Jessica's Friday Five: your library has free contracts

Hi Reader,

This week I've got deep appreciation for all of you out there caring for others with little to no help. My husband, an excellent partner in life, is out of town helping his parents move. Being responsible for everything he normally takes care of in our lives has reminded me how intense it is to do it all on your own. Extra love and respect for those of you out there doing that work week in and week out.

Psst - one more week-ish until Joyfully Managed Worklife begins, so don't delay if you've been meaning to join!

Let's get to your Friday Five!

1. Add these dates to your calendar: As we head into the final 4 months of 2026, make sure key dates are on your calendar. I've rounded up a list of dates to consider, especially if there are people in your life like colleagues or neighbors who celebrate holidays that might not be easily on your radar (like Diwali or Rosh Hashanah). On page 2, there's a list of things to jog your own thinking about days that it might be helpful to mark (like time to do holiday shopping, or avoiding early meetings on your birthday or your kids' birthday, that kind of thing).
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2. Donation heads up: I normally ask y'all to vote on where any commissions go from anyone using my Amazon links to buy things I might recommend, but this time I decided to donate to Vida Verde. Their COO, Arturo Cervantes, was a Joyfully Managed Worklife alumnus and passed away tragically last month. So I've donated our most recent proceeds ($309) to Vida Verde in his honor. I'll ask y'all again to vote in a few months. You can always help us add more to this donation by going through one of my links when shopping on Amazon (no matter what you're gonna end up buying). Sending love to the Vida Verde team and Arturo's friends and family. ❤️‍🩹
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3. For T-shirts/swag/mugs: I'm co-president of the PTA at my son's school this year, and one of the things we do is create the "spirit wear" for the school community to buy (think T-shirts, mugs, car magnets, notepads, hoodies). To simplify things this year, we've been using Printful. We make designs in Canva, then easily set them up to be available on different types of products. When parents or teachers want to buy one, it's printed on demand and shipped straight to them, so we don't have to guess sizes, decide how many to buy of a given product, or store any inventory. Definitely reduces waste and makes the whole process simpler. We can sell things at cost, or slightly mark them up to help raise money. If you want to sell physical items without holding inventory for your company, nonprofit, or community group, it's been a great tool for us!
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4. In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom: One of the Society members (hi Jen!) recommended this book by Yeonmi Park to me, and it is an incredible read. I did the audiobook on Libby through my library, and I thought that format was a great one for this book but I'd really encourage anyone to read it who would like to learn more about what is going on in North Korea and be inspired by someone who escaped. One of the best books for me of 2026 so far.
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5. LawDepot from your library: One of the subscribers to Bite-Sized Business Boosts (hi Ron!) shared this tip with me: he found that his local library has free access to LawDepot, and they'll create templates for you based on your needs. If you need legal forms or contracts, it's worth checking with your local library to see if they offer this service!

Bonus Sponsor Resource: One of my favorites - Thrive Market. It's $59.95 a year (about $5 a month) for us to have a Thrive Market membership, but it saves us SO much money (even better prices than Walmart!). Here, I'll just share a video of me showing you what we get (see just below). Especially into the little fruit leather circles they have and the Aloha protein bars.

Last Friday's Most-Clicked Link: The babysitter idea.