J  O  N  E  S   &   S  O  N  S

It took me a moment to retrain my brain and undo the pressure to always be on.  For example, we treat our inboxes like some sort of weird game, thinking that the faster we reply, the better we are at our jobs. Pfftt.  A culture of constant immediacy is the enemy of deep and creative work. My best ideas don't come when I'm frantic, they come when I am calm and relaxed. Respect the flow. If an idea hits me at 11 PM, I’ll write it down. If I need a calm morning to find the right

Growth requires you to leave something behind. Many people decorate their comfort zones like they’re planning on staying there forever. If growth is important to you, you’ve gotta be willing to drop some stuff.  Brian Proctor talks about how the moment you decide to change something, your brain pipes up with:  “What if I fail?”  “What if I look stupid?”  “What if this is the wrong move?” Leaving is required, you cannot hold onto your old routines, habits or beliefs and your

This line eventually get's spoken during AI conversations and we’re suddenly deep and responsible. Except much of the time it's a vibes-based opinion with zero homework behind it. AI does chew through energy and water. The Math: 🌎 A single ChatGPT query is about 5x more electricity than a Google search. 🌍 Training a model like GPT-3? That’s roughly the annual energy use of 130 homes. 🌍 Each 10–50 responses uses a bottle's worth of water for cooling. Multiply that by billio

Watching someone have a full-body, ALL CAPS moral outrage about AI not being real art . . . while their entire position boils down to . . . you just wrote a prompt. That’s it. That’s their position. This ignores intent, iteration, skill, curation, taste, context, lived experience, interpretation and ironically human judgement. This is just another example of discomfort with a shift in who gets to participate. And history is very clear on how these outrages age. This isn’t new

Is LinkedIn stuck in old school Facebook energy? We’ve been here before.  Circa 2015 this platform went through a phase where people felt compelled to police behaviour. It was a big no-no to share a holiday photo, a loved-up couple snap or a post that didn't meet a stranger's idea of professional, most often accompanied with this comment 'this isn't Facebook.' It’s happening again. What I find peculiar is people stand on a digital soapbox obsessing over em-dashes, style and t

Resilience looks like bold moves or just getting out of bed and showing up again. IMO. I used to think resilience was about being tough, the push through at all costs kind. But real resilience? It’s quieter. It’s choosing to keep going when no one’s watching. It’s falling apart, recalibrating and rising anyway. Resilience doesn’t always feel inspiring in the moment. It’s messy. It’s emotional. It’s human. But it’s also where our character is forged and new chapters begin. Res

Female levels of toxicity isn’t just poor behaviour. It’s cultural quicksand. Picture 16-year-old me. First part-time job. Bright-eyed. Just trying to figure everything out. An older and experienced colleague storms up to me and accuses me of flirting with her husband. I didn’t even know what flirting was. Still don't really.  Years later, a woman boss told me to get rid of a team member who’d just joyously announced she was pregnant. Jaw, meet floor. And recently another wom

Maybe you do. Maybe you don’t.  Here is how they actually work together in marketing: 🔶 Predictive AI decides where to focus (insight). It spots patterns in your data, like discovering that young professionals in Tasmania who watch video ads convert 60% more often. 🔶 Generative AI decides what to say (content). It creates ad versions, one humorous, one inspirational, one product-focused and all tailored to that Tasmanian audience. 🔶 Agentic AI decides what to do next (acti

If you asked me about my business name Jones & Sons, I would say it makes me smile, because I don’t have children and the name feels playful to me. But if you asked me on a deeper level, I would say it holds an occasional ache and even defiance! A little nod to the family I will never have. The timing and the unspoken rules of womanhood that got tangled. Sometimes I have a moment when parents complain about their kids (which is possibly inherent to parenting?) and I think how

. . . on the  Grow A Small Business  podcast. Brian is the son of the legendary Bob Proctor and he carries his father’s wisdom in a wonderfully grounded way. Bob was one of the great teachers of personal development, a man who spent decades helping people remember their own potential and actually believe they could use it. There is something in this episode for everyone and even the part of you that pretends it doesn’t need advice. I was so excited I giggled through most of t

or cubicles. They start with bubbles. IMO Long Friday lunch. Laughter, scribbles and the spark of what if we actually did this? That’s how new ideas are born . . not from certainty, not from perfect plans, but from people who believe enough to begin. With my  Rachael Downie  and  Eve Nelson MAHRI AAICD  a photo of us saying yes.  🤎 Every dream begins with a decision. 🤎 Belief is what lights the spark. 🤎 Momentum comes when you stop waiting to feel ready. So what’s sitting

What does it feel like to share a meal with a woman who uplifts 5 million entrepreneurs across 120 countries? I had the privilege of breaking bread with an extraordinary woman,  Dr HC Marie Christine OGHLY , World President of  Femmes Chefs d'Entreprises Mondiales - FCEM  a NGO that unites women entrepreneurs from around the world, to support their businesses and strengthen their leadership in economic and social development. Her career is extraordinary as well! From leading

When I first arrived home to Tasmania, after nearly 30 years away, I wasn’t broken but life had certainly bruised me. Head down. One foot in front of the other. Quietly rebuilding, trusting that time, belief and effort would do their thing. Fast forward to now and my head is up, smiling from ear to ear, hair finally grown (it was a mini goal) and heart wide open. Surrounded by a loving family, the most beautiful friends and an inspiring and caring community, from my business

I’m diving into the ethics of AI in Marketing at  RMIT Online  and it feels big. Not just academic big. More like pause-mid-course-and-stare-out-the-window big. Pour wine, eat more cheese and search my soul big. The more I study, the more I am reminded on how AI has already been sitting with us for years and we barely think about. It’s in the routes we take, the content we choose and the products we buy. Do we understand what’s shaping our decisions? And are we okay with the