A Re-Introduction To Your Host, La Jefa, Kita Zuleta Part 2

Ever wondered how a long-distance friendship can turn into a thriving business and a lifelong partnership? Join me, Kita Zuleta, as I take you through my transformative journey of healing, personal growth, and entrepreneurial success. You'll hear about the early days when my husband, Johnny, became my anchor during a tough period of physical recovery, and how our move to Tucson sparked my creative pursuits on Etsy with "All Things Kita." From selling crochet items and designing viral cactus pillows to building an online presence on Instagram, this episode is a testament to creativity and resilience.

Discover how an unfortunate experience with our own wedding photos led Johnny and me to found JC Squared Productions, marking our entry into the world of photography and videography. We navigated various niches, from political campaigns to elite sports documentation, before finding our true calling in personal branding. The 2020 rebrand to Kita Zuleta Photography wasn't without its challenges, especially during the pandemic. Learn how we refocused our efforts, battled imposter syndrome, and connected deeply with the gardening community, all while keeping our creative passions alive.

The road to entrepreneurship is fraught with highs and lows, and this episode doesn't shy away from discussing the intense challenges we faced. Johnny's near-death experience due to work-related stress was a wake-up call that forced me to take on multiple roles and find strength in community support. Now, as a coach and mentor for fellow jefas, I share my insights on overcoming burnout, balancing multiple roles, and the joy of empowering others. Tune in to celebrate our progress, the incredible support from our community, and our exciting plans for the future.

Transcript

Jefa Life

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 Jefa's podcast. It was during that season of deep healing, especially physical healing then, um and re just shifting my life, um, that I was really um, leaning on my now husband. He and I have known each other um the majority, if not all, of our lives. Our, our moms were best friends, and so, um, when I first moved out to Vanguard, he was moving to Miami for a culinary school, and so we became best friends over the phone, but like homies, like real homies, during that season we would talk every day and, um, my friends would even think that I had an imaginary friend, cause I was always on the phone with my Johnny right, Like, and I wouldn't hang out with them cause I'm on the phone with him but he's in in Florida so nobody had met him Like. So, again, I had my, my now husband, um, who I was leaning on, and especially during that season, I mean, it was, he was my rock through all of it, and so I was really just focused on healing and getting better and I had Johnny to lean on and it was just. This is what I'm happening. I kind of hid in a whole bunch of administrative jobs that were just easy, nobody bothered me, I wasn't needing to do more than what I needed to clock in and out, of, you know, and so I was in that season of deep healing, physically being in my administrative jobs during that season as well, going into 2013 is where, you know, johnny kissed me and things changed. And now, all of a sudden, I'm the one, and so he proposes, I say yes and um, we're quickly whipped up in planning for a wedding. And, um, he was living in Tucson at that time and so then your girl moved out to Tucson because it was too hard to plan a wedding long distance In that season.

Speaker 1 3:04

We were just, of course, caught up in all of that. But your girl started crocheting and I had been crocheting since high school. But Tucson is a small small town but it has a very big artisan community and because there's a lot of small shops, a lot of like local small businesses, very proud of, you know, the local small business movement, a lot of artisans are there. So I loved the fact that it had that community. And so Etsy was, I don't want to say just getting started, but definitely much smaller than it is now. Smaller than it is now.

Speaker 1 3:46

And so I jumped into Etsy and I started an Etsy shop called All Things, kita and all things, because I couldn't limit myself to just one thing. Crochet was the main thing. You know I did wearables like hats and scarves and blankets. But then I also started doing, you know, like cozies, and we started doing organic body balm because I'm pretty sensitive to smells. So then Johnny would make me, you know, as a culinary student, you know. He did all of the research and science and made the recipe for this organic body balm, which sold like crazy at our little pop-ups. And I designed a cactus pillow that ended up going viral I forget which year, but you know I started designing my own crochet beanies and wrote up patterns, and then I ended up doing workshops like again going back to teaching, you know but really just jumped into the Etsy shop, life and creating and I really just got to play with all things Gita, because there it was mine, and then also because I was just making things, I got to take pictures of the things that I was making, but I didn't have to be face forward.

Speaker 1 4:59

So I got to grow my online presence on Instagram. I've deleted a lot of the dead followers since, but I think at one point I was so proud that I hit like 5k, like it was just really cool to be in the maker community online and grow that online presence. I'd be like, oh my goodness, people like my things, you know, and I was making all these pretty things and being able to keep up and connect, and so that was really my first, you know, like online connecting, being able to have a community, but it was strictly through Instagram, like nobody got together. We weren't like seeing each other on Zoom so many of my quote unquote like IG friends in the maker community. We never had like a cafecito and met even in that way. So it was just like we kind of followed each other and kept up with each other and, you know, cheered each other on, but that was really it. You know the limit to what that was and so.

Speaker 1 6:00

But I had my Etsy shop for four, almost five years. For sure, I was four seasons like strong, but I had that 2014 to like 2019-ish Porayi, and I did that alongside the time that Johnny and I decided to start our photo and video business, that Johnny and I decided to start our photo and video business. So he's had his own love of photography through his dad since, you know, forever. And I've been taking pictures since I was a kid. Like I was always making pictures and basically using the family camera as my own until it broke because I took too many pictures with it Until dad would buy another one, like it was. I mean, my first and I say mine because, again, I was the one who used it, but the first digital camera that we had had floppy disks, y'all Like. That's like how far back yes, I'm aging myself, pero no importa, that's how long I've been doing this for.

Speaker 1 7:05

And I also I took a black and white film photography class after my freshman year in college because, like I mentioned, I was babysitting and I was tutoring and doing all the stuff. I had three jobs um, my freshman year in college, just to kind of have some pocket change and to be able to get around and kind of keep up with the Orange County life back then. And um, so I paid for this black and white film photography class on my own. Apart that, I went to OCC, um, orange Coast College, which was down the street from Vanguard at the time, um, or it's still there. But I took that class and, y'all, I had never worked harder for a class. I'm telling y'all, school was, you know, like mixed emotions for your girl, but photography I was all in.

Speaker 1 7:55

I was in the dark room for like 40 hours a week, like it was getting straight A's on all of my assignments. I mean, come on, my assignments was taking pictures. I was loving it, and it was with that class that I was like this is what I want to do. I want to be a photographer. This is what I want, and I shared that dream and goal with my parents, and that was not a part of the plan, so therefore't allowed. But it was something that I loved to do. Because back then you know, or at least the idea, or the big what's the word, the big hang-up was there's no money in photography, man, what we don't know, you know, and but so then I didn't continue to pursue photography after that first class. But I've was not just a lover of making photos since I was a kid, but also, you know, that class.

Speaker 1 9:04

So when Johnny and I were getting married, of course, naturally we were shopping for a wedding photographer, and then we saw how expensive wedding photography truly is, and which, I mean, makes total sense. It is so much work to document a wedding. It's a lot. So hats off to any of my fellow wedding photographers, or, if you've shot them in the past, kudos, um, cause it is a special, it's a special job, um, and you literally feel like you get hit by a train the next day. I swear it's just if you haven't experienced it. It's a, it's a big job, and which makes sense as to why. Now I mean I won't go back. I won't go back into wedding photography unless I'm getting paid top dollar and I'm hella out of practice for weddings. It's been a few years at least before the pandemic since I shot one, but I won't take that job on unless I'm getting paid for the pain I'm going to be in the next day. It's just so big of a responsibility and also a job. Like I know how to do it. Well, they're easy in the sense that we're experienced in them, we have the template of how to do it, but it's just so much.

Speaker 1 10:27

Pero bueno, we at the time weren't in a place where it was easy money for us to be able to invest for our wedding photographer. And I had this dream photographer, a friend of mine from college that I would have loved to take our photos, but we couldn't afford him at the time. A friend of mine from college that I would have loved to take our photos, but we couldn't afford him at the time. And so you know, we ended up going with someone within a budget it was a friend of a friend and they were able to work with us and, as I saw their work, even prior to our wedding, but then also seeing the types of images that we received. I was let down, unfortunately, with my wedding photos.

Speaker 1 11:13

But then I saw the work that was being put out there by other photographers and the price tag that was being put on it and I was like, babe, I can do that, I can take those pictures. I can at least do better than some of these you know um portfolios that I'm seeing out there, like I can at least work at my craft to do this, if not more, I can do that. And he looked at me like is that something that you want to do? And I was like, are you kidding me? I've been wanting to do photography for years, like this would be a dream. And he'd be like me too. Let's do it. And if you don't know my husband, he's like introvert of introverts. He's super quiet, but when he's all in for something he's all the way in and he's a big dreamer, just like me. And so we're both creatives.

Speaker 1 12:11

And, like I said, he had his passion for photography from he gets it from his dad and so so many things. So we decided to jump in and we jumped into the photo and video game. So he wanted to do video. I was doing, photo. He was also doing photo also, but in order to get farther as a team and being able to sell ourselves like all right, photo and video team. Right, let's do this. And we jumped in. We jumped in. His name's Johnny, my name's Jessica Gita is short for Jessica so we were Jay-Z Squared, so we were the Jay-Z Squared Productions team and we went for it.

Speaker 1 12:53

Now we're literally black and white creatively, and so he had his vision about certain things that he wanted to pursue. I wanted to pursue certain things, but it was on different sides of the spectrum. The way we shoot is different, the way we edit was different. Like man, getting to a point where we were cohesive as JC squared took years.

Speaker 1 13:16

But also we ended up getting um a shot at working with um, a local senator at the time, or he was on his way to being a senator, and um, we were able to do the campaign photography for his campaign to get into the senate seat, and so we got it and um, we were kind of like a version of personal paparazzi for him and his team and then also through that, got deeper into the political world and were recommended, you know, out to other people, and so we found ourselves consistently getting work in the political world, taking pictures and campaign photography for big names and um, we were, you know, documenting bill signings and inaugurations and, you know, their community events, and then also doing what we would like to call as super shoots, and those super shoots that we would design was like different sets. So, you know, we see all of the different uh commercials where, you know, at one point they're kissing babies and here they're shaking hands, and here they're, you know, talking to the firefighters, and then now they're walking the streets with the police and now they're, you know, at a local coffee shop and then they're playing with kids or, you know, reading at a local library. Like we would do all of those images in the same day. So we would take a solid eight hours, have all of the different people to jump in and out the different sets, different locations, and we would create their campaign imagery in a super shoot that day. So we learned very quickly how to brand these names and how to create the visuals. A lot of times we were the ones needing to think through like and asking the questions to the team, like what do y'all need so that we can design these photo shoots accordingly and create the imagery that you're looking for and then be able to supplement it with, like, the live events that have, you know, the crowds there, with the signage and all kinds of stuff.

Speaker 1 15:35

Um, so it was. I want to say we were in that circle, in that world, for like a solid five years, on the front end of our photography business, and it was pretty consistent work that we would get there. So we would be doing that often. But as far as, like, creative pursuits, it wasn't at all what we were excited about or wanting to pursue, and so, although the opportunities were there, we weren't going to say no to the work and it was a privilege to be able to take and create these images for these big names, but it wasn't like our passion whatsoever, and so we were still constantly and consistently pursuing other types of creative work in order to be able to have that ability to walk away from that setting. So we were actively pursuing and doing weddings and my husband started getting into documenting like elite athletes and that did you know, like crazy weightlifting and all kinds of stuff at the gym, and then, you know, also doing like documenting food or small business owners. We would meet a lot of small business owners at the community events for these big names, and these small business owners didn't have the marketing materials that they needed to get their businesses off the ground, and so we would connect more with these fellow small businesses than we would, obviously, with these big names.

Speaker 1 17:16

Um, you know, creating these big campaign, um type things, and so, you know, I tried my hand at, you know, maternity and family portraits and stuff like that, but it was a bit all over the place. Our first run at photography because the political world isn't something that we're passionate about, and although the work was consistent, it was coming to us without needing to market further, and we didn't want to keep marketing because, especially visually, as photographers, if you show a certain kind of image, you're going to get more work in that field, and so we were trying to do a version of a balance when it came to the types of images that we would create. But it was again all over the place, because my husband and I are black and white. Even our logo was black and white. Wanted to shoot was so different that if you were to go to Jason squared productions on Instagram, that profile still lives. Um, the imagery individually they're great images, but together it just looks like this collage of a whole lot Um, and so it wasn't clear.

Speaker 1 18:49

Whole lot um and so it wasn't clear. Our messaging was not clear as a brand because it wasn't cohesive, right. And so we even attempted to break off um instagrams, because then we ended up learning, like brides only want to see wedding photos right and the wedding portfolio. So then we created an instagram that was jay-z squared weddings, like, specifically for our brides to be able to shop and see that we do wedding photography right. And then we did a street photography Instagram and then we did our landscape photography Instagram, because our vision has always been to do workshops and travel and be able to teach people how to do landscape photography, and that vision's shifted and now we want to just be able to, like, teach people to document their trips. But anyways, that is, we're not here yet and we're not bringing that back just yet. But we tried to start streamlining our messaging so that we could start better messaging to our people and say, okay, this is where you can go if you want weddings, this is where you can go. If you want a music video, this is where you can go. If you want to learn how to, or at least admire, the landscape photography, breaking things up into a specific category. But it was just a lot of work and, again, a bit all over the place.

Speaker 1 20:08

And then we were getting ourselves ready quite literally worked New Year's Eve, going into 2020, because that was going to be the year y'all. We were getting into a stride. We were starting to work these larger events. We were getting consistent weddings. My husband started documenting at large events like, literally, was starting to work these larger events. We were getting consistent weddings. My husband started documenting at large events like, literally, was starting to shoot a field side for LAFC and LA Galaxy, like we were starting to get into our rhythm. So, of course, like the rest of the world, 2020 was gonna be it right and the year when oh, we all know the story and what happened with COVID and how it rocked the world.

Speaker 1 20:46

So we ended up closing the doors to our very event heavy and large group heavy photo and video business, as we also were currently living with my parents here in Los Angeles, and so we household, so we shut down, we were home and yours truly dove into creating my first edible garden. So I, like, became that much more obsessed with the garden and my plantitas and like that's really where I started. You know dreaming all sorts of garden things and Like that's really where I started, you know, dreaming all sorts of garden things, and, of course, created a garden Instagram because that's where my plantitas needed to live and I connected with the gardening community. But then also, it's not easy for us to just sit around, and so we saw the need for making masks for the community, and my mom was a seamstress, and so we ended up doing all the research. My husband went, like research heavy on where we can get filters in order to be able to create masks that aren't just coverings, you know, because obviously everyone was scared during that season. So we created reusable, handmade masks with filters and we were selling those to the community and trying to make those accessible also, and created, of course, an Instagram for that in order for people to be able to sell and pick their colors. And you know, come, pick up. You know what is it? Contactless pickup at my parents' front porch. And so we were selling masks for, I want to say, maybe like six months during 2020.

Speaker 1 22:33

And your girl that's when I like went heavy into the audiobooks and got lost in all kinds of different audiobook books, between learning and novels, and really just loving the fact that I can consume these books via audio while I was watering my plants. And if y'all listen to, I want to say it's episode three of season one. I share how I, with my dyslexia, always struggled with saying that I wasn't a reader. And so, because that was always how I saw myself growing up, falling in love with audiobooks and recognizing that I can learn in this way was just life changing for me. And so it's when I have the time to get lost in books, but in audiobooks, and so that was definitely something that really started to expand how I saw things. And, you know, really grasping the knowledge is power aspect of things.

Speaker 1 23:41

And so this time where we weren't aspect of things, and so this time where we weren't actively pursuing our photo and video business, you know, allowed for us to really think about how we were going to come back. And so when Johnny and I were like, okay, are we just bringing JZ squared back, like how are we going to do this? What are? You know we've, whenever we thought about fundamentally, what do we love to do as a team? What kind of photography are we strongest at? What do we want to do? It always came back to branding, but because Johnny and I are black and white creatively, you know, he still wanted to do branding for athletes and music artists and I just wanted to be working with my fellow hip-hop, like I didn't want to be in the music studio till 2 am and like I just didn't have a desire to do those things. And so, because we were learning so much about about how to brand our clients, we decided you know what it's gonna be best for our business if we take on personal brands and we market ourselves as individuals, and then that's going to free us up and give us the freedom to be completely ourselves with our clients, talk to our people the way that we want to talk to them. But, of course, behind the scenes, we're still working together as a team, you know. So, um, we started officially breaking out as individual brands.

Speaker 1 25:23

So that's when, in 2021, is when I, like, decided to take my creative name, which was Kita, and I really owned Kita as my like creative artist name when I was doing my Etsy shop. I got that name in college because there were so many Jessica's in concert choir my freshman year, I think there was literally seven of us. So then, you know, back then you didn't ask for an Instagram handle, you asked for a phone number. So when people would ask for my phone number, I would say, put me in as Jessica. And so everybody would put me in as Jessica, jessica. And so then I had a friend that was like Jessica is too long, I'm gonna call you Kita. And I was like I'll take it. And then it was Kita. So ever since, since college, that's where I was being called Gita.

Speaker 1 26:15

And then I owned Gita and, like, took it as my you know, alter ego, if you will, or my alias or my creative artist name when I started my Etsy shop, and so then then I decided, you know, if there was a brand name to take on, it was Quita. I wanted to continue with Quita for my photography and so I opened up as Quita Zuleta Photography. And then Johnny was Johnny Baru Media, but still under our Zuleta Unlimited brand, which it became full circle, because when we first opened up Jay-Z Squared, we had the name Zuleta Unlimited. We've had it, we have it written down since 2014,. But we knew Zuleta Unlimited was bigger and Zuleta Unlimited was going to hold everything that we wanted to do. So we knew we weren't quite ready to use it. We didn't want to burn that name, and so now, under the Zuleta Unlimited flag, we each get to hold our brands underneath them, and so we started back up.

Speaker 1 27:34

I came back as Gita Zuleta Photography, with my focus being working with female small business owners and so who I lovingly call jefas, but I was still again working my way through imposter syndrome, through like, can I really do this quote unquote on my own? It's now just me, right, and showing up as myself and y'all, I am most comfortable. I am at home. My favorite place to be is behind the camera. So showing up online as myself, by myself in front of the camera, y'all it is still a struggle. I am much more practiced, but when I take a season of not being in front of the camera, kind of like I am right now and needing to jump back in, I get all up in my feels and all up in my head, like so much doubt creeps up because I'm an artist first and, true to form, most artists are about their art, not about themselves, and so, um, I had to like really figure out how I was going to be showing up during that time and this was again, um, I want to say we started to jump back in mid-2021 ish. That's really when we're like, okay, well, we can start venturing out, we can start getting back work, let's start rebuilding to get going again. But I want to say it was really like spring, early summer of 2020 when we OK, dimos cuerda and we started getting some work as things started opening up.

Speaker 1 29:08

But it just so happened to be that life had other plans and I almost lost my husband in September of 2021. And I believe wholeheartedly it was due to burnout. He was in the middle of a work project and one of those projects where you know it was a really big deadline. It was originally going to be two weeks, it ended up going for three months and those it was the kind of project that you know as a creative I think fellow creatives will understand what I say like you don't leave your computer or your station until you're done, or you try to push through in order to complete it, because once you're in a groove, or once you're flowing, or once you're working on something, especially in an edit and it happens to be a video um, like, once you walk away from a creative project for a certain amount of time, it's really hard, or can be hard, to jump back into that same headspace as you are editing and you can become extra critical of the project and you go in circles.

Speaker 1 30:12

Um, so, anyways, it was one of those kinds of projects where he was working nonstop and more edits, more extensions, more do this, do this extra kept going on this project, and so it was just a lot of time where he wasn't sleeping well, wasn't eating well, was highly stressed, and so I believe his body just gave out. And so, um, he was in the hospital for over a week. Uh, the doctors were telling us to say our goodbyes, to get ready, and even if he did make it out of here, his quality of life was going to be not great, all kinds of things. And thankfully, I can say now, to close that loop early he's much better, we are good, he is healthier, we got him off of all his medications.

Speaker 1 31:03

It was a battle during that recovery season, but I now have my husband back. We are okay, but that season was really really difficult. My husband back, we are okay, but that season was really really difficult and, as you can imagine, he needed to simply recover from almost dying back then, and so he was out of commission for a long time, and so during that season, mind you, we were full-time entrepreneurs. This is the only thing we were doing, and so that's really when your girl had to step it up, not only as full-time nurse, but also needing to show up online and show up for my business now, cause not only is it just my name that's out there. I now, like, needed to bring in some sort of cash to make sure that we can survive. I was full of imposter syndrome. I was so scared because of everything that was going on, and scared to show up online, and also, I was very alone.

Speaker 1 31:59

Um, it just so happened that during that season, um, we were not, uh, surrounded by family, and not, um, by family, and not certainly not reaching out for help externally elsewhere, and so it was just us, and so when it came to, like, taking care of us, it was on me, and so showing up online in order to promote my business, to get that work was so difficult, so scary, very anxiety producing because of the pressure that was added to. This is what we need to survive. This is what we need to be able to keep a roof over our head, on top of just the stress of keeping my husband alive under this roof. And so there were so many things happening for your girl, for us here at home, and so during that season is when I really started to seek out fellow jefas in the community aspect of things, right, and so I was really looking for different spaces that I can jump in and just kind of be a fly on the wall and just kind of hear that I'm not alone. And I had, as I've mentioned before, I've been a part of multiple communities or entrepreneurial communities, but it was very much so like work related, right, like it was all just do more, do this, do that, do better, um, and it wasn't what I was looking for in that season. I didn't need the how to do my job, I just needed people. I just I just needed community.

Speaker 1 33:49

And, um, I ended up, you, you know, reaching out to people online and if I liked their Instagram and, you know, thought that they seemed cool, I would literally send them a DM and just be like hey, you seem cool. Do you want to be my friend? Do you want a cafecito? Um, and people would be like what? Like you know, like, what do you want from me? Right? Like it's usually an ask like that, there's a reason for it and I'm like no, I just, I just want to get to know you, I just want to have a conversation. Um. So I ended up like seeking out at least you know, at least like 50 of us um before I opened it up and and wanted to do a group thing, because I started hosting um like group meetings on behalf of a different community. Um, but again, it was specifically focused on whatever topic they were encouraging and, um, I also, in that season, early 2021, I had found we All Grow and was joining the office hours and there it was really cool because not only it was you know, amigas that like looked and sounded like me, but also some were jefa, some weren't, but we were just being together, which was really cool.

Speaker 1 35:08

And, um, it was a really great season to be a part of the we All Grow office hours, and so no fallaba. And so every Tuesday I was there part of the office hours and definitely wouldn't take up space, I would just listen, but just knowing that I wasn't alone, that I would recognize the same faces or a lot of the same faces every week and I would recognize the same faces or a lot of the same faces every week, and then I would get to like branch off and do one-on-one cafecitos with some of the jefas there, or just meeting more jefas inside of the Amiga hood, like it was just a really great space. And what was cool during that season was that I was able to see that it was possible to have a space where we just got to be together. And so, as I had mentioned in the episode where I talked about CCJ, I always wanted a community or a space that we can talk about and just be talking about real life but also the struggles of entrepreneurship, and have it be a room full of heifas, but we get to be real and bring more than just the business side of things together. And so, having been a part of other communities that were mostly just about the entrepreneurial part or how we can get better and how we can help each other out or talk strategy or xyz, and then also having now experienced a place where I get to just be alongside my fellow amigas, I was like, oh, this is possible, what I've seen in my head can happen.

Speaker 1 36:54

And after having sought out, you know, over 50 cafecitos and having these one-on-ones and hearing the same themes over and over. I wasn't the only one that felt alone, you know, and I wasn't the only one struggling to show up online. But, as Jevas, we needed to right Because that's how we market our business. That felt alone, you know, and I wasn't the only one struggling to show up online, but, as jeffas, we needed to right because that's how we market our business. So then, seeing and feeling and hearing these stories and being able to connect with fellow jeffas from instagram but they were real people we got to start supporting one another and and so that's what led really to the dream that I dreamt out loud.

Speaker 1 37:38

That was I'm seeing this community of women in my head, like I want us to come together and talk about real life and entrepreneurship and talk about this struggle, because it's not easy and we're doing multiple things, and that's where CCJ was born and, you know, I had five jefas who joined me for that first cafecito and again, I'm forever grateful to them for showing up for me and for each other, because it made it real, and I haven't stopped hosting since and it's now been a little over two years and it's evolved into so much right, and I expanded on all of that in our first episode of season two and what it's come to and having so many jefas around me sharing a lot of their struggles and you know I was already, you know, in this groove of the branding photography and really focusing my messaging there for fellow jefas, and it really clarified a whole lot for me being able to show up as myself and say this is what I can do visually for you and your brand and this is how they can be used. But also, as I was doing the brand photography, I was getting a lot of questions like how do I show up? Period, and I was just like, oh, easy this, and do you do this? And so, as I was connecting with fellow jefas, I was getting a lot of those questions Like how do I show up? Like what do you mean to use these tools, or to do this, or to set up a website? Like what's the foundation of all of these things? Like what do you mean by brand strategy? And so I found myself in this now like teaching role, a version of coaching, but I wasn't. I was too scared to call myself a coach. I wasn't like willing to take up that space or that role, because I was felt like how am I going to call myself a coach, like, but it's what I was doing. I was. I was teaching jefas how to use not just their imagery but even if they have their own images, like this is how you use them and this is how you cultivate conversations online and this is how you can continue to show up. And so I started doing a bit more of the brand strategy one-on-one, behind the scenes, but I wasn't really talking about it online.

Speaker 1 40:06

And so, as CCJ started to grow and at the end of last year, like coming out of my burnout and ending up quitting the nine to five side hustle that I had in order to be able to pursue my photography, you know, with the hardship we were going through after my husband came out of the hospital, I ended up needing to get a full-time job, and so it was a remote job, so it was from work. But, oh man, that year, year and a half or so, or however long I was at, that job was just, it was torture y'all because I was just answering phones and it was just like this basic call center job and it was like killing my creative spirit. And so, um, I called it my side hustle, because there was no way I was going to allow it to replace the pursuit of my business and the community. And so, um, I just kept saying, like, this is what is currently funding my business, it's what's currently funding the community, it's my first investor and I am putting in that time, but I hate it. I hated that job and um, so then I found myself photographing less but teaching a bit more, and so when I ended up quitting that job, it was because I was burning out, because I was burning the candle at both ends. I was doing this full-time job and so I would take. I even had a couple of clients in New York or on the East coast, and so I would wake up before I clocked in to coach um them and do the brand strategy work with them, and then, um, clock out and have my you know, clock back in to my business. Um, afterwards, right, the five to nine or five to midnight or five to 2 AM, like your girl wasn't sleeping, um, and I was overworking myself during that season in order to not give up on this dream that was CCJ and my photography business and being a brand strategist.

Speaker 1 42:18

So when I ended that career, that job, we got past the show of Hefa experience and that was done in November I found myself wanting to have a specific group of Hefas, you know, and open up a room that at that point I called a mini mastermind, because, again, I wasn't comfortable taking the coach, you know title. And so I was like, well, let's just have, you know, a handful of us get together and we're just in the trenches together, you know, like, let's just do like a six week sprint. We get together, we, you know, I'll focus, I'll lead the group and teach something for like the first 20, 30 minutes or so, and then, you know, we just talk about that, we expand on it and then, you know, have a version of hot seats where cada quien can bring, like, well, this is what I'm working on and this is what's going on, and then we can chew on it all together. So I launched my first mini mastermind and I got four jefas that joined and I'm so grateful to them for jumping in with me, because there was no specific structure at the time. I hadn't even laid out a curriculum then because I was like, well, I'll just do it depending on what we need that week, right, and it was literally through the holidays.

Speaker 1 43:41

So we started in December, we ended in January and the purpose really was to be accountable and to like keep that momentum going through the holidays. Because, man, I have done again, pursued entrepreneurship for so long now I know how hard sticking through working through the holidays is as an entrepreneur. And you either have a really because you've prepared for the holiday season you either have a really great and busy holiday season or you weren't prepared for it and then you have very quiet, um, holiday season and then a very hard January, because then there's no momentum and it's just starting back up and it's hard for everyone all around, um, so then I realized like no, I need to keep going myself, I need the accountability. And then I wanted to kind of dip my waters into this group style room. But again, I wasn't sure, I wasn't confident in calling myself a coach of anything, so I couldn't call it, or didn't call it, mejor dicho, a group coaching program. And so we did it. It was amazing, amazing. The results that these fellow hip us had was great, with all the hard work they kept putting in.

Speaker 1 45:00

I found myself loving the teaching part of the job and I ended up I was coaching, I was teaching, I was encouraging, I was coaching like it was a group coaching program, but I wasn't calling it that at the time, and so I had such a great time with them. I did another round and I called all of these beta rounds because I wasn't quite sure what it was going to be. And for this next round, it was the second beta round and I had a better idea of the structure I wanted. So it was going to be another six weeks and I was going to be teaching more and I was like, okay, well, I now know I need to have a structure, I am coaching, right. So I still called it the mini mastermind, but I knew that I was leading like I'm coaching now. And I started to wrap my head around that, especially because in this second round I had 10 heffas join me and I want to say four or five of them were coaches either launching their coaching business, already consulting, already doing coaching stuff, and so that's where I was like, oh, snap, snap, how am I, how am I standing here literally coaching these women, telling them to own their coach titles and own their expertise and I'm not doing that. And so that's when it was really starting to like tug at my heart okay, I need a shift, I need to own this, because how am I going to continue to teach and guide and be an example for these jefas that are in my program and I'm not calling myself a coach? So that's when I decided to own my coach title.

Speaker 1 46:56

And at the end of that program, you know, I had been ending the six weeks with a show up Hefa challenge on IG, and so we had been preparing to show up together. Right to do it. Scared, pero juntas. As I was looking at my strategy to show up, you know, at the time I had the CCJ account and then I had my Quita Zuleta photo account and I had already been having mixed messaging on my photo account because, of course, I had already been promoting the previous rounds of this mini mastermind. I had already been promoting the previous rounds of this mini mastermind and so my photo account ended up being my like everything account from 2021 on Like.

Speaker 1 47:45

I had originally started promoting Cafecito on the on that account when I first started with it. So then, because I was doing bi-weekly cafecitos back then, I found myself promoting my photography one week and then promoting cafecito the other week. And then, like, not every jefa that wanted to join cafecito wanted to hire me or able to hire me for photography, so they didn't really want to hear about it, right? And so then it was. I was already feeling that I was talking to do like jefas period, but two different kinds of jefas in different stages of their journey, right, and so some people wanted to see my photography and some people just wanted to come and hang out for cafecito, so then I think it was going into 2023. I was like, around Christmas I was like you know what? I need to make a cafecito page so that it's just community stuff and then I can keep marketing my photography, you know, fine, right? And so then you know I had the CCJ page and so I started that.

Speaker 1 48:58

And so, coming back to this show up jefa challenge that I was hosting after this second round of the mastermind, I was like I'm going through that same struggle. I'm not all of the jefas who are following my photo page want to listen to me, talk about my coaching or the strategy part of things, right, like there's jefas that just need pictures and then there's jefas that just want you know, they're across the country, so they just want to learn about how to show up online or to learn about the program, right? And then I didn't want to only be talking about myself as a coach inside of the CCJ page, because that's community-based, where I'm talking about everything that we have to offer, which includes, you know, like the mini sessions, and also includes this group coaching program, but it's not where. It's not the space for me to just show up and be teaching constantly. So then I was like, okay, well, I'm going to create a new page. And that's when I decided to take the La Jefa Quita handle on IG and own my coach title and say, okay, well, this is my brand strategy, my coach, my podcaster page, you know my speaking page, but I haven't been pursuing public speaking just yet, and so but this is like my brain page, if you will. And so I started that IG and started showing up there as coach and you know the founder of CCJ, and so I've been leaning so much more and kind of not hiding but living in that account, which is much smaller, has less eyes, so less pressure to show up, and I've been in there and really owning my coaching title.

Speaker 1 50:59

I got to do a third beta round for this group coaching program. At that point I owned the fact that it was a group coaching program, changed the name as it was, like I said in. So instead of calling it a mastermind which, as much as we had multiple brains in the space, I was the one coaching and I was the one teaching. So then I was able to recognize that it really was a group coaching program and I called it the Hefa Life 101 cohort, because that's really what the strategy and the foundation of the curriculum that I was teaching and again, it's founded on the brand strategy and the marketing aspect of things. So it is teaching the 101 on how to show up online and how to create a holistic approach to setting up your online presence and ensuring that it's evergreen and that it's long term and that it is able to showcase who you are, what you do, who you serve, how you serve them and where you're located and, you know, make it easy for people to be able to find you online and have it cohesive to all the ways that you show up as a brand.

Speaker 1 52:21

Right, because there's a difference between your brand and your business. Your business is the product or service that you sell, and that can be done by anyone, literally, as a photographer, there are millions, or I don't know millions, but thousands of photographers for sure, who can do a version of what I do. But the brand is the experience, right, and so the experience of Kita Zuleta, the Kita Zuleta experience is only able to be provided by Kita Zuleta myself, right? And so, then, that's what the difference is in creating these brands is really being able to define how you're going to serve your clients and what's going to make you stand out. And what makes you stand out is you, and, as hard as that is to wrap around at times, that is the bottom line.

Empowering Jefas on Their Journey

Speaker 1 53:09

And so, being able to better define your brand, define who you are, how you're going to show up, how you're going to serve your clients, how you're going to market yourself, that is what is taught in this brand strategy group coaching program, and so that is how I show up as a coach on La Jefa Quita, on Instagram, and the foundations of what I teach. And so now I get to own the fact that I am a brand strategist and being able to do that one-on-one for Hefas and a coach as well as a brand photographer, because I have not stopped making pictures and I love being able to create these images for my fellow Hefas. But I'm able to own both of those roles with my feet on the ground, you know, and then also now be able to own the role that is founder of CCJ and what it has evolved to and it is a lot of roles to hold simultaneously. But, as fellow Hefa, adri has introduced me to the multi-potentialite title and identity. It's truly what allows all of it to work and maybe from the outside, looking in, it just looks like a lot that's happening, but it all makes sense because it's all me and I can do all of these things well and I'm able to create these images for my fellow jefas and that's like I can do that like the back of my hand, like I can create these images. No problem, because I've been doing that for so long now and I'm able to be a second brain with a fellow jefa as she's navigating her brand and being able to say, okay, tell me what it is that your vision is and we can come together and talk about a strategy and say, okay, well, let's look at your schedule and what can you do and what is feasible and where is your capacity right now.

Speaker 1 55:11

And being able to do that and dig in deep and get into the trenches with my fellow Hefas is just a huge passion of mine and it goes back to what I said in the beginning is that I just I believe wholeheartedly that we deserve to take up space and that we deserve not just the high quality images but we deserve to be able to show up as a brand and have that confidence and flex those muscles to say this is who I am, this is what I do, this is who I serve, this is how I serve them. And I would love to work with you, you know, and being able to say these things confidently. As hard as it's been for myself to gain that confidence and flex those muscles and put in that practice Because I know how hard that is to do that and to show up, especially when maybe our family is fully dependent on us showing up as jefas and making those sales and growing our business. You know, being able to do that and helping empower my fellow jefas to do that and seeing them show up, man, it just fills my heart and I'm honored to be able to say that just in this year alone, it's been close to 30 jefas that I've been able to work with, not just through this coaching program but also one-on-one. And I haven't tallied up all of the jefas I've gotten to work with since I launched in 2021, because even when I, like I said, I wasn't promoting my brand strategy services like it was always on the menu, but I wasn't actively promoting it externally. I've been able to work one-on-one with Hefaz as they're in their beginning stages of their launch and or coming back and relaunching or rebranding and being able to redefine how they're going to show up, and so it fills my heart to be able to help elevate and empower and, you know, encourage my fellow jefas to say you got this. Like you may be just starting out to show up online, doing this and introducing yourself in this way and using these tools to grow your online presence, but also you are not new to what it is that you are doing and so being able to pour that into my fellow jefas and helping them define their introduction and how to be able to clarify their messaging, to show up and invite those who are ready to work with them to come and work with them like, oh, I love my job, I love what I do, and so that's really the whole journey Nice, deep, long winded version of how I became La Hepa Quita and how I am here, you know, founder of CCJ and also a photographer, and and and and doing all these roles.

Speaker 1 58:06

I mean I'm excited to bring back all things Quita this fall. I mean I still have inventory from when I closed up shop and so I have stuff that's already created. I have beanies and scarves and headbands and all kinds of stuff that I could technically already put into my shop now and it's live. And there's merch that I want to create for CCJ. And so there's still more to expand on in this Hefa journey of mine and there's so many more dreams that I see that I want to work towards and fulfill.

Speaker 1 58:44

But that is, in long and short, how I got to where I'm at today and my Hefa journey, as I feel like I'm still just getting started, and so I'm far from perfect. I am imperfect, but I teach from my wide-ranging experience over the course of these last 15 years and my goal, my heart, is to motivate and inspire y'all and to show that if I can do it, you can do it. So thank you for riding with me on this nostalgic road of mine as I went down memory lane and shared how I got here and, as I've said and I say at the beginning of our episodes now, my hefa journey has been far from linear. Um, true to form, I don't fit molds and I attribute that to my ADHD brain and I love it. Now there's still so many struggles that do come with that and it is very real, but it is also my superpower and it is also what helps drive my creativity and allow me to learn things quickly and be creative and be able to hold these multiple roles and do them well, to the best of my ability. I'm honored to have had you hang out with me as I share my journey. Thank you for wanting to get to know me this well and for getting to the end of this. If you're still here, I appreciate you for hanging out and listening to my story.

Speaker 1 1:00:45

I'm really, really grateful for y'all, as my community, to come alongside me. If I didn't have this community of jefas around me, I don't know how I'd still be here, let alone owning this title of coach, let alone being able to still be in our home for going on four years now doing what I love, and so I am honored to be your. I'm honored to be a coach to some of the Jefas in the community. I'm honored to be able to make images for the Jefas who trust me with that part of their business. I'm just loving so much of what I do now, and I've been having this conversation with my husband recently how, even just five years ago, our lives looked so incredibly different and we are so far along towards the dream that we've been dreaming since 10 years ago now, and we have so many of the building blocks of what we've dreamt about. It's here, it's coming, and we're not quite where we want to be just yet, but we have been actively growing and building Zuleta, unlimited, as we've been seeing it from day one, and I'm just so incredibly grateful. I love being here, I love doing what I do and I'm grateful for each and every one of you for being a part of this community, for being a part of my journey, and I love y'all, so thank you. Thank you for hanging out with me today. Las amo Until next time. I'm your host, gita Zuleta. Thank you for listening to the Cabecito con Jefas podcast.

Speaker 1 1:02:42

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 1:03:21

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 lajefaquita. 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.