What’s Coming in Season 12 With Michelle Jones

0:03Michelle Jones:Thank you for joining me for episode 581 of Live Happy Now. We're wrapping up season 11 this week and that means it's a great time to talk about what we have going on for you right now and what we have coming up. I'm your host Paula Felps and today I'm joined by Michelle Jones, our marketing manager and happiness strategist who's here to talk about some of the things we don't want you to miss out on. From new merch to new episodes to new ways to live happy, we've got a lot for you to choose from. So sit back and listen to what's in store. Michelle, welcome back.

0:36Paula Felps:Hey, Paula. Great to be back on this sweltering summer day here in Tennessee.

0:43Michelle Jones:Oh, yeah. We wouldn't want it any other way, would we? We've got to love the humidity.

0:48Paula Felps:It's my friend until maybe September, October. Got to get used to it.

0:53Michelle Jones:Oh, yeah. Well, we're here because we are wrapping up our 11th season of the podcast, which is really hard to believe. And it's been one of our busiest seasons in a very long time. So I wanted to get you on the show, have you talk about some of the changes we've made and also what we have coming up. So I think the very first place to start, best thing we can do is talk about the summer reading program that we just ended. We had such a great response to this. And for those who didn't join in, it's not too late. Yeah.

1:24Paula Felps:So if it's still humid, that means summer isn't over. So there is still time. So you can go to livehappy.com, click podcast, you'll find season 11. Our summer reading program starts with You Only Die Once by Jodi Wellman, but you can listen to any of the episodes in any order at any time. We don't like a lot of rules around here. So you have at it. We have some awesome bonus content. We have a tracker too. So you can download all of that stuff plus the bonus content and really get the most out of this program.

1:57Michelle Jones:Yeah, we were excited to see how many people downloaded the tracker and how many played along at home. So we're very excited to see how that continues to do even after it ends. And our listeners know that our podcast is just one part of what we do. It's part of Live Happy's bigger mission. and you have been spending some time in the Live Happy store lately tinkering around. So why don't you share with us what you've got going on?

2:22Paula Felps:Yeah, one of my favorite places to be. If you have ever worn a Live Happy t-shirt, you get a lot of compliments when you wear them. And a lot of people ask, where did you get that? Has that ever happened to you, Paula?

2:34Michelle Jones:Yes, we have one of the original long sleeve Live Happy t-shirts and I could have sold that like probably 50 times over. right off my back.

2:43Paula Felps:You got to just keep a box of them in your car, I think. I think so. You want one? There you go. Sell them off the streets. You don't have to do that. The Live Happy website is freshly restocked so you can order online. We have our new summer 2026 logo tee. You just click on the shop tab on livehappy.com. And to celebrate our fresh new look, we are going to throw in a free gift with every purchase. So that is our extremely popular sticky notes. And people tell us all the time that they leave them around the house or around the office and give a little extra encouragement to others, which is something we can certainly get behind.

3:19Paula Felps:And then we will have another back to school promo that will launch in August. So you won't want to miss that. And then some new fall merch will be dropping soon. So we'll bring back some old favorites and of course have a couple of new surprises as well.

3:33Michelle Jones:That sounds fab. I'm really excited about some of the new things we're going to offer in the store. There's stuff that I've really missed because I know it was a hit with our audience. And so I'm so glad to see you bringing that back. And we're going to have a lot more fun stuff to select.

3:47Paula Felps:Yeah. Who doesn't love new gear? So I've been busy in the store. You've been busy with the newsletters. Tell us all about one of my favorite things, our new Sunday Sillies newsletter. How's that going?

4:00Michelle Jones:Oh my God. So it's become like my favorite thing to work on. It started out, we were going to do something special for April Fool's Day. And as you know, I've written some stories about humor, what humor does for us. It's really a grounding thing. My second career goal was to be a stand-up comedian. That didn't work out, but I'm not bitter. So the Sunday Sillies just kind of evolved out of this idea for a one-off newsletter that we were going to send out. And now it's like a weekly Sunday night, chase away the Sunday scaries. We have a reset every week, just kind of smart-alecky, kind of encouraging.

4:39It's like me, to be honest.

4:42Michelle Jones:So yeah, it's just a way to really give our listeners, give our audience that little boost on Sunday night that I think we are all looking for to take our mind off the week ahead, make us smile, make us feel good about ourselves. So that's been a lot of fun to work on.

4:56Paula Felps:Yeah. And we've got a lot of really great new content too. Tell me about that, Paula.

5:02Michelle Jones:Oh, yes. We've been able to bring on a new lifestyle writer. Allison Longley is covering parenting and relationships topics. We did that a lot when we had the magazine. It was a very popular section for us. And so as we've been in this mode of growth, we brought Allison on board to rejuvenate that and start looking at some of these topics. She's a parent herself. In fact, she's going to give birth to her second child, oh, any week now. And so she knows what she's talking about. So yeah, it's just a great way to reach out to people to connect with you and give a look at some of the topics that we know our audience is interested in.

5:40Michelle Jones:And you're a part of the growth that we have going on too. Tell us about some of the stories that you've been working on.

5:46Paula Felps:Yeah. So I've been a journalist for about 20 years and most of that time was spent telling some really heartbreaking stories. So I'm happy to report that my heart is whole now thanks to Live Happy. and I get to tell some really amazing stories about some really incredible things that people are doing. Recently, I've done one on a college student who has turned laundromats into learning centers for kids, which was awesome. She was like, there are these kids sitting there with nothing to do and a lot of time on their hands waiting for laundry to be finished. So what a cool idea. And then a man who went on this spiritual journey, he wanted to find himself.

6:24Paula Felps:And then he pretty quickly realized that finding happiness was not actually about him at all and what he did about that and turned that into helping others. So those have been incredible to write. And I've just been having the best time with those.

6:39Michelle Jones:And you've got some more coming up. One thing that I love is being able to sit in our meetings and talk about the stories that we're going to do because everybody gets so excited about this stuff, especially that you're working on because they're always such genuinely good feeling stories of the evidence of people putting good out into the world. And so in addition to the ideas that we're generating, I know that we're soliciting them. So if someone has a story that they want to share, if they know someone who's doing great things out in the world, where can they send those ideas to get to you?

7:12Paula Felps:Yes, please send them my way. Always love hearing the incredible things that others are doing. You can just email those to editor at livehappy.com.

7:21Michelle Jones:And they'll find you. They'll find me. That's terrific. So as we said in the beginning, it has been a busy few months, but wait, there's more. Like we are not done yet. We've got a lot of things that we've been working on. And one thing that we're really excited about is how we're taking some of the content we're developing and going a little bit deeper with that. I don't know if all our listeners realize this, but Live Happy did start as a magazine. I referenced that a little bit earlier. And really, our niche was lifestyle-oriented, but very research-based stories. Everything we did was rooted in science.

7:55Michelle Jones:We could give the backup information to show, like, this is why it's so good for you. And because we had the magazine, we were really able to explore big topics deeply that went far beyond what we can possibly do on the website with a single article or a podcast episode. And like you, I was a journalist and Chris was a journalist. And so all of us had that longing to be able to get back to that kind of digging in deep to a topic. And so that's what we're going to do this fall. We're bringing the experience back.

8:26Paula Felps:Ooh, tell me more about that, Paula. I love the idea of there are some niche things that our audience, I think, is going to be really interested in and then being able to learn more and find all of that in one place. Tell me, tell me how we're doing it.

8:42Michelle Jones:We'll be right back with more of Live Happy Now.

8:48Michelle Jones:If you're looking for your new favorite summer t-shirt, we've got you covered. Check out our brand new Live Happy t-shirts in the Live Happy Store so you can share your happiness wherever you go. Whether you're heading to the beach, walking the dog, or just grabbing your morning coffee, these teas are your new go-to for spreading joy everywhere you go. Show everyone your happy style with these bold new shirts or pick up one of our classics in the online shop at store.livehappy.com. That's store.livehappy.com. And because we love a little extra happiness, you'll get a free gift with every order.

9:26Michelle Jones:Yep, every single one. So as the summer heats up, slip into something joyful. Grab a new Live Happy Summer Tea today and let your shirt do the smiling. because happiness looks good on you.

9:41Michelle Jones:And now let's hear more from Michelle Jones. I'm going to tell you, Michelle. We are going to launch a series of free in-depth reports that let us dig into important topics in ways that we can't on the website or in a 30-minute podcast conversation. And these reports will be more like those long-form stories that we used to publish in the magazine. And so they'll be packed with the practical insights that people can actually use. So it's not a research paper. We have a lot of research, but we're also going to tell you how you can apply it. And we're going to start this in early September where our first one is on teen mental health, which is a huge topic today.

10:19Michelle Jones:We've been covering this topic on the website and in a podcast episode. And this report will kind of bring it all together, plus some outside research that we've done and look at what the research shows, what experts say about teen mental health and what families, teachers, and other adults can do right now. So it's something we're really, really excited to introduce.

10:40Paula Felps:Oh, that's so cool. I can't wait for that.

10:43Michelle Jones:Yeah, I'm excited about that. And also, as we talk about developing content, we're going to roll out a substack this fall. And that's going to give our audience even one more place where they can find content. It'll be fresh content, different than what we have on the website. So we'll be sharing more about that in a few weeks. But on top of that, as if that's not enough. There's more? There is more. And this is all about you. This is in your hands. We're introducing our Wake Up Happy weekly text series. You want to tell us about that?

11:13Paula Felps:Yes. So I am so blown away by the response that we have had to Sunday sillies. Paula, you have just done such an incredible job with it. Thank you. It just launched. We already have thousands of people who have signed up and joined. That's been so fun.

11:28Michelle Jones:I have to say, it's been so much fun. every week where you're like, hey, guess how many people signed up this week? And then the open rate's insane. And so we thank, my gosh, thank everybody who's listening. Thank you for signing up and playing along with us. That has been so fun to watch.

11:44Paula Felps:You know, whenever I feel like Paula has a down day, I just text you with the Sunday Silly's numbers and all is well. How about we turn it up a notch though, Paula? Are you ready for that? Let's go. All right. Well, we are so committed to making Mondays less, well, Monday-like that we want you to wake up to a text from us that is both meaningful and motivating. And of course, it wouldn't be us if there wasn't a punchy or mildly sarcastic comment or two on some weeks, you know, just helps us get through the week. You know, that's how we are. If you're not signed up for Sunday sillies yet, Go to livehappy.com, you click connect, and then newsletters.

12:27Michelle Jones:And it's right there. It's right there.

12:29Paula Felps:You'll get it.

12:30Michelle Jones:Once we get the Wake Up Happy text campaign going, I imagine you'll put something on social media. And will they be able to also sign up through the newsletter page? Or how are we going to do that?

12:40Paula Felps:Of course. Yeah. So we'll have loads of ways. When our weekly newsletter comes out on Tuesdays, if you're subscribed to that, there is one orange button that you push that will automatically get you enrolled in Sunday Silly. So if you already get our newsletter, click that button. It's a one click link. It automatically signs you up for Sunday Silly. So be sure to click there. Yes. Social media. Absolutely. Make sure you're following us on Facebook and Instagram. We're also getting a lot of love on our LinkedIn page lately, Paula. So yeah, if you're a LinkedIn person, all of that stuff goes there.