Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Fischer.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Everyone always wants to be the Founder of a unicorn startup, but ZerModus is more like the winning thoroughbred that you didn’t see coming. The journey that got me where I am today started with horses.
I grew up competing in hunter jumper competitions and trained six days a week, for six hours a day on weekdays and 10-15 hours a day on weekends. When I was 11 years old, I had the opportunity to work with a sports psychologist who forever changed my approach to life. One of the most valuable things she taught me was the power of visualizing what you want.
I started just with visualizing the course and how I wanted my round to go when I was in the arena. And then, as I got older that practice of visualization transitioned from horse shows to interviews, to presentations, to virtually anything I needed to prepare myself for.
While I was in college I started designing my own daily planners. Not to start a business, but really just because I couldn’t find any that had a design and layout that I wanted to use. Then, people continued to request that I make ones for them, so I did. It wasn’t until nearly a decade after I graduated from college that I decided to take that leap of faith and launch ZerModus.
My premiere product, the Everyday Visionary planner, is called that because it’s designed to get you in the habit of visualizing what you want each morning. When you do this, you can’t help but wake up with a sense of purpose and direction. And that’s what I want for my customers. I want them to feel sure-footed and empowered every day.
Has it been a smooth road?
Ever since I can remember I’ve been one of the hardest workers I know. And that’s always been a point of pride for me. In school, I was present, engaged, studied hard, worked with private tutors after hours… the whole bit. When I graduated into the workforce, I held to the principle of “first to arrive, last to leave.” I’ve always worked my butt off, and I loved doing it. And if what I was working on ever stopped fulfilling or challenging me, sure I’d change directions, but I always kept pressing forward.
In July of 2018, a year and a half after I launched my productivity startup, I hit the wall commonly referred to as burnout. And I hit it hard. I went from getting to the office at 7:30 am to not being able to get out of bed the entire day. I completely lost all of my motivation. After a few weeks of merely existing from one day to the next, I decided I couldn’t live like that for a minute longer. I had to do something. I had to find the beauty in life again.
I booked a flight to Florence, Italy and was on a plane the next week. For the first time in my adult life, I went on vacation and didn’t open my laptop. One of my biggest fears in life is that I’d accomplish everything I had set to master, only to discover that I still wasn’t content. My goal for this trip was to learn to be content in the moment and reconnect with all of the beauty in the world. The trip lasted 2.5 weeks and it brought me back to a life I wanted to live. A life that has joy, inner-peace, and beauty again.
Moral of the story: Sometimes the most responsible thing you can do for yourself is something irresponsible. Just be sure to set intentions so that you get what you want out of the experience.
We’d love to hear more about ZerModus.
I design things that help make people feel empowered. Right now, that entails daily planners, however, I have several other things in store for my customers.
I’m the proudest of taking the leap of faith into the unknown and venturing to create something original with the intention of making people feel good about themselves and the great things they are capable of.
What sets ZerModus apart from any other planner company or productivity startup out there is that at the end of the day, it’s about the person and their personal journey, not the product. I very intentionally did not include the word “planner” in our product name. It’s simply called the Everyday Visionary. Because I want someone to look down, and see it in their hands, and think to themselves, “Yeah, that’s me. I’m a visionary.”
Do you recommend any apps, books or podcasts that have been helpful to you?
Apps:
Airtable – Like if GoogleSheets and DropBox had a baby
Over – photo editing
Unfold – clean Instagram story templates
Poshmark – selling your wardrobe for some extra cash
Books:
The War of Art – by Steven Pressfield
The Startup Playbook – by David S. Kidder
Think Wrong – by John Bielenberg, Mike Burn, and Greg Galle
60 Minute Brand Strategist – by Idris Mootee
Podcasts:
Pursuit with Purpose – with Melyssa Griffin
Style Your Mind – with Cara Alwill Leyba
Unladylike – with Cristen and Caroline
The Design of Business – with Design Observer
Pricing:
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Everyday Visionary planner – $34 (1) and $29/ea (4-pack)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://zermodus.com
- Email: hello@zermodus.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zermodus
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zermodus
Image Credit:
Valarie Rocio, @LumosCreative, Chris Prince Photography, @3rdPrincePhotos
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
