Product Therapy: 15-years, ice cream and soft launching
June 2026
About 15 years ago, I walked into my college guidance counselor’s office. I had two options on the table and I was just weeks away from graduation. One was a local offer in the town I grew up in outside Chicago. I could save on rent and get some experience at an advertising agency. The other was a riskier option: to pack up and move to New York City, work for AOL, and see if I could make it in the Big Apple.
My counselor’s POV, “Hey, one year in New York is like five years anywhere else.”
I was sold.
In guidance counselor years, I’m a 75-year-old New Yorker ;-) In regular people years, this month marks 15 years of making it in New York. For the layman, it’s not that big of a milestone. But for a New Yorker, someone who’s been here, you get what that tenure really means. Choosing to live in New York is exciting, easy even. Choosing to stay in New York is a negotiation. Unless you’re ultra wealthy, you’re choosing a life of intense, basic level needs trade-offs and sacrifices. Incredible restaurants for an apartment with no dishwasher, front row to the best entertainment anywhere for the price of a small vacation, the best job opportunities a city can offer with an incredibly high tax rate. You know. You’ve seen it on TikTok.
I can’t I’m a New York or Nowhere person. I’ve wavered, intensely, especially during the pandemic. But I’ve chosen to fall in love with New York again and again.
“There are roughly three New Yorks.
There is, first, the New York of the man or woman who was born here, who takes the city for granted and accepts its size and its turbulence as natural and inevitable.
Second, there is the New York of the commuter — the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night.
Third, there is the New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of something.
...Commuters give the city its tidal restlessness; natives give it solidity and continuity; but the settlers give it passion. ”
Cheers to 15 passionate years in New York. It’s taken me a solid 15 years to say this but no better time than the present: Go Knicks 🏀 🔵 🏀
Things I Stacked
I didn’t find the time to write a ton this month because I’ve been multi tasking working, coaching and growing a human1. I did manage to pull these thoughts together about self-promotion. You should totally do it.
Self-promotion is cringe. Do it anyway.
Mid-year review season is around the corner. And if you’re anything like the busy people I know, you might find yourself staring at a self-review form and think: where did the last six months go?
Culture Clicks
When I wasn’t forced to watch NBA playoffs, I binged season 3 of Euphoria 👩🏻🎤and I have a lot to say on the topic. TL;DR it was for me. If you’re not watching the BTS clips at the end, you’re missing out. Between his roast and Funny AF, Kevin Hart is having a moment and a love affair with Netflix. I’m dying to see any of the finalists on the show!
Lonnie’s finally opened in my neighborhood and the burger is…maybe the best in town? My favorite ice cream shop is in Park Slope🍦. Between the facade that looks like it belongs in a Long Island strip mall, the archival candy wall with throwbacks like Chupa Chups, and the cereal mix in bar, it’s one of the most inventive underrated ice cream locations in the city.
Substack clicks
I’m Jori Bell, VP of Core at Hampton and a coach for Product Leaders. Learn more about my coaching practice here.
Soft launching a pregnancy.