Jonathan Van Ness is no stranger to wellness.
The “Queer Eye” star is known for taking to social media to share their self-care routines, everything from ice skating and gymnastics to doing a face mask. Most recently, the stylist and founder of JVN Hair is focusing on “financial wellness” through a partnership with Ness, a well-being-centric credit card that offers five times the points at “healthy merchants.”
As the chief self-care officer at Ness, Van Ness is using their platform to educate about financial well-being and curate the card’s future rewards partners, which include companies like HigherDose and Sweetgreen — a personal favorite for Van Ness when using the card.
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Below, Van Ness discusses their partnership with Ness, their take on financial wellness and self care and what they’ve learned from their “Queer Eye” cohosts.
What has your road to financial wellness looked like?
Jonathan Van Ness: It has been a journey. I’ve always been one of those people who spends now and thinks later. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized planning is really important, especially to my long-term security. It’s important to my team’s security, too. I’m not a single person anymore. I’m married and I have a company and I have people who all depend on me, so making sure that my money works harder for me is something that I’m really interested in. I’ve definitely evolved a lot to be a more responsible person who is more interested in making sure that my money is working hard for itself.
How are you thinking about the connection of financial wellness with overall well-being?
J.V.N.: The most obvious connection there is is that when we’re worried or insecure about our finances, it makes us stressed. When we’re stressed, you’re not feeling well. You’re not feeling healthy. It’s harder for me to want to work out. It’s harder for me to want to make other good decisions if I know that I’m stressed about money.
What does your role as chief self-care officer at Ness entail?
J.V.N.: It’s about talking, taking the stigma out of talking about money and thinking about ways that we can make our money work harder for us and how that relates to our overall security and our wellness. For so long, we’re taught not to think about money, not to talk about it, but actually because there is such a direct impact on your health and your wellness, in relationship to your finances, it’s good for us to be having these conversations.
What does your wellness routine look like?
J.V.N.: Karamo [Brown] taught me you don’t really separate yourself from anything in your life. It’s that idea of, how you do anything is how you do everything, so for me, a lot of what I do is for my wellness. It’s the obvious things like figure skating or going to gymnastics or having a personal trainer. It’s also the less obvious things like gardening. That’s me connecting with my inner child. That’s me doing things that get me off my phone and they get me more present. Just through gardening, I become so much more grateful and present around food. Hanging out with my animals, that’s wellness for me. I also just got a table tennis table because I always grew up with one and I haven’t had one. That’s a joy filled thing. Therapy…I feel less joyful about therapy, but it’s that important maintenance for your self care and for your mental health. It’s not as exciting as going to play table tennis or gardening, but important nonetheless.
“Queer Eye” Season Seven was recently released on Netflix. After starring on the show for the past several years, what have your cohosts taught you about wellness?
J.V.N.: I’ve learned literally so many things from all the cohosts. One thing from Bobby [Berk] that I’ve learned is I used to not really care if my living room was kind of messy or if my bedroom was kind of messy, and he really taught me that if your house is chaotic, it makes your mental health more chaotic. Once I actually started instituting that in my own life, I was like, “oh my God, I really was stressed out.” Tan [France] has taught me a lot about fashion, but he’s also just taught me how to be a gracious, nice, kind, amazing person. Antoni’s [Porowski] taught me so much about patience and also has taught me a lot of logistical food things. Karamo teaches me things all the time. All the boys teach me things all the time.
Do you have a wellness practice that you’d like everyone to adopt?
J.V.N.: I’m always beating the drum of sunscreen.
What’s your advice for someone looking to achieve financial wellness?
J.V.N.: Like anything, start slow. Things can feel really overwhelming when you’re getting into something and I certainly felt like that about saving for retirement, with my 401K and starting one. It can be overwhelming. When you’re interested in something and you realize that you want to be in control of your financial security, focus on one thing at a time, so whether that’s checking your account, making a plan, making a budget, do one thing at a time and do that for a few weeks before you take on your next task. Always think about, “Am I getting a value add for that?” In my case because I spend so much on wellness, I’m getting value back [with Ness].
What do you think the next big wellness trend will be?
J.V.N.: I hope that it’s going to be more talking about mental health and normalizing asking for help.