Transcript
Speaker: Hey everyone, welcome to Rebloom, the podcast where we explore the power of change, rediscovery, and living with intention. That's right. We're your hosts, Lori and Jamie, two friends who really love a good story about transformation.
Speaker: In each podcast, we're going to chat with inspiring guests who've made bold pivots in their lives or careers. They've let go of what no longer serve them to embrace something more authentic, joyful, and true to who they really are.
Speaker: And the best part, many of them reconnect with passions or dreams they discovered as kids. It's about finding the seeds planted long ago and letting them bloom again.
Speaker: So if you're ready for real conversations about reinvention, purpose, and following your creative heart, you're in the right place. Let's dive in and see what it takes to re-bloom.
Speaker: Lori, our listeners are in for the biggest treat today. This um is someone that you have followed and fangirled all over for many, many years. And you introduced me to her and I have been looking and fangirling over her just recently. But what an incredible story.
Speaker: Well, and you know, what's really cool and great is when you finally did get to really chat with someone that you've watched their career, but then you realize that they're a really kind person and you just have a lovely conversation and get to learn more about them.
Speaker: That's a real gift. And I'm so glad we get to share that with our listeners. So listeners, you will enjoy this wonderful conversation that we had with Justina Blakeney and oh, enjoy every minute of it.
Speaker: Well, hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of Rebloom. Lori. How are you? I'm excited for this one, Jamie. a little bit fangirling here. I've been watching this person and being inspired by this person for a long time.
Speaker: ah You know, we have had some amazing conversations and the ability to speak with some of these artists and people is just, well, I'm fangirling too. So let's bring on Justina Blakeney. Hi, Justina. How are you? hey I'm good. I'm good. Thank you.
Speaker: Great. Where are you calling from? Where is home for you? home is los angeles california right now i'm in an area of los angeles called frog town and it's a very quirky little zone here a lot of artists a lot of architects and lot of industrial buildings so or we transformed an industrial building into our studio space here I love it. I love it. So Justina, I want to ask, Lori's going to, I know, jump in and ask you about your childhood, but you you mentioned l L.A. um So you're in the heart of L.A. Were you affected by the the fires?
Speaker: Yes, my family and I were affected by the fires. um We live in Altadena. Uh, we were very, very lucky, um, that our home survived the fires, but we do live very, very close to the burn scar.
Speaker: Um, so much so that the wind blowing maybe even one degree in a different direction would have taken our home. Um, so it was, it's, it's been a very intense year for many, many reasons, but the fire definitely, um was a big, ah big one. we were displaced for seven and a half months and actually just got back home a few weeks ago.
Speaker: Wow. Wow. Wow. Okay. Well, I'm glad that you all are safe but and we're certainly, our hearts are with l LA and, and it was, wow, it was pretty, it was very devastating for so many. And,
Speaker: um So we'll kind of circle back to that, too, because I'm sure that that makes being creative a little difficult in a whole year or two when you've got so many other things on your mind. But go ahead, Laura, start with the beginning. All right. Well, I think I believe you grew up in a creative household. At least it seems that way. And I just was looking at pictures on Instagram today of you and your sissy. And they were so adorable. And she's also creative.
Speaker: So what what was your family life like? So I grew up in Berkeley, California. um My family, my parents are developmental psychologists, both of them.
Speaker: And so while they're not creative sort of in the traditional sense, they're more, you know, in the academics. um I believe that because of their background in psychology, they really understood that creativity was something that would be so important to nourish from a very young age. So I think in that sense, we were allowed a lot of creative freedom that I noticed a lot of people who I grew up around weren't necessarily afforded. So for example, um you know, we were allowed to kind of like,
Speaker: reorganize the furniture in our home and in our rooms or, you know, paint murals on walls and just really take ownership over our space in a way that I think a lot of times, you know, kids are reprimanded for drawing on the walls and things like that. Whereas, um,
Speaker: I think in our home, it was something that was sanctioned. So that's just an example. But me and my brother, Yishaya, and my sister, Faith, um we all grew up to ah sort of be very steeped in in creativity in our own ways.
Speaker: That's amazing. That's interesting that you've talked about your your room and the way you decorated because that's largely your brand. Yes.
Speaker: But I read that you also did a stint in fashion in in Italy. Yeah. so So you grew up and did you always, were you involved in art throughout school, your school years? Yes.
Speaker: Yeah, so I always knew that I enjoyed art. um and And that's really defined very, very broadly. From a young age, I um always painted. loved to draw. I did crafting. I took a sewing class when I was nine and, you know, started sewing my own clothing.
Speaker: I loved ceramics. I did woodworking. just loved making things with my hands. That was really something that I really enjoyed. Um, I also love music and, you know, started taking guitar lessons when I was 10 and piano and I sing and, um, love theater art. So I just love the art world. And really, um, that's where I just sort of felt at home was, was in the arts. And that was just something that, um, was clear to me from a very, very young age. And, um,
Speaker: I think because my parents were academics and, um, And I was also interested in a lot of academic subjects.
Speaker: ah It never necessarily occurred to me to think about art as a career. i always thought that I needed to do something a little bit more steady. um and so i think for me, as I began to sort of, as I finished college and, you know, was looking around kind of trying to decide what to do for my career, fashion felt like something that was in the art world, that was very creative, that was fun.
Speaker: I always loved textiles, but it seemed also something that could be potentially financially stable. And um and so that for a time was where I thought I wanted to sort of live was in the fashion world.
Speaker: Did you go to college for fashion or did you go to college for art or did you do something completely different? So I went to UCLA and I studied world arts and cultures there, which was a unique major. um That was actually a very new major when i when I started at UCLA. And I loved the mix of sociocultural anthropology, which is sort of like the study of human culture, on contemporary cultures around the world.
Speaker: um It was a mix of that and kind of art history and just learning about, you know, arts and cultures, contemporary and historic from around the world. And that was something that I think was was a very unique thing to study. And it really ended up informing so much of um what i ended up doing later in a way that I never could have necessarily anticipated. But um I did my junior year abroad in Italy. And that's when I first sort of started getting interested in italy and really started getting more excited about fashion design and there's such a culture of style and design and it's such a part of the italian dna that when i graduated from ucla i wanted to move back to italy and i wasn't sure exactly what i wanted to do but um i just wanted to do it there so my sister faith and i decided we were going to spend
Speaker: a few years there in our twenties and see, see what would happen. And so we just sort of moved there on a whim, um, and ended up going to fashion school there so that we could get our visas, our student visas so that we could stay there legally. And, um, as the years went on, we ended up opening up a small boutique there. will Wow. Wow.
Speaker: had an Italian business and um were sort of little entrepreneurs. How fun is that? that know like your side Yeah, it was really fun. we have So you did that for a little bit. And then yeah did you come back to the States or what? Did you stay over there for a bit or?
Speaker: Yeah, we actually stayed for six years. Wow. For that first year living abroad and then stayed and then came back, graduated. And then when we went back, we stayed for a total of six years. And um we were in Florence. so It was a pretty small town and had an incredible experience. um Pretty much lived in Italy through most of my 20s. Amazing. And then amazing moved back to the United States when I was 27.
Speaker: um i Thought if I ever want to live in New York City, i should probably do it now. So I moved to New York City and um ended up spending a couple of years there in Brooklyn and then moved back to Los Angeles in 2008, the end of 2008. So all did how did the Jungalo brand begin?
Speaker: what's what are What's the story on that? Impeccable timing. um Because when I moved back to Los Angeles, which, you know, I had been here and and this was sort of where my family was was living now and stuff. So this Los Angeles really was home for me. So coming back here, i had just had these...
Speaker: Eight years of living in you know Italy and New York and um so many different odd jobs and odd skills. And I again, I knew I wanted to do something creative um and i wasn't exactly sure what that was. and I hadn't really had any kind of normal job.
Speaker: Ever. I mean, besides, you know, working retail in high school and, you know, working at restaurants throughout college and things like that, I had never really worked an office job or anything like that. So I, I got back and, um and I've always really loved to write.
Speaker: And so I started writing um and pitching articles and ideas to art magazines and culture magazines and thinking that I wanted to enter into the magazine world.
Speaker: And was also working on a series of books of craft books at the time. um and So I was sort of steeped in this publishing world. And because of the timing, it being the, the you know, 2008, 2009, 2010,
Speaker: blogs were really starting to kind of take off at that time. yeah And so being in the publishing world, i said, you know, maybe I should start a blog. I have kind of an interesting story. I have interesting aesthetic.
Speaker: And so I just said, I'm going to start a blog and I'm going to, I'm going to just blog every day and just see what happens. And I didn't really have large ambitions around it. I just thought it would be a fun way to kind of chronicle The different things that I was doing and I was working mostly at that time in Los Angeles as kind of a creative freelancer for hire.
Speaker: You could really hire me to do anything creative. So I'd had the experience of, you know working for some of these magazines and Italy, I had this shop. So I sort of knew how to. you know, do everything from design shops to ah design websites and logos. And then, you know, I could write and little by little, I started collecting kind of ah a group of clients who I was just their creative go to person for their small businesses.
Speaker: And um so I was blogging about that and hoping to get new clients through the blog and um decided to call the blog Jungalo, because I always had a passion for plants.
Speaker: And um My little my little apartment in in Los Angeles, not only was it full of plants, but it was also full of um botanical plants.
Speaker: fabrics and textiles, botanical wallpapers. And it just had a very jungly feel and it was like tiny little bungalow. So it was just like the jungle bungalow. yeah junggolow And that was it So it started as a blog.
Speaker: And, um, and at that point, you know, it was just like, just anything creative that I did, it went onto the blog. I love, love, love that. And, you know, for our listeners, we have so many people who are like, I'm too afraid to do this. I don't know what I'm doing.
Speaker: And, you know, sometimes you don't you don't need to know necessarily the destination. It's just trying it. I mean, you were doing all of those little things and you were planting seeds all along the way from college to Italy to your business to fashion school. I mean, each and every single one of those is planting seeds.
Speaker: to get you to Jungalo. I mean, it's incredible. And, you know, if you, I think, I mean, people sometimes think, oh, I have to have all this intention and a plan and a business plan, but but sometimes it's just, you need to have life. You need to have life experiences. Yeah. So many of our guests share that they started doing something just because it was interesting and they did it not because they had a grand plan or They thought it was going to make millions of dollars. They were just doing it because it came from a place of was heart driven. was who was authentic. It was interesting to them. And then they just were putting it out there. And I think when you do that, other people really feel it and they connect to that.
Speaker: Yeah, I agree with that. And I really believe in the doing. i think for creatives, especially like being creative in your head is is not enough.
Speaker: Like it's, it's a beautiful part of the process, but it really only is a small part of the process. Like I can liken it to, um, when I first moved to Italy and I was, you know, trying to learn the language and,
Speaker: I had a lot of friends who were also American students in Italy. And after the first semester, I spoke Italian and they did it. too And they were like, how did you learn Italian so quickly?
Speaker: And I said, well, you know how when we were at the grocery store um just now, you know, buying a few items, when I was at the checkout counter, I was just trying to speak.
Speaker: And I might've been making a fool out of myself, but I was trying. And you were speaking in English. You know, and that for me really was a huge lesson. Just, just that just, you need to try, even if you make a fool yourself, even if you feel awkward,
Speaker: Like having the vulnerability to like allowing yourself the vulnerability to just try something out, something that's new, something that you might stumble. You have to be able to get go past that point in order to really do anything.
Speaker: um But especially, I think when it comes to exercising your creativity, just trying things out is is how you learn and how you grow. And I couldn't agree with you more, Justina. And you know, it's interesting too, because you have ah you have a huge following now, but when you started that blog,
Speaker: You had probably no followers. I mean, you saw your mother. Exactly. And, you know, that's the thing. Put it out there. I mean, people are so afraid, but you don't start at millions of followers. You start at one, usually your mother.
Speaker: um But it's it's putting it out there. and And I think people think, oh, if I put it online, the whole world's going to see it. Most likely not. Most likely it's going to be just a few people. But it's to your point, it's putting it out there, because if it's just in your head, it's kind of like owning ah it's kind of owning a cookbook, but never making anything in it.
Speaker: You got to put it out there. I was on a panel last night um for it was you know making money for artists. And we were talking about, wait a minute, I totally lost my train of thought.
Speaker: Oh, my God. These senior moments. We do have these senior Oh, God. You were on a panel of artists. Here we go. It came back. Okay. So I was on a panel of artists and at the end they asked us if we had any advice. And I said, I've always gone by the build it and they will come kind of model.
Speaker: Because I just sort of dive into things sometimes and I don't always know where it's going to lead and, you know, stumble through it Maybe like when I when we first did Art Biz Jam, which was a conference we hosted for artists in business.
Speaker: We laugh about the first year and the mistakes we made, but then we grew it to where we had 50 attendees, you know, 10 later. And it became smoother and smoother. So you don't always start out with everything figured out. yeah You figure it out as you go. yeah yeah Yeah. so So you're back in l L.A. You've got Junglo. You've got your blog that's starting.
Speaker: And then what's happening? So that process was like me for many years then just logging and continuing to work as a creative freelancer for hire.
Speaker: And I did that for about five more years before things kind of started to pick up on my blog enough for me to I think the first real step was getting a book deal um for ah my book that came out in 2015, which was the new Bohemian's Cool and Collected Homes.
Speaker: Um, that book deal was very hard to get. i spent over a year pitching it and got more than two dozen, um, rejections from different publishers.
Speaker: And, um, and then that was the book that ended up becoming a New York times bestseller and kind of putting me more on the map and putting my blog more on the map. And then,
Speaker: That was also the year that then I was able to incorporate Jungalo as a business and start funneling more of the creative projects through my own business as opposed to working for other clients.
Speaker: so So that was a really pivotal year for me. and um And I also started to hone in a little bit more on what my business actually was, um because i had been providing primarily services, but I sort of knew that I wanted to be making stuff.
Speaker: um I wanted to have products and I wanted to have a place to sell products and um just put my stamp on things, put my vibe on things and and create this whole world that people could experience.
Speaker: That's amazing. So I know you had, do you still have products in Target? Yes, we still have products in Target. um We have both products from our Jungalo collection and then we have A few products left from our Opal House Design with Jungle Lo collection, which is being phased out, but there are still a handful of products left.
Speaker: I have purchased some of them. They're beautiful, as is everything you designed. Thank you. And so as you're creating project or creating products, then it's also taking you back to your love of textiles and back to that. family Yeah. Full circle moment because I've always been an artist, but I've always also been a maker. So for me, you know, crafting things, whether it's in clay or wood or or textiles is I love to knit. Like I just I love to make things. So for me, product design um in many ways,
Speaker: more than interior design is something that is very fun for me. i love the almost like alchemical process of creating something from nothing. um The idea is sort of drawn to gold, you know, and and that's just something that always has felt magical to me.
Speaker: When you had your store in Italy, were you selling things that you made in the store? Or you were you mostly buying products? Like what kind of store was it? Yeah, it was a magical little store. it was called Compai, which um the idea for the name is comes from an Italian diact ah dialect word, which means companion or friend, compa.
Speaker: yeah um And we were selling mostly vintage, but we were also making things that were going in the shop. And a lot of it was apparel that we were selling.
Speaker: reworking vintage stuff into new things. So um we would take the arms of a sweatshirt and, you know, sew it onto to a t-shirt or sort of create these funky, weird new ideas for for clothes. And they were pretty avant-garde, a lot of them. We had a lot of clients from Japan who really loved our stuff and a lot of, you know, kind of high fashion Italian folks who like, like how weird and conceptual the clothes were. um And then we also had a lot of American students who would kind of come and also just like hang out in the shop with us because we, you know knew all the best spots and it sort of became a little bit of a hub
Speaker: for a lot of folks there to just come in and hang out with. I love it. Les Sorelles Blakeney is what they called us, like the Blakeney sisters. I love it. It sounds dreamy. So what what made you decide to leave that and go back to the States?
Speaker: So I think by the time I left, I was just ready for a scene change. um Florence is a very small city and i had been there for a long time. And think I was also just starting to get, you know, in my late 20s, starting to feel like I need to sort of figure out my life a little bit.
Speaker: i was feeling the pressure of that when I came home. Back to the other creative spot of Brooklyn. mean, Brooklyn's very creative out there. I mean, it's it's really a neat place.
Speaker: Yeah, i it is a very neat place. And living there when I did, it was sort of very much um on the cusp. Like I go back there now and I'm like, don't I don't even recognize Williamsburg because when I lived there, you know, there wasn't much there. It was still yeah so like taxy taxis wouldn't bring you to Williamsburg from the city when I lived there. So it's so different now. And I really appreciated my time there.
Speaker: And i had a hard time. I was not... um I didn't have an easy time there. The weather was difficult, I think for me, the transition of being in kind of a big fish in a little pond and then being like a guppy in an ocean, stabilizing for me. um And I think because I didn't have a regular job and this was really before social media, I didn't really know how to plug into a community there. And so I felt lonely.
Speaker: but it's amazing It's amazing how in a very large city you can feel that way and with all those people. But it's but I think it's also going to places such as you did going back to your family back in California, which is also huge. But if you're back with your family, I mean, that's.
Speaker: That's home. Yeah. have deep roots here and I went to college here. So I had a peer group that was here and yeah I had actually already started dating my now husband when I was living in New York. So we were in a long distance relationship and he was here in LA. So I think given the fact that I'm kind of a homebody, I just spent a lot of time at home in New York. And I was like, I'm spending lot of money to like not be going every night. Yeah.
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Speaker: My daughter lives in New York. There's not a lot of sunshine, so you definitely have up upgraded the weather situation. Correct. yeah so now you've got you've got junglo you've got your fine art that you're doing you've got you I mean ah ah this huge empire go ahead laurie's got a question i just not a question just maybe an observation and a question is I feel like I've been seeing more recently you painting more yeah and really embracing even more the fine art realm I don't know if that's
Speaker: a pivot you're making or like are there things that are happening and also i know you were affected by the fire I'm just curious like how did that affect your your business practice and what you're doing now and what you plan to do down the road yeah so um So Jungalo is now, you know, we started in 2009, I incorporated in 2015. So it's been 10 years since we incorporated as a business and really in 2020, 2021, 2022, when
Speaker: um when Jungalo shop was at its height, we had more team members than we've ever had. And um we also were doing this very large, very high profile.
Speaker: Target collection where I was designing about 300 pieces a quarter for Target. I started to ah maybe not even realizing it so much because it was still there was still so much that was different because of the pandemic. um but I just started to burn out honestly.
Speaker: And it was just starting to get to be too much for me. Um, I'm a little bit of a introvert and leading a large team or co-leading a large team, um, with our CEO, Sarah was still, it was just a lot for me. And, um, and so in, I think it was like probably 2022,
Speaker: 2023, where I just realized if I didn't make some changes about how I was doing things, you know, I'm also a mom, I've got, you know, a 13 year old kid and, um, my whole family lives here in l LA. My family is a very big part of my life. I was just spreading myself too thin. And so, um,
Speaker: I just, I had to make some changes. And some of those changes meant just nourishing myself in a different way and nourishing my own creativity that i was, that i wanted to do things that weren't just ah for the commercial realm, even though when I'm designing for a commercial, so it still comes from my heart it still comes from who I am as a person, but still feels different from when I'm you know, doing things just for me.
Speaker: And so I just started painting more and um and started these different creative practices for myself. I also started, you know, doing things like going on hikes by myself and just, you know, spending a little bit more time alone, um just getting to know myself better and who I am in this moment.
Speaker: And when i took time to do that, I just found that the fine artist in myself that I think was always there. but that was ah I was always a little bit afraid, I think, to lean into that part of myself because I always wanted to feel financial security underneath and didn't want to rely on that side of myself for anything.
Speaker: for our finances. And so, you know, thank God I was able to, and, you know, build up a a pretty stable business, which then allowed me to feel free enough to lean more into um myself as a fine artist and give myself that, that freedom.
Speaker: That's amazing. You were also, ah you've been going on a health journey as well. Many health journeys. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's been inspiring to watch too, because I was laughing to myself earlier when you said about for the art making, you have to do it. It can't just live in your head.
Speaker: i was thinking to myself, exercising lives in my head. yeah Sometimes I think if i and if I pin someone exercising, then I'm actually doing it. You guys can't see the Cheetos that I was eating before. Yeah.
Speaker: But they're they're they're organic or simply or whatever. I'm like, so they're healthy. Not really. Sort of adjacent. They're not orange. don't know. But well, so that's interesting that you say that. And, and, you know, um so I'm a photographer.
Speaker: And I was speaking at a garden club. And I take a lot of floral photos just for me, just for the pure joy of it. I needed the space. I needed to do it to bring joy to my own life to get, you know, to shut down some noise.
Speaker: And the ladies were like, so what do you do with these? What do you, what, like, what are you not selling? Well, I'm like, cause I'm not doing them to sell them. I'm doing, you know, sometimes you do need that creative space for yourself that you can just, yes, there are things that you do to make money.
Speaker: I take photos for other brands. um You paint for a brand. You paint for your own brand. Lori, I know, I see, she's just so joyful. She goes to a clay class once a week, and she's just happier than she can. You know, it's not for anybody but her.
Speaker: She loves it. And I think... Our listeners, it you know, it you don't have to sell it. You don't have to show it to anybody. But if you do it and you put creativity in your life, it just brings such joy back to your life.
Speaker: Well, I could so relate to to your comment about it's just if I've been doing art licensing for 20 years and it's just different. I love designing products for that, but normally for that, which this is different from your brand, I'm designing to the brands of multiple manufacturers. So it's not always like what I would want to paint. I'm painting from a design brief that I've been given.
Speaker: So in these last few years, I've been really, really trying to just paint more of what I want to paint. and not caring where it's going to go or where it's going to land or if it sells or I don't care. And it's so joyful.
Speaker: There's a different energy underneath it, underneath that work um for me in a lot of ways. um I think also um there is something.
Speaker: ah like so exploratory about just, you know, Meeting yourself in front of a blank canvas and just seeing what happens, you know, without a directive.
Speaker: yeah um And I think for me, just allowing myself that sense of exploration and that sense of just let yourself see what happens. It really, it anchors me to the present moment. And um I think that's something that I'm really curious about and and really interested in practicing. You know, i have a meditation practice and that, you know, hopefully anchors me to the present moment, my painting practice. But I think one thing that often happens, especially with people who are very creative, is that we live in the future.
Speaker: Because we're constantly imagining and and creating like possible futures for ourselves. And so what it does for me when I'm practicing my art is it anchors me to the present moment and takes me out of constantly future tripping, which then actually makes me lose the present moment.
Speaker: um And so I think that's something that I really think is not just important about making art, but I think it's so vital. I so agree with what you're saying. because Yes.
Speaker: Jamie mentioned the clay class, like when I'm problem solving, you know, how to have the clay not fall in on itself and all those things. I'm not thinking about all the other issues or problems or whatever. It's just, you're just in that moment. And I agree it's vital.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. And that i I would say that I love that too about when I'm playing with the flowers, like it has to be in the moment. It has to, I'm not doing it to, as I say, I love future tripping. I love that. I think I might have to use that. That's a great, you know, cause you don't, you're not looking forward. It's just right here, right now. The sun is shining the lights on it. How am I going to capture this? What's it going to be? And, but I think if we gift ourselves that those moments, um,
Speaker: of the present. I think that's, that's tremendous way to look at it. Yeah. So I saw that you're also working on an Oracle deck with your mom. Yeah, that's very cool.
Speaker: Yes, it is very cool. We, um, we finished it. It's, it's gone to press. It went to press a few weeks ago. So, um, it's been a project that December, it will be two years that we've been working on this project together. And it's probably the project I'm most excited about right now um that we're doing. It is an Oracle deck. So I was able to paint.
Speaker: um paintings for all the cards. So each card represents a ah different painting. So it's 50 paintings to create. a heck wow um As I mentioned earlier, my mom is a developmental psychologist and so wise and so such a ah beautiful writer.
Speaker: And um and so when I had the idea to do this project, I just felt like there couldn't be a better person in the world. to collaborate on an Oracle deck with just being able to bring her wisdom and her 60 years of, um of studying and learning about human development into this Oracle deck. So it really is a marriage of wisdom and wonder. It's science, it's magic, it's um it's chance, it's it's steeped in research, but also in, you know, creativity and alchemy and art and
Speaker: to be able to create this project together with my mom and also just have that legacy for my child, for my nieces and nephews, and just to have that this project that you know my mom my mom's years of research and my dad too, he helped a lot as well, but like just to have that as a legacy for them and the world is something that I'm really proud of and excited about.
Speaker: When can we get that? So it's coming out January 6th. We're reclaiming January 6th. Oh, good. Coming out January 6th. So in, you know, a few months from now.
Speaker: Yeah, that's amazing. That's amazing. So we started talking about the fires and we've also touched on creativity. So you've had these big things. I mean, in the past year, you've had the fires happen and been displaced.
Speaker: How have you been able to maintain your creativity and your your sense of present this past year? Yeah. So I almost feel like creativity is not something that I integrate into my day or my being. It's just it's part of me.
Speaker: And so, you know, when people ask me, was it hard to exercise your creativity or or that sort of thing during the fires or when you were displaced? Um, that doesn't resonate with me. It's just because it's, it's, it's more like, well, did you lose your curly hair during the fire? It's like, no, my hair is just curly. You know what I mean? who i am And so,
Speaker: I don't feel like it, it, I mean, there were some maybe logistical challenges, but luckily, you know, I do have the studio space. So I, I was able to come to the studio here to paint.
Speaker: Um, but what, what I do, what was challenging was maintaining my health routines. That was very challenging for me over the last seven months. That was something that, um,
Speaker: that I felt really derailed by just by not having my regular routines and my space and my home. And, you know, i was going on these hikes in the canyons, you know, four times a week and, you know, the canyons are still closed after the fire. You know, there's just a lot of things like that where my my routines were derailed, but my creativity is so much a part of who I am that it just, it doesn't go away.
Speaker: I get that. Yeah, I get that, too. And I think it's I think it's important that we lean into feel that way about certain parts of my life, too. And when things are challenging and I'm like, I can't give up.
Speaker: Also, I. I can't give up the things that bring me joy. i mean, for me, my creativity brings me such great joy. So I don't know. I just found ah you find a way to kind of keep it going. You find a way to keep making it happen. And even if it's troubling, even if the all around you is challenging. And yeah, so you're you're writing this Oracle deck with your mom and you're continuing. Jungle O is continuing. Sure.
Speaker: Yeah. So Jungalo, closed our online shop. Was that last year now? I feel like it's been longer than that. It's been a little longer than that. So we we ended up closing our online shop last year and that was a difficult decision. But at the end of the day, i just made a choice that I need to make business decisions based on my life.
Speaker: and not based on the business. And so that was a really important thing for me to learn because when I talked about, you know, having kind of overworked myself and getting to a place where I was feeling more burnt out, a lot of the choices that I was making in those periods were based on what what I thought would be best for Jungalo and what I thought would be best for the business, sort of disregarding what might be best for me, for Justina, for myself and my family.
Speaker: And so at the end of the day, when we closed the shop, it was more about my own health and well-being and also my daily enjoyment.
Speaker: What is lighting me up in this moment? What I'm drawn to, what I'm feeling excited about. And um and so the the online shop turned into something that was very, you know, relying very heavily on long marketing meetings and funnel this and where do we need to place this copy in order for it to be read most quickly and on Amazon they're doing and it just, it turned into such a mechanical kind of um experience where the joy had been kind of sucked out of it for me.
Speaker: And so it was time to try something else. yeah i love I love that you were, um that you took a step back and realized that and made the changes. Because I think oftentimes people don't do that.
Speaker: you You had that experience though, Lori. You had that experience too. Yeah, yeah yeah I did. In my mid-30s, I sort of was burned burnt out and had a staff of 12. And I'm also an introvert and managing people is not...
Speaker: something I don't think that's my gift. um So yeah, I too, i i stu I started talking to a leadership coach and kind of broke down my life and in its different facets and then created a vision for what I wanted it to be moving forward and made changes.
Speaker: Otherwise, I just, you know, I wasn't being good to anyone, my family or myself or the people that worked with me. Yeah. at a certain point, you have to step back and say, why am I doing this?
Speaker: Right. Yeah. Right. Yeah. I have a saying that I always say to people, you know, think about what the view at the top of the mountain looks like, you know, and what's it what's it look like to you? Because if you're running so busy and so fast and furiously and you're not enjoying it.
Speaker: And yeah, something's got to shift. And sometimes we can do that. I mean, there were years that I was doing a whole bunch of other things and I'm like, this isn't focused. It's not where I want it. I'm not happy. I'm not happy doing this. and you know it's and you want you want it There are a lot of things that we can be good at doing. It's interesting. My background's in marketing.
Speaker: And people hear, oh, you're an artist, you're a marketing person. Well, you can blah, blah, blah. And the next thing you know, you're spread super thin. And just because you can do it doesn't mean you should do it. And to your point, if you make those decisions for yourself rather than your business, then, you know, and then usually those, I don't know, better better decisions and better opportunities come around too.
Speaker: So what are you excited about moving forward? Yeah. What's new on the horizon for you? I'm excited about being home. Yeah. um So that's, that is just, I can just feel, was telling my husband the other day, was just like the homeostasis, like,
Speaker: just that my whole nervous system is just more relaxed and, you know, I feel so much more expansive and so much more presence just being home. So I'm really grateful. um You know, we talked about the Oracle deck, which is called Grow Pathways to Passion, Purpose and Peace. So that is, you know, so, so exciting and nurturing and soulful to have that coming out with my mama.
Speaker: and um And I think I'm just also really excited about the expansiveness of this moment and the ability to really focus on and pick intentionally what I want to be doing with my time, who I want to be doing it with, how I want to be doing it.
Speaker: And whether that is more design work, whether it's fine art, whether it's music or something completely off the wall and unexpected, um i am excited about allowing myself the expansiveness to continue to follow my curiosity, to continue to follow my heart and continue to share in that with my community um in a way that can hopefully be illuminating and uplifting people.
Speaker: for folks who may want to be alone for this ride i'd love to hear you sing like yeah i love music and i love live music so if you ever performing live who knows maybe that's your next your next rebloom yeah we have a vision so um i host these song clubs uh where you know i have family and friends and we come together and we sing um Every few months and and in these song clubs, um what we do is a hum circle as a warm up. And it is one of my favorite things to do is just sit in a circle and and you're humming together and you're creating these just these harmonies and these resonances with one another.
Speaker: And it is such a powerful and almost kind of honestly trippy experience um that it it almost feels like you're on magic mushrooms or something when you are doing this humming together.
Speaker: It is so powerful that I have a vision of. Curating and helping create hum circles at like a level where thousands of people are participating together, like at a stadium or and these kinds of huge.
Speaker: um um Honestly, I think it has the the capacity to heal people at a very, very high level. And it's such a simple and free and easy and beautiful thing to do.
Speaker: So don't be surprised if someday at some huge stadium, there's like a major home circle. I love it. I love it. There are two things along those lines. I've taught with Carrie Schmidt a couple times, and she does, um we do singing together.
Speaker: And we we, not hummed, but we all sang ma together in a group of women. And it's really crazy, that the vibration, you feel it in your whole body.
Speaker: And then another experience, I did work for the Women of Faith at one point, and they have these huge conferences in arenas. And at one of those, they were all singing Amazing Grace acapella, the whole stadium.
Speaker: And I'll never forget it. It was amazing. Well, also the way that humming and ma or any of these kinds of like sustained sounds and doing them in community, the way that it stimulates your vagus nerve.
Speaker: And the way like it actually does, it actually physically can heal you and relax you. So there's also like, it's it's not just a sort of like a woo woo.
Speaker: hi hi It actually is a real vibe. I'm going to try that on my grandsons when they're feeling frustrated. Yeah, that's a great idea. don't know. I'm just...
Speaker: I'm just trying to make beauty and feel beauty and share beauty. And, you know, we'll see. We'll see how it all goes. And think you're doing all those things and I can't wait to watch.
Speaker: Yeah. And thank you for sharing your beauty with us and sharing your journey because it's just been it's been an amazing journey that maybe I mean, I love that it just. It didn't just happen. It happened with great, there was purpose along the way, but each of these seeds has allowed you to bloom in just such an incredible way. And what what an amazing gift you have of sharing your beauty with others. Thank you so much. Yeah.
Speaker: Thank you. it's very Thank you. um so glad I finally got to like really chat with you other than sending little messages all the time. do you do you have any advice that you follow or that you like to give to people, give to other artists or people who ask you questions? Just a little piece of advice.
Speaker: I think for me, having a daily creative practice is extremely important, especially for folks who may not consider themselves to be between quotes creative or or kind of feeling a little bit stuck.
Speaker: whether it's journaling or sketching or doodling, or it literally could be anything creative, but just carving yourself out even 10, 15 minutes every morning to dedicate to that one practice.
Speaker: I would just say, give yourself one month, give yourself actually do 45 days. That's my, my parents' magic number for, you know, doing, um, getting into habits is the 45 So Do it for 45 days and see how it changes your life.
Speaker: Yeah, that's great advice. Super advice. I love that. So to all our listeners, think of that creative thing that you can do for the next 45 days. And we thank you all for joining us today. Justina, you've been a joy to have. We so appreciate you being with us.
Speaker: Peace, love and rebloom everyone. Life is too short not to follow your passions. So go out there and let your heart plant you where you are meant to be and grow your joy.
Speaker: We will be right here sharing more incredible stories of reinvention with you. Make sure to subscribe to our podcast so you never miss an episode of Rebloom.
Speaker: Until next time, I'm Jamie Jameson. And I'm Lori Siebert. Peace, love, and Rebloom, dear friends.
