Meet Jefa: Jovanna Borquez Healing Sol Counseling

Ever wondered how growing up in a stigmatized environment can shape one's mission to transform mental health? Meet Jovanna Borquez, a licensed marriage and family therapist and the visionary behind Healing Sol Counseling. Jovanna's inspiring journey from her Mexican roots to establishing her practice is filled with personal triumphs and profound shifts. She shares the heartwarming tale of how her grandfather's entrepreneurial spirit and the challenging times during COVID-19 spurred her to rebrand her practice to better serve the first-generation Latinx community. Her compassionate approach to addressing trauma, anxiety, stress, and depression is a testament to her dedication to helping others.

In this episode, Jovanna delves into innovative therapeutic techniques such as brain spotting, somatic work, and energy healing. Learn about the fascinating ways these methods connect the brain and body to facilitate healing, complete with compelling anecdotes like a memorable photo shoot with her niece that captured the energy flow during a session. Hear about the practical aspects of showcasing therapeutic work on social media and the transformative power of techniques like eye tracking and EMDR. Jovanna emphasizes the critical importance of finding the right therapist and engaging in the healing journey with self-compassion and commitment.

But that's not all—Jovanna also opens up about the entrepreneurial side of running a mental health practice. From navigating insurance complexities to balancing authenticity with financial stability, she provides invaluable advice for Latinas and other aspiring therapists. Discover the power of community and networking, especially through platforms like "Cafecito Con Jefas," which offer crucial support systems for business growth. Tune in for a rich tapestry of insights, personal stories, and actionable advice that promises to inspire both mental health enthusiasts and budding entrepreneurs.

Transcript

Journey of Healing and Empowerment

Kita Zuleta 0:00

Hi, Jefas, welcome to the Cafecito con Jefas podcast. I'm your host, Kita Zuleta. As a brand strategist and photographer, born and raised in the city of Los Angeles, my passion is to help Jefas, like yourself, understand the concept of personal branding and equip you with the tools and strategies to show up online. Lots of life has shaped me into the woman I am today, with roots tracing back to immigrant Salvadoran and Mexican parents, an inevitable love for cafecito, a neurodivergent brain, an obsession for plantitas, the intentional consumption of audiobooks and the joy of sharing life with my best friend, turned husband, of almost 10 years. I'm so excited to have you here. Join me on this storytelling adventure as we deep dive into conversations that bridge the gap between real, unfiltered moments of life and the journey of entrepreneurship. Beyond a podcast, this is a community, a space where Jefas come together to share their stories, learn from one another and create a connection full of support, without competition. Every episode is a window into the stories that have molded us, the lessons that have shaped us, and, while our paths may vary, the emotions and experiences that unite us remain undeniably relatable. We're all the same, same but different. So grab your mug, pour yourself a cup of cafecito and immerse yourself in the conversations that will ignite your passion, spark your creativity, elevate your thinking and fuel your determination. I see you, jefa, keep going. Welcome to the Cafecito con Jefas podcast. Hi, Jefas, welcome back to the Cafecito con Jefas podcast. I'm your host, Kita Zuleta. Today I am so excited to be having a conversation with fellow jefa, Jovanna Borges of Healing Soul Counseling. I'm so excited to have this conversation with her y'all because Jovanna and I have officially been knowing each other for over a year now. It's actually we just had our year anniversary from when we first worked together, and so I'm really excited for y'all to get to know more about her story, and I'd love to be able to give y'all her official introduction so that that way, she can just elaborate a bit more into it.

Kita Zuleta 2:58

So meet Jovanna Borquez, a licensed marriage and family therapist, again of Healing Soul Counseling, growing up in a Mexican household, and family therapist, again of healing soul counseling. Growing up in a Mexican household with mental health having a stigma, seeking services, was not always the best. Being able to serve her community and first-gen Latinx like herself was her motivation for opening a practice to provide access to mental health for people just like her. Her approach is compassionate, nonjudgmental and designed to create a safe and supportive environment for you to reach your mental health wellness goals. She specializes in trauma, anxiety, stress, depression, first generation Latinx, breaking cycles and having a deep understanding of how emotional struggles can hold you back from living your best life. Her goal is to help you overcome these struggles and unleash your full potential. Jovanna, thank you so much for being here with me today. I'm so excited for this conversation. Thank you so much for your time and sharing your story with us.

Jovanna Borquez 4:05

Of course, Kita. I am so excited to be here today.

Kita Zuleta 4:09

Well, you heard me share your bio, but I would love to hear from you and jump right on in and have you introduce yourself. Please share with your fellow Jefas. Who are you? What do you do? Do you serve? Where are you located? Tell us more about Jovanna are you?

Jovanna Borquez 4:25

What do you do? Do you serve? Where are you located? Tell us more about Jovanna. So, hi everyone. So I have been practicing now for about seven to eight years. I rebranded the practice about a year ago with you know, Kita, and it was an amazing time. I'm not one to take pictures, but she made me feel really safe and comfy and she made my niece feel really safe and comfy, which was an added bonus.

Jovanna Borquez 4:51

Healing Soul was created, or the process of it started back in COVID. My grandpa passed away in early January. Covid hit us, or the closures hit us, in March and grieving was really hard for me and being able to focus on other stuff, including like an entrepreneur kind of mentality that, like he had, I think I just kind of dove, dove into it. I was like, okay, like my grandpa had all of these things going on, like growing up. I like remember him traveling from like Ensenada to you know TJ and just being his entrepreneur self, trying to figure out how, like he was going to make money. And I was like, okay, I'm not good with numbers, but I'm good at what I do, so let me see what I can do. Basically, and, yeah, one day I signed up to start taking insurance.

Jovanna Borquez 5:57

I got approved, um, it was a little rocky.

Jovanna Borquez 6:00

I wasn't completely all full in because, again, I was like still grieving, I was still processing like my own stuff, um, so the practice really didn't take off until last year, um, and it took off running, um, having a lot of support, um, and, of course, being able to be online and being in the comfort of of my home and just made things a lot easier.

Jovanna Borquez 6:24

And also being able to be online and being in the comfort of my home, it just made things a lot easier. And also being able to grieve that loss, it just gave me a lot of like, a lot of direction as to, ok, this is what I want to help people with. This is a type of community that I want to work with. Versus when I had first started, it was more so. I just want to open, like my practice, I just want to do it all, and now it's like gearing towards the you know, communities that I actually want to work with, which I love and I enjoy, and sometimes I work over 10 to 12 hours a day, but I love it and it and it doesn't feel tiring, which is one of the best feelings that the following day I still want to get up and do it all over again.

Kita Zuleta 7:08

That is so amazing, what a journey. I mean. Thank you for sharing how it was coming out of that space, that grief really, and I, of course, was honored to be a part of your rebranding process and being able to take those photos for you to be able to kind of capture what you were wanting to run into. So that was just so special for me to be a part of that and, of course, I have the privilege of having heard just a bit more of that story in the process, of course, and I want to have you share a bit about how that grief and that season inspired your name and what is behind Healing Soul. And you know you mentioned your practice took off and I'm sure, as the Cafecito Con Jevas community has many, many therapists in the room, if you will, and I've loved being surrounded.

Kita Zuleta 8:20

I mean, I feel like they're my people. Somehow I just love, love, talking about mental health y'all. I don't. I feel like they're my people. Somehow I just love talking about mental health y'all. I don't know, it's so incredibly necessary. And so I just am excited to hear more about healing soul and where that came from, and then what and how you specialize when it comes to your practice. What is it that you do right If somebody isn't familiar with yourself, with Healing Soul, or how you focus on all of the long list of?

Jovanna Borquez 9:03

ailments, if you will, that I mentioned in passed away. I was very adamant that we needed to have some some type of like material connection. I would only put up sunflowers, and those like were for him, like I could have like any other flowers, like at home, but those were meant for him. So when I started thinking about names and started to figure out, because all wonderful names had already been taken and I was like, okay, like what am I kind of left with here and I I basically kept on writing stuff down, like on a like piece of paper, until I looked up and I saw the lovely sunflowers that I had placed and I was like, okay, girasol, spanish for you know, sunflower.

Jovanna Borquez 10:03

And I just kept playing like with the name and healing soul sounds a lot like heat, a soul. But of course I had to put a little therapy, you know therapy piece into it. So I left the soul part, the S, s O L, and then I just added healing, the S-S-O-L, and then I just added healing. So in every which way, like my like practice has him still kind of rolling through and till this like day, like if I'm putting flowers, those are still the only flowers I will put If there's no sunflowers at like Trader Joe's or on the side of the freeway where, like the like, vendors have them, I won't get him flowers, not because I don't want to put the flowers, but that is my like connection, like with him. I actually just got got his name tattooed about a month ago, and there's a sunflower right next to it too, so that is his symbol. That is a symbol that I wanted to create in order for him to still be a part of this amazing thing that I've decided to run under his memory.

Kita Zuleta 11:20

That is amazing. I love that story and I think it's so special and I think it's really cool because, of course, we got to incorporate the sunflowers throughout your photo shoot and you know, I feel like, of course now, especially being such a visual person and I get to catch all this insight right With any of my clients clients I get to play and figure out likes and dislikes and colors. When I tell my clients what kind of props you're going to bring or be able to put into your photo shoot, I think of what are those things that are going to connect you or connect someone else to think about you. Right Like you know, there's brand extensions, if you will, or brand boosters that I like to call them. Right Like you know me and my plantitas.

Kita Zuleta 12:12

Right Like it has nothing to do with my work, but it's something that, like well, people will be like, oh well, Kita, like plantitas, you know what I'm saying, like things like that. And so I remember when we talked about it, instantly, of course, obviously it was like, oh well, sunflowers, we need to incorporate them. And I was like, yes, so between the colors and your outfits and the location, like it was just so amazing to be able to create and, to this day, what is so much fun that happens with here and also with many of my clients in the same way is that now it's happened plenty where I'll just send you pictures of sunflowers, because I think of you every single time and I love, I've loved sunflowers forever.

Kita Zuleta 12:50

Like it was also like the growing up. My sister, you know, had a sunflower room and I had a daisy's room and you know what I mean, but like it was still. You know, you share, you know like fine, each one of you has a thing, but you still like the other thing. So I've always loved and appreciated sunflowers and, um, I really fell in love with them, especially actually in 2020, because I jumped into an edible like garden and did all the things. So, of course, with all my like gardening friends, like sunflowers were like a huge like win, like it's a milestone.

Jovanna Borquez 13:21

If you like, get yourself some nice, some nice sunflowers, you know.

Kita Zuleta 13:24

So then, it was just yourself some nice sunflowers, you know. So then it was just something that, like sunflowers, became so much more like a eye-catching thing for me, and I found myself documenting them a lot. Whenever I just saw them, they were just gorgeous. So then, ever since, especially last year and now, I have pictures that I created with you and then now any pictures that I see of them, like I'm constantly thinking of you. You know this already.

Jovanna Borquez 13:50

So I'm just like, here you go, some flowers like all the time.

Kita Zuleta 13:54

So I absolutely love that. Of course, that has a special place in my heart and I love I mean the connection to your grandfather and how much you're honoring him through everything that you're doing, between the entrepreneurial spirit, the pursuit, the taking care of yourself and honoring him in the process. So it's just amazing how you're doing so much of that by incorporating him into your brand. I think that's so incredibly special. But now I want to. I know I asked you a bunch of questions back to back earlier, but I now would love to hear more about your practice and how you're serving your clients and what is it that you're specializing in, or the techniques or practices that you work with your clients.

Healing Through Brain Spotting Therapy

Jovanna Borquez 14:36

So, um, I do regular talk, you know, therapy, um, cbt, which is a cognitive, and there was a part of me that felt like I needed more. I tried EMDR, I on myself, and then, just as you know, practice, and it wasn't giving me what I wanted it to give. Um, and then I did some research on this amazing theory called brain spotting and the more research I did, it talked about how our brain and our body are connected through like memory. So a lot of the stuff that tends to happen to us, a lot of the trauma, a lot of our triggers, even though our brain isn't like sending us those red flags, our body is recognizing them. So being able to have that connection and do more somatic work with my clients was, it was like you know how, like the heavens, when they have like a little light shining through to, like you know, specialize in. This is what my practice is going to be known for my, my, my colleague who works for me, she's, she's also trained in it. Now and that's what I want the practice to really be known for are like work with the mind and like the body. And because I've also been entering my, you know, spiritual journey, because I myself have been through my healing journey over the past few months.

Jovanna Borquez 16:23

I've been doing a lot of like energy work and a lot of the Reiki stuff. So the fact that I could incorporate and visually see a lot of the energy that's flowing in your body as I'm doing the work which you've witnessed because we accidentally spotted my knees as we were taking pictures that's right, but I think one of the most magical parts out of that whole picture was I could visually see that energy flowing from the top of her head all the way to the bottom and just being able to be present, like with her. She didn't she, she didn't have to talk, she didn't have to tell me, like, what she was feeling or doing or thinking about. It was just allowing that energy to really just kind of flow where it like needed to go. So. So being able to do that with clients on a day-to-day basis and watching them not just release a lot of the flow, release a lot of those feelings, but make those changes in our brain, because unfortunately, we all have all of these intrusive thoughts that take over.

Jovanna Borquez 17:33

Basically. So, by us allowing that energy to flow and really connecting with what our mind and body are trying to do. It helps you relearn and unlearn certain things about yourself or about the trauma or about whatever it is that you're coming in for, and for me that's like the best thing. Like whenever I have like new clients and we're about to start, I tell them like this may not be fun for you because you're going to be feeling a lot of things, but it's going to be fun for me because I'm going to be able to witness all of it and I find it so amazing.

Kita Zuleta 18:13

It's so true, and I remember that moment actually like very vividly and of course, I literally have photo and I think even video, of that moment, where it was, and I'm going to ask you to describe the action so that anyone who, for example, like myself, who was in the room I visually got to see what it was that happened. So I want you to be able to explain that as well for the audience. But it was definitely a moment that was totally unexpected. But just to fill in the audience, for Jovanna photo shoot last year, one of the things that we incorporated was a model, and so, because Jovanna is a therapist and, of course, as a photographer I think in literal forms, very visually and also as a documentarian, a big thing for me is creating a version of behind the scenes. Like what is a day in the life? Right, like really, what does it look like, especially when it comes to showing up on social media? Right, like it's just let's talk about our day-to-day thing. Like how can we talk about showing up online on a daily basis with our people, or, you know, close to daily, on a regular basis? Yeah, continuing to talk about our work over and over again? Like, let's create images that show those things. So of course, I'm over here brainstorming like how do we show some of the behind the scenes? That, of course, happens behind closed doors in a very intimate setting, right, like this is not something that we're just having some actual clients come in and talk their things out and then I document to that process, like that's not happening. So we invited her niece and so who was the best assistant that day? Like she came to work, she had a playlist that had a singing nonstop. It was amazing, like she did so good and she was a model AKA I lovingly call my models in this fashion a prop that day. So she came, fully prepared just to be a prop that day and help behind the scenes. Like, yes, be in front of the camera.

Kita Zuleta 20:26

But the focus was mostly trying to showcase, obviously, Jovanna in her work and doing the job and doing this practice that she's going to describe. And of course, now I'm thinking like, oh, I'm going to have to link and add some of these pictures onto your like show notes because we actually have tangibles to be able to showcase and we're literally talking about it now. But that moment was just like you were. Literally she was just like, well, what do I do? And you're like, just follow it, just you know, just whatever, and you just tell me until you feel something. And she was like what? I also was like what, but also mostly focused on trying to focus on the little tool and trying to catch that in the middle of the air.

Kita Zuleta 21:10

You're moving it, but as soon as it hit whatever distance it was for her, she was like, oh, it hit. Whatever distance it was for her, she was like, oh, wait a minute. It was like wait, how are you doing that? So I'd love for you to describe a bit more of what that action is and then, if you don't mind, because I'm an explanation person, I love to understand how things work right.

Kita Zuleta 21:38

So for any other like geeky nerds that need like the explanation for their brains, like, would you please share what the action is and then what it does, because I feel like also, it can be a little scary to hear brain spotting that is connected to trauma that is going to be triggered throughout the process and bring things up that need.

Kita Zuleta 22:06

You know what I mean, and of course, that is the whole purpose of the hard work of therapy and it's why it's so important for us to have these conversations and be able to say it's so beneficial and why right. But it's why I want to be able to have this platform and have you be able to share with your fellow Jefas, because it's important for all of us, at any stage of life, in business, to at least have the understanding, or at least know, that there is knowledge, that, even if you're a DIYer and not quite ready to call someone like Jovanna to be your therapist, the goal is to close the knowledge gap, to know that there are tools to help us work through all the things that we may need to work through that comes up in life. So, if you don't mind sharing a bit more tangibly what the process of brain spotting is and what really, what is that connection Like? What was that? Oh, that I feel that. What was that?

Jovanna Borquez 23:05

So I'm first going to go with the. What did she feel? So our brain is amazing and a lot of the time amazing and a lot of the time our eyesight actually connects to points in our brain that hold certain like memories, certain you know triggers. Example of this is when, at least for myself, when I have to speak out in you know public, you know how, you're always told like, oh, you should visualize the whole audience naked, don't do that.

Exploring Eye Tracking Therapy Technique

Jovanna Borquez 23:39

Instead, try to pick a point where you could literally stare into that brings you calmness, right? So reverse that thought and I'm actually trying to find spots that you're going to gaze into, that are going to trigger you, that are going to trigger a feeling, that are going to trigger a memory. The point is to get you to a very high intense feeling. So, from a scale from zero to 10, I want you to be able to feel the feeling at a 10. I want you to be at your most uncomfortable spot, that you can be knowing that you're safe and that I got you and that through our session, you're going to be able to get down to a zero. The goal is a zero, but you're going to be able to get down a lot less intense, where when you talk about this trigger, when you talk about this memory, it doesn't hurt you anymore. You are able to talk about it, you're able to identify what it is that went wrong. And for those of you who have a hard time talking in therapy, this is an awesome way for you guys not to have to talk. I do tell clients, like if you don't want to tell me what it is that you're thinking, you don't have to. I could just check in and ask you hey, where do you feel it in inside of your body? How intense is that feeling? If you want to do your like processing within yourself and not share with me kudos to you.

Jovanna Borquez 25:16

But if you want to just babble because I am the type of person that babbles I will have random thoughts that are popping up as they're like doing it on me, and that's the way that I process. It helps me a lot faster because I go from 10 to like zero a lot quicker because of the babbling. So that is the more technical side of things and there's more depth to it, but that's like the basis of it. So I have this wonderful tool. It's my little wand. I have now invested into multiple colors and multiple sizes and multiple sizes, nice.

Jovanna Borquez 26:04

And my niece is funny because after that day she said I think that deep down you're a witch because you work with wands and you made me feel things. So we were taking the picture. I was trying to tell you guys, okay, so I basically tell clients to think about their target, think about, you know, memory, a feeling that they want to work on and, as they're telling me, we will identify without the wand, what it is that they're feeling, what it is that their body's feeling, and how intense is that feeling at the present time? Once they tell me, I start moving the wand through their eye level, I start going from left to right and I'll like periodically ask them like, how does it feel there? Where does your body feel it? Until we find the most triggering spot.

Kita Zuleta 27:02

So, just to be clear, you're holding the wand at eye level left to right. So then it's just eye tracking, correct?

Jovanna Borquez 27:12

Yes.

Kita Zuleta 27:13

So your client is standing or sitting comfortably still, but it's strictly eye tracking, so that's what she's describing with that wand is you're sitting. You're talking about a specific thing, correct Like. So you're working through that, right Like. So it's a. You've thought about it in advance. This is what we're dealing with. Okay, cool. Now we're like essentially hunting for where is this connected in your body? Right Like by track, yeah, okay.

Jovanna Borquez 27:42

Okay, so then we, you know track at you know eye level, and then, if I need to, I will go up and down, depending. If it's still not as triggering as we want it to be, we'll go up and down, and then I just kind of hold it there and I let your body and your brain do its thing, which is what happened with my niece. She was not intended to follow the wand, I was just giving Kita like this, like this is what I do. This is, you know, I move my like wand, like this, and my niece decided to start following the wand like one like this.

Jovanna Borquez 28:22

And my niece decided to start following the wand and there was a point where she became very, very quiet and very still, which was not like her, because she, because she was dancing, she was, you know, talking, she was doing her thing. And then she got really quiet and for me, there was a shift in how she was sitting that I could see, like the energy being pulled from her head, and I look at her and I'm like, emmy, did you just stare at the wand? And she's like nodding, and I'm like, okay, don't tell me anything because I am not your therapist. Don't tell me anything, because I am not your therapist, I don't want to know what it is that I just caught. I just need you to sit there and once it flows, it flows and we will move you out of it.

Jovanna Borquez 29:06

And I think that I was verbally telling you. I could see the energy going from her head Once it got onto her shoulders. I was like, okay, it's going into your shoulders and I could just see her eyes like questioning, like how do you know that? That's what's going on? And then all of a sudden, I see it kind of leave where it needs to go and she closes her eyes and she's having like a moment of like what just happened, which was the funniest thing ever, because after she said she got the best sleep she had gotten and forever, that she was in the best mood ever, and her mom actually texted me saying, hey, when can you do this on her again, because she's back to her moody self and I'm just like this is not a thing that I was trying to do. Your daughter was not supposed to follow the wand.

Kita Zuleta 30:04

We were pretending we were just modeling, but yeah, and so it works. The thing is is that there's science, right, like there's science behind all of it, behind talk therapy, behind all of the different things, right, even EMDR and all of the techniques that are available, and every therapist, of course, finds what has been most successful for them as a therapist to see the transformations in their clients as well as their clients, as we each serve very different people as therapists or in any of our lines of work, and so it's just something that at least, obviously, being able to witness it which, of course, you technically don't ever get to see that kind of trial run, right, like you never get to experience someone else's, you know, like you never get to experience someone else's, you know that unless you're in your seat as the actual therapist or like.

Jovanna Borquez 31:03

Unless you're like in the training, then yes, you like, get to see the like and somebody's volunteering as tribute, Like I volunteer for science, Right, Like.

Kita Zuleta 31:13

So I mean we, we love you so much. I mean, thank you so much for being our model that day and apologies for accidentally triggering things that may have come up, but the truth and we share all of this because, of course, this is an example that happened to be documented and open in the space where we were that day but truly it just showcases and shares a glimpse into what happens when a client comes in, or what could happen when a client comes in ready to work, already invested in, like I mean you think about by the time you get to a point where you reach out to a therapist, by the time you get to the point where you are in sessions with them and gone through all of those things, you're here to work. You know what I'm saying and I do want to share that as well. If any of us are new to this process of healing, at any stage it is very, very hard work. So be gentle with yourself and show yourself grace throughout this process.

Entrepreneurial Advice for Latinas

Kita Zuleta 32:23

And shopping for therapists is a thing y'all. If you are not comfortable with your therapist, run away as soon as possible, just because we need to be in a safe space. It's not the other person, it's not a problem. We're all different. We have different needs, we have different conversations, all of the things. It could be the color of their wall that throws you off and that is okay and enough reason to shop for anyone else. But truly we share all of this and what happened to her niece in our photography session, because it just allows us a literal visual brain spotting can do and how powerful it is to see and have that very, very strong visual of trauma being quite literally trapped and locked in our body right. And there's so much literature and so many conversations and rabbit holes we can go down just on the subject of trauma alone, let alone little t and big T and all the different levels.

Kita Zuleta 33:39

All the different complexities behind it All the different ailments.

Kita Zuleta 33:43

So we talk about this scenario mostly to be able to shed light on a tool that is accessible to us as Latinas as we have therapists in the room like Jovanna who are able to guide us through these tools and being able to use the containers and the space and the experience and the knowledge that they have to be able to hold our hands through this very difficult process that is healing whatever version of that is going to look like for you, and so I'm really excited that, of course, we got to catch a glimpse into how you serve your clients and what you're able to provide in this container, because obviously that's only scratching the surface again unless we start going deep into each area and how each one of those transformation goes.

Kita Zuleta 34:40

But one of the things that I wanted to shift into a little bit is your pursuit of entrepreneurship and how although, yes, you're helping so many of your clients and you had your rebrand a year ago, but you've been doing this for a while now, right, like there has been all kinds of different versions of this Hefa journey for you, and so, when it comes to that, I'd love to hear what piece of advice you would give a fellow Hefa that's helped you on your entrepreneurial journey.

Jovanna Borquez 35:19

I think just having a lot of guidance from other fellow you know therapists who had already like their practice going, were able to give me the pros and cons of a lot of different ventures that I could have gone into. I think one of the biggest ones was like insurance versus like out of like pocket stuff how to deal with you know insurance and how out of you know pocket clients are a little harder to find. So trying to find like a balance between you're still trying to make money, you're still trying to heal, like there's like so many things that you're trying to juggle and trying to find like a good balance of like you know, you still have to be like your authentic self, but you still have to make the money. So finding a good balance of okay, I am going to take insurance and figuring out what insurances pay more or which ones basically give you bread breadcrumbs because there is insurances to give breadcrumbs because they don't I don't know, they don't think that I'm a doctor, so they don't want to pay me. So having you know people that were already in the you know trenches, that were willing to share a lot of their knowledge, I found to be the best thing, um, and I think even just like, connecting like with you was a really big thing, like for me, because you opened the doors for so many other different types of like businesses and other different types of people that you knew.

Jovanna Borquez 37:05

Thanks to this cafecito con Jefas, I was able to connect with other people people who did accounting, people who did web design, people who did all of these amazing things that I'm like, ooh, I need you in my life because you are going know what you're doing. You clearly know what it is that these number of things is, or this web design stuff is that it's like, yes, I could potentially learn how to do all of these things, but if I already have like a community of people who genuinely love what it is that they're doing and I can give them that business to make my business bloom, go for it. Take it, take all of the plates off of me and just let me be a therapist and you guys can handle the number side of things. You guys can number the payroll part of things. I could just do my notes and be a therapist.

Building Community and Business Relationships

Kita Zuleta 38:10

I could just do my notes and be a therapist. There is so much there. What piece of advice? A ver todo un libro, muchachos.

Kita Zuleta 38:21

Because seriously, I mean starting with you know, seeking out fellow Jefas, first and foremost in your industry, right, like I feel, like I mean it's why it's so big for me to be like we are a community without that competition, because we are unique on purpose, y'all. There is a reason why we're not robots. So we all, like, there will always be someone better, more experienced, older, you know, x cosa out with more available maybe than what we have, or ahead of us or where we want to be right, unless we are trailblazing a brand new trail, which many of us are doing versions of that. But when it comes to thinking specific business, right Like, right Like, most of us have a version of how to run that business. You know, a lot of us are designing our life, designing our brands, designing how we want to navigate and run said businesses. But the majority of the businesses and, of course, our offers are tailored to our superpowers accordingly. But the business is the business. There's still a version of sales and numbers and things that need to happen in order for people to come to you to receive your services, for you to get paid, for you to be able to all of those things right, and I love that your first thing was talk to Jefas that know more. That can close that gap for you. Who can you learn from? And that's a huge part of this platform, specifically because we can learn so much from each other, so much from each other.

Kita Zuleta 40:08

It doesn't matter what industry we're in, especially as Jefas right, but first seek out your community, seek out those who you're willing to learn from. Asking those questions and thank you, and I appreciate and I love the fact that Cafecito con Jefas has provided this place for you to be able to you know, essentially shop from, because Jefas like yourself that are in the position right, not everyone is in the position. I know Jefa I hear y'all grown in. I can't hire the entire Jefa community, I understand, but you know where to shop the day that your business gets to that point, because that is the goal. The goal is for us to get to that point. We pursue this Jefa life because we see the dream in our head, we know that we are capable. We have taken this jump because we want to live the life we see in our head and the goal is to get to that point. But did it take you one year to get to that point? No, it didn't, not at all, you've been doing this for eight years you rebranded one year ago.

Kita Zuleta 41:07

You've been doing this for eight years. You rebranded one year ago. You've been investing for the past. You know obviously seven years or eight years, however long on top of all of your previous journey beforehand, right, but you've been doing this for so long. Your journey did not start a year ago. You maybe got fresh pictures or a whole new name or things like that, but it did not start just last year.

Jovanna Borquez 41:33

No, this has been in the works for a long time and again, the 2020 slowdown was like the kickstart of like you got to get off of your butt now and you got to push, because the world just shut down. And what are you going to do?

Kita Zuleta 41:49

And what are you going to do? And so many of us I mean the great pause, as it's called now right, like we all went through it collectively, like it's literally in books now as the great pause in our history. Right, because a version of pause and hold, at least for planning purposes we could not plan, we did not know there were so many unknowns and we collectively went through an extremely traumatic event that none of us had experienced before. We all were going through a brand new, heavily traumatic lived experience for an extended period of time. And you know, now I feel like so many people are like well, everybody's talking about mental health because it's trendy. No, everybody's talking about mental health because one everybody's struggling with their mental health because we all went through some heavy shit. So like we need to make sure we take care of that.

Jovanna Borquez 42:53

Yeah, no, and honestly, I think that the pause was one of those moments where you had to sit with your ish and you had to figure out who you were, basically because a lot of us, including myself.

Jovanna Borquez 43:09

I am the type of person who dives into my work. I dive into everybody else's issues so that I don't have to feel and deal with all of my stuff. So, having that time to pause and be like, oh my God, I still have all of these versions of myself that are not healed, because my five-year-old self is still trying to figure out if she's worthy, my teenage self is pissed because of random stuff that I can't even recognize now and my adult self feels lost because I'm paused and I can't do anything with my life because I can't go out.

Kita Zuleta 43:47

Yeah, so a million versions of that happened or however many. How many people are on this earth now? So all of that happened for us and really it's also impacted us as the Hefa community, if you will, because what ended up happening? So many of these new businesses or new ideas or new brands or new direction, because so many of us were in that position where it's like, no, no, no, no, no, this is not the life I want. I'm now going to create and design the life that I want and pursue what I want. Because, after seeing that, after getting slapped in the face with what's happening, so many of us are now coming to that realization of oh okay, this is now what I want. There's a pursuit, this is. I'm coming back to my creative self, all of those things, and so, of and from so much of that, a lot is blooming and starting to grow out of that in a very beautiful direction, and, of course, plenty of ugly as surface as well. But we ain't going to focus on that here because we ain't got time for that at the moment.

Kita Zuleta 44:52

We are going to focus on our Jefa journey and how that entire process can be difficult, but because we are in community, we get to seek each other out and because we are a community of, quite literally, professionals, we are a community of small business owners.

Kita Zuleta 45:07

The goal with this platform is to connect fellow small business owners.

Kita Zuleta 45:09

The goal with this platform is to connect fellow small business owners, specifically Jefas, to be able to support each other in community, in business and especially and specifically, if it's possible, in professional services whatever way that is, specifically today in therapeutic services. That would be great for fellow Jefas to invest and feel safe with fellow community members, because that is really the whole goal is to create this connection for us to learn from one another, but when and if it is possible for us to be able to benefit the growing of our businesses together, because the truth is is that we will go farther together and, as you were mentioning, like, you take care of this and you take care of that, and being able to build out what is your business team and your jefa squad that's going to back up your brand and business. You're going to continue to grow together, because that's not just a one-time thing. You know what I'm saying. If you're trusting someone with your books, you're trusting someone with your books from here until, hopefully, forever, right.

Kita Zuleta 46:10

Until hopefully you retire. So these are investments and relationships that we're developing as a community and I love to see it. And I'm so incredibly grateful for Hephas like yourself for coming onto the podcast and sharing a glimpse into your Hepha journey, because, of course, this is not even 40 minutes of the whole story. So I'm just honored to have you here with me and really just having you open up and share with your fellow Jefas how you've gotten to where you are today, what it is that you do, how you serve, and just a glimpse into the passion that you have for our community and really providing these mental health services. Because I hear you, girl, and so many of us have that struggle of wanting to remain accessible. Yet also we are business owners, you know, and needing to figure what that looks like whether there's an accessibility offer and then there are our ideal client offers, figuring out how to be able to navigate that, because it's so important for us especially to serve our community as much as we can. But it's also recognizing that heffa hat like okay, I see you, community, I'm going to make it easier because I love you community, but we still got to make sure that we take care of ourselves the same way you need to pay for your groceries when you walk out the store. You know what I'm saying. So I just want to also encourage us, for those of us who are in a position where we can start shopping for fellow professionals as we grow our businesses.

Caffeine, Books, and Business Support

Kita Zuleta 47:48

As we grow our businesses, I, of course, am super biased, but I would absolutely first encourage to dive into the Cabecito con Jefas community. Soon there will be a directory so that that can be an easy shopping experience for y'all. But for now, feel free to reach out to yours truly and I will happily point you in all the directions necessary, as I do have this Rolodex in my head. But until then, I am so excited again for this platform and for Jefas Like Yourself to come share your story, share your professional insights and just your time. So thank you, thank you so much for being here. Before I ask you and have you tell the audience where they can find you and hang out online and how they can support your work, because we want everybody to come work with you. I have a few rapid fire questions just to get to know a little bit more of Jovanna. So first question, super easy what's your favorite way to drink cafecito or tea if you prefer tea.

Kita Zuleta 48:48

Like if you were to order it Um.

Jovanna Borquez 48:49

I prefer, if I'm going to order, um, at least right now, my order is a three shot blonde. Um, and I add protein to it. Um, because I'm trying to get all my protein in and I cannot live without coffee in my life, so I figure it's a good combo. Um, if not a cold brew, um, my cousin gets upset because I once gave her a cold brew without watering it down, because you're supposed to do that, and she was jittery forever and I was like sipping on it like it was water. I don't understand what is going on. So I'm a total caffeine addict. I also love tea, but teas are more like, are more medicinal, like. I use them, like if my tummy's hurting or if I can't go to sleep or if I'm just like really anxious, I'll take, like you know, you know chamomile tea just to kind of calm, like my nerves. So I use it in that form. Caffeine is life and you could literally see the change in my face as soon as the caffeine gets into my system. You know that I'm a happy camper.

Kita Zuleta 50:02

So we are kindred coffee and tea spirits Because that is so like throw on the chamomile when, like, I need to start rinsing some of this coffee out. You know what I mean Like start soothing myself for bed. But absolutely, and I like literally dropped my jaw when you said triple shot blonde, because, quite literally, my order is triple shot blonde on ice with Splenda and whole milk. Because we figured that that's. We figured out the recipe for cortado, which is not available everywhere, and fine, it's three shots instead of what two in a cortado. But you know caffeine. So I love, I love your response. And then final, final question. This one might be a little bit harder, but which book has impacted your life and you would recommend to your fellow Jefas? It does not have to be business related, but, thinking about them in mind, which book would you recommend?

Jovanna Borquez 51:06

Honestly, this is a book that I'm diving into for the second time, because the first time I didn't hear the lesson the first time, so I have to go back and reread it.

Jovanna Borquez 51:17

I Am Bielsa is the book that I recommend, whether you're in a healing journey, whether you're just trying to find yourself again. Because, essentially, if you're in your healing journey and you're running, you know, a business, it could be very, very stressing. There's days that you may not want to get up and having. I personally love to do the audio um, listening to her voice. One, it's really really soothing. Um and two, um, she, she and who she really hits a lot of points of like, self-worth and how that impacts all areas of your life.

Jovanna Borquez 51:58

So if your business is, you know, having its moment where it's not growing as fast as you want it to grow, I am at fault there. I had to search within as to what was going on within myself Because I had blocks. I had blocks of stuff that was preventing me from being like me in front of everybody. That being able to go back and read the book and listen to the book and do all of its amazing exercises that it has it was able to really help me be me and help me just be able to present like hey, this is Jo, I am a therapist and I love what it is that I do.

Jovanna Borquez 52:46

I am not perfect, but I'm here to create the safety net for you. Am not perfect, but I'm here to create the safety net for you and I feel that that's just caused me to be more present on online, be able to just be more like, authentic like with my clients, which in turn brings more clients in because they recommend me, because they're like oh, my God, you're not this rigid person that we think of as, like you know, a therapist, like oh, you're like this perfect robot who has no feelings, who just deals with other people's feelings, and it's like no, no, no, I have the moments where I need to sit and cry and I'm going to sit and cry and sit in darkness until I feel better, but I'm still going to show up and create a safe environment for you. Mm, hmm, mm hmm, absolutely.

Kita Zuleta 53:32

Oh, man, I that book has been on my to listen read, cause I am also. I consume audibly as well.

Kita Zuleta 53:41

Um, so the it's been on my to listen read since the photo shoot, so I'm literally going to grab it on audible right now and just like do it, cause I'm really excited for it and you know you got you sold me with your description, so I'll let you know once I'm once I'm done working through it. I mean it might take me a while, but I'll let you know. So, bueno, I'm so excited again to have had you here and have your fellow Jefas get to know a bit more of Joe, and so, thank you, thank you so much. Where can your fellow hip eyes find you? Where do you hang out online and how can they best support your work?

Jovanna Borquez 54:18

um, so my instagram is healing soul, counseling. Um, there's a website link on on my bio. Um, I work. I work online only, so if you do need to get ahold of me, um, please, please DM me. Um, I'm very active Well, I'm more active than I used to be. Um, and just I don't know the way that people can support is just share, share some of like my like posts. Just, you know, put them, put them out there, not just for my like business, but just to inform people of all the mental health stuff. Um, I think, as we heal it's, it's a lot easier when you have a group of people that understand that like process. So, even if you don't post in order to like promote me, just post. So you send all of that info out to others because, you never know, maybe some someone's you know struggling and a post about self self-worth is going to make them feel better. So I think that that's the best way.

Kita Zuleta 55:31

I love that and true to form so selfless. And not about you at all.

Kita Zuleta 55:38

So y'all, I will tell you, support her by following her on Instagram. Again, that is Healing Soul Counseling on Instagram and be sure to check out her website. If y'all happen to know anyone that would vibe with Jovanna and would be able to benefit from her services, y'all be sure to refer her or be able to speak her name in rooms, as that is definitely also a culture that we have here in CCJ. So I would love it if y'all just follow her and be able to support her Jefa journey and definitely y'all will see if you pull up her Instagram on the regular, she is definitely sharing things that help us heal our hearts, true to form. So so much encouragement, so much inspiration and so many kind words. So if y'all can just spread the kindness through her account or through what she's sharing, as she will be showing up more as she goes- into this season.

Kita Zuleta 56:39

I'm claiming it so y'all be seeing more of her.

Jovanna Borquez 56:42

Yes, there's actually merch that will be dropping within the next few weeks, Again, all surrounding healing. My favorite is actually a candle that, when people ask me what is the candle going to, you know, smell like I'm like, it's gonna smell like me. It's gonna smell like like my home, because my like home is my safe place.

Jovanna Borquez 57:05

So I love that I'm able to create this merch or this like product, product where, at least when I like smell it, it makes me feel safe. So I'm hoping that if you guys do get a chance to, you know, smell it or buy it, um, that it will also bring some like sense of safety. So but that's in the works for the next few weeks.

Kita Zuleta 57:30

Well, I mean, by the time this interview comes out, that line will be officially live. So let me just make sure I point out what she so casually just dropped there is a whole extension of her business coming out. She's like literally starting a new shop.

Kita Zuleta 57:46

So if y'all haven't seen, it she has this super cute hat with, of course, a girasol on it, and she has all this merch coming and then these candles that she's mentioning. She's making them herself, y'all. So, like she's saying, she is pouring so much love into this. It's so much more than merch, girl. But, fine, I will allow you so casually dismissing your hard work. Actually, no, I won't. I won't allow it. I won't allow it because you're quite literally like essentially doubling your work, because now you're going into the handmade segment, we're talking a whole different way to start selling your business. So you're kind of taking on the newbie jefa role in this side of it. So we got to get you talking a bit more about it, mujer. So, Jefas, by the time this recording is out, please go check her out, not just on Instagram, which is at Healing Soul Counseling, but check out her website and be sure to click through and look for her new upcoming shop. You'll be able to see her merch and also her lovingly poured candles that she is going to be releasing out into the world. Thank you so much, Jovanna, for just sharing so much of your love, your energy and simply who you are with me and with your fellow Hefas as well. Once this is out into the rest of the world. So thank you so much. I'm just really, really honored to have you here. Thank you so, Jefas. Thank you again for tuning in to our conversation. Until next time. I am your host, Kita Zuleta. Thank you for listening to the Cafecito con Jefas podcast.

Kita Zuleta 59:28

Well, Jefas, that's a wrap for today's episode of the cafecito con Jefas podcast. I sincerely hope these conversations have lifted your spirits and left you with a renewed sense of purpose. Remember, Jefas, you are not alone on this journey. Our community is here to lift you up, offer guidance and share in your success, knowing that there's an abundance of work for each of us and believing that we will go farther together. If you enjoyed today's episode, please leave a review or share the episode that you're listening to online. Be sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss out on the incredible stories we have in store for you, stories we have in store for you. Connect with the community on Instagram at Cabecito con Jefas, and reach out directly to yours truly at Kita Azuleta Photo. Let's keep these conversations alive, continue to foster connections and continue growing as a united community where the goal is for every jefa to thrive. If you haven't already joined us for our Cabecito and co-working sessions, please be sure to sign up to get those invitations directly into your inbox.

Kita Zuleta 1:00:41

Come as you are when you can and surround yourself with your fellow Jefas. I can't wait to connect with you at a future Cabecito. If you're needing guidance on how to take your brand to the next level, I'm here to walk that path with you. Book a free consultation with me and together we'll develop strategies that will feel in alignment with the season that you're in, as well as setting yourself up for the growth that you desire. As we close today's episode, remember that your journey as a jefa is an ever-evolving one. Keep going, pasito a pasito. You deserve it. Until next time, Jefas, I'm your host, Kita Azuleta. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Cafecito con Jefas podcast.