We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jakee Zaccor. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jakee below.

Jakee , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you take vacations? Why or why not?

Thank you CanvasRebel, so stoked to be a part of your rad community of creators! Oh yeah, we gotta make more room for fun and play and quiet in our lives. I have noticed that every time I create space for myself, even during a busy day – a walk in the woods or a small yoga or breath work practice can literally shift everything and give me fresh ideas. Vacations are the same, and giving my brain a few days of consistent rest and nature often offers me an entirely new perspective and can improve even the best ideas. In fact some of my best creative ideas have come to me while on the yoga mat, or snowboarding or while im on my bike. Something about the flow state of play and movement in combination – especially in nature is truly creative magic.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hi I’m Jakee but my friends call me JZ, (thanks mom and dad!) and I call myself a creative “Jackie of All Trades,” if you will. Currently I am running my own creative branding and web agency, JZaccor Designs and I am also the Head of Design at Freshwater Design Collective, an e-commerce and branding agency out of Burlington, VT. I’m pretty mad about branding, especially for small businesses with heart and soul. There’s something special about vibing with a founder to morph their dream into reality.
Think of me less as a firefighter and more like your brand’s personal botanist. Because let’s face it, a dope brand—like a lush garden—needs TLC. I’m not just a designer, I’m a gardener.

I cut my teeth in NYC for 10 years and globetrotted for 18 years before that, thanks to my “army brat” childhood so i have seen some things and lived a few lives even at 35.

I got my BFA from NYU’s Tisch Photography and Imaging Department during the birth of Instagram and even helped start producing the first video content at LinkedIn when I was still working in-house.

Oh and sobriety? That was the best plot twist so far at 28. Led me to the yoga mat, and now I cannot imagine my life without these practices, tools and teachers that hold me when it seems that everything is unraveling. Quitting the sauce was like unlocking a new level in this game called life—and business – highly recommended and now is the best time in the history of our culture to give it a try.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

For sure, resilience? May have to get that word tattooed on me – but actually, the words serenity and patience already are. Hitting 28 was like this cosmic wake-up call. Picture this: Living the NYC dream—or so it seemed—but something was majorly off. The booze, the hustle, the stress and no way to manage it but 1 happy hour and then 23 very unhappy ones, it was a high-octane life with pause button, no waterfalls, no birdsong.

Then, I got sober. It wasn’t just ditching the bottle; it was like cracking open this spiritual toolbox I didn’t even know I had. Self-love and healing became so much more than just hashtags; they were my new north stars.

Sobriety was more than a detox from the poison I was drowning myself in; it was the catalyst I needed that turned my life around and made it possible for me to thrive instead of just survive.

Taking control—of my life, my health, my heart—gave me the guts to finally break up with NYC after a decade-long affair, though she is still my favorite mistress. ;)

I swapped what I call the golden handcuffs for actual freedom, and that pivot was a game-changer. Now, every creative project isn’t just work; it’s a piece of me, a chapter in this epic saga I get to create in real-time.

Best move I ever made was getting sober, the second was moving to Vermont, no contest. The journey’s still unfolding, but that resilience? It’s my co-pilot now, and we’re just getting started.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Ah, the secret sauce for client growth? Stick with me: Law of Attraction. Full-on abundance mindset. Ever hear the saying, “What you seek is seeking you?” That’s pretty much my mantra when it comes to this concept.

We don’t chase, we attract.

What does attract mean? Be yourself, live your life, say yes to projects that light you up and say no to the ones that make your stomach turn. And when it inevitably happens, don’t let the voices of imposter syndrome be louder than your own intuition.

Here’s the thing I’ve learned over and over—the universe rewards creation. It’s like a cosmic matchmaker; the more you put out there, the more it flings back your way. So you want more clients, more projects, more stuff you love? Say yes to the things around you that make you FEEL abundant. Chat up everyone you meet about what gets you excited about being alive, what you do, what you wanna learn.

Say it out loud, write it down, and boom—the universe serves it up – spelling is a spell. Could be a flyer on a café wall for a course for your next big level up, an intro to your next big client, or that ‘aha’ moment you’ve been waiting for. There’s no cap, no competition—just endless room for creation. And the best part? There’s always, and I mean always, more where that came from.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jzaccordesigns.com
• Instagram: @jakeezaccor
• Linkedin: www.linked.in/jzaccor

Image Credits
Jakee Zaccor