“YOU HAVE
TO BE
GENTLE AND
PATIENT
WITH
YOURSELF.”
When I refer to what is going on in my life, I liter-
ally hold up air quotes when I say the word fame. I
didn’t think I would fnd myself in this position. I’m
kind of hanging on by the seat of my pants. Being
fexible has been key to getting here. I try not to be too
rigid about my philosophy of life.
I start my day by meditating. It’s literally just three
minutes. The goal is to do it for an amount of time that
is attainable. Sometimes, my mind wanders. That’s a
part of meditation where you just have to be gentle and
patient with yourself. It is a practice.
When I’m burning the candle at both ends, my inter-
nal critic comes out a bit. Recently, I was really fghting
to stop myself from looking at negative comments on
Instagram—you know, really Insta-stalking people.
I said to myself, “Oh my God, girl. What are you going
through?” So for the past two weeks in my morning
meditations, I have been trying to think of the word
gratitude as I inhale. And as I exhale, I think about stress
leaving my body.
My executive assistant, Julie, helps me so much. On
Instagram, I do Beyoncé remake dances, and we will
just study Beyoncé videos for the longest time until we
fgure out the choreography. It’ll take us four hours to
get 16 counts. We’ve got more of a friendship than a professional relationship.
Eating is actually an area where I really need to
Queer Eye my life. I am a coffee addict—I don’t mean
that lightly—and I think it suppresses my appetite
during the day. I fnd I have to remind myself to
drink water and eat food. At 3 or 4, I have a late, big
lunch and then a late, big dinner. Then it’s 9 o’clock
and it’s me telling myself that I will not, under any
terms, get Pop-Tarts tonight. I’m not doing it.
—As told to Elizabeth Segran
Time he gets up
7 a.m.
What he does while
commuting
“I look at my Instagram Explore
feed, which is basically all old
figure-skating and gymnastics
videos or DIY hair videos.”
Email strategy
“I am still in an evolution around
email. Learning how to respond to
emails with corporate people is
different for me.”
Last thing he does at night
“I square away what I need for
the next morning, if I have an
early call time or have to pack to
leave town. Then it’s just me and
The Great British Baking Show,
or Killing Eve, or whatever other
TV show I’m obsessed with.”
Time he goes to bed
10: 30 or 11 p.m.
SECRETS OF
THE MOST
PRODUCTIVE
PEOPLE
JONATHAN VAN NESS HAIRDRESSER, PODCAST HOST,
AND STAR OF NETFLIX’S QUEER EYE
