3+ YEARS
we never
would have
IMAGINED
2021
"
We can launch in 2 months.
- Jess
Yeah, right.
At the end of January, I officially moved all of my stuff from SF to a storage unit in LA and moved in with my parents to spend 6 months or so with them, or so was the initial plan. In the meantime, I developed a plan to launch WeElev8 by March 2021, in time for Women's History Month. I knew that eventually I wanted WeElev8 to be what it is today, but that meant I most likely would have needed additional funding to build my dream version. So instead, I built our first demo iteration of WeElev8, and at that time, version 1 was going to focus on elevating diverse stories using more of an online media format rather than a social learning platform. THAT would have been a great place to start, but from research and my professional experience, I knew that it wouldn't have been as impactful as combining Inclusion, Diversity, and Equality (IDE) learning with real, lived experiences told by a diverse range of people themselves.
So, the plan changed…
2020
"
What a year...
- Everyone
11:59pm December 31, 2019: "One more minute!!!," I screamed in boisterous joy to a group of about 40 family and friends. My name is Jessica Cortez Kimball, and I am Founder and CEO of WeElev8. I am also that kid at a party who is ALL IN, ready to lead the team in jubilant shenanigans. With one minute left in 2019, that meant I was front and center by the pool in my cousin's backyard in LA streaming the West Coast replay of the NYC ball drop on my phone and leading the countdown to 2020. Where were you for the last minute of 2019?
Midnight hit. 2020 was here. I hugged my mom and Nino, and spent the first few minutes of 2020 wishing everyone I love a Happy New Year. Shortly after, I received a text from one of my BFFs: "This is gonna be our year, girl. I can feel it!" Yes, for me, it really did feel like big things were coming that year. If we only could have imagined. Then again, who could've.
A few days later …
I flew from LA, where I was born and raised, back to San Francisco, where I lived and worked. At the beginning of 2020, I was working my dream job, leading Inclusion & Diversity (I&D) for a tech company in SF that wanted to further I&D both for their workplace culture and for their products, I was living in a dream top-floor apartment on the water overlooking the Bay Bridge, and by most Western society definitions of success, I was crushing life!
One year later, I had quit my job, left SF, and was living in an RV parked in my parents' driveway back in South Gate (the neighborhood in LA where I was proudly raised and call home), and started building WeElev8! Why? Well…
A LOT happened in one year.
Here are some of the key events that lead to the start of WeElev8 in November 2020:
March 2020: San Francisco Mayor London Breed called for a state of emergency well before the first Covid-19 case hit SF. I immediately called my mom to tell her not to panic, that the state of emergency was proactive. She panicked anyway, because… well, most of my family is a giant ball of Generalized Anxiety (myself and extended family included).
April 2020: I made my first solo drive from San Francisco (SF) back to South Gate (SG) to ride out what we thought would be the rest of Covid-19 for a week or two (how hopeful we were). Three days later, our neighbor was the first person in our immediate world to get Covid, and he was whisked away by emergency personnel in hazmat suits. He was still in the hospital when I returned to SF a couple weeks later.
May 2020: George Floyd was murdered. I was back in SF. My mom and extended family were so worried about me (especially as a Black/Mexican woman living alone): "Don't go outside if you don't have to." I joined millions in protest anyway. I felt… well, I didn't really allow myself to fully process my feelings at the time, because it was literally my job to help our company and community process, discuss, share, and learn together. It would be months until I allowed myself to process… for myself.
October 2020: "F**k it. That's it. Enough is enough." After months of driving back and forth from SF to SG, spending weeks at home in SG (a predominantly Latino neighborhood that was one of the worst hit by the pandemic in all of LA county), and seeing literally everyone around us getting extremely sick, it was my turn to break: I had my first-ever panic attack at 4am on a Friday morning right before I was supposed to lead an Inclusive Marketing training for our entire European Marketing team.
Days later, with one question, my therapist (Molly Papp) literally changed my life (again). That question was simply, "Are you happy?" From the outside looking in, how could I not be happy. But at that point, where my life was once happily aligned at the beginning of the year, my reality (and that of everyone else on the planet) had changed, and my life was no longer aligned with my current reality…. And NO, I was no longer happy.
So, I made a "Choose Happiness" list and made massive changes to my life, getting back to the core of my own happiness. These are things that make me happy, no matter the life situation I find myself in. There were six things on that list, and three of those were: family, health, and making the world more inclusive.
Here are some of the main changes that I made to align my happiness with my reality, which soon led to the start of WeElev8:
Family: With EVERYTHING that was going on, I asked my mom what she really needed at that time, and she said, "I need you here" (in South Gate). Yup, I needed that too. Done. I decided to move back to LA.
Health: My mental health was waning, mostly because I was doing what I've done for most of my life: taking on the needs of others while always putting my needs last.
"WWMS?" ("What would Molly say?") became a stalwart mantra for me, which eventually helped me realize that I needed to recalibrate. So, after much deliberation, I quit my job to spend 100% of my time with my family. My team was amazing - so supportive, so understanding - and I cannot thank them enough for the compassion they showed me then and in the months/years that followed.
Making the world more inclusive: By that point, I had spent most of my adult life both professionally and personally working to further Inclusion, from starting my first company after college helping students from diverse backgrounds and locations attend college, to eventually leading corporate Inclusion, Diversity, and Employee Engagement for multiple $Billion+ global companies. My experience was vast, wide-ranging, and mostly fulfilling… and yet, it also felt like the Inclusion industry was constrained, mostly limited to the corporate landscape.
So, 2 weeks after leaving my job, I asked myself how I would strategically approach Inclusion, Diversity, and Equality (IDE) if I were Chief Diversity Officer of the World? Yeah, I know - lofty. BUT, my point was, I had been doing exactly that for large corporations for years, so what if we looked at the world as one large entity instead? How would we develop a scalable, strategic approach to help as many people as possible further Inclusion, Diversity, and Equality?
Within 2 days, I outlined a strategic plan (just as I had many times before) that would become the basis for WeElev8.
2024
"
We are SO proud!
- Jess, Mom, Nino, Missy, and our cats
First half of 2024: Sprinting to the finish … well… the next start line! (even though I literally cannot walk right now).
I've been an athlete for most of my life. Sports have always been important to me, from playing sports on our street in South Gate as a kid, to playing basketball and running track at South Gate High School, to walking onto the Yale Basketball Team (for a very brief, yet awesome 1 year - and 1 shot - college career).
For anyone who has ever gone on a run or a race, you may be familiar with the emotional "buzz" of the last stretch. For me, it's a combination of relief, exhaustion, grit, excitement, pride, chills, burn, "just keep pushing; you're almost there," and absolute JOY inside!
During this time, I felt all of the above and more.
March 11, 2024: I had a super intense knee surgery - a meniscus transplant and an osteotomy re-alignment. Although the primary foci of the surgery went well, unfortunately they fractured my femur DURING the surgery! This took recovery from an estimated 6–8 weeks, to a now estimated 8–10 months!! I was immobile with zero weight-bearing for 7 full weeks stuck in bed most of the time, and as a result of that, I've been SLOWLY battling scar tissue and rebuilding strength as my broken femur continues to heal.
I still work every day editing, coding, designing, and whatever else needs to be done, but I have to constantly remind myself that my health and recovery MUST come first.
I also can't help but look back on the past 3+ years and see that our entire WeElev8 journey has been a culmination and confluence of every part of who I am professionally and personally: all of my passions, skills, love of learning, and unflinching desire to help make the world more inclusive however I possibly can. And when I say OUR WeElev8 Journey, I really do mean so many more people than just me. Although I'm building it myself, my mom and Nino have been right by my side every single step of the way; extended family members call every day to see how we're doing, which gives me a surge of love and pride to continue on; friends - who are far more than friends but truly my chosen family - constantly give me TONS of positive support (even when my own positivity may start to waver); and a huge thanks to Molly Papp, my therapist for the past 5+ years who has helped me become more and more of myself every single day. (Check out a full list of Thanks below)
And with that, my mom, Nino, Missy (our dog), our cats, and I are SO proud to bring you WeElev8! :)
Thanks to you,
our journey continues...
2022
"
Hmmmmmmm...?
- Jess
January 2022: We started our first year-long Company Inclusion Journey pilot (Thank you, MedPOINT Management!). Just like each of us as individuals, each company has its own Inclusion, Diversity, and Equality (IDE) needs. Our Company Inclusion Journey guides companies as they discover their IDE needs, define what IDE means for their companies, and take action, leading to tangible impact they can start seeing right away.
January–June 2022: I designed and developed our first fully functioning version of WeElev8 as a social learning platform!
Turns out learning to code was simultaneously a great fit for how my brain naturally works and a nightmare for how my brain naturally works: I love solving puzzles, and I naturally think in synthesized connections, BUUUUUT I also prefer not to focus on teeny tiny details. To code well, you need both.
The scope grew, and the timeline expanded. Here are some key WeElev8 moments from 2021:
February 2021: The early Covid-19 variants rampaged Los Angeles, and direly more so for South Gate and our surrounding communities. My parents and I chose to continue our self-quarantine and focus on "family, health, and WeElev8" (that literally became our daily prayer… and cheers). Click here to read more about my South Gate Covid-19 experience.
March 2021: We finished building an office for me in the backyard (yes, it's a shed… but a fully equipped shed!). This was (and still is) our first WeElev8 headquarters (thanks to Elizabeth Ballart for the HQ sign).
May 2021: I completed my first round of research and strategic development, identifying what resources we would need in order to build a fully working social learning "Beta version" for WeElev8.
Turns out, it would cost a lot of $$$$ beyond all the savings I was already putting into everything, so the next step was to build a "pitch deck" and try my hand at finding investors.
June-August 2021: Built funding pitch deck and identified a range of grants and early-stage investors. I also built a second demo version of the site, showing the vision for what WeElev8 would evolve to today.
September–November 2021: Applied for grants and had "informational" conversations with a handful of veteran investors. I already knew that only 2% of all start-up funding is invested in companies with only female founders (and less than 0.5% is invested in female founders of color), so I knew it was a long shot, BUT I am so thankful for the early investor conversations I had. Pretty much the main takeaway was...
Investors: "Come back when you have at least 10,000 users."
Me: "But, I need the initial funding to build the Beta version BEFORE I can get any users."
Investors: "... Yup."
Total funding received: $0
December 2021: After realizing that my realistic chances of getting any funding were extremely slim, I had a major decision to make. Now that I had worked a full year on WeElev8 and gave it everything I possibly could, should I:
-
Go back to leading corporate IDE and restock my savings to use on building WeElev8 at a later time? OR…
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Teach myself to code and build it myself?
I believed in WeElev8 so much that it was an easy decision:
Option 2 - ALL IN! I then spent all of December learning Java Script and Velo (Wix's JS-based coding language).
I spent a LOT of the first half of 2022 writing code, knowing I had the method and code blocks correct, only to run my code and get errors. So, I was constantly switching from saying, "Hmmmmmm…?" to realizing it was usually just a teeny tiny missing parenthesis or semicolon, and then frustratedly mumbling "F**king semicolons."
Luckily, I have always been good at "Trial and Success": trying something, not freaking out if it doesn't work, iterating, and repeating until it does work (SUCCESS!). In 2022, I also came across a Navy SEAL mantra that sums up this process really well: "Adapt and Overcome." Whenever I started to look at the calendar and how many days, months (and eventually years) I was putting into WeElev8, I would focus on WHY I believe so firmly in WeElev8, and then I would simply remind myself to "Adapt and Overcome."
July–October 2022: Now came one of my favorite parts: content development! I have been creating learning and development programs for well over a decade, and I love every part of it. I developed the outline and main components for the 4 core Inclusion Journey courses in less than 10 days, but then I realized that I had to record and produce my own videos (because I definitely no longer had the personal funds to pay someone else to do it). After weeks of research and online tutorials, I started recording version 1 of the videos using a webcam and simply sitting at my desk in the office we built. After seeing the first version, a friend of mine gave me some great advice: "Get some better lighting… and borrow my camera." (Thank you Dr. Chibao Nguyen for your friendship and support… and for lending me your very professional camera). Then after weeks of MORE tutorials and research, my mom, Nino, and I transformed half of my office into a recording studio!
November–December 2022: It took almost an entire month to tweak our recording setup to meet our needs. To do so, I had to learn tons about various lighting techniques, video capture software, sound proofing, and audio management. By the end of the year, I think I had taught myself about seven different jobs just to get to this point.
2023
"
Waiting Game ...
- BANKS
After watching sooooo many online tutorials about content creation, I spent the first few months of 2023 recording and editing the Getting Started core course videos that we eventually used for our first launch. I also used this time to develop our entire launch and marketing strategy, gearing up to FINALLY go live!!
July 2023: Launch 1.0!!!! After a year and half of designing, coding, and developing our WeElev8 social media and learning platform, we were FINALLY ready for Beta testing. We had to make sure (1) it was easy for people to understand what WeElev8 is, (2) members could easily join and sign up for WeElev8, and (3) everything worked!
Obviously mom and Nino were the first WeElev8 members, and they were able to join and use WeElev8 easily, quickly, and without any issues. Yay! Then I reached out to some of my closest friends to have them try it. In the 1 WEEK between having my mom and Nino test it and having my friends test it, something changed, and although my friends were able to understand WeElev8 and sign up, not all the functionality worked. No!!!
(Huge thanks to everyone who tested WeElev8, especially Chris Lobo, Eric Gonzalez, and Rafa Valenzuela for going above and beyond, trying things multiple times.)
August 2023: After a couple weeks of troubleshooting, I found out that Wix EditorX, the professional platform I used to custom-build WeElev8, was going through some MASSIVE backend changes that ultimately impacted WeElev8 and any site that used some of their more premium features. Ultimately, EditorX was going to be phased out and replaced with a new version "within the next few months."
I have to admit, I cried. I literally dropped to the floor, and cried, because the version of WeElev8 that I spent 1.5 years designing and building WOULD NOT WORK CORRECTLY until the backend transition occurred, which meant I had 2 options: (1) try to find a workaround and continue with launch 1.0 anyway, or (2) hold until the backend transition was complete and then make any necessary changes needed to have WeElev8 work the way it should. I ended up trying option 1, but like all other developers working with Wix EditorX, there wasn't a workaround to be had, soooooo, I ended up with option 2.
I was now in a Waiting Game (this has been one of my fave songs for years, but it became an especially poignant personal soundtrack for my 2023 experience), and patience was the only way through it. BUT, I'm not really a person who does well with sitting around and waiting. I'm VERY action-driven, and no matter how many side projects I took on, it was BRUTAL having WeElev8 almost completely on pause.
October 2023: If having WeElev8 on pause wasn't hard enough, I tore my meniscus for a third time in my life. How did I hurt my knee? I went dancing!! Yup, I danced so hard I tore my meniscus. Unfortunately, because I already had two ACL and meniscus surgeries over the years, I didn't have much of a meniscus left and thus needed a meniscus transplant to get back on my feet. It would take months to get everything setup (multiple tests and finding a donor match), so I spent the rest of the year with chronic knee pain and instability.
December 2023: I felt stuck - both physically because of my knee and professionally because WeEle8 was still on hold. This felt like the ultimate patience test, and I learned one of the most valuable lessons of my life: no matter what arbitrary timeline you might give something, many times, it simply "takes the time it takes." Both my WeElev8 journey and my knee recovery take the time they take. It's kind of like baking - if you take a cake out of the oven too soon, it will be undercooked and will collapse in the middle; if you leave it in too long, it will be dry and eventually burn. It simply takes the time it takes, no more, and no less.
Like most valuable journeys we face, our WeElev8 journey started unexpectedly. It took massive upheaval to inspire Jess Kimball, our founder and CEO, to quit her job as Head of Inclusion and Diversity for a global multi-billion dollar company and embark on a new path to bring Inclusion, Diversity, and Equality learning to as many people as possible.
That massive upheaval was the global Covid-19 pandemic.
2020, 2021, and 2022: We lost people, we cried, we hurt, we learned, we spent valuable time together in ways we probably wouldn’t have if not for the dire pandemic, and we showed SO much love to the people in our lives. We DIY renovated as much as we could in our house as a way to keep busy, we got to know each other far deeper than ever before, and we built WeElev8 as a space where every single one of us - no matter our background or identity - can share our experiences, learn from others, ask questions, and even disagree (RESPECTFULLY) about Inclusion, Diversity, and Equality topics.
2023: Progress is always one of our main goals, no matter the obstacles we face, and 2023 was FULL of obstacles. With patience and perseverance, we emerged even stronger.
2024: We are SO excited to welcome you and the world to WeElev8! It is in focusing on our real, lived experiences and bringing these topics to life that WeElev8 Inclusion, Diversity, and Equality together.
In photo: Jessie Cortez (Mom), Jessica Cortez Kimball (WeElev8 Founder & CEO), Lorenzo Toscano (Nino), and Missy Kimball (our doggo)
Thank you, and we hope you will find your own WeElev8 journey as insightful and inspiring as we do every day.
- Jess, Mom, Nino, and Missy (our doggo)
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Mom (Jessie Cortez)
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Nino (Larry Toscano)
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Missy (our doggo)
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All of my family members who have loved and supported me over the years, especially Sister Kaye and Craig Bruns, Tia Celia and Tio Peter Landeros, Tia Tuni (Sylvia) and Tio Johnny Martinez, and Cousin David Guerrero for calling EVERY DAY over the past three years.
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Eric Gonzalez
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Catherine Reyes
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Lupita Reyes
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Alma Santillan
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Rafael Valenzuela
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Lysette Suarez
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The MedPOINT Management team, especially Alexandra Carey and Alexxa Uslan
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Dr. Chibao Nguyen
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Elizabeth Ballart
Thank you!
I am so thankful for the MANY people throughout my life who have shown me unwavering love and support, and although I cannot list everyone here, the people below have offered TONS of emotional support, advice, and/or laughs throughout our WeElev8 journey. Whether they were aware of their impact or not, I'd like to thank them for their love and support.
Development + Content Resources
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Wix + WixStudio: Professional Website and Web App platform (WeElev8 is custom-built on Wix Studio/EditorX)
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Pixabay: Free + Subscription content library
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Offeo: AI-driven product video platform
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Envato Elements: Subscription content library
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OBS Studio: Video recording
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Audacity: Sound recording and editing
Learning Resources
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MANY online tutorials, including: CodeQueen, Sara Michaels, Wix Training Academy, Wes Doyle, Traversy Media, X Stream, Think Media, Ben Johnson, Claudio Zavala Jr., Creative Tech Lab, Becki and Chris, and Developers on Wix, especially Joshua Alphonse
Inclusive Accessibility Resources
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Coolors.co: color palette generator, with Color Vision Deficiency (CVD, or also referred to as 'Color Blindness') functionality
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WhoCanUse: online tool to check color combinations for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
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Wideo: text-to-speech generator
Resources
The following are some of the amazing resources that I used to build WeElev8:
For those interested in learning MUCH more about our journey, from what led to the start of WeElev8 all the way to where we are now, checkout the articles and photo galleries below:
