Female Founders: Jess Toolson of Mixhers On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
JUST GET STARTED! You will never have everything perfectly ready. MAKING A MISTAKE doesn’t mean your business can not be saved. ONE DAY AT A TIME- bite off what you can chew one day at a time. Work on things that get you pointed towards your end goals but don’t overwhelm yourself with an unrealistic timeline of what your dream for your company is!
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jess Toolson.
Jess Toolson is the founder of Mixhers and mother of three. She is an advocate for hormone health, disrupting the industry by addressing taboo topics for women such as libido and period pain and through her vulnerability and persistence has lead Mixhers to grow 1200% in 2021. Jess believes that Mixhers will succeed by providing consistent loyalty to customers and has made it her personal mission to help women feel seen.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
It was after I was postpartum with my identical twin girls that I started having terrible menstrual cycles. Pains that would keep me in bed and hormonal acne that left me hiding my face. As a mom of 3 I couldn’t afford a sick week once a month. After countless conversations with doctors and friends I realized that there was not a good solution for what I was going through on the market. That’s when I met Cody Sanders, my now business partner who at the time was creating Hertime in her home and giving it to clients as a holistic health practitioner. After being skeptical of a natural solution I agreed to give it a try and to my astonishment it actually worked! My skin cleared up, my moods stabilized, and I wasn’t in terrible pain every month. I knew that we had to get this product into women’s hands, so we set off on a journey creating what is now Hertime.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
The most interesting thing for me since starting Mixhers has been being a female CEO and all that comes with it that I was not expecting. I have found an army of other female founders that I now consider mentors and friends. With Mixhers we have seen so much success through collaborating and working with these female brands. It’s been amazing the support we have received for our mission to help normalize the conversation of hormone imbalance and the real struggles women face but are told to accept. Collaborating and being with these women, other founders, customers, and fans is the most amazing surprise of this journey.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
The funniest mistake I made was when we launched a product called “hernightly” but we spelled It “hernigthly” and didn’t realize until we already had thousands of the products completed and in hand the day before we launched. It was an embarrassing thing to figure out how to still sell through the product because as a small business we couldn’t just call it a loss. It was amazing to see the response from our audience as we chose to be upfront and transparent that we made a human error. Our community responded in an incredible way! They sold us through months of inventory in a few days! They loved that we were vulnerable and honest.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I was raised in a home with parents that truly taught me that I could do anything I put my mind to. They raised me to believe that the sky is the limit if I have the drive to chase dreams. They taught me how to work hard as a child and they have stood by my side as I have learned how to be a first-time business owner. I am grateful for a dad that taught me what respect should feel like as it proves to be helpful time and time again as I have navigated being a woman in business.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?
I feel like women are incredible with seeing problems around them and businesses are born by them discovering the solution. I do feel that as great at multi-tasking as women are and how hardworking women prove to be, there isn’t enough support for women to make it past the very first phases of business. A very first website, enough cash to even act on their idea and I do believe that women are questioned longer about their ideas and how realistic is the possibility of success. Women aren’t given as many chances to fail and try again which makes women feel like the pressure is so great that it may not be worth trying. I wish that women felt even more supported in their ideas even just from the very first thoughts of what they dream of creating.
Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?
I think it would be incredible for women to have access to attend more business classes on campuses or government provided support. I know that for me I had to step away from college and my education when motherhood became top priority. I love that I had years to focus on being the caregiver in the home but after years in the home I was ready to chase some personal dreams but didn’t have the time or resources to return to college. I would have loved to have the ability to audit a few beginning business classes or access to learning about finances and more technical skills that can be helpful when you’re a one woman team.
This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?
The more women that find success in business and step out to chase their dreams the more it benefits each of our communities. Women are likely with success to turn to help their community, make a positive impact on school systems and they want to give their time to others in order to mentor. Women are so happy to give back and be sure that when they succeed, it opens up more doors as well as opportunities for others. Female founders make an impact in their immediate circle, but the trickling effect has a long reach.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
Something I love to dispel is that women in business, or women in general, are dramatic. I can absolutely confirm that this is false and a message of the past. I am surrounded by women in my Mixhers workspace as well as surrounded by females in our community regularly without any sort of drama, hurtful or even negative energy being present. Women want to find success for themselves while also lifting others to succeed all around them. Women want to rise in groups and lend a hand to those around as well.
Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?
Female founders have to learn to take a no but realize that someone else will say YES! Not every person will love every bit of your business which is ok! I have had people question my love for our community as well as question my practices with running company focused on FUN! I think what I have really had to get comfortable with is that not everyone will love what we are doing and how we are doing things, but it doesn’t mean we are wrong! I have learned to love the way we do things without needing to always feel that others grasp our vision entirely. Female Founders need to be confident with working against the grain or standing out from the norm! It’s not always easy but it’s so fulfilling to run a company when you know you’re being your true self!
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
JUST GET STARTED! You will never have everything perfectly ready. MAKING A MISTAKE doesn’t mean your business can not be saved. ONE DAY AT A TIME- bite off what you can chew one day at a time. Work on things that get you pointed towards your end goals but don’t overwhelm yourself with an unrealistic timeline of what your dream for your company is! DO WHAT YOU DO BEST, HIRE OUT THE REST. Hiring our first employees was really hard for me to see we needed because it felt like it was so risky to hire on help and I felt the pressure was so large to bring others into our startup. However, what I learned is that the more I can be focused on my favorite projects, the more the company grows. Asking for help and delegating is for the best of the brand. SURROUND YOURSELF WITH THOSE YOU DREAM OF BECOMING. I love getting to know people that have really done more and made it much farther than me. Instead of being intimidated I find it as an opportunity to learn from the best and it shows that if they can find success then you can too!
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
I love that with Mixhers we are working to discuss taboo topics and allow women to admit they’re no longer ok with suffering. It’s freeing for women to realize they’re not alone and Mixhers helps women to not feel so lonely in their health journey. We are making a difference in our community by providing a safe space for women to connect, relate and improve their health. We give back to our community and many women in need of support even outside of their health journey!
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
My idea would be that the more we can meet together and share ideas, brainstorm and help those around us then the faster we all can learn and improve our ideas. It’s amazing the power that just discussions with likeminded people can do for your creativity or ideas for your business. Being collaborative and supportive of others is FREE and it has a rippling effect.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
I am absolutely inspired by Sara Blakely of Spanx. I love how passionate she has been to solve a common frustration for women. She has created incredible success while still remaining a kind, humble and fearless leader. I have loved hearing more and more about her personal journey that has helped me to learn the type of female founder I really want to become and the type of company I care to build.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this
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