The Lab Report - Issue 2: I Help People Build Infrastructure

by Jeylechia Kirkland, Founder of Jupiter's Lab Creative Studio

I Help People Build Infrastructure. Yet, I Didn't Have One For My Own Inbox.

I'll be honest with you. 

I already knew I wasn’t going to use LinkedIn messages to sell anything. I hate being sold to through my inbox. The second I see that message — “Hey, what are you working on in your business" or "I have something that could really help your business” — I already know what it is. It feels scripted. It feels disingenuous. And I refused to be that person.

So my plan was simple: no cold pitches, no inbox sales tactics. If anything I might give away my book Hella Skillz. But I wasn’t going to slide into anyone’s DMs trying to close a deal.

What I didn’t plan for was people sliding into mine.

Not with sales pitches — but with genuine messages. “Hey, loved connecting with you. I’d love to chat sometime.” And I thought, okay. That’s different. That’s a real conversation. So I went back through my inbox, responded to a few messages that had been sitting there for weeks, and said "sure, let’s connect. What does your schedule look like?"

A few people responded. We set up calls.

And that’s when it hit me.

I had no process for what came next. No script. No framework for how to respond when someone reaches out casually. No plan for how to take control of that conversation and make sure it actually went somewhere instead of just being a friendly chat that went nowhere.

I help clients build the systems that hold their business together — intake processes, client workflows, follow-up sequences. And I had none of that for my own inbox.

Have you ever noticed that the people who are best at helping others are often the worst at helping themselves? We’re too close to our own situation to see it clearly. We pour everything into our clients and forget to pour anything into ourselves.

That was my moment. Right there in my LinkedIn inbox.

So if nobody has asked you lately — do you have a process for when someone messages you? Not a sales pitch. Just a casual “let’s connect.” Do you know what you’re going to say? Do you know how to position yourself so you’re guiding that conversation instead of just reacting to it?

If not, this is your sign. Think about it before the next message comes in.

Because the infrastructure you build for your business isn’t just your systems and your offers. It’s how you show up in every interaction, including the ones you didn’t see coming.