Welcome to Big Salad

Hi! I’m excited to welcome you to Big Salad, a new weekly newsletter packed with great finds, life advice, and dating gossip. I’m Joanna Goddard, founder and editor of Cup of Jo, the women’s lifestyle site based in Brooklyn. If you enjoy Cup of Jo, we know you’ll love Big Salad. Thank you for being here!

What is Big Salad? 

Big Salad is a weekly newsletter with great finds, life advice, and dating gossip from Joanna Goddard and the Cup of Jo team. The newsletter features 100% original content, while bringing our same warm, welcoming approach and curiosity about the world.

Every Friday, paid subscribers get a fun new issue (while free subscribers receive one monthly email). Each weekly issue features a fun person — think: comedians, actors, designers, chefs, writers — sharing their favorite things, plus genius life advice and a buzzy link round-up. We’re kicking things off with comedian Phoebe Robinson, pastry chef Natasha Pickowicz, and pop-culture obsessive Hunter Harris. And, we have to say, their interviews are funny and their recommendations are so, so, so, so good. (Here’s the first issue, if you’d like to read! We made it free for everyone.)

The fourth email each month — reserved for paid subscribers — will get more personal. While I’ve always shared my life openly on Cup of Jo (like my everyday makeup routine, postpartum depression, my marriage ending, and and our house tour), the Internet at large feels a little too public and google-able to write vulnerably about my dating journey as I begin this new chapter. But I want to talk about it! And revel in the awkwardness! And hear your funny/surprising/sweet stories! So, Substack — with a space just for subscribers — seems like a great way to foster a more intimate community for chatting about personal things, similar to a group text. Like, what are people wearing on first dates these days? And the other night I spotted a guy kissing his girlfriend with his hands on his hips, and it made me laugh — is this a new move we should all be trying?

So! If you’re a paid subscriber, you’ll get a new issue every Friday, featuring fun people talking about their favorite finds, as well as my juicy/heartfelt dating recaps. If you’re a free subscriber, you’ll get one monthly email with lots of bits and bobs. Feel free to choose whichever one feels right to you!

Overall, Big Salad is for thoughtful, warmhearted people who love discovering the surprises and delights, big and small, that make life meaningful. As Olive Kitteridge said, “There’s no such thing as a simple life.” We’re happy you’re here.

Love, Joannaxo

Graphic design and identity by Miss Moss.