Jenny Gyllander

Jenny is the Founder & CEO of Thingtesting, the independent brand discovery site where consumers can find and learn about new brands.

Committed to transparency, Jenny has grown the site from a brand-spotting Instagram account to a go-to destination for online shoppers.

Prior to Thingtesting, Jenny worked at Backed VC, a London-based seed fund, and was the CMO of Slush, Europe's leading startup conference.

On her morning routine.

Most days I’m up around 7 AM.

More recently, I’ve found it incredibly helpful to use an alarm that ensures I get moving and into a rhythm first thing in the morning.

After I’m up, I’ll make some coffee and sit down for a bit to plan out on Notion what I need to get done during the day.

Coffee every morning is non-negotiable.

On habit tracking.

I generally have three to five big things that I need to get done throughout the week. Mondays are specifically reserved for longer planning sessions, and then I proceed to break out each set of tasks into manageable chunks for the week. 

Notion has definitely become a religion of sorts.

I use a habit tracker that allows me to analyze which habits yield tangible movers each day. It’s definitely gamified a bit, but I swear by it.

It’s really helped me track healthy habits, especially living in Detroit where it’s not always sunny. That’s been critical in forcing myself to go out for walks and take in some fresh air.

On steep learning curves.

It’s easy to feel nostalgic about the journey at Thingtesting thus far. I’ll never forget the endless DMs I received while I was running the entire company on Instagram, or the late nights I put in to make sure the company was a success. 

The thing I’m most proud of is the learning curve that I’ve been on. 

When we do our team planning every Monday, I see new things on my list that I’ve never had to do before. There’s always one task after another, and always something new to learn. It’s important to take the time to reflect on what we’ve built so far and the steep curve of growth we’re on.

Without that reflection, company building isn’t all that enjoyable.

On jumping in headfirst.

When I left my job in venture, I didn’t have a plan. It was scary as hell.

I wanted to make sure I had money to pay rent, but I didn’t have the means to just dive headfirst into entrepreneurship with no plan.

If it weren’t for the early followers and readers at Thingtesting who supported my work financially, I truly believe I wouldn’t be where I am today. 

Slowly, after taking time to reflect and after speaking with users as a form of de-risking, I got more comfortable with the uncertainty of company building and felt more prepared to make the jump.

In these conversations, two concepts became apparent.

One, people loved curation. Two, people loved that I never got paid to write reviews, which was a refreshing take at the time.

As I spoke with more users, I realized that everyone was thinking about brand aggregation. That’s when my vision became more clear around scaling the company and marketing my brand.

On her media diet.

I’m definitely one of those people who buy far more books than they actually read. When I do find the time to dive into a longer book at night, I look for out-of-the-box inspiration.

More specifically, I love books that help me think creatively and keep me curious. That’s my north star in terms of reading criteria.

Taking this thread even further, the long-form content I consume needs to be something totally different from what I do during the day.

The overload of business-related articles, tweets, and short-form content that I hop around in during the day can be tiring at times, so I mainly stick to non-business-related subjects at night.

Over time, I’ve become more intentional about people that I spend time with, and in tandem, more intentional about content that I allow into my mind.

On winding down at night.

Closing off the day on a high note is the most important part of my routine. 

I don’t work after 8 PM. If I have screen time after that point, it adversely affects my sleep, so I’ve become very intentional and strict about it.

To help wind down, I’ll hit a quick session on my Peloton bike, then take a shower. After that, my fiancé and I chef something up.

Then we’ll watch a documentary, read, and prep for bed.

I’m typically lights out by 11.