The Kindness Effect -- Jill Donovan, Rustic Cuff CEO

Welcome to Tulsa Talks presented by Tulsa Regional Chamber. I’m your host Tim Landes. My guest on this episode is Rustic Cuff founder and CEO Jill Donovan. 

Jill was an attorney and adjunct professor at TU when she started making bracelets as a side hustle. That quickly turned into a full-time operation, which allowed Jill to grow as a business leader, an author, a podcast host of CEO-ish and gave her an even better ability to share her love of doing random acts of kindness, which she appropriately calls “The Kindness Effect.”

When we recorded this episode in February, we all lived in a different world. It was business as usual. Rustic Cuff had just opened a store at Disney World. That’s a big deal as you’ll hear. It joined six other retail shops in Texas and Oklahoma. Today they’re all temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but online shopping at RusticCuff.com is still available.

It’s disrupted all of our lives. It’s severely hurt many small businesses that have dreams to achieve the levels of success Jill has had for nearly a decade. At TulsaPeople.com, we feature a continually updated list of ways you can continue to support small businesses and nonprofits of all kinds as we all deal with this pandemic. 

Jill and I had a wide-ranging conversation that touched on everything from bracelets, books, movies and a whole lot more. 

The most important part comes in the final 10 minutes when we discuss what it means to be kind and the ripple effect it can have on others. It’s an important topic that I think we can all take something away from, especially in these tough days. 

I had a lot of fun getting to know Jill. People told me before the interview that she’s authentic, full of energy and a lot of fun. They weren’t lying. 

There is a lot of laughter in this episode. There were also a couple of technical gaffs that sometimes happen when I record these interviews at my desk. Instead of editing them out, I left those couple moments in because I think they’re funny, and the more laughter the better, right?

Hang in there, Tulsa. We’re going to get through this. 

So for now, take a break from the world and enjoy this conversation. 

This is Tulsa Talks with Jill Donovan.