Latest / The Jasmine Star Show / Disrupting an Industry While Simultaneously Working a 9 to 5 with Rechelle Balanzat

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Disrupting an Industry While Simultaneously Working a 9 to 5 with Rechelle Balanzat · The Jasmine Star Show

• 0:13
  Welcome back to the Jasmine Star Show.
• 0:15
  My guest today is Rachel Beza.
• 0:17
  I actually had to ask her to make sure that I get the pronunciation.
• 0:21
  I can't even say pronunciation right here.
• 0:23
  I am the O.
• 0:24
  The irony is I'm trying to verify how to say somebody's last name and I don't even know how to spoke English.
• 0:28
  Here's the reason why I am so fascinated with Rochelle.
• 0:31
  I had explained that we often get pitched white often to be a guest on the Jasmine Star Show.
• 0:36
  And so when we are going through applications, I came across her bio as a serial entrepreneur, an immigrant, a ceo, and a tech founder.
• 0:43
  And I'm like, Huh, interesting.
• 0:45
  But here's the thing that I think is the direct value to you as a listener.
• 0:49
  So Rochelle's latest venture is Juliet.
• 0:52
  It is a tech first premium laundry and dry cleaning company based in New York City.
• 0:58
  Now you're probably thinking, Wait, what is tech and dry cleaning have to do with my business?
• 1:04
  Well, let's take a very pulled back idea of what's happening here. Traditional industry ready to be disrupted.
• 1:12
  Somebody who has like the guts and the hupa and just the desire to say, Can I look at a traditional situation and make it different?
• 1:19
  And that is where Rochelle has decided to jump in.
• 1:22
  And I wanna have a conversation because wherever you are listening from, you might be doing something that otherwise people would think would be traditional.
• 1:30
  Is there a new or different way for you to look at your business?
• 1:33
  Well, Rochelle is here to break it down for us today.
• 1:35
  I am so excited.
• 1:37
  Rochelle, welcome to the show.
• 1:38
  Thank you so much.
• 1:40
  I'm so excited to be here and I can't wait to share what I've learned with everyone.
• 1:46
  Okay, so I have to say this is the first time we've met and that's a little bit rare because the vast majority of people I bring on the podcast, I know in some personal or professional capacity.
• 1:55
  So I did my homework before bringing you on the show because we were fascinated with everything you're doing and the way that you're showing up to help other people in traditional marks do very in traditional markets to do very untraditional things.
• 2:08
  Okay, so now talk to me for somebody who just really doesn't get how technology and laundry dry cleaning, like how did it start?
• 2:15
  Where, where is the starting point?
• 2:16
  Where are we now?
• 2:17
  Break it down for us.
• 2:18
  Sure, sure.
• 2:19
  I like to start with the customer because we are all about the customer and solving the customer's problem.
• 2:27
  So I'll break it down from their point of view and how they use Juliet.
• 2:31
  So our clients will use Juliet to request to pick up, We will pick up clean and deliver their clothes within 24 hours at the top of a button.
• 2:41
  It's cashless.
• 2:42
  It's contactless and it's convenient.
• 2:45
  That is our main differentiator from everyone else.
• 2:49
  Now that's all great for the customer.
• 2:52
  Like this is great, I can just request the pickup on my phone and my laundry's done.
• 2:56
  But the technology is, you know, how do I do this for an entire city?
• 3:02
  How do I dispatch, how do I pick up?
• 3:04
  What if people want pickups at different times?
• 3:06
  And what if one's over here and one's over there?
• 3:08
  And how do I who, how do I know what belongs to who and how do I know who's hypoallergenic?
• 3:14
  How do I know what's hang dry?
• 3:16
  How do I know what's laundry versus dry cleaning?
• 3:19
  Well, that's where technology comes into play and we leverage technology so that we can deliver amazing customer service.
• 3:27
  We have a 90% retention rate because people just love how easy it is to use our service.
• 3:33
  But then they're texting with us and we're texting back like, Is this what you need?
• 3:39
  Is this the stain that you're talking about?
• 3:41
  Is this the button that needs to be replaced?
• 3:43
  Is this one needs to be dry cleaned and that's why they love us.
• 3:46
  That's technology.
• 3:47
  You know, traditional cleaners,
• 3:49
  they're not texting with you at 11: 00 PM or 11, You know, that's all technology.
• 3:56
  they're not texting with you at 11: So we're using technology to do pickups and deliveries.
• 4:01
  they're not texting with you at 11: We're using technology for quality control and we're using technology for customer service.
• 4:06
  they're not texting with you at 11: Okay. How did, girl, I'm fascinated, I have a thousand questions right now.
• 4:11
  they're not texting with you at 11: So this right here seems like really next level, but how did you get started?
• 4:15
  they're not texting with you at 11: Like what made you wake up one day and you're like, I want to build this?
• 4:19
  they're not texting with you at 11: Sure. So it was around 2013 and I was using Seamless a lot for food delivery.
• 4:27
  they're not texting with you at 11: And I'm like, Oh, okay.
• 4:28
  they're not texting with you at 11: And then I would call my cleaner and be like, Can you pick up my laundry?
• 4:30
  they're not texting with you at 11: Could you deliver my laundry?
• 4:32
  they're not texting with you at 11: And sometimes they would come, sometimes they wouldn't.
• 4:34
  they're not texting with you at 11: It was very inconsistent.
• 4:35
  they're not texting with you at 11: And that was my aha moment.
• 4:37
  they're not texting with you at 11: Why isn't there an app that could just pick up and deliver my laundry and dry cleaning?
• 4:43
  they're not texting with you at 11: And then I looked into it and I was like, Oh wow, this industry is very old and fragmented and there's a gap between customer service and branding and PR and marketing and just bringing it into the 21st century.
• 4:59
  they're not texting with you at 11: That's how I got into it.
• 5:00
  they're not texting with you at 11: I, I just went down the rabbit hole.
• 5:02
  they're not texting with you at 11: And so did you have any prior experience with tech, with branding?
• 5:07
  they're not texting with you at 11: Like how did, how did you decide I'm the person to solve this fragmented problem? So prior to Juliet, I worked at another tech startup.
• 5:16
  they're not texting with you at 11: So I was already exposed to the tech community and I was exposed to how much you could do with technology.
• 5:24
  they're not texting with you at 11: I don't know how to code now.
• 5:26
  they're not texting with you at 11: I know a little bit, but when I started I didn't, you know, I was just a part of the community.
• 5:31
  they're not texting with you at 11: And also my first company was a social media agency and we worked on brands, you know, big fashion brands and that's where I got my marketing and my PR savvy, I guess you can call it.
• 5:43
  they're not texting with you at 11: But that was my back background prior to attacking this problem.
• 5:47
  they're not texting with you at 11: And I'm like, well, let me just take what I'm naturally good at, what I get complimented on, which is the social media, the branding, the marketing, and then let me me just sprinkle technology on top and let's see what happens.
• 6:01
  they're not texting with you at 11: This is why I immediately, this is why when we looked through like the podcast application, I said, She's my people, she's my people.
• 6:10
  they're not texting with you at 11: Like this is the, and this is the principle of why we wanted to bring you on the podcast because I really, really want people to understand that the thing you're complimented about, it was the foundation of what it is to be a business. And so if you right now feel like I don't know anything, and so for like in this particular case, Michelle's like, I didn't know how to code, right? And you might be saying, I don't know how to do this in my business, but here is something I can do else that's different.
• 6:36
  they're not texting with you at 11: Let me fill the gaps by learning what I don't know or bringing in somebody who can help.
• 6:41
  they're not texting with you at 11: So this is where we wanna start connecting the dots.
• 6:43
  they're not texting with you at 11: So we have like social media savvy branding, you do have some familiarity with the industry that is like tech. And then you decide I'm gonna bring everything together.
• 6:52
  they're not texting with you at 11: And then where do you start?
• 6:54
  they're not texting with you at 11: Like how okay, you're like, okay, I'm gonna be doing this.
• 6:57
  they're not texting with you at 11: And I'm like, I immediately, Rochelle, I immediately go into what are the logistics for your drivers? What are the logistics of clothing?
• 7:04
  they're not texting with you at 11: Are you scanning each article of clothing, like Rent the Runway and then meets Uber meets a dry cleaning? I'm like, I get in it, I'm like, how? Yeah, it is.
• 7:13
  they're not texting with you at 11: Rent the Runway meets Uber.
• 7:14
  they're not texting with you at 11: It's so funny that you got Rent the Runway right away because at its core Rent the Runway is a dry cleaning company. Yeah, it is.
• 7:22
  they're not texting with you at 11: Yeah, It is.
• 7:22
  they're not texting with you at 11: That is their core operating model.
• 7:25
  they're not texting with you at 11: Yes. Is that it's a dry cleaning company.
• 7:26
  they're not texting with you at 11: Yes. And so you are absolutely right.
• 7:29
  they're not texting with you at 11: Each clothing is photographed.
• 7:31
  they're not texting with you at 11: We photograph everything we have to because it's just like when you're dealing with that much volume and how do you control quality if you're not taking these types of, you know, benchmarks. And I mean, I'm a huge fan of photographs, timestamps, gps, eta, like you can see the GPS of the clothes coming back to you.
• 7:56
  they're not texting with you at 11: Okay, okay.
• 7:57
  they're not texting with you at 11: Oh my God.
• 7:57
  they're not texting with you at 11: Like there's so much I wanna get out right now.
• 7:59
  they're not texting with you at 11: So I wanna bring everybody, we do have like a mixed, a mixed audience.
• 8:03
  they're not texting with you at 11: There are people who are familiar with Rent Runway and then there's people who are not.
• 8:05
  they're not texting with you at 11: So for people who are not familiar with Rent Runway, it's basically an app and a website where you can go through and you can choose outfits to rent.
• 8:12
  they're not texting with you at 11: And then what Rent Runway will do, we'll send you the clothes, you wear them, you put them back in a package and they are shipped back. Now the difference here is that Rent the Runway has barcodes on every hanger and every item of clothing and they're working with the same inventory, which is when you think about it a nightmare.
• 8:30
  they're not texting with you at 11: And then all of a sudden Rochelle says, you know what I wanna do?
• 8:33
  they're not texting with you at 11: I don't wanna have a line of the same type of clothing that will be treated and laundered the same kind of way. What I want is a wide variety of a billion different types of pieces of clothing, different types of applications with different customers.
• 8:44
  they're not texting with you at 11: I'm literally covered in a logistical chill fest and I'm like, you are my new hero.
• 8:50
  they're not texting with you at 11: This is fascinating.
• 8:52
  they're not texting with you at 11: And so when you first start, what are you feeling?
• 8:55
  they're not texting with you at 11: This is, and you said it's 2013 when you decided to take the jump. So 2013 I start putting pen to paper like, Got it.
• 9:02
  they're not texting with you at 11: What is this?
• 9:03
  they're not texting with you at 11: Like do I have an idea?
• 9:05
  they're not texting with you at 11: Is like what is going on?
• 9:07
  they're not texting with you at 11: You know?
• 9:07
  they're not texting with you at 11: Okay. So all of 2013 I'm cold calling laundromats and I'm just researching laundry businesses online.
• 9:16
  they're not texting with you at 11: I'm just for a year just scouring the internet, trying to make sense of the industry.
• 9:23
  they're not texting with you at 11: Now during this time, do you have another job or is scouring the internet your full? Okay, so this is Tech 2013.
• 9:29
  they're not texting with you at 11: This scouring the internet is a side hustle.
• 9:31
  they're not texting with you at 11: I wanna make a point of that because people who are listening think that it looks a certain way and you're like, Nah, nah, I had a 40 hour plus job and this is what I did on nights and weekends.
• 9:40
  they're not texting with you at 11: Yes. Wow.
• 9:41
  they're not texting with you at 11: And weekends.
• 9:42
  they're not texting with you at 11: So nights and weekends.
• 9:43
  they're not texting with you at 11: So, you know, I would do my work during the day and then in the evenings I would just research different laundry companies, like laundry industry, laundry history, What, what are the numbers?
• 9:57
  they're not texting with you at 11: What's the market?
• 9:57
  they're not texting with you at 11: What's the actual pain point?
• 9:59
  they're not texting with you at 11: Just everything.
• 10:00
  they're not texting with you at 11: Before I even start anything I research for one year and then I was like, okay, so I wanna pick up people's clothes from the phone.
• 10:11
  they're not texting with you at 11: How do I do this?
• 10:14
  they're not texting with you at 11: Right? How do you do this?
• 10:15
  they're not texting with you at 11: I don't, I don't know how to code and I don't have a laundromat, I don't have any funding.
• 10:20
  they're not texting with you at 11: And I'm like, how do you do this?
• 10:21
  they're not texting with you at 11: So what I did was I reached out to a friend who worked at the tech company that I was working at and I said, In your free time when you're not working here, do you wanna tinker?
• 10:33
  they're not texting with you at 11: Otherwise that's like, you know, poaching like talent.
• 10:36
  they're not texting with you at 11: But I basically said to him, I have this idea, can you build the prototype for me?
• 10:42
  they're not texting with you at 11: Which is just like the most simple version and can you charge me one year later because I don't have any money to pay you now.
• 10:50
  they're not texting with you at 11: Wow. Yeah.
• 10:51
  they're not texting with you at 11: And he was like, Yeah, sure, I'll do it for you.
• 10:54
  they're not texting with you at 11: And I got lucky.
• 10:55
  they're not texting with you at 11: I really, I really got lucky with that.
• 10:57
  they're not texting with you at 11: Well Rochelle, I'll back up and I'm gonna challenge that.
• 11:00
  they're not texting with you at 11: I would challenge that in that nobody would do something if they didn't think that you had the capacity, not just to pay them back in a year, but actually to fulfill on the thing you set out to do. Cause a developer doesn't wanna code something for a payment.
• 11:13
  they're not texting with you at 11: I think a developer wants to code something for a payment and then actually putting his or her creation out into the world. So there was clearly something, yes, it was luck and yes, it was good relationships.
• 11:23
  they're not texting with you at 11: There's something a little, a little magic there too.
• 11:25
  they're not texting with you at 11: There is.
• 11:26
  they're not texting with you at 11: There is.
• 11:26
  they're not texting with you at 11: And you know, so many of those early relationships were based on trust.
• 11:30
  they're not texting with you at 11: Yeah, absolutely.
• 11:31
  they're not texting with you at 11: And a lot of it is, you know, we're trusting each other and I'm trusting them and they're trusting me. And that has to do with your prior reputation and your prior work ethic.
• 11:41
  they're not texting with you at 11: So before you even start a business, I call it a personality, it's, it's the specific personality that is a CEO that is a boss.
• 11:50
  they're not texting with you at 11: And it's not better or worse, it's just, just a specific type of personality.
• 11:55
  they're not texting with you at 11: Yeah. You know?
• 11:57
  they're not texting with you at 11: Okay, so 2013 pen to paper, a year of due diligence, you reach out to a former peer and say, not poaching nights and weekends, I'm good in 12 months.
• 12:08
  they're not texting with you at 11: And then this person agrees to create the prototype.
• 12:11
  they're not texting with you at 11: How long does that take?
• 12:12
  they're not texting with you at 11: And then when do you start testing it?
• 12:13
  they're not texting with you at 11: Nine months.
• 12:14
  they're not texting with you at 11: Okay, so now we're a year and nine months and you have your prototype and then what do you do?
• 12:19
  they're not texting with you at 11: So I'm like, okay, I have the prototype.
• 12:21
  they're not texting with you at 11: Where do I clean?
• 12:22
  they're not texting with you at 11: Like how do I actually do this?
• 12:26
  they're not texting with you at 11: Yeah. You know, that's something that I wanna share with people.
• 12:30
  they're not texting with you at 11: It's like you can have a great idea, but so much about being an entrepreneur is figuring things out.
• 12:36
  they're not texting with you at 11: Yeah. Like there is no manual, there's no, Okay. Step one, step two.
• 12:41
  they're not texting with you at 11: And it's different for everyone because every business is different.
• 12:44
  they're not texting with you at 11: And every core competency, like my skillset and my competency is different from everyone else.
• 12:50
  they're not texting with you at 11: So when you launch that business, a lot of it is like, okay, so how do I figure this out?
• 12:56
  they're not texting with you at 11: So then I downloaded a list of every laundromat in New York City and then I cold called them and I pitched them and I was like, I have this idea for an app that picks up laundry and do you wanna partner with me and maybe you can clean the clothes?
• 13:10
  they're not texting with you at 11: And everyone laughed at me.
• 13:14
  they're not texting with you at 11: You know, you get a lot of those nos, they don't understand what I'm saying, they don't understand the value prop.
• 13:20
  they're not texting with you at 11: And there was this one guy who sort of just like, maybe he was like, maybe I'll entertain the idea.
• 13:30
  they're not texting with you at 11: He didn't say yes, but the maybe was all I needed to show up.
• 13:34
  they're not texting with you at 11: So I up, So I showed up at his laundromat and I basically said, I'm not leaving until you say yes.
• 13:40
  they're not texting with you at 11: And I was like, so we cut a deal and I worked for him for free for six months.
• 13:46
  they're not texting with you at 11: I worked for him for free for six months learning the laundry business.
• 13:50
  they're not texting with you at 11: Like just the in.
• 13:51
  they're not texting with you at 11: When you say you worked for him for free, like explain exactly what you mean.
• 13:55
  they're not texting with you at 11: Explain it to me.
• 13:56
  they're not texting with you at 11: Like, I'm five,
• 13:57
  I showed up at 7: 00 AM I swept his floors, I ran the counter, I washed the clothes, I dry the clothes, I learned how to, I learned how to run the laundromat.
• 14:08
  I showed up at 7: He was like, if you are serious, he was like, if you are serious about this, you need to know what you're doing.
• 14:14
  I showed up at 7: Because I didn't have like that kind of experience running a like okay, I wanna run a laundry business.
• 14:19
  I showed up at 7: Okay. Have you ever run a laundry business?
• 14:22
  I showed up at 7: Okay. Okay.
• 14:23
  I showed up at 7: Okay. Wait, Okay. Logistics.
• 14:24
  I showed up at 7: Logistics. So do you stop your other job And you No, no, because my other job was online, it was social media so I could easily just like, Got it.
• 14:34
  I showed up at 7: Okay. Okay, okay. Okay.
• 14:35
  I showed up at 7: So we, okay, so ladies and gentlemen, please note the funds were still coming because she was maintaining her job.
• 14:43
  I showed up at 7: At this point in time, we're almost at the two-year mark and it is still a side hustle.
• 14:47
  I showed up at 7: So you're eating the cost of your side hustle while your full-time gig is paying your bills.
• 14:53
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: 00 AM you are washing clothes, you understand the business of building a laundromat as well as understanding the business of how to take the laundromat to customers.
• 15:06
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Okay. So you're learning the ins and outs of the laundry business. At what point in time are you like, I am ready.
• 15:12
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: How long did you do the proverbial floor?
• 15:14
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Six Ness.
• 15:17
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: It was like six months of like earning his trust.
• 15:20
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Right. He mentored me, he trained me and I used to show him, I used to show up with a notebook cuz I used to time, I used to time wash cycle.
• 15:29
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: I would time folding, I would time drying, I would time everything.
• 15:33
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: And I'd be like, okay. So it's like a roughly one 15 if it's 10 pounds, da da.
• 15:37
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: And one day he said to me, I'll never forget, he was like, Rochelle, try not to be so smart about everything.
• 15:45
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Huh? And I was like, what? And he was like, sometimes you have to just like, he didn't say no or feel, but he said, don't, don't be so smart.
• 15:56
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Because so much of it is just, you figure it essentially he was saying, you figure it out.
• 16:01
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: You know, it's not like, you know, you're trying to fit this into that.
• 16:06
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: You're trying to make everything fit perfectly and that's just not real. It's not how it works.
• 16:12
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: At least with laundry and dry clean, you know, you're, you're dealing with a lot of different garments, different orders.
• 16:18
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: So I, I got that, you know, I was like, okay, let me just, let me just do this.
• 16:23
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: And then I understood that so much of the business is this trust that people have with you.
• 16:29
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: They're sending you their clothes.
• 16:32
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: I mean mean imagine how long it took you to find that garment.
• 16:36
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Imagine that piece that you only wear because of sentimental value or this because it's so comfortable.
• 16:42
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Where is this laundromat In New York.
• 16:44
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: What borough?
• 16:45
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Midtown. It's New York City.
• 16:47
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Okay. So here's another thing that like you, it comes into play.
• 16:49
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: You're not dealing with somebody who's getting their Levi's laundered.
• 16:53
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: You're getting somebody who lives in Manhattan in midtown who probably has spent a bit a bit of money and then they're willing to send it to a virtual stranger, which this is where Rochelle is talking about building trust.
• 17:05
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: So at this point in the timeline, I'm doing it, you're about a year and one month into this journey.
• 17:09
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: When do you start connecting the dots between the app or the prototype that you had created to actually getting the clothes to the laundromat?
• 17:18
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: September 21st, 2015. Oh wow.
• 17:22
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Okay. So tell me about that day.
• 17:23
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Like create the story.
• 17:25
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: So here's the story.
• 17:26
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: So now I'm, I've, I've trained with him, I've earned his trust.
• 17:30
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: He knows that I know how to do a laundry business.
• 17:33
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: And I was like, I wanna do this.
• 17:36
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: And he said okay.
• 17:38
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: And he gave me a key to the laundromat and he was like, Do it.
• 17:42
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: And he was like, it's if you really wanna do it, do it.
• 17:45
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: And so I was like, okay, so now I have a laundromat, which without funding because if he did not give me that key, I would've needed money to get a lease.
• 17:55
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Right. I would've needed money to buy machines.
• 17:59
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Right. 40 40 grand a pop.
• 18:02
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: You know, Wait a minute.
• 18:03
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: So does he give you the key with any laundromat?
• 18:06
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: No, I know, but with equity expectations or he just said, you worked for me for free all this time.
• 18:10
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Here's the key as compensation for doing the dang thing, I had to give a percentage of my sales.
• 18:16
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Got it.
• 18:17
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Okay. Okay.
• 18:18
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: It was like no rent, no this, but, but I think he understood that I was starting at zero. This is incredible.
• 18:25
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: So talk to me about the age of, I'm sorry, I'm assuming it's a guy, I think you had said he, Yeah, yeah.
• 18:31
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Okay. How old is he?
• 18:33
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: He's gotta be like At the time that this is happening roughly Mid to late forties.
• 18:38
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Okay. Mid to late forties.
• 18:39
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: And at this time you are around what age frame?
• 18:42
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: More or less like a I was late twenties.
• 18:44
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Okay. So he's older, he sees a hustle and a respect and then he sees the pro, the possibility of having a percentage of what would otherwise be considered passive income.
• 18:54
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Yeah. Interesting, Interesting. Passive.
• 18:58
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: So we're leveraging, you know, like underused assets.
• 19:01
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Yes. Because I'm not cutting into his So you're using his laundromat in the off hours?
• 19:07
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Yes. Oh My.
• 19:09
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: This is freaking amazing.
• 19:11
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Okay. So you have the key and then your next initiative is, I need customers.
• 19:15
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: I need customers.
• 19:16
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: And what do you do?
• 19:17
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: So I had a social media agency.
• 19:19
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Right, Okay.
• 19:20
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: One of my clients was a big real estate company.
• 19:24
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: So then I pitched them and I said, Hey, I have this laundry app and maybe I can do the laundry for your residents in the building.
• 19:33
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: And because we had that prior relationship, they were like, Yeah, sure, take three buildings.
• 19:38
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: I'm like, thanks. Okay.
• 19:40
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: So they say, and they, and they don't want, they don't want anything in return.
• 19:42
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: They're just like, okay, because of the relationship.
• 19:44
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: So explain that to me.
• 19:45
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: When you say take three buildings, what are you doing?
• 19:47
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Like what's the next step?
• 19:49
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: So I said to them, I said, Can you send out an email blast to all of your residents? Like I don't need your emails.
• 19:55
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Just let the residents know that I'm here to do their laundry. Can I put flyers in the emails and can I put a stand in the lobby letting them know that I'm here to do their laundry and can I like give laundry bags away?
• 20:09
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: And they were like, Yeah, we'll give you, you can do that in three of our buildings.
• 20:14
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: You have go, I am fascinated, I liked you before and now I'm like president of the Rochelle fan club.
• 20:22
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: So you, are you literally standing at these tables like Yeah, I've got photos like standing at the tables like hey, I'm doing laundry and this.
• 20:33
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: And so, Okay, so for somebody who's not in New York, what are the size of these buildings?
• 20:38
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: What is, okay, so what is your potential new customer pool and that pool? P o o l I said pull as in p l anyway.
• 20:45
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Okay. What is the potential customer pool and then how many people opted in in that first timeframe?
• 20:49
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Like three buildings, How many people, what was the uptake?
• 20:52
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: What did it look like?
• 20:54
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: So three buildings, roughly 200 apartments each.
• 20:57
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: So you're looking at 600 customers, potential customers.
• 21:01
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Correct. And I think by the time, like three months in, we had a hundred customers.
• 21:06
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Wow. And guess what, a lot of those customers are still my customers today.
• 21:14
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Okay. So you start in these three buildings, which is so smart, you're starting in concentrated areas to start figuring out what logistics look like.
• 21:26
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: You start taking their clothes, washing, laundering, dry cleaning in the off hours and then you're returning clothes.
• 21:31
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: But what happens?
• 21:32
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Like, are you doing all of that yourself?
• 21:34
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Yeah. When do you start?
• 21:35
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Oh Yeah, no, I didn't sleep for three years.
• 21:39
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Yeah, it was, it was very, it was very difficult.
• 21:43
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: I had to make a lot of sacrifices, a lot of compromise.
• 21:47
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: But that was the exchange.
• 21:49
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: So you know, I did this without institutional funding and I did try to fundraise a little bit in the beginning, which I, I didn't get that money and you need money so that you can hire a team or just to like scale and expand. But I didn't get that money so I had a choice. I was like, okay, what do I, what do I do if I don't have the money?
• 22:08
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: I was like, well you just have to work with what you got.
• 22:12
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: You know, you just, you just have to work it and you have to prove it and you figure it out and then you learn your cash flow, you learn your margins and then you start there.
• 22:21
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Even if it's only one, but you have to start somewhere.
• 22:25
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: I am fascinated right now.
• 22:29
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: So at what point do you build the business that you, how long did it take for you to bring in your first hire and what did that look like?
• 22:37
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: It was probably six months later and I hired someone to do the pickup and delivery because, Got it.
• 22:42
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: I, it was me and one girl.
• 22:43
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: So it started off with me and one girl Got it.
• 22:45
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Okay. And we would go pick up the clothes, bring it back to laundromat, wash it, fold it, deliver it back.
• 22:53
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: And then my first real hire was someone to help with that, with that pickup and delivery.
• 22:58
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: And it was like three, three to six months later.
• 23:00
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: So talk to me, talk to me, in that first six months, what was one of the worst things that happened?
• 23:07
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Or did it, was it flawless?
• 23:09
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Did it feel like you're like a swan and you're just coming into your own?
• 23:13
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: You know, so one of, I'll say this, when I went to market and I'm like, how do I compete right without funds?
• 23:21
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: Like how do I, how do I compete with the very little bit that I have? And the first thing that went into my head was, well you gotta be open when everyone is closed.
• 23:32
  Yes. So you're sweeping the floor at 7: So I went to market and I'm like,
• 23:34
  listen, I will pick up your clothes by 10: 00 PM and
• 23:37
  you'll get your clothes back before 6: 00 AM So you turned, you turned somebody else's liability into your asset.
• 23:46
  you'll get your clothes back before 6: Yeah. Because oftentimes people who are going to work, it's like it's laborious to go out of your way to make sure that you're dropping off and picking up during normal business hours when you should be at your business during normal business hours.
• 23:56
  you'll get your clothes back before 6: So, Oh, it's so New York though.
• 23:58
  you'll get your clothes back before 6: It's so the perfect market for it.
• 23:59
  you'll get your clothes back before 6: It's so, You know,
• 24:01
  every cleaner closes at like 6:00 PM 7: 00 PM maybe, and a lot of New Yorkers are working Right.
• 24:07
  every cleaner closes at like 6:00 PM 7: You know, and then they gotta take it to the cleaners and it's like, well just use me if you, if you tell me you need your clothes picked up by
• 24:13
  10: 00 PM I'll be there and then you'll get it back
• 24:16
  before 6: 00 AM because then the laundromat was gonna open for, but they didn't know that they were in love with the I. They were like flabbergasted.
• 24:26
  before 6: But I could turn it Off.
• 24:26
  before 6: So what was one thing that happened in the beginning that you're like, this is terrible.
• 24:29
  before 6: I'm not sure I can make it Valid.
• 24:31
  before 6: Yeah, I didn't sleep.
• 24:32
  before 6: I didn't sleep, you know, it really ate into like my, my sleeping, my health.
• 24:37
  before 6: Like I really, I was burning the candle on both ends, you know, it was, it was a lot of hard work, a lot of hard work.
• 24:44
  before 6: But 'til this day that model works, you know, we still pick up,
• 24:49
  we go until 9: 00 PM today.
• 24:52
  we go until 9: People love it.
• 24:53
  we go until 9: So how many customers do you have now?
• 24:55
  we go until 9: And I know that you're in New York, but we started off with like, you're like in six months there was a hundred customers and now years later Yeah we have, we have a lot of customers.
• 25:06
  we go until 9: That's incredible.
• 25:08
  we go until 9: We have a Lot.
• 25:09
  we go until 9: Okay, so when we think about this and we're talking and it's, and it's resonating because you simply said, I didn't have money and I didn't know how to do it. So then you figured it out and you leveraged what you had.
• 25:24
  we go until 9: A lot of people are listening saying like, okay, I know that story all too well.
• 25:27
  we go until 9: So I, I know I said I did my homework and something that you said really resonated with me about your story.
• 25:32
  we go until 9: That you're an Asian immigrant woman who built Juliet using zero funding. And I'm gonna read a couple things.
• 25:37
  we go until 9: Yeah. I know that I am the daughter of an immigrant and we talk about like how it shapes our perspective of what we have in this country and how we build.
• 25:46
  we go until 9: Now you wrote an email to the podcast team and I'm gonna read what you wrote in 2020 VCs invested 420 million into US based startups each day, I'm gonna repeat that again, that's not in the notes, but 428 million each day are invested in startups.
• 26:02
  we go until 9: That is 156 billion in one year.
• 26:09
  we go until 9: 2.3% went to women, 2% of 556 billion went to women.
• 26:19
  we go until 9: And 0.2 0.2% went to women of color.
• 26:21
  we go until 9: Why is that?
• 26:22
  we go until 9: And when the numbers work against you, how do you make an impact?
• 26:26
  we go until 9: I read that and I was like, okay, this is a conversation that I want to have.
• 26:30
  we go until 9: And even if somebody's listening and you're not a woman and even if you are a woman but you're not a woman of color, this is a conversation.
• 26:37
  we go until 9: It is just for us to know the game.
• 26:40
  we go until 9: And because once we know the rules of the game, we could break them on our own terms.
• 26:44
  we go until 9: When I look at Rochelle, I firmly, we could see she's breaking the rules, but she first had to understand, Talk to me about building bootstrapped.
• 26:53
  we go until 9: What does it look for you now?
• 26:54
  we go until 9: Do you look for funding in the future?
• 26:56
  we go until 9: How have you been funded?
• 26:57
  we go until 9: Is it continue to be self-funded?
• 26:58
  we go until 9: Is that your objective?
• 27:00
  we go until 9: How do I view funding now?
• 27:02
  we go until 9: So funding can be strategic.
• 27:06
  we go until 9: I changed my perspective a lot over the years and you know, I've been at this for like 10 years now, so my views are different.
• 27:13
  we go until 9: And where I was between 20 14, 20 15, 20 16 when it was this, this growing startup and I was establishing a footprint and I'm like, Okay guys, I have a company you should invest in me.
• 27:28
  we go until 9: You know, and I will say this, my counterparts in that same timeframe went on to raise 5, 10, 15, 20 million.
• 27:39
  we go until 9: And today is 2022 and they are all out of business.
• 27:42
  we go until 9: I will say that.
• 27:44
  we go until 9: And it used to really break my heart because I'm like, what am I doing wrong?
• 27:50
  we go until 9: Because I have the same concept I have, I am capable, I am pitching, but I'm not getting through to the investor.
• 28:00
  we go until 9: Well it's wrong with me, you know?
• 28:02
  we go until 9: And I had to do a lot of self-analysis and now looking back, I realized that I was desperate.
• 28:10
  we go until 9: They probably smelled desperation on me cuz they saw that I was stretched thin.
• 28:17
  we go until 9: They saw that I was so hungry and there's nothing wrong with that.
• 28:21
  we go until 9: But looking back, you know, if I'm sitting at the other side of the table and I see someone you know like gaunt and like, no, I can do this.
• 28:30
  we go until 9: Like really gimme money, They're like, No, I actually don't wanna give you, you know, now I'm able to put myself on the other side of the table and I realize that money is important.
• 28:42
  we go until 9: Money helps you grow it, it can, it's a resource but it is also about the relationship.
• 28:49
  we go until 9: You wanna find someone who believes in you and the money is a tool to help you get from A to B.
• 28:56
  we go until 9: So who backs me now?
• 28:57
  we go until 9: I have raised small funds along the way.
• 29:00
  we go until 9: The majority of that, those funds came from my customers.
• 29:03
  we go until 9: Wow. So there was a customer who I did not pitch him and he was so in love with the service.
• 29:11
  we go until 9: He said, I wanna invest.
• 29:13
  we go until 9: And I said, Really? And he was like, Yeah, I believe in this.
• 29:17
  we go until 9: I believe in you and I believe in what you're doing and I see the hustle and I, and I get it.
• 29:22
  we go until 9: And then not only did he invest, he brought on two of his friends to invest and they are all in that world in the finance world, in private equity and in investments.
• 29:33
  we go until 9: And so I never pitched them, I just kept on doing what I was doing and that's where I got my money from.
• 29:41
  we go until 9: Oh. Oh, okay. Rochelle.
• 29:45
  we go until 9: So I'm CEO of Social curator and we've originally started off as a membership and then in 2021 we made the big bold declaration that we were gonna build our own tech stack, hired a cto.
• 29:58
  we go until 9: And let me tell you like the differences, it's been wildly different.
• 30:02
  we go until 9: And what I realize that when you're building technology, it's so fun intensive and we hit an inflection point to like, we can't run as fast as we want.
• 30:11
  we go until 9: We will continue to be bootstrapped.
• 30:12
  we go until 9: I don't think investors get what it is we do.
• 30:14
  we go until 9: And so just like you, when you said your customer invested in you, our customers invested in us, we had a promotion and we just said, Listen, do you want lifetime access to what it is we do? This is your opportunity to invest and sit with us throughout the journey.
• 30:30
  we go until 9: And hundreds of thousands of dollars was the thing.
• 30:33
  we go until 9: And I'm like, this is how it's done.
• 30:35
  we go until 9: It's done on the back of doing the work.
• 30:37
  we go until 9: If people trust that you will follow through on the work that you were doing, the funds will come.
• 30:43
  we go until 9: So as somebody is listening right now and they look at your story, you are an immigrant.
• 30:49
  we go until 9: Yes. How old were you when you came to the States?
• 30:51
  we go until 9: Three. And did you end up in New York?
• 30:54
  we go until 9: Did your family or Did you Oh, I grew up, I grew up in New Jersey but both of my, my parents were 16 when they had I think 16, 17 years old in the Philippines.
• 31:04
  we go until 9: And so that's already like a big barrier, you know?
• 31:07
  we go until 9: Wow. Teenage parents in a developing country like the Philippines where opportunities are few and far between.
• 31:16
  we go until 9: And so getting to come to America was a dream come true already.
• 31:20
  we go until 9: I was like, we're here.
• 31:21
  we go until 9: Yay. Yeah.
• 31:24
  we go until 9: So where did you go to college or did you go To college?
• 31:27
  we go until 9: Fordham. Fordham.
• 31:28
  we go until 9: Oh, so you, okay. East Coast Girl.
• 31:30
  we go until 9: Through and through.
• 31:31
  we go until 9: How, what drives you to New York City Land of opportunity?
• 31:37
  we go until 9: I would, I could not do what I'm doing.
• 31:41
  we go until 9: You know, in many, I could in many parts of the world, but in many parts of the world.
• 31:44
  we go until 9: Like I can't, you know, to be able to run and move the way that I can in New York.
• 31:50
  we go until 9: So I know that you have a love for New York, in fact you had a blog post titled A Love Letter to New York.
• 31:56
  we go until 9: When you think about expansion plans and growth plans, what does that look like for you as a business owner that runs a locally based business?
• 32:03
  we go until 9: What do you want to expand?
• 32:04
  we go until 9: What does that look like?
• 32:06
  we go until 9: Of course.
• 32:06
  we go until 9: So we have our eye sound, DC and Miami.
• 32:08
  we go until 9: First we wanna establish our footprint on the east coast and then work our way out west.
• 32:12
  we go until 9: So it's gonna be Miami, dc, Chicago, Houston, la Wow.
• 32:18
  we go until 9: Well when you do get to LA, maybe we can have an advocate.
• 32:21
  we go until 9: I'm, I'm just south of la I'm in Newport Beach, so you know, Hey, hey honey, there's plenty, plenty, plenty out here.
• 32:27
  we go until 9: But I have a question that wasn't actually part of my notes, but I hear who you are and the authenticity.
• 32:33
  we go until 9: And the question for me that comes up is why this?
• 32:36
  we go until 9: You're a busy ceo, you're wildly successful, clearly. Clearly you do the work and you let the work speak for itself.
• 32:44
  we go until 9: So why are you giving so generously of your time, almost an hour of your time for this podcast?
• 32:50
  we go until 9: And it begs the question why, What does this do for you?
• 32:55
  we go until 9: Well if I had known some of the things prior, I, you know, I do believe in sharing and giving back.
• 33:09
  we go until 9: Thank you.
• 33:10
  we go until 9: Well it is, Thank you.
• 33:12
  we go until 9: That moves me like so much, so much.
• 33:15
  we go until 9: I just wanna say thank you cuz I hear the story and I actually love the story before I heard the story and now I'm like, Oh my God, this woman like it's incredible.
• 33:22
  we go until 9: It is incredible that there is somebody who said, I didn't know what I was doing and I didn't have the money and here I am showing up cuz so many of our listeners are in your exact situation and all you do, all you do, they're not likely gonna build what you're building, but all you do is you hold a torch and say, if you want it bad enough, you'll figure it out.
• 33:39
  we go until 9: And I'm so moved by that.
• 33:40
  we go until 9: And so I just wanna say thank you.
• 33:41
  we go until 9: So for our listeners in New York, if you see a Juliet hook it up, like support somebody who's giving to others, but how can people continue on your journey for people who are in DC and Miami and Houston, Chicago and LA to see the future version and support that.
• 33:56
  we go until 9: How do they connect with you?
• 33:57
  we go until 9: What do you want from this?
• 33:58
  we go until 9: How can we pour back into you?
• 34:00
  we go until 9: You know, just, we met, we update our blog every week, who is juliet.com and we're very active on our Instagram at Juliet Laundry.
• 34:11
  we go until 9: You could also follow me at i Rochelle and that's where I share the updates and I let people know and I try to share little, little pieces of advice and just give back anyway I can.
• 34:23
  we go until 9: You're the best.
• 34:25
  we go until 9: I, Rochelle, who is Juliet, you know, all, all good things.
• 34:28
  we go until 9: If you are interested in branding and pitching and just seeing the hustle, y'all join Rochelle and what she is doing, Thank you a thousand times over for being on the Jasmine Star show.
• 34:37
  we go until 9: You are a right of light, I hope just more good comes your way because nobody is more deserving than somebody who just puts the work in and then shares with others.
• 34:44
  we go until 9: So thank you.
• 34:45
  we go until 9: Thank.