A Launch - A Leap of Fate
The Gourmie Guide is Launched!
A months-long plan and a years-long dream has come to fruition.
Dear Gourmie,
Wow, it’s here!!! Launching The Gourmie Guide mail club and a website that houses a collection of my creative work has been a months long task I’ve embarked on. And I am so honored you’re here to support, celebrate, and cheer on something I consider a huge milestone in my life!
The truth is, the idea of starting a mail club didn’t come to me randomly one sleepless night of attempting to fight off another creative idea haunting my brain for an ounce of sleep. The idea of sending people wellness packages that encourage creativity and curiosity came aaalll the way from…2019.
I know, 2019 was a long time ago! What was happening there and why did it take so long to do something?
Well, back in 2019, I had learned I had PTSD from a years-ago experience as a teen. I went back to therapy with a lovely therapist who helped me rediscover the pieces that felt missing in my healing journey. If you’ve seen WandaVision’s Previously On… episode, you will understand the journey it takes for someone with PTSD just to get to the root of everything and finally begin substantial healing. Through coming face to face with the root cause of my PTSD, I got to dream.
Some of those dreams involved the hope of learning how to be independent by moving to another state with a friend and eventually live sustainably on my own. It was a curiosity I felt called to in order to learn who I am without anyone else. And I got to see this dream to reality in 2021 when I moved to California. This is part of the reason the other dreams I discussed with my therapist took awhile, what can I say, life happened year after year. Both good and bad.
One thing I learned through these years was how powerful my manifestation skills were. Every time I wrote, thought, or spoke about a place I wanted to live at in California - it happened! Between 2021 to 2025, I moved to five different places. All of which were places I wanted and served its purpose. It was hectic to move around though, I also had personal challenges in terms of relationships, friendships, and work that weren’t perfect but taught me a lot of lessons I keep close to my chest.
That brings us to the dream about the wellness packages. Back in 2019, I barely knew what I was doing (not like I have any idea of what I’m doing now either). The thought of even starting something like a box kit of creative goods to inspire people to make things felt daunting. But the mission was there, I wanted to help people engage with creativity the way art has helped me. Now on the path of making this dream a reality, I was right. It takes a lot to start a business, even when I had to pivot to a smaller version of wellness packages to mail clubs!
Everything came to a head in April 2026. I had just celebrated my birthday about five days before, coming back from Vegas to work when I was laid off from my marketing job at an engineering firm. I was devastated. Mainly because I enjoyed what I did with the people I worked with, I mean who could say they were planning fun events and activities to bring people together, much less engineers…well, that’s only a part of my job description. The biggest fear from getting laid off was the uncertainty. Not know where my next income will come from, when I will land a new job - especially when the job market is an absolute trash at the moment, and honestly, I feared being a burden if I needed to eventually rely on anyone whether that was my boyfriend or my family for support. Thankfully, I had been saving some money for emergencies prior to the lay off and there are resources available for people who are experiencing hardships right now.
This lay off definitely threw a wrench in my routine, but I’m going to be honest…life had started to feel like a routine. And I didn’t like it. Slowly accepting the new reality, I also started to see the good that came from it. That maybe I am meant to do something more. Most importantly, that I actually can!
To me, it felt like freedom. Some people dub their unemployment phase “funemployment” and I love that for them! But for me, the fear of running out of resources literally lit a fire in me (and my butt) to do something. My weekly agenda consists of finding jobs, interviewing when I do land anything, filming and editing collaborations, outreach, scheduling posts, and networking. And yeah, because I’m insane, starting a business.
This was my favorite part of my weeks, though. Creating my brand from the ground up, planning what to do next on my list, and becoming curious enough about who I am and who I want to reach in order to fulfill a years-long dream of connecting with people through creativity and inspiring them!
Starting this taught me so much about myself. I learned to listen to myself and the people I trust more than the noise other people made to cast doubt in what I do. When I had something to share, if it were food and art, I shared it. And for the first time in a long time, I genuinely love who I am. Because there really were times in the recent past when I forgot to or didn’t at all.
The nights I slept at 4:00 am to get an idea out of my brain into something tangible and worthwhile - firstly for me, so I know it can be worthwhile for others is worth it all. I am absolutely proud of this launch and even more proud of the journey it took for The Gourmie Guide to enter the world.
To me, the most meaningful lesson in this journey was following my curiosity. From food, to content creating, to exploring business avenues, and myself.
Wherever curiosity leads you next, I hope you follow it.
Until next time,
Jess, The Gourmie