Joy Studio for Job Seekers
This isn't another course about how to job search. It's about the human being doing the job search.
Why Joy Studio
Looking for a job can be brutally difficult. You're expected to stay confident through rejection, motivated through silence, strategic when you're scared, and optimistic with no idea how long it will take.
You already know the basics: how to sharpen your résumé, leverage your network, prepare for interviews. That's necessary work. But another part of the search rarely gets attention: what it's like to be the person doing it.
Applications are met with no response at all. A promising conversation goes nowhere. Someone asks what you're doing now, and you don't quite know how to answer. You watch your savings shrink. Questions about work quietly become questions about worth.
And because there is always one more application you could send, one more person you could contact, one more job board you could check, the search can begin to take over everything: your time, your relationships, your energy, and eventually your sense of who you are.
Who am I when I'm not producing, performing, or proving myself?
Joy Studio starts there. You'll learn to recognize what's happening inside you, understand what your reactions are telling you, and work with yourself more skillfully when the search knocks you sideways. You'll also begin to put the job search in its place: important, deserving of your effort and attention, but not entitled to consume your whole life or become a verdict on your identity.
The goal isn't to eliminate uncertainty. It's to help you keep moving while the outcome is still uncertain.
A 5-Session Joy StudioFive live sessions over seven weeks. A small group of 4–8 people. Tools you'll actually use, with a guide to help you use them.
Less information, more experience.
Founding cohort begins Wednesday, October 28
Live on Zoom · $225 founding rate
What Pilot Participants Said
After just two pilot sessions last winter, all participants who completed the survey reported using a Joy Studio tool in real life.
“It's been like learning to lend myself a friendly hand to take one encouraging mini step forward.”
— Brooke“The structure of the Atlas really works for me: how we might feel, what the emotion is signaling, and concrete tools to respond.”
— Pilot Participant“Joy Studio helped me realize that I have a little more choice than I thought about where my thoughts and emotions take me.”
— Pilot Participant“Joy Studio helped me realize I'm not alone in these feelings.”
— LisaOur Route
A Design Approach to the Emotional Side of Job Searching
Joy Studio borrows a simple idea from design: when the answer isn't obvious, you don't have to force certainty. You can observe carefully, get curious, try something, and learn from what happens.
This isn't a résumé workshop, a job-search strategy course, or therapy. It's a design studio for the person doing the search. Throughout the Studio, we'll use the Resilient Optimism Roadmap as our guide: a simple map for finding your way when the search gets hard.
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Where are you now? We'll map the experience you're actually having, not the one you think you should be having. The Energy Gauge will help you notice patterns in your energy, your emotions, and the stories that come with them.
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What is all this emotion trying to tell you? Fear, shame, and anger don’t mean the same thing, and they don’t need the same response. The Emotional Atlas shows what each state is signaling and gives you specific tools for it, some to use in the moment and others to return to afterward. You’ll practice separating the signal from the story around it, and leave with tools matched to the states you meet most often in your search.
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What helps when the search gets hard? A rejection lands harder than expected. Weeks pass without progress. Comparison takes over. Returning to the Roadmap, you'll learn to notice when your mind boards the runaway train, interrupt the spiral, and find your footing again.
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How do you search without letting it consume your life? You can't control the hiring timeline, but you can design more of the experience around it than you might think. We'll explore how to give the search the attention it deserves without allowing it to take over your days, your relationships, or your identity, then design a personal experiment to test over the three weeks until we meet again.
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No elaborate homework. You'll take what you've learned into your actual search and pay attention to what you reach for when you need it, what helps, and what doesn't.
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What worked, and what do you carry forward? We'll regroup in December to compare notes on the field test and strengthen your approach for the next stretch, including the strange stillness of the holidays and year-end hiring lull.
Who This Is For
Joy Studio for Job Seekers is for anyone looking for work, whether you were laid off last month or have been searching for a year. You might be applying steadily and hearing nothing, or too worn down to apply at all.
You won’t be asked to share more than you want to. The sessions are structured and practical, and all you need is curiosity and a willingness to experiment.
Meet Your Guide
I’m Justine Bassett, a strategist and designer who has led transformation projects for the Smithsonian, a global university, and a tech start-up. Through Joy by Design, I bring together design thinking, research on emotion, and years of yoga and meditation practice to help people find their footing when life is uncertain.
Why I Created This Work
The BackstoryJoy Studio was born from lived experience — not theory.
I learned these tools by necessity, testing them through some of life’s hardest chapters: financial loss, burnout, family estrangement, illness, and grief. Over time, I began to understand joy differently: not simply as a fleeting feeling, but as something we can create the conditions for, even when life is difficult.
This work helped me rebuild my health, my marriage, and my sense of peace. My daughter calls it generational wealth — emotional clarity and resilience that can be passed down.
What’s Included
🌿 Five live 90-minute sessions
🪞 Workbook + reflection prompts
🧭 Weekly follow-up guides
💡 Access to Joy Studio tools
🗓️ Wednesdays, 12-1:30 pm ET (Oct 28, Nov 4, Nov 11, Nov 18, Dec 9)
📍 Online via Zoom (small group)
⏳ 8 seats | 7-weeks
Save Your Seat
Founding rate: $225 (planned future rate $450).
If you attend the first session and decide Joy Studio isn't right for you, I'll refund your payment in full.
Two reduced-rate seats are available at $125 for anyone for whom $225 is out of reach right now. Choose that option at checkout, no questions asked.
FAQs
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No problem. Life happens — and we’ve designed Joy Studio with flexibility in mind.
Even if you miss a week, you’ll still receive the workbook, home practices, and tools to stay connected to the journey. Each session stands on its own, and everything builds toward greater clarity, confidence, and joy.
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That’s completely fine. Joy Studio is built for reflection and learning, and you will never be asked to share more than you want to. Listening, writing, and practicing the tools privately all count as taking part.
We keep cameras on when we can, because it helps a small group feel like one. But job searches come with hard days. If you’re having one, keep your camera off and just listen. Send me a quick message and I’ll leave you out of breakout rooms that day.
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No, sorry. Joy Studio is designed to be experiential and interactive — you’ll get the most out of it by being there live, connecting with others, and participating in real time.
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Yes. Come to the first session and see if it’s right for you. If it isn’t, write to me within 48 hours and I’ll refund you in full. If the Studio doesn’t reach its minimum of four participants, everyone is refunded automatically.