Blaze Your Own Trail - S2:E18- Creating Moon Cycle Bakery with Devon Loftus

Episode Date: July 28, 2020

Meet Devon Loftus– founder of Moon Cycle Bakery, a one-of-a-kind hormone-supportive natural sweet treat delivery service. Loftus launched Moon Cycle Bakery in 2017 with the goal of helping people regain their sense of empowerment, and to help others find support during cycles that can be challenging and alienating. Today, Moon Cycle Bakery's mission is to help individuals traverse the various seasons of womanhood, not only through treats but through education, real conversations, self-care practices and whimsical-meets-raw story telling (her favorite). Recipe development is a team effort between Loftus and her team of experts, which include nutritionists, herbalists and acupuncturists. Each ingredient is carefully selected to ensure support of the female body during various parts of their cycles focusing on micro and macro nutrients. “Moon Cycle Bakery is a small team of people who genuinely care about the well being of others, our bodies, and the knowledge that continues to support it. We take the time to read studies, discuss recipes with experts, and collaborate with high-quality, integrity driven brands," explains Loftus, “We care, so we don’t make claims." Where did the idea come from? During Devon’s “west coast bachelorette party,” her now husband, Brian, walked into the bar with a homemade 3 tiered chocolate cake with cookie dough icing and chocolate ganache. Devon’s friend tapped Brian on the shoulder and said, “I just needed to tell you, this is the best thing I have ever eaten. And I don’t know if it’s because I’m about to get my period or not, but I almost cried.” Needless to say, Devon was completely in love with such an honorable and real reaction and with a huge smile Devon assured her: “Don’t worry — we’ll bring you a slice every month.” A Moon Cycle Bakery holistic cookbook is also in the works, co-authored by Devon Loftus and Jenna Radomski (Moon Cycle's team nutritionist and recipe developer), set to be released in Fall 2021 by Storey Publishing. Prior to launching her own business, Loftus wrote for a women’s lifestyle website owned by Meredith Corp. and experienced the fast-paced life of the fashion industry during her stay at Gymboree Corp designing children's accessories. She started her own clothing line, which taught her how to collaborate, find factories, build a team, understand profit, and more. During this period Loftus battled a variety of health issues,some of them hormonal, triggered by work stress and lack of education in regards to her health and her body. She quickly learned how crucial self-care is and how important personalized health care is to ones wellbeing. Loftus has a B.A. in Creative Writing and Journalism, and studied product development at FIDM. In her spare time Devon enjoys writing, spending time with her family and friends, playing the ukulele, and connecting with nature. She currently resides in New Jersey with her husband Brian, son Kit, and their dog Olive. In this episode you'll, learn all about Devon's journey from sports to entrepreneurship and everything in between! Connect with Devon:  Website: https://mooncyclebakery.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mooncyclebakery/ Enjoy the the show? Make sure to rate & review us in Itunes! Follow us on IG here: https://www.instagram.com/jordanjmendoza/ Installing strategic sales systems & processes will stop the constant revenue rollercoaster you might be facing which is attainable through our 6 Week Blazing Business Revenue Coaching ProgramBook a discovery call with Jordan now to learn more! Are you an entrepreneur?Join my FREE Group Coaching Community where we have live calls, Q&A and more! Our Trailblazer Ecosystem also enables you to network with other entrepreneurs and creator hub eliminates multiple subscriptions and logins creating a one stop shop to take action!Use code: FOUNDING100 for 12 months access FREE and Founding pricing for life! (While Supplies Last)Join now! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, everybody. I hope you enjoy this episode with Devin Loftus. What an amazing lady. She's the CEO and founder of Mooncycle Bakery. I can't wait for you all to hear about the story of how this came to fruition. It's a super crazy story. Check out this episode. Let me know what you think. And I'll talk to you right after. Hello, everyone. And welcome to the Blaze Your Own Trail podcast. I'm your host, Jordan Mendoza. And I've got a very special guest today. Her name is Devin Loftus. And Devin, if you can, just give the audience some context into who you are and what you do. Yeah. First of all, thank you so much for having me on this podcast, Jordan. I'm super excited to be here. My name is Devin, and I am the founder and CEO of Mooncycle Bakery.

We look at the menstrual cycle and we look at certain micronutrients that are lost during the different phases. And then we work with whole ingredients to help to replace. those micronutrients. But beyond that, we really look at, looking at traversing the seasons of womenhood together. So beyond just the seasons that we go through in a physical sense, we also go through seasons in an emotional sense. We wear a lot of different hats. And so we really love and prioritize real conversation and supporting each other through those different seasons. That's awesome. Very, very cool. And we're going to get back to current state a little bit later in the episode. So now I love to really rewind. I want to really get some context into you. So where did you grow up? And how were you as a kid? Were you more into the academic side of things? Were you into sports? Did you have any other hobbies? I'd love to find out more about you. Yeah. So I grew up in New Jersey, in northern New Jersey, right outside New York City. And it was like you're a very idyllic, quaint little suburban town.

I actually played a lot of sports growing up. I loved to be active. And I kind of have like a little bit of a legacy with field hockey in my family, which is, you know, not like the most common sport. So kind of interesting that that would be the one that, the legacy would be within that sport. But my cousin was a big field hockey player and my sister was a big field hockey player. And they both actually went to top 10 schools to play.

So I started playing when I was super young. I actually would go, my aunt was the coach at our high school. So she would run the summer camps. And I would go, you know, these were like high school or so freshman to senior year. and I would go at like age 10. So I was always like the little kid running around with all these amazing women and learning to play field hockey.

So I started young and then I played year round through high school and then during clubs through it during the winter and the summer and then obviously the fall, so that's the season that falls in. And then I went on to playing college as well. So I, you know, Going to college and playing was actually a huge identity shift because I ended up quitting

freshman year. And there was a lot there that I kind of had to re-meet myself and figure out who I was about this sport. But a lot of my growing up consisted of playing field hockey and going to camps and playing after school and all of it. And then academically, I really loved English. I've always loved reading and I've always loved writing. Writing is, you know, outside of my husband and my son, my truest love. So I will never stop writing. And that started when I was a very young kid as well. I'm like sneaking down to write instead of watch cartoons a lot of mornings. So that was my childhood, a lot of sports and a lot of writing. Awesome. Awesome. So what are some lessons that you can share with the audience from really a lot of years of field hockey, right? Not just, you know, participating in it, but also being surrounded by people that are inundated in it because I don't know a whole lot about the sport. I'll make the assumption that it's probably like hockey, but not on ice. I mean, I don't know if that's the same.

I don't know if the rules are the same, but I know that it is a sport that's probably, I mean, it takes energy, it takes effort. So what are some lessons that you would say that you learn maybe as a kid in playing the sport up until you decided to stop playing that first year of college, that maybe you have like looked back, like thinking about your business today, that have really kind of helped you along the way, right, in hindsight. Yeah, that's a great question. Oh, gosh, there are a lot. I mean, I think that's one thing I really loved about,

I mean, I really loved field hockey as a sport. but even just playing sports was every time you stopped on that field, there was a different lesson to be thought. You know, no two games were the same. And I would say when it comes to business, I think I get a lot of my resilience and endurance in tournaments

or, you know, broken bones or like anything really challenging. that popped up with field hockey and then, you know, going to college. I mean, that first year was some of the hardest physically, but also just emotionally with playing the sport, that I really learned what I was capable of. So I was able to take the endurance and understand that I was capable of really navigating challenges, again, especially in the emotional and mental realm. And that has come in a lot with my business because it is a marathon. You know, again, no two days are the same. Even if I'm doing

the same things, everything shifts. I mean, this virus is a great example of that. You just don't know what's around the corner. And so beyond being resilient and having endurance, I'd say the other thing it taught me was just to stay open. You know, like taking things moment for moment, there were a lot of times in playing the game where I, you know, I didn't have my, I might know what my overall plan was, you know, score a goal or get a, like, you know,

hit someone's feet in a circle so that we get a corner. But the moment to moment choices were really what it came down to. I had to decide in that moment what I was going to do to get to my goal. And that I found mirrors a lot of my business choices. There's shifts. There are, you know, unseen things. And you just kind of have to take it in stride. Awesome. Awesome. Thanks for sharing that. And now, thinking back to the decision, because you said something earlier, you said that, you know, you play the game. You loved it.

You're around it. You were, you know, family were involved. You're involved. You're aunt was the coach. Then you get to your freshman year. So, so, you know, what pivotal moment was there where you just said, you know, I don't know if this is for me, like, I don't know if I want to do this anymore, you know, I think I want to take a different route. So what was it? Was there a conversation that you had with somebody or was it maybe you sitting by yourself and you just looked around and said, you know, this isn't it? So I would love to really find out, you know, how that all came to fruition because it had to be a hard decision. Yeah, absolutely.

And I think it was a collection of people saying things. But ultimately, my mom always, I mean, my mom was huge into sports and was always so supportive of me, playing them, driving me everywhere, right? But she always instilled in me, like, this is fun. I mean, the minute that this stops being fun is when you need to self-reflect on if you want to keep doing this. and when I got to college, it was kind of the perfect storm. I mean, you know, freshman in college, it's hard anyway.

I'm lucky that I made my best friends from that team. My best friends to this day are from my field hockey team. But my aunt actually was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and died rather quickly. So that happens maybe my first or second week there. I mean, we kind of knew it was happening even when my parents dropped me off, but she passed very, I mean, like right after the commencement of preseason, pretty much. So that was hard. And I ended up leaving and coming home for the funeral.

And my coach actually, you know, suggestively said that I shouldn't. And that was already a moment where I was like, this is a little out of whack for me. Like my priorities, you know, this isn't aligning with my priorities already. My family is important. And to me, there's a whole life outside field hockey. So that was, I think, kind of the beginning of it. But, you know, what really ended up happening was just, I just felt incredibly. And I'm sure a lot of people, in fact, I know a lot of people feel like this in sports,

especially college sports, but I think that we can get tied up in our achievements and what we do with our identity. And I know I did because I had to. I mean, I was young and I didn't know who I was yet. I mean, this was just the beginning of my exploration, really. But I wasn't, I didn't feel seen as I wanted to be. I didn't, I didn't feel, I felt very cast aside. And, and without little communication without little, you know, there were a lot of mind games that happened. And I, myself, worth took a huge hit. I just didn't know who I was and I, without it. And if, like, if they didn't see me the way that I saw myself, then like, was I wrong? You know, it really made me question my worth. And that actually started kind of like the beginning of,

you know, I, um, experienced heavy depression. freshman year. And that was kind of the beginning of it, which I think actually looking back is quite beautiful because it broke me open in a way I needed to to really find out who I was, right? You know, I thought I was strong then, but I learned a whole lot. I learned I was even stronger than I realized at that point. It was actually the trainer. So we had this amazing trainer, and he was like a father figure, honestly, to a lot of us, a lot of the girls in the team. And he actually kind of said to me, like, you don't deserve to be treated like this. You know, you are so much bigger than this.

And he, you know, he didn't tell me what to do, but he just really saw me for what I felt like was the first time in months. And that gave me enough of a boost to quit. I mean, that gave me enough of a boost to go to my coach and say, like, I don't feel like I'm treated well and I'm not happy and I'm not enjoying this. And I'm going to quit. And it was really hard because I got not only pushed back from her. I mean, she meant well, right?

And she cared, of course. But I got pushed back from friends. I got pushed back from, you know, ex-boyfriends. I got pushed back from people at home who were almost afraid because that was how they had seen me. And that's how they knew me. And, you know, I think it was a mirror, right? I mean, this was our freshman year.

So we were all just really learning who we were outside of what we had known for so long. But I knew. I mean, the minute I did it, I could breathe again. I was just so much happier. And I also, my cousin who actually played, like I said at a top 10 school, Big 10 school, so, you know, eat breathing and sleeping the sport, she said to me, too, there's, like, you don't want to go through your college like this. You know, take my word for it.

You want to enjoy it. So I would say those are probably like the biggest conversations that stuck with me and were able to help me, to give me enough strength to really, make that big decision. Awesome. Well, thank you for sharing that. And it makes a lot of sense, right? I mean, you lose your aunt who is influential, right?

In this sport and this game. And then it happens so quick that first year. And then, I mean, like any of us would be go to that, I think, state, right? Like, this is someone you care about, this family. And then you start to really align yourself and you're like, this is not aligning up with my values. Right. and values are huge. And then you have this amazing moment with the trainer, which, you know,

I don't know how many TED talks that you watch or anything like that, but I saw this amazing one and it was about lollipop moments. That was a guy named Drew Dudley. And to me, that moment with that trainer was a lollipop moment. That's a moment that, you know, you can reflect on and say, wow, this was pivotal for me in, you know, really shifting the course and changing a direction. You know, and when you think about, yeah, when you think about moments like that, in the TED Talk, they talk about, they say, like, when's the last time you told that person that they made that impact for you, right? Because I think that's what it's all about. So I don't know if the coach is still around, but that might be a great person to reach out to and say, thank you. Like, in hindsight, you shifted my world, right? Because you could have went through things miserably. You could have kept playing because of all the outside noise and influence, but you, you you decided and that person was a key factor in that decision.

Oh, I love that. Yeah, I'm going to have to. I think he might still be there, actually, or he might have retired by now, but I'm sure I could find a way to reach out to him. And you're right. I mean, it really just takes a moment and one person. And I think we can, you know, I know I can tend to forget that. And I just love the idea of sharing to them what a big impact you have.

they have because you're right. I don't think we realize that, you know, that we have the ability to have impacts on people in very quiet ways. Absolutely. And sometimes it's just a tiny, like it's literally a smile. Like you literally walk past somebody that may have been like going to end their life and you smiled and it, they took a left instead of a right. Like, you know, a big believer in that. Like, you know, whatever you're putting out to the world is, is, you know, can make a difference and an impact at scale, right, if your intentions are right. I completely agree. So what was the next step?

So now you got this big weight off your shoulders, if you will. You said that you're, you know, you just had that release. Like these endorphins are going off. So, you know, my thought is maybe now you're like, hey, I want to start writing more, right? Because that was the thing that you were into when you were a kid. So is that kind of the route that you went or what happened now? What were those next steps that freshman year? Yeah, I smile because, again, like, I think I really am this person that just,

I really think messiness is so beautiful. I mean, I could tear up just thinking about the rawness of life. And I think that I am someone that kind of looks for that. I'm not kind of, I am. I'm someone that really appreciates and values, you know, to your point before. the realness of journeys. And I smile because my journey was anything but that clear and that smooth. So it's funny because I mentioned before I really navigated depression freshman year.

It's actually not something I've talked about on podcast before, but it's something that I'm incredibly passionate about. I mean, mental health is a big part of who I am and something that I will forever be interested in. And I actually went to college as a psych major. So I love psychology. And I would have, I eventually became an English major and I would have stuck with psychology, but I really was not sure what I wanted to do with it. And I think that I decided at that point, you know, as this was all kind of coming up,

that I really felt most connected to my mental health and felt connected to others and supporting them in their mental health through really intimate moments and also like my intimate writing. So ultimately that's the direction I went in. But after this happened, is when the depression started. And I think it's because it just, you know, it brought up a whole lot. It was the first time. And again, I think this is how a lot of kids feel going off to college, that I did. didn't have people in my ear. I didn't have like my family and and the conditioning and like the

constraints. And I say all of that with with nothing but, you know, gratitude. I mean, I'm lucky that I had all of that. I say it in the sense of I, I was standing on my own. I had to figure out who I was outside of who they wanted to be or who they thought I was, outside of whom my friends that I was in who they wanted to be everyone. So I definitely had to unravel to figure that out. And what ended up happening was I was suicidal for a little, and it was really, really weighing on my mom. And talk about lollipot moments.

There were times where my mom would rush up to my school out of fear that, you know, like I wouldn't be there. when she got there. And her sister, so my aunt, actually called me one day and was like crying and was like, you're slowly killing her. And my mom is my best friend. I mean, I love my mom to the ends of the earth. And so that was a wake up call from me and I realized I really needed to get help and I wanted to get help. I just could not imagine doing that to her, you know, putting her in the the pain that I was feeling. So I started going to therapy and that absolutely, you know, drastically changed my course. And it really helped me understand how it felt to feel empowered

and where that comes from, which is very funny because that is what Moons cycle is all about. It's really how it started. And so during trying to figure out who I was and what made me feel empowered. I actually jumped from major to major. I went from a psychology major to a nursing major because I really wanted to help people. And then I realized that not so good with blood. So probably not the major for me. And then I landed on English. So when I when I landed on English, it was like coming home. I mean, it was one of those things where I was like, to your point, this has been in my blood since I was a little girl. This is how I connected myself and others and I'm going to pursue this. So I did. I started pursuing it then. And I think that relationship and that

what's the word for it? I guess relationship. I think that relationship with my relationship with writing will forever evolve. And it's exciting. I feel closer to it more than I ever have. That's awesome. Well, first off, thank you for sharing that story. I know it's not easy sometimes, you know, getting some of that off your chest. But to me, in my opinion, and what I've really been learning on, especially through this journey of podcasting is, you know, vulnerability is a strength, right? When we can actually share the things, the experiences, the trials, the tribulations that we've been through. It's actually, because it's not for us. Our stories aren't for us to keep inside.

It's actually for us to share with others in hopes that they get inspired to do something different or make a decision or not go down the path that we went down, you know? So I appreciate you sharing that. And, you know, that's a topic that's tough for a lot of people, you know. But people that actually go and seek help, like to me, that's a strength. It's not a weakness. Like trying to make yourself become a better person is a good thing, you know, in my opinion. So thank you for sharing that. And so you finished.

Yeah, and I think. Go ahead. Yeah, I think that too, it's important to be honest about, again, like how messy these journeys are, right? So it's, it's, I find, I still do it. And it's so easy to compare yourself to other people to compare where you are, to where they are. And I think I would really love to talk and be a part of the conversation that reminds us, like, this is anything. but linear. And sometimes that breaking down process is essential to getting to where you are.

So, you know, when we're in it, when we're in the thick of it, sometimes that is exactly, I would even argue, like, most of the time, that is exactly where we need to be to get to where we want to be. And my therapist actually, you know, because being postpartum has been an end. entirely, it's taken all of this at the next level mental health, but she, one of the first things she said to me was oftentimes we equate bad, hard, challenging feelings, trials with, or we equate challenging uncomfortable trials with bad, with wrong, some things wrong, but that's, it's actually not true. That is, in essence, growth. So, yeah, I agree. It's really,

it is something that's hard to talk about, but I couldn't agree with you more, Jordan. that our stories are meant to connect us to others. And I, yeah, I appreciate people like you on these platforms because I think when we can talk about how messy and raw things feel, we understand we're not alone in that. And that actually is the beauty of the human condition. And that is actually something that we all experience. Well, and, you know, to give the name of the show some context, up until that, up until your breaking point, you weren't blazing your own trail. You were blazing the trail that everybody else

wanted you to blaze. And so that actually happening to you gave you the ability to blaze your own trail, to jump into different psychology, to jump into ink, right, to jump into nursing to actually figure out who you are. And that's the best part of the journey is finding out who you are by falling and stumbling and going through the mud right and you know the postpartum depression so when when we had our first so I'm a father of four we actually have one on the way so it's been number five I yes we're crazy for those of you that are listening but we have we have two boys and two girls right are we have a three-year-old and a 15-year-old boy and an eight and 11-year-old girl and we're going to have another boy in about a month. But when my wife first had our oldest, I was working. I was doing

landscaping like 12 hours a day. That's so exciting. And she was depressed. It was tough for her. It was tough for her to not have me there to support her during the day. And then to be with this new human being that couldn't move and talk and all of that. So yeah, you brought that up. And I just remember how my wife was and I felt so bad because there wasn't anything I could do. I couldn't help her. I felt helpless in those times, you know, because I was like, what can I do? And it was like a blank look, you know. So that just kind of. Yeah, right. Yeah. And it's, you know, that's a whole other thing that is just, I mean, since becoming a mom, even like during pregnancy, I really, my eyes are very open to there there is just not enough support for like women and during pregnancy

part of especially I think you know I actually went so I ended up going back to therapy to see a postpartum therapist in particular because I was having such terrible anxiety I some of it stemmed from like some traumatic moments during labor, but I just couldn't get my footing. And she actually was saying like one in three women have postpartum depression. And that was actually pretty eye-opening to me because, you know, you hear about it. But I don't think it's talked about all that much. And it is. I mean, to your point, like, gosh, like my, I could feel that in my heart.

100% with my husband went back to work, that was so hard. And it's not only just like exactly like you said, this human that you love more than anything in the entire world. And you can't really, you know, you're communicating with them the best you can. And but your hormones. I mean, we forget, like physiologically, our hormones are, I mean, they are driving so much of this. And that's, you know, lack of sleep. There is just so many layers. So yeah, it is. That's just another big topic. And I think it's amazing. I think what you do exactly what you said is you acknowledge it, just by you acknowledging it and being like, I see you and I see that you're struggling and I'm here. I mean, like you said, there is only so much you

can do, but the fact that you even make sure that she knows she's seen, like that is, that's everything. That's a lot of support. Absolutely. No, I agree with that. So, finished up school, right? So what happened after college? Did you want to start pursuing things with your passion for writing? And maybe you did. I'm not sure. And then when was it? When was that kind of shift where you said, you know what? I think I want to start my own business. Yeah. So after college, I actually, yes, I pursued my career in writing. I found a job in San Francisco. And that was probably the biggest turning point of, you know, one of the biggest turning points in my life. My husband and I are actually, we are in New Jersey right now, but we are planning to move back to California because it became home

and we fell in love and found ourselves in ways that I probably never could have imagined. But I went out there for a job working with, women's website. So it was very women-centered. And it was under the Meredith Corporation, which is out of New York, but this was like they just bought this business out in San Francisco. So that's what brought us out there. My husband went to culinary school. And we, yeah, we started living out there. Then about a year in, the company went under. And the entire editorial team was laid off. So I went from, you know, follow. following this career to really having, again, no clue what I was going to do.

And it was also during, you know, like a recession and print, web was new. Like this was like when blogging was barely on board. Pinterest had just become a business. I mean, it's kind of being crazy to think about. No one really knew what it was. You needed an invitation to be accepted. So everything was new. And I, again, was kind of like, okay, I don't know what I want to do yet.

So I took my time and I really just soaked up living. I was 22. I was just soaking up living in the Bay Area, which is honestly one of the choices I made that I'm most proud of myself for because I know that the pressure of getting another job that, or I shouldn't even say another job, a career was high, but I really followed my instinct on just needing to live a little. and it was so profound and it really got me to where I am. So I nannied.

I was a hostess. You know, I just did what I needed to do to help pay the bills and we just really fell in love with the city. And then after doing that for a little, I decided that I've always loved fashion. I've always loved designing. I'm just a creative person by nature. So I wanted to pursue design school. So I applied and got into the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in San Francisco. And I took a year, it was like fast-tracked a year in product development.

So it wasn't really in fashion design. It was more so it was all fashion based, but it was more so in developing a product and understanding the business side of it, which is what I really wanted. So I learned how to, you know, I learned what margins were. I learned how to create cost of goods sold, markups, alongside of learning how to create a cohesive product. And again, that was a huge step in Mooncycle. So from there, I launched a closing line with my friend,

and it was super fun, and we did that for a few years. But I decided I really wanted to get into the fashion industry as well. So I started working at Gimbury Corporation, and I was designing kids accessories, which was really fun, like ties and hats and, you know, all that fun stuff. And I did that for a little while. And yeah, that was actually really where Moonsicle found from. So again, like you looking in hindsight from the path, it all led me right to my business now.

And it taught me along the way that that is how life happens. Like I said before, for me, it has never been linear. It's been one moment in front of the other. That's awesome. So from field hockey to fashion, right? Like you know, you think back to that, it's like, wait a, I don't know if that's the right way that it should have been. but but also like yeah you're right there's nothing that goes in just a straight line you know it i mean it looks like it looks very squiggly you know if you think about yeah anybody's

anybody's journey is like that it's it's um you know because you're going to uh experience things you're you're going to shift you're going to change right you're going to think that you thought you like that and then remember that no you know i really don't like that it doesn't that doesn't add value to me. It doesn't, you know, give me any energy, right? So I think that your journey, your journey has been, has been an awesome one. So, so you get the idea that now you want to be a business owner. So, you know, what was the first step of that process for you? Was, did you kind of start it and not, you know, actually have it become a real business? Like, what did you do to kind of get things rolling. Yeah. So when I was at Jimbury, it was when they were struggling. And so the

culture was very heavy. And I kind of looked around and saw a lot of people struggling with that. You know, everyone felt malnourished to some degree. And so I decided that I wanted to help. Going back, right, like, when I look at it, there's always been themes. I really, I really want to, I have a zest for life. I want to experience things. That's one thing. I really want to help people. That's been at the, you know, psychology, nursing, writing. Like, it's always the undertone. I want to connect to people. I want to help people. I really like taboo kind of like intimate things, raw topics, intimate conversations. That's three. And I want to do it in a creative way because that's who I am. I am a creative person. I get so much energy from that.

to your point. And so like that all just came together in this moment. And I was like, okay, so I want to help people. I like to have these conversations. You know, I'm good at having intimacy and holding space for people. I want to become a coach. So first, I thought I want to become a coach. And then I kind of did some more research. I started to go down that avenue a little bit. And I was like, no, this isn't it. Decision it. But I held tight. I was like, I know I want to help people. So I'll just kind of shake. here. My husband and I were getting married at that point. So I, I quit and we got married. And I was like, once we come back from our honeymoon, I will figure out what I'm going to do. And so we came

back. Actually, we didn't even. I hadn't even gotten married yet. I had just quit. And I had a bachelor's party in New Orleans. But my husband and I were getting married in Alaska. So a lot of our friends couldn't make it to the bachelor party understandably because they were coming to Alaska. So my friends in California had like a like just a night, bachelorette party. And we went from bar to bar. And at the last bar, my husband brought this cake.

And we devoured it. It was amazing. And my friend came up to me at that point and she tacked actually my husband on the shoulder and told him, this is easily one of the best things I've ever eaten. And I don't know if it's because I'm about to get my period or not, but I almost cried. And I just love that because, again,

I thought it was so raw and so real, and I totally could relate. So, you know, later that night, we were sitting together and she said it to me again. And I was like, don't even worry that. I'll bring me. And then I woke up the next morning and I felt like I had been hit by lightning and I realized like there's something here, not necessarily even in women, you know, eating, like having cravings for eating cake every month. But more so in the fact that women really want to be seen and they want to be, nourished and they want to be like cared for during these cycles during these seasons.

So that was it. I mean, once that happened, my husband and I, we kind of decided on the name instantly. And then it just took off. I had friends over for, so the first thing I did business wise was I had like groups come by where I could ask some questions. I did all my market research. We went to, you know, thanks actually had a taboo tour. they were going city to city talking about these taboo topics. And I went to that and I heard what

women were wanting. And it was just everywhere that women really wanted this. So after that happened, then I got married. And so things kind of slowed down for a little because, you know, life was happening and I wanted to be there for that. But it was maybe like honestly a year and a half later after having that idea that then I, my husband and I just moved to Washington State. we had just been on the show Tiny House Nation building a tiny home. So we were like finally setting some roots. And I was like, okay, now I have the time that I can really give this the attention it needs.

And it rapidly happened after that. So I think, you know, looking back, there was like an incubation period that really did need to happen for me to get together the resources and the energy and trust the timing before it really took off. And at that point, what really I was focusing on was the Kickstarter. So I knew I needed the capital. And so I decided to go with crowdfunding. And I started building the Kickstarter at that point.

That's awesome. You know, and I love the, you know, for one, how you decided to come up with the name, right? You're just having this conversation. It's an emotional thing that's happening. And hang on one sec. Hey, Spider-Man. Yeah, yeah, go ahead. What are you doing?

What are you doing? You do I was on a podcast, you silly guy. All right, you're going to wave to the camera, okay? What's your name? What's your name? You say your name? Kai. All right, all right, Spidey.

Hi, Kai. All right, buddy, I love you. Where's Mommy? Okay. All right. All right, Spider-Man. So cute. All right.

Go ahead. Go back up, buddy. Shut my door, please. I love it. Interrupted by Spider-Man there. Sorry about that. That was the highlight of my morning. Right.

You know, that kid's going to be a little killer, that's for sure. Yeah. Oh my gosh. She's adorable. So it was cool to hear that like literally like here at this preempt, like this prequel to the Bachelorette party, right?

that was like, I mean, think, think about this. Like, your bachelor's party is in New Orleans. Your wedding's in Alaska. And so this wasn't even supposed to happen. Like, yeah, right. That's so true. This was not even supposed to happen. And so you're sitting there, you guys are, or had some beverages and someone's

emotionally hammered, probably plus menstrual stuff going on and says this thing that gives you this epiphany. Like, I mean, how amazing is that? And like, and then you thought. about the cycle and I'm sure that's kind of where the naming rights came was like oh like this is this is the cycle right so I mean I just think that's such a such a cool story and the way that it happened is the way it was supposed to happen you know yeah I love that I actually got chills when you were saying that I never thought about it that way and I like I said it did feel like I

like I was hit by lightning like I did feel like there was this freeze frame of a moment where it was like this is important. Like listen, pay attention right now. This is important. So yeah, that's amazing. I love that. Thank you for that insight.

No problem, no problem. All right. So now you've launched, right? Year and a half, right, after you get married, now you're ready to launch. You got this Kickstarter started. So I don't know much about Kickstarter. I know that I've seen them, right?

Like you get emails and you, I know about the app, but I know that you can participate. So how did that whole process work? Is it literally like you launch a campaign? You try to, like you create a marketing video in that video, hopefully you share that as many times as you can on social, just drive investors?

I mean, is that kind of the process? Yeah, it is a lot of that. So I was really lucky. I had a friend whose husband did this for work. So he had helped these brands raise millions and millions of dollars. And he actually did the help with the Kickstarter for Butcher Box. I don't know if you know them, but they're huge now. So he started this course that helped people launch their first Kickstarter.

And it was because it was new, I was like a test monkey. And it was awesome. I learned, I mean, I could not have done this without him and that course. So I learned a lot. And I was learning from that and then implementing it. what he taught me, and this is, I loved it because, again, it goes back to psychology. A lot of it was rooted in psychology. A lot of it is based on if you can get, I can't remember the exact figure, but if you can get, I think it is 30% of your goal funded within the first day, you are like,

again, I want to say like an upwards of like 60% more likely or 70% more likely to become fully funded by the end of it. And the reason for that is, because psychologically, we don't want to back something we think is failing or we think is not going to succeed. So we, so in that sense, what they ask you to do is really like get your family and friends on board. Send out those emails to your point. Make the video. Like make this as cohesive as it possibly can and then push, push, push, push because you want to get that 30% within the first day. and you want to know you're going to get it.

So it required a lot of vulnerability because it required a lot of me writing these emails, really putting myself out there. And not only to my family and friends, but to people that I might not have talked to for, I don't know, like 10 years. I mean, some of them were from high school or even growing up.

So it was nice to reconnect with people, but I also had to battle a lot of my own stories of like, oh, man, like they just think you're out for something. They, you just want their help and this isn't genuine when, you know, of course it was genuine. But it was, I was up against my ego a lot. Yeah, so that was probably the most challenging part of the Kickstarter. The rest of it was just kind of checking off lists. Like writing the emails, you know, again, as authentically as possible, like trying to personalize

every email, even though there were hundreds and hundreds, making the Kickstarter look pretty. So I did hire someone to help me take the photos, who she's become truly one of my best friends, and also still takes the photos from the cycle, even though she's in Washington. I just mail her our treats. And I also hired someone for the video. And then, yeah, just lots of pushing Facebook ads. I mean, any way that you can get eyes on it. And we did it.

I mean, within the first day, we were over 30 percent. funded and then eventually um i think we had like three weeks left or maybe a month left or no it was only a month long so we we had about two weeks left i i would say in the kickstarter um and we were already fully funded so we actually we we um raised over our goal which was amazing that's awesome yeah and and again they're like that's even though you know because i see Kickstarter i'm like man like these people are easily making money. No, there's a lot of work that goes in behind the scenes, right? And I think you said something really important for people to hear and that, that, you know, your own ego got in your way, right? And I think that's such an important

message because when you start pushing your truth through content, whether that's on Instagram or Facebook or LinkedIn, the battle really is between our ears, right? That's where a lot of the battle comes from because a lot of the people that we actually are talking to already know that part of our journey. Does that mean, you know, and it's so funny how like we get caught up. Yeah. We get caught up in judging ourselves when like it's, we're supposed to share it. You know, we're supposed to tell people because, listen, this is where you really find out who's in your corner. This is where you find out, are they just a friend in a number sense or are they actually there to support me through the good times, through the bad times, and through the journey.

Yeah. No, absolutely. 100%. So when you launched, this became official, right, after the whole Kickstarter, you get, you get funded. So what's the next step in that process just to give people some, and really from my context, I have no idea what happens, right? You get funded. So where does all this money go? Is it in an escrow account and then does it get transferred to somebody that handles it? I'm just, I don't really know how this whole process works. Yeah, no, it's a great question. So once it's funded, they take a portion, right? And I can't remember what it is.

And it differs. It differs between Kickstarter and other crowdsourcing. So like India Go Go or other places. platforms that you can go off of. But they take their portion and then it goes, you, when you sign up, when you set up your campaign, you put in your account info, like your bank account. So I opened an account for this business. And when it was fully funded, it went right in there. It was like very seamless.

I mean, that part was very easy. Getting the money was actually very easy. it was to your point, what it took to get the money. And yeah, and exactly to your point of the ego, like, I agree. I actually think looking back, that was definitely the hardest part. The other stuff, like I said, you just kind of check it off. They're like, okay, I need to write this email, check. I need to create this graphic check.

Like, that stuff is simple. It is the story, the narrative that we're spending. I still struggle with sharing my writing because of that. And I do think like, yeah, it's just a journey in and of itself in that way too. Like every, you know, imposter syndrome or anything like that, every time, like you said, we push our truth or we mount something, it's more vulnerable. We're more exposed. And so we judge ourselves more.

And we, you know, our ego is there to keep us safe and secure. I mean, that's its job. and we need it sometimes, but in that respect, you know, I think we need to step out of our own way to get there. But yeah, when it came to like the logistics of Kickstarter, that stuff was, they make it very simple. This has been so cool learning about your journey and your story and all the things that you've gone through and getting to this point. So I would love to give you the opportunity now just to talk a little bit about moon cycle, tell people where they can, where they can, can find you and reach out to you for maybe some of the coaching things that you're involved with because I think that I add a lot of value to folks that have been listening and, you know,

because they've gotten to know you a little bit. They see what you're all about. And to me, you know, I know I do business with people that I like, know and trust, right? And I think, you know, when you have a platform like this where you're able to to get contextual and share and talk about your journey, now people know you. Now people get that, you know, glimpse of who you are. I would love to give you the opportunity to share. Yeah, I could not agree more. Love that like no interest factor. So Moons cycle, we, you can find us on Moonscyclebaclebacery.com.

We, you know, I feel like I didn't even, I really mentioned the treats, but what we do is we create the treats that focus on micronutrients. And we have a variety. You can buy a subscription or you can just shop them individually. we just launched in COVID. So this was another time, speaking of ego, that I really had to step out of my way because we were going to launch them in the fall,

our newest product. But it just seemed so applicable for what everyone's going through that I was like, it's not going to be perfect, but that's not what matters here. So we just launched a dry mix, which is extremely exciting because, for one thing, it's shelf life stable.

So, you know, you don't have to worry about if your box gets lost, like sometimes that happens. or in the summer, like if it melts, that happens to sometimes, right? This is, it's really simple. And you also, to the point of what everyone's experiencing right now, we can, you can make it on your own. So you can make it from home, you can make it with friends and family. You know, like I have a lot of people that are mothers

and are making it with their kids and super excited to do that. And it really, really allows creative freedom. So I love that as well. So that is probably like the most recent announcement and you can find all of that on our website. We're on Instagram and I do, I have been a lot more talking about my experience. Obviously a lot of it is postpartum. I mean, I don't have a cycle right now. I don't have my period.

So I don't feel like I'd be if I was like talking about the cycle. I mean, we obviously still do. I want to be true to what season I'm in, and there's a lot of info and that supports moon cycle and what we're about in that current season as well. So you'll see a lot of that on Instagram. And we also talk about the ingredients and how they help you there as well. And then lastly, you'll see us actually in bookstores next year in fall 2021. We are, we just handed in our our manuscript, which is so exciting. We're working with this really amazing publisher in Massachusetts, story publishing. They're an imprint of workman publishing. There are a lot of

how-to and DIY books, which is awesome. And we will be launching and releasing our cookbook with it's a cookbook that looks at every phase and how to cook for those those phases of the menstrual cycle along with with rituals so I wrote like some poetry and some rituals for rhythms that you can that you can do to help nourish yourself during these different phases and yeah that launches in fall 2021 so that is incredibly exciting that is awesome well listen it's been an amazing time to know you and learning about your story and journey. And I will make sure all your info is down in the show notes so people can get onto the website. They can order some of this new product that's out and then be on the lookout for your book coming out soon.

So listen, I appreciate you coming on the Blaze Your Own Trail podcast. And I hope you have an amazing rest of your day. Thank you, Jordan. Thank you so much. This was a blast. Thank you. Hey, thanks so much for listening to that episode with Devin. loftus. What an amazing journey from athlete to entrepreneur.

Did a Kickstarter. Man, she's got some some incredible stories. I hope you got some value out of that. Make sure to connect with her. All of her info will be over in the show notes as well as the website to her awesome bakery. So make sure to check that out as well. And if you're not subscribed yet, please subscribe to the show. If you enjoy it, rate us, review us. sure you share the show with your friends. We want to reach an impact as many people as possible. Until next time, have an amazing day.