Hello! We’re Jena Coray and Jen Neitzel, so nice to have you here!
We met through our mutual friend Julz Nally. Jen loved Jena’s style and passion. Jena loved Jen’s enthusiasm for making BIG ideas happen. We found an instant connection with one another through our similar attitudes and experiences and discovered that we were both on the path of streamlining our lives, both mentally and physically. We had each spent a good deal of time finding strategies for managing our hectic lives and ways to reduce stress levels, and when Jen suggested we put those strategies into an e-course, Jena jumped at the chance and The Maven Circle was born!
We’re working hard on a variety of tools that will help you balance your busy lives and unleash your inner awesome! We can’t wait to share them with you!
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I am a life-long maker and lover of creative ideas and projects. As a child I had lots of little businesses selling my handmade creations, potholders, dolls, clothing and so much more. In 2002 I started Knot Ugly Designs and more recently began a skirt line with my friend Jocelyn, called Jen & Jocelyn, under the Knot Ugly label. DIY Lounge is a company that I founded in 2005. It’s the manifestation my appreciation of Portland’s creative community. For years DIY Lounge operated as a classroom space for creative classes- now it produces and directs online video tutorials that feature unique art and craft mediums. When I’m not managing my businesses I work as an event planner putting on craft sales and other large scale events such as Bargain Hunting, Hello Etsy PDX and World Domination Summit.
I have been cultivating many techniques to deal with all of the daily responsibilities I am faced with. These techniques are really strategies and tricks for my managing time and stress. I am a creative first and foremost, but I also hate to miss out on cool opportunities and have been fortunate to be involved with many great projects over the years. The only way to manage my businesses, my family, fun projects and still have a little bit of time for myself is by developing ways of thinking and ways of managing my time that keep me on track. I want to share what I’ve learned with others because I feel that other people would benefit from them and that if everyone could feel a little bit less stress and like they had a little more time, the world would feel better to us all.
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After getting a degree in English and realizing “poet” was not really a great career option these days, I headed to the grindstone of a 9-5 job. From that mind-numbing cubicle I started my blog, Modish, in 2006. Not only was it a great creative escape for me, it quickly became a good side income, too. From there I opened an online consignment shop called Modishoppe and was able to quit my office job in July 2007. I closed the shop about a year later to have more time to dedicate to other projects, like my Biz Tips site for indie business people, a vintage clothing store on etsy, independent consulting for a web-design team and now I find myself as a PR rep and marketing maven for indie artists and designers, over at Miss Modish.
In hopping from project to project like that, trying to find my place in this world, I’ve struggled through my fair share of stress for many years. As a relentless procrastinator stuck in what felt like a constant state of overwhelm, I found myself starting to wake up anxious, nervous, with a dread in my gut for what the day was to hold. With so much good in my life, I felt unhappy because I didn’t have any time to enjoy it. So one day I declared to myself “no more!” and have since been dedicated to taking my life back. I’ve learned so many tools now to help combat those anxious belly demons, stay focused so I can get more done in the day and tell the circular thoughts in my head to just shut right-on up. I’m really excited to share them all with you because we all deserve more balance in our days and a life full of happy.
