Hey, Jen,
Since my last #longandweird email on this topic found me in my kitchen covered in espresso and regret, I have developed a new, all-consuming hyper-fixation.
One I probably should have seen coming, honestly, given my tendency to romanticize food, beverages, and my affinity for small, repeatable, semi-artistic tasks.
(See also: my embroidery thread friendship bracelet obsession in the 90s).
Said hyper-fixation?
Latte art.
Yes, despite the fact that I'm a 40 year-old mom of three, not a 19 year-old with a henna tattoo and art history minor....
My entire Instagram feed is latte art instructional videos.
My camera roll is 10% photos of my children, 20% launch graphics Airdroppped from my laptop, and 70% latte art progress photos.
(The children have noticed and are starting to get jealous)
I go to bed excited to pour my cappuccino in the morning
My entire day is, at this point, almost entirely determined by my milk texture.
Aaron has stopped asking how I am and started asking how the microfoam is.
I contemplate a second coffee immediately after I finish my first.
You know, For PRACTICE.
And if I can be so bold, after a month of hard-won efforts and extensive research — I think I'm... improving?
Like, to the point where I'd actively consider a new career in which customer satisfaction entirely relies on my rosette technique.
(First, we had to get the proper wider-mouth latte glasses. Now, I'm contemplating a $100+ pro-barista pitcher because I suddenly care about spout width.)
As proof, here's a progress photo (of the 47 +on my phone):
Substantial improvement? I think so.
Almost every day, I get a little better.
And because I've gotten a little better, I can't wait to get even better.
Because while the popular quote says "motivation follows action," I think, as an Enneagram 3 textbook achiever to my very core, for me it's more like this —
Motivation follows progress.
Let's be honest. It's hard to drag yourself out of bed to practice something you're terrible at.
But when you finally see a little bicep definition? You lift a little heavier.
When your jeans fit a little differently? You stick a little closer to your meal plan.
When you get your first dream client? You stop worrying about your rates.
You don't get motivated and then make progress.
You make a tiny bit of progress, and then you cannot be stopped.
The tiny win is what creates the obsession.
The dopamine loop that says "Wait, this is a little better!" is the motivation we need to keep going.
You know where I see this happen all the time?
The moment you finally see your website coming together.
I just got this email from Caitlyn last night:
Lucky for her, It didn't take a month of latte art milk blobs that often looked less like a tulip and more like the cappuccino was giving me the finger.
(Scroll back up and you'll see it.)
Three days of seeing her site come together, and her entire relationship to her business changed. 🔥
Because here's the thing: sometimes, in our businesses, we just can't see the progress.
There's no instant feedback, like when you make a cappuccino and you know right away if you ended up with a blob of uncooperative milk foam or an actual f-ing swan.
You're just making things and marketing them and hoping it looks like art to someone else.
Maybe you know it has potential but you just cannot get it to look like the thing in your head.
Maybe you're a little stuck and you haven't made anything resembling progress in a long time.
But thing I know is?
When your talent, your ideas, your vision, are poured correctly, into the perfect glass, with the right technique, with the ideal texture — when it finally looks the way it feels to you — it can change everything.
Just look at a few of the 1500+ reviews on this spreadsheet.
"I feel totally motivated to market my business in a way I've never experienced before. I'm inspired with how wonderful it looks and this is filtering into all my other marketing activities."
— Alison
"Just the anticipation is giving me new inspiration. I can fe-eeeel that a change is coming and it's so exciting. I can't stop thinking about the new me. Hope is a beautiful thing. I feel hopeful and excited about my business again. In a way I can't explain."
— Lauren
"A prestigious client told me they wished they could feature me on their popular blog, but couldn't because my website wasn't up to par. I saved up for three months to purchase a TONIC template. I'm now secure that my new website matches the quality of my work."
— Maryam
"It's given me the confidence, credibility, and even the boldness I needed to share my work with more people. I feel so happy to share my website now instead of quietly mentioning it. This is now a website that deserves to be shared with the world."
— Brenda
"I waited 3 years to make the leap to a TONIC template. Before, my website looked fine, maybe even good. Now it's cohesive, feels so incredibly on-brand, and elevates my brand into something much more elegant and luxurious. Don't wait. "
— Joelle
Not on the spreadsheet — Alex, who posted on stories this morning this morning that her TONIC site "gives her the 'BDE' she needs to slide into celebrity DMs." ☠️
(I love that for you, Alex.)
The gap between "I should really fix my website" and "I feel hopeful about my business again" doesn't have to be three years of hard work, expensive barista pitchers, and self doubt.
Maybe you just need the right glass.
This week, I want to make that very easy for you.
If there's one thing I know now, it's that even after a month of steady practice, I am not a professional barista (and I am deeply impressed with those who are).
They've spent months and years honing the techniques. They have the tools. The expertise. The skills required to make a perfect drink, over and over again.
(Jake, my favorite barista, if you're reading this, I salute you.)
Similarly, you are (probably) not a professional website designer.
And with our templates, you don't have to be.
Because we are.
I've personally spent untold hours on these designs (I'd estimate 500+ on Spicy Margarita alone), sweating over the details (the microfoam), learning the tools, the skills, the strategy required to make each of them beautiful and delicious.
The kind of art that can change a business forever.
We've perfected it already.
All you've gotta do it spend a few days pouring yourself into it.
And when you see it come together, you're going to have all the motivation you need to keep going... in website, sure, but also... in your entire business.
