WOAH!

Where have I been?

I apologize for the lack of posts in the past month. My final year of university has started and as all things are when school begins — pure chaos.

I’ve been busy managing my company while also staying on top of classes, research, and applications for the coming year. I’ve also been feeling burnt out and almost having zero clue what to write.

However, I’m happy to say the past few weeks have yielded great lessons and returns that I can now share with you.

So here are the cool things happening in community, lessons reflected from school and business, and maybe a sign for you to re-evaluate your commitments so you don’t burn out as we enter the busiest season of the year.

From my browser to yours, Aria

P.S. Due to my chaotic schedule, sadly I’ll be only posting monthly from now on. But if I have the capacity, I’ll send out bonus posts!

⏰ TL;DR

🔖 Bookmarks From Mine to Yours

• beVisioneers applications have just opened! Great opportunity for those looking for some accountability/support in climate-tech

• $5K pitch competition based in NYC, deadline to apply is October 5th

• The 5% rule that will tell us where we are to achieving AGI

• AI is the new search engine, 60% of Google searches don’t end with clicks. Is SEO obsolete?

• Use this tool to see what people are talking about on Reddit and turn those insights into actions

• Why third spaces aren’t enough to create community

• How to build social capital by Andrew Yeung (spoiler alert, it’s by giving more than you take)

Jadewell Updates

There have been a lot of new developments on for jadewell, which comes from many ups and downs.

Social Media Growth

I’ve been creating content non-stop for our social media accounts, and have not been getting the ROI I’ve been wanting.

It’s been disheartening because I started a different TikTok for an experimental brand, and that has taken off.

I see these to be a couple of issues:

1. I don’t feel confident in the ways I’ve been educating my following. I am not a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, and there are a ton of content creators who are. So, I feel like a fraud.

2. I don’t like the idea of “selling” the product. I’ve tried a couple different ways of creating content (memes, educational talking head, product showcase), and nothing is really sticking to more than 200-300 viewers

3. I’m focusing a lot of patient experience and onboarding people right now, so my time is all over the place.

So here are some things I’ve been doing to troubleshoot:

1. I’ve put posters up around the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences campus looking for a current TCM practitioner in training who’d want to join the team as the Marketing & Growth Lead.

2. I kept changing my profile picture from the jadewell logo to me, teetering between me as jadewell’s brand vs. a more formal version of the company brand. I’ve changed it back to the logo earlier this week, and booked a time to photograph the product with my friend to create more professional content with the product.

3. I scheduled a time to consult with my advisor, and she recognized I was spread thin with this idea of creating an EHR vs. getting patients. I’ve been getting feedback that the UI isn’t the most helpful for retention, so I started thinking about how I could fix that — spreading my time to a problem that isn’t necessarily the thing I should be focused on right now. So we’re steering the engine back on course. Focus on getting patients, getting feedback, and taking those notes down. Everything else can come later.

Veteran Benefits

I found out the other day that 22 veterans take their own lives every day.

This pattern is heartbreaking: chronic pain, sleep disorders, anxiety, and digestive issues that conventional medicine treats with more pills, creating a cycle of dependency instead of healing.

These folks served our country, only to come home and fight a different kind of battle against a healthcare system that couldn’t care less about them.

That's why we're offering every veteran $30 off their personalized Chinese Herbal Medicine prescription at jadewell.

Not just once, but for an entire YEAR.

Brick and mortar practices can put a monthly $350 hole in your wallet. For our veterans, it'll only be $99/mo.

If you know a veteran wanting to try Chinese Herbal Medicine, they can take $30 off their 1-year prescription using this link.

Reprioritization to give impact to your most important goals

I just dropped my first college classes ever—in my 5th year of undergrad. This semester, I found myself drowning in two extra classes for a minor I honestly didn't care about, spending 8 hours a week on something that, let's be real, doesn't matter much. It wasn't part of "the plan," but life isn't linear. These 8 hours I’m getting back? They're going straight toward jadewell. We're steadily adding more patients, and that time will go toward serving them.

This decision came after a hard lesson in overcommitment. Four weeks ago, I was flying high after the University of Groningen's Psychedelic Summer School. You know that feeling when you've learned so much that you want to do everything at once?

Fresh off the plane, I was planning a massive 1-day conference, designing an experimental college course, maintaining my startup, jobs, classes, research, relationships (and my sanity).

But task switching is one of the most detrimental things you can do to yourself. Every time you pivot between projects, your brain burns glucose ineffectively. Task-switching can reduce productivity by up to 40% and leave you mentally exhausted, yet we've somehow glorified juggling seventeen projects as a badge of honor.

Last Tuesday, while simultaneously answering emails about different projects, I had a realization: I was sabotaging my own impact by trying to maximize it.

The conference planning was suffering, the course design was mediocre, and I was becoming the exact opposite of the thoughtful, present educator I wanted to be.

So I made a choice.

The conference moves forward with my full attention, and the experimental course gets shelved.

Have you heard of Warren Buffett's "25-5 Rule?”

It’s not just investment advice: write down 25 things you want to achieve, circle the top 5, and avoid the other 20 at all costs. Since making this shift, my conference planning has accelerated dramatically, my stress levels have plummeted, and I'm actually excited about my projects again.

This isn’t the first time I’ve learned the hard way about overcommitment and excitement in developing new things. But, practice makes perfect (‘:

Startup Boston Week Recap

My anxiety spikes when I'm hosting events.

I don't consider myself an anxious person, but when it comes to bringing people together, my need for perfection overloads logic. Alesia and I hosted a side event for Startup Boston this past Sunday.

It was going to be a cute, pot luck networking event outside. A week before, forecast says rain.

We get worried, I go, "We can call it Friday night"

Forecast still says raining heavy Friday night. Okay, we move the meet-up to under a gazebo.

Sunday morning comes, and it's pouring. We pivot again, we take over a cafe.

10 minutes pass, no one shows up. 15 minutes. 20 minutes.

Anxiety's riding high. And then people start trickling in.

"I wasn't going to come, but saw we were going into a cafe so I thought why not"

"I was looking forward to the pairing and meeting someone in my industry"

"I'm just glad we're meeting somewhere warm."

We definitely thought about canceling leading up to this event. Up to 30 minutes before the event started.

But folks made an effort to show up in the cold and drenching rain.

The feedback and connections in such an intimate setting were exciting. Robotics and AI and biotech and software. We all found something in common to talk about, and made intros across our respective industries. I've learned that I will never regret pushing through to host an event. But I will regret the emptiness of community I couldn't help fill.

So even though a couple days later while I’m finishing up a 10-hour work-day, I still worked my volunteer shift and made new friends (without really feeling like selling!)

And I think that’s one of the most magical parts about going to these types of events, your energy attracts good energy. I was able to make about 5 intros that led to real, tangible partnership/meetings.

I think that’s pretty sick (:

📰 Random Recommendations

• Weapons is still in theaters, and if you like black comedy and horror/psychological thrillers, this one will tickle that itch.

• I’ve been slowly getting through the Almanack of Naval Ravikant after a recommendation and it’s been nice to read about business in a humble way instead of the start-up grindy-culture we’ve been power washed with over the past few years. You can buy a hard copy, or view the free web version the author has provided as a public service.

Powering down, Aria ✌️