Breathe, Bodywork and Beyond! with Jessica York
In this episode of the Kindling Project podcast, host Melissa Halpin speaks with Jessica York, founder of Coterie Detroit and owner of Breathe Bodywork and Beautification. They discuss the importance of community building, wellness, and self-care, particularly for women. Jessica shares her journey in the wellness industry, the holistic treatments offered at her spa, and the significance of reconnecting with our humanity in a tech-driven world. They also explore the impact of technology on mental health, the importance of modeling self-care for future generations, and the role of hobbies in personal fulfillment. Jessica introduces her new sound healing initiative and emphasizes the difference between entrepreneurship and business ownership, encouraging listeners to pursue their passions for personal satisfaction.
Find all things Jessica!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-york-breathe/
https://coteriedetroit.com/
https://www.breathebodyworkandbeautification.com/
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Melissa Halpin (00:02.013)
Welcome back to the Kindling Project podcast. My guest today is Jessica York. She is the founder of Coterie Detroit. She's the owner of Breathe Bodywork and Beautification, spa, as well as an event organizer. She just had a big fundraising event called Indie Chick Night Revival that I attended, and it was amazing, along with being a body positive model and brand ambassador. So welcome, Jessica. Welcome to the Kindling Project.
Jessica York (00:31.818)
Hi, it's so nice to be here finally.
Melissa Halpin (00:35.293)
I'm so glad to have you. I know we've crossed paths a bunch of different ways and we've talked on the phone, but just to see your pretty face this morning, it's wonderful.
Jessica York (00:44.162)
Yes, good morning. It's so pretty and sunny out.
Melissa Halpin (00:47.589)
I know, spring in Michigan, we need it. It's always sort of a head game, right? It's like sunny and then snowing and then gray and then sunny again.
Jessica York (00:50.414)
I know.
Melissa Halpin (01:00.647)
So both you and I are community organizers, community founders. We're building community around women and around their passion projects. I think we both really honor creativity, and we understand that in order to live your best creative life, you also need an aspect of wellness. And so let's start with the spa and your journey towards taking care of yourself and taking care of others and the importance of doing so.
Jessica York (01:21.432)
Mm-hmm.
Jessica York (01:31.04)
Yes. So I started the spa and it's actually coming up on the five year anniversary. So July of 2020. And I've actually been in my industry for 19 years. So I've been a massage therapist for 19 years. And when COVID happened, the place I was managing decided to permanently close, which was a good option. You know, the landlords were not going to let.
Melissa Halpin (01:41.38)
Awesome.
Jessica York (01:59.296)
us out of the lease and it just would have been a messy situation. And at that point, I already was thinking, I really want to go on my own because I want to do some different things. I want to engage more of the community. I really want to do some charitable work and be more philanthropic and just get more creative with the services on the spectrum of wellness because it's not just a one size fits all thing.
Melissa Halpin (02:01.275)
Yeah.
Jessica York (02:26.198)
So I opened Breathe Bodywear Computification. I love alliterations, by the way. So a lot of things I do have alliterations in them. And it grew really fast. You know, I wasn't sure how it was going to go, but I kind of gave myself like the six month window where it was like, okay, this is the risk I can afford. And it, no, I was the first week I opened, I was fully booked and then stayed pretty much fully booked since then. So.
Melissa Halpin (02:31.069)
Yeah? Yep.
Mm-hmm.
Melissa Halpin (02:45.885)
Mm-hmm.
Jessica York (02:54.67)
I think I grew to include my first contractor within six months. I started expanding suites within the first six months. So it just grew really fast. And I'm happy that people really seem to embrace my idea of wellness and beauty in a time where everything was kind of all over the place.
Melissa Halpin (03:14.141)
What kind of alternative treatments are you offering?
Jessica York (03:17.998)
I say we offer everything but nails. So we're a vegan day spa, so everything we have does not have an animal product or byproduct in it, as well as making sure everything is cruelty free. And we tend to lean a little bit more on the holistic and clean side of skincare. So we offer massages, facials, we do some like spa services like body wraps, body scrubs, detox foot treatments.
Melissa Halpin (03:36.796)
Mm-hmm.
Jessica York (03:46.872)
We offer some old world skills and tools like ear candling. We do have sound healing. We have a new girl that does ear seating and auricular therapy. But then we also offer some advanced services like dermaplaning, infrared, blue light therapy, and things of the like. So really, everything but nails. We're kind of a one-stop shop.
Melissa Halpin (03:52.455)
Mm-hmm.
Melissa Halpin (04:09.169)
I love that. And how do you want your client to feel when she leaves?
Jessica York (04:16.748)
I really, so we are a unisex, gender-free place. So yeah, no matter what gender you are, and we actually have like about a 30 % male population, which is not common for spas, but we really try to make sure that no matter what gender you're identifying with, that when you come in, that you feel like you matter and that your human side matters. I think so often, and we live in such a techie age,
Melissa Halpin (04:19.888)
okay. Okay. Okay.
Melissa Halpin (04:25.991)
nice, nice.
Thank
Melissa Halpin (04:42.525)
Mm-hmm.
Jessica York (04:45.068)
that we neglect the fact that we're human. And that sounds weird, but think about it for a second.
Melissa Halpin (04:45.117)
Mm-hmm.
Melissa Halpin (04:50.469)
No, know that totally resonates with me.
Jessica York (04:54.414)
Right? Like we get so down on ourselves. Like we were just talking about not getting things done within a certain timeframe or not getting so many things done in a day or it feels like we never have time. Well, our brains are not even biologically evolved enough to deal with the kind of technological advances that we've gone through in 20, 30 years. So this tends to take quite a big toll on our human nature in many, many ways. And so when people come into our space and they leave,
Melissa Halpin (05:05.095)
Mm-hmm.
Jessica York (05:24.396)
I want them to kind of reconnect with that, right, I'm a human being and I'm not a robot kind of feeling. It's important to have that kind of physical nurturing in place. That's what's biologically baked into us. Being on our cell phones, not biologically baked.
Melissa Halpin (05:29.949)
Yeah, we are.
Melissa Halpin (05:41.623)
100%. I mean, even today, like, I'm happy to be seeing your face through the screen, but I'm more excited to see you tomorrow in person, right? It's like that physical touch, it's all of those sort of micro expressions and emotions that are only transmitted in person that I feel like they're lacking. I feel like they're lacking in all of our lives. And I think now more than ever, in-person treatments, like the ones that you offer.
Jessica York (05:50.838)
Yes! my gosh!
Melissa Halpin (06:12.305)
And then we're seeing it, of course, in events. People want to go to an event where they can get a vitamin IV, or they can get a mini massage, or there's a prayer circle, or some kind of ceremony where we're getting in touch with that human side of ourselves.
Jessica York (06:29.592)
I actually just hosted this thing called, it's called the Let Go Ceremony. And I started it as just a one-off in January, like around New Year's. And it was so popular that people requested a second one. And I was like, you know, I think I'm gonna do this at the beginning of every season. Like, what do you wanna shed from that previous season? And same thing as we're selling out every time.
Melissa Halpin (06:34.813)
Mm.
Jessica York (06:54.078)
And same thing as the time before, people are like, well, when is the next one? When is the next one? Because I think we're carrying around an unrealistic burden upon ourselves. we having things like a ceremony, which sounds woo woo, it's not. It's a time to sit there with other people in a space where we're not judging each other. And we're like,
Melissa Halpin (07:05.757)
Yeah.
Melissa Halpin (07:11.943)
Yeah.
Jessica York (07:20.37)
let's get rid of some of this emotional garbage that's weighing us down physically, because it's super connected. And I think it's important to build those things into our schedule. You know, recently, and I will say commonly, I see women in particular posting online about, I don't have time or money to do these things for myself. I have to take care, especially with mothers, it's I have to take care of my kids.
Melissa Halpin (07:35.943)
Mm-hmm.
Jessica York (07:49.102)
Well, my kids need this. My kids need this. My kids need this. I'm going to say two things. One, your kids are probably doing too much already. Their schedules are crazy.
Melissa Halpin (07:58.213)
Yes. As a parent, I mean, my kids are a little older now, but they were always over scheduled. Even though I set the intention not to over schedule them, the society, the culture, the schools.
Jessica York (08:08.94)
Yeah, it's an overstimulation. And I mean, I was very much a type A person, and I'm still like a multi passionate person. It's fine to be multi passionate, right? But there needs to be some hardwired balance in there. Because we're keeping kids and teens overstimulated. We're keeping them on this loop. The second thing that I really want to point out is your kids and your teens, if anything, if there's one takeaway from this episode.
Melissa Halpin (08:19.303)
Right.
Jessica York (08:38.976)
Your kids and your teens are watching how you take care of yourself. You are modeling that behavior for them and teaching them what is acceptable and what is not, whether you realize it or not, whether you think they're paying attention or not. Subconsciously, they absolutely are taking care of themselves if you take care of yourself. I had a mother say that to her daughter recently in service.
Melissa Halpin (08:43.089)
Yes, yes.
Jessica York (09:07.372)
She said, there's one thing I wanna pass on to you daughter, it's that you don't do what your mother did. You don't overbook yourself and overwork yourself to death and stress yourself out about every little thing. She said to her daughter on the table getting a facial, you need to learn how to put this into your schedule and into your budget so you don't end up where I am. And I thought that was so profound and important. And I was like, I'm like getting teary doing her facial.
Melissa Halpin (09:18.983)
Mm-hmm.
Melissa Halpin (09:35.133)
Right, right, right.
Jessica York (09:36.248)
But it's so, so, so true. We have to be able to model that for the next generation. There's already enough in the world keeping kids and teens overstimulated. We should be the one to deprogram them. You know what I mean?
Melissa Halpin (09:48.113)
Yes.
Melissa Halpin (09:53.252)
100%. And I do also agree that it's, they do as you do, not as you say. You can see, I mean, it's important to talk. It's important to have honesty and dialogue. But really in my experience, my kids are 16 and 20 now, so they're getting up there. They live in the environment that you create for them and they respond to that. And they respond to what's going on around them more than what is told to them.
Jessica York (10:20.098)
And it's important to be able to step in when you see they're overstimulated because it's gotten pretty bad. You know, it's gotten to the point where they don't physically know how to shut down, especially like in the age range your kids are in. Technology has been around the entire time. So that's a very different type of unlearning that needs to occur. And so I'm pretty happy that I'm starting to see in some of the younger teens and even older children that they're like,
Melissa Halpin (10:28.135)
Yes.
Melissa Halpin (10:41.895)
Right?
Jessica York (10:49.698)
going back to flip-flones, they're doing these week-long purges off media, because they see that kind of bridged generation that's really struggling. I teach a general approach to implicit bias for health and wellness professionals. It's my own class. And in the state of Michigan, licensed massage therapists need this to get their license again. And I recently was at a school up north, and there was an 18-year-old girl there. And I asked her, said,
Melissa Halpin (10:59.324)
Yeah.
Jessica York (11:18.894)
What has it been like having technology and cell phones and tablets and all that around your whole life? And she kind of paused and looked really sad for a second and kind of pensive. And she said, I feel like I don't have a voice. Like, I feel like I don't have an opinion because no matter what I say, no matter what I do, it's judged, it's critiqued. And then people will go on the offense with me. So like what I say never matters. And that was just
so sad that we're this young girl with her whole life ahead of her feels like she can't say or do anything right and
Melissa Halpin (11:49.287)
Yeah.
Melissa Halpin (11:55.675)
Right, it's gonna be criticized or there's just this cacophony of voices that over overwhelming her drowning her out.
Jessica York (12:02.986)
It was. And she said, so I simply don't say anything at all. She said, you know, when I do want to say something, she said, I'll go back and rewrite it 15, 20 times. And she said, I end up just not posting anything because she's just so, so worried at this point, because it's a lifetime of that building up. Right. So it's really important to step in this. This is what overstimulation does. Right. Eventually, like an over, you know, overloaded circuit. What happens? It blows.
And so then you just end up with nothing. And so it's important to be able to get in there at those ages and be like, okay, we need to put the pause on this.
Melissa Halpin (12:39.665)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. We were always kind of strict with not having phones in your bedroom. we monitored. Even now with our 16-year-old, we have some software monitoring the types of conversations that go through our Wi-Fi. I just think it's important to understand that your child has an unprecedented access to the whole world. And that includes all the great things and a lot of really dark and stressful things.
Jessica York (12:53.9)
Mm-hmm.
Jessica York (13:06.894)
Mm hmm. I don't, I'm so glad I had some time in my life where this was just not accessible. I didn't have 24 seven cable. didn't have 24 seven internet. I didn't have a lot of those things growing up. I didn't have a phone until I was an adult. And so I'm glad looking back that that was the case because I don't think I had my first smartphone until I'm not even sure maybe 25 or older. I'm trying to remember the timeframe, but it just
Melissa Halpin (13:15.376)
Me too.
Melissa Halpin (13:23.549)
again.
Melissa Halpin (13:35.805)
Yeah. Me too. Yeah. I think I got my first smartphone at 32. So I'm a little bit older than you. I'm Gen X. I mean, I had a flip phone and stuff in college, but I really wasn't on social media until my kids were born. And that was in my mid, late 30s.
Jessica York (13:36.738)
I had a life. I had a life.
Yeah.
Jessica York (13:54.326)
Yeah. And I, if I didn't have a business, I get rid of it in a minute. I actually do have a Barbie flip phone that I bought last year. And so it's like my emergency line phone. but they actually brought that phone and this company that partners with Nokia brought back like flip-flones and then the sidekicks that kind of open up and they're designed for.
Melissa Halpin (13:57.767)
Mm-hmm.
Melissa Halpin (14:03.281)
I love that.
Melissa Halpin (14:07.836)
Yeah.
Jessica York (14:20.586)
Gen Z to be able to break their tech addiction. There's even a section built into the phone, like in the menu, that gives you tips on how to like break off of your phone addiction. And it's really interesting to me. But meanwhile, everyone my age is just like Barbie Fuffa. But it's actually designed for that, for Gen Z to break off the addiction. And I think it's good. And it's been nice just to be able to, when I do go somewhere,
Melissa Halpin (14:27.569)
Wow.
Melissa Halpin (14:38.769)
Fun fun fun. Yeah.
Jessica York (14:48.854)
Yes, I do have my smartphone. do carry it with me, you know, for things like GPS or if I got lost or whatever. But I do have just my flip phone for an emergency and I just leave that one on.
Melissa Halpin (15:00.689)
I love that for you. what other kind of things, what other kind of services and pampering and care and wellness are you promoting outside of the spa? I know that you're working with communities, young and old. I feel like tech addiction is something. And obviously you mentioned the letting go ceremony. Is there anything else that we'd like to add to that conversation?
Jessica York (15:02.261)
Mm-hmm.
Jessica York (15:26.006)
do a lot.
Melissa Halpin (15:27.323)
I know, I know, feel like there's so many things to get out of Jessica.
Jessica York (15:32.078)
So this year I just started Resilient Soul Sound Healing, which is my little side company, but I'm that, I'm that person. And I'm incorporating it at the spa, but I'm also incorporating it more in community spaces. I've actually been a meditation teacher since I was 18, so 20 years. And I'm really, I think there's certain things when it comes to spirituality and healing that
Melissa Halpin (15:36.71)
Okay.
Melissa Halpin (15:41.275)
Yeah, right.
Melissa Halpin (15:52.475)
Okay.
Jessica York (15:59.424)
Maybe people don't know about me or realize about me or that I kind of just save for a little special events. But I've been a meditation teacher for 20 years. And so I'm excited to be more public about this portion of my life and bring it in more. And I really want to incorporate more volunteer opportunities. I'm going to be doing a lot of donation based sound baths and sound healing sessions in Ferndale and Sinclair Shores and Grosse Pointe in the next couple of months, like the entire spring.
Melissa Halpin (16:06.663)
Mm-hmm.
Jessica York (16:29.036)
before I start doing more private events. So I'm really hoping that's just gonna be a nice way to go and legitimately unplug and kind of resonate into springtime. also, yeah, it's really important. I just got done hosting Indie Chick Night Revival and we raised a bunch of money for domestic violence charities. And then I also run a networking group.
Melissa Halpin (16:41.237)
I love that.
Jessica York (16:54.572)
that resumes in June and the focus is mental health meets entrepreneurship. So we have some great topics.
Melissa Halpin (17:01.949)
Oh, well, you have to come back and do some of that with the Kindling Project, because that's definitely our intersection too. I would say mental health and well-being kind of intersected with passion projects and creativity, which includes entrepreneurship, but it's not limited to that. Because I find there's a lot of women who, they still have something they want to get to, but it's not necessarily start a business.
Jessica York (17:27.758)
Because I think an entrepreneurial spirit is different. And so I think that's where people need to understand is that being an entrepreneur does not mean owning a business. Being an entrepreneur means wanting to start something on your own or start something for yourself or have that solo drive. But that could look like creating a hobby club. That could look like creating a book club or maybe like a crafting thing or a volunteer project. Like an entrepreneurial spirit is not limited to
Melissa Halpin (17:30.895)
Right. Yes.
Melissa Halpin (17:37.733)
Yes.
Melissa Halpin (17:47.707)
Yeah?
Jessica York (17:57.258)
what am I going to do to make money? mean, sometimes it becomes that. But I think people that are entrepreneurs have done a lot of that kind of thing throughout the course of their lives. So it's important that people do recognize that being a business owner and being an entrepreneur are not the same thing. Like they can be, but they're not.
Melissa Halpin (17:59.366)
Right.
Melissa Halpin (18:06.951)
Mm-hmm.
Melissa Halpin (18:13.531)
Yep. Right. Right. I know for me, like...
Jessica York (18:17.816)
I know plenty of business owners that are not entrepreneurs, let me tell ya.
Melissa Halpin (18:21.689)
tell me about it. Like working with them as a branding and marketing agency, you know, it's sort of an instinct that some people have it, some people don't. And then even for myself, like I run a business, I've run a business for 15 years. I have this second media platform, The Killing Project, but there's a part of me that is at the core of me that's an artist, right? And that's not necessarily, that's a very sort of solitary activity that I have to
Jessica York (18:27.342)
Mm-hmm.
Jessica York (18:46.413)
Yeah.
Melissa Halpin (18:51.559)
carve out and make time for. It has that sort of, in the sense of entrepreneurial spirit, it has the spirit of like individuality and creativity and producing something for fulfillment, but it's not necessarily producing it for anyone except me or for the universe or for, or, you know, because I'm called to do it.
Jessica York (19:10.722)
Well, I think that's the thing is, and that's why I think I was hesitant for a long time about certain things, because some of that feels sacred to you. And it's okay to just keep these pieces for yourself. And then if you want to share them with the world at some point, that's entirely your prerogative. But it's more important that it's fulfilling yourself first. And then if you feel at that point, I need to overflow this into the world, that's fine. I actually have a project I'm working on right now that that
Melissa Halpin (19:19.569)
Yes.
Melissa Halpin (19:23.58)
Yeah.
Melissa Halpin (19:31.761)
Yeah.
Jessica York (19:40.578)
will be the case, but I'm still being kind of secret about it.
Melissa Halpin (19:45.725)
And I feel like that aspect of self-fulfillment or self-awareness or listening to your inner spirit, honoring your creativity, that sort of untapped potential is really what so many women, that's where they all overlap. That's what they're all often saying, like, I'm not sure what I want to do or I...
Jessica York (20:02.382)
Mm-hmm.
Melissa Halpin (20:12.475)
I'm not doing what I want to do, or I always wanted to sing, or I always wanted to cook, or I always wanted to paint, or I always wanted to advocate for social justice. Whatever it is, like really getting down to that true self and that core of what is it you're here for? And if we could all just do a little more of that, I feel like that's the answer. That's the answer to a lot of the world's problems.
Jessica York (20:36.494)
we're constantly missing things. think when I listen to people talk, I hear a lot of that they're missing things from their childhood or teenage years that they used to love doing and they remember at some point it brought them joy, but that they don't do anymore. There's some common thread there. I think very often we don't make time for our hobbies.
Melissa Halpin (20:40.678)
Yes.
Melissa Halpin (20:54.086)
Yes.
Melissa Halpin (21:00.359)
Yeah.
Jessica York (21:05.133)
I actually see more men make time for their hobbies. I feel like that's a bit of a priority and more of like, this is an essential thing I need to do. And I feel like that's something I admire quite a bit, but I'm sometimes really bad about that. And like someone asked me recently, they're like, what are your hobbies? I'm like, are my hobbies? Because so much I do is group oriented. guess, I don't know, reading. Reading is a hobby of mine.
Melissa Halpin (21:10.066)
Yeah.
Melissa Halpin (21:17.285)
Yes.
Melissa Halpin (21:25.02)
Right.
Melissa Halpin (21:31.441)
Right. Yeah.
Jessica York (21:32.654)
Gardening is something I have to do, but I like doing it too. You know, there's some of those, I love like creative cooking where it's like, not like, oh, I gotta make this for something, but it's like, oh, I get to make something fun, right? I have like probably pretty domestic hobbies. I, have you ever done that practice by the way, where you have a day, like a 24 hour day, and you list out all the things that you should be doing?
Melissa Halpin (21:44.657)
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Jessica York (22:00.482)
to live your best life. So your best like health, wellness, wellbeing life. And you actually list them out and how long it would take within the day to occupy. Have you ever done that?
Melissa Halpin (22:11.983)
Yes, and I need an extra day in between each day, right? I need like eight days.
Jessica York (22:15.63)
So yeah, yeah, my like just the health portion alone took like six and a half hours a day. And if you include sleep, and then you include like our hobbies or like enrichment time, right? It took, I think I had like a half hour left in my day. So it just goes to show if everyone were to actually make one of those lists, it would probably be similar, it'd probably be pretty full. And
Melissa Halpin (22:30.439)
Right.
Jessica York (22:44.398)
It shows you how much we're not doing. Again, our human selves. It's something I'll probably be working on the rest of my life. How do I get to that point? Maybe it happens and maybe it doesn't happen and I can't attach an expectation to it, but I'm going keep working towards it. Last year, actually coming up to this month, I was on Fox 2 Detroit and there were
I was talking about stress, what I was supposed to be talking about stress awareness month. And the reporter was like three day work week. Cause I told him my goal, like what are your goals for this year, whatever. And I said, by the end of the year, I want to be down to like a three day hands-on work week. And he like ridiculed that. mean, ripped it apart, but you know what? I got down to that three day work week by the end of last year and I don't regret it.
because it gives me the space and time and occupancy to kind of figure things out or if my body needs more rest or if I just need to sit on the couch and watch friends all day or pet my dog. Like it's important to be able to figure some of these things out that how can I do this and make this work for my life even if it doesn't look like what people think it's supposed to look like.
Melissa Halpin (23:52.349)
Well,
Melissa Halpin (24:06.269)
Well, and absolutely this gets back to the essence of being human. I don't think that we're here to be just cogs in some sort of capitalistic world where we're just working and generating money. I I don't think that's why anybody's here. And I think that's why it's so important to try, if you can, to intersect your living with yourself so that you're authentically bringing some true part of yourself
Jessica York (24:11.281)
and
Jessica York (24:16.012)
No. No.
Melissa Halpin (24:35.141)
some part of your mission or your creativity to the work that you have to do to live, right?
Jessica York (24:40.302)
or even just building in more time to rest. Like if you think about a lot of companies when you start off, they're giving you what a week vacation for a year? Like that's crazy to me. You know, even two weeks per year is crazy to me. Last year, I took, I think a week off every six weeks. And was it hard financially? Yes. But did I get a lot done? Like in terms of my...
Melissa Halpin (24:43.559)
Right.
Melissa Halpin (24:53.437)
Yeah.
Melissa Halpin (24:57.189)
It's, yeah.
Jessica York (25:08.526)
personal self and my home and these other things. Yeah, it was exactly what I needed last year. And so my year this year looks a little different, but at the same token, it's like we're not even in many jobs allowed to do that, even if it's unpaid. They'll just fire people.
Melissa Halpin (25:15.602)
Right.
Melissa Halpin (25:29.349)
Well, it, you know, and even the flip side of that is my husband has like a big executive job and they offer six weeks vacation time. He never uses it all because the expectation and the grind and the hours that everyone else is doing and the deadlines really don't even allow for it. So it's on the table as you know, you have six weeks paid vacation. And if he takes two or three weeks, he's still back to like the
Jessica York (25:40.321)
Mmm.
Jessica York (25:47.992)
Yeah.
Melissa Halpin (25:57.041)
Folks that are working for him that are only gifted two or three weeks because he's not using it.
Jessica York (26:02.072)
Well, think about like being sick, right? If you have a flu, that's gonna take you out for a week minimum. And it's like, you have a kid that has pneumonia and you don't have anyone to watch them. Okay, you're out with your kid those five days. I just feel like these things, again, it's this neglect of being human that it blows my mind. It blows my mind.
Melissa Halpin (26:04.497)
Right. Yeah.
Right? Yeah. Right.
Melissa Halpin (26:25.575)
Right, right. I hope we're changing it. I hope even just having this conversation is getting people to think about it, getting people to ask for more or expect more or craft their lives differently.
Jessica York (26:38.414)
I mean, I think in that sense, I think we are moving towards more entrepreneurship, more small business, et cetera. I think the biggest thing is that the public needs to keep contributing and supporting two specifically small businesses and abandoning a lot of the corporate mentality for these things to thrive and advance further. Just as Detroit in 2020, we had the
Melissa Halpin (26:47.847)
Mm-hmm.
Melissa Halpin (27:01.531)
Right.
Jessica York (27:04.525)
biggest entrepreneurial growth by women specifically in the entire country. We had a 350 % growth. That's humongous because small businesses were already booming in 2020 because people were reevaluating their lives. But then just be specifically by women and at that number. And now we're starting to see unfortunately a scale back of we're having some of the highest rate of small business and independently owned business closures in the country as well. And so it's
Melissa Halpin (27:18.278)
Right.
Jessica York (27:33.994)
It's beyond essential to support small businesses at this point in time, because with the cost of everything going up, it means that those small businesses are having to also shed, you know, and keep up with those costs as well. So what they were starting with financially, they're not able to maintain. And so we need to really sit there and evaluate our money and think of our money holistically as well and be like, okay, is this
Melissa Halpin (27:46.268)
Yeah.
Melissa Halpin (27:59.451)
Yeah.
Jessica York (28:00.442)
Do I really need this? Does my husband really need this? Do the kids really need this? Okay, let's not go to an Applebee's, right? Let's go to this restaurant instead. Or let's maybe not get close from Marshall's. Let's go to this, you know, little private owned boutique or something, right? I think we can all make those decisions so that we're really creating financial wellness within our circular economy.
Melissa Halpin (28:10.3)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Melissa Halpin (28:26.333)
It feels good too. It feels good. So I mean, I was at your Indie Check Night event recently and I took like a whole hour, 90 minutes of it to shop with the vendors and I got some great products. Like I got this balm. have a little dog that's always got a dry nose. So I got this balm for her nose, like an all natural locally produced balm for her nose. Yep.
Jessica York (28:28.365)
my gosh, it feels great.
Jessica York (28:49.75)
that's spotted dog apothecary and she's actually an Ayurvedic practitioner. And so she has these really cute dalmatians like a bunch of them. And she started making products for dogs because she was able to make products for humans and people were asking her. So the products are good for like both ways and that's kind of fascinating. And I think it's important to have a little bit more of that available because you kind of don't
Melissa Halpin (28:55.324)
Yeah.
Jessica York (29:18.676)
know what you're putting on your animals sometimes, you know.
Melissa Halpin (29:18.994)
Right.
Yeah, and this dog is 13 and she's had this crusty nose forever. it's just, you can tell she feels better, right? And it just feels good. And I mean, I've bought the Burt's Bees and I bought the stuff at PetSmart and I've gotten her this steroid antibiotic or cream from the vet. But now I'm using something that is natural and local made. And a couple other things, like I purchased some jewelry as gifts. I don't even know necessarily who it's going to, but I like to have.
Jessica York (29:31.226)
yeah!
Melissa Halpin (29:50.971)
something handmade that when I'm giving a thank you gift to a vendor or to a friend or a neighbor that I sort of have this little stash of, hey, here's something for your birthday and here's the card of the business owner and here's where can find it.
Jessica York (29:51.756)
Yeah.
Jessica York (30:04.056)
Well, and people used to have gift closets. So it's interesting when you tour some historic homes, you'll see that you'll see, this was in the little signs or placards. Like this was the gift closet or this was the gift wrapping room. And I just think that's so smart. I actually have a client that still does it. She says she buys things throughout the year. I think my mom does that too and buys things throughout the year. And it's like, I don't know who this is going to go to, but you know, now I do that with books.
Melissa Halpin (30:11.58)
Mm.
Melissa Halpin (30:15.869)
Thank
Melissa Halpin (30:26.767)
I do it,
Yeah, it'll be here when the right person and the right time comes.
Jessica York (30:35.554)
I do that with books all the time. I'll buy a book and be like, that book. And then I might not read it, but then it's sitting there and then someone will be talking about that topic. I'm like, I have the book for you. Then I give it away.
Melissa Halpin (30:41.819)
Yep.
Melissa Halpin (30:48.029)
I love that. I love that. So another thing that you're doing, I know you're doing a hundred things, is you're doing some modeling. Do you want to talk to us about that modeling, visibility, representation? I know that's a big part of your personal story.
Jessica York (30:56.663)
Yeah, I've
Jessica York (31:03.95)
I have been modeling, you're gonna start to see this theme. I've also been modeling for 19 years. So lot of things started when I was 18, 19 years old. And I started modeling with corsets and I started modeling with bridle. And so I did it for a while and kind of dropped off the, you know, I just had a lot of life changes and such. Then I dropped off and would do a photo shoot here or there. But in my 30s,
Melissa Halpin (31:09.67)
Wow.
Okay.
Melissa Halpin (31:17.103)
Is it?
Jessica York (31:31.39)
Like I picked it back up because people kept telling me, I think you would really like this designer. I think you'd look really good in this, yada yada. And I feel like Detroit was having kind of a Renaissance when it came to fashion and design people sewing, people making their own clothes. I feel like I'm starting to see such a boom with that again, which is great. We all need that. And so I started kind of getting back into modeling and did a few shoots. And from there,
Melissa Halpin (31:49.127)
Yeah.
Jessica York (32:00.576)
It just kind of blossomed. And so I don't just do anything, but I definitely am selective with who I work with. I prefer to only work with Detroit based brands or national brands based out of Detroit and Metro Detroit. I have had opportunities to go to New York and Chicago and be signed by certain agencies, but this is my home and this is where I'm at. So this is where I'm going to do my modeling. So it's been really nice to be able to kind of
Melissa Halpin (32:13.157)
Mm-hmm.
Jessica York (32:29.752)
put forth that effort here as well. And also it helps to showcase brands that are local here. Like there's so much that people don't know they can purchase. I've had clothes made for me for different events. I had a stunning disco themed dress made by OMG Kida brand. And it was made for the Our Detroit, Best of Detroit party last year, cause we placed in a bunch of categories. And it was, I'm going to say.
Melissa Halpin (32:32.519)
Mm-hmm.
Jessica York (32:58.914)
I was the best dress there and I had a ton of photos and videos taken of that dress as well. So I think other people would agree. But it's just, you can have that done. I think people don't realize they can have things like this done for them and it's still affordable. So it's important to be able to know who they can get that from, right? And where they can get that from. Or if they have an idea in their heads that they can bring it to life and actually manifest it if it doesn't exist already.
Melissa Halpin (33:01.019)
I love that.
Melissa Halpin (33:13.884)
Yeah.
Jessica York (33:27.95)
We really know at this point what fast fashion does ecologically, but what it's also done in terms of human labor, child labor, and unfair labor practices. So again, this goes back to being really like money minded in a wellness and holistic sense so that it goes where it should go. And so people are starting to veer away from fast fashion and that's a good thing. It's a great thing in fact.
Melissa Halpin (33:34.77)
Right.
Melissa Halpin (33:55.665)
Yes, I love it. I love it. I have some clients that are in the fashion space, but then I also have a lot of clients who maybe they've never modeled, but because of the nature of our social media culture, they're having to be more visible or they're having to be their own brand or they're making reels for their business, whether it's an insurance agency or automotive manufacturing company or a bakery.
Jessica York (34:13.09)
Mmm.
Melissa Halpin (34:23.879)
There is this world that we're living in now that is about appearance, it's about visibility, it's about representation, and it's about being your own brand. And I think women like yourself who have been consciously modeling and creating businesses and creating communities and trying to be human are a good example. For example, to clients like mine who are, how do I do this? Well, you don't have to be a runway model.
And you don't have to have the perfect body. And you don't have to have designer labels to put yourself forward in a visible way and be comfortable being you. And I do think that's something that's kind of happened in, I'm not a big television watcher, but through reality TV and through social media of just seeing each other and seeing different types of people and being comfortable with that.
Jessica York (35:17.538)
Well, it's important from a consumer aspect. You know, I teach runway. I think it's actually when it comes to out of all the modeling fields, that's what I teach. That's primarily what people pay me for. And it's important to know how to carry yourself. I will say that it helps with confidence. It helps with like really just boosting your presence, how you walk into a room. It's great for businesses and business owners and
Melissa Halpin (35:20.497)
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
Melissa Halpin (35:29.629)
Mm.
Melissa Halpin (35:35.665)
Yes.
Melissa Halpin (35:43.995)
Yes.
Jessica York (35:47.478)
It's important at this point because we saw a boom in plus size fashion, which the word plus size has changed a lot over time. So please just ignore that label right now because it changes every like five years.
Melissa Halpin (35:57.19)
Yes.
Melissa Halpin (36:02.287)
Right, right, right, right. I mean, I feel like now standard size is zero to 20 or something like that. And even, is it really?
Jessica York (36:08.734)
No, it's going backwards again. it's, yeah, and actually, that was one of the things they noted with things like Paris Fashion Week and London Fashion Week is we were seeing this 10 % to 12 % of all models being above a size eight. Now we're not seeing that anymore. It was like something like 0.3 % in the last show. It was absolutely important. And that's crazy because many countries, yeah, many countries that standard size for a woman is
Melissa Halpin (36:32.114)
it's being rolled back.
Jessica York (36:38.062)
size 12 to 14, which is going to be a large to extra large. so, I mean, I'm a size 14, so I'm considered like standard size, but I'm not considered standard size in fashion. I'm considered plus. And for many companies, it's still over an eight to 10 is plus size. So that really hasn't changed. A standard size in most fashion is a four to an eight. and that's unrealistic. A lot of, just a lot of women in general.
Melissa Halpin (37:01.021)
Mmm.
Jessica York (37:06.196)
women are bigger today. Like we are bigger, whether we want to be or not. And so for many of us, yeah, this is I've never been a small girl. I never remember in my entire life being a smaller girl. I was always two inches taller and like two sizes bigger. And so
Melissa Halpin (37:12.315)
Right, right, right, right. It's okay.
Melissa Halpin (37:24.219)
Yeah, I mean, I'm petite, I sort of have been 5'2". I'm small, but I've always been curvy, right? Or plus size, or just, you know, I've never been skinny. It is, for sure. Yep.
Jessica York (37:34.318)
But even that's underrepresented, right? Like being 5'2", right? It's always like, oh, you have to be 5'9 and up, and I'm lucky to be 5'9, and that is why I've had a decent career and a paid career with modeling. That being said, 5'2 is horribly underrepresented in everything, in the way clothing is made and styles, and in department stores, they used to have petite sections, right?
Melissa Halpin (37:51.825)
Yeah.
Jessica York (38:01.026)
But department stores, as those are fading away, we're not seeing that anymore. So I do think that's a marginalized population of fashion is women that are under five four.
Melissa Halpin (38:12.475)
Yeah. Well, I had this kind of a like aha moment raising a daughter who was basically the average size, right? She's like five, six. She's like two or four. She's thin. And all my life, I felt like if I could just be taller, if I could just be thinner, dressing myself would be easier. And then raising Elise, I realized, wait, the clothes are for no one. If the clothes aren't for...
And they're not for plus size women and they're not for at least who's like the standard size. Who are they making these for? have like they just. Yeah, and maybe the awareness around the issues with fast fashion and the issues with representation and the issues with more and more of us are having to get in front of a camera whether we like it or not. Maybe this will drive fashion back to being more custom and and and you know.
Jessica York (38:40.173)
Yeah.
Jessica York (38:47.928)
We have no idea.
Melissa Halpin (39:08.155)
Being able to have your things made or tailored or come from a boutique that specializes in your body type.
Jessica York (39:15.436)
And even just having that amount of consumerism, because like, we talk about Europe and people go overseas, they're like, the closets are so small, but they have less clothes, they're more quality made. And they're able to have this selection that really works for them on a year long basis. They don't need as much. They're just investing in quality pieces. Whereas here we're like, more is better. And I have a...
Melissa Halpin (39:29.447)
Right.
Jessica York (39:42.562)
My closet is overflowing, so I am not one to talk about this. But at the same token, yeah, that does make more sense, right? Instead of having 20 pieces that are throwaway pieces, having a couple, like I have my grandma's coat on today, and my grandma's coat, everyone compliments it everywhere. It's phenomenal. It's vintage, I think it's 70s, and...
Melissa Halpin (39:44.581)
Me too, me too. Yeah.
Yeah.
Jessica York (40:08.504)
never gonna find a coat like that again. It's just made so so so well and I think that's the difference right? When you have those pieces that are made just significantly better you're gonna keep them forever so I think we need to get back to that.
Melissa Halpin (40:23.261)
I'm with you on that. Well, do think that even though you're doing all these different things in all these different spaces, there's a really nice common thread of values and priorities that touches on the wellness you're doing, the community you're creating, the modeling you're doing. So what's next for you?
Jessica York (40:24.558)
Mm-hmm.
Jessica York (40:35.582)
Mm-hmm. Yes.
Jessica York (40:46.328)
So I keep saying that I want to be stable. Like I want this year to be more stable than ever. That was my goal. I'm not using the word goal this year, but that was my original goal for the year. And that's not happening.
Melissa Halpin (41:02.301)
We're in a very unstable world, right? Yeah.
Jessica York (41:06.892)
Yes, so that's not happening. But next up for me is I'm doing the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program in May.
Melissa Halpin (41:15.143)
Congratulations, I did it. I loved it. Some of my dear business besties over the last 10 years were in my cohort. Yeah.
Jessica York (41:22.958)
Yes, I'm excited. I actually was accepted for cohort 32, but I deferred to cohort 33. And I'm actually so glad I did that. There were some big conflicts of interest, but then actually deferring allowed me to get a new lawyer, a new financial advisor, a new tax person. And so I actually feel so much more prepared going into this one. I'm excited about it. I'm excited to...
Melissa Halpin (41:29.777)
Peace.
Melissa Halpin (41:35.397)
Okay.
Melissa Halpin (41:47.313)
You're gonna love it. You're gonna love it. Yes.
Jessica York (41:52.406)
You know, one of the things someone said to me before I got accepted was she said, I really hope you get in because people aren't doing things like you here. And so I was like, okay. So, I love going in and being the unconventional weirdo in places. I'm all for that. so I'm doing that. I'm bringing.
Melissa Halpin (42:03.815)
Nice.
Nice.
Jessica York (42:16.024)
Coterie Detroit, took a six month hiatus. needed, especially because Indie Chick Night revival took so much time and energy. So Coterie Detroit, our networking group is coming back in June. And so I'm excited for that to come back. And then I have a couple other events that I'm working and doing things with the sound healing. Obviously Empower Her, the big conference is coming up. I'm moderating the panel for that.
and I'm also going to be working it. I am the event coordinator for Empowered Moms Live in October with Dr. Emily Jacobs, so I'm very excited about that. So there's some, I'm doing less this year, it doesn't sound like it, but I'm doing way, actually way less this year, but I'm doing bigger things with people that I just really believe in. I believe that they have, you know, what it takes to really change the landscape in Metro Detroit.
Melissa Halpin (42:53.851)
No.
Jessica York (43:11.506)
And going into 2026, that's going to be a big thing for me. Working with those people that our missions and visions are aligning like that.
Melissa Halpin (43:21.085)
Well, want to continue to support you and certainly all of the links and where to find you and how to support you will be in the podcast show notes. But in addition to that, I believe you're already a member, but there's the Kinley & Project Ignite Facebook group. I mean, feel free to share. We encourage people on Wednesdays to share their flyers, share their invitations.
Jessica York (43:21.858)
Like you.
Melissa Halpin (43:47.399)
But any time during the week, hop in there and talk to the women in that community. I think you'll find a lot of like-minded women trying to get this sort of authenticity that you've been striving for and modeling and building in your different businesses.
Jessica York (44:02.83)
And you had an event last year, didn't you? Okay, because when I kind of was talking about you and met you, people were like, I went to this event in Northville and it was absolutely amazing and yeah, yeah. Was that a one-time thing or is it something you're gonna bring back at some point?
Melissa Halpin (44:05.061)
I did. Yep.
Melissa Halpin (44:19.939)
really want to do another one. We called it Kindle Her Fire. Our whole sort of mission is putting kindling on your inner fire. And it was sort of Ted Talk style. So it was in a small community theater. it was crafted as a journey of going from meditation and mindfulness and intention setting to overcoming obstacles and barriers.
Jessica York (44:23.553)
Yeah!
Melissa Halpin (44:46.525)
to celebrating wins. So we had this day-long journey of amazing female speakers, I would say, sort Ted Talks style inspired. And one of the things that I'm trying to solve for now is everybody loved the event. And it was a huge success. And it was our first large ticketed event. We've done about five or six a year that are small, 20, 30. But this was 120. And we sold out this little theater in Northville.
But a lot of the feedback I got was the speakers were amazing and the event was amazing, but I wanted to interact more. I wish I could have talked to the other women at the event more, or I wish there was time, pull out time with the speakers. And so trying to figure out how to craft that next time so that, is it one day, is it two days, is there an after party, is there breakout rooms? Really trying to craft that, which is another thing I'd like to do in the podcast is,
How do we have more sort of small group conversations that are more intimate, that aren't just being spoken to and not just gathering wisdom from one person at a time, but getting women to interact with each other? Because I think that sort of energy and exchange is what so many people are craving. So that's where I'm at with Kindle Her Fire is, what does it look like next time? What worked? And then how do we add what people said to me over and over again afterwards of,
my God, I loved all eight speakers. I wish I could have talked to each one individually.
Jessica York (46:14.646)
Yeah, I think that's a good idea. I think that's a great idea and I look forward to seeing what you do with it. I can't wait to be at it.
Melissa Halpin (46:18.321)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You're going to be at it. You're going to be in it, I'm sure. All right. Well, thank you so much for being on the podcast today. And of course, I'm going to see you tomorrow. We can talk more about Goldman Sachs. The client that I'm bringing you to tomorrow, she was in my cohort. She's also a Goldman Sachs grad. So all right, Jessica. This was awesome.
Jessica York (46:24.753)
Probably.
Jessica York (46:37.112)
that.
Melissa Halpin (46:43.869)
Great to finally have you on the podcast and I know you'll be in our community more in the coming weeks, months, years.
Jessica York (46:44.152)
Yes.
Jessica York (46:49.612)
Yes, thank you, Melissa. Bye, you too.
Melissa Halpin (46:51.933)
Have a great day. Bye.