Ep.1 - Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
How publicly quitting your job can be the best decision EVER featuring Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Everyone knows quitting your job can be a scary experience, but what happens when you make a video about it that goes absolutely viral? Digital creator Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes did exactly that, completely changing her life. In this episode, we talk about she launched her entrepreneurial journey, how pivoting is a huge part of working for yourself, how important it is to take your creativity seriously and so much more. If you've ever wanted to ditch the corporate world and bet on yourself this episode is for you.
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Transcript
00:00:00:02 - 00:00:21:02
Ikey Ajavon
This week, the pursuit of creativity brought me to digital creator Marissa Jo Mayes. In addition to being the co-founder of Spacetime, mono tasking, a digital co-working startup MJ shares tips and tricks for having a slow and steady work life, productivity, and the mind behind the movement of Bare Minimum Mondays. In this episode, we talk about how she publicly quit her job and how that launched her entrepreneurial journey.
00:00:21:08 - 00:00:37:16
Ikey Ajavon
We talk through how pivoting is an essential part of working for yourself and how creating space for creativity is something that everyone needs to do. My name is Ikey Ajavon and welcome to the Pursuit of Creativity Podcast and we are super excited to have her here. So MJ, welcome to the show.
00:00:37:18 - 00:00:41:13
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Thank you so much for having me. I am looking forward to talking to you.
00:00:41:18 - 00:00:57:02
Ikey Ajavon
Thank you for being here. Super stoked to get into it. I have a lot of questions. Well, I think I want to dive into. But first, if you could just give our viewers or listeners a little background on yourself, you know, where you live, how old you are, and then an explanation of what you currently do for work.
00:00:57:15 - 00:01:17:14
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Yeah, I am 29 years old. I am currently in Phenix, Arizona. I have a corporate background. Believe it or not, I burned out after only a couple of years, honestly. And then currently I'm the co-founder of SpaceTime, Monotasking, and a digital creator specifically and mostly on TikTok.
00:01:17:23 - 00:01:37:09
Ikey Ajavon
Amazing. That is super exciting. A lot of those things are what we're going to get into today. Okay, let's talk about the video. The video I'm referring to is of MJ quitting her job. Basically on TikTok or documenting that process. I would love to hear the back story. Was this something you were thinking about? Was this something you planned out?
00:01:37:09 - 00:01:39:18
Ikey Ajavon
Was it organic? Let's hear the details.
00:01:40:03 - 00:02:02:17
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Yeah. So I, by age 25, had found myself with, like the big shiny corporate medical device sales job that people like, and fight for. And I thought I had just made it. I am making $100,000. I have the job. I am in a cool city. I was in Philly at the time. But behind the scenes, I was so miserable.
00:02:03:01 - 00:02:28:04
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
I was so burned out. I seriously hated every single day of work and would come home and play Animal Crossing on the couch until like four in the morning because I didn't want to go to bed knowing that I had to wake up for work. The sooner I went to bed, so I was in honestly in the worst mental state of my life with this job that everybody is like, Wow, look at that.
00:02:28:21 - 00:02:56:21
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
And so at the time, I had a TikTok following of about 40,000. And I was just looking for a way out. I'm like, you know, either I'm going to do this job until I'm 40 and then snap out of it and wake up and realize I have wasted so many years of my life doing this thing that I don't even want to be doing, or I can quit now and pivot and switch gears and start fresh and just see what I can do with my life.
00:02:57:08 - 00:03:15:21
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
And obviously, it's terrifying to choose that option, but that is obviously the one that I went with. So at this point, I had been documenting a lot of my life on TikTok anyway, so I didn't even think twice about making a video about me quitting because it was like, Well, this is happening in my life. And it's true for me.
00:03:15:21 - 00:03:37:11
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
And I know a lot of my followers are also in this boat, so it feels like an authentic piece of content to create. So I documented the several minutes leading up to the phone call, included a short snippet of the phone call, and then showed the release of finally being free from this job. And that was the end of 2020.
00:03:38:03 - 00:03:46:10
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
And here I am. What, over two years later, you still haven't gone back to corporate? So that is just a huge win for me and I.
00:03:46:10 - 00:03:47:06
Ikey Ajavon
Congratulations. That's amazing.
00:03:47:10 - 00:04:05:03
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Thank you. Thank you. But it's I'm just so grateful to past me for taking a leap like that, having absolutely no idea what I was going to do. I really only had 40,000 TikTok followers to attempt to monetize. That was my whole plan. That was my entire plan.
00:04:05:03 - 00:04:30:03
Ikey Ajavon
Well, it turned out great, apparently. Right? So that's awesome. I did want to ask. So you said this was the end of 2020? Mm-hmm. Obviously, a lot of people are going through a lot of things that year. Do you think that you know, being at home and, you know, the whole pandemic, which is terrible for many, many reasons, but do you think that like pushed you a little further to actually taking this leap?
00:04:30:15 - 00:04:59:08
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Absolutely. I mean, I feel like we had a countrywide like come to Jesus, at least a lot of us did if you know, not everybody. But it forced me to sit at home sitting and how miserable I was with nowhere to go, literally nothing to do besides just try to survive day to day. And it honestly forced me to make the decision.
00:04:59:08 - 00:05:28:14
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
I truly believe that had I not been in quarantine, it wouldn't have come to what it came to as as quickly as it did for me. So I really was faced with a decision like, okay, either continue what you're doing and best of luck to you and your health and your wellness or make a change. And I'm so grateful that I had the privilege of having the opportunity to quit because I had you know, I have had a little bit of savings.
00:05:28:19 - 00:05:41:17
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Worst case scenario, my family is always in my corner. I have a support system, but it took a lot of nerve. And that's something that I'm very grateful to again, past me for doing.
00:05:42:09 - 00:06:05:22
Ikey Ajavon
Yeah, No, that's 100%. I love that. And I feel like to that point, I feel like a lot of people probably have had that feeling during that time, you know, and so many people did do what you've done. And a lot of people may probably have more people who didn't do what you've done. I was reading an article that you were in saying that you get a lot of messages from people saying like, Oh my God, I'm doing it.
00:06:05:22 - 00:06:15:16
Ikey Ajavon
I'm quitting my job as well. What do those types of messages like? How does that make you feel like is a good thing that like, Oh, I like ruining the world?
00:06:16:06 - 00:06:42:21
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Yeah, it's funny. It's funny. I get a lot of mixed feedback on the quitting video, specifically from Boomers who were like, Oh, you're the epitome of an entitled millennial who doesn't know the value of hard work. And then on the other hand, a lot of millennials and Gen Z are like, Oh my God, you're living my dream. And I did get quite a few comments and I get them even still, that video being two years old, saying I'm doing the same thing today, wish me luck.
00:06:42:22 - 00:07:01:17
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Like, Oh, I just saw this and I'm actually going to quit next week. This made me feel a lot better. And I think that's something that I've always tried to do, is never advise people to do that because again, everyone's situation is so different and I am certainly not in a position to be telling people what to do with their lives as a young white woman.
00:07:01:18 - 00:07:26:03
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
You know, it's like my reality is not the same as a lot of other people's reality, but the fact that I can be like an inspiration, I don't like using that word, but like most people seeing my experience and feeling comfort that someone did it and they're okay. That's where I like to kind of sit in this whole thing.
00:07:26:15 - 00:07:48:02
Ikey Ajavon
Yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense. And I. I think there's something that's actually a good pivot point, cause I love to talk more about, like being vulnerable on social media and showing instead of telling kind of like what you're saying in other ways. Do use those too, I guess, use those two frameworks like being vulnerable and showing your yourself in your ear, documenting your experience.
00:07:48:16 - 00:07:55:11
Ikey Ajavon
How does that play into your content and how is that helped you grow on TikTok, which I know is a big part of your brand?
00:07:55:22 - 00:08:40:00
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Yeah, good question. I feel like back when I first got on TikTok, it was a lot of education and teaching and relaying information. And just almost like every swipe was a random Google search. It was just so much information people were teaching, which is obviously great, and that's how people were growing their audiences. But I think people were ready to just connect with other people their age or just use TikTok as an escape from the devastating reality that was 2020.
00:08:40:00 - 00:09:03:09
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
I mean, it was the worst year and I think people wanted solace and somewhere to go and just not have to worry about anything that was going on. So it was interesting at the time because TikTok really started this wave of authenticity on the Internet because we were so used to Instagram being this perfect feed, these perfect filters.
00:09:03:20 - 00:09:29:03
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
And so I think when TikTok finally started shifting toward just people documenting their lives, for better or for worse, it was almost a breath of fresh air. And so it really wasn't a decision I had to make. It was just, Oh, there's a place for me to do this now, thank God. Like I can finally just be myself on the internet and not have to come with like a ton of value.
00:09:29:03 - 00:09:36:20
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
So people will continue to pay attention. Like I can just show up and be myself and share my experience. And it's so liberating to be able to do that.
00:09:37:02 - 00:09:45:22
Ikey Ajavon
Yeah, that's huge. I couldn't agree more. Instagram was just so well, I was trying to do a whole lot of stuff right now. So you see that on Instagram.
00:09:46:00 - 00:09:47:14
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Having an identity crisis right now.
00:09:47:14 - 00:10:14:08
Ikey Ajavon
Yeah, they don't know what's going on. They're trying to quit their job too, which is. Yeah, and all the people using it. But yeah, it is. So I joined TikTok in early, the classic like April of 2020. I was like home. Yeah. And then I was like, Oh yeah, I'll jump out here and it was it is so insanely awesome how people show up and the way everything's so different and also relatable and people are rooting you on that you don't know the community.
00:10:14:08 - 00:10:34:22
Ikey Ajavon
It's, it's awesome. I love it so much. So I'm glad you had that experience as well. And obviously use that to build something really great. So on that note, let's switch to what you're doing now. So that was late 2020. Can you talk about the different ways you are you've built up your career at this point to like what?
00:10:34:22 - 00:10:38:07
Ikey Ajavon
How are you making money? Is it just TikTok? What other things are you doing?
00:10:39:04 - 00:11:07:07
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
It's so funny because this question, it's just I always have a different answer every time someone asks, which is just If that's not the reality of life after corporate, then I don't know what is. Yeah, but basically for the entirety of 2021, I gave my best crack at being a strategic consultant for people who wanted to grow their brands on TikTok because I had, you know, a track record of being able to do that for myself, but really me being my niche.
00:11:07:07 - 00:11:29:10
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
So I decided to help other people do that. And it's funny because I had carried with me from corporate all of the same beliefs and principles that I had Hustle, grind, work yourself into the ground. You need to be up at seven. You need to do 8 hours of work a day like all of these should and have to's.
00:11:29:10 - 00:11:51:09
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
And you need all of these rules that just didn't need to still be with me. And so all of 2021, I was really hustling myself into the ground and trying my best to make money off of meetings with people on TikTok, consulting. And I set myself into burnout again that year because I realized I didn't actually have a corporate America problem.
00:11:51:09 - 00:12:14:07
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
I had a hustle culture problem and I had a perfectionism problem, which of course are both tied into hustle or into corporate America. But, you know, it was a situation like I left corporate America, but corporate America didn't leave me. And so at the end of 2021, I was again like, oh, my God, I'm miserable. I don't want to go back to corporate.
00:12:14:07 - 00:12:36:09
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
I have to figure this out, though. So that really was the turning point for me. I'm like, okay, I'm going to leave this consulting behind. I didn't love to do it. So that was pretty much my entire income from that first year of self-employment. And when I started in 2022, I had been invited by my co-founder Ana, to join her in building Spacetime Monotasking.
00:12:36:09 - 00:13:07:06
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
So up until that point she had been running Patreon sessions, like really just like a little side gig. It wasn't it didn't really feel like a big, robust company. And then once we became a team, it just it made so much sense. We knew instantly that this is what we were supposed to be doing together, and it allowed me the opportunity to start to reevaluate aiding my relationship with productivity, which I didn't know I even needed to do until I started doing it.
00:13:07:16 - 00:13:24:03
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
So all of 2022, I focused more on helping build Spacetime and doing little brand deals here and there. On TikTok, as well as some UGC. I think UGC maybe not so much anymore, but it was really slept on for a while. People didn't know it existed.
00:13:24:03 - 00:13:29:08
Ikey Ajavon
Yeah, I hopped on that train last year too. I was like, Yeah, this magical place. I've never I.
00:13:29:08 - 00:13:55:17
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Know. For me, actually, it's like there's no pressure to post on your own account and I can just film stuff and send it and that's it. Like so last year felt like a ton of, like freelance thing and really just trying to fund Spacetime. MM So that was pretty much all of last year. And now I feel, you know, two full years in, I finally feel like I have some footing.
00:13:56:00 - 00:14:21:18
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
I know how to describe what I do. Finally, I and that's the thing, that income still is inconsistent, but I feel like I have direction and purpose and clarity, which is like a really good feeling. And it's something I thought I would be able to find immediately after quitting corporate, but it truly took two full years. So now I, co-founder of Spacetime with Anna, we're running that full time.
00:14:22:10 - 00:14:57:20
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
We're growing every month and it's great. And then I have recently just grown my Instagram following. I grew it by like 10,000 in the past month, which is awesome. Literally can't believe I can even say that. So that has been an interesting source of opportunity for me lately. So I'm still trying to navigate all of this and kind of figure out where I can make money with the energy that I have left and like it's really month to month is so different that it's hard to even, you know, have a solid answer for that question because it's going to change in a few days probably.
00:14:58:04 - 00:15:14:18
Ikey Ajavon
Yeah, totally. I think that what you're saying is so important like that was two years ago. Things are still you're still figuring things like not figuring things out, but like cementing things or like shifting things. I think that's a great message because I think a lot of people like, well, people that quit their job, they just figure it out.
00:15:18:23 - 00:15:41:01
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
When I quit. I said to myself, You know, I didn't really say this to anybody, anybody. But I gave myself a year yourself a year. If you don't have it figured out, if you're not making any money, you can go back to corporate. I didn't know anything after a year. I mean, I spent a year just trying to figure out how to function outside of this corporate structure.
00:15:41:01 - 00:15:41:12
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
It's like.
00:15:41:15 - 00:15:41:21
Ikey Ajavon
Right.
00:15:42:05 - 00:15:53:19
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
It really takes time. And yeah, it's crazy thinking about how much time has passed and how it really hasn't been that long. But it's felt like three lifetimes.
00:15:54:13 - 00:16:14:20
Ikey Ajavon
Yeah, but I mean, it's like funny because people to your point, it's like, yeah, I'll give myself a year and it's like, well, giving yourself a year to unlearn something that every single person ever has been doing. It's not that much time. So I'm glad that, you know, you and hopefully people listening with us are, you know, sticking with it and pushing past it in a way that works well for them.
00:16:15:05 - 00:16:22:22
Ikey Ajavon
So, again, perhaps shout out to you, That is awesome that it's you know, things are moving and getting better and bigger and awesome and that's really cool.
00:16:23:09 - 00:16:25:02
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it.
00:16:25:13 - 00:16:41:04
Ikey Ajavon
And on that note, let's talk more about Spacetime. So for those who don't know, could you just give us a breakdown of the different things, different tiers and what people could expect when they sign up because they're going to hear this and be like, oh my God, I want to do this event?
00:16:42:01 - 00:17:00:22
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Yeah, it's funny. This is one of those things that it has historically been hard to describe because it's so different from what people are used to. But I think now that we're heading toward a lot of remote work, a lot of work from home, it's becoming the norm. So it's really exciting to get to talk about now two years later.
00:17:01:21 - 00:17:39:02
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
So we basically provide people the structure, space, and time that they need to find, focus, follow through, and feel better. We offer virtual co-working sessions every day of the week, and it's honestly, it's a Zoom room you join. We all state our intention. We go on mute and we work together. One or 2 hours later, the session ends and it sounds so simple, but for anybody who's ever known about “body-doubling”, a lot of neurodivergent ADHD folks know that body doubling is extremely supportive.
00:17:39:02 - 00:18:20:18
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
It's basically when you are in the presence of another person doing a task and then it's just magically easier to follow through on the task. So we really harness the power of time blocking by having a block on your schedule, body doubling with other people and monotasking, which is the opposite of multitasking. So we kind of infuse all of these different methods together to be able to really create a container for people to come put their phones down and get the main thing done that they need to get done because so many people go around or go about their day multitasking, being pulled from thing to thing to emergency, to chat, to email, to
00:18:20:18 - 00:18:37:23
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
text like we are just being pulled if we let ourselves because of how many notifications are going off and how many people need us. And it can leave us feeling at the end of the day, like I don't even know what I did. I, I did so much and I was busy all day, but none of the things on my list are checked off.
00:18:38:08 - 00:19:03:23
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
And then you have to actually do work after you've done a full day of work. So our sessions really give people the opportunity to set a meeting with themselves and follow through on the things that they want to do. And it's one of those things that if you don't, if you haven't tried it, it sounds crazy, but the second you try it, it's like, Oh, I get it, this works now.
00:19:04:06 - 00:19:22:19
Ikey Ajavon
I love that. I think that is such a cool concept. And you said it was simple, but I think some of the best things are simple Rails just being able to get into a place where your focus on one thing is such a crazy concept. I think most people, myself included, I've been trying to do a lot more work that I'm like, just one task, just one thing.
00:19:22:20 - 00:19:38:00
Ikey Ajavon
Just do this one thing. So I love that idea that you're building this company around that. And I feel like that also like jobs. Really? Well, it's like the mindfulness kind of era that we're moving toward where people are trying to focus and be really intentional with the way they spend their time.
00:19:38:03 - 00:20:15:19
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Totally. Yeah, that's our whole thing is like we want to reimagine would productivity means and lead people toward a way to get things done without feeling like absolute shit about themselves or in general, you know, like there's so much toxic messaging around productivity that you nailed it. We're really trying to find the balance between productivity and mindfulness and land somewhere in between, because so much of what people are doing now is mindless and people pay for it.
00:20:15:19 - 00:20:44:15
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Their nervous systems pay for it, their well-being pays for it, and their quality of work pays for it. The time they spend on their work pays for it. There's so much research on multitasking now and about distraction and focus and attention. And it's all signs pointing toward monotasking, mindfulness, working in short sprints, and taking breaks like all of this research is pointing toward all of the things that we know to be true.
00:20:44:23 - 00:21:05:05
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
And it's amazing to see people kind of realize it. And I don't want to say wake up to it because I think it's things that we've always known. Like if I just sit down and focus, I'll be I'll feel better and I'll get this done. But we're really providing people with the tools to actually be able to do it now rather than just dream about one day having the time.
00:21:05:06 - 00:21:25:20
Ikey Ajavon
Totally. I think that, you know, it makes a lot of sense because I do think there's something about people I speak to myself, excuse me, where sometimes you just need someone. It's like, isn't it kind of not the best, but you sometimes need someone else to be like, Hey, here's the permission that maybe it positions the wrong word, but here's space to do this.
00:21:25:20 - 00:21:39:21
Ikey Ajavon
And you're like, Oh, okay, thank you. Yes, Same as the way that people responded to your your original really big viral video. It's like, oh, yes, now I have permission to do that's like now I have there's someone else that's doing it. I can do it too.
00:21:40:03 - 00:22:03:02
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Yeah. And especially being neurodivergent and it's like we know more than anything what it feels like to overcompensate every day just to fit in with people that it's like I do like the word permission. Actually. It's like it's liberating. Like to see somebody else doing it. It almost unlocks like, Oh, I can like, that's okay.
00:22:03:07 - 00:22:06:17
Ikey Ajavon
Yeah. You know, yeah, we'll, we will use that word permission, right? Yeah.
00:22:07:08 - 00:22:12:21
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
The permission you give yourself as a result of seeing somebody else doing it, it's like I can't give anybody permission to do anything.
00:22:12:21 - 00:22:13:13
Ikey Ajavon
But yeah.
00:22:13:15 - 00:22:18:23
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
It's, it's so liberating to see somebody doing something that you never thought you were allowed to do.
00:22:19:04 - 00:22:38:09
Ikey Ajavon
Yeah, that's so true. Because, I mean, there's plenty of times I'm sure you've gotten this where it's like, I wish I could do that. And I'm like, I'm doing it. Which means you could do exactly. In most cases, obviously, there's six inches or whatever, but it is it's cool that you've built a community where that seems to be like a very big revolving, a really big core part of that.
00:22:38:09 - 00:22:39:13
Ikey Ajavon
And I really like that a lot.
00:22:39:19 - 00:23:05:18
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Yeah, it's it's very cool to witness. And it's funny because, you know, we didn't create this science Like this isn't the first time people have done things like that. So it's just cool to almost be a vessel to introduce it to people like this isn't. I didn't create what monotasking is, but it's just it's such an honor and a privilege to be able to lead people toward it and watch their lives be changed by it just as mine was.
00:23:06:03 - 00:23:27:05
Ikey Ajavon
Yeah. No, that's really great. I mean, that's like the power of making companies that are like, align with yourself, but you're like, Oh, I love this. I'm excited. Let me show other people. They get excited, they show people, and so on and so forth. And that no, I do want to talk about another thing that you have going on, which is Bare Minimum Mondays, right?
00:23:27:05 - 00:23:38:09
Ikey Ajavon
Yes, I saw it very yesterday and said your article, which is awesome. Congrats on that. Thank you. Can you just walk us through what that is and where that came from?
00:23:38:23 - 00:24:16:10
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Yeah, it's crazy. So much has happened so fast that it's like hard for me to even talk about it because I'm still processing all of this. But basically in March of last year, just as I'm trying to emerge from burnout, I still felt myself feeling really bad about my lack of functioning and about my lack of productivity, which would cause me to wake up every Monday and make myself the longest list you've ever seen as an attempt to overachieve my way back to feeling better about myself, which obviously that didn't work.
00:24:16:16 - 00:24:44:03
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
So one Monday in March of 2020, I woke up and like, verbally gave myself permission to do the bare minimum. Today, that's like, that's how it happened. I made a video about it just pointing to the camera and saying the same thing. You know, this video was permission to do the absolute bare minimum today. And I had the best Monday I had had in so long and ever since then I have done Bare Minimum Monday ever since.
00:24:44:03 - 00:25:06:11
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
So it's basically letting myself off the hook at the very beginning of the week so that my overwhelm and stress and guilt and shame doesn't absolutely consume me and ruin the rest of my week. So it's really just about lowering the bar, lowering your expectations, which it's funny because a lot of people hear that and they're confused by it.
00:25:06:11 - 00:25:41:00
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
But for people who are burned out, perfectionists and just always go above and beyond under any circumstances all the time, lowering the bar is really just coming back down to a human level of output. Yeah, you know what I mean? Like, so it was almost like I was allowing myself to not be a super, super perfectionist every second of the day, which turned out to be the most liberating, freeing thing and exactly what I needed at the moment.
00:25:41:12 - 00:26:00:21
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
So every Monday since I would, you know, make a video, I would wake up an hour later, I would maybe do two or three of the main things that absolutely had to get done that day. I left all wishful-thinking tasks off the list. It's like even if I could get to them, I'm not going to hold myself accountable to them.
00:26:01:14 - 00:26:27:20
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
And magically I was more productive. I was happier, I was less stressed, I wasn't as overwhelmed. So I have not been able to shut up about Bare Minimum Monday since then because it honestly, like truly has changed my life. And in January, you know, just a month or so ago, I started to go like really viral with the concept, and now it's just kind of all over the place.
00:26:27:20 - 00:26:37:14
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
It's been a fortune in business Insider and all of these crazy platforms that it's it's crazy. It's taken on a life of its own.
00:26:38:20 - 00:27:14:11
Ikey Ajavon
Well, I got to say, it's a great concept and even better branding. They're like bare minimum money, perfectly packaged, just like ready to go. And so that's that. That's really cool to hear that, you know, just sharing what you are doing can provide such great impact on others and then also help you and your I'm guessing, in your business, right, With every news article that you're getting written about you, every video that's going viral with you, just doing the thing that you were already doing has to be wonderfully helping build up all the other things you're working on.
00:27:15:00 - 00:27:37:04
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Totally. Yeah. It's such a testament to what we talked about earlier. Like if you just talk about what is true for you, people are going to like you people will find you. Of course, a bunch of people who definitely shouldn't be hearing my messaging are also finding me now because of the press. But like a lot of people who absolutely need to hear it have found me.
00:27:37:11 - 00:27:56:17
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
And that's incredible because now they get to reap the benefits of this too. And yeah, it's cool that Bare Minimum Monday is really an extension of the philosophy that we have at Spacetime. So it's growing my own credibility and my brand, but it's also growing our startup and it's just been really cool to watch, watch everything happen over the past couple of weeks.
00:27:57:15 - 00:28:17:19
Ikey Ajavon
That is really cool. That's awesome. Another question I had kind of related to tech talk Instagram. Were you big on like social media and video stuff before you started going viral on TikTok or any of that stuff? Or is this something that kind of it was really I mean, I think a lot of people's stories like I just started doing it because it was there and I love that story too.
00:28:17:19 - 00:28:21:10
Ikey Ajavon
But I wanted to hear how you kind of got your start in that realm.
00:28:22:02 - 00:28:48:00
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Yeah, I'm I'm giggling over here because I was a YouTube kid. I was oh, I was a huge YouTube kid. Thank God. I still remembered my log-in from when I was like 14. So now all of those videos are private and luckily and you can go find them. But I was part of a Twilight-themed channel where we each had a day of the week and we would each post a video about whatever the topic was.
00:28:48:11 - 00:29:17:19
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
So at age 14, I was making videos about Tim Edward for all of YouTube to watch. So it's safe to say that video always has kind of been a passion of mine and it's just something I enjoy doing. I think the format is exciting because you can do so many different things with it. So when TikTok was first starting to blow up was when I was in like the depths of my burnout in corporate and was using 0% of my creative muscle at work, I'm talking 0%.
00:29:18:06 - 00:29:39:16
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
And so I was watching these other people blow up for these videos that I could make in like 4 seconds. So I was like, you know, screw it, I'm going to get on here. And really, that's how it started was like I saw this platform that was exactly what I like to do creatively. And I was on TikTok for a while.
00:29:39:16 - 00:29:59:13
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
And then I recently, I would say in the past six months had started to take Instagram a little bit more seriously. But I actually Instagram is almost where people from Instagram or where people from TikTok go to connect with you. So I've really been liking Instagram lately because it feels more intimate than TikTok does.
00:30:00:06 - 00:30:19:20
Ikey Ajavon
Yeah, that's really that's really cool. I mean, Team Edward is the right choice first and foremost here for that. But that's awesome that it's been with like video has been kind of a constant and then like it came kind of came back around. I find that that's something that it's like for me I like loved art stuff and things like that.
00:30:19:20 - 00:30:32:19
Ikey Ajavon
And I did more like business marketing and I came back to doing video. So it's cool to hear that you had some of that infused in your personal life as a younger person, and now it's clearly a big part of your day-to-day.
00:30:32:21 - 00:30:51:08
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Totally. Oh yeah. And that's the thing I would recommend to anybody listening who wants to think about the idea of leaving their job or, you know, finding a hobby that could potentially turn into a business is like, what did you like to do as a kid? People always go back to what they used to do as a kid.
00:30:51:08 - 00:30:54:23
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Once they realize that they're allowed to in adulthood.
00:30:55:12 - 00:31:03:22
Ikey Ajavon
Yeah, definitely. I couldn't agree more. I think there are so many people with so many unique and interesting things. I'm just like, just make videos, please. Seriously, out there.
00:31:04:15 - 00:31:15:01
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Oh yeah. I feel like I'm one of like tiktok's number one fan or like spokesperson out in the wild. It's like if I see anyone doing anything remotely cool, I'm like, Hey, are you on TikTok?
00:31:15:11 - 00:31:16:13
Ikey Ajavon
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
00:31:16:13 - 00:31:17:15
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
What can I help you with?
00:31:17:16 - 00:31:40:08
Ikey Ajavon
Like, just hit record. I swear it'll go well. Maybe won't go viral, but it'll be good, I promise. Exactly. So I wanted to ask. Next. Where do you see yourself and Spacetime, let's say in five years, Like if things were to go beyond your wildest dreams or even further, like, what would you want?
00:31:40:08 - 00:32:07:23
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
I love this question, and I are big. We're both visionaries, we're both big dreamers. So we have this conversation a lot. We just want to, I mean, change the world of productivity. Like truly we want to snap people out of the current toxic state that they're in. Like they don't even know that they're in. We really want to make an impact.
00:32:08:10 - 00:32:34:11
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
So we're hoping to have, you know, a ton of facilitators hosting sessions basically every hour around the clock for anybody around the globe who needs to get in and focus and we've also been talking about opening co-working spaces. And city is like, you know, that's a big dream, is giving people a third space to go to. So many people only have home and only have work and now people are stuck at home working.
00:32:34:19 - 00:33:05:06
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
So we need more places that people can go to just be. So we we we honestly just want to expand as much as we can go and reach as many people. And I don't know if we're sure what that looks like, but I think just whatever would get the message to people the fastest and the most efficient is the direction that we want to go in, because this this work has truly, truly overhauled both of our lives for the better.
00:33:05:08 - 00:33:32:19
Ikey Ajavon
I can't wait to go to Spacetime in real time somewhere that be really, really cool. I look forward to that. Next question. What is something you would like to brag about? I always like to ask my guests. You know, the world is maybe not the most fun always. So I want that great create space for you to brag about something or talk about something you're excited about and just let the viewers know What do you have going on?
00:33:33:16 - 00:34:01:01
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Honestly, I think I've talked about everything that I really would want to brag about. So I think honestly and this doubles as a piece of advice is I am so proud of my ability to pivot. When I was on TikTok for that first year, I was really doubling down on like, here's how to grow on TikTok, Here's how to get more followers, here's how to get more clients from TikTok.
00:34:01:01 - 00:34:30:00
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
And really I had niched myself in. I had boxed myself in. I was losing the magic and the fun of it. And I really just want to brag about how resilient and malleable I can be when I'm faced with what seems to be a dead end. You know, I think I could have gone back to corporate at that point once I realized I didn't want to be doing that anymore, but I switched niches.
00:34:30:10 - 00:34:48:16
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
I started talking about things that my audience necessarily didn't want to be hearing at the time, but I think my ability to just keep going and figure it out and forge the path that I want to be on is that I, I mean, it's one of my favorite things about myself.
00:34:49:20 - 00:35:15:02
Ikey Ajavon
That is really great. I love that. And that's really good advice as well. Before we jump, so the last section, the last bit of the podcast is about the advice you'd give to people so you can, you know, hit the nail on the head there. But before we jump there, I did want to ask because I do love to talk about how this type of creative work and unique jobs, how that affect more than just you as a working person.
00:35:15:02 - 00:35:30:19
Ikey Ajavon
So like, can you speak to how this has affected in positive or negative ways, like, you know, relationships or like the stuff of family or friends? How has it how's going out on your own affected those types of things in your life?
00:35:31:22 - 00:36:09:21
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Yeah, that's a really good question. I, I think in the first little bit after quitting corporate, I was still so plugged into my friends in corporate and just my old way of being like I was still very much the same person that I was when I was in my job. So nothing really changed. But as time went on and I was having new experiences and I was doing things that my friends absolutely could not relate to at all, it started to be it's not necessarily a bad thing, but it started to be hard to relate to the people that you are surrounded with.
00:36:10:15 - 00:36:40:02
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
And so I really made it a point to seek out community, and that helped a lot. But I think I think that's the thing is when you choose a path that people don't normally take, you have to be ready for people to not understand it all the way totally. And so that was something to kind of reckon with is like, well, this thing, this really exciting thing happened and people are like, Well, what does that even mean?
00:36:40:02 - 00:37:05:14
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Like, Well, what are you talking about? It's like, you know, it's hard to find people in real life who you've known that understand why you're excited over something. So I think that was the main difference from being in corporate to kind of forging my own path. But it's expected and, you know, people can't be expected to understand everything that you're doing.
00:37:05:14 - 00:37:07:02
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
And you can't let that stop you.
00:37:07:21 - 00:37:25:02
Ikey Ajavon
Yeah. Yeah. Know, that's huge. But I do think, you know, myself included, you know, the opinions of others and like, how are they going to react to things? Like how are they going to understand that can definitely like powered people down? So I think to your point of like accepting that like people just aren't going to get it and that's okay.
00:37:25:05 - 00:37:47:07
Ikey Ajavon
Like, that's, that's so powerful. So for our last bit, I already alluded to this. I'm hoping that everyone listening is super inspiring and they're like, I want to be just like MJ. So if you could give us you already had one awesome piece of advice for you. Give us two other pieces of advice for someone that maybe wants to quit their job or maybe wants to do stuff for TikTok or start an online company as well.
00:37:47:19 - 00:37:48:13
Ikey Ajavon
What would those be?
00:37:49:20 - 00:38:19:01
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
I think the first thing is to pick up your damn phone and start talking about the stuff that you think is interesting on the internet. I know that it's uncomfortable and it can be scary, but I think once you see that your people will find you, it just becomes easier and easier. So you almost you really have to start with courage and it becomes easier and easier.
00:38:19:09 - 00:38:44:14
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
But truly, posting silly little videos on the Internet about the things that I find interesting was ultimately the thing that changed my life and I think for people who are stuck in a job they don't want or are desiring something different, you have to be willing to do something outside your comfort zone or something that makes you a little bit uncomfortable.
00:38:44:14 - 00:38:53:06
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
And it's just one of those things you got to kind of get used to being a little bit uncomfortable most of the time, but it gets easier.
00:38:53:19 - 00:39:02:02
Ikey Ajavon
Yeah, uncomfortable most of the time. Well, accurate. That's amazing. And if you have one more piece of advice or yes.
00:39:02:17 - 00:39:36:09
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
I would say take your creativity seriously and put time on the calendar for it. This is something I didn't even do for the first year and a half of being self-employed and doing my own thing. And the minute that I did, everything started to happen. If you just sit down and try to produce stuff and you try to get it out of you when you've been grinding all day like it's not going to come, you have to really nurture that part of yourself.
00:39:37:01 - 00:39:49:15
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
It can't be forced. So really showing up for your creative practice, not necessarily every day, but consistently, whatever that looks like for you is like it's just invaluable.
00:39:49:15 - 00:40:00:01
Ikey Ajavon
That is amazing advice. I was like, Whoa, I need to do that. And before we actually go. MJ Where can people find you and your company online?
00:40:00:01 - 00:40:22:01
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Yeah, my Instagram is at Marisa Jo, @marisajo my TikTok is @itsmarisajo and then we can be found on Instagram and TikTok at @Spacetimemonotaskting and spacetimemonotasking.com get a free session free using code focus. If you would like to come and find your flow state with us.
00:40:22:07 - 00:40:27:05
Ikey Ajavon
I love that. Okay. Thank you so much and we'll hopefully talk soon.
00:40:27:14 - 00:40:29:05
Marisa Jo (MJ) Mayes
Thank you.
00:40:29:05 - 00:40:47:01
Ikey Ajavon
Thank you so much for listening to episode one of the Pursuit of Creativity Podcast. If you enjoyed hearing MJ's story and got some value from this episode, be sure to share it with a friend. Leave a rating or review. It really helps us out. For more insightful content, be sure to check out the Believe Divergent Instagram and check out BelieveDivergent.com.
00:40:47:07 - 00:40:53:04
Ikey Ajavon
I'm your host Ikey Ajavon and remember to stay optimistic, better days are coming.
