9 to Grind: with Yessica Villatoro (Jess Period)

Beatriz: [: 00:00:00

Each episode will delve into their challenges, successes, and most importantly, what they do from the time they get up in the morning until they go to bed at night. I know firsthand how tough this balance act can be since I left my job a little too soon and I learned lessons along the way. I hope that with this series you can get as much insight and strategies.

That will help you in your personal entrepreneurial journey and corporate career. Thanks for tuning in. And I can't wait for you to hear from these incredible entrepreneurs who have shared their time and their wisdom. I hope you enjoy.

Okay, we are on. Hi, Yessica,

Yessica: Hi

Beatriz: I [: 00:01:00

Like the the fact that you create your own Feminine products, which we will get into And then you also work. I think one thing I don't really know is Where you work, so I'm excited to learn more about you, but let's start. Let's start with your name And the name of your business and we'll take it from there.

tween being a small business [: 00:02:00

Beatriz: Yeah. That's incredible So thank you so much. Yeah, so I love Jess period I think what you do and also not just the fact that you have a product, but that you are an advocate for menstrual health. And I love when you said, I'm a menstruator because I never had considered myself as such.

And I'm like, yeah, I'm a menstruator too. So I think that's, I love that you. Reclaim that as a way to advocate for people who menstruate. So can you tell us more about , your business and what it does and how it serves the community?

women in my family only have [: 00:03:00

Beatriz: Okay. Okay. Awesome. And what inspired you to start this line of menstrual period menstrual period products? What, what motivated you to start that? Mm

Yessica: I actually just got asked this question last week , at an event, the question was like, what was the catalyst for starting this? And I reflected in that moment, like really, it was many stages in my life as a young girl and growing up to adulthood and like fully coming into my 30 years and realizing like many things in my life had actually triggered.

, but it was kind of [: 00:04:00

I didn't know the term existed until I was 30. So that also made me realize that I had little control over my body and something so personal like my period that I didn't even own to it. So serious in events of womanhood and growing up girl, a brown girl cultural stigma, just many things that went into my why of Jess Period.

tors. So I'm glad that, that [: 00:05:00

It came to be this line of products and okay, , now that you've been in business, I'm curious when you started this product and how did it fit? into your current life. I guess we can go into the fact that you do have a full time job. So to the extent that you can or even want can you tell us what your full time job is currently right now?

Yessica: Yeah. So I I've been in supply chain now for 12 years, I believe between purchasing and planning. And now my role has changed into being a program manager within supply chain, either purchasing or planning, but more as a project approach managing programs and such, but still within a supply chain.

hat's a big hint to tell you [: 00:06:00

So it was a shift to me to move from aerospace. airplanes to move into the vehicle, the automotive industry. And to top it off, it was the electric vehicle industry, which is very new still.

Beatriz: Yeah, yeah. Oh, wow. And so you've been doing that for 12 years. And

Yessica: my supply chain 12 years, but in the EV industry, I've been there the last three years.

into project management and [: 00:07:00

What, what did you think about when you were thinking about just period and how it would start to fit into your current life? Yeah. I do have to say that a

Yessica: big benefit. And even I would call it a privilege to be working from home because that cuts out a lot of commute time. A lot of time that maybe, for example, if I went to an office and then I had to do like my 30 minutes or my one hour of lunch, that's like another hour embedded.

is over to just Jess Period [: 00:08:00

I'm a coffee drinker, I love my coffee. I get my coffee, I start reading my emails from work on my phone. Okay, what should I do? Start starting my day. What do I need to do first? How is my day going to look like and then predicting? Okay, I'm gonna do all of these tasks during this time This is how am I I'm going to accommodate myself and then this is when I'm going to log off to then invest time in Jess Period and like I mentioned earlier i'm fairly new.

So I have been doing this for a year and a half now so i'm still adjusting i'm still making changes to what works best because also my job goes through changes and obviously it requires for me to invest More time to learn maybe on the new tasks that i'm giving and it takes a time away from Jess period.

but also making it a mission [: 00:09:00

And that's it.

Beatriz: Yeah. Oh my goodness. I, I mean, I totally get that. I think one of the things that I struggled with in the beginning was finding the energy at the end of my day when, when I had a job, a full time job and still working on my business is finding the energy to still work on my business. That your early bird helps, and also that you are very intentional about planning.

It seems like you look at what you have to do for your job and get a sense of how long it takes to kind of do everything that you're doing there. And then when you have time and would you say when you have time kind of. fit in Jess period time Do you plug in time for Jess period when the time allows it or is it more of a routine and like they're set.

It's like [: 00:10:00

Yessica: Yeah. So last year my strategy was. I'm going to do Jess period when I have time and when I feel like it and that did not get me anywhere I I think my year was very slow. I did make Significant Changes or actually not changes. I made significant I guess milestones in building the business But I wasn't putting it out there enough.

I'd say the last quarter of last year, I kind of let it die a bit because I didn't have a structure. So, this year, or at the beginning of last year, I said, you know what, I need to start the year with a plan for Jess Period with my job. Or else this is just not gonna go anywhere. So this year I made it a goal to at least invest two hours daily.

as either sewing like sewing [: 00:11:00

I counted it as a good improvement thing that I made during the day. And I said, it has to be two hours a day. I chose two hours because three, I think would have been excessive because I also have to spend time. with my partner. I'm married. We don't have kids, but I guess quality time together is important for me.

tops, bring, bring the other [: 00:12:00

Or I would move to my sewing machine and just sew. started like sewing materials, testing materials or whatever it was. And that also gave me the feeling of tranquility or reduce my anxiety that I wasn't doing anything for Jess period, you know, because anxiety was, you know, A big issue for me last year because I wasn't doing enough like I was stressing that I wasn't doing But I also didn't have a routine for it so now I can Check off oh, I I already allocated time for Jess period and I already gave the two hours So i'm good to log off.

I'm comfortable to log off because I did some work for it. So it gives me like the mental health piece of it, too

Beatriz: Yeah. Yeah. That, that brings me to this question of how, you imagined Jess period growing or building it. What

if you were still working [: 00:13:00

And if that ever was motivating or maybe challenging knowing that you were still working full time or were you simply okay with wherever Jess period was it would be okay. And that you would simply take your time.

f healing and helping others.[: 00:14:00

But my job is still like my primary, if we, if we think about financials and things like that. I, I didn't think that I was going to replace my job with Jess period. And still now I, I don't see that, but because also there's still a lot of work to do in Jess period to, to get to that point.

But also I guess cultural expectations that you have to have, like that corporate job to be secure and like without it, you're probably not going to get nowhere So I think a mix of that is how I started. Jess period where I I wasn't thinking like, okay, this is going to be a money machine It's rather just going to be an outlet.

it is a necessity it is a a [: 00:15:00

So now my perspective is changing and it's Wait a minute, this is now no longer a healing thing for me. It's probably going to become a healing thing for others and it just can't now be a hobby or a low key thing. It has to transform in something bigger and that's where I'm at right now, kind of changing, changing the scope of what Jess Period can be.

Beatriz: Yeah. Alright. When you think about how you started this and I love that you bring up that you realize that it's such a necessity because that is the, I want to say, epitome of a good business is you start something, right? And you, perhaps started from necessity for you, but you don't realize.

ty, which can also translate [: 00:16:00

And now you realize, Oh, actually this is a gap and there's a lot of need for it and you're filling that gap. So classic business is going to fill that gap without you even knowing, right, that that was something that was needed. And now you're really trying to transform that and really fill that need.

And so now that you're filling that need. I guess that's what, is that what's inspiring you to continue to keep your job and, and, and continue to Jess Period it and build, build it up? And is that what is motivating you?

Yessica: Yes, so [: 00:17:00

Beatriz: Right. Yeah.

Yessica: Yeah

Beatriz: Yeah.

Yessica: still have to keep it very precious to my heart because it's helping Jess Period in so many ways, right because I I personally did not ask for loans or not looking for loans I am funding myself and through my corporate job.

I am doing that so So I don't have, at least in the short term, I don't have any plans of stepping away from my corporate role until I know that Jess Period can sustain itself without the funds from Just Period. Or, or who knows, if I win the lottery tomorrow, maybe.

al financing options, right? [: 00:18:00

Businesses and products that are not harmful to the earth. And so, so I just think that you're hitting on a lot of different levels here. It's very, it's a sustainable product and you are, you are, helping a community of people that didn't even know what they were experiencing, didn't have the language to tell them what they were experiencing when you're [00:19:00] talking about period poverty, right?

So, I feel like, honestly, if you wanted to, you could create a pitch deck and find some angel investors and they'd be very interested and there's a lot of different ways to do that, right, but I think you're a unicorn and have, and just putting that in your little brain just in case, you know, there's a lot of options.

Of course, it comes with. You know, other things to be mindful of, right? They might want a percentage , of the company, and once it grows, once it hits. But, right? These are sort of the things that sometimes I'm not sure that I think as brand new entrepreneurs, especially as women and women of color, I feel like these options, sometimes we don't even know about them, and we don't even know how big it can get.

eriod can get, you know, so, [: 00:20:00

So if you have days that look different, go to both days. You know, I want to know how you currently manage your day, having both your full time job and Jess period, and what does it look like from when you first, Get up in the morning to when you go to bed at night.

Yessica's Day

Yessica: Yeah. So I, sometimes I even wake up earlier than, than 6am. I even say like 5. 30. I was really in a habit of actually waking up at five. Earlier this year and then immediately starting exercise and then um coffee but it was becoming unsustainable because I wasn't sleeping.

Beatriz: Mm.

So now i'm like more between [: 00:21:00

Both my husband and I were both early birds. He, he loves coffee as well. He has a fancy coffee machine that I don't understand. So I tell him like, just give me my coffee. That's, It's all I need. I don't even know how he clicks on that little machine, but I have my coffee early in the morning That's like my my first thing like don't talk to me if I have it coffee because it's just not Going to go well.

Beatriz: Right

Yessica: for me, it's also important to take a minute to Actually get into my day. So like I sit on my couch with a blanket. I drink my coffee and then I slowly start pulling out like my phone. I go on outlook. I go on slack. That's my my work slack. And then I I start seeing like what is needed for me during the day.

ave so many meetings back to [: 00:22:00

From Monday to Friday. And like I have a list of every day of everything that needs to get done. And then I, Slowly add additional tasks that come come about because as we know, like things, things change. And I add those things like kind of onto my my agenda. Whenever I can especially like during the, during 11 a.

e it later. in the day and I [: 00:23:00

So nobody reports to me and I am the owner of how I manage my time and how my, my tasks get done or if I can move things. Here and there to accommodate things for for Jess period. So, I'd say I usually log on to work on my computer probably like 6. 30. I come run some reports I leave them running.

Maybe I go back to the kitchen, have some breakfast, but then I'm fully on at 8 a. m. for my corporate job.

Beatriz: Okay.

, those [: 00:24:00

And then I jumped to Jess period activities that that is mostly Monday, Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Wednesdays, I dedicate no time for Jess period. And I kind of have a faster day because that day I do need to go into the office to meet with my coworkers. So my day even starts earlier. I, those days I probably do wake up like at 5:30, 5:00.

d because I have been really [: 00:25:00

So Wednesdays I try to not program things that are significant for Jess period unless I really have to. Actually this week there was a very important meeting on Wednesday and I was at the at the office So what I did instead of taking lunch, I hopped on that meeting, but I was also multitasking Doing my job, you know, I was like listening while I was working So that's another I guess way to go for people who are entrepreneurs and are having to manage their corporate jobs if if you You If you're able to manage mentally multitasking, I mean, that's that's a great advantage, right?

ell him like, or help me cut [: 00:26:00

And then we talk while he's cutting fabric or I'm sewing and he's just like in here or just like things like that to spend time together. So my schedule does It's very depending like kind of the day of the week and where I see a benefit of moving my two hours assigned to Jess period earlier in the day,

Beatriz: Okay, all right. Wow, that sounds so nice to the fact that you bring your husband in to just be in the presence of you while you're working on Jess period. That sounds really nice. I usually when I'm working, I'm like, don't, don't come in here. Just stay out, close the door. And there's days where, when my husband, he, he, I, because I work from home, so when, and he works from home, so we live in a very small apartment, and I'm in the bedroom, he's out in the living room, and I take advantage when he goes to the office, I stay here all day.

Because, two days out of the [: 00:27:00

So I like that you bring in your husband, you're like, let's spend time that he helps you even with making the product and cutting fabric. That sounds, that sounds lovely, actually. Oh, that sounds so nice.

Yessica: but it. Sorry, it's, it's not that way, like, all of the time, like, when I'm doing administrative stuff I do need him to not talk to me or else I'm just gonna get distracted, you know? It's just certain tasks where I can just say just come in or just watch me or I'm about to finish, just come and we'll start talking about you know, house stuff or things that we have to do, but while I'm multitasking with Jess period.

oned that you had like admin [: 00:28:00

Yessica: Yeah, so at the beginning when I was really investigating and testing out the fabrics I had to invest a lot of time in like sewing and sewing and sewing and sewing now it's just making the product because i've landed on like the The fabric that I want to use that I feel comfortable with. So now I'm when I say I'm going to, so it was more like, okay, have an order that I need to fill.

and sewing endlessly kind of [: 00:29:00

And now my activities have changed. So, to answer your question, I don't have Set allocation for something that I'm always going to do is more as what does my business need at this time? That is what I'm going to work on. So for instance, right now that I've set the foundations of the business now, like my next step is building a client list or a newsletter or pushing marketing.

e how am I prepping for that [: 00:30:00

No, it's like what the, what the business needs at, at some point, what I would say is that what I try to keep more structured is like my content. I try to plan my content during the week. And then I try to film during the weekend, because that's like what consumes more time that I don't feel I have enough time or the mental capacity to do it during the weekday that I just leave it for the weekends.

Beatriz: Okay, well, I really like this, this strategy of, kind of seeing in the moment what you need and going with that and sticking to that because I feel like sometimes there's a lot of overwhelm when you look at everything at the same time. And so, would you say that that's sort of the best way to keep that overwhelm low for you?

, yes, for now that I'm just [: 00:31:00

I think this is the way to go because if I try to work at There's so many aspects of a business. So if I try to work at everything at once it's just not enough and since i'm doing everything. myself I I think, yeah, it's, I'm just going to get it's going to have the contrary effect of the outlet that I initially started with.

Yessica: Then now it's just going to become a burden, but I do firmly believe that once Jess period has grown to a point where, okay, maybe we have our client base or like the website is, is, doing good on its own or Social media is doing good on its own. Then I do see a total need of structure.

now, but in the long term, I [: 00:32:00

So I would try to shift into a more standardized approach. And given my background is in supply chain and I've been part of launching companies, I know that even though it's a small business, I have to set Processes in place and like a guidebook on how it would look like even if I try to get an employee on here, like how are they going to know what fabrics to cut or how to package an order, you know, that will become important at that point is just right now it's not relevant yet.

ou know what's important now [: 00:33:00

It's hard to create a structure on that on the business side of things how do you Create structure there When you're doing it all yourself. And so I'm glad that you focus on Very specific things and where you're [00:34:00] currently at and what you're currently needing and then as you grow Making those assessments and taking the time to kind of figure that out.

As you go along because you're still moving forward. And I think that that's the most important thing because getting stuck when you're feeling overwhelmed is not a good feeling. So yeah, so I'm glad that you said that. But before we start wrapping up, I do want to just kind of get into it that.

The end of your day. So I kind of want to talk a little bit about After you log out and maybe have clocked in some Jess period time Like what do you do at the end of the day? Do you have any wind down routines or anything that you do that helps you end your day.

ver I've never been big like [: 00:35:00

And in skincare, I just do the just like the basic thing like the the cleanser the toner the most right the moisturizer and Oh gosh, the sunblock. During the night I don't, I don't do it, but that is just gets me into such a great mood to just get into bed. Like I feel clean. I feel like it's like the perfect ending to my, to my day, just like doing that.

Like I feel fresh, ready to go to bed.

Beatriz: Yeah, okay. All right. And what what time do you go to bed normally? You

Yessica: Oof I go to sleep early.

z: Okay, yeah, I mean if you [: 00:36:00

Yessica: so I'm in bed no later than nine.

Beatriz: Okay. Yeah, okay that's All right. Well, that sounds great. At least you get your full eight hours and or Seven, I don't know i'm the same way I go to bed around 8 39 because after that it's really hard If i'm up I'm watching TV or doing something and then it's really hard for me to go to sleep at night.

It's like my brain is oh, we're working? Okay, let's keep going. But I like to stop working around 8. 30, 9. 00. So, and I also get up early too. So, that's why I'm asked what time you go to bed because if you wake up at 6, girl, I know you're going to bed at 8. 30. Okay. That's awesome. Well, thank you so much, Yessica.

ll us where we can find you, [: 00:37:00

Yessica: yeah, absolutely. My website is jessperiod.com and my instagram and tiktok is @jessperiod_ underscore and you will see there menstruation education. But if you have any questions related to reusable products, feel free to DM me or send me an email. My email is also available there.

But I'll say it here. It's support@jessperiod.com and it's me answering everything. So you'll know it's not a bot or a computer. I will answer everything. If you ever had a question or just wanted to share your period experience, I'd be more than happy to read it. I do get people who just like randomly share me like their first time period experience.

And I really like to hear it. And I like do respond to everybody who messages me. So if you want to do that, go for it.

hare this with the world and [: 00:38:00

Letting us know about Jess Period and your day. And hopefully there are people out there that can really learn about how to build a product and work at the same time. It's doable. Yessica's doing it. And so I'm so excited to see where this goes.

Yessica: Thank you. Thank you for having me. Thank you.

Beatriz: Thank you so much for tuning in to this special episode of the Be A Boss Coaching Podcast. The nine to grind series. I hope that you learned so much from today's entrepreneur and that you took away new insights and new ways to navigate both your entrepreneurship journey with your professional career.

ntrepreneur, come on over to [: 00:39:00

And of course, you can also reach out to me. I am Bia, I am the founder of Be A Boss Coaching, and I help women of color, BIPOC, and queer entrepreneurs find their own confidence in their entrepreneurship journey like a boss. So come on over to BeABossCoaching. com, take a look at the website, what we offer, the freebies that we have, and Any other podcasts or blogs that you're interested in.

You can even schedule a complimentary call. I can't wait to get to know you. Have a great rest of your day and I'll see you in the next video.