Hi, We're Jason & Tess
We are two GenXers who have worked non-stop since our teen years.
We’ve reached mid-life and are tired of the “grind” mentality.
About Us
Tess has been a freelance content marketing writer and consultant for the building industry since August 2007. Prior to freelancing, she spent eight years making a 100-mile round-trip commute every day, and while she loved her job, her health and emotional well-being suffered.
She didn’t know her community or her neighbors, and it often felt like she and Jason never saw each other because of the demands from his military career. That’s not how we wanted our marriage or lives to be.
Even early into our marriage, we were determined to create a better quality of life. We made a plan to establish Tess’ business so she could cease the 100-mile a day round-trip commute and work from home.
Jason served in the U.S. Army for 24 years. When he retired, we made the bold decision to sell our home in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and move to Tucson, Arizona so he could attend the University of Arizona to earn his degree. We were in our 40s, and we were determined to get through college as swiftly as possible with little to no debt.
Jason stuffed four years of college into three, and Tess worked 50-60 hours a week to minimize the debt. By college graduation day, we were tired but had successful completed the goal. #winning
After earning his degree, Jason’s career took us to Richmond, Virginia where we lived for nearly five years. There, we truly thought we’d found our forever home – even bought a beautiful house, but in January 2022, life shifted HARD.
Once the emotions settled, we used this “shake up” as an opportunity to access how happy we actually were. After a lot of soul-searching and asking hard questions, we realized we weren’t nearly as happy as we’d thought and set forth to design the life we wanted (it’s constantly a work in progress).
We currently live in the Pacific Northwest near Tacoma, Washington, where Jason grew up.
As we explore how to get the most enjoyment out of life, we’ll share our journey and stories from others who are also living the Beyond The Grind Life.
