Jonah Fay-Hurvitz

Jonah is the Head of Strategy at Red Antler, a Brooklyn-based agency that launches, grows, and scales brands that are changing how the world works.

Red Antler’s client roster counts Casper, Allbirds, Hinge, Brandless, Birchbox, Burrow, Curology, Snowe, Keeps, and Bowery, among a host of other consumer-facing startups. Jonah has been at Red Antler for over five years, where he leads their strategy team across brand, digital, advertising, and performance marketing.

On the first hour of his morning.

I'm what you might call an “aspirational morning person.” While I’d love to say that I get up at 5:30 am, workout, meditate, journal and make a matcha latte, it’s a little less Instagrammable than that.

In the morning, I believe in balancing pleasure and productivity. Get some stuff done, and enjoy every minute of it. 

I live in Brooklyn near Prospect Park, so a few days a week, I go on a low-key 30 min run in the park, which lets me escape into nature without leaving the city.

I can’t function without caffeine, so I always grab a coffee at my neighborhood shop Hungry Ghost — either cold brew or drip, weather depending, but always with lots of oat milk. 

I scroll through the New York Times and listen to Robinhood Snacks, a financial news podcast hosted by my friend Nick Martell.

It’s ridiculously funny and informative, and because it’s focused on tech and startups, I’m always up to date on the latest raise, acquisition or IPO announcement. 

But the only thing I do every morning without fail is tell my wife that I love her right before I leave the apartment. You’ve got to work on your marriage every day, ya know?

On moving slowly.

I work every day on practicing gratitude in every aspect of my life, from my wife and family to my amazing founders Emily Heyward, JB Osborne and Simon Endres, and my incredibly smart (and funny) team.

I try to move slowly through my day (even though it’s very fast-paced), which means everything from pausing to do a quick breathing exercise, to visiting with a coworker and having a laugh, to taking a five-minute walk outside to look at the water (we’re in Dumbo). 

In my team’s status meeting and 1-on-1s, we start by celebrating “wins” which gives us all a minute to take a beat and recognize how lucky we are to do doing such amazing work.

Overall, I would say it’s more “active” mindfulness, but it’s all led me to be more present and take in every moment of the ride.

On Red Antler's creative process.

We continue to change as we see the needs and desires of consumers evolve.

Today, we are fully focused on building brands for digital and creating experiences that bring together design, communication, and technology in original ways.

We’ve built an incredibly strong cross-functional team, so we have everything in-house that's needed to launch and grow a brand — from industrial design to advertising, to performance marketing.

This means that we can look at the entire consumer experience and figure out how to show up in the most meaningful ways and still be rooted in a singular idea.

This results in brands that feel alive, surprising and highly engaging, while still feeling focused and single-minded.

On the future of wellness brands.

I believe that wellness is a part of every brand we launch. Wellness is the biggest movement in the world, and it’s not just defined by exercise or nutrition — it’s treating your mind, body, and soul with care and compassion.

It’s about making time and space to be good to yourself, your community and the planet.

Even a category like alcohol, which historically had nothin to do with wellness, is now a part of the story.

Look at the explosion of low alcohol beverages and brands. Fintech is another area where I see wellness playing a larger role. 

When we think about a brand strategy, we always start with the consumer and understanding the problem we are solving for.

We arrive at a key insight, which becomes the foundation of our creative work.

Often, that insight reflects people’s innate desire to live a happy, healthy and authentic life.

For example, when we created Casper, we recognized that people care about sleep because of how they feel when they wake up, and what a good night's sleep enables them to do.

This led us to our brand strategy that better sleep leads to a more interesting life, which sets the stage for the entire brand.

On protecting non-work time.

We have a really healthy work/life balance at Red Antler.

While my days are packed and highly productive, once the day is done, I’m off email and am spending time with my wife and friends, and taking advantage of living in New York.

I find making dinner reservations — even when unnecessary — is a good way to get out of the office on time...and ensures that you’re always eating somewhere exciting!

On winding down before bed.

While my morning is kind of sloppy, I’ve got a damn good nighttime routine. I stop looking at emails at around 8 pm, and usually cook dinner with my wife, and watch a show or read. I just finished Fleishman Is In Trouble, which I loved.

I take time washing my face and moisturizing, flossing and brushing my teeth, and then get into my Brooks Brother’s pajamas.

This is key to sleeping well and makes me feel super clean and relaxed. I take 20mg of CBD (I swear by it) and get into my bed which is always made with Snowe percale sheets (one of my favorite clients).

I journal for 5 - 10 minutes and then doze off pretty easily.