Category: Stratejoy the Biz

A Thousand Different Things, all of which You Need to Know! Seriously.

posted 8th January 2010    Written by: Molly Hoyne    CATEGORY: All Posts, Events, Love, Stratejoy the Biz

As I sit down to write this post, there are a million thoughts running through my head…

Should I share news that about Season 2 Bloggers have been selected?  Tell you that I got engaged 3 minutes into 2010?  Shout my excitement about the awesome Release & Renew event Andrea Rae and I hosted Wednesday night?  Inform you that the winter schedule is up for Lifestyle Design?

See my problem?

So much going on, so little time.  It’s a mad house over here in a very good, engaging, slightly stressful, but soooo awesome way.

I’m going to tackle it all and promise you a more eloquent post on some subtle point of joyfulness next week.  Hope that’s a-okay with all you sugar pops.

With that, let’s rock.

A Round of Applause for the Season 2 Bloggers!

Competition was fierce this season and I’m incredible thrilled to say any one of the 16 applicants would have made an amazing Stratejoy Blogger.  But the lucky ladies who’ll be sharing their Quarterlife Crisis Adventures with us in Season 2 are:

I realize that doesn’t tell you a whole lot, but more fun and excitement to come in February when they go live!   Stalk, connect and congratulate them on Twitter!  In the meantime, savor each and every post from Season 1- we’ve got three weeks left to soak up Robyn, Kendra, Andrea and Marisa’s wisdom, humor and inspiration.

A Rock, A Proposal, and Absolutely No Wedding Plans Yet So Don’t Even Ask

It’s been a journey on the relationship front as many of you know.  Well, the journey continues!

The Big Man asked me to marry him just a few minutes into the New Year. I burst into tears, hugged him (which is hard to do considering he was kneeling and I was sitting in a chai with tiny dress on), forgot to say yes-instead saying, “Put it on!” (referring to the absolutely gorgoues ring of course), hugged him again, remembered to say, “Yes! Yes! Of course!” and drank champagne as the crowd at Volterra clapped.

That wasn’t supposed to be the proposal…

There’s an even longer story about how I came home a day early from Montana.  And coming home a day early messed up all sorts of well laid, romantic plans involving planes, serenades and surprises.

Oops.

Regardless, it’s still on. And I’m thrilled/excited/insert-exuberant-word-here to be marrying the Big Man, the best partner I can imagine and the love of my life.  My heart is truly happy. I won’t gob this up with lovey dovey goo, but our relationship over the last 4+ years has been one of love, adventure, growth, and laughter.

And I can’t wait for many, many more years to come.

It still feels surreal that I’m getting married. But it also feels very calm and right.  Almost like I’m easing into the life I am meant to live, with the man I’m meant to share it with.

Good stuff, all around.  And dude.  My ring!  I’m in love with it as well!

I might need to give it a name- which is a special process I save for only those inanimate objects that I really, REALLY love (ie Quincy, my trusty Subaru and Stella the purple couch from college).

p.s. Don’t ask me when we’re getting married.  I have no idea!  How am I supposed to know the answer to that question 8 days into being engaged?  Argh!!!

p.p.s. No, I am not wearing the ring on my right hand.  I took those silly pictures with my Mac and it must be like a mirror…  I keep trying to figure this out in my head (Why? How?), but finally gave up.  You give up too.  Definitely not a good use of your time!

Release and Renew: Clearing the Path for an Incredible 2010

What can I say?  52 women kicking the crap from 2009 to the curb and welcoming in an awesome 2010 by creating a guiding theme for themselves was INSANE.  In a totally good way.

The energy in the room was palpable.

We spend two hours in yoga clothes intensely writing in our journals, visualizing, tuning into our body’s energy, yelling like Tarzan, having a conversation with our future selves (some of whom had pink hair/wore kickin’ boots/told us to just relax/made us cry she was so peaceful), and starting the process of creating a powerful theme for the year ahead.

I’ll share a bit of the process, as well as my own theme next week. Want a starting point?  Here’s the post I wrote last year about my 2009 theme…

Andrea Rae of Alinga Bodywork was the perfect partner to present with!  She’s totally amazing with all the energy work that I’m interested in, but know nothing about.  I’ve been going to her for BodyTalk sessions (plus a little massage!) and just want to say:  Check it out.

Sound like intense evening?  It was.  But also inspiring. Check out some of the feedback!

Do you feel like you never know about these events?  Get thee on the email list (upper right corner) or join the Tribe on Facebook!  Don’t live in Seattle?  Don’t worry- I plan on hosting some free “telecalls” this year on all sorts of cool happiness and authenticity related topics!

Lifestyle Design Schedule is Up for January, February and March

Well, honestly, that’s about all I have to say on that! Details and Registration Here...

I encourage you to join us.  Again, if you’re not in Seattle there’s a homestudy version of the course available.  (And on that note- I’ve had some interest in doing a Lifestyle Design Course over the phone… If that sounds like something you might dig, will you please let me know so I can send you more details? Use the contact form if you don’t know my email!)

And why would you do any of this?  Because you know what? This is it.  This is Life.

Are you Living Yours?

Make this the year that you step up and take control of your own happiness.  That you start living each and every moment on your terms.  The year that you blossom, break through, relax into yourself, rock and roll, and a million other new ways of experiencing life.

The year that you allow the best version of yourself to shine.

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Happy Holidays and January Excitement!

posted 22nd December 2009    Written by: Molly Hoyne    CATEGORY: All Posts, Stratejoy the Biz, Travel

What a year.  I have a lot to process and the holidays are my favorite time to do it!  I’m going home to Montana this year and look forward to my Mom’s cooking, skiing my butt off and reading the 7 books I checked out from the library.  I truly hope you’ve got something equally wonderful in store!

Wonderful in your own way of course!

We’ll be taking a break from the blog for the rest of this week so we can all celebrate, but new posts will be back online starting Monday, December 28th.  And did you guys know that this is the last month we’ll be hearing from Robyn, Kendra, Andrea and Marisa?  Season One is over at the end of January! It’s been such a journey living and learning with these four over the last 6 months.

I miss them already, but am definitely excited to introduce you to the ladies of Season Two…

I look forward to seeing you all in the New Year!  We’ve got lots of excitement for January on the books- are you in?   I sure hope so!

January Lifestyle Design

Release and Renew: Clearing the Path for an Incredible 2010

Personal Coaching Over the Phone: 3 spots still open for clients starting in January

Here’s where I’ll be until January the 4th!  Best wishes to you and your families for a fabulous holiday and a Happy New Year!

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Happy Birthday Stratejoy.com!

posted 6th November 2009    Written by: Molly Hoyne    CATEGORY: All Posts, Stratejoy the Biz, What I've Learned

Happy Birthday Stratejoy.comIt’s been one year since this website went live!

One year since I quit my full time job to concentrate on birthing this baby.  One year of working towards a goal that many in my life thought impractical, frivolous, unimportant.  One year of working towards a goal that I know is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing.

Happy Birthday www.stratejoy.com!

You had me at hello…

When I think about it– a lot has happened in this last year.  I hosted my first Lifestyle Design Workshop in February, started a support community for the amazing women in our Tribe, spoke in front of hundreds of women at Girl Power Hour and lululemon, spent a summer working with some incredibly talented interns, facilitated a Life List Workshop (with men!), recruited and fell in love with four contributing bloggers, connected with many of “my people” via Facebook and Twitter, created the homestudy Joy Equation course and realized that I can totally do this.

In the middle of all that craze, I also kept up my love of traveling– heading to Santa Fe, Maui, San Diego, New York, Montana and Bali to celebrate weddings, families and just plain adventure.

I am grateful for all of it.  All of the butterflies, all of the late night writing, all of the learning curves, all of the support.  And most of all?  I’m grateful for all of you.  Yes, you and you and you.

Thank you.

You have been part of this adventure.  And hopefully, I have been part of yours.  This “Tribe of Gutsy Girls” is strong and growing stronger each day. I get the excited wiggle when I think about what’s in store for all of us in the upcoming year.

Of course, it hasn’t been all peaches and cream. Working for and supporting yourself has been harder than I ever imagined.  In my 29 years, I’ve never had to deal with so many insecurities, so much fear of failure, such little confidence that I’m doing things “right”…

One of our fabulous Tribe members, Holly, posted this quote on Facebook this week.

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.”  – Mary Anne Radmacher

It reminded me that being “gutsy” isn’t always big and bold and out loud.  That even when I feel overwhelmed with the task ahead of me, getting up each day and moving forward bit by bit is courageous.  That I am being brave because I’ve committed to what brings me joy, even when it’s hard.

And you know what?  I’m learning.  I’m stretching.  I’m growing.  Perhaps I can even say, I’m coming into my own.  And in that growth, I get to witness and support YOUR growth.  Your exploration.  Your attempts to navigate an authentic life.

It’s been amazing.  It will continue to be so.

Here’s to another year of clarity, inspiration, camaraderie,  adventures, tom foolery, finding flow, rockin’ out and being authentic!

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Taking a Chance on Something Completely “Wrong”

posted 2nd October 2009    Written by: Molly Hoyne    CATEGORY: All Posts, Quarterlife Crisis, Stratejoy the Biz

Hi, this is Kristy — Molly’s intern. Molly is over in Indonesia right now (having the time of her life, I’m sure) so she asked me if I minded writing a little something about my own experiences. I took her up on the offer in a heartbeat.

wrong-wayBack in March, when I first stumbled upon Stratejoy in my department’s internship & job listings, I was looking for a paid, full-time job, preferably to begin in the summer and continue indefinitely. Stratejoy wasn’t that — it was a 10-hour-a-week unpaid internship that would start right away. It was completely “wrong,” — something my head told me I shouldn’t do. But there was a reason Stratejoy caught my eye, and why my heart told me that this was actually completely right.

When I was in high school I was the youngest person to go through a workshop series that was very similar to Stratejoy’ Lifestyle Design with a company called HeartSpark in Portland, OR. It completely inspired me and changed the way I think about my life. So when I read up on Stratejoy and the workshops Molly offers I knew instantly that I was behind what she did and wanted to help out in any way I could.

So I jumped in — I interviewed and landed the internship (although I did get a slight scolding / helpful tip from Molly who reminded her three new interns that it’s bad form not to send thank you letters — apparently no one she interviewed did). Molly put me right to work on developing her new online course based on Lifestyle Design. I was thrilled.

I worked hard throughout the spring and summer to create a fantastic online course — something that retained the authenticity and success of the in-person month-long workshop while giving participants the flexibility of time and distance from Seattle. To toot my own horn: I think I succeeded. I’ll take credit for crafting such a great version of Molly’s course, but the real shiny gold stars go to her for developing such an amazing program to begin with. Let’s just say I had fabulous material and enthusiasm to work with.

And through the creation of the course, as well as actually going through the in-person version, I actually took the time to think about what it truly was that I wanted and what success looked like to me. I had done this years ago in high school, but on the verge of graduation from college I realized it was very important for me to think about it again. Especially since everything — everything — has changed in these years since high school. Haha.

Through this unpaid internship that I randomly stumbled upon and which wasn’t ideally what I had been looking for, I gained experience in a kind of work I’d never done before, defined what it truly was that I wanted from the next couple years of my life, and I ended up actually landing that job I’d been looking for 6 months before, with Molly’s boyfriend Ken, who owns & runs an email marketing company. He was impressed with my hard work, enthusiasm and creativity and wanted me on board. It kind of just fell in my lap — like, I’m realizing, most things eventually do for people.

What are some things that have changed? Well the biggest one is that instead of going straight on to get my PhD in Communication Studies like I’d been planning for a couple years, I’m now considering getting an MA in Sustainable Communities or Sustainable Leadership, something I realized I’m passionate about, first — and taking a few years off beforehand.

Graduating is scary — I do that next June after I write my 40-page Honors Thesis, eep! — but it’s become a little less scary because of the events of these past 6 months. And I’m hoping by the time it happens it won’t be that scary at all.

The online course has just launched and you can still get it for our introductory price, which is 33% off. See this page for The Joy Equation: a 30-Day Guide to Living Life on Purpose.

photo credit: limonada

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Giveaway Winners

posted 22nd August 2009    Written by: Molly Hoyne    CATEGORY: All Posts, Stratejoy the Biz

Did you win?  I don’t want to ruin the suspense by listing the winners here, so watch the video!

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