Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenny Valles.
Jenny, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I wouldn’t be where I am today without dance. Dance taught me some of the most valuable lessons in life: passion; how to express my most authentic self; the importance of surrounding myself with people that bring me up, not down; and most importantly hard work and discipline.
At 16, I picked up street dance styles called locking and whacking. At 18, I started hip hop choreography with a team called Culture Shock Los Angeles and then made my way to the competitive dance team circuit with a globally renowned team called Kaba Modern. Street dance battling and dancing competitively on stage were two completely different mindsets, but both equally taught me valuable lessons.
Battling taught me discipline and courage. When you battle, you have to be quick and smart. You have to be on your toes, learn how to outsmart your opponent, pull the right moves, and entertain the crowd at the same time. I loved the thrill of it, but to be honest, I was terrified all the time. Battling was a way for me to get out of my own head–because the minute my name was called and I walked out into the circle, there was no going back.
I also got into freestyling/battling because I saw a huge gap. At that time, there were hardly any women in the street dance scene; I could literally count them on my fingers. I was the youngest female in a room full of guys and jumping in these dance circles took a lot of mental strength. I lost some, won some, but I knew that putting myself out there was spreading a message to other girls that they could do this too.
Dancing competitively taught me the values of hard work, humility, and teamwork. We would practice 9pm-9am (yes, 12 hours straight for days at a time) outside on concrete, rain or shine. After practice, we would go straight to class, work and then straight to practice all over again. Mind you, this was all unpaid. I did it because I genuinely loved the people around me and we shared one common goal of putting our artistry out there. Nothing made me happier than to dance with an amazing group of people from night until the crack of dawn, creating something so beautiful together.
These experiences and lessons followed me years later. Now, I’m the co-founder of a social media marketing agency called Creative Fondue. Owning a business is tough. Managing the day-to-day is tough. Juggling it while I was at my full time, working 60-70 hour weeks was tough.
But what dance taught me is that if you love something so much, you’ll put in hours you can’t clock in. You’ll be scared out of your mind, but because you feel so passionately about it, you have no choice but to go all in. I was so blessed to know at an early age what being excited about something felt like, and if it felt like anything less, then why do it. That’s the bar that was set for me.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest struggle for me was dealing with major burn out, and it smacked me so hard in the face. In my early twenties, post-college, I was building my freelance business and focusing on getting it off the ground. I was going 100 miles an hour–picking up new clients left and right, going to industry events, meeting new people, networking, partying, the whole 9-yards.
When my father passed away in 2012, time stood still. It was a really hazy, difficult time for me. The healing process took place over a few years and it was a period of time where I had no other choice but to look inward. I didn’t realize how burnt out I was–I exerted so much time and energy into so many other things and forgot about myself. This is when I learned the importance of self-care, how to prioritize myself, and focusing my attention on the people I love the most.
Now, I’m a lot smarter about how I manage my time. I also learned how to be a “no” person, rather than a “yes” person. I don’t regret the work that I put in during my early twenties because it really laid the foundation for a lot of the business relationships I have today. I also don’t regret the burnout. It taught me so many lessons in my personal life and how I’d want to integrate it in the culture of my business.
Please tell us about Creative Fondue.
Creative Fondue is a social media marketing agency for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs. We focus on organic social media strategy and paid social media advertising strategy. I head up all organic social so if you want your story to be told through a compelling brand narrative, content strategy, and copywriting, I’m your gal!
Fun fact: My co-founders are two of my best friends from my college competitive dance team–it’s really awesome to be on the same wavelength with my business partners.
When we say we know exactly what entrepreneurs go through, we know! My partners and I call Creative Fondue the “3.0” version of our business. We first banded together years ago because we knew we wanted to create something for ourselves. We started with a food pop up (wasn’t our cup of tea), transformed into a digital publisher (again, not our cup of tea), and eventually landed on a marketing agency because we realized through our other two businesses, we were most passionate about marketing.
We love helping entrepreneurs out because we know how hard it is to build a business. We’ve been there three times!
Shameless plug: I also love to write. I have my own blog where I touch on industry trends, marketing/communications advice and entrepreneur life.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I started showing an interest in cooking when I was really young. My dad picked up that I wanted to learn. So, during the summers, he’d drop me off at my lola’s so she could teach me how to cook his favorite Filipino dishes. At that time, I thought it was a funny thing my dad was trying to pull (he was a good-natured, jokester kind of guy) so he could get his favorite dishes whenever he wanted when I was home.
I will always remember standing in my lola’s sweltering kitchen in the middle of a California summer, chopping garlic and onions, with fish and meats marinating in soy sauce and vinegar, and the sound of the rice cooker clicking when it was ready.
Looking back, I’m sure his intent for me was to spend time with my grandma, who I loved dearly. But now that I’m older, I’m so grateful for the experience. For Filipinos, the love of food runs deep in our veins. It’s at the center of our family gatherings, it’s the hallmark of our hospitality culture, and it’s one of our biggest pride and joys. For me, as a second gen Filipino-American who doesn’t understand nor speak Tagalog, cooking is the biggest way for me to connect to my culture.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.creativefondue.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennyvalles
- Other: https://www.jennyvalles.com/
Image Credit:
Taylor Jones
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