Female Founders: Jenna Haefelin of SPIFF On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

Don’t let anybody tell you you can’t do something, people have laughed when I tell them I will be a billionaire one day. I don’t want the money all for myself, I want to help clean up the oceans, save animals, and help people. That takes a lot of money.

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jenna Haefelin.

Jenna Haefelin is the founder of SPIFF, a luxury home organization that offers high-end clientele, celebrities, and athletes that offers a clean, minimalistic solution to home organization. The company’s goal is to transform your space while leveling up your lifestyle with eco-friendly solutions. Haefelin combines her passion for minimalist organization and her love for the environment to make SPIFF your go to for in-home organization.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I’ve always loved to clean, but I wanted something creative and high end. I’ve always wanted to work for myself because that’s what I grew up seeing my parents do. I had to ask myself what my passion was, something I enjoyed my entire life so I knew that wasn’t a phase or casual interest. Upon reflection, I realized it was helping others organize and simplify their homes, so I took my passion and turned it into a thriving business.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?

Aside from all of the clients themselves, the most interesting thing that happened to me was receiving an influx of clients during COVID. We were prepared to not be as busy but clients were messaging us to pack up their homes while they were stuck overseas or out of state. We got their items categorized, boxed up, and into a storage room; there began a whole new niche!

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Overediting my Instagram pictures. I had no idea what I was doing and looking back they looked horrible. I spent some time teaching myself how to take the right angle photos, capture our minimalistic look, and create a calming aesthetic for my feed.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you where you are? Can you share a story about that?

From a personal standpoint, my father. I watched my father as an entrepreneur my entire life. He taught me my work ethic and he inspired me to be my own boss. He tells me I can do whatever I want to do and achieve whatever I want to achieve. I am also grateful for my mother and sister for their support; having your family on your side when you are chasing your dreams is major.

From a business standpoint, I credit my clients for having faith in me, trusting me, and allowing me to grow with them. I also credit myself, I worked really hard to get where I am today. As I have grown, I am extremely thankful for my organizing team as well as my hard workers behind the scenes, I couldn’t do it without them! I have to shout out my business coach Kara Duffy and my rockstar Publicist Natasha Dressler, they work really hard behind the scenes, while building up their own brands. I always want to bring along anyone and give credit to anyone that helped me along the way and for them I am forever grateful!

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?

I think a lot of women are still learning that we don’t need to rely solely on our partner. It makes sense that only 20% of funded companies have women founders if you look at history. A lot of us grew up with the “male figure” being the breadwinner in the home and hearing “the man takes care of the home.” It is how I grew up as well, even though my mom worked too. So, as we continue to gain our own independence and grow as a society, the number of women entrepreneurs will continue to grow, I don’t doubt that for a second.

Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles? This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?

If you are a man putting down a woman, do better. If you are a woman putting down yourself or other women, do better. We are all better supporting each other and I think seeing more women make entrepreneurial moves will help inspire others. I think more women should become founders because women are fully capable of running extremely successful businesses, there are already so many powerful women I look up to who run extremely successful businesses. Women should never rely on anyone else for validation as we are all capable of running successful businesses; we don’t need any negativity as we are striving forward to make a difference.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?

It’s risky to be an entrepreneur. While yes, this can be true, I truly believe in mind over matter; I only believe in going up, never down. Yes, everyone has setbacks, but they are often a lesson to improve something in the future. I don’t let negative thoughts interfere, manifesting my reality plays a big part in this. We manifest both good and bad, so it is extremely important to train your mind on positive thinking.

“It’s impossible to do your passion and make a living” because of said excuse. I promise you can make a million dollar business from your passion. It takes thinking outside of the box and working really hard. Also, when you help others it will come back to you. I don’t think I would be where I am today if it weren’t for aligning my energy, erasing doubt from my mind, and aiming toward my biggest goals.

Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?

I don’t think everyone is cut out to be a founder. Each person has different personality traits and I have met a handful of people that feel more comfortable being a “worker versus leader.” I think it all comes down to the person. If you don’t enjoy working for others, have a passion for something, would enjoy being a boss, and are willing to put in the hard work — you can flip any passion into a million or billion dollar business. You just need to think outside the box on how to get there. Anything is possible.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, What are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

• Don’t take no for an answer
• Don’t be fearful or intimidated because you are a woman, I actually look at it as a benefit.
• Don’t let anybody tell you you can’t do something, people have laughed when I tell them I will be a billionaire one day. I don’t want the money all for myself, I want to help clean up the oceans, save animals, and help people. That takes a lot of money.
• Be confident, know your passion, and teach others!
• Understand you are good enough, you can thrive on your own, and you CAN do whatever you put your mind to

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

• Each week, we educate our followers on the statistics that we are facing today when it comes to sustainability and the environment. We also share the different eco-friendly alternatives that are out there so they can make a change to help the environment and animals.
• Be kind to everyone. I like to teach others about the importance of energy and the positive influence your actions and energy can have on others. You can reshape your entire life with this. Being kind to others is priceless and you never know how much that can help somebody.
• As I grow, I will be able to give back to those who are in need or simply deserve it. I would love to surprise those in need with home makeovers one day. The home is where we spend a majority of our time and everyone deserves a special space they are proud of and that they can call their own.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I would LOVE to inspire the movement of eliminating single use plastic. I’m also passionate about ocean cleanups, anything to help the planet in the long run, and especially the animals currently at risk. This would bring the greatest good to both animals and humans. Speaking of humans, we are currently ingesting a credit card size amount of micro plastics each week. Plastic now lives in our fish, which then can end up in us through consumption. It is an extremely large issue and I am starting to tackle it with my local environmental team in Larchmont, NY. Look out for our success!

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

I would love to sit down with Bethenny Frankel. I watched her grow her empire of Skinny Girl from the ground up. Yes, she had a reality TV show behind her, but she started from the bottom by standing in grocery stores sampling her products. I remember seeing her try and try again, often met with much scrutiny of family and friends, and I truly respect her hustle and well deserved success.

I would also love to sit down with Michael Jordan. He is a perfect example of what I mean when I say think outside of the box. He turned his passion into more than just a career, but an extremely successful brand as well. He has a business mindset and I respect that. I would love to organize his sneakers for him one day too!