We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jessica Sonnenberg a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jessica, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I’ll never forget when my friend called me and said “I have cancer.”

I know where I was sitting, what I was wearing and how it made me feel. A few days earlier she told me she found a lump and was getting a biopsy but I wasn’t worried, she was young and vibrant, certainly she didn’t have cancer!? As my friend was crying, wondering why this was happening to her, I said things to try and make her (and me) feel better. “Everything’s going to be ok” and “it’s treatable” but there was really nothing I could say to ease her mind during one of the scariest moments of her life. She was young with two young kids, even a best-case scenario was still terrifying.

Here’s where Mend Wellness Packages come into the picture. After the phone call and once I had time to process it, I wanted to help but how exactly do you “help” a friend with Cancer? I googled away. I spent HOURS down the internet rabbit hole researching and looking for something, anything. I saw lots of pink bows and cellophane wrapped wicker baskets and learned about stages and types of cancers. Nothing felt right. The next day, at the school bus stop, I told my neighbor/friend (Mend Co-founder) who is a breast and ovarian cancer survivor, about my friend. She offered to help me put together a care package with helpful products. I was skeptical. Once she showed me the package and carefully explained the significance, she also said how much care-packages from loved ones helped bolster her recovery during some very dark days. I was so touched – tears filled my eyes. It felt like the perfect most thoughtful gift. My husband saw it and immediately wanted one for a co-worker who had also been diagnosed. Mend Wellness Packages grew organically from there.

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 background and context?

I was a TV and Film producer before I started my business. The skills I learned from tv and film help me with so many aspects of Mend Wellness Packages. It’s like a story in a box. I have to find the right vendors and products and then put them together in a way that makes sense, just like a film or tv show. I also want it to look good while using toxin free products – which is no easy feat. I try to use non-toxic products from small-batch, local, mission-focused companies. Many of whom are female-owned. I certainly don’t want to send toxins to people who are not well. It’s been enlightening to work with small business owners who are passionate about what they do and are supportive of what I’m doing. In return, I get to sell a beautiful package full of clean products, made by hard-working passionate people. I think it shows in the final product. Ultimately my company supports a network of other small companies and that really makes me proud. What’s also interesting is, even though we started making packages for cancer, it quickly blossomed and we started getting orders for all kinds of wellness purposes, from Mental Health related issues to surgeries and even birthdays. I think it’s because our products are clean, beautiful and the packages feel special. Our customers feel confident sending a Mend Packages knowing all of this.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Starting my own business was a life pivot for me. When I moved from New York City to Boulder CO to start a family with my husband, it was hard to find tv and film work and I wanted to be at home as much as possible while my kids were little. A few years of being home turned into a decade and I wanted to work again. Unfortunately, after so much time off, I found it hard to find a job that allowed me to work and be home when my kids got home from school – an issue many parents face. It was the perfect time to start my own business. The irony is, I was working more hours in the beginning than a full time job but I worked at my own pace during the hours that made sense for me and my family. Sometimes that was 5am and other times it was 11pm.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn and let go of this idea of “perfection.” When I first started the business, I wanted everything to be perfect. The perfect box, the perfect products, color and logo. Because I didn’t have experience in this field, I felt like I needed to know EVERYTHING about the industry and the products I was wanting to use. I didn’t want to feel like an imposter in my new business venture so I spent many hours down the internet rabbit hole when I could have been using that time more wisely. I absolutely believe research is a huge part of starting a business AND I think there are a certain amount of “set” hours that can be devoted to research but then it’s time to move on and make some decisions. I know now if I am spending too much time researching something, then I need to either make a decision and move forward, even if it’s not exactly what I had in mind or put a pin in it and circle back later. I realized over time that I could always change my mind and add a new product or take something away if something didn’t make sense. My decisions could be more fluid, not set in stone and certainly not “perfect.”

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mendwellnesspackages.com
• Instagram: @mendwellness