We’re looking forward to introducing you to Jaye Thompson. Check out our conversation below.
Jaye, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
For several years now, I’ve been interested in taking up surfing. I swam competitively as a kid, so that part comes naturally, and I’ve always admired how freeing the sport looks. Last year, I committed to doing a week-long surf trip in Barbados, and after consistently training each morning for two hours, I showed massive improvements.
The sport can feel a bit philosophical at times, requiring immense patience and diligent observation of your surroundings when waiting for the right wave. The lul of the ocean has always been a source of zen to me, and it has this ability to wash away the most trivial and insignificant annoyances. There’s also a natural rush of dopamine that comes from gliding on top of the water, a feeling of pure effortlessness that I can’t quite compare to anything else. I’m trying to retain a bit of that sensation in my daily life, as well as the patience that surfing brings out of me.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am the Founder and Creative Director of Wish You Well, an independent creative and production studio. We produce films, campaigns, and product ideas for brands and artists, prioritizing visual craft and storytelling. We exist to bring experimentation back to the creative industry and get clients to the act of making, faster.
We explicitly define ourselves as a studio, differentiating ourselves from agencies. The nature of a studio is to be a space that encourages untamed curiosity, experimentation, and play. When you look at other creatives, such as visual artists and musicians, they are pursuing their craft in the studio where they yield something new. Wish You Well aims to bring that mentality of creative experimentation and curiosity to help brands get unstuck and produce things that move the needle.
The studio’s name subverts the sometimes dismissive phrase said when people move on to pursue a new venture. It can be interpreted as a simultaneous farewell to the past and a welcome to the start of something grand. The intent is to create a business that can elevate creatives and brands to achieve greater heights than they were able to before, so that you’re more equipped for what’s next.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
My time as an athlete in school has had a profound impact on the development of my work ethic and how I choose to approach creative endeavors. The role of practice and putting in 10,000 hours to be good at one’s craft holds a lot of merit and is necessary to be considered an expert in the field. I remember moments as a swimmer when I wasn’t taking practice seriously, and I lacked any sort of dedication to the sport. As a result, I did poorly when it came time to race. It wasn’t until I got a bit older that I developed specific goals, and I began showing up to practice with determination to improve, that I eventually started to see a drastic difference in my performance at meets.
Sports are a great reflection of life; the effort you give always finds its way back to you. I think that also applies to building up a business from scratch. The success that comes with starting a new business is rarely immediate, and it has required me to develop new skills that I normally wouldn’t have explored. I consider it all practice, helping to sharpen and shape me into someone who is well-equipped to run a successful studio.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Endurance and patience are two of the most valuable traits you can have as an entrepreneur. I’ve learned that if it all came easy, I might never have learned how to hustle to achieve certain goals.
My best advice is not to view challenges as failures; rather, it’s a mindset shift that these experiences are further preparing you. That way of thinking is something that took me a long time to learn, but when you begin viewing each moment as a necessary part of the process, you move through life with a greater sense of calm.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
I think the creativity industry loves championing the importance of breaking rules and not following tradition, until those same ideals challenge its own system of doing things. In reality, I think there is often a default towards what is safe and proven.
One thing we aim to do at Wish You Well is to balance commercial objectives with artistic ambition. We do this by tapping into a diverse network of makers who are all powerful forces, driving culture forward in their own ways. As we curate teams around briefs, we foster an environment that embraces experimentation and exploratory methods of addressing the client’s problems while considering how to effectively connect with the audience.
We believe that in order to get the best results and make something innovative, we must prioritize a sense of audacity and fearlessness that boldly sets the tone.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What will you regret not doing?
I don’t believe in regrets. Everything is happening just as it was meant to.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://wishyouwell.studio/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wishyouwellstudio
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wish-you-well/
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