The Moment I Almost Quit And What I Chose Instead

Entrepreneurship wasn't meant to be a lonely road, yet so many of us find ourselves isolated in our journey. My breaking point came when my life shattered my father-in-law and husband simultaneously hospitalized, me alone during COVID restrictions, our business hanging by a thread, and not a soul to help carry the weight.

Most entrepreneurs know this feeling. We're taught to push through pain silently, to hustle through grief and call it strength, to choose ambition over healing. But what if there's another way? From my darkest moment curled under a desk questioning everything, Cafecito Con Jefas was born not as a business venture, but as the lifeline I desperately needed.

It began with simple virtual coffee dates, one jefa at a time. Sometimes just me and one other woman on a Zoom call, sharing dreams and fears that felt too vulnerable for anywhere else. Those early conversations grew into a movement with a mission: to alleviate the profound loneliness of entrepreneurship. Today, our community provides not just connection but strategy, teaching jefas to grow their brands without burning out, to build businesses aligned with their current season rather than external pressures.

The CCJ Casita and Jefa Life 101 cohort now offer structured spaces where female entrepreneurs can gain clarity, confidence and community simultaneously. Because clarity doesn't come from perfect planning it emerges from taking imperfect action with support around you.

If you've been craving both strategic growth and genuine connection, you have a seat waiting at our table. You don't have to build your dream alone anymore. Show up, take that imperfect action, and let's grow together.

Transcript

Hitting Rock Bottom

Speaker 1 0:00

There was a moment, one I don't talk about often, when I hit a wall so hard. I questioned everything, not because I lacked vision, not because I didn't know what hard work was, not because I didn't believe in what I was building, but because I was exhausted. I was burnt out. I was alone. Exhausted, I was burnt out. I was alone. My suegro was in one hospital, fighting for his life out in Tucson, and my husband was in another and we didn't know if he'd make it out. I had dropped him off, thinking it was a stomach bug. It wasn't. He had been dying on my couch and we didn't know it. He had been dying on my couch and we didn't know it. I wasn't allowed in the hospital because of COVID. So I was home alone, holding it all together, with no help, no answers and no support. We were full-time entrepreneurs then, still now, and at that point my partner was out, the stronger one of the two. We couldn't pay rent, there was no money for food and somehow I was expected to keep going, to not fall apart, to continue with life as if everything was fine. But it wasn't. I remember curling up under my desk in tears, frozen, completely unsure whether I should throw it all away and give up. My family wasn't involved at the time and my ride or die was in a hospital bed. And once he came home, recovery was the only goal and the world just kept moving, as if I wasn't breaking into pieces. And yet, instead of quitting, I chose to fight. I fought through his recovery, learning everything I could to be his full-time nurse and bring him back to health To close that loop. I'm grateful to share that both my husband and Suegro are healthy and still with us.

Speaker 1 2:05

I fought through the imposter syndrome to own my creative name as Gita and have that now be how I presented myself to the world. And then I chose to build something. I couldn't find, something. I desperately needed a space not to feel so alone, a space to build with people, because the truth is, most of us were never taught to build with support. We were taught to carry everything, to push through the fear, to keep quiet about the pain. But what I've learned is this you don't have to build your dream alone. You don't have to choose between ambition and healing. You don't have to hustle through grief and call it strength. You get to honor the season you're in and be supported through it. So I built Cabecito con Jefas, not as a product but as a lifeline. I longed for a space to breathe, to connect, to grow, to speak truth without performance, to heal while building.

Speaker 1 3:18

It started with inviting Jefas on the internet to a one-on-one virtual cafecito, inviting jefas on the internet to a one-on-one virtual cafecito, then another and another to over 50 one-on-one cafecitos, before I gained the courage to invite a group of jefas to come together juntas. Those early days I showed up, terrified that no one would come, feeling like I was just crazy inviting people to come together on Zoom Just cause. Pero, some days it was just me and one jefa on the call. But we showed up for each other. We stayed, we talked, sharing the emotions behind pursuing this jefa life. We dreamt out loud and shared the scaries that we had, sharing those dreams online. Pero, poco a poco, the numbers grew, the energy shifted and we became familiar constants in each other's lives. We became a community and this became a safe space, our sacred space.

Speaker 1 4:24

This community is what it is today because of every jefa who's ever walked through our virtual doors. You've made it a home, our ccj casita. You've made it a movement with a mission, a mission to alleviate the loneliness that comes with entrepreneurship. We're all in different seasons of our HFIA journey, but we all experience the same emotions as we navigate this nonlinear life. We're all the same, same but different. So we come together now to connect, to learn and to grow, and I protect this space with everything in me, because I know what it costs to build, because I know what it means to finally find a place where you don't have to explain yourself to be seen.

The CCJ Casita Community

Speaker 1 5:17

That's what Cafecito Con Jevas is. That's why I show up, that's why I lead differently and that's why working with me feels a little different too. I care deeply. I love y'all hard. I hold space fiercely and unapologetically, even on the days I struggle to do that for myself. I teach you how to grow your brand without burning out, because I've lived the burnout, if I'm honest, especially this last year. Some days I still found myself in it Very different versions of whirlwinds, but still riding this roller coaster of entrepreneurship. So if you're wondering where this story leads, it leads here.

Speaker 1 6:04

After building a community, one cafecito at a time, I created something that could go deeper, a space where jefas could learn the strategy behind showing up online, a space to grow with clarity, to gain confidence and to do it in community. A space to build in alignment with the season you're in, not the pressure you're under to fit someone else's ideal. It's called the CCJ Casita and has expanded into the Jefa Life 101 cohort and, just like in the beginning of this community, it started with just a few jefas. Would I love to fill the room Always, but even if it's just one, I will always show up to teach, because that's how this whole movement was built. Con que me llegue una, I will always pour in because that one she's no longer building alone. She now has support, she has strategy and a space to grow.

Invitation to Join

Speaker 1 7:02

If you've been craving a shift, not just in your business but also in your being, this is your invitation to join a room of Jevas who are living this hard road of entrepreneurship alongside you, to choose yourself to take imperfect action and pursue those dreams. Because clarity doesn't come from a perfect plan. It comes from the decision to take imperfect action. It comes with practice, to say yes to support, yes to showing up, yes to healing and yes to community. Because you don't have to do this alone. You have a seat waiting for you at this table. So show up, jefa, and let's grow juntas.