Here's What I Learned: Ditching Biz-as-Usual for Values, Freedom, and Doing It Your Way
Welcome to Here’s What I Learned — the podcast for progressive entrepreneurs who want to grow their businesses without sacrificing their values, creativity, or capacity. I’m Jacki Hayes: systems strategist, unapologetic smutty romantasy fan, and D&D geek. Around here, we get real about what it actually takes to build a business that fits your life. Every episode offers something to take with you — sometimes through conversations with values-driven founders, sometimes through solo episodes where I dig into the lessons I’m learning inside my own business. We explore the choices we’re testing, the questions that create clarity, the experiments that move us forward, and the systems that stay simple on purpose. If you value integrity, curiosity, and time freedom—and you’re looking for inspiration that’s as practical as it is empowering—you’ve found your people. Hit play, and let’s rewrite the rules together.
Episodes
Five years. 109 episodes. More conversations than I ever imagined when I hit record for the first time back in 2021.
This is the final episode of Here's What I Learned... and honestly, it feels exactly right.
This season was built around experiments -- intentional engagement, time tracking, group onboarding, image title SEO, and defining what "enough" actually looks like. And somewhere in the middle of all o...
What if the answer to burnout isn't doing more... but defining enough?
In this episode, I sit down with Becky Mollenkamp—feminist business coach, author, and liberation advocate—for a conversation that challenges everything we've been conditioned to believe about success, productivity, and money. Becky assigns me a 30-day experiment designed to decondition my brain from capitalism's relentless "more, m...
Six weeks into the 90 day Intentional Engagement Experiment, I have a surprising update: Instagram is the hardest platform for me to consistently have real conversations on right now. Between ads, suggested content, and the “either I only see my favorites or I see Unstable Unicorns ads” problem, it is tougher to stay focused on the people I actually want to build relationships with.
In this halfway mark check-in, I share ...
How much of your SEO is hiding in plain sight... inside your images?
In this episode of Here’s What I Learned, I’m joined by SEO strategist Brittany Herzberg for a real-time experiment: what happens when you stop uploading “IMG4532” and start treating image titles like actual search signals. We get into how Google reads your image file names, what to name them (without turning into a keyword-stuffing goblin), and how to t...
In this episode, I’m joined by Jayci Trujillo, founder of Happy Girl Marketing, for a very practical experiment that sounds simple and gets uncomfortable fast… tracking time.
Jayci is in a growth season. More clients, a growing team, bigger decisions. And like a lot of service business owners, she realized she was making those decisions without really knowing where her time was going or what her actual hourly rate looked ...
Onboarding one client is one thing. Onboarding a group is an entirely different experiment.
In this episode, I’m joined again by Bridget Baker to unpack what really happens when you try to onboard a group program in a way that feels inclusive, clear, and genuinely supportive without turning yourself into a full-time concierge.
Bridget shares what she learned from running her virtual writing retreat, including where thing...
What happens when you stop letting good conversations get buried in your DMs and actually start paying attention to them?
In this episode, I’m joined by Jayci Trujillo of Happy Girl Marketing to kick off Season 10’s first experiment: intentional engagement. We’re talking about tracking conversations on purpose, not to be salesy or weird, but to understand what’s actually helping your business grow.
We dig into why being st...
This episode is a full, honest debrief of a launch that didn’t convert — and what I learned anyway.
I promoted a brand-new workshop more than any other offer I’ve ever put out into the world. I showed up consistently. I talked about it everywhere. And it got zero signups.
Instead of spiraling or scrapping the idea entirely, I treated the launch like an experiment. In this episode, I walk you through what I tested, what act...
Welcome to Season 10 of Here’s What I Learned. I’m Jacki Hayes — a systems thinker with a soft spot for smutty fantasy books and anything involving dice rolls. I help creative business owners build systems that feel honest, doable, and actually supportive of the life they want.
This season, we’re leaning fully into the idea that business is one big experiment — made up of dozens of smaller ones happening all the time. Som...
As I wrap up Season 9 and look ahead to Season 10, I wanted to do something a little different — a mixtape of the moments and ideas that still shape how I think about work, rest, and doing business differently.
These clips remind me why I started Here’s What I Learned in the first place: to have honest conversations about what’s working, what’s not, and how we can build businesses that actually fit us.
You’ll hear from som...
In this final mixtape edition of Here’s What I Learned, three entrepreneurs share the biggest business lessons they’ve learned since their last visit—covering how to redefine success, simplify operations, and build sustainable systems that actually fit real life.
You’ll hear practical insights on shifting from default offers to energy-aligned work, using experiments to “fail faster” and learn smarter, and embracing the n...
This is the second mixtape I'm sharing as we head toward episode ninety-nine. The question this time: How have you evolved as a business owner over the years? You’ll hear short notes on what changed, what stayed, and how that shows up day to day—from editing offers and schedules to trusting your judgment and keeping plans simple enough to follow. If you missed the first mixtape, you can head back and catch it after ...
This mixtape is one of three I'm sharing as we head toward episode ninety-nine. I asked past guests (and I chime in, too): What’s one experiment you tried in your business that didn’t land the way you expected—and how did you respond? You’ll hear quick stories, what they noticed, and the next moves they made so you can translate the lessons to your own context.
Topics:
- Why energy and scope are part of quality con...
What if you only marketed your business in ways that actually brought you joy? What if you could ditch the pressure to “be everywhere” and still build a thriving, values-aligned brand?
In this episode, I’m joined by M. Shannon Hernandez—founder of the Joyful Business Revolution and messaging strategist for purpose-driven entrepreneurs. Shannon brings a refreshing, radically human approach to marketing that centers joy, e...
If leads are slipping and proposals stall, it’s tempting to blame the platform. In this solo episode, I explain why most “tool problems” are really process gaps—and how I use my CARE framework (Clarity, Align, Reduce, Ease) to make the tools you already have work better. I walk you through defining “done,” reducing decision fatigue, setting cues you’ll actually notice, and when it does make sense to pilot new software—wi...
What if your best marketing strategy isn’t a formula—but your ability to actually care?
In this episode of Here’s What I Learned, website strategist and messaging expert Krista Walsh joins me to challenge the “best practices” baked into online business culture. From canine reactivity to content strategy, Krista shares how empathy—not exploitation—is the key to both personal breakthroughs and sustainable marketing.
This is ...
When we talk about building businesses that work for us, what does that actually mean in practice?
This week on Here’s What I Learned, I’m joined by Faith Clarke—organizational culture strategist and co-creator of Feminist Founders—for a deep, energizing conversation about values-led business, strategic collaboration, and how we unlearn the reflex to fix everything... especially when it’s uncomfortable.
Faith shares what s...
When your business relies entirely on your energy—how you feel, how focused you are, how much you can give—your systems need to work with you, not against you.
In this re-released conversation from the Business with Ease summit, I sat down with strategist and Solopreneur Sisterhood founder Becky McCleery to unpack what it really means to design systems around your natural rhythms—not rigid routines.
We talked about:
- Why...
What if building a successful business didn’t require you to constantly show up, speak louder, or outwork everyone around you?
In this episode of Here’s What I Learned, I’m joined by Tara Reid—business and marketing strategist for introverted entrepreneurs—who shares how she built a sustainable, visibility-driven business without burning out. We talk about shifting from done-for-you services to scalable offers, how to h...
What does it really look like to build a business around your lived experience, your values, and your bandwidth—especially when capitalism tells you to do the opposite?
In this episode of Here’s What I Learned, I’m joined by Megan Dowd—equity-centered coach, trademark Word Nerd, and the kind of business owner who doesn’t shy away from nuance. We dive deep into how to dismantle exploitation in your own business, what the o...
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