Jessica Gonzales, Founder of Happen Venture and Global Pioneer on "Beneficial Reuse" of Waste

Braving Business: Tales of Entrepreneurial Resilience and Courage in the Face of Adversity

Tal J Zlotnitsky

Entrepreneurship, How To, Business, Education

4.9 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 25 November 2024

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Join Tal and PJ as they welcome Jessica Gonzales, a Latina powerhouse in resilience, innovation, and entrepreneurship, to the Braving Business Podcast. Jessica's journey is a testament to overcoming adversity, bootstrapping innovation, and redefining sustainability.

Episode Highlights:

Jessica began her entrepreneurial career by bootstrapping her first company, InCharged, from her parents' house, turning it into a global event technology success, partnering with brands like Google and Coca-Cola. But the pandemic turned her world upside down, leading to the bankruptcy of both her companies. Instead of giving up, Jessica pivoted and launched Lux Disinfect, a disinfection tech company, during COVID-19. This new venture not only thrived but also prepared Jessica for her next chapter.

Today, Jessica is the founder of Happen Ventures, where she’s tackling sustainability head-on, focusing on "beneficial reuse" to transform waste into community resources. A single mother and mentor, Jessica’s "nothing is impossible" mantra fuels her relentless drive to make a difference.

Key Discussion Points:

Bootstrapping InCharged from scratch and landing powerhouse clients like Google and T-Mobile.
Navigating the collapse of her companies during COVID and the mindset to pivot quickly.
Launching Lux Disinfect and selling it within two years.
Exploring the sustainability industry through Happen Ventures and its mission to reduce landfill impact.
What "beneficial reuse" means and its transformative potential for communities.
Challenges of being a Latina CEO in male-dominated industries.
The role of resilience in entrepreneurship and Jessica's belief that "nothing is impossible."
Balancing single motherhood with leading high-impact businesses.
Vision for expanding Happen Ventures and making a global environmental impact.
Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs facing setbacks.

Quotable Moments:

"Sometimes you sulk, but then you pivot and move on quickly." "Nothing is impossible if you have the will to push through the hard moments."

Connect with Jessica:

Instagram: @happenventures
LinkedIn: Happen Ventures
YouTube: Happen Ventures
Facebook: Happen Ventures

Listener Engagement:

What resonated most with you from Jessica’s story of resilience and reinvention? Share your thoughts and stories of overcoming challenges at www.bravingbusiness.com.

Disclaimer:

The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Braving Business Podcast or its hosts.

Remember to subscribe, rate, and review us wherever you get your podcasts. Stay brave!

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode of the Braving Business podcast is sponsored by, well, me.
0:04.8	I'm PJ Binwana. I've been in the domestic and international logistics space for over 30 years.
0:09.3	If you need any assistance with transportation or logistics, my team and I will jump at the chance to help.
0:14.8	Whether it be parcel shipments, e-commerce, pallets and freight, full truckload, international air and ocean, imports, exports,
0:21.4	warehousing, and distribution, or really anything under the logistics umbrella, we got you covered.
0:26.0	For more details, please go to shipwithpj.com. That's shipwithpj.com. Reach out to me there,
0:33.7	mention you found me on this podcast for a special surprise. And one last quick thing.
0:38.5	If you enjoy this episode, please stay on after the show to learn more about the Braving
0:42.4	Business Podcasts and other great episodes for you to discover. And now, let's get the show
0:47.7	started. Well, hello there.
1:03.5	Hello there.
1:04.4	I just heard it there.
1:05.6	Did you actually say hello there or did you decide to change your trademark?
1:09.0	No, I said, well, hello there. Oh, okay. Well,
1:12.5	maybe it's my headset. I didn't hear it. I just heard there. Oh, no. They're there. I said,
1:16.8	well, hello. Of course, I'm all about salutations. I'm not going to start a fantastic show with an
1:21.3	amazing guest by not saying hello. So, all right. Well, fair enough. Hello there. How are you, sir? I'm well. I'm well, dude. Hey, guess what? This past weekend, I went and saw a band by the name of the, the, and they're, the, I've heard of you, they've been around a while. They've been around a long time. They're one of my favorite bands when I was in high school.
1:50.6	And when I was going to high school in Hawaii, you know, you don't have a lot of concerts.
1:57.3	There's not a lot of bands who come out. And those were my formative years where I was finally going to concerts that I chose to go to.
2:01.1	And, of course, although I was never going to come to the islands. And so they came to Chicago and I got to see him. I was blown away. Never in a million years would I have thought
2:05.5	I was going to be able to see him. It's fantastic. Well, you know what? I'm going to go listen to
2:09.8	the, the, I remember thinking their name was the most ridiculous name ever and didn't listen to their music as a result you're wearing a shirt i see that um
	...

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