Making the Leap to Entrepreneurship: with Kira Jones

Today on the blog, we are welcoming Kira Jones, founder of Cacti Wellness. She is a high performing (like wakes up at 5 a.m.) entrepreneur & content creator based in NYC. If you follow her on Instagram you'll see her up before the sun, working out everyday, running around NYC to host or attend different events, working on her wellness app, traveling, and so much more. Talk about inspiring.

I met Kira last year when I reached out to see if I could spray tan her when I was in NYC. I'd been following her on Instagram for a couple months. She was kind enough to invite me over. I took the subway over to her beautiful apartment she shares with her husband in SOHO, NYC. I will admit I was nervous lol. Almost instantly I could tell was so kind, confident, warm, and just a beautiful person overall.

Months later, I reached out to see if I could interview her for my blog. I knew she would give amazing tips & advice. I wanted to highlight her journey to becoming the business woman she is today. We hopped on a Zoom call a couple days later and now here we are!!! I hope you walk away feeling inspired and with tangible tips you can apply to your life.

In this post we're doing a deep dive into all things;

• her journey to entrepreneurship

• finding the idea for her app

• how she wakes up at 5 a.m.

• her tangible productivity tips

• dealing with comparison

• sacrifices she's had to make

• how to be productive without sacrificing your health

Introduce yourself and tell us what you do....

I am the founder of Cacti Wellness, content creator, and business owner. I’m really passionate about helping women, specifically women, take care of business while taking care of themselves. We created Cacti Wellness as a productive wellness platform to ultimately help people figure out how to integrate their wellness and their productivity. How by taking care of themselves they can be more productive and by finding time management and goal setting skills they’re able to implement more wellness routines. We have an app which has workouts, meditations, and productivity workshops, everything is under 20 minutes. We also have an online community. We do a lot of in person events in New York and LA.

Journey to Becoming an Entrepreneur

"You have to be willing to feel so uncomfortable for a long time

if you want to get to where you want to go"

What were you doing before you started Cacti and content creation?...

I went to college in Chicago for PR and Ad and I had a minor in marketing. Literally the week that I graduated, I moved to L.A. I wanted to be in the wellness scene. I started working at Equinox in sales selling memberships. I saw all of these really high performing, successful people coming in working out everyday and then going to be CEO of a tech company. I was like there is a correlation here that most of the world isn’t understanding. If you have a routine and you prioritize wellness, specifically fitness and movement, you’re going to be able to show up and do great things durning the day. So that was the idea for Cacti and that’s when I started blogging.

Would you say there was a gap in the wellness/ fitness industry?

Yeah, it’s still a connection that hasn’t really been made. There’s not a lot in the space that connects the two things. It’s almost like there’s a lot of resources for productivity and there’s a lot of resources for wellness, but there’s not much that shows you how you can use both of those at the same time. It’s almost like you either need to be so hustle culture or so self care. And we’re the interconnection of that. It’s not that difficult to do, people just need to know how.

How was it making that jump from quitting your job to starting your own business?

When I was at Equinox, I started listening to so many business podcasts and entrepreneurs. I started to realize this sounds like the life I want to live. And I’m not scared to do the work, I’ve always loved the work. I liked my job, but I felt unfulfilled and I wasn’t feeling very creative. I would say the first leap I took was leaving that job and I didn’t really have anything lined up. But I just knew for me personally I needed to leave before I could figure out my next steps. When I left that job I knew I had 3 months runway of savings to figure it out.

At that point I just started telling everyone like I’m good at social media, I can build a website. I had all of these different connections from working at equinox. People would be like, “Great I need someone to run my instagram.” It was very little but I was piecing things together. At the same time I was interviewing for full time jobs. I really realized I don’t want to be in an office environment. I was getting job offers and it would’ve been a good salary, good opportunity and maybe perfect for someone. For me i was just not excited about it.

You of course have a little fear, but at that point, I was pretty young, I was 22. I was a little naive in the way of “I’ll figure it out” while my parents were probably like “Oh my god, she’s across the country just figuring it out.” I think you have to bet on yourself. I think once you can get past the actual jump everything gets much easier. Things start to fall into place but you have to take the first step. And that’s where a lot of people never take the first step.

Tell us about your social media journey…

The year of 2022 was when i started to really grow on Instagram. Before that I had my account for two years. I had 2,500 followers, which felt great. I would maybe grow a couple hundred followers a year, it was very slow. I started posting reels and had videos go viral and gained almost 50,000 followers in one year. Obviously that was huge and it does feel as good as you think it would in a lot of ways. Like wow I really wanted this and was working towards this for so long.

The reason I’m saying that is because there are different times for different people. Sometimes you do something for three years before you see any results. I think that’s a big piece of the sacrifice. You can have an assumption on how something is going to go. But until you actually put effort into something and give it your all, you can’t know.

In the same way you do something for so long that you thought was going to work, and it does. Those are the moments that i think it looks like an overnight success but it’s not. For years you’re like, “Is this right? What am I doing?” Not to say I’m at all where I want to be, but once you get on the other side, you’re like wow all those years I spent stressing out it almost feels like a blip. It was everything then, but now you’re on the other side of it and life goes on. You have to be willing to feel so uncomfortable for a long time if you want to get to where you want to go.

COMPARISON

Did you ever compare the path you were taking to your peers? Especially because at 22 you probably saw a lot of the people you graduated with getting corporate jobs at companies?

I actually felt comparison towards people that I wanted to be like. I was very confident that I didn’t want to do what most of my friends were doing. I think where I would get caught in a bit of a comparison cycle was seeing people that were, and this still happens to me, one level above me. Right where i wanted to be next. Then I’m sitting here like oh my gosh I’m just starting, I don't really know what I’m doing. It's easy to get in your head.

If you’re comparing yourself to friends that are in a corporate job, and you know you don’t want that you just have to remind yourself that. Like say, “that’s great for them, they have a cushy salary, they have these benefits, but would i actually want to do that?” And maybe the answer is yes, but it’s probably no.

How do you deal with comparison now, especially since a lot of your career is in social media?

Comparison is human nature. There are people that are going to have success and that’s great for them. That just shows you that you can get to that level too. It’s not like one person per achievement, we can all do everything, and I think we forget that. I think its human nature to be fearful and feel scarcity. Like they got it and now I don’t have it. That’s just showing that you can also do it.

Now that I’ve had a lot of growth on social media, my business has grown, I’m doing it full time, and this is my career...The people i compare myself to are people that were full on mentors to me, like on a podcast. Now, I know these people personally. A lot of the times when we’re comparing or feeling insecure it’s actually showing us something that we want.

I also think from meeting other creators and business owners, and this is no shade because, I’m sure my social media looks different than what reality is sometimes too. But what you see is a highlight reel. Even when people are being honest, it’s when people are choosing to share. I don’t share every second of my day, I can’t. Sometimes it’s boring. Sometimes there’s not a lot going on. Sometimes it's so stressful that I’m in tears. Everyone is dealing with something. We have to remember, would you trade your life for theirs? No. Would you trade everything about your life for everything in their life? No, because there are so many good things.

Pushing Through the Noise & Doubt

What do you do on those days where you feel like you're in a slump or are in a negative mindset?

First of all I think it’s okay to feel a little down sometimes. Let yourself feel it for an hour. Maybe walk away from your computer, turn off social media, especially if you’re getting those feelings while you’re looking at Instagram. Put it away, you have the power to do that. We’re human, like of course, I’ve done it too, I’ve scrolled and felt shitty. We’re in charge of how we feel. If it’s making you feel bad, cut that out for the moment.

Remembering and writing down things you’re grateful for. Remembering the things that are going well in your life. I love talking to my best friend from home, we have very different jobs. We can talk about stuff that has nothing to do with work. She doesn’t know the people I’m comparing myself to. To her I’m Kira. I think getting yourself back and grounded, and to what’s important, really can help you snap out of it.

How do you push through the times when you feel stagnant, nothing is working, and that doubt starts to build?

Yeah, this summer into early fall I had that. I remember thinking okay it’s been like five or 6 months nothings working. I’m losing followers, my engagement is dropping. I don't really care about numbers but it’s frustrating when you were reaching people before and now you're not. I kept posting almost every single day. I was in such a bad mood about it and I finally was venting to my husband about it. He said, not in these exact words, but I took it as... fix your mindset. You’re not going to have success if you’re mad, you can’t be mad about it. Things ebb and flow. It’s the same with any business and with any job, nothing is good all the time. A couple weeks later i had another video go viral.

It’s funny because I look back and that felt like a year of my time. It felt like my career was ending, I was never going to have another brand deal because they weren’t performing. Now it was like a blip in the time line. You’re never going to be the best brand or creator if you just stop.

What sacrifices do you feel you’ve had to make to get to where you are today?

I feel like the biggest thing and this is going to sound dramatic, but my social life. I’m really lucky because I can count on my hands how many girlfriends I have where I don't have to keep in constant communication with them. We just can pick it right back up. A lot of them don't live here so I’m not seeing them frequently. When I do it's super quality time. But, my job has a lot of social aspects to it and that’s replaced my actual social life. A lot of the times I’m being social its technically work. I need to be on, posting, and networking. To me it's hard to say it’s even a sacrifice. But also I’ve missed weddings, bachelorette parties, etc. I’ve missed moments where I wouldn’t blame someone if they were like she’s not a very good friend. I’m such a people pleaser so that’s hard for me. People that you’re going to have in your life forever will understand. You still need to make the effort, reach out to people, and think of them. But, I think that’s something I’ve sacrificed a lot.

The other thing is time and money. My husband and I both work for ourselves. When we first got together, there were months where we both were like how are we going to pay rent? It’s not always easy, life is expensive, businesses are expensive. We reinvest so much money back into our businesses. It’s not for the faint of heart. If money stresses you out, that can be a very stressful aspect of business, especially for the first five years or so. That also stops you from being able to go on trips. I feel like it looks like I travel a lot and I do, but it’s work. I’m not just taking vacations.

PRODUCTIVITY

You are obviously very productive and manage a lot each day between your business and social media. What is your best productivity hack that someone can use?

I think time management is everything. Having clear priorities, and figuring out how to manage your time. The biggest tangible tip that I have for that is blocking your schedule. It’s a practice because at first you’re kind of guessing how long things are going to take. I block hourly in my schedule most days. I have a flexible schedule so I’m able to kind of move things around. If you work 9-5, that’s a block on your calendar. But, you have all of this time before and after work. Being really intentional about; for this hour I want to take a bath and read, for this hour I’m going to go to the gym. It could even be for going to dinner with friends.

I think being really clear on a plan for your day, and your week, it just changes everything. If you plan to fail, your plans fail. It helps a lot when you’re not feeling super motivated because you’ve already written out what you have to do. You just have to complete the task.

When are you planning out your day? Do you do it the night before or in the morning?

Sunday. It really helps me with the ~Sunday Scaries~. I feel like I’m in control of the week. It doesn’t need to be stressful. I’m not sitting here like “oh my god I have work tomorrow, I have all these things I need to do and I don’t know where to start." It’s like when you dont want to look at your finances and you’re stressed about them. Then once you do you feel so much better and you’re like why didn’t I do this before. I’ll look at my week, what I have going on, and try to identify things that I’m excited for that week. Also, Mondays, I try not to schedule a lot of calls, so I can ease into the week and really get everything organized.

ROUTINES

Walk us through your night routine…

The way that I get up early has a lot to do with my nighttime routine:

• No technology 30 minutes before bed. I read to fall asleep.

• I usually try to get my gym stuff out the night before, so it’s easy in the morning to put on.

• In a perfect world I get into bed at like 9 p.m. and go to sleep by 10.

• There’s an important hour between 9 and 10 where I’m not on my phone and not working. Obviously I have a lot of events. I go to things that end up going later, like last night I didn’t go to bed until 11 and I woke up at 6.

You wake up at 5 a.m. it's so impressive. You're getting so much done before most people wake up. Walk us through your morning routine & how you wake up so early.

The alarm goes off, you don’t want to get up, it’s just the truth. Your bed is warm, your room is cold, and it's dark. There’s no real answer, you just have to do it and remember why you’re doing it. And practice, now it’s just my routine, I’m more used to it.

• I use an alarm clock, not my phone. So that helps, I’m not checking my phone right away, I’m turning off my alarm clock.

• I keep sweats laying next to my bed so when i wake up I can immediately put them on as I’m getting out of bed.

• Leave the house an hour/hour and a half after I wake up , go to the gym, and get in a workout.I go every single day. Some days i just walk on the treadmill for 10 minutes and stretch and that’s my movement.

• It’s not about the workout, it’s like I go here and move my body in the morning. I’m already in workout clothes, I can always walk on the treadmill slow. Also, depending on the time of the month, I’m not in the mood and I’ll stretch. It doesn’t have to by anything crazy.

• I’ll go in the sauna, shower, and then I’m ready.

• I go to straight to my office space, and I stay here for a couple of hours in the morning and get emails done.

• I usually write in my gratitude journal in my iPad before I start my workday.

I used to be so regimented and get up and read a page of this, do my gratitude journal, meditate right there, but now i just want to feel good in the morning and ease into my day.

What makes you GLOW?

My current answer is the sauna. I’m obsessed with the sauna. It makes your skin glow, makes your body feel good. If you can find one near you and you can figure out a way to go often, it’s so worth it. I know it can be kind of pricey and not super accessible.

I would say my lifetime one is finding the right people in your life and having meaningful connections with them. That just lights me up. People that actually give you energy. I’m such an introvert but there are certain people where every time i leave them i feel so energized. I think if you don’t have those people in your life right now, you have to find them. Finding those people that support you and inspire you, it makes you glow, it makes them glow. Then you're able to bring that to other people.

Where you can follow Kira:

@kirajones

@cactiwellness