Enjoying the Ride
We're Kinder Than We Act
There is beauty all around us. In the neighbor who fills a cardboard box with canned goods and writes "we're all in this together." In the woman who placed eleven words in a newspaper and built a movement. In the toddler who lights up handing over a treat. We live in a world so shaped by consumerism that kindness has to be highlighted, celebrated, called out as remarkable. It shouldn't be. Service and kindness aren't extraordinary acts. They're who we are when nothing is pulling us in the wrong direction. Somewhere between our instincts and our daily lives, that impulse gets buried. I'm a designer and product leader who studies why, and what it takes to bring it back.
Read My Latest Insights
Wired to Give: So Why Don’t We?
How many of you are participating in Amazon Prime Day? It’s coming at us from every angle. Even my credit… Read More
Could We Shift From Buying to Giving?
From the subtle pings on our wrists to the seamless one-click or even tap checkout, modern technology has perfected the… Read More
Kindness During Crisis
A simple cardboard box stopped me on my run this morning; it was a beautiful testament to the light that… Read More
My Mission
I'm Jessica Michels, PMP, MBA Candidate. My mission is simple: inspire people to help one another, share God-given gifts, and always be kind. I'm fascinated by the sociology and neurobiology of generosity. Why we give, why we stop, and what our environments do to shape those choices. My background spans graphic design, development, and social good technology for one of the country's largest nonprofits. Here's what I keep coming back to: an ad can convince you to buy a shirt you didn't know you needed yesterday. Imagine if that same cultural pull pointed toward generosity instead. Not guilt, not obligation. Just giving and serving as a normal part of daily life. That's the world I'm working toward, and I think technology is one of the tools that gets us there.
I'm currently completing research on philanthropic stagnation in America. (In peer review, 2026)