We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jenny De Leon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jenny below.
Jenny, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
I got the idea for Repeatabl when I was a traveling business consultant. I would get up at 2 or 3 am on Monday morning so I could make my 5 am flight to get to the client site by 1 pm. I would get home (if I was lucky) around midnight or 1 am on Thursday night. I would be home for 3 days and then back on the road again. As you can imagine, this was a pretty hectic lifestyle! My life at that time felt like an assembly line. I was doing the same thing each week and everything had to be timed perfectly to be able to get everything done.
When I traveled each week, I wanted to save time and frustration so I never checked my bag and always flew with just a carry-on. This means you have to be strategic about what you pack so you can show up with what you need, but still look and feel good in a professional environment. I had my clothes packing down to a system, but what I still struggled with each week was packing my skin care products. As we all know, TSA has rules about how many liquids you can bring when you fly with a carry-on and they all have to fit in that tiny quart bag! If you are a woman who likes to keep your skin care routine intact when you travel, you know this can be a real challenge.
Back then, I didn’t have a good way to bring all my skin care products and it took me too much time each week to figure out what I needed to bring. Some products were sold in travel size containers, some I would refill and everything was disorganized and messy and I never really knew what I had or how much was left. It was frustrating and I showed up more than once missing some of my favorite products! There really was nothing on the market that fit my needs so I embarked on the journey of creating Repeatabl. After countless hours of research, development, and testing, I’m proud to have created a travel system that combines functionality, convenience, and sustainability. It took me 6 years but I now hold 4 patents and a trademark for Repeatabl!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Jenny Kerr De Leon & I’m the inventor of the Repeatabl Travel Systems. I’ve traveled by air as a Business Consultant for many years. One of the big struggles I had when traveling was maintaining my skin care routine on the go. I always flew with a carry-on which meant I was limited by the liquids I could take due to TSA Regulations. I’d often have to pick and choose what products I could take, just to fit everything in my quart bag. This was frustrating and took up way too much of my time each week to plan and organize. As I was searching for a solution, I realized women business travelers are an underserved market. There was not a product on the market that solved the frustration of packing your quart bag with ALL your skin care products and that’s why I’ve developed Repeatabl Travel Systems.
The Repeatabl Travel System consists of a tray with 6 pods that securely hold your favorite skincare products in travel-sized portions, ensuring TSA compliance and organized packing when you just want to fly with a carry-on. Repeatabl comes with a built-in spatula for easy & sanitary product application. It is specifically designed to address the common challenges faced by business travelers flying with a carry-on and struggling to pack their skincare products for shorter trips. Traditional larger travel bottles, often around 3.4 ounces, are not practical for just a few nights away. Most travelers don’t require a full 3.4 ounces of their favorite product for such short trips.
With Repeatabl, you can customize the amount of product you carry by using several pumps or pea-sized amounts. This not only saves space but also allows you to bring a variety of different skin care products. Unlike larger bottles, Repeatabl’s compact size ensures you have room for other essentials in your quart bag. Additionally, by bringing only the necessary amount, you minimize product waste and save money, as you won’t end up with unused product upon returning home. Repeatabl empowers you to travel light and efficiently, without sacrificing your skincare routine. When I pack for my trips, I can generally take 15-17 products in my quart bag when I travel with Repeatabl!
Repeatabl started as an idea that I could help make packing your quart bag easier when flying with a carry-on. I’m so proud of how far we’ve come! It took 6 years and Repeatabl now holds 4 patents and a trademark. Repeatabl’s uniqueness lies in its ability to specifically address the frustration of packing a quart bag for women business travelers. By offering a compact, TSA-compliant system with customizable pods, Repeatabl streamlines the packing process, allowing women to efficiently organize and carry their favorite skin care products without the hassle of traditional travel containers. This solution ensures travelers can maintain their skin care routine and stay confident while navigating TSA regulations. With Repeatabl, you no longer have to compromise on your skincare routine or worry about leaks and spills during transit. It streamlines the packing process, maximizes space in your quart bag, and ensures that your essential skincare products are readily accessible wherever your travels take you. No product left behind with Repeatabl!
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
One of the key things I had to unlearn when starting my business was letting go of all the negative chatter in my head. We all know that voice, the one that tells us we can’t do or have the thing we want the most. Early on with Repeatabl, there were numerous challenges and setbacks that would have made it easy for me to quit.I had to make a choice to shift my thinking to view these challenges as opportunities for growth and improvement. It was so uncomfortable! But deciding to see obstacles as part of the journey rather than barriers was crucial in my ability to keep going with Repeatabl.
Changing my mindset involved actively challenging those negative thoughts and incrementally replacing them with a more positive and resilient perspective. This didn’t happen immediately and took some time to get used to. Over time, instead of seeing setbacks as failures, I learned to view them as valuable learning experiences that contributed to Repeatabl’s evolution. This shift was pivotal in keeping my motivation high and my vision clear, ensuring that I stayed committed to the project even when progress seemed slow or uncertain.
Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?
Repeatabl started with an idea that I knew was unique, but I had no idea how to actually bring my idea to life. I tried contacting manufacturers directly, but they blew me off and didn’t want to work with me since I only had one product. I researched different companies that work with inventors and I decided to partner with a company called My Product Today. They had the experience and the contacts to get my invention manufactured. The owner of the company is passionate about helping inventors and has a long history in the industry. After talking to him, I knew it was a good fit and it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve made in my business.
There are a lot of lessons you learn about manufacturing that you could never foresee when your product is just an idea. For example, the labels for Repeatabl come with a marker. We tested a lot of different markers to find the right fit. I thought we had settled on one, but once I had the sample inventory, there were some issues with the marker wearing off because of how a person would naturally hold the lids when screwing and unscrewing them. This is something we could not have known in the beginning, but after getting sample inventory, it was easy to spot. We ended up going with a waterproof marker that solved the issue but we never would have known this without actually testing it all in real life. Manufacturing can be a challenge but when you partner with a company that has the experience and cares about its inventors, the process is so much easier!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://repeatabltravel.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/repeatabltravel/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094363722318
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/repeatabl/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5Zj3_hVW1d_BbeHDO6MhTQ
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@repeatabltravel
