Female Founders: Jenn Ditzhazy of ThePerfect3 On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Accept that you are going to make mistakes. As a recovering perfectionist, this one was hard for me. Even if you ask all the right questions and read all the books, you are going to make mistakes that will likely cost you money, time, and peace but that’s okay. The lessons you will learn will be invaluable.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jenn Ditzhazy.
Jenn is the founder of ThePerfect3, a transformational wellness brand dedicated to turning everyday habits into healing rituals. ThePerfect3 offers incredibly clean, high-quality health food products that support our bodies from the most foundation level — the gut! Their flagship product, the innovative Collagen Clarity Creamer, was expertly crafted to transform your coffee or tea into a delicious, gut healthy superfood in less than 30 seconds.
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?
Sure! As with many entrepreneurs and business owners, my business blossomed out of a personal journey.
I say that I was destined to start a healthy food brand because I have always been so sensitive to everything I ate! When I was a kid I couldn’t eat pizza at birthday parties because it made me feel so sick.
Into my early twenties, I had rashes and eczema across 80% of my body. Most of it I could hide but some of it showed up on my face. There’s something about visible health conditions that really make an impact on a person. In my experience, when others can see and ask about a health issue, it carries a different variety of shame.
No matter what I did. I just couldn’t seem to shake the eczema.
I didn’t know it at the time, but all my issues were inextricably connected.
Throughout these years I’d been bouncing from doctor to doctor, and prescription pad to prescription pad, with no relief. It was incredibly scary not knowing what was wrong, and not being able to find answers.
One day I was on the phone with my mom when she told me about an article she read about a new diet, called the gluten-free diet. This was back in 2010 when “going gluten-free” wasn’t really a thing.
The article said that it may help with eczema so I figured I’d give it a go. Wellness blogs and Instagram accounts were almost nonexistent so there wasn’t much information for me to go on. With the one page article in hand, I headed to the grocery story and started my gluten free experiment.
Within 2 weeks my eczema was 95% gone and my anxiety was 85% reduced. After trying so many different things, I was amazed that this one change made such a dramatic impact.
From that moment on, I began reading every book and research paper I could find about the connection between food and disease in the body.
I’ve found, and the research has agreed, that gut health is king when it comes to optimal mental and physical health.
I’ve taken all these learnings and funneled them into ThePerfect3. My vision is to create a long line of products that elevate daily habits that truly heal and nourish the human body. I’m unrelenting about quality because I truly believe we each deserve to feed our bodies the absolute best.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
By far the most interesting aspect of founding ThePerfect3 has been an inside look into the food industry. I started because I wanted to create truly clean, healing products, but when I got inside, I saw that things are not always as they appeared.
When I was working on creating the flavor profile for our Chocolate Coconut Collagen Creamer, our food scientist recommended getting a few samples of “Chocolate Natural Flavor” to experiment with.
I’m sure you’re familiar with natural flavorings. They’re in everything! Sparkling water, nut milks, yogurt, teas. You name it!
When you are manufacturing a food product, you get a lot more information about what is actually in the ingredient, even if it would be listed as just one single ingredient on a consumer package.
I was shocked to find that companies aren’t required to list some of the ingredients if they are in a low enough amount.
In the Chocolate Natural Flavor I received, there were actually multiple ingredients, including benzyl alcohol and maltodextrin, both things that are inflammatory for the body, particularly the gut. If I had chosen to use this in my products, which I did not, I would only have had to list Chocolate Natural Flavor.
Now, these ingredients are in a small amount, but if you are eating foods that have these types of ingredients in them on a daily basis, your body isn’t going to love that. The worst part is that as consumers we aren’t given this information.
As a consumer myself, this really makes me reevaluate what companies I buy products from.
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?
Well truthfully, I am just starting out! We launched just a couple months ago.
I’ll have to keep you posted on this one.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve made plenty of mistakes so far, but I’m actually really grateful for them. Each one has given me an “ah ha!” that’s inspired me to see things differently.
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’d have to say my great friend, Sabrina-Anne Wuu. Her relentless optimism deserves a gold medal!
As I’m sure you know, when starting a business, the road is not laid out before you. You have to lay the bricks as you go. Sometimes those bricks don’t quite fit and you have to rework our plans. In business, this process can test the patience and fortitude of the most zen individuals.
On those days, I’d call Sabrina and she’d somehow find the silver lining in whatever was happening, and give me the insight to see that I was actually better off now.
For instance, the original food scientist I hired ended up making a product that was completely different from what I had requested. It was basically 180 degrees away from what I had detailed in the brief, and didn’t fit my vision at all. When all was said and done, I ended up losing a good bit of money and a lot of time. This experience was the first big mistake I had made, and I felt awful.
I called Sabrina and she said, “Well, just think of it as you’re paying for an MBA. The lessons you’re learning are super valuable and worth every penny.” Talk about a reframe!
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?
First, it’s clearly more challenging for women to found companies, as is made evident in the article you referenced.
The 20% referenced in this article encompasses companies with a male and a female founder, but when you look solely at female founded companies, the figure drops to 2%, as reported in this Bloomberg article.
If you look only at these statistics, just the fact that it is more difficult for women to gain funding, makes founding a company more challenging for women, leading to fewer female founders.
However, in my experience, these statistics point to the larger, systemic societal issue of gender inequality.
Yes, we’ve undoubtedly made progress since the Mad Men era, but the wake of these times is clearly still reverberating today. There are subconscious biases, and overt discrimination, happening that obviously play into this scenario.
In my own life, I recently found out that at one of the previous corporate jobs I held I made about $30k less in base salary than a male counterpart. We had the same title, but I had more relevant experience.
There could be many reasons for this but when you look at the fact that I brought in substantially more revenue for the company than he did, it’s difficult to find another explanation.
At that company I sent the exact same email, word for word, as a male colleague to request time off from our boss. I had actually asked my male colleague to send me the email he used because I had heard of this type of thing happening. I was called into our bosses office to discuss the “rude” email I sent, when my male colleague was not.
These types of things happen all the time. I’m sure every woman reading this has her own stories to tell. These situations are insidious because they can be interpreted in many different ways. The funding and founding space are not immune to these types of scenarios.
It’s also true that there is a compounding effect of these types of events in a person’s life. For me, it meant I made less money every year, for some women it means being passed over for a promotion. Ultimately these things can lead to fewer women having the money and resources to begin their own thing.
I am in contact with many female founders and entrepreneurs on a daily basis and I will say that I see this statistic changing drastically over the coming years. I see so many inspiring, passionate, and brilliant women entering the space.
In fact, this article by BCG calls female owned startups “a better bet” as they yield better results revenue wise. Forbes references that female founded startups are “flourishing” revenue-wise and culture-wise. In my experience, positive culture is not the norm and I believe this will be a huge benefit for these companies.
I know many female founders who are leveraging creative business models so they don’t have to seek outside funding. I think women are entering the space in increasing numbers; they just aren’t going about it in the traditional way.
For myself personally, I am designing my business to not require outside capital. I’m being incredibly thoughtful about how I grow, so I can do so in a self-sustaining way.
Personally, I think women are on fire in the business world and I can’t wait to see what the next ten years hold.
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?
Exactly what you are doing now! Sharing about females who have started their own companies. The more we see women doing their thing, the more women will feel inspired.
Second, I believe that entrepreneurs and founders, male and female, play a big role in correcting this imbalance as well. Offering support, and sharing what you’ve learned with others, is huge. Making time to offer mentorship can play a big role in helping bring more female voices into the space.
I’ve had some incredible mentors who completely shifted my perspective and taught me some incredibly valuable lessons with just an hour of their time.
For me personally, one of the most empowering things I have done is seek out other female entrepreneurs. I have a couple calls every week with other female entrepreneurs where we share ideas, troubleshoot, and create. It’s an amazing community that has been the most amazing support system for me.
I am certain this type of collaboration and community will amplify the results we see out of female led endeavors.
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?
I view founding a company as an amazing expression of creativity. You are literally building something that wasn’t there before, that has the power to transform lives. When we add more women into this equation, we increase the number of unique perspectives and ideas, and that means greater innovation. Women bring with them a host of experiences and perspectives that are uniquely theirs.
If we want to maximize our potential as a society, it’s necessary that we tap into different perspectives. When one dominant group is leading and creating the majority of the companies, we create blind spots and miss opportunities.
When we tap into the diverse array of perspectives within our society, we add more color, depth, and complexity to the canvas.
More women in the founding space means more creativity, ingenuity, and opportunity for the unimaginable.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
Yes, one of the biggest myths I hear is when people say, “I could never do that. I have no idea where I’d even start.”
I think it can be easy to get overwhelmed by the end goal, but most founders didn’t know exactly where to start, or the path they would take! You just have to be a problem solver with perseverance.
I often use the metaphor that founding a company is like driving at night. You don’t need to see the whole road ahead, you just have to see until the end of your headlights, and then the next steps will illuminate when you get there.
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?
No, not everyone should be a founder, purely because that isn’t what everyone wants! We all have unique gifts and talents, and finding out what our individual gifts and talents are is the greatest journey we will ever go on.
A founder has to want to take on the responsibility, and be comfortable with a lot of uncertainty. When I don’t know how to do something, it is up to me to find the answer.
As an employee, you have the benefit of a leader or a guide to direct your action. A big perk of being an employee is that you don’t have to shoulder as much responsibility, and typically deal with less uncertainty.
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.)
Oh wow, great question.
The first thing I’d love for someone to know is that starting a company is the greatest personal development journey you will ever go on. The more you are able to reflect on your own limiting beliefs and weaknesses, the better you will do.
I dedicate time every single day to create space for self reflection. I meditate 20 minutes, twice a day without fail. It’s my secret for solving any problem, and feeling mentally clear.
I’m not the only one. Ray Dalio said meditation was “the single most important reason” for his success.
Second, accept that you are going to make mistakes. As a recovering perfectionist, this one was hard for me. Even if you ask all the right questions and read all the books, you are going to make mistakes that will likely cost you money, time, and peace but that’s okay. The lessons you will learn will be invaluable.
I like to think that the more mistakes I make now, the fewer mistakes I’ll make later. I’ll let you know how that works out for me.
Third, be careful who you share your vision with, not because they will try to “take it” from you, but because negativity is contagious. Don’t share your vision with anyone who will be needlessly critical out of fear before your butterfly has had a chance to grow.
When I first had the idea for our Collagen Clarity Creamer, I shared it with a friend who I knew probably wouldn’t understand. He proceeded to tell me all the reasons why I shouldn’t do it. He wasn’t doing it out of malice, he genuinely wanted to protect me from the risks. Although I gained some new perspective, I mostly just felt deflated. I’m not saying don’t seek out feedback, I am saying be selective with who you solicit feedback from.
Fourth, you don’t have to know the how, you just have to have a burning desire and a clear vision. I’m paraphrasing Napoleon Hill here but many of us often do not start towards our goals, whatever they may be, because we don’t know the exact how. In reality, you’ll never be able to see the full road ahead.
When I started I had no idea how to formulate, manufacture, and distribute a food product but I stayed committed and I figured it out. If you want something badly enough, you’ll figure out how.
Finally, your mindset is everything. Things will go wrong and things won’t always turn out how you had hoped, but your ability to reframe it in a way that serves you is going to mean everything.
When we were just about to start manufacturing our first product run, I got a message from my inulin suppliers that they wouldn’t have the ingredient in stock for another 6 months due to unexpected supply chain issues.
I either had to find another supplier, or delay my launch and pay for 6 months of storage for my other ingredients. Instead of letting myself get stressed out, I told myself I’d find another supplier quickly. It worked out and I actually ended up finding a far better supplier.
Recognizing what we can and can not control is vital.
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
My goal with ThePerfect3 is to make the world a better place by being a trustworthy resource for information and products that truly build better health. I see so many opportunities for wellness in our daily lives, and I want to create ways for us to easily weave in these upgrades. I think oftentimes we think health is “another thing to do” when in fact our daily routines hold so many opportunities that require no extra time.
Take our Collagen Clarity Creamer for example. Most people already use some type of creamer in their coffee or tea, but it likely has no health benefits, or is actually detrimental.
Our Collagen Clarity Creamer adds in three superfoods that are incredibly effective at building gut health and skin health. Why not upgrade things we are already doing to feel our best? I can’t wait to bring this product to more people because it is so powerful.
As someone who has experienced disruptive health issues, I have learned that health is the foundation of everything in our lives. It’s like Confucious said, “A healthy man wants a thousand things, a sick man only wants one.”
When we feel our best, we can go out in the world and do our best.
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.
Love this question! If I could inspire any movement, it would be to inspire each person to go after what they truly want in life, rather than what society deems acceptable.
It’s easy for us to ignore what really lights us up in favor of what seems like the “responsible” choice. I think that mentality leads to people waking up in their 30’s and 40’s realizing they’ve just spent the last decade doing something that doesn’t really make them feel alive.
The more people doing what lights them up, the better off each and every one of us will be.
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.
How fun! I’d love to have breakfast with Sarah Blakely. Before learning about her, I didn’t really know about many female founders.
Seeing all she has accomplished has been incredibly inspiring for me. She’s a mission-driven entrepreneur and that’s the best. I also appreciate how authentic and real she seems.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Female Founders: Jenn Ditzhazy of ThePerfect3 On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.