A Re-Introduction To The Cafecito Con Jefas Community

Are you ready to conquer the challenges of entrepreneurship and find your supportive tribe? This episode of Cafecito con Jefas kicks off season two with Kita Zuleta reintroducing our mission to alleviate the loneliness of entrepreneurship. We dive deep into honest conversations about imposter syndrome and the struggles of making our mark in professional settings. This episode promises to offer valuable insights into how we can create an inclusive space to connect, share real-life experiences, and celebrate every win, big or small.

Collaboration over competition is the mantra we live by. Learn how defining your brand and specialties can attract the right clients and build a network of supportive fellow professionals. Kita shares the philosophy shaping Cafecito con Jefas, highlighting our weekly Cafecito and Coworking sessions. These casual and inclusive gatherings are essential for celebrating the diversity of our members' entrepreneurial journeys and fostering a welcoming space for women entrepreneurs to grow together.

Discover the exciting developments within our community, such as the #JefaLife101 cohort and the Holistic Entrepreneurship Workshop series. These initiatives offer deeper connections and continuous support among Jefas beyond social media. Kita introduces our new virtual community casita on Circle.so, a dedicated space for sharing real-life challenges and successes 24/7. Plus, we celebrate significant milestones like the launch of our DIY brand strategy course and new merchandise, expressing heartfelt gratitude for the unwavering support that propels us forward.

Transcript

Building a Supportive Entrepreneur Community

Speaker 1 0:00

Hi, jefas, welcome back to the Cabecito con Jefas podcast. I'm your host, kita Zuleta, a brand strategist, jefa coach and photographer from LA. It's season two and, whether you are a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, this season is packed with powerful conversations, actionable strategies and the realness that Cabecito con Jefas is known for. My jefa journey has been anything but linear. I've pursued entrepreneurship in many forms over the past 15 years and I'm excited to share my knowledge and use my podcast to host conversations about real life and entrepreneurship, aka Jefa Life. While our paths may vary, the emotions and experiences we share unite us. We're all the same, same but different. So grab a favorite mug, pour yourself a cafecito and get cozy, because these conversations will ignite your passion, spark 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, gita Zuleta. I'm so excited today to reintroduce you to the Cafecito con Jefas podcast and community as we are kicking off season two y'all of this podcast, it is wild to have seen and felt and gone through the journey that has been getting to where we're at today as a community. So, for anyone who may not know me, I am, as I mentioned, kita Zuleta, a brand strategist, photographer and jefa coach based in Los Angeles. I will be doing a formal reintroduction to myself in the next episode, so I'm going to keep my intro short and sweet to that. My goal with this episode today is to reintroduce CCJ and Cafecito con Jefas and what it is that this community and podcast is all about. As I re-listened to the very first episode of this podcast in order to kind of see where we started, where I was when we first launched this podcast, man, what's beautiful is that the mission, the goal, the heart behind this community is the same, and that is to help alleviate the loneliness that comes with being an entrepreneur and creating and cultivating a community that allows us to come together and sit alongside each other, to again remove the loneliness, allow ourselves to be seen by one another and really encouraging us to practice introducing ourselves and taking up space in these rooms where we are strategically placing ourselves in as jefas, in order to be able to connect, in order to network and try to get to know other like-minded individuals. Cafecito con Jefas first started as a dream of a community, as a dream of a community.

Speaker 1 3:29

In my Hefa journey, I've been a part of quite a number of communities over the years. You can say that I can. My Hefa journey really has evolved and grown up alongside social media, so I've been a part of all kinds of different. You know Facebook groups and even paid communities, learning from online mentors that you know Facebook groups and even paid communities, learning from online mentors that you know they had their community. But so many of these communities and rooms and spaces either didn't look or feel like me or were simply very competitive. Being an entrepreneur can come with many different levels of competition. As I mentioned, yours truly is a photographer and in the photography world it is so competitive and very judgy, and I feel like that might be the case in most fields. But having been a part of so many of these communities, I really saw the lack in simply being together and having these conversations about real life and entrepreneurship, and it's what I like to call HEPA life.

Speaker 1 4:35

You know just this, all encompassing everything of who we are and what we do and talking about what happens behind the scenes. You know, as we know, showing up on social media or showing up online. I mean, so much of it is curated, and rightly so, in the sense that it is designed to be marketing, right Es comercial. So then, if it's designed to paint a picture that is like work with me, it is very much so curated to be outward facing and have it look appealing and be this form of advertising that says you know, this is who I am, this is what I do, this is how I can serve you and this is how you can work with me, right and so it's very clean and to that point overall. So having it curated is quite important.

Speaker 1 5:33

But also I believe that it's so important for us as Hefas to have these conversations about what happens behind the scenes and what it really takes to be a jefa, to own a small business, to show up online, to struggle with imposter syndrome, to struggle with taking up space, like first just getting the courage to show up in a room where you might need to practice and introduce yourself, let alone actually introducing yourself. I mean, I've come to recognize parts of myself that are what would be known as introverted. I know a lot of jefas in the community are introverts or simply just shy or not yet confident in practicing and taking up space in some of these rooms. So the motivation really was to bring us together to have a space where we can just be and have these behind the scenes conversations like yo, it was really hard for me to push this button today, but I did it. I created a post, would love some, you know, engagement and support. Or, hey, I'm dealing with imposter syndrome and comparing myself to others in my field. Or, you know, I finally sent out an email that I had been sitting on and been, you know, like in a bit of paralysis over, you know, actually having the conversations that are, you know, being able to celebrate, not just the big wins that are somewhat obvious, like I got a new client, you know, or I've made this many sales, or you know X, y, z to actually just being able to say, yo, I showed up today and that is enough, and that is a win in and of itself. Um, so, creating this space, you know, if you haven't had the opportunity to join a cafecito and coworking session, which is this space that I am referencing um, I started hosting cafecito and cowork-working sessions where we meet once a week and we're meeting every week to come alongside each other and jump into a Zoom call, and so we're on this Zoom call for the first hour in what I like to call a hyper-focused session, so we're not having a conversation in this first hour.

Speaker 1 8:03

We each bring our own projects Everybody's working on, you know, whatever it is that they need that's going to help move the needle in their business Work alongside one another. We like to keep our cameras on so that we can visibly see each other in the room. Having that visual of our fellow Jevas really just truly help remove the loneliness, and so we just work alongside each other for that first hour and then for the final half hour we have cafecito, and so that's where we truly practice introducing ourselves and coming together and sharing these wins introducing ourselves and coming together and sharing these wins. And when it comes to introducing ourselves, especially as Hefas, you know it's something that I strongly believe that we need to practice. And in technical business terms, you know you read books or you learn from online mentors. You know they talk about developing your pitch right and how.

Speaker 1 9:07

When you get in front of a potential client or you're at a networking event, you know you want to be able to pitch yourself, or you know practicing your pitch allows you to be able to explain who you are, what you do, who you serve and how you serve them in a short amount of time, quickly and concisely, and you grab their attention and you're able to then more easily make sales. Now, yes, that is true, but at least for myself, the way my brain works, I hear, you know, tell me your pitch, and I freeze and I'm in hot sweats and I'm like super nervous and just probably stumbling over myself, and so I don't like to use the word, you know, come in and pitch yourself, because, also, this space is not designed for us to sell ourselves to each other, or we're not coming to simply try to. Yeah, we're not. We're not trying to just sell to one another.

Speaker 1 10:07

The goal is to introduce ourselves by practicing saying who we are, what we do, who we serve, how we serve them and where we're located, so that our fellow HFAs can support our work and if someone happens to be already shopping for your services or knows someone that could benefit from your services. I mean, we've definitely cultivated a community where we speak each other's names in rooms of opportunity, and so we've seen a lot of jefas gain clients from fellow jefas within the community. But the goal is simply to practice introducing ourselves and creating these connections and also just getting comfortable with saying our names in these rooms. The goal is simply to practice introducing ourselves and creating these connections and also just getting comfortable with saying our names in these rooms. Because if we're more comfortable practicing and able to say who we are, what we do, who we serve, how we serve them and where we're located amongst our fellow jefas, it can be easier. It may not remove all of the stress and pressure in the future, but it can be easier when we do show up to networking events, where we do invest in these positions, where we are meant to pitch in a short amount of time, and we can gain that clarity the more we practice speaking our names, introducing ourselves and really just being able to take up that space. And so, as someone who has personally struggled with taking up that space although I can be extroverted and very comfortable, like being a host and even entertaining people when I feel safe, when I'm in a comfortable position, but put me in a room of people I don't know or in just a large networking room your girl is the first one to find a cozy corner that I feel safe in and not approach people, and so a lot of times they're missed opportunities that we as jefas may go through because we're not comfortable or confident or practiced introducing ourselves. You know, it takes a lot of energy to put yourselves out there, put ourselves out there, and I feel like if we're able to practice that often hopefully weekly for the Hefas who are able to join then that does make it easier for us to gain that confidence, to flex that muscle so that when we do need to introduce ourselves, we are better set up to be able to do so.

Entrepreneurial Collaboration

Speaker 1 12:42

And as Hefas, as business owners, in order to have a business, we got to talk about our business and in order to have a successful business, that does include making sales, and so we need people to know who we are in order for them to be able to work with us. And the better we are able to introduce ourselves, talk about our business, talk about what it is that we're doing, we then can more easily make sales and have that business and dream life that we desire long term. Another beautiful thing about this community is that we are a community that strives to remove the competition amongst ourselves. There's so much competition out there already and we believe that there's an abundance of work for all of us. So we are definitely stronger together and I love to encourage fellow jefas, who are even in the same field, to connect and to learn from one another and say, hey, how are you doing, xyz, and how can we grow together? You know what I'm saying and how.

Speaker 1 13:52

You know so many of us may struggle with you know oh, there's another for me, another photographer in the room right or another coach in the room. Like. It may be hard for us to get past that and be like hi, this, I do that too, but really, by cultivating friendships in the field, and you know, the truth is is we can't serve everyone, even if we wanted to, right, and but also not everyone is for us right, like, like, as a brand strategist, I teach my clients and tell my fellow HEPA it's like, you know, defining a brand and defining who we want to work with and what we do. You know that is meant to either to attract or repel people. We're not wanting to work with everyone, people, we're not wanting to work with everyone. That's the reason why there's an ideal client and you know, the business that we design and see in our head is surrounding doing what it is that we love with the types of clients that we really enjoy serving, and so that may not be the same for me than it is for another photographer, and so there are different specialties in so many fields.

Speaker 1 15:07

For example, in photography, quite literally, there's, you know, different categories of visuals, right, like there's maternity and there's weddings, and there's, you know, family portraits and there's branding, which is what I focus on. And so when I have Hefas coming to me and being like, oh well, do you also do weddings or do you do maternity? And I'm like, technically, at one point in my career I did do those things. But there are other amazing photographers who, like that is their specialty. So if you want a newborn photographer, go talk to this person, or I can send you their Instagram, or you know, I would simply suggest that you shop elsewhere, because it's not my area of expertise, that's not something that I practice. Could I technically take that picture? Sure, but would it be the best person for what you're looking for? No, I'm probably not that person.

Speaker 1 15:58

So really being able to get to know one another without that concept of competition really allows for us to learn from each other, encourage one another and also we just get to go farther and grow together. So that's really the heart and the mission behind Cafecito con Jefas and creating that space. It's a lonely road, being an entrepreneur and so just having a place that we can consistently come back to, consistently connect with one another, that's what these Wednesdays Cafecito and Coworking space is designed to be. Now, that is where Cafecito con Jefas started. This is the foundation of this community and my goal, my heart, is to continue these free weekly Cafecito and Coworking sessions until CCJ is no more. But I mean, I just I don't see myself wanting to remove this space at any given point of my career or cafecito con jefas existing. So I'm really excited to continue to host this space and have fellow jefas from quite literally all over the world joining.

Speaker 1 17:27

Since its inception, we've had over 500 jefas come through these virtual doors and it's just a beautiful, beautiful space. Of course, every week the attendance is different because we are busy jefas. Our schedules change from week to week and I will tell you that if you haven't been able to join and are looking to join and are worried about, like well, I'm not going to be able to get there at exactly 11am, y'all just show up when you can, for as long as you can. You can pop in for five or 10 minutes just to like check out the room and see who's there. You can show up just for cafecito at noon. You know like, come whenever you're able to.

Speaker 1 18:12

There's no tardiness here. We don't take attendance in that way. It's very much so a casual space. You certainly don't have to come dressed up. Most of us are in our, you know, sweats, with messy hair, and you know, maybe we've washed our face, like it's just's just. You come, you wear your glasses, no makeup, like you just come to work, just come to connect. There's no expectation of performance here. Even when we do introduce ourselves, most of us or if not all of us we're very aware that it is a place where we come to practice. So we fumble over our words yours truly fumbles constantly and I practice every week so trust that this is simply a space where we hope to cultivate that safety and have a space where we can just come together and support one another.

Expanding the Jefa Community

Speaker 1 19:11

And again, that's where Cabecito con Jefas started, the foundation of it all. It has evolved into this podcast, which now, as I mentioned, we are kicking off season two with this episode. So we have over 40 episodes in season one where I had the opportunity to interview fellow jefas of all different fields, all different levels of experience, from jefas who were brand new to entrepreneurship and pursuing something that is not just a new skill but a new dream, new passion, or simply a passion that they've had for a long time and now they're turning it into a small business. To have us who have been doing it for over a decade and it's the same business that they've been cultivating. Also have us who have been in the corporate world for a couple decades even, and then deciding to pivot into running their own business now. So there are a wide range of jefas who have been interviewed on the podcast, and I would love for y'all to look through the jefas stories, listen to them, because I strongly believe in the purpose of this podcast is for us to learn from each other's stories.

Speaker 1 20:33

There's so much we can learn from one another, so many levels of expertise and, as I mentioned, not only are we in different stages of entrepreneurship, but we have different levels and stages of real life. You know, we have moms. We have, you know, childless women. We have people who are married, not married, like all kinds of different walks of life, and the goal is for us to learn from each other. And the more we're able to have these conversations, we're able to see like, hey, if they can do it, I can do it too, and I think that that's just so important for us to learn from one another. And, as I like to say, we're all the same, same but different, and that really speaks to the emotions that we go through as human beings, punto, like we're all going through the same emotions as we go through life and we may just have the different emotions for different reasons or different things that come up, and so it's really important to me for us to be able to talk to those things and be able to just speak these things out into the world, into the mic, so that we can learn from one another and gain knowledge. And there's just so much wisdom for us to be able to learn from each other. And so I highly, highly suggest you head back and dig into season one and listen to some of these episodes where your fellow HIFAs are just dropping gems is just the truth, and I'm just so proud to have been able to sit with so many HIFAs. I'm so grateful to have had them share their stories with me to be able to share them with y'all.

Speaker 1 22:33

I, too, have shared parts of my journey throughout season one. Season one structure was much more like this is what's going on currently with yours truly and trying to teach through that, or simply being able to update y'all on, like major announcements, that was going on. There was a lot of transition and change happening for your girl last fall, and so it kind of was like a weekly update on the telenovela that was my life in that season. So my goal with this season is to have a bit more structure to my solo episodes where I'm coming to teach, and, as some of y'all may know, I decided to own my coach title, especially this year, and have developed a group coaching program, which is now an offering that we have for the community to teach fellow Hefas how to show up online. You know I'm a brand strategist and so I specialize in helping Hefas grow their online presence, and so this group coaching program is designed specifically to teach the what I like to call foundations of Hefa life, and so it's called the Heffa Life 101 cohort. It's an eight week program where we're just in the trenches together, so it's taking the concept of this community, this podcast, this learning from one another and sharing each other's stories and getting deep into the behind the scenes. Part of this is how we are working towards our dreams and setting it up like. That's what this cohort has developed into and become so it's been a journey for yours truly and I want to be able to add a bit more structure to my solo episodes and teach a bit more of what I know.

Speaker 1 24:28

I've had quite a journey and, like I said, I will be expanding on that in my formal reintroduction to myself in the next episode. But I've had the opportunity to have a product-based business, a service-based business. I've started my career as a sales coach and, you know, managing a massive sales team. So being able to incorporate so much of my learnings throughout this very nonlinear journey that I've had is part of what I want to also infuse into this podcast and be able to have y'all walk away with a bit more gems. There'll be some episodes where I'll be like all right, you know, like maybe take some notes. You know this is what the purpose is going to be for this episode. So if you're listening in the car, you know you might want to re-listen to it again, but being able to impart some of the knowledge that I have.

Speaker 1 25:28

You know I am a lover of learning as well as a lover of learning through books and audiobooks. Specifically, my goal is to have book reviews, especially as we now have a book club inside of our casita, which I'll break down in just a sec. But being able to speak to the learnings that I'm going through a bit more than just like this is what's going on in my life Now. They may be some heart dumps that happen on the show. I'm so not going to say that that's not possible, but it will have just a bit more structure with the themes that I'll be speaking to on the podcast. So I'm really excited to expand the solo episodes in that way and, of course, I'm going to be continuing to interview your fellow jefas and introduce y'all to them their jefa stories and looking forward to all of the gems that they've been sharing with me, now being able to share that with y'all through this second season of the podcast. So, of course, stay tuned for those episodes with your fellow jefas sharing parts of their journey. Also, when it comes to each individual podcast episode, you now get to reference them on our new cabecito con jefas website. Each episode will have its own page, if you will. So, especially for your fellow jefa episodes, you can take a look at the page on the CCJ website that holds their episode, gives their bio and shares all of their links so that we can go ahead and follow them. Click all their links so that we can go ahead and follow them. Click all their links If y'all want to work with them. That'll be an easy reference point to be able to go. Check out how to be able to connect with them online and also further connect with the community. So be sure to push those buttons, check that out and stay tuned for your upcoming fellow episodes.

Speaker 1 27:32

I'm excited to share that we're also coming back with another round of the Holistic Entrepreneurship Workshop series. Last year we put together I want to say it was five workshops that we were able to host for the community alongside fellow jefas who brought their expertise to the community. The purpose of these workshops is to one be able to bring accessibility to the knowledge that our fellow jefas have. There are so many of us, as I said, in different fields of entrepreneurship, at different levels of expertise, and there are so many jefas who are providing this expertise to major organizations for big dollars, and so the goal with these jefa workshops is for us to be able to learn directly from your fellow jefas at an accessible rate, where we can get this knowledge that is being sold to big organization for big dollars, but we can apply it to our business.

Speaker 1 28:45

And so the goal in CCJ is to pursue holistic entrepreneurship, and what I mean by that is thinking of our Hefa life and our Hefa journey holistically right. Like not just the business aspect of things, like yes, we want to learn and grow our business, but also learn to take care of our whole selves. As Hefas, we manage a lot of different plates, a lot of different roles, and it can be so easy for us to neglect ourselves, and so we have workshops like creating healthy boundaries. We also have a workshop that's about we can call more money in how to use creative play as rest and being able to also do problem solving and learning how to unlock those superpowers, as well as public speaking, con cultura and being able to own the fact that we have these innate public speaking skills. That just tends to happen when we think about. You know, chismando right, and so if you've been able to think about. You know chismando right, and so if you've been able to tell the story or tell some chism in the past, you know how to give a public speaking talk and so learning how to be able to structure so many of these things that can be applied to our business and the whole of our entrepreneurship journey.

Speaker 1 30:38

So this year, I'm really excited to bring back our holistic entrepreneurship workshop series. I'm so excited for our fellow Havas to share their expertise with us and for us to simply learn from one another. These workshops are 90 minutes, and so they're scheduled to be the first hour like both learning directly from the guest, jefa, and then having some interactive learning, and then, of course, we would be ending the final 30 minutes with cafecito, where we talk about what did we just learn? How are we going to implement it? You know how is it, you know, affecting us as we think about our HEPA journey and how we'll be able to apply it and continue to implement it into our business and our work. As we speak things out loud, as we speak it into community, there is accountability built into that process, as well as simply solidifying the knowledge that we just learned and also hearing how others are going to be applying that same knowledge to their business only expands more of what it is that we just learned and how we can apply it. So I'm really excited for these workshops to kick off in October and I can't wait for y'all to join us. So check out those on the Cabecita con Hepa's website.

Speaker 1 32:07

And so those are the workshops that we have now as a community, as well, as I mentioned the cohort, which is an eight-week program, so definitely more of an intensive learning structure. It's a 90-minute session every week for those eight weeks that we're together and it's just a great program for HIFAs who are looking to grow their online presence. Their online presence and as a brand strategist, you know I focus on my expertise is in the branding and marketing aspect of our business. So that is really what is the foundation of this cohort and what is focused on. So that's what that space is for, and I can break that down a bit further in the episode speaking to my journey and what it is that led me to develop this program. But that is an offering that we do have for the community and a part of what it is that we do here at CCG.

Speaker 1 33:09

And also, finally, we now have a community casita, and I'm so proud of our casita y'all. What I mean by this casita is a virtual space, so our casita is hosted on a platform called Circleso and it's a community-based platform where you can think about it as like an elevated Facebook group, and so it is a paid membership. So this space is only accessible for jefas who are looking to invest in this space, but it is a space that now allows us to deepen that much more the conversations that we only scratch the surface on during our weekly cafecito and co-working sessions. And so over the course of the past year, as we've had more of our cafecito and co-working sessions, I had heard the feedback of so many of us that were wanting a space where we can continue to connect. You know, I always like to encourage us to follow one another online and support our journeys on instagram or connect on linkedin or, you know, just show up on tick tock and like each other's um videos. But it's also a lot of work trying to keep up with one another's social media rhythms and as much as we can connect on there. You know it's kind of limited to DMs or just commenting on things, but just like I mentioned in talking to the Cafecito and Coworking sessions. You know it's a curated space, so most of us aren't talking about the behind the scenes and the real life part of entrepreneurship.

Speaker 1 35:01

And so the purpose and the goal with this casita is to expand our safe space from the weekly Zoom calls to a space where we can hang out 24-7. And we now have spaces where jefas can come and ask for help. It can be in the middle of the night when they're actually working on a specific project and they want input from their fellow jefas, whether it's like do you know about this system, what would you recommend about it? Or would you not recommend you recommend about it? Or you know, would you not recommend I invest in it? Or you know we've had fellow Hevas want to practice their consultations because they're new at that or they may not feel as confident with their sales, so then they want to practice consultations, and so Hevas will do practice consultations and ask the questions that may come up as someone who is shopping for their services. We've had HEFAs do practice coaching sessions and be able to get feedback and beta test some workshops or help get their workshops named Like.

Speaker 1 36:14

We've been able to support one another in that journey. You know how is it that you um upload a course onto Squarespace or what are some of your highest recommended tools. You know, like there's all kinds of conversations that we're having inside the casita that we're only again able to scratch the surface on when we are in cabecita and coworkworking, especially because there's so many of us and we only have half an hour to try to introduce as many of us as possible. You know we're only able to talk about a few things every week, and again only at surface level, and so the purpose of the casita is for us to be able to have that space to continue these conversations. So we have a space labeled ask for help. We have a jefa room because of course, we are Hefa's and we are working to be able to serve not just one another, but simply being able to put our offerings out there in case someone knows someone that can use our services. We have a space where we can share local events and share a win or sing praises from one another right, and we have a show up Hefa room where we talk about the struggle that is social media and showing up online.

Speaker 1 37:43

We also do have a Hefa book club. So now we are getting together, we have a book every month that we focus on. We get together twice a month to discuss that book and we have a read along schedule so that that way we can learn together and learn from people who have gone before us. And these books range from, you know, time Management, which will be our book in October. We kicked off with the Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown, which is talking about all things head and heart. You know we're going to be reading we Should All Be Millionaires in November. So there's definitely books that again are in this pursuit of holistic entrepreneurship and learning from experts. And so the book club space is for us to be able to have these conversations as we are reading it alongside each other, even outside of the meetings where we get together.

Speaker 1 38:45

And then we do also have biweekly cafecitos, so these cafecitos are exclusive for the jefas inside of the casita, and so, instead of just the half hour that we have at the end of our capacito and co-working sessions on wednesdays, we get together for an hour where we simply just show up and unmute ourselves and we just talk jefa life. You know, we talk about real life and entrepreneurship and how things are going and we genuinely get a bit more time to catch up with one another. And a lot of times these calls becomes a version of strategy calls where we get to bring our brains together and say, well, what if you do this and what if you try that? And it's just really great to see us pour into one another and being able to grow and lift one another up. And so we have those biweekly cabecito calls and then every week we have additional hyper focus sessions, so kind of like how we kick off our cabecito and co-working sessions for an hour of body doubling.

Speaker 1 39:59

We have these hyper-focused sessions where we get together at least once a week, if not twice a week, and sometimes we do have these pop-up co-working sessions where we get together and we're strictly body doubling. So there's no introductions at the end of it, it's simply we open a room, we work alongside each other and usually these will be at least two hours. Sometimes there's been days where you know I'll open a room for two hours and then, because we're in a groove, another hip. I was like, well, I can keep going, so I'll open another room for at least another hour. And then somebody's like, well, I'm just jumped in, so I'll open a room for at least another hour. And then somebody's like, well, I'm just jumped in, so I'll open a room for another hour.

Speaker 1 40:40

So it's just because we're all working at different times, but when we are able to work alongside each other so many times, we're able to become that much more productive and just supporting each other as we are working behind the scenes. And so it's a space where it allows us to truly feel like co-workers and although we're each pursuing very different goals, very different dreams, when it comes to our business, the purpose again, first and foremost, is to alleviate the loneliness that comes with being an entrepreneur and to close that knowledge gap and to support one another and to remove the competition and practice taking up space, and so that is simply further cultivated inside of our community. Casita, like I said, that is a paid membership that's $44 a month or $111 a quarter, and it's an investment that allows us to remain in a safe space and also continues to simply fund the community and allow the community to be funded. For the past two years that has been Cafecito con Jefas Yours truly has been the sole funder of all things CCJ, and so, as I got experience a burnout. I find my. I found myself struggling with the pressure that was continuing to fund the community and myJ, and not because it was anything I wanted to do, but I simply could not afford to do it as I continued to offer a free space for HIFAS to come and all of the time, work and energy that I was putting towards the community remained free. Outside of introducing the workshops last fall, which again were only five of them, that was just the beginning of attempting to bring in some funds for the community, allowing the community to be self-funded, and so we are not quite yet in a position to open up a non-profit or be a non-profit.

Empowering Jefa Community Growth

Speaker 1 43:24

Cabecito con Jefas is a for-profit business and community, and so that is why we have created these offerings, like the casita, like the group coaching cohort, like the have a life mini photo shoots. Being able to have these offerings for the community priced at an accessible rate allows for the community to continue to be funded and for yours truly to still put as much time and energy and effort that I am putting into Cafecito con Jevas, knowing that it can fund itself, and it allows for the doors to remain open and hopefully continue to expand not just the services, but the offerings and putting the events together. Not just the services, but the offerings and putting the events together. There's been so many asks by different HEPAs, lots of different ideas as to how CCJ, should you know, show up or provide X, y, z and, truthfully, as a community, there's so many things that can happen, that could happen, so many ideas that I would love to see come to fruition. But, in truth, in order for these ideas to come to fruition, it involves a version of capital, and so, being that yours truly doesn't just have a trust fund to lean on to, I am hoping that by now creating these services and different outlets for fellow HFAs to have accessible services for photography, for group coaching I mean, we even have a course.

Speaker 1 45:12

Y'all I don't know if y'all know this, but, as I mentioned, with this group coaching program, I developed three rounds of it and for the final beta round, we did record it and put it together as a course, and so we now have a DIY brand strategy course living on our website, strategy course living on our website, and so for jefas, who may not even be able to join the next live round of the cohort, we do have a course that is DIY. A jefa can purchase it at any time. You get lifetime access to it. There are six sessions where you get to listen to yours truly teach. You get to see the hot seats with your fellow jeffas, literally watch the growth that they are going through over the course of the six weeks, get the resources, get the homework and really be able to walk yourself through this program. And so we have the jeffa life 101 course available and accessible for anyone who is looking to grow their brand's online presence and be able to take action today, right, and so we have quite a few different offerings available for the community to purchase and invest in, and that has expanded and that is happening so that the community can continue to be funded and we can have the time, energy and space to pour in to the community as much as we are.

Speaker 1 46:48

And I say we because I am grateful to have my husband, johnny Baru, alongside me working behind the scenes. He is our main. He's my podcast manager, podcast launch strategist, so I have a fellow brain and button pusher here at home, and for anybody who's seen him at any of the events, you know he's there creating videos and documenting the process, and so, when it comes to the marketing that you see of yours truly, any of my photos, that's my husband, and so he's quietly behind the scenes, the jefe behind CCJ, but is fully supportive of our HEPA community and doing so much work on his end to support me and back me up with all pursuits for the community, and so I'm so grateful to have him believing in this mission, this vision. I I mean he's helped me built the casita there's, there's so many things that he has touched. Ccj really truly would not exist without my husband helping me in the background, and so he is part of the we that I speak to, you know, as we work towards growing this community. I mean, it may be my face, my name, my voice on the mic, um, and my name across the brand, but, um, it is truly, uh, powered by Zulata Unlimited, which is our agency, our business name, um, for everything that we do. And so I'm really really grateful for the teammate that I do have in my husband and the belief that he has in this community to pour so much of his time and energy into it. And so we believe in this mission, we believe in what it has the potential to grow into. I mean the fact that it has grown so much just in the two years that have been CCJ. I'm so grateful that we got to celebrate two years as a community back in August and so, as we kick off this second season of the podcast, our third year together, I can only imagine the growth, the different levels of offerings or expansion, or the evolution that will continue inside of this community and podcast. So I'm just, I'm so grateful that there there's so much now to be speaking to Um, and it feels like it's still only the beginning. Um, we did even also we had we got to launch our first sweatshirt last fall, um, which is really exciting. And, y'all, I'm so excited to already be able to tell you that I already have a few designs for our new lines of cozy sweaters for this fall. And so I'm just I'm really, really excited for everything that's coming for the community, where we have grown, to, how we have gotten here. I mean it's um, it's humbling.

Speaker 1 50:19

I, I, I can't thank y'all enough for writing with me through all of it. Um, I mean having y'all show up consistently on a weekly basis to cafe and co-working for each other, for yourself, for myself. I mean the community that has come around me over the course of the last two years. Um, y'all are the reason why I do what I do. Y'all are the reason why I keep going and so many of those hard, dark moments of doubt or the imposter syndrome that creeps in. Y'all are why I remember your faces and I think about how y'all keep going and how y'all keep showing up for me and for each other.

Speaker 1 51:13

I mean, I say it time and time again, this community would not be a community without y'all continuing to show up. So I am so incredibly grateful for each and every one of you. I am humbled. I am humbled and honored to be your host. I am so grateful for the belief that y'all have poured into myself and into each other. There has been so many beautiful things outside of just how CCJ has evolved. There's been so many things that have come from this community, have us working together, collaborating with each other, creating their own businesses, their own communities. I mean there's been so much that has come from this community that seeds were planted and now have started to bloom and blossom into other amazing things, and so I'm so incredibly grateful for y'all being here, for being a part of this community. Thank you again for tuning in and listening to yours truly just gush over this beautiful community that I am honored to be a host of. Thank y'all, thank y'all, las amo, and until next time I'm your host, kita Zuleta. Thank you for listening to the Cafesito con Jefas podcast.

Speaker 1 52:43

Well, Jefas, that's a wrap for today's episode. I hope you're leaving with fresh ideas, encouragement and inspiration to keep going. Being a jefa isn't about having it all figured out. It's about showing up, learning, growing and taking imperfect action towards our vision. Remember, jefa, you are not alone. This community is here to support you, cheer you on and celebrate your wins, because we go farther together. So let's do it scared pero juntas. If you enjoyed today's episode, show some love by leaving a review and sharing it with a fellow jefa. Be sure to hit that subscribe button so you don't miss the incredible stories we have in store.

Speaker 1 53:22

If you're looking for a space to connect and focus, join our cafecito and co-working sessions. Sign up to our email list to get those invitations directly to your inbox. So 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 cafecito. Connect and follow along with the community on Instagram at cafecito con jefas, and you can reach out to yours truly directly at la jefa quita. If you're ready to grow your brand online and looking for guidance, book a free consultation with me, and together we'll develop strategies that are in alignment with the season you're in. I'd be honored to walk with you on your jefa journey. Before you go, remember that being a jefa is an ever-evolving journey. There's no rush and no finish line. Just keep going. Pasito a pasito Until next time. I'm your host, gita Zuleta. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Cafecito con Jefas podcast.