The Sunday Sanctuary with Kaylin Marcotte
A weekly series that profiles the most fabulous, hard-working, 24/7 hustlers, and how they spend their Sundays.
I am personally so impressed by Kaylin Marcotte and her entrepreneurial journey with her company, JIGGY, that I’ve been admiring from afar, and was so elated when she said YES to being a part of our Sunday Sanctuary series.
Kaylin Marcotte was working 24/7 as The Skimm’s first employee when she started doing jigsaw puzzles as her nightly meditation. She fell in love with them and was doing a puzzle every week, but found the designs to be outdated and uninspiring. Conceived as a way to modernize and elevate the classic jigsaw puzzle, JIGGY features art by emerging female artists around the world (who receive a percentage of every sale), elevated and sustainable packaging, and specially formulated puzzle glue to preserve your masterpiece for framing.
Kaylin’s doing incredible things and so excited to see how she continues to expand.
Here’s how Kaylin spends her Sunday’s-
Q: What time do you wake up or does the alarm go off ?
A: Sundays in particular, I try to build in some snooze time. My alarm goes off at 8:30 and I usually stay in bed for an hour and lounge and read.
Q: What is your morning routine (specifically the first 15)
A: I have started a dream journal, so I have a notebook next to my bed. If I remember any of my dreams I jot them down, otherwise I just do a quick reflection on starting the day, almost like a pre-visualization. Also, I have been doing this meditation. I like mantra based meditation, so it’s a five minute repeating positive affirmations meditation. Then, I usually check my phone and texts. My sister lives in Paris, she’s quite a few hours ahead, so I’ll check in with her and friends and family.
Q: What is your Sunday mantra?
A: My Sunday mantra is to unplug. There’s very little separation between my work and life. I have the same phone for all personal accounts and Jiggy accounts, so the only way to take some time to be away from work is to be away from screens all together. Sunday is definitely my unplug and unwind day.
Q: What’s your go to breakfast/brunch?
A: I usually eat a brunch or even lunch. I don’t really get hungry in the morning, so I’ll have coffee, maybe a piece of fruit. I usually am more of a late bruncher and I love omelettes and frittatas.
Q: Do you give yourself any Sunday self-care treatments?
A: Sunday afternoons are my robe time. I puzzle in the afternoon as well. My puzzle ritual is tea, a robe, a puzzle, and an audiobook. That is kind of like the scene of my puzzle habit on Sunday afternoons.
Q: What song is a good representation of your Sunday?
A: I listen to a ton of audiobooks. I am a part of a book club. We’ve been trying to keep it up through quarantine, but it’s hit or miss. I was kind of late to the game on this one, but I finally got around to Becoming by Michelle Obama. The next one up is Vanishing Half, which is supposed to be a thriller mystery, so I’m excited about that one.
Q: How has your Sunday routine changed over the years?
A: I lived in New York for thirteen years now, so in my 20s I’d try to eat out every minute of the weekend and jampack Sundays by bouncing around with friends. Now, I’ve really come to savor Sundays. I really like the definition of introvert/extrovert as like how you recharge. I think I’m a very social introvert, in that I recharge and rebuild energy from my solo time. So, that's a big change. Instead of packing every minute, I have taken my Sundays as more slower alone time.
Q: Do you exercise?
A: Exercise is my head clearing time. I used to do a lot of group fitness and boutique fitness classes in the city. Ever since quarantine and the gyms closing, I’ve gotten back into running, which has been great. It really clears my head, so I’ve implemented that into my routine.
Q: Do you like to spend your Sunday alone or with family/friends?
A: I definitely try to schedule a couple social plans, but try to balance it with alone time. Over the past year with quarantine, I was working in California where I grew up for the past 6 months, so being with my family there has allowed me to spend more time with them.
Q: Do you use any apps or products for relaxation?
A: I just found this new Youtube channel of this woman who uploads her guided meditations. Other than that, product wise, that’s how I got into puzzling. Puzzles have been my form of meditation, so my puzzle tea ritual is the second closest thing.
Q: What is your ideal bedtime?
A: I’m definitely a night owl, so I’ve been trying to move it up. I would say, if I'm in bed before midnight, it’s a win. My natural circadian is 2-9 or 10 am.
Q: What are some of your favorite Sunday activities?
A: Definitely running, hiking, puzzling, and seeing friends in person for a meal, or even some long phone calls with family. Really just having those catch up times to close out the week and reset for the next.
Q: How do you prepare for the week ahead?
A: I’ve been trying to get better at preparing for the week ahead, and now working for myself and running a company, I need to plan out the week. I try to use the method I’ve heard about — planning the big rocks. Picture rocks you have to put into a bowl and you put the big ones in first and then fill in the sand. I try to go through and see the big outcomes, the big rocks that I need to accomplish that week.