Proof to Product 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
For full show notes and resources, head to bit.ly/PTPEp152
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ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT:
Proof to Product is hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, Proof to Product has worked with thousands of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!