink rubbed off on people’s hands. Not so brilliant.

Sure, the idea of having nobody dictating your schedule or tasks is great. So is the idea of having something to call your own. But I think the most attractive thing about a creative business is the fact that you’ve had an idea and seen it through. There’s a lot of room between brain-seed and brand launch.  The reality of launching a business shows perseverance and it shows hard work.

No matter how big or small, branded or franchised or sponsored, launching a business shows faith.

It shows, no matter the outcome, I believe in this dream and I’m going after it. Who’s with me?!

So here we are. I took a leap and it’s launch day! But, can I tell you something? Along the way from that brain-seed to brand-launch, I wanted so badly for this time to be different. I wanted to be 100% ready to take on something bigger, because I want to be the kind of woman that follows through, that starts, that finishes, and starts again. But, by all definitions of the word (trust me, I looked up virtually every one), I was not ready.  

I’ll let you in on a secret: I’m still not. (yep, still not)

Maybe ready needs to be redefined. Instead of it meaning we’ve learned all there is to learn, maybe it just means we’ve reached the point that we know we DON’T know it all, but we’re going to jump anyway.

How do I know I’m ready? I don’t. But I do know this:

• I did the work.

• I prayed a lot.

• I’m ready to quit getting ready, and just to go.

• I didn’t pull a lever, hit a button or turn a knob.

• I dreamed, despite a mass of incompetencies.

• This is the one passion that never fades, the dream that haunts me, and the one thing I would do if all the money went away.

• I jumped straight into the freezing pool of feeling that I wasn’t enough quite yet, and swam to the camp of reality that says, “You’re not enough now, and you won’t be. But HE is.”

• I’m letting God do the rest.

Frankly, that’s not what I was missing. I wasn’t missing the start or the finish, I was missing everything that came between.

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Oh my gosh, guys. I’m in tears over here.

(It might be launch week lack of sleep + too much caffeine, but STILL.)

In exactly three and a half years since I wrote that blog post, everything has changed, but SO much has stayed the same. 

I had no idea that “finishing” something would take on a much longer timeline, but here I am with faith and follow-through–the very thing I wanted God to cultivate in me three and a half years ago. 

Welcome to Jess, XO. I hope you stick around and let me listen to, refine, and turn your big dreams into the right words that will have people DYING to be your bestie–oh and of course they’ll buy your thing, too. That’s just a byproduct.

To everyone who helped this dream become a reality, I’m so grateful, I can’t even make up a cheesy joke to convey my gratefulness (this is serious). 

Here’s what you need to know: I’m here to stay and I’m here to serve you, and I’ve been dreaming about this for AGES. 

When I was on a walk the other day, I heard Emily P. Freeman’s podcast whisper in my ear, “What do you want?” And I was so shocked to hear myself whisper back, “I want more of the same.”

If that’s not an indicator that you’re living out your dreams, I have NO idea what is. 

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Action Step:

Write down a dream. Make it a big one. Tell someone about it (bonus if that someone is me!). (And head to the blog to see if I can help you take action on that dream!

Feel free to share your dream in the comments (or tag me on Instagram! @jessjordana) so we can cheer you on.

Jess, XO

I’m Jess,

iced-coffee-obsessed, saved-by-grace, allergic-to-small talk, and one of the biggest dreamers you’ll ever meet.

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COPY TIPS

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LIFE

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