How to Create a Workspace That Lights You Up

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Jonathan Fields (00:00:25) - So have you ever felt like you just outgrown your surroundings and your environment or workspace is actually limiting your growth? Like the desk room studio space that got you here, it just isn't working for you anymore. And maybe it's even working against you. Our workspace, it has a profound effect on us, on our work, even our wellbeing, relationships and interactions. It impacts our ability to show up as our best selves and do our best work. Yet we rarely ever genuinely get intentional about it. If your surroundings feel like they've started to limit your growth, you're actually not alone. A lot of people are feeling this, but not necessarily realizing where the feeling is coming from. So question is how do we recognize these moments? And more important, once we do? What can we do about it? That's what we're diving into in today's Hot Topic episode.

Jonathan Fields (00:01:26) - And joining me to tease these things out is Sparked Brain Trust, regular Jada Selmer. So Jada is a Multi-time founder and CEO of Jada Cellular Media and the She Built Collective, the co-creator of the Simple Green Smoothies social and business phenomenon and a sought after advisor to entrepreneurs, bestselling authors and bestselling author, including her latest book, She builds the Anti Hustle Guide to Grow Your Business and Nourish Your Life. And as we dive deep, Jada shares how actually, during the pandemic, she felt confined by her small home office, something that a lot of us have felt. And she longed for a bigger, quote, container to accommodate her next creative stage. And she shares the process that she used to figure out what this feeling was all about and then refine what she was looking for and then create a more expansive environment that feels better suited for her next season. And I also reflect on a similar urge to design the perfect or improved habitat for my own emergence after years of cocooning and confinement and what my team and I are creating to honor that desire like repotting a thriving plant into a bigger pots.

Jonathan Fields (00:02:42) - That's the analogy that Jada shares. We realized our work and needs had outgrown our current spaces and to really flourish, we just needed a workspace intentionally designed for this next season of growth. And I have had so many conversations that let me know that we are not alone in this. So if you feel ready for change and that your space may be actually holding you back. Join Jada and I for an inspiring reminder of what's actually possible. This timely conversation will open your eyes to how you might reimagine your workspace and environment in ways that could really help you thrive. So excited to share this conversation with you. I'm Jonathan Fields and this is SPARKED. Hey, before we dive into today's show, you know, we've learned that a lot of our listeners are sort of at this moment where they're really exploring the notion of work in their lives and their next moves in their careers. And if you are in that place, we talk about the spark and the sparketypes a lot on this show, this body of work that we've developed to help you really identify what makes you come alive and how to apply that to the world of work.

Jonathan Fields (00:03:54) - We've heard from a lot of folks that they would also love some help along that journey. If you're curious, you can also find on our website a directory of Certified Sparketype Advisors who know this body of work and can really help coach and guide you through it. So we'll drop a link to the show notes in that right now. And if it feels interesting to you and you just like somebody to help guide you through this next part of your career or work journey, take a look and see if somebody resonates. It might be the perfect fit to help you along this next leg of your journey. Again, that link is in the show notes now.

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Jonathan Fields (00:05:12) - Jadah, it is always great to be hanging out with you. An esteemed member of the Sparked Brain Trust, longtime dear friend and thought collaborator, strategy collaborator, life collaborator. And we are here for one of our smart hot take episodes where we pick a topic that is relevant to all of us that a lot of times we're grappling with these days. Sometimes we might not even be aware of the fact that we're grappling with it yet. We are, and we go deep into it. And today's topic is kind of interesting because it may be one of those latter things where we kind of don't really realize that we're in the middle of this thing, and yet I think we're all feeling the effect of it and grappling with where do we go from here? And that is the notion of as we emerge from a chunk of years that were largely about contraction, sometimes profound contraction on the level of isolation, personally, relationally and physically in our environment, as we emerge from that, and we sort of like shift gears into more of an expansive state, what does that look like? How do we take the reins of that? How do we reimagine this space of expansion in our lives? So take me into this a little bit like in your thought process.

Jadah Sellner (00:06:30) - Yeah, well, I was thinking of this analogy of plants. I've been becoming a little bit of a plant lady at home. I used to have a very green thumb. And I notice as my plants grow and the leaves are expanding, that some of the plants actually need to be repotted so that they have a larger container to support the growth and expansion versus keeping it small. And we were having a conversation about studio space, a physical studio space to hold our creative ideas, our projects and being able to expand. So I'll share an example for me. 2020, I got a book deal for a she builds and I rented an office space because we were in quarantine, which means I was in a very tiny space with my husband, my daughter and our for a baby Beasley, our dog. And I knew I just needed to be out of the house to actually write the book. And so I had the office space and it was my creative cocoon. I was very isolated, living my best, you know, social introvert life with just the introvert side.

Jadah Sellner (00:07:38) - And I really loved it. It had beautiful view tree, you know, trees out the windows. It was very quiet. And then in 2022, I remember hosting a small group mastermind with a few of my clients and we were playing music. We were laughing, we were dancing, and my neighbor had complained that we were making too much noise. And so I knew in that moment that this beautiful, cozy, creative cocoon, this office space, was very just made and built for me. There wasn't enough room to collaborate and could not connect and make noise. And so I knew that I actually needed to expand my office space. And so recently, my husband and I got keys to a new space that we call Create and Flow. And it is more expansive. The my office space is bigger. We have a space where we can gather up to 50 people to do events and workshops. My husband is leading his early childhood music classes in the space and I just feel like we moved in to a bigger pot so that we can grow and expand our personal and professional initiatives.

Jadah Sellner (00:08:49) - And it almost feels like we grew our living room in a way because we live in a condo in the San Francisco Bay area and it feels like we have this extended space to play, to create, to reimagine and just having this testing ground to experiment. So to me, that is kind of how I've been really creating this container to hold the expansion and growth and do things that I hadn't imagined I could do before.

Jonathan Fields (00:09:16) - Yeah, I love that. And you know, I think our physical environment is one of those things that my sense is if you are somebody who's a solo practitioner or creative or an artist or where you're actually you're working a lot on your own and in your own space, you probably have paid more attention to that space and how it affects you. But for the vast majority of the world who's actually worked in some sort of office setting for most of their working lives where they said yes to the job without really considering the physical environment that both contains and supports us. You know, it was just sort of this thing that came along with whatever the actual quote work was or the culture was or the job itself was.

Jonathan Fields (00:10:02) - And you didn't really factor that in to both saying yes or no to the initial opportunity. But then as you worked in that container, that was. Wasn't created by you that you just stepped into and you grew as a human being and maybe your team grew and your ideas grew. We never really revisit it either. So it's a type of thing where it's it's this thing that affects us profoundly, both on a personal level. Can we flourish as an individual and on a professional level, are we able to actually show up and do our best work, our physical environment? That container that that supports us is so critical in all of those things. And yet it's one of the decisions that we generally make by default, not with intention. We just accept that as something that goes along with this other thing that we're doing. And then the pandemic hits and everything is blown up and everyone goes home and then everyone realizes this is going to last for a while. We actually have to figure out how to work from our home space in some way, shape or form.

Jonathan Fields (00:11:03) - Not everybody, of course, they are firstrillionesponders or essential workers who are still out there doing their thing. But a lot of people, I would say the majority of people had this, you know, like wildly disruptive experience. And for the first time in their adult lives, they started to think about the effect of their physical environment on their ability to flourish as human beings and also in the work context, show up and do their best work. And it's interesting to see how people are now making decisions around that and realizing that they just have to be a lot more intentional about that space.

Jadah Sellner (00:11:38) - Yeah, and also self-aware, because I love this question that you're talking about is that people have gone to remote work. But I have a client who has a PR agency and is bringing everyone back into the physical space of their office so that they can can move faster. They want the efficiency, the collaboration and the connection. But some people are resisting the transition back into that. They kind of like being able to be at a coffee shop or in their jammies and a bed.

Jadah Sellner (00:12:10) - And so I think that if you're environment, especially a work environment, has shifted due to your boss shifting like, Hey, we're back and we're an office first company, then you have to take stock and like, does that work for me? And if it doesn't, then that company might not be the right fit. Instead of resisting that transition back into office. First company culture.

Jonathan Fields (00:12:37) - Yeah. And that's coming up all over the place right now as a lot of companies are calling folks back into the office. And part of my question is, you know, once people realize that they have been working at home and they a lot of people actually invested time and energy and money in in creating a space that is really there to support them. And they realize they really like that. They like that environment. They like the space that they've created. And I think in the beginning it was actually really hard because they a lot of folks didn't have the space or the separation. And you've got kids running around, you've got everything happening.

Jonathan Fields (00:13:13) - It's so hard to focus. And as as it went on longer, people realize, okay, I'm going to have to figure out a better way. And some people got offices or some people just reimagined their home space to really support that. And as companies call people back to the office, I wonder how many companies and leaders and organizations are asking the question as part of this process, would it be intelligent for me to reimagine the physical space, the environment that we're inviting people back into to better understand what they've done to accommodate themselves and feel good and supported and nurturing in their home space? And are there elements of that that we can now integrate into this office space that would help bridge the divide, how people come in? Because a lot of people talk about the fact that they love the fact that they've got their commute time back. And I get that. That is absolutely legitimate. That's that's that's great. But I wonder if part of the issue is that's not being spoken about is really just the nature of the physical space that people created at home felt much better to them than the physical space that they were working in in an office environment.

Jonathan Fields (00:14:28) - And the realizing that for the first time is they don't want to go back to, you know, the cubicles and the drop ceilings and the fluorescent lights.

Jadah Sellner (00:14:36) - Because.

Jonathan Fields (00:14:37) - It just doesn't feel good as a human being to them.

Jadah Sellner (00:14:39) - I love that of of being curious about with your team and asking them what would make this environment feel safe and productive and conducive for that creative output. And I've seen people do kind of a hybrid flex model where it's they have maybe collaborative, you know, from like 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., 2 to 3 days a week where people are in office and kind of working at the same time. But there's something in being able to be in your own private space where there's less distraction. But then. There's also those notifications and pings and things that can come up within in that digital world, too. So we really have to think about our environment from the digital perspective as well as the physical.

Jonathan Fields (00:15:25) - Yeah, No, 100%. I think it all blends together, but I don't want to lose the thread that we started with.

Jonathan Fields (00:15:30) - Also, I think we sort of moved into this experience of the hybrid work experience or people being invited or sometimes call they're required to come back to the office at least for part of their workweek. And I think it's important part of the conversation and also for a lot of folks who now are not going back to traditional workplaces and have actually left, you know, working for somebody else, So many people over the last three years started their own thing, whether that's a professional practice, consulting, coaching, focusing on art design, whatever it may be. So many people are now in charge of their own workplace and work experience, their solopreneurs, their creators. And as you planted the seed in the beginning as we emerge, I think a lot of those folks and a lot of those are the people listening to this conversation right now. Yet we're you know, there's this notion of questioning is the space that got me through the last three years, the space that is best to carry me through the next 3 or 5 or whatever it may be.

Jonathan Fields (00:16:33) - So you decided that, no, it wasn't for you and that you needed to create this more expansive space. I'd love to actually know a little bit more about your process around this decision making.

Jadah Sellner (00:16:46) - Yeah. So I definitely I'm a verbal processor, so I was working with my life coach and, and feeling this stuck and stagnant energy and feeling like I couldn't do more of what I wanted to do. So feeling that push, pull that resistance of there's something more I'm supposed to be doing, or I'm trying to do it and I'm hitting walls and resistance for that. And so then it was planting the seed literally of that. I do need a bigger space. And so just keeping myself open to the opportunity coming up. And I was starting to do research, starting to check out commercial spaces, wasn't quite finding the right one. And that is truly a part of my process where it's number one I verbally process and kind of see where I'm feeling stuck. Then I identify what is it that I actually want and get clear and then start to go into the research phase of, okay, well what is out there for me to get the thing that I want? And the with the office space, it was very serendipitous and how we we got into this space.

Jadah Sellner (00:17:54) - And the only reason why it moved so quickly was because I was so clear what I wanted. So we've got to really unpack that of getting clear of what is it that you want so that when it shows up, you know, it's an immediate yes. And I think that's really part of starting to re-envision, reimagine what is it that you want for the next three, five, ten years so that we can start to ask that question that you said is the current environment that I'm in going to serve me for where I'm moving towards next?

Jonathan Fields (00:18:27) - Yeah. So walk me through. I love if you're open to sharing a little bit of like what was on your checklist as like these are the must haves.

Jadah Sellner (00:18:34) - Yeah. So I knew that I wanted a workshop space where I could at least have ten people. That was my my vision. Like if I can hold like ten people in a collaborative space where we can gather in circle, we can mastermind. That was really important to me, having space to be able to record my podcast.

Jadah Sellner (00:18:55) - And also my husband and I were we were exploring. We weren't sure because we ran a brick and mortar business together in Hawaii and we were like, We should never be business partners, But we were definitely considering of if we got a bigger space, could we collaborate and use that space together? But still running our own separate businesses. So I was also looking for a space where my husband could hold, you know, up to 30 people within the space to teach his music classes. So that was another it was it was an option. It wasn't necessary, but it was definitely one that I was looking at as I was tracking. And then also really great natural lighting and space where we could make a lot of noise. I play a lot of music, we dance a lot, we laugh a lot. And so I really wanted that space and also really having a bridge of the feminine and masculine energy of being able to have something that is structured, that can hold us, but also has some feminine flow weaved in there too.

Jadah Sellner (00:19:55) - So that's why we have a lot of plants, we have a lot of custom art that we rotate in the space to. So really kind of creating this space for other collaborative and artists to come into the space with us. And then also good parking, like, you know, if you're going to have event space. To be able to have easy parking or walking distance to restaurants. That's something that's really important to us, too. That makes it easy for those breakouts, for those lunches. So those pieces were really, really important to us. Was having that natural lighting enough to hold, you know, a decent sized group. And we have a space where we can hold up to 50, which is amazing. And also where I can have a private office space to be able to do my client coaching and podcast recordings too.

Jonathan Fields (00:20:39) - Yeah, I love how clear you are down. Just really the energetic vibe of this space, the light which a lot of people don't think about, but it actually affects us in a really profound way.

Jonathan Fields (00:20:52) - And also the ability to have big open spaces and sort of like tiny, focused spaces. Yeah. And especially to really just really think through what are all the different potential use cases for this space and like would this accommodate even if we had to do some shifting around to accommodate? Yes. Would it be. Would it be able to actually let us do all of those different things?

Jadah Sellner (00:21:14) - Yeah, I love that you said that. The multi-use, because there's a kind of like a built in refrigerator here because one of the creators does floral designs and things are like, Oh wait, this is all insulated. We could possibly turn this into a podcast room. And so being able to get creative, it's that expansive thinking where you can see possibility that didn't exist before in that smaller space. And I'm curious for you, Jonathan, like, are you in a season of emerging from the cocoon into the expansion and growth, and what is that looking like for you?

Jonathan Fields (00:21:49) - Yeah, we definitely are. And going back to your analogy from the beginning of the conversation around like plants, I love that because it a because oddly, after having an absolutely disastrous sum my whole life, I now have a green thumb.

Jonathan Fields (00:22:04) - We have plants all over the place. I have no idea how or why they're living, but they are. Yeah. And they're growing to a point where, like, I'm like, why hasn't this have, like, this beautiful plant? And it's alive and it's green and it's thriving, but it's stopped growing. It's the same size. And it was just like the same size for six months. I'm like, This is so weird. It was growing really quickly and then it just stopped and it's been the same size and I realized the same thing. I'm like, I wonder if, you know, like whatever it is, the Roots, they're just they need more to grow and it needs more space to grow. So we repotted it, put it in a bigger pot, and all of a sudden the plant is growing bigger and it's flourishing. So I love your analogy because I do also agree with you. I think that's that applies to us as human beings also. I think so often we outgrow so many aspects of our work and our life and our physical space and our environment is often one of those.

Jonathan Fields (00:22:56) - It can you know, we contain multitudes and those multitudes expand, you know, like we need space to accommodate that. So we've been in this really interesting dance similar to you, you know, like we moved from, you know, in September 2020 after 30 years in New York City. We moved to Boulder, Colorado. We spent the first 18 months in 18 different Airbnbs and verbose and short term rentals, which was amazing. And also as a highly creative person who also really likes routine, it was also a little bit disastrous. Um, thankfully our home space has been like solid for the last year and a half. We love where we live, but when we were in New York City, as you are at like we built our own studio space in New York City. I had my little cocoon that I would walk into and it was plush all around and and quiet. And I would hit a button and turn on. And I love that the the small intimacy of that space for recording as we moved out here.

Jonathan Fields (00:23:55) - And I have just doing like creating makeshift spaces to record and it's been fine but I've also been feeling the call to have more space to accommodate us, to build a visual set so that we can actually start to move back to recording video in on location, which we haven't done for quite a number of years, and have a dedicated recording space and also a space where we could work. We can have our desks, a space to create art. So, you know, one of my goals is that I was a visual artist as a kid. I was a painter and that has not been a part of my life for decades. And I've been really feeling the call to get back to it. So I know I've wanted a space where I could actually step back into that and create on a larger scale, you know, like with physical medium and like you, I also love a space where we can gather people, you know, whether it is a small group of people for a three day strategic deep dive or just a book event, or friends hanging out and co-creating like we started to really yearn for something for a bigger container out here that wasn't just home based and similar to you, I started to make a list and along with Stephanie, like my wife and business partner, we're like, What? What should this space contain? And along with a friend of ours, because we thought it'd be really fun to actually do this with other people.

Jonathan Fields (00:25:16) - Yes, we started looking for a space and we were just we got really clear like we wanted high ceilings, open space if we could, concrete floors, lots of light all around. Being in Colorado, there is there are parts of this town that are old commercial space that have been converted into artists studios, and there's a whole arts district that's like that here. So we were looking a lot of those spaces, but it just didn't fit right in. One day earlier this year, we wandered into this space that had 15 foot ceilings, windows on three sides, a massive commercial garage door that would just slide open to open space. You're looking at the mountains on the. Out of the other windows. It was just north of town. So it's not in a busy it's a much quieter area. So great for recording just tons of natural light. And we all walked in and we were kind of like, Wow, this is it. Just we just we just knew because we had gotten really clear on what we wanted to use the space for all the different potential use cases, who we wanted to be in it, and what were the physical qualities of the space that would hold this sort of like next expansive phase.

Jonathan Fields (00:26:25) - So we went from over the last four years being in New York City, loving our space, having our own studio built, that was small. We we had stopped recording video a number of years before and I was fine. As the industry changes and it moves back to video and we wanted to move back to video. We came out here, we, you know, shut down our physical space in New York and was doing makeshift things, like I was in closets, I was in basements, I was under literally under the covers with like, like blankets over my head for sound purposes, anything that we had to do. And and now we're we're as we emerge from the last three years, were merging into this other like window of expansion also of creative expansion. Yeah. And in order to support that, you know, we felt like we really needed to build the physical space to really accommodate that expansion as well. And it's almost there right now, you know, super excited to be able to start to work there more often and to start to film there and just start to like put together some big canvases and do some really cool things.

Jonathan Fields (00:27:28) - Yeah. So but it's, it's been a process because there was so much disruption over the last three years that I didn't feel like I had the capacity to really think about my physical space and what I needed and what I wanted. It was just like, let's figure out what's going to let us get through like this window of time. Yeah. And now it's just this year where it's kind of like, okay, we are all emerging. What is this emergence going to allow us to say yes to and what do we want to create as we move into the next phase? And what is the physical space that will best accommodate like that sense of creative expansion? Yeah.

Jadah Sellner (00:28:09) - I love it. And I think it really honors because I feel like before we couldn't think beyond 3 or 6 months. And so being able to stretch that timeline of what's possible and start to to really connect to that creative within, I think is such a beautiful gift. And we need it to nourish our nervous systems and being in crisis and fight or flight and just what is that safe, creative, inspiring environment that's going to hold you? What is the pot that will hold you in this season of growth and expansion?

Jonathan Fields (00:28:44) - Yeah, I love that prompt.

Jonathan Fields (00:28:46) - And just to plant that seed and and also I think, you know, acknowledging in this conversation that our physical space, our physical environment really does affect us in ways that we're often not aware of. It affects us just as human beings and our ability to flourish and feel the way we want to feel. It affects our relationships and it affects our ability to do the work we want to do at the level we want to do it. So just acknowledging the fact that our physical space really does make a difference and you know, we all have varying levels of control over that physical space. And I think that's part of the conversation that was in the middle of this. This like this conversation was the S. Now, workspaces are hybrid. Some people are being called back into the offices. Some people have the ability to create their own space. There's all these different variations. So if you're a leader in an organization and you are saying, everyone, we've got to be back in the office at least part of the time, the invitation, I think, is to reimagine like or at least ask the question, is the physical space that people left, the physical space that is now going to accommodate them coming back and ask them to what changes might we explore together in order for you to feel the way you want to feel in this space? I think leaders aren't asking that enough.

Jonathan Fields (00:30:05) - And maybe because they feel like it would require a level of investment and resources that they're not willing to allocate at the moment. But if it made the difference between people saying yes to coming back and really enjoying and then being their best selves, it may be like well worth the investment or at least the conversation. And for those of us who do have the ability to really create our own space, asking the question that you just asked, like, what do I need from that space right now? Yeah. And how to how would it accommodate me in your mind as we wrap up, is there any sort of like big question or prompt around these ideas that you would want to leave people with?

Jadah Sellner (00:30:43) - Yeah, I think it's really what we've been saying is what do I need to support me? Especially from an environment perspective, to support this next level of growth and expansion and really connecting to that. What do I want? What do I need? And then we have the clarity, then the space and the opportunity can show up.

Jonathan Fields (00:31:09) - Love it. Jana, as always, thank you for your insights. Excited to one day soon. Visit your new space. Yeah, hopefully we can have you in ours as well. And for everyone listening. Yeah. Really think about the moment that you're in the next three years or so. What you would like to continue to emerge into and create, and how does the physical environment around you accommodate and support that? If it does, awesome, keep on keeping on. And if it doesn't really imagine like what would help me feel the way that I want to feel in the space that I'm in. Thanks for listening. Always a joy and a pleasure and privilege to share conversation with you. And we'll see you here again next week on this podcast. Take care, everyone. Hey, so I hope you enjoyed that conversation. Learned a little something about your own quest to come alive and work in life and maybe feel a little bit less alone along this journey to find and do what sparks you. And if you'd love to share your own moment and question with us, we would love to hear from you.

Jonathan Fields (00:32:11) - Just go ahead and click on the submissions link in the show notes to get the details on how to do that. And remember, if you're at a moment of exploration looking to find and do or even create work that makes you come more fully live, that brings more meaning and purpose and joy into your life, take the time to discover your own personal spark. A type for free at Sparketype. It'll open your eyes to a deeper understanding of yourself and open the door to possibility like never before. And hey, if you're finding value in these conversations, please just take an extra second right now to follow and rate SPARKED in your favorite podcast app. This is so helpful in helping others find the show and growing our community so that we can all come alive and work in life together. Until next time. I'm Jonathan Fields. And this is SPARKED.