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Jon [00:01:18] My guest is Jacqueline DeJesu Center. The founder, CEO, creative director and inventor of the reinvented shhhowercap. Prior to starting her own company, she was an art director and creative at some of the biggest creative agencies in New York, including Saatchi & Saatchi, Huge, 360i, BBDO and a ton more. Jacqueline, thank you so much for joining me today. Thanks for having me. Taking a lot of some time out of your busy schedule already being in the office. I see that you are on a ton of different work streams at the same time. Literally in seven meetings. And also, congratulations. I think over the summer, shhhowercap officially turned four. Yeah, I think that's it. That's a big, big milestone.

Jacquelyn [00:02:01] Yeah. Especially being self-funded.

Jon [00:02:02] Exactly. We'll talk a little bit about that. I know that you grew up in Long Island.

Jacquelyn [00:02:07] I did.

Jon [00:02:08] Your mother was a hairstylist and your dad owned set company.

Jacquelyn [00:02:11] Yeah, set design.

Jon [00:02:12] Set design.

Jacquelyn [00:02:12] Set design and fabrication.

Jon [00:02:14] Could you tell me why some people refer to Long Island as strong island?

Jacquelyn [00:02:20] You know how people refer to West Chester as the best Chester?

Jon [00:02:24] I didn't I didn't know that.

Jacquelyn [00:02:25] Yeah, it's just it's just the thing. It's like a tongue in cheek. Ridiculous way to refer to where you're from.

Jon [00:02:32] A little bit of pride.

Jacquelyn [00:02:33] Yeah.

Jon [00:02:33] A lot of fun. A lot of pride. You know, growing up in Jersey, for the most part, I think a lot of the terms are dirty Jersey.

Jacquelyn [00:02:41] Yeah.

Jon [00:02:41] So I don't really know what different tribal one, you know. But what was young Jacqueline doing?

Jacquelyn [00:02:46] What was I doing? So I was an only child. And a lot of times I talked about this. My parents are both really creative. So my house felt like a Michael's crafts. My Saturdays were, you know, trips to Pearl Paint. And I would just be able to, like, spend twenty dollars and, you know, buy some supplies to make something that inspired me. There was a lot of that. My mom had a salon in the back of our childhood home. My childhood home. And my dad had a little mini set kind of building studio downstairs. So whether I wanted to play dress up and, you know, do hair stuff back on the porch or whether I wanted to go downstairs and build something or use my own kind of craft supplies with beads and fimo clay. You know what fimo clay is?

Jon [00:03:37] No. Female clay?

Jacquelyn [00:03:39] Fimo.

Jon [00:03:40] Oh fimo.

Jacquelyn [00:03:40] Yeah. I don't even know what it stands for. I think that's what it's called. It's the if you've seen those beads that like are rolled in tubes and then sliced.

Jon [00:03:48] OK. Is it like is it like a foam?

Jacquelyn [00:03:53] No. You bake it OK. But it's not like a shrink eating. You see these, you know.

Jon [00:04:00] Oh, OK. So there's no.

Jacquelyn [00:04:02] The way that that's made is like you take all the different colors, you know, and you roll it in a tube. And then the cross section is what makes the smiley face or the you know, it's like when you get the the cookies with the the Pillsbury cookies with the turkeys.

Jon [00:04:16] Exactly. Except you're making the turkey. That's great. Yeah.

Jacquelyn [00:04:23] So I like every color you have.

Jon [00:04:25] So you had a ton of different activities to do, whether it was hanging out with mom or hanging out with dad. You you're keeping busy and making stuff with your hands.

Jacquelyn [00:04:33] Yeah, and always creative. And I was always hustling.

Jon [00:04:36] What was your hustle? When you were a child.

Jacquelyn [00:04:39] I sold friendship bracelets on the beach. You know, I feel like when you go to Mexico, you see like kids selling friendship bracelets, like they're with their parents. I was just making friends. So it's like selling them on my own.

Jon [00:04:52] I think I have two younger sisters that were doing the same thing as kids. Everyone goes, you know, sometimes everyone goes through that phase. Yeah. I could buy 20 off of eBay.

Jacquelyn [00:04:59] Yeah. I also I really wanted to be on Broadway musical theater. So I grew up on set because of what my parents did. You know, my mom, like, would cut hair and stuff at the house, but she was on the news. That was like her beat. She did like the morning news, the hair and makeup for the morning news. My dad was always building stuff for TV. So like they'd pull me in and be the cute kid on on set. You know, I was like seven. So I was just obsessed with the stage and screen. Less so now.

Jon [00:05:34] Something when you were younger.

Jacquelyn [00:05:35] Yeah, it makes sense why I'm comfortable kind of doing this on a podcast link. Why it feels natural or why people always say that I am so authentic.

Jon [00:05:45] You're just not afraid to to say hi and be the loudest in the room.

Jacquelyn [00:05:49] Yea why not?

Jon [00:05:50] Same I feel the same way.

Jacquelyn [00:05:51] Yeah.

Jon [00:05:52] And you can walk into a room with 20 strangers and come out with at least one friend.

Jacquelyn [00:05:56] Yeah.

Jon [00:05:56] Completely.

Jacquelyn [00:05:57] Or 7.

Jon [00:05:57] Yeah. Or most likely there's.

Jacquelyn [00:05:59] Or 20.

Jon [00:05:59] There's one person in that room that'll hate you. But then everyone else to be like hey he's like you know she's all right.

Jacquelyn [00:06:04] I've always that I've kind of not been afraid to be polarizing, to be honest. I'd rather have people like feel intensely about me than have everyone feel kind of lukewarm.

Jon [00:06:16] One way or the other. They're gonna hate me or you're gonna love me.

Jacquelyn [00:06:18] Yea. That means you're doing something right?

Jon [00:06:20] Completely. You know, you were always making and it sounds like that was kind of consistent and eventually you go to school for art and design.

Jacquelyn [00:06:30] Yeah.

Jon [00:06:30] You go to the University of Buffalo.

Jacquelyn [00:06:32] I went to UB.

Jon [00:06:33] Design and communications and advertising and marketing.

Jacquelyn [00:06:36] You really dig. You're like Nardwuar.

Jon [00:06:40] Designy nerd, Nardwuar. While you're n school, you have an internship with DiMassimo.

Jacquelyn [00:06:49] DiMassimo Goldstein. Yeah.

Jon [00:06:51] And you come out of the program and you start to have these art director positions. And I'm curious if that was something that you had always had in mind or if that was like an experience, something that you experienced during school or your time there, that you didn't necessarily take the route of being a designer, but you decided art direction was more some you were comfortable with.

Jacquelyn [00:07:13] So I actually did start out as a junior designer. That's where I got my first gigs. But I was trying to like work my way into advertising through the strongest skill that I had. I was conceptual, but I didn't go to VCU. I didn't go to Miami ad school. I didn't go to a portfolio school. But my desire to be in advertising started when my dad always taught me because he worked on set that why the visuals weren't real effectively so that I wouldn't be manipulated by them. So a good example is like I remember he was breaking down a McDonald's print ad and he was like, those sesame seeds are glued on. That's not a bun. It's shaved and spray painted styrofoam. The meat is not deliciously greasy. That's Vaseline. And I was just fascinated by that because he would do that so often so that I wouldn't be manipulated by the images that I was seeing. But what it actually did was force me to like pay attention to the images that I was seeing in the media. And then what that evolved into is I wanted to be responsible for them. Not in some heroic way. Like, I just loved the fact that there could be a shape in ice in a liquor ad, and it would make you think that it was more delicious. Like subliminal advertising was like fascinating to me. And when it came time to pick a major, I knew I wanted to not go to Pratt or SVA. I wanted to not be in an art school. And I also wanted to get out of the city because I'm from New York. You know, I wanted a college experience with like a big football team and a sorority and like and a huge campus. And so UB didn't really have an advertising program. But I did a mix of communication, psychology and comm design. When I was choosing my majors, I'm kind of trying to, like, hone my focus. My dad brought home a One Show annual from our like, Long Island library. It was like in those books that you could buy for 25 cents.

Jon [00:09:18] Like The Ones Show.

Jacquelyn [00:09:19] The One Show.

Jon [00:09:20] Okay. Okay.

Jacquelyn [00:09:20] And I'll never forget it because it was the one. If if any old people are listening at the white one with the colored pencil. Do you not remember that? I know it's like a blue color by number one show pencil and the rest is white. So the concept of that annual was like you could color it in which at itself look at a base level is interesting. But I remember that I like flip through it at 17 like cover to cover. And I was so fascinated by the fact that there were there were things that were winning awards for copywriting that had no coffee on them or like had three words.

Jon [00:09:56] So it was very conceptual in the thought.

Jacquelyn [00:09:58] Yeah. And it was like how how much storytelling could you tell through through an image, you know, say. That's when I that's when I went to advertising.

Jon [00:10:07] I think it's amazing that your dad was able to break. I picture you, you're sitting in the car and you're going through a billboard and he's pointing those details out to you at such a young age.

Jacquelyn [00:10:18] Yeah.

Jon [00:10:18] That that kind of sticks with you in a way that you then turn that to be like you want to create the story. Very abstract. And then also, you know, not wanting to go to an immediate art school. Right.

Jacquelyn [00:10:32] Yeah.

Jon [00:10:32] Like that's a big. I had a similar decision where I didn't feel connected to, say, like an SVA. Not that I applied or anything like that, but.

Jacquelyn [00:10:42] I didn't have the book. Also, to clarify, I didn't have the portfolio to get it.

Jon [00:10:46] Same. Same. But, you know, I wanted when I thought of college, I was like, oh, man, I want to go to a game maybe and stuff like that. So I think it's really interesting to know that you could still have a similar experience and come out with the drive to want to be in that industry. Be in the creative industry in advertising, it doesn't mean you have to go to the best school. But it's like, yeah. More on you as a person.

Jacquelyn [00:11:07] I also think that it depends on your personality. I've always been a self starter. So what in fact happened in my career or in my college career was that I created my own major, which now I'm an entrepreneur. I invented a thing. I'm I'm a quote unquote disruptor. Like those things make logical sense. But even back then, I remember junior year wanting to graduate with an art direction degree. And I had to write a thesis of what what classes would ladder up to what art direction meant to me. And it was it was like psychology. Right. And a lot of classes weren't teaching that it was color theory. It was general marketing one to one, like the basic bitch marketing track. But I wound up doing like a senior thesis project where I put red dots on one in every five things around campus blind. And yeah, it was about the prevalence of general herpes, but.

Jon [00:12:04] Very interesting approach. But still I mean the concept in the message is there.

Jacquelyn [00:12:09] Yeah. I've always I feel like I've always kind of been known for like larger than life, simple executions. Simple, powerful, clear. I don't want to say obvious.

Jon [00:12:21] But they're right there in front. Demanding attention.

Jacquelyn [00:12:24] Yea, always a little bit cheeky. Like that's been a theme in my career, but I wouldn't have had that project if I didn't go to an unconventional program or need to make my own special major. And like that caught the attention of Tiffany Roth from Crispin at the time. You know, she's like the baddest bitch in advertising. And if I didn't have that project, I would have graduated with the same VCU book as everyone else. And one I would have tweeted at her, my book would have looked like everyone else's, you know. So I think everything happens for a reason.

Jon [00:12:55] When did you when did you tweet at her?

Jacquelyn [00:12:58] Two thousand seven or two thousand eight? She was asking for what did she ask for? I think she was soliciting like young women's experiences in advertising because she had won an award at the four As. And she wound up actually quoting me. I wrote her a tweet and then she wrote me an email and asked for more information.

Jacquelyn [00:13:19] And I wrote her like this basically like rundown of my experience. And I was like, it's not sexist and it's not really a bias. It's like in my experience, I've felt it most because I don't have the same things in common to bond with them over. So she took that and she kind of made it the point of women needing to stay in advertising in leadership positions because we should be able to bond over lipstick or quote unquote feminine things like I shouldn't have to fake loving Star Wars just to bond with my creative director. You know?

Jon [00:13:54] That's awesome.

Jacquelyn [00:13:56] Yeah. But she's been in my life since I've been 20 and now she's an advisor for shhhowercap. She's the best.

Jon [00:14:01] That's so cool.

Jacquelyn [00:14:02] Yeah.

Jon [00:14:02] You eventually make your way working with huge brands. Orbit, you've worked with Lays. You worked with Five Gum. Like the list is really expensive. You went to Saatchi Saatchi, just huge agencies that people aspire to go at. What do you take away from those experiences? You were at them for a pretty significant part of your career.

Jacquelyn [00:14:24] I mean, now being an entrepreneur, I actually talk about I feel like that's where I got my MBA. Right. I didn't go to Harvard. I didn't go to Columbia. But I'd say, like, when it comes to business strategy and brand building from the inside out. I understand it better than most. And why is that? And it's because of those experiences really early on.

Jacquelyn [00:14:48] As a junior, if you need to create work off of a brief with best in class strategists. The work is going to be stronger because you're gonna be pushed to make it stronger. And I think being in a really competitive environment, which advertising is notoriously competitive. It gives you a really healthy slash I mean, borderline detrimental work ethic, you know. and you don't know what comes first, chicken or the egg, you know. But I think for me, especially when applied to entrepreneurship, that was one of the most eye opening things was like a lot of people have an idea and then they need to learn how to work hard enough to make something a reality for me.

Jacquelyn [00:15:26] I just transitioned the energy that I was giving to the agencies to. Building something for myself, but you don't realize how much you learn, being surrounded by that many best in class kind of smart people. At every level. You know, the account people are the best account people. Hopefully. The strategists are.

Jon [00:15:45] That's the most important, the account and finance department.

Jacquelyn [00:15:50] And I think working on such a variety of clients made me feel really comfortable in kind of concepting for anything. And at the end of the day, like the agencies have the big money, or at least they used to.

Jon [00:16:06] It sort of shifted since then.

Jacquelyn [00:16:07] It has.

Jon [00:16:08] You worked on, you know at BBDO, you were on their energy sort of accounts. Yeah. And then at Saatchi Saatchi, you kind of switched over to Miller and working sort of more on the I don't know how you'd classify some of the brands that you work there.

Jacquelyn [00:16:21] So I started my career at BBDO in Chicago, at Energy BBDO in Chicago. It just is BBDO of Chicago. But I was working on all the Wrigley brands.

Jon [00:16:31] Wrigley.

Jacquelyn [00:16:32] So I started my career working on Orbit, Altoids, Altoids Smalls, Five Gum, Extra.

Jon [00:16:40] Yep.

Jacquelyn [00:16:40] Look at that horn. That is, that is extra.

Jacquelyn [00:16:45] So that is like a really good example of like you put Five Gum up against Orbit and they're completely different demographics. They're completely different, you know, vibes, tones. You're shooting from completely different inspiration. Your concepting for a completely different person. The brand voice sounds completely different. You know, one is aggro and like all about daredevils and like neon and explosions and hyper Photoshoped. And then orbit, you're pulling Wes Anderson references and you're pitching to the same Wrigley CMO. Like I remember, we would have master kind of creative reviews back to back and I'd be pitching five gum and I'd stand a little taller and like and then for orbit, I would sit down, you know, you change the way that you do everything and lean into the brand.

Jon [00:17:35] You always have a different character.

Jacquelyn [00:17:37] Exactly.

Jon [00:17:37] And that's the presentation and selling of the creative work.

Jacquelyn [00:17:41] Exactly.

Jon [00:17:42] That's kind of, I mean, it's interesting now that you mention, when you put them up against each other and how they have those different personality, how they align with different people. You eventually make your way to 360i.

Jacquelyn [00:17:55] Yes.

Jon [00:17:55] I didn't even know you were in Chicago. Are you still. Do you make the move from Chicago to New York for 360i or you know, was there somewhere inbetween there was traveling?

Jacquelyn [00:18:04] So I was, I was a junior art, junior designer at Jack Morton, actually in New York. And I was like searching for my first junior actor position. Right. And then Chicago, like woo'd me, they paid very relo. You know.

Jon [00:18:24] Nice.

Jacquelyn [00:18:25] I can afford a one bedroom like as a kid.

Jon [00:18:28] That's awesome. And also the opportunity to move it is like.

Jacquelyn [00:18:32] Yeah.

Jon [00:18:32] I think everyone out of school or everyone when they're first looking is like, yeah, I'll be great. Yeah.

Jon [00:18:37] Like I'm doing this now.

Jacquelyn [00:18:39] Yeah. And I took it. I had to. I wanted to. But then when I came home I kind of freelanced a little bit. I like popped around at McCann. Was I at McCann? No, Digitas. And then Huge. And then 360i was the last place I was before shhhowercap.

Jon [00:18:56] Yeah and it was only six. It's like six. Five or six months.

Jacquelyn [00:18:58] I'm all fucked up. Hold on. So I came home? Freelanced at Digitas, started freelancing at Saatchi. Transitioned to Saatchi full time. Was at Saatchi for two and a half years. Had the idea for shhhowercap left and then was at Huge, 360i and then Huge, Co:Collective, 360i.

Jon [00:19:19] So, it's interesting because the idea for shhhowercap starts way before 360i.

Jacquelyn [00:19:26] Way, way before. I was in development for two years.

Jon [00:19:29] And it's just been kind of scratching at the back of your head just saying like, you know, just kind of molding and gaining traction like a snowball. What was the first aha moment?

Jacquelyn [00:19:37] There was no building like a snowball. I went to go look for a shhhowercap. I was at Saatchi for about two years and I went to go look for a shower cap because I was an art director. Right? Like my entire home was curated. You look around my office right now is like this table is a beautiful glass table. This bottle is you know.

Jon [00:19:57] Very intentional on the choices.

Jacquelyn [00:19:58] Intentional decisions.

Jon [00:20:00] Yeah.

Jacquelyn [00:20:00] And because I do that with everything from, you know, the soap that I use to the air conditioner, I buy. I use very specific search terms. I'm sure that a lot of people listening to this probably use similar search terms like best designed blank. Coolest, you know, whatever. And when I did that for a shower cap, I always say that it wasn't that nothing came up. It was what did. So it was bows, it was sequins, it was Miss Muffet shapes. It was like all awful. But what inspired me the most was that I was a brand builder and there was no brand. There wasno brand that was owning this conversation. There was no brand that was speaking to me the way that a consumer who was not washing her hair every day wanted to be spoken to. And that really was the inspiration. It was like how bad everything was. But then on top of all of that, there was no category leader.

Jon [00:20:53] I think a lot of creative people continue to make work for other. You know, like for other brands, for other people, other gigs and projects. And this is sort of an instance where you decide that you're going to stop doing that. You make the switch. Is that something mentally that you have to prepare yourself for? Or do you just say, like, I'm done working for other people and I really want to follow this through?

Jacquelyn [00:21:15] I think I have never really fit in in corporate America. I have no tolerance for bullshit. I'm not really good at faking it. I feel like I'm choking if I can't speak my mind. And I think when you're a woman in advertising, especially, you know, in 2013 when I was. I had the same kind of like precocious, ballsyness that like cut my way for the first probably five years of my career turned into something that was actually a threat for higher ups. And once you become a threat for higher ups, it's different. It's a different feeling. You're not like touted and you're like silent.

Jon [00:21:56] You're stepping on eggshells.

Jacquelyn [00:21:57] Exactly.

Jon [00:21:58] You feel like you're tiptoeing around.

Jacquelyn [00:21:59] Yeah or people like negate you in meetings. You know what I mean? Just like. So I think I was ready to make a leap into something, whether it was a new agency or, you know, explore, you know a different way to use my skills, potentially. And I, I couldn't not do this. You know, it felt it almost felt too obvious. Like, I was like, how is no one done this yet? Why are the options so bad? And also, like. Oh, my God, what if someone's working on this idea right now, like I have to start immediately.

Jon [00:22:32] Sure. You have to be the first.

Jacquelyn [00:22:34] I have to be the first. And like, if I don't start running as fast as I can right at the second to try to make something that women actually want to wear in this space, I'm gonna watch Shark Tank and I'm going to see someone else do it.

Jon [00:22:48] Of course.

Jacquelyn [00:22:49] And I would never, ever, ever forgive myself. And I think that there's something different that happens when you're that passionate about something. And for me, I was just obsessed. Like it felt like my get out of jail free card, you know? And it's not true in any capacity. This is the hardest thing and most rewarding thing that I've ever done in my life. But like I knew in my heart of hearts that it was gonna be big. So I just couldn't wait to get it right. And I couldn't wait to get it out into the world. And that makes it easy to take a risk I think.

Jon [00:23:27] Your last gig was 360i.

Jacquelyn [00:23:29] Yes.

Jon [00:23:30] Five, six months in you decide, this is the time this is the moment. Mentally. What was the preparation? Do you just walk in one day and say, hey, guys, it's been great five months. I got this thing going now and I'm going to go see it through and then just leave like so. Hey, guys. Bye.

Jacquelyn [00:23:50] Yeah. I was permalancing, so like I was pretty up front with a lot of the agencies that I was freelancing with. And especially like my partners or my CDs, like I tried to be respectful, but I also tried to make sure that it was clear that like I was working on something that I thought was gonna be big and I was permalancing at 360i and we were talking about transitioning to full time. It was then where I just realized it was ready to go. So I wasn't really waiting for anything. I was more like running as fast as I could to get the product right. And as soon as the product was really right and I had my final final sample and I was ready to shoot the look book, that's when I was also talking to them about full time. And I was like, if I give you full time, then I'm never gonna be able to give this my all. I think it's relevant. You know, it's really important to have people that support you. And reputations are also really important. And I had built great relationships there. So one of the nicest and fairest things that anyone said to me during the process was my creative director, Meghan Scully, who is amazing. She was like, I know this is your time and I know you have to go do it. But just know that, like, wherever I am, you'll have a full time job.

Jon [00:25:09] That's cool.

Jacquelyn [00:25:09] And I that was a safety net, you know, even just psychologically. Thank God I never had to like.

Jon [00:25:16] But, you know, it was like

Jacquelyn [00:25:17] Cash in that chip.

Jon [00:25:18] She, she has the confidence in you. You say something like that but you're like. You're gonna do it. You're gonna kill this.

Jacquelyn [00:25:25] Yeah.

Jon [00:25:25] And if you don't, I'll be here to support you and help you out.

Jacquelyn [00:25:29] Yeah. Which was just, I think like one of the coolest, most incredible things that anyone could have said to me at that time, you know, and there was there was a lot of that. There were haters. But I think mostly like people were pretty excited.

Jon [00:25:43] You had mentioned that you're self-funded. Yeah. And I know obviously that means that you're putting your own money up. Is there a range or a number that you could potentially give an idea of what something like that takes for someone to? I think anyone who listens to this, a lot of people in New York, I'm sure young creatives. Have a ton of amazing ideas, but they're not so familiar and fluent in like sourcing and manufacturer. And finding a business partner and figuring out logistics and all that stuff. Yeah. What is a good starting point for someone tomorrow to say like I need to attain this to get to my goal of potentially funding myself for the next six months, year, whatever it may be?

Jacquelyn [00:26:25] I think the best advice is make sure you have freelance gigs. You know, that was also a safety net for me was, I knew that I had recruiters on deck. And even if one year into me actually on my trajectory of launching shhhowercap was success, I was still getting emails from. Hey, do you want this gig? One week, two weeks, just a weekend push for a pitch. And if that's there, then you'll always be able to gig on something. So there's that. Also, we've definitely put money in and my husband is pretty successful too. But we sold fifteen thousand dollars worth of shhhowercaps in the first ten days of shhhowercap.com going live. So it's been pretty explosive since that first day in 2015. And I think the best place to start is make sure that your supply chain supports itself and that it's scalable and that your product supports the margins and you're not pricing yourself to be solely D2C.

Jon [00:27:29] I mean, all this all this language right. Like all of this vocabulary is something that, even myself.

Jacquelyn [00:27:35] It's like so much jargon. Sorry.

Jon [00:27:37] But no, no. How much of that do you have to learn on the fly?

Jacquelyn [00:27:41] I don't know. It's like when you lose a 100 pounds but you, like, look in the mirror every day and then you go to a party and people are like eat a burger. It kind of just happens like when you're constantly curious and you're constantly talking and you're constantly growing and and striving for more. I don't think you even realize how much you learn or when you learn it, you know but.

Jon [00:28:01] And just being in so many conversations, forces yourself to. If you hear a word you don't know. It's like I got to Google. I got to define that.

Jacquelyn [00:28:07] Yeah.

Jon [00:28:08] Immediately, because the next meeting, I got to know exactly what he's talking about or I'm going to lose track and screwing myself later on down the road.

Jacquelyn [00:28:14] Yeah. But I think also in those early days, you need to stay curious. You need to ask questions. It doesn't hurt to be humble and ask someone to clarify. Everyone wants help. I think that's the other thing is like entrepreneurs and successful entrepreneurs that are a couple of years ahead. Always want to help identify other entrepreneurs that they think that they can bet on, you know. And that's not even from an investment standpoint. Like it feels like people want to help and that's always been true. And I think that that's important to remember is like none of them had all the answers, you know. And I think because of that, I mean, now I'm I'm in that position. You know, if anyone's listening wants to DM about something, I'll try to make myself available. But the. You want to pay it forward. You empathize. And the curiosity and the way that you approach what you don't know is one of the things that people respect the most.

Jon [00:29:18] You mentioned that being a female founder, standout business owner in the New York community and the entrepreneur community, you are also looking to kind of uplift other women that are doing great things and creating great products.

Jacquelyn [00:29:31] Yeah.

Jon [00:29:32] I might not be a female, but I brought a few ideas and I want to pass by you for shhhowercap.

Jacquelyn [00:29:37] OK. OK.

Jon [00:29:38] I think could be really big moneymakers for a shhhowercap.

Jacquelyn [00:29:41] OK. Becareful. Cause if I like them. Then we're going to have to edit it out. No one can know what I'm launching.

Jon [00:29:49] I think for an immediate release. Yes, we should think about maybe doing a shhhowercap pet line.

Jacquelyn [00:29:56] OK.

Jon [00:29:56] So like little Chihuahuas going around with bright pink and some of the ajax ptterns.

Jacquelyn [00:30:02] Like little small ones.

Jon [00:30:03] And then maybe even some for their feet, because that's like a that's a thing that people do for. In New York.

Jacquelyn [00:30:09] I like that. I like that I'm thinking on April 1st. Right?

Jon [00:30:14] Yeah. I mean, like April 1st. But like it goes on.

Jacquelyn [00:30:19] It goes on. Yay.

Jon [00:30:21] The next one I think.

Jacquelyn [00:30:21] Collab with what Petco or?

Jacquelyn [00:30:24] Chewy!

Jon [00:30:27] So that's my that's idea one.

Jacquelyn [00:30:28] OK, great. hit me.

Jon [00:30:30] Idea two. I think shhhowercaps for your wine glasses so you can also take a shower with your wine. Shhhowercap. Shower wine cap.

Jacquelyn [00:30:39] Does it have a hole in it for a straw?

Jon [00:30:46] Another possibility to collab.

Jacquelyn [00:30:47] OK, great.

Jon [00:30:48] And then my last one would be shhhowercaps for the sneaker heads. But.

Jacquelyn [00:30:53] To put on the sneakers for when it's raining.

Jon [00:30:56] To keep the heat nice and dry and clean.

Jacquelyn [00:30:59] I like that.

Jacquelyn [00:30:59] I think that's also a big one.

Jon [00:31:01] I'm big on the third one. Do we think, all of them were you?

Jacquelyn [00:31:04] Alex Center would also be big on the third one.

Jon [00:31:06] So we'll work out the paperwork afterwards.

Jacquelyn [00:31:09] I'll take all of them.

Jon [00:31:10] This is great. So as I mentioned, shhhowercap is hitting four years old.

Jacquelyn [00:31:16] Yeah.

Jon [00:31:17] You've been featured in Vogue, Fast Company, The New York Times. You made it into an episode of Insecure on HBO. So many amazing things. You know, again, how much of that is like you're own doing.

Jacquelyn [00:31:32] This is nice. You should be in my office the whole time.

Jon [00:31:33] I'll just be your hype man.

Jacquelyn [00:31:34] Yeah.

Jon [00:31:35] Just a shhhowercap like official hype guy.

Jacquelyn [00:31:37] Yeah.

Jon [00:31:38] I think, you know, another great idea. I think you should probably invest in is like the guy from Dr. Pepper, Mr. Little Sweet. I can be your Little Sweet for shhhowercap.

Jacquelyn [00:31:47] Oh, that's cute. That's really cute.

Jon [00:31:50] I think, you know, I think really this podcast is just a way for me to give you my investment ideas.

Jacquelyn [00:31:55] Yeah. Yeah. I love it. So I think. What does you ask? Like how much of it is me?

Jon [00:32:00] Yeah. How much of getting into the public eye and getting the word out there has been just pure example of drive and a ruthless consistency.

Jacquelyn [00:32:13] I'd say like a thousand percent. But on the back end, our growth and the way that we market and the caps that we make and achieving that growth and that scale. I'm, I think, our best publicists. But the product sells itself on shelf. That's a design solution. Right. And the team here is just so strong and smart and amazing and passionate. I'm out there running my mouth and I have been since 2013. Literally talking to any girl with hair about how often she washes it and what products she uses. But I think that everyone here has played such a big part in making us what we are today.

Jon [00:32:57] I went ahead and went as far as started to digging into YouTube to look up shhhowercap. And I don't think I found one bad review.

Jacquelyn [00:33:08] Yeah.

Jon [00:33:08] I think everything was I mean, you know, I think now it's I wanted to bring this up because I think now it's kind of a moment of. Your four years old. At a release, now it's almost standard for a company to hit up influencers and reach out and do those things, because that's kind of like part of the brand rollout.

Jacquelyn [00:33:24] Yeah.

Jon [00:33:24] But, you know you switch that filter on to be the most recent uploads and the first five are positive reviews. Girls hanging out with each other and reviewing and talking about how great this product has been for them. And some of them have even mentioned that they don't wear it only in the shower. You know, how is that how is this thing that was made for the the bathroom evolved into you it like an accessory now for your everyday life.

Jacquelyn [00:33:51] How does it evolve? I mean, I think that's the power of design, right. Is like I hate to say it like this, but the product solution is such that now they want to spend more time with it. You know what existed in the category before women wanted to take off before they even put it on. They didn't want to put it on at all. And now, because we've thoughtfully solve for a better experience and part of that is that it actually is pretty fashionable in the color and the print in the silhouette that's now encouraging them to find other ways to spend time with the thing that they bought for forty three dollars.

Jacquelyn [00:34:31] And I think that it does go back to how much time we spent making sure that it was right. You know, how much time we spent making sure that the product delivered on everything that we said it would, you know, because there's a trust there. There's a loyalty. They love it in such a real way that they want to bring it on vacation. They want to wear it in the pool.

Jacquelyn [00:34:53] They want to sleep in it with a hair conditioning mask. Like they're trying to almost hack this thing to find other ways. You know, they're buying a second one. Keeping it in their bag. So I don't know exactly how it happened, but I think that it comes back to the brand we've built and the trust that we've built with our customers.

Jon [00:35:11] This year has been a big changing year for myself. Amongst doing this podcast, I've recently grown my hair out fairly long. And I'm hoping you could help me out a little bit with the hair care. Yeah, because I don't know. Am I supposed to wash it every day?

Jacquelyn [00:35:27] Your're definitely not supposed to waash it every day. Let me clarify that right now. Your luxurious locks.

Jon [00:35:34] Thank you. It's up in a bun right now.

Jacquelyn [00:35:38] How long are they?

Jon [00:35:39] It's pretty long. About shoulder.

Jacquelyn [00:35:40] OK, dope. How long are you going to grow it?

Jon [00:35:43] I keep it shoulder. I give it a trim every once in a while because once it gets too long, it's like a little bit. Yeah. I sort of find it everywhere in my room.

Jacquelyn [00:35:50] Yeah. I mean look mean literally here you can say to me and everyone else like what my girls are like the longest, craziest hair. Yes. So yeah. You're definitely not supposed to wash it every day. You probably should use a shhhowercap. We have a lot of guys that you shower have.

Jon [00:36:05] Oh, awesome.

Jacquelyn [00:36:07] But what I would suggest is cutting down to once every other day. That's a good place to start.

Jon [00:36:13] I'm all ears.

Jacquelyn [00:36:14] Let your scalp balance out. And then it also I think for like a style like yours is like a cool look when it has a little oil in it.

Jon [00:36:23] A little bit a little bit of grease. Little season.

Jacquelyn [00:36:26] Yeah, a little season. ‍

Jon [00:36:27] I'm all into it.

Jacquelyn [00:36:28] And then dry shampoo is huge. Like there's no reason why you shouldn't use dry shampoo.

Jon [00:36:32] I should go find some.

Jacquelyn [00:36:33] Yeah.

Jon [00:36:34] What are some of the big plans for for shower cap coming in the future?

Jacquelyn [00:36:37] World domination.

Jon [00:36:38] World domination.

Jacquelyn [00:36:39] Yeah.

Jon [00:36:40] Just all showers. All bathtubs.

Jacquelyn [00:36:42] All showers. Completely ubiquitous like world domination everywhere from here to Indonesia.

Jon [00:36:48] I don't doubt it.

Jacquelyn [00:36:50] Not one shower without me. Not one household with a girl that doesn't own one in her favorite print or her favorite color. I think for us from a company perspective, like we're really focused on building the team out. Nurturing our incredible retail partnerships, making sure that all of the people in our ecosystem are growing personally and professionally. And I think we're at a time in the brand's growth where like we're set to just really explode. I'm joking about world domination but I'm also like, actually not.

Jon [00:37:26] Not joking.

Jacquelyn [00:37:26] I'm not joking. Yes, I think just continuing to do what we do. You'll also start to see a little bit more of us from a brand perspective. We're diversifying away from Facebook and like allocating our dollars in more creative ways because we've spent a lot of time and a lot of money on digital media and paid social.

Jacquelyn [00:37:49] And I really think that great brands are built in human connection. And this is our time to do that. That's been really exciting to start to work on, like how much we can do. Just even by siphoning off a little bit about, you know, what we used to spend just like popping up in your feed.

Jon [00:38:08] Sure.

Jacquelyn [00:38:09] Because the team is really strong creatively. So like making sure that that showcase as well. Making more stuff.

Jon [00:38:16] Where can people stay up to date with what's happening with shhhowercap.

Jacquelyn [00:38:19] So it's @shhhowercap.

Jon [00:38:22] Three h's.

Jacquelyn [00:38:22] Three h's. S h h h o w e r c a p. That's our handle on everything. We're not really on Pinterest. Is anyone on Pinterest anymore?

Jon [00:38:32] Eh. I don't know. I had so many. It's like now I need to learn how to dance, to be on TikTok.

Jacquelyn [00:38:35] I want to be on TikTok. Yes. We're about to blow on TikTok.

Jon [00:38:40] Oh snap.

Jacquelyn [00:38:41] Well, it's just such a fun thing. You know what I mean, like, I think this product on TikTok is going to slay.

Jon [00:38:48] I don't doubt it.

Jacquelyn [00:38:48] Yeah. I don't know what we're gonna do yet, but stay tuned.

Jon [00:38:55] It's coming.

Jacquelyn [00:38:56] Yeah, my personal is @deejayzoo. But I think, you know, for me it's more behind the scenes, entrepreneurial like founder, real life authenticity, sound bites. You know how to build. And then for a shhhowercap, it's much more like the polished brand. You know, completely. We're also launching, actually. When does this come out?

Jon [00:39:18] Probably after the new year.

Jacquelyn [00:39:19] Oh, great. So we will have launched season three, which is really big for us. And we're really excited. Hopefully you've seen it and are impressed, but I briefed in the team yesterday as of the recording on this podcast and its just really strong, powerful, I think will be inspiring work. So I don't know what we're referencing if it's coming out in the new year.

Jon [00:39:43] Future.

Jacquelyn [00:39:44] Yeah. But by then it will be live. So new prints. New colors. Yeah. Awesome.

Jon [00:39:50] Thank you so much, Jacquelyn for taking the time today.

Jacquelyn [00:39:51] Thank you. Thank you. It was fun.