Jenna Kutcher
Appearances
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
Unlock Your Potential and Thrive as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
It all grew super organically until it didn't. So when I was a wedding photographer, I realized really quickly that there were a million wedding photographers in my area that were really talented. And the only thing that made me different was me because we were all delivering a very similar finished product.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
Unlock Your Potential and Thrive as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
And so even in the early days, and I mean, this is like, oh, gee, Instagram, we're talking here. Like when we used to use those weird, like Valencia filters, I would just share my life. Like, and I would just share who I was and what I was struggling with. I would share working from home with no makeup on. Like, this is the reality of it.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
Unlock Your Potential and Thrive as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
And it was so interesting because when I first became a wedding photographer, I just hid behind my work. It was like this safe spot. I figured surely everyone only wants to see my work. And I remember years and years and years ago, polling my audience of like, what are your favorite posts? And it was all personal. And I was like, what is this? And so I
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
Unlock Your Potential and Thrive as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
Fast forward a few years, we went to Hawaii and I wanted to do an experiment. And I love experimenting. I am like a huge experimenter. And so I said, for 30 days, I'm gonna only post me. And this is at a time when I've been hiding behind my work for years. And my engagement... skyrocketed. My confidence in myself grew. My connection to my audience grew.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
Unlock Your Potential and Thrive as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
And I was so fascinated by it because I was like, this seems like the least interesting thing of what I'm doing. I was just sharing my life. And it really made me realize people need to connect with people. And I never set out to be an influencer. I really wanted to just continue to grow and share.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
Unlock Your Potential and Thrive as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
And I really have realized over the last few years of my dream is to help women build businesses they don't hate and build lives that they love. And I have been taking people on this journey, not as like, I have figured this all out, but like, I am still learning. I am still growing. I'm still figuring this out.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
Unlock Your Potential and Thrive as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
And so when I started doing like social media collaborations and social media promotions and different things like that, it just felt so natural because I am the kind of person where I'm like, Oh my God, have you tried this new lip gloss? Or like, This skin like cleanser is life changing.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
Unlock Your Potential and Thrive as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
Like I am naturally, like when I go on a girl's date with my girlfriends, by the end of the day, I've dropped like 10 links of things that I'm just telling them about because I'm like, if this works for me, this could work for you. Like I just love not gatekeeping, whether it's business or like beauty products or whatever that is.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
Unlock Your Potential and Thrive as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
And so that was just such an interesting facet for me to realize people care about the business, yes, but they also care about what's happening behind the business and what's fueling it. And so that was interesting. We did have a viral moment. So I grew very organically. I felt like I knew every single follower. It felt that way. And we had a moment go viral.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
Unlock Your Potential and Thrive as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
And it was a photo of me and my husband on the beach in Hawaii. And I was talking about body image and it was the funniest post because I just, I never expected it to go viral. I think that's what happens with viral posts. And I was clapping back at someone who had said, how can a woman like you get a man like him? and my husband is very fit, he's very in shape.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
Unlock Your Potential and Thrive as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
At the time I was curvier, I had been going through miscarriages and loss. My body had been through so much and I was just angry and I was like, who are you to say this? Like we have been together for a decade. He has loved me through every pound, every pimple, like everything. And that post like blew up and overnight we got hundreds of thousands of followers and blessing and a curse, right?
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
Unlock Your Potential and Thrive as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
Double-edged sword because wow, this is amazing. But also like, who are these people and why are they here?
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
How to Stay Motivated and Avoid Burnout as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
I mean, first off, it is such a privilege to be in a position.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
How to Stay Motivated and Avoid Burnout as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
But I've realized, and here's what I've really realized, is if you have listened to this whole episode, you recognize the power of trust. And I want my community to trust me. And if something isn't in alignment, not only do I feel it, but they feel it. And so I have had to get so good at discerning what are the right partners? What are the right opportunities?
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
How to Stay Motivated and Avoid Burnout as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
What are the right sponsorships to take on? Is this in alignment? And I feel that way with every opportunity, whether it is getting asked to speak on stages that I would have once dreamt of being on, but now I'm saying no to, or whether it is hosting a mastermind or all these things. I could do a million things. I don't want to.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
How to Stay Motivated and Avoid Burnout as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
And I think that I'm just at this place in my life where I just recognize that peace needs to be protected. And right now in this stage of my life, my priority is my family. And anything that I'm saying yes to is a no to them. And what is the most important thing to me? And so turning down things like recording another social media reel
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
How to Stay Motivated and Avoid Burnout as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
To me, it's like, but this is more time with my kids or this is protecting and preserving the integrity of my followers.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
How to Stay Motivated and Avoid Burnout as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
Yeah, and I think that boundaries protect what's sacred to you. And I've just had to relearn this lesson over and over and over again of boundaries aren't bad. And boundaries keep what I say most important to me, and they exemplify that. What I am saying is most important to me is reflected in my calendar. It is reflected in my bank account. It is reflected in the way I show up every single day.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
How to Stay Motivated and Avoid Burnout as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
And so it's a muscle that you have to learn to flex and it takes time because I think that, you know, there was a time in my life where I got paid $50 to take pictures of a cat and I couldn't believe it. Like somebody is paying me to do something. I love, this is amazing. And what a blessing that is.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
How to Stay Motivated and Avoid Burnout as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
And the better that you get at listening to your gut and discerning like, well, this is a great opportunity, but is it the right opportunity for me? It keeps you in alignment so that you are not passing up things that you should be saying yes to and that you are not saying yes to things that you should be saying no to. And so I feel like I just have like a really strong intuition and a gut game.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
How to Stay Motivated and Avoid Burnout as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
And I don't apologize for saying no any longer because my no is literally just a reflection of like what is mattering the most to me right now.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
How to Stay Motivated and Avoid Burnout as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
I feel like I've realized that our peace is so expensive and life is so short. And I definitely am not anti-hustle culture because I do believe hustle is required to get the dream off the ground, no matter what the dream is. There have been so many points in my career where I get an idea or have a project or something like, yeah, I can hustle.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
How to Stay Motivated and Avoid Burnout as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
But if hustle is the only way that you can operate and sustain what you're building, that is not a business. Like you are building a prison for yourself. And I've watched so many people who have really successful businesses and really lousy lives. They are rich in their bank accounts and empty in relationships. And to me, that's just not worth it. That is such a high cost.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
How to Stay Motivated and Avoid Burnout as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
At the beginning, my show was interview only, which did not work out well for me. I recorded it from the front seat of my parked car in my garage because I was worried my dogs were going to bark. I didn't even own a microphone. I had iPhone headphones and I was like, all right, let's just do this. And so I committed to doing it for 90 days. And I was like, let's just see how it feels.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
How to Stay Motivated and Avoid Burnout as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
And I feel like I have had to learn how to discern what are my best yeses and what can I say no to without having FOMO, without having guilt. And it's interesting because I think becoming a mom really shifted that for me of like, anytime I'm away from my kids, I want it to be worth it.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
How to Stay Motivated and Avoid Burnout as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
And the only way for me to alleviate mom guilt was to know that like I was doing work that I love, work that I enjoy, work that gives me peace, that excites me. So that whenever I'm working, I'm not there thinking I should be with my kids. And whenever I'm with my kids, I'm thinking I should be working.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
How to Stay Motivated and Avoid Burnout as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
It's like the only way to get past that was to just be in total alignment of like, what do I want for my life? And I think we focus so much on like leaving a legacy, but I think in reality, we have to focus on living a legacy. And I'm like, I want my kids to see the joy. I want them to see the peace.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
How to Stay Motivated and Avoid Burnout as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
And I've had so many turning points in my business where I've just realized that money isn't the answer. At times in my business where I've earned the most money, I've been the most miserable. And I just feel like there's this threshold of where do I get more joy? How do I derive joy? What does peace look like? When I go to bed at the end of the night, how do I truly rest?
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
How to Stay Motivated and Avoid Burnout as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
And it's just been a huge shift and it's not easy. And it doesn't come naturally because I am an achiever and I am a hard worker and I am driven, but I'm just at a place in my life where I'm like, I just want to enjoy it.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
How to Stay Motivated and Avoid Burnout as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
Yeah, there's this quote that I heard that totally changed my, my mentality. And it was instead of asking yourself, if you've worked hard enough to earn your rest, ask yourself if you've rested well enough to do your best work. It was by a girl, Nicola Hobbs, I think is her name or Nicola Dobbs. And
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
How to Stay Motivated and Avoid Burnout as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
I heard that and I was like, whoa, like I have been wired of like, I just need to get this done and then I can rest. And I was like, what if we like flip this on its head? And it's just been so transformative for me because I'm like, no, I need to like come into this feeling rested and well to do my best work. And that is like totally shifted things. I love that.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
How to Stay Motivated and Avoid Burnout as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
I can always quit it if it doesn't work, if I run out of things to say. And here we are years and years and years later. It's evolved and I think one lesson from this is that so often when we start a new project, we overthink all the things that don't really matter. I remember worrying about the cover art, the title, how am I going to sign in and sign off of every episode?
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
How to Stay Motivated and Avoid Burnout as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
How long is it going to be? What is the format? When is it going to be published? All of those things have changed and evolved over the last seven years. And my show has stayed consistent, right? And so one thing that you brought up is like so many people don't actually dive in and do the thing.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
How to Stay Motivated and Avoid Burnout as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
We think about all the things around the thing, whether you're writing a book or starting a podcast or starting a business, you fixate on all the decisions you have to make instead of doing the actual thing, which in my case was sitting down and hitting record. Once I did that, the rest is history. But it was so easy for us to overthink all those things.
Young and Profiting (YAP) with Hala Taha
How to Stay Motivated and Avoid Burnout as a Content Creator | Presented by OpusClip | YAPCreator
So my podcast started as an experiment, and we're still going strong 100 million downloads later.