We’re looking forward to introducing you to Jennifer Cefaly. Check out our conversation below.
Good morning Jennifer, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
The first 90 minutes of my day? Let’s just say… I’m not exactly leaping out of bed.
I’m a night owl (always have been), so mornings are more of a gentle ease than a power start. My most creative ideas tend to bloom somewhere between 9 p.m. and midnight, so the early hours are really just about warming up—slowly. Step one is coffee. Step two is more coffee.
Now that I run my own business, I finally get to lean into my natural rhythm instead of pretending I’m a morning person. I was an elementary school teacher for 17 years and back when I was teaching full time, those 5:30 a.m. wake-ups were brutal—I was basically a zombie. Owning a business means I can structure my day to match my energy, which is a game-changer for productivity and sanity.
So my first 90 minutes are mostly caffeinating, stretching, and pretending to be functional while my brain boots up..
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hi! I’m Jen Cefaly, co-founder of Design Hive, a creative technology workshop based in Los Angeles that blends hands-on learning with the magic of STEAM—Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. Alongside my business partner and longtime friend Lauren Arshad, I help create imaginative, process-based experiences for learners of all ages—from toddlers and teens to parents, professionals, and curious creatives.
Design Hive was born from our backgrounds as teachers and our shared passion for making learning fun, meaningful, and inclusive. What makes us unique is our commitment to both hard skills like circuitry, coding, and 3D design, and soft skills like creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration. We believe that learning should be joyful and tactile, and that everyone deserves access to enriching experiences that spark curiosity and confidence.
We host everything from after-school classes and weekend workshops to community events and corporate team-building experiences.
We’re currently working on expanding our curriculum offerings, developing our line of educational kits, and continuing to create inclusive, intergenerational spaces where creativity can thrive. Whether you’re 5 or 55, we’ve got a glue gun or laser cutter with your name on it. Come make something with us!
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
As a child, I believed that creativity lived exclusively in the world of artists—painters, writers, dancers, designers. I thought you had to be holding a paintbrush or choreographing a routine to be considered a creative person. It felt like something that existed in neon-lit art studios or theater stages—not in science labs, spreadsheets, or coding environments.
But as I grew older (and especially after becoming a teacher and entrepreneur), I learned that creativity isn’t confined to the arts—it’s everywhere. Creativity shows up when you troubleshoot a tricky tech problem, reimagine a lesson plan, build a marketing strategy from scratch, or invent a new way to connect with your community. It blooms in spreadsheets, soldering projects, and small business pivots just as brightly as it does on a canvas.
Creativity is less about the medium and more about the mindset. It’s about curiosity, risk-taking, and the willingness to try something new—whether you’re building a robot, managing a team, or teaching a workshop. That belief has shaped everything we do at Design Hive: we create spaces where people can rediscover their creativity, even in places they never expected to find it.
What fear has held you back the most in your life?
The fear that has held me back the most? It’s the fear of disappointing the people who love and believe in me.
I’ve always been driven by a deep desire to make the people in my life proud. Family, mentors, friends, coworkers—I’ve carried their belief in me like a badge of honor, but also, at times, like a weight. That fear has sometimes made me second-guess big risks, hesitate before trying something new, or overthink decisions that I knew in my gut were right. I didn’t want to fail—not just for me, but because I felt like I was carrying the hopes of everyone who’d ever cheered me on.
Letting go of that fear, or at least learning to quiet it, has been incredibly freeing. It’s what allowed me to step away from a more traditional path and build something meaningful, creative, and sometimes messy—but completely mine. And I think that’s what those people who love and believe in me wanted all along.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Is the public version of you the real you?
For a long time, the public version of me definitely *wasn’t* the real me. Vulnerability felt risky, and attempting to portray perfection felt safer. But entrepreneurship changed that.
Starting a business stripped away a lot of those protective layers. You can’t build something from the ground up without getting scrappy, honest, and a little messy. It tapped into something deeper in me; something more human. I’ve cried over invoices, celebrated wins that no one else even saw, and made things I’m truly proud of with people I trust. I’ve found that showing up as my whole self, doubts, strengths, warts, and all, actually makes the work better and the relationships we’ve built stronger.
So now the public version of me is the real me. Maybe a little more caffeinated and a few more wrinkles, Authenticity and ease with myself has become of the most unexpected gifts entrepreneurship has given me.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope they say I made people feel seen, capable, and inspired to create, whether it was a cardboard castle, a startup idea, or a new version of themselves. That I wasn’t afraid to share the messiness alongside the magic. That I believed in the power of creativity not just to make things, but to change things, communities, classrooms, lives.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.designhivela.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/designhivela
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/designhivela
Image Credits
Jennifer Cefaly
Lauren Arshad
Joakim Blomdahl
