In this week’s episode of Hello Chaos, host Jennifer “JJ” Sutton sits down with Cecilia Zapata-Harms, co-founder and CEO of InnovaSphere, a startup support ecosystem that’s reshaping how life science companies grow, scale, and survive the chaos. Cecilia opens up about her unconventional founder journey—from bartering with her grandfather as a child to negotiating complex biotech partnerships today. She dives deep into what it means to lead with instinct, to create community in an isolating industry, and to build something that didn’t exist (but had to). They unpack the mental load of entrepreneurship, especially as a woman in life sciences, the reality of chasing funding while staying mission-aligned, and why some of the best business lessons come from failure, gardening, and letting go of what no longer fits. This one is a masterclass in building bravely—even when you know exactly how hard it’s going to be.
Key Takeaways:
1️⃣ Experience is your unfair advantage—if you trust it.
Cecilia shows how instinct and lived experience can be sharper than any playbook. Founders, trust your gut—and don’t let others underestimate what you’ve built (or survived)..
2️⃣ Not all startups scale the same.
If you’re building in a high-stakes or complex industry, the traditional advice won’t cut it. Founders need customized support, the right timing, and people who actually get it..
3️⃣ You don’t need Silicon Valley to make a global impact.
Building a business in a smaller market? Good. Cecilia proves that real innovation happens when founders connect locally and build with purpose—wherever they are.
Timestamps
00:00 – Welcome to Hello Chaos
01:29 – Meet Cecilia Zapata-Harms and the founding of InnovaSphere
05:09 – What makes InnovaSphere different from traditional startup support
08:10 – The complexity of life sciences (and why founders go it alone)
13:01 – Wearing two hats: founder + CEO
14:38 – Female founder challenges in life sciences
17:13 – Ditching the rules and trusting your gut
22:25 – The most rewarding part of building something new
24:50 – Cecilia’s early “oh shit” startup story
26:28 – When it’s time to cut the cord (and why that’s okay)
30:29 – Founders vs sustainers: hiring at different stages
34:18 – Seeing five years ahead—and staying patient
39:30 – What founders really need (spoiler: strategy + vent sessions)
42:05 – South Carolina’s untapped life science potential
45:13 – No fear? No problem. Cecilia’s global vision
49:00 – One word to describe the journey: Emergence
50:20 – Next chapter: Knowledge (and owning bookshops!)
53:01 – Hidden talents, surprises, and floating—not swimming
57:27 – Best advice: get mentors, get coaches, and learn to present
1:02:24 – Go-to reads for clarity and courage
1:04:45 – Where to connect with Cecilia and InnovaSphere
🔗 Learn more
Website: https://www.innovaspheresc.org/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/palmetto-innovasphere-inc/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ceciliazapata/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cecz_26/
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (00:01.1)
Well, hello and welcome to Hello Chaos, a weekly podcast exploring the messy and chaotic lives and minds of founders, entrepreneurs and innovators. Each week I do get the privilege to speak with founders across the spectrum, founders from different industries at different stages, from startups to mature businesses of all shapes and sizes. Our listeners get to hear the real, the raw, the unvarnished and unfiltered stories and viewpoints getting in
incredible insights on what it takes to start and scale a business, to become a better founder, a better CEO, or just a better business leader in the community. Today we have on our show, I'm thrilled because she's such a good friend of mine. I can't wait to hear all the ins and outs because I don't know the full journey. But today we've got Cecilia Zapata-Harmst, co-founder and CEO of InnovaSphere, headquartered right here in South Carolina.
Welcome, Cecilia.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (01:01.908)
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited for this. We've been trying to get together for so long and get this podcast going, I know.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:06.958)
I know we've been looking forward to having you on.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:15.982)
Should have just videoed us at doing cocktails and just letting it roll.
So we should do that. We should record at our next little, we need to do our 2025, like it's new year. We need to do our first year kind of cocktail session. So we should just pop in. I've got the app on my phone. We can just record. That'll be a bonus episode.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (01:23.956)
That would have been fun, actually.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (01:37.096)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yay, yay. Okay, that sounds good. Don't judge us with what we wear and what we say and what we do on that particular day.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:48.206)
bonus episode. All right. That's right. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Because you never know where that comes from. Especially if get Lillia in the mix too.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (01:58.132)
my gosh, yeah, give her a couple of palomas and I think we'll good.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (02:01.198)
That's right. Well, start us out. I don't know. Yeah, that's right. Shout out, Lillian. So start us out. Tell everybody and for me too, like I don't really know your full founder journey. So why, like how did you get into entrepreneurship and coming to found and start what this Palmetto InnovaSphere or as we call it, just InnovaSphere. So tell us that.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (02:05.125)
Sorry, Nella, we're talking about you.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (02:31.536)
my gosh, the origin story. Well, how, how, in the beginning.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (02:33.25)
The origin story.
Yeah
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (02:40.212)
All right, well, so I think I probably have always had in me growing up as a child, some sort of entrepreneurial DNA. Because even my mother says this, where she's like, you know, when you were little, you used to cut out these little paper dolls and make, you know,
dresses and things, cutouts, like I draw them and cutouts, and then take a shoe box and then draw scenery or some sort of retail something. So I did. Literally. And it needs customers. Yes, exactly. Exactly. So apparently I've always had something like that or
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (03:07.406)
Huh? Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (03:18.146)
You made your own storefront. And you're like, and this storefront needs customers. So I'm gonna make my own customer.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (03:30.364)
I would negotiate with my grandfather on, you know, if you give me a nickel so I can go downstairs to the local corner candy store, I will feed the chickens or something like that. Apparently I negotiated certain things. I mean, and this is something that I just remembered a while back of the origin story. So in some way, entrepreneurial has always been in my DNA, like I said.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (03:30.862)
What happened?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (03:35.116)
Okay.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (03:41.218)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (03:50.51)
Yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (03:57.436)
And I say, you know, in our early years of growing up and in school, there's always been occasions where I would participate in some sort of new projects, new things, always volunteering, raising my hand to do some stuff.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (04:07.374)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (04:14.168)
The, see mine was the curiosity bug. I never thought I would be in a business or start a business, which I know you might go, what? That was never a dream, never even, never even a thought. But my brain gets like, I was always one that, ooh, I wanna learn about that. Ooh, I'm so curious about that. Let me break it apart. Let me see how that stuff functions and works and, but yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (04:34.505)
Yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (04:40.308)
Yeah, well see, this is why you're a great partner. You know why? Because for me, I'm the one that's the, well, what if we do it this way? Or what if we create something new that would have this way? So I'm always doing that ever since as a child. And so I think it's always been there. And I think it just kind of carried on through my career.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (04:51.842)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (04:56.29)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (05:02.936)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (05:09.58)
Right. So what was the spark behind that? What inspired you to start Palmetto in Ovasphere? Yeah. Because it's new. mean, it's a new brand that you guys launched in the last like 12 months. I mean, here you've spanned a pretty incredible career, mostly in life science, Yeah. Life science, bioscience in the...
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (05:18.227)
my gosh, that's a longer story.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (05:33.012)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (05:37.198)
very like my brain hurts to think about the things that you guys have in. And I work with a lot of those companies, but I have to use a lot, I call it a lot of brain sweat to really pick apart those industries to go, do I find the friction? How do I help solve their marketing problem, their brand problem? But you're in it like the product development and how do you take this idea to market?
My brain does not work that way in the life science bioscience sphere.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (06:11.316)
my gosh, my gosh. Well, so the Palmetto and Ovosphere's structure really is not that new. There's organizations out there that do very similar things, right? But what's the extreme difference really is that those other organizations obviously have been around for a long time, but they're very closely
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (06:28.002)
Okay.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (06:37.613)
Right.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (06:40.596)
tied to academic centers or other organizations, universities and academic centers. Yeah. Whereas Palmetto de Nova Sphere is really a freestanding. And freestanding in that, it's still very, I'd say it brings in everybody together and brings it as a community. And I know the word community can get really broad, but
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (06:48.12)
Like mostly, yeah, yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (07:07.362)
Right.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (07:08.468)
It's really bringing all the stakeholders to ensure that the companies that are in the life science space, especially if they're a startup, are successful in whatever form that success looks like.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (07:21.494)
Right, and really kind of that sphere of it, of that community is applying the right resources at the right time and that how that. So how did you guys come to form that structure? Like did you guys see a gap in life science? What is that gap? What was the problem that you saw?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (07:30.29)
Yes, exactly.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (07:39.879)
for sure.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (07:44.734)
Well, so first of all, know, most entrepreneurs are in the life science space. I mean, they go at it alone. Even if they they start to to do their, you know, when they start their company, they think, OK, I'm going to I'm the scientist. I'm going to start a company and I'm going to do this. And it's a lot harder, I we believe, in the life science space because there's so many, many different. Yes, the complexity of it.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (07:50.679)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (07:56.994)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (08:07.032)
The complexity.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (08:10.706)
And also, you know, the struggle is very real and it's longer. It's a longer duration to even see any kind of return on investment. Put it that way. It's, know, we're not manufacturing, you know, screwdrivers or anything like that, or developing widgets. It's really, there's a lot to it. And every stage of this company is almost like an experiment. Experiment as in like, you're taking the outcome of one and then, okay, now it's time to do the other one. And that's why it takes so long. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (08:18.476)
Right, yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (08:38.222)
because it's all research, most of it is research based of like cancer treatments and, know, or things that are like apps or devices that are helping to solve kind of more healthcare life science, biomedical, which digital, yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (08:40.519)
It is. Yep.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (08:53.14)
Yep, Digital health is another one. mean, technology, software engineers, know, but when you get into the healthcare side of things, it's a little bit more challenging, right? And it's a very different audience altogether. But our overall goal really is to make sure that these innovative companies and therapies and whatever they are,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (09:05.902)
Yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (09:19.026)
gets to the patients faster. It takes a long time to get anything, right? So gets to the patients faster, which means they have better access to treatments, which means better outcomes, right? We become healthier and yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (09:21.656)
Yeah, it does, yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (09:31.404)
Right, better, yeah. Making that work fast, because you're right. I mean, we talked a thousand founders and entrepreneurs and that's kind of the, you hit the nail on the head of, it's already hard enough when people go, I have this idea, I see this gap and I can apply that solution whether they are a coder developer or they are a chemist with like some skin care or makeup or hair care.
But when you go into like the bioscience and medical research side, it does get a lot more complex. it's like you said, it's hard enough just to figure out how to run a business, how to create the brand, like what is the product? And then all those level stages. So it doesn't seem like there was a lot of other communities or connectors for entrepreneurs in the life science space. I?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (10:28.052)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (10:28.142)
There's a lot of associations, but it seems like those are membership driven, not necessarily, we're here to help you get resources where you need to apply them.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (10:41.332)
Well, and that's actually the unique thing about us is because we are very much, and I call it this, we're intimately involved in the company. And so it's almost like a Vulcan mind meld in Star Trek. It's really, go to the founders, we go to the innovators and we do the mind meld because we need to understand exactly what they want to achieve so that we can better support them. And that's the big difference.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (10:51.342)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (10:55.628)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (11:00.93)
Right. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (11:10.466)
Yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (11:10.972)
very hands-on and very intimately involved.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (11:13.39)
Is it similar to how a private equity or a venture firm would come in and give them kind of fractional support or do you guys are even more unique and different than those kind of groups because of the complexities of the medical and life science?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (11:39.102)
Well, private equity firms or any other organizations like them, you know, they invest in the companies, right? So they have one goal in Mylands to make sure that those companies are successful so they can get the return on investment and what have you. We're kind of, the complement to that because they can't, they themselves can't be, you know, all the time involved with the scientists and the decision making and the milestones. So.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (11:45.741)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (11:50.252)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (11:55.106)
Yeah, okay.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (12:03.148)
Right, or what we've heard from other founders in the space that do have like a some kind of investor company, they don't get it. They don't understand the complexity and the stages that you have to go into and the different audiences and the channel to sell in through to the patient. it's...
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (12:24.508)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What they term that the translational part of things from bench to bedside is basically what it is. So it's that translation across the board. Not one organization can really do that. And so you need certain sections, which is one of the reasons why Innova Sphere as a sphere has all these key stakeholders, because everybody has to be a part of that translation side of things.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (12:46.508)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (12:52.748)
Yeah. so yeah. So you guys really did see us because there's not if there are other organizations out there, there's there's probably not enough to support the life science. Yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (13:01.972)
Correct, yeah. And everybody has a different model, know? I mean, the one in Switzerland is exactly, they call themselves a translational research organization, but their models are very different. Ours is really, I think ours is really unique in that all the key stakeholders is really a part of it.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (13:22.275)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (13:25.986)
Yeah, because yeah, we haven't we were trying to look for other models like that. We're like, how? it's you know, we're kind of creating our own, you know, and like how to talk about it in that manner. So, OK, I'm fascinated to hear like this, answer to this next question. So you've you've you've co founded this. You're also the CEO. You're running this. You're you're you're supporting these.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (13:29.288)
Yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (13:34.258)
Yeah, we are. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (13:54.442)
the companies in your sphere, right? The pipeline. But you're also trying to run the organization which you have to get funding yourself. Like how are you wearing those two hats?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (14:03.07)
No. No. Yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (14:09.492)
It's not easy. I I tell you, being an entrepreneur, and you know this too, it's not for the faint of heart. And a lot of people really, it takes a certain personality. It takes some grits, yes, yes. The other day I was asking my, I think it was just yesterday, I was asking my husband, I so what does bollocks mean really in swearing words in the Brit?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (14:17.814)
No. Uh-uh.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (14:23.958)
some grit. Yes, some grits.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (14:38.356)
British way and he says balls You gotta have you gotta have that it's it sounds nicer when you say bollocks to really to Sorry, this is just I Feel about it it it it's challenging especially for a woman founded company if you're a woman and you're a founder and your entrepreneur There there are challenge. It's getting better for sure, but we still
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (14:42.638)
You you gotta have it that's right
That's right.
No, I love it.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (14:57.538)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (15:02.104)
yeah.
Right?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (15:07.816)
we still need to change that lever.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (15:10.86)
Yeah, and I know national, like across industries, it's very difficult for women and we don't appear in a lot of spaces. What is it like in life science, bioscience? Are there more women in that space but yet, okay, but yet not able to get that elevation?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (15:33.33)
Believe it or not. Yes. So they're there.
Yeah, more and more women in the life sciences have founded or co-founded companies, more and more. But it started later in the decades, right? You probably, we probably started seeing it in the nineties, early two thousands. But that's very recent. That's just in the last 20 years. Prior to that, it's all been very male dominated. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (15:52.684)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (16:01.122)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (16:05.022)
Absent and is it in from a funding and or You know national stats of like for investment and funding, you know women Across you know all colors and ethnicities. It's 2 % is it is it the same in life science or is it like But higher than indexed I guess or is it the same?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (16:18.228)
2%.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (16:32.02)
Probably a little higher than indexed. I think that the challenge in life science for women founders is really to be in front of the right people and the right investors. I think there's in the life science space, especially if it's biotech or therapeutic, there's a little more availability.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (16:47.084)
Yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (17:00.574)
for some of these funding partners because they look at the science more than they look at any other, you know, typically. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (17:07.863)
Who's running it? Yeah, yeah. But you're right, we still have to, we still need to elevate and push. gotta.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (17:13.268)
lot.
Yeah, and just to answer, know, how do you how do you do it? Right? How do you like where the CEO had and then have to, know, part of us being a CEO is really trying to look for funding, right? Ideally, if I could, if I can find a sugar daddy.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (17:23.458)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (17:28.184)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (17:33.262)
Or sugar mama, let's get, let's look for.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (17:37.748)
And then you know I would be more than happy to to do that But you know these things are hard and you do have to talk to you to a lot of people and you have to be okay with Talking to a lot of people and you have to have kind of like duck feathers, right? Just roll it off because there's gonna be a lot of nose
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (17:40.675)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (17:47.384)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right. have you, when you've walked into the, we've talked to several like female founders who have talked very openly about when they've walked into a boardroom and they are sitting around like a 30, you know, person table of investors and they're all men in their 60s and they're trying to come up and it's in the healthcare space or, you know, and they're like, they can't even.
relate to my story or they, and so they've changed their strategies of who they're going, what boardrooms are they entering into so that they have a better chance of being accepted or even heard or listened to. Have you faced any of that?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (18:38.302)
Being, yeah, or listen to. sure. mean, yeah, many, many times. From a strategy perspective, I think through the years, I basically tell myself before, knowing I had a time who's gonna be in the room, because you usually do. And even if you don't, right, and you're surprised, you usually, you just kind of go with it. But what I have learned is, all right, if I was a man,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (18:55.213)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (18:58.702)
All right, you're just.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (19:06.99)
What would I do? That's right.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (19:07.636)
Gotta, you know, gotta channels. Yeah, what would I do? What would I say? How do I behave? And still show my feminine side of things, right? And how a woman would speak. And that's usually, that's my trick is I always tell myself, it's like, all right, channel the testosterone, because it's gonna be one of those. So you just do it, yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (19:13.763)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (19:17.73)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (19:22.67)
That's the win-win.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (19:27.256)
That's, yeah, yeah. What have you discovered most about yourself as you've kind of entered this space? Have you learned anything like self discovery of I'm now wearing these two hats, we're solving problems at a scale that's pretty spectacular of what you guys have founded?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (19:57.682)
Yes
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (19:57.932)
Has there anything that you've learned about yourself during this like period?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (20:04.392)
think, well, first of all, grateful for the fact that through the decades of my professional career had taken me here, right? And I always said that I was being paid to learn back then. And so grateful for that and acknowledging that, okay, you can do this. This is, Yeah, but I think probably the more recent discovery is
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (20:13.539)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (20:18.435)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (20:25.4)
That path paved a good path for you, yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (20:33.308)
really seeing my resiliency in that learning to sort of like, okay, I can't take that one personally, you know, or also just go, just keep going because if you really truly see the vision, you keep going. I mean, there's that resiliency and tenacity to really keep moving forward.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (21:03.086)
That's right.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (21:03.688)
despite what any other people would say to you, right? Or if they see you as a competitor or whatever, it's like, whatever, there's plenty for everybody. Yes, there's plenty for everybody. if anything, it's like, yeah, we're gonna keep doing what we're doing.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (21:11.139)
Right.
Or why are you doing this? Why are you doing this? Yeah. That's right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (21:23.822)
Here's what I learned too, I don't know if you have faced this, but when you're entering a space where it's void of lot of competition, but that category, that market needs it, you know you've done something when the very limited resources that are in that space start getting their feathers ruffled, you know you've done something. I was like,
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (21:50.251)
yeah. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (21:53.314)
You know, we always joked around over when you get your cease and desist, hey, you know, you've done something.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (21:56.457)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you hit something. You hit something that's really needed. Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure, yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (22:00.888)
You've hit it. Right, right. Yeah. That's what it was like when we did that with OrangeWIP of like, okay, you have no basis for it, but we see your weakness. Like, we found you. We got you. What's been the most rewarding part?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (22:15.112)
Yeah, yeah, we found ya. We got ya!
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (22:25.332)
Seeing the formation of the structure and seeing the with each of the individuals or groups of people that I'm in front of that when when the aha moment and it's pretty quick lately when when I see that when I see it in their eyes that that that they get it it's like that's been the most rewarding because it's like okay great
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (22:46.338)
They get it. They get it.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (22:51.704)
Here. You see the problem we're solving. Yeah, yeah. So what do you think has been, I mean, you've talked about some challenges. What's been the biggest like, shit moment that you've had so far?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (22:54.413)
You see the problem. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (23:07.568)
in through this journey or through the entire lifespan of Cecilia Zapata arms.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (23:10.263)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (23:15.054)
Well, I'm curious, do you have a story of a huge ocean in your journey? But then more specifically, have you felt one yet within the Anovasphere?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (23:27.762)
I have not felt one yet. Believe it or not. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Believe it or not.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (23:30.488)
Okay, so tell me one, that's awesome. Let's hope it stays that way.
What about you for in your other paths of like, because some of that might have been, you learned something to then, okay, I can't let that happen again. All right, so tell me about that.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (23:48.969)
Yes.
Well, I think, the, that particular story was probably early, early, early entrepreneurial endeavor. I'm laughing because this is, this is a total, shit moment. so, I love gardening. I even have a master's in gardening, like a certificate, of course, right? Like master certification in.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (24:13.88)
Okay.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (24:17.24)
Of course you do.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (24:20.98)
in horticulture, you know. And so I had thought at one point, this is, oh my gosh, this is many, many decades ago. I had thought that, okay, I'm going to open my own little nursery from, you know, we had acreage, a couple of acres back then and a little nursery and do a little landscaping and, you know, starting things from seed and selling them and it was, it was wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (24:40.43)
I
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (24:44.961)
Ray?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (24:50.322)
Then I realized, shit, in order for me to make money...
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (24:55.566)
I'll have to sell.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (24:57.748)
produce a LOT of plants.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (25:00.792)
when you actually make the business plan and go, the numbers aren't adding up to the lifestyle that I would like to have.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (25:03.154)
Yes, yes. Now. Well, not only that, but so I'm like, started doing it on weekends and I said, yeah, I'll work full time and I'll do this. You you read a lot about you can work full time and kind of until you can grow. Yeah, score, get your gig. So did that. And then realizing that that's it. But then here's the other moment. The shit moment is like you spend a lot of time outside.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (25:15.948)
Yeah, you can do this. Get your gig.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (25:32.28)
And I'm like, I can't be outside all the time. Rain, snow, sun, you name it. And it wasn't, it wasn't my thing.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (25:36.344)
Yeah.
Yeah, unless you live like in an island and you're, you're,
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (25:45.903)
It's not my personality. I mean, I love the outdoors and I love to hike and all that stuff, but it's not my thing. And so what the heck?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (25:51.31)
That was like the self discovery of, I don't even like weather.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (25:59.736)
Exactly. And mind you, it was just one of those. mean, it was a great try. I did it for a year. Yes, yes, yes. But I think the most important lesson there, as I look back now, being in this lovely, seasoned age of ours, is really that you have to listen to
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (26:10.286)
You learn that about yourself. That's right.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (26:28.814)
what your gut is telling you. Because your body tells you. Your body tells you when you're not on the right path. And you kind of have to listen to that.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (26:31.15)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (26:36.974)
Right. Either way, I so agree with you of like, it's not not just the the business choices are like the category. It's also in the people and the that you surround yourself with, like the energy you can feel that like when it's off. It's off and there you got to make it. And so, yeah, trust your.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (26:56.818)
Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yep. I'm having, I'm having, oops. Exactly. I'm having this one little moment right now. Not right now, but this week, this week has been, there's one where I'm gonna have to cut the cord. And so it's, yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (27:06.168)
Trust your instincts, people.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (27:23.636)
So, but be okay with it. Cause you know, we are very committed to making sure everybody's taken care of and successful, but it's okay. I think that's the other lesson. It's okay to cut the cord.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (27:26.541)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (27:31.906)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (27:36.59)
Yeah, well, and because it's either not serving, you know, you well, if it's a personal thing or if it's not serving the company and other people as the leader of that company, you got to protect everybody. And sometimes that means not everybody is going to help you get to the next level, which I heard from, I know if you heard this phrase, the new level, new devil. every time, have you ever heard?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (27:50.494)
Yes, absolutely.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (28:04.99)
yes!
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (28:06.766)
I was like, I always had talked about like every time you hit another kind of phase or stage, it's more challenges that you've got to like the larger you grow, know, you know, go from five people to then 20 people. That's a big kind of phase that you've got to then different systems, different operations. You go from, you know, 20 people to a hundred people. Again, it's, you know, different systems, different and probably different people.
and the mentality of, don't know, and you probably have seen this in your other corporate, like your journey of working in larger corporations of there's people that have the startup or scale-up mindset, and then you have people that are the sustainers, and you can't bring a sustainer mentality into a startup or a scale-up stage, because they don't know how to create
the systems, but once a system's in place, they will sustain it, but they are not adaptable or agile. just don't have, so that was something, that was an aha for me. I had to learn of as we were growing our company and then all of a we would, like, these people are, like, I don't understand. They've got so much experience and they've got the right personality, but we were in a scale up mentality, and they just couldn't perform.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (29:04.724)
Right.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (29:24.574)
Mm-hmm.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (29:33.62)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (29:34.638)
And that was kind of my, know, talking with another founder, they're like, no, you can't put people who've spent 30 years in larger corporations, they've never had to create the system and they will fail every time.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (29:47.582)
That's right. Right.
That's right. that's okay because everybody has a role to play. We're all made very differently. And we're not all cookie cutter. And I think successes of companies are based on different stages. I think the other thing also for founders too, we have this dream to find the...
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (29:57.004)
Right.
We're ready.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (30:06.04)
Right.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (30:19.88)
found a company and then take it all the way through, we have to be okay with the fact that there's a certain stage where we kind of have to let it go.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (30:20.302)
Great.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (30:29.486)
the, because not, and be okay with failure and also teach that founder of that, of the, you shouldn't be, you should be okay with failure. Failure just means you're learning the lesson for the next idea. Have that freedom to fail, yeah, which is so hard.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (30:32.263)
And yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (30:45.406)
Yeah, exactly, Yeah, yeah, yeah. And giving yourself permission to go through it, right? I mean, that's really at the end of the day, that's what it's about. But of course, you know, at the juncture of startup and scale up, it's like, it's very exciting and ooh, yeah, exactly.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (30:55.181)
Yeah.
That's right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (31:02.082)
Right. You're like, ooh, we're doing this. Then you're like, yeah, this is not a good venture. This is not going to work. What is the most what's the best thing or the thing that you love most about yourself that you wish other people recognized more about you?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (31:23.796)
That's a hard question. What's the, say it again, say it again. Oh, a little soul searching here, ooh. Yeah, yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (31:27.95)
So what's the thing that you, I know, I told you I do have some zingers. So what's the thing that you love most about yourself that you wish other people recognized?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (31:45.556)
I okay, I'm like, okay, she's welcoming, she's warm, she's open. Looking at myself on the other, not fully maybe understanding the, how much the experience or valuing the experience that I've had through the years. I think there's a,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (31:55.298)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (32:12.43)
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (32:14.92)
And I don't know what it is exactly, but I think people judge all the time, right? And so I think, yes, that's it, that's it, thank you. They're making an assumption that, well, what does she know? Or she's never been a CEO. Well, you don't know that. And so that I think would be the thing that I would love to.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (32:20.034)
Right. They're making assumptions. Ha ha. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (32:28.578)
Right. Right. Right.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (32:40.776)
maybe showcase more. I'm not a bragger, Jennifer. I don't, I don't.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (32:42.678)
Yeah, I know, I know. How do we show, how do we humbly brag about ourselves? Because it's really not that we're confident, right? But we also want to build trust and credibility quickly, quickly.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (32:50.984)
Yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (32:55.571)
Right?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (33:01.426)
Yeah, exactly, exactly. And it's also, you know, it's like there's more to this person than what you just seeing. so, yeah, yeah. Give the give the person credit for all the things that that person has done. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (33:07.831)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (33:15.384)
That's right. Yeah. I think that's a lot of female founders. I think we all feel that way. And probably a lot of female CEOs that aren't just, you know, not founded the business, but they have stepped into some higher leadership. Because I remember that for my corporate days of like every time I would enter into a, you know, higher role, you know, there were always people that were going to drag you down, right?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (33:22.536)
Yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (33:44.552)
Mm-hmm.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (33:45.262)
Somebody always said like the higher you go, just be ready for people to throw stones at you.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (33:49.874)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I will add something to this topic though, and it has nothing to do with the, you know, what I want people to see. It has more to do with, like, I already know what it looks like five years on the other side. Like, I could see it. My challenge is sometimes,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (33:55.874)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (34:11.094)
On the other. Yeah. Yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (34:18.036)
I get a little impatient when people don't see what I'm seeing. Yeah. And so it comes, and perhaps, you know, sometimes it may come out a little grumpy on my end. Or I may have this look on my face, it's like, you stupid idiot, why aren't you seeing what I'm seeing kind of thing. But really, I mean, no, no, we don't, we really don't.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (34:20.046)
Like, why don't you see that? Like, yes.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (34:32.471)
Yeah
Yeah. Right. We have no poker face. No. Yes, I have to sometimes put myself off camera immediately. Chandler's laughing because he's like, yeah, you have no chill. Like,
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (34:58.59)
And I, yeah, no, totally. People say that, like, you could tell in your facial expression that you're just, you you could be smiling, but you're like really screaming inside. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (35:05.208)
Yeah.
Right, I try, I try really hard, but people that do know, I have some micro tells, which I'll just tell a funny, I'll give a shout out to my, I've got some in-laws, I've got a brother-in-law and a few nieces that apparently at Christmas, or no, at Thanksgiving we were all together in Indiana, and I have a very large in-law family, like 70 of us together at Thanksgiving. And my brother-in-law who is Irish,
Grew up in Ireland, he looks like a little leprechaun. Joseph, this is for you. Shout out to you. He's like, I watch your podcast. I was like, you do? And he said, I love it. And I said, do you listen to it, like the Spotify or something? goes, no, I watch it on YouTube because it's my favorite. I've made a drinking game out of it with.
And I was like, you've done what? And he said, like me and he named off couple of my nieces, he was like, well, we sit around, your podcast has become a drinking game for us. Because we get really excited. There are a few expressions that you make and we all wait for it in the podcast. I was like, well, what do I do? And he's like, well, I'm not going to tell you that because then.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (36:26.145)
no! Now I'm gonna have to watch it on YouTube!
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (36:27.406)
And said, now I was like, what? And I said, he goes, every time you have the same facial, you use them two or three times. And he goes, and it's our drinking game. He was like, we turn it on about five o'clock. It's cocktail hour, and we watch your podcasts on like a Monday or Tuesday. And it kicks us off for the week, you know, because he's in his seventies, retired. But yeah, he's doing his vodka cranberries to my facial expressions.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (36:47.331)
my gosh.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (36:57.364)
Funny hopefully you didn't have one Chandler. You need to tell me did she have one during this pocket?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (37:00.374)
I know. I was like, I don't even know what the facial expression is that he's drinking to. He'll need to pop in and tell us. But there you go. Shout out, Joseph. So, okay, so I'm curious. So you're also, it's just fascinating to me, because you've had all this corporate experience, being at very high leadership positions. You've now founded your own
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (37:07.668)
Oh god. Yeah. Shut up.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (37:30.048)
organization that's kind of unique and it's a very different structure, supporting basically startups and scale-ups in the life science space. Which then you've got to also, are you finding that you have to, I mean you're hand-holding them while at the same time you're learning kind of, you're experiencing foundership in all like the startups.
and scale up woes yourself. Do you guys have like sessions where you guys just talk about like therapy sessions around what it means to start a business and help them through the building their resilience, helping them with grit and perseverance? I mean, do you sense that from them? And what are they telling you is like their biggest challenges and their biggest like
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (38:11.22)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (38:28.79)
mental angst.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (38:32.084)
Wow, okay. So first of all, because we're so worth it. No, no, no, no. I love the question. I think the beauty of what we have created really is because we are experiencing similar journeys, right? Even though we've had experience it before, but we're in this space also of startup scale up. And so we can really truly
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (38:34.638)
I know that was like a lot of.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (38:48.45)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (38:53.091)
Right.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (39:02.504)
you know, be with them through their journey. Exactly. So we understand it. this comes in, this is what I mean about the sort of like the Vulcan mind mill, this because we really do understand what they're going through. I think from, and for the most part, whenever we come in and we're having discussions with them and we talk about some of their anxieties or stresses and
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (39:04.718)
You're relating to them. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (39:19.138)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (39:30.115)
Yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (39:30.236)
A lot of it has to do with funding. It's mostly all about funding, but also validation of their science and all that stuff. And so by the time we get done with them, it's like you could almost see the body language. It's like the shoulders drop. Somebody understands us. OK, think we can actually work with these people.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (39:32.992)
yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (39:39.224)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (39:49.634)
Yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (39:58.16)
All that, all those things. again, not everybody is on the same stage, but there is a common ground for each one of them. A lot to do with funding, of course, but also just being able to like, we can actually have somebody help us with our strategy. That's great. yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (40:04.024)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (40:15.864)
Right, yeah. To help them work through all of those, whatever they're, the angst are, the friction, yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (40:26.206)
The friction, yes, exactly. Now, do we have a bitch session internally, like within the team? Yeah, of course we do. But we do, and then, because you have to, you kind of have to let it out of your system, right? And then, okay, that's done. Put that aside, let's get to work.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (40:30.286)
Yeah. Great.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (40:40.172)
You have to let it all out. Right?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (40:46.574)
We used to have those sessions here called Wednesday wind downs, it was, know, W-H-I-N-E over wine, wine over wine.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (40:55.932)
Yes, yes, wine over wine, wine over wine.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (40:59.106)
Wine over wine. Just so you could just, it's okay. Like you need to vent. So what's been, know funding is the biggest challenge, but as far as for Pemido and Ovasphere, like what's been the other challenges? Is it just purely funding and just kind of getting the name and like the traction and the.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (41:05.522)
Yeah. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (41:28.462)
the credibility out or has there been any other finding the right people? Is it any other challenges that you guys have crossed?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (41:37.79)
You know, I think the most, probably the biggest challenge that I would say, and I wouldn't say it's a challenge even, it's a little bit of a hurdle. And that is really to, because, well, let me back up. Our goal is to be the regional magnet, right? And so to do that, we have to have,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (41:48.77)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (42:00.084)
Yeah, right.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (42:05.22)
all the stakeholders and that includes the lovely state of South Carolina to be a part of this structure. To do that, we have to make sure that everybody understands what we're trying to build. Yes, we're in the upstate, but really this is really for the entire state and we're here for the entire state, for all the counties that are ramping up or expanding their life science corridor or whatever, you know.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (42:06.734)
Mm.
Right.
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (42:18.594)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (42:22.317)
Right?
Right.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (42:31.482)
Agtech, digital health, whatever that means for the economic development groups. And then statewide, that means really putting together the structure and showcasing that there is something here for companies to come to and have a landing ground, despite of whether they're in the upstate or low country or midland.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (42:36.162)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (42:47.832)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (42:51.278)
Right, and if they're, you you guys are grabbing people from like Switzerland or whatever of, they might not choose the upstate to land. So you need to have the state come or to go, hey, where's the best place for them to find a spot? Yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (43:09.118)
Yes. Yes. Yes. And I talk to people all the time. All the time. Just all the time. And so when I travel and I go to Europe or have meetings with Big Pharma or whoever it is, I talk about what we have here. And that really pings their curiosity, number one. It's like, really? We've not heard of that.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (43:18.446)
Here.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (43:30.882)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (43:36.184)
Yeah, like South Carolina. Because isn't it, what is it, Boston and Silicon Valley are like the two, okay.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (43:39.271)
Exactly, exactly.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (43:44.722)
Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, even Chicago and Philadelphia are kind of in the, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (43:49.868)
Are some magnets there? So this is like the first southern magnet. Okay.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (43:55.508)
Yes. And the Southeast region is primed to be, I mean, there's a study already that there's growth here and it's going to continue to grow almost at 192 % by 2060.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (44:01.516)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (44:09.902)
Whoa. Well, think about it. It's good weather. mean, cost of living. I mean, it's from an attractiveness. It does appeal. mean, if I had a choice between them, I love Chicago and all, but if I had a choice between, oh, do I want to wear flip-flops nine months out of the year, or do I want to bundle in a Gore-Tex jacket six months out of the year?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (44:16.734)
Yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (44:29.236)
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and we still have where we have a big city mentality and we have but we're also still a small, you know, village feel. And that's the beauty. Yeah, that's the beauty of of South Carolina, really. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (44:44.502)
Yeah, who I like that village feel. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (44:50.754)
Right, right. So what would you be doing if you had no fears?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (44:58.982)
If I
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (45:00.374)
No fears.
None. No worry about money. No worry about like somebody judging you.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (45:13.94)
Oh, I would have, I'd probably be doing exactly the same thing, but all over the world. Ideally, I would love to be able to build opportunities for third world countries to have places, access for care and all that stuff.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (45:21.55)
yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (45:33.014)
access. yeah. Like getting these ideas, these technologies, these solutions to market faster. Around the world. Yes, you do. If you could change two things, this kind of leads into this, but if you could change two things about your business.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (45:39.88)
Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yep. Around the world. I want to cure the world. Yep.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (46:01.358)
starting tomorrow, you got a magic wand, what two things would you want to have changed about the organization?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (46:08.798)
probably would have would have learned a little bit more about the the I'd say the environment from the economic development side of things not just county by county, but I'm talking about as a state because No, I don't think so. I think it's more it's more education
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (46:23.726)
Hmm.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (46:29.464)
Yeah.
Is there a resistance there?
Like education and information, okay.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (46:37.012)
It's more education, yeah, more education and information because I think that would have allowed InnoVaSpirit to have less having to find funding and all that good stuff, right? To have the full support of the entire state. Really that probably would be the one, the biggest one and probably...
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (46:51.64)
Yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (47:05.042)
Really, that does it. That captures both two that you're asking for.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (47:11.854)
The one, two punch. Okay, so if we met next February, which, know, we'll meet before then, but you know, and we went over cocktails, what would we be celebrating next February? One year from now, what would we, yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (47:24.398)
man, we'll one year from now, one year from now, I'd say one company would would have had some sort of exit of some sort. Or have been close to or have a strategic partner that really takes them to, you know, a national front of things. Yeah, to market. And we would be celebrating probably our presence in Charleston and another county.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (47:32.557)
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (47:42.082)
to market.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (47:53.678)
Very good. Can you name the county? Is there like a hit of like, mean Charleston's obvious because of MUSC, but is there another pocket of South Carolina that's kind of bubbling up? Besides, mean Greenville, the upstate, Spartanburg, but is there another one that's popping, trending?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (47:58.398)
Do I have a head?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (48:06.59)
Bye!
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (48:16.372)
Yeah, maybe green wood. Yeah. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (48:19.884)
Yeah, there's a few. can name a few organizations and some systems there that people don't really know about the stuff that's coming out of Greenwood. There's a lot there. Yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (48:27.154)
Yeah, yeah, think, yeah, yeah, there's a lot there that is that's very talk about it, talk about a hidden treasure that there's a lot there. And I think I think that would be the third.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (48:43.47)
That's interesting. I love it. All right. If you had to sum up your entrepreneurial journey in just one word, what would that word be and why?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (48:46.398)
Mm-hmm.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (49:00.308)
Mmm.
Emergence.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (49:05.302)
Emergence, why did you choose that? That's a fantastic word.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (49:09.694)
Because, well, it comes down to my personality too, but I think there is so much to discover, right? And a lot of it are not very well known, and a lot of it is really to serve the people. And I want to take it out of its hiding place and emerge it into...
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (49:35.886)
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (49:40.168)
the world.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (49:41.326)
That is very you. But I'll tell you, I asked this question of, mean, we've had hundreds, of founders. I've not had a repeat word yet. But we all have similar themes, but our journey is all very different of how we define it. And I love that one. That's a good one. It's very fitting.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (49:43.612)
hahahaha
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (49:54.665)
Wow.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (50:10.336)
Okay, if you looked at the next chapter in your journey, what would word would you use to describe that next chapter?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (50:20.882)
Knowledge.
And here's why. My next chapter, really, is to own multiple bookshops and lovely little villages with lots and lots of books, lovely libraries, available to everybody, especially the young.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (50:25.582)
Yeah. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (50:33.624)
Huh?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (50:37.484)
You're speaking to my heart.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (50:42.754)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. If I could own libraries, I would. I love them. I grew up in libraries. I grew up in libraries. I love them. Yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (50:48.934)
yes, totally. Me too.
Can I tell you something? I saw this on Facebook, I think. There is an action figure from the 60s or the 70s of a librarian.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (51:12.98)
No, it was a librarian and it was doing the...
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (51:13.282)
Are we sure it wasn't Diana Prince, like Wonder Woman dressed as a librarian?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (51:24.276)
Find that picture, I'll text it to you.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (51:26.444)
You need to, we'll need to find that action figure. Bring it back.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (51:28.676)
Yeah, I know. wonder how much now that I said it is probably going to cost a million dollars just to get it. But it's like it's like it's a librarian and it had like she had books in her arm and then she was doing and it's an action figure.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (51:33.23)
The butt.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (51:42.478)
You know, I wonder if it's like from Ghostbusters, like an action figure from the original Ghostbusters of the librarian. I wonder, because you know, they don't just make action figures out of, unless it's like, my husband always teased, because he always teased, I didn't have any good stuff, you everyone had G.I. Joe's, I had Army Pete, and you know, G.I. Joe's had the moving arms, Army Pete stuff, like they had no movement.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (51:50.12)
Could be, could be, okay.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (52:09.054)
The stiff.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (52:11.404)
And I was like, yeah, I had the generic cabbage patch dogs that were not, that were homemade from my neighbor that my mom was like, it looks like a cabbage patch. So was like, mom, there's no way this yarn-like, amoeba-shaped baby is nowhere near a cabbage patch. So yeah, and I was like, I bet it was, maybe it was like a generic of Diana Prince. wasn't Diana Prince, it was Jane Smith or something.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (52:38.258)
hahahaha
my gosh. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (52:41.806)
of the action figures of growing up. So what is something that we already know that you were, you know, a hidden horticulturalist, but is there something that also would be surprising for our listeners to hear about you that's not on your resume, that's not on LinkedIn, you know, is there some hidden other than, well, I don't know, the librarian thing might be a pretty amazing secret.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (53:01.683)
Mmm.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (53:10.32)
or the horticulture thing, yeah. well, I'll tell you.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (53:12.424)
Horticulture. You know, I think it's sad, but I want to be a horticulturalist. Like, don't like dirt and sunshine.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (53:24.534)
Ooh rain dirt!
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (53:25.716)
I'll tell you. Let's see the the I am NOT a very good swimmer.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (53:34.392)
Like as in you don't know how to swim at all or just not a very talented, because most people aren't very good swimmers.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (53:37.396)
I can, I can, I can, okay, I can float. I can float. That's as far as I will go. Yes, yes. And here's why. It's because I grew up, I was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in the Philippines and other places in Asia. Swimming is not the thing. We never, we never, except in Japan, but even then I did,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (53:46.658)
with just your head above, because you're like, I don't know how to even docky paddle, okay.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (54:04.973)
Yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (54:06.598)
I was not exposed to swimming pools and swimming in rivers and stuff like that, but I can float. I can float.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (54:10.924)
Yeah, it's so fat, but you could put, it's so fat that you said that I've just read some article or some story. A friend of mine from high school, just, she went on their like 20th wedding anniversary, which was like a decade ago or whatever. they went to Hawaii for a vacation. And then they decided we're not, we're not leaving. And.
She got a job and she works in hospitals, she's an RN, she was like, I got a job immediately. She was like her husband had to go back and liquidate all his small business, all of their stuff. And so they've been out there for now a decade. They were on the very first show of Island Life, like the HGTV, but it was like the House Hunters, but it was Island Life.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (55:01.276)
yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (55:08.716)
Hawaii and other islands. They were the couple that were trying to find their home on an episode of that. I say all that because she posted a story that they are like the they're trying to put in their their governing body of we need swimming pools like public swimming pools that teach Hawaii kids to learn to swim because she was like they either
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (55:34.364)
Adults. yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (55:37.954)
You know, if you've come into the culture, either you've learned, you go in the ocean, and that's how you, but there's a whole sector of the society that doesn't go into the ocean. They're either afraid or, you know, what have you. They don't learn how to like properly swim and there's no like public pools. And so I thought that was fascinating. I'm like, what do you mean? People don't know to swim in Hawaii. And she was like,
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (56:05.329)
I know you would think they don't.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (56:06.776)
They don't. She was like, they don't. If their culture wasn't to go into the ocean, she was like, but there's a lot of people that don't. And so you'll have a lot of people that come into the hospital that are drowning victims or almost drowning victims. She's like, people don't even know how to float.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (56:13.672)
going to the ocean. Yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (56:24.552)
Yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (56:29.044)
Well, I only learned how to float because I I took swimming I did a YMCA class. I mean, I you know, I did a little bit I could do with the pool tube thingies. Yeah, pool noodle. See, I don't even know how to what you call it. But I learned how to float. So that's important.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (56:33.422)
At the YMCA, did you like do a YMCA class?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (56:46.894)
Well, I'll pull noodle.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (56:55.022)
That's right, that's right. I love it. All right. Sorry, that was funny. You're like, I could just see you picturing and I'm here. I don't know how to paddle, but I can float. there, so is there a piece of advice that you have received over the years from other leadership or other business owners that you really took to heart and you share that with your
Founders in your sphere.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (57:27.302)
Yes, I always say to, mean, for for people in general, regardless, always find a mentor. There is there is always something to to learn from from mentors. The other is if going into the corporate side of things and if you're a leader, it's OK to also get an executive coach. Yes.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (57:55.308)
Yes, you should never stop growing. Yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (57:58.42)
Exactly, exactly. But the third most important thing is if I recommend that you go get somebody to help you present, please take me up on it because I had to learn how to do it too. But yeah, totally.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (58:02.19)
Thank
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (58:17.88)
Yeah.
Yeah, so learn, so get a mentor, which is key. And mentor or a coach or whatever, you know, because I think those are two different things. And I think you need both of them. I think you need to have mentors in your life, regardless of if you're a founder or just you're trying to grow as a professional in your career. You need to have mentors that will
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (58:30.334)
They are very different.
Yes.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (58:44.66)
Correct. That's right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (58:49.624)
provide you, bounce ideas off of that can kind of guide you. But then at some point you do need a coach that now challenges you in ways that you might not. And as I've had to learn from my coach, this was an aha, I thought they were one and the same for so many years. And I had mentors that I thought that I was using as coaches. I was picking their brains and they were guiding me.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (59:08.786)
Mm-hmm, they're not.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (59:14.526)
Mm-hmm.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (59:19.672)
But then I was like, need a coach. And so everybody listen, they are not the same. And the coach's job is to not necessarily be a mentor. They are there to extract what's in your brain, your heart. it's to uncover ahas in yourself. But they're going to.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (59:29.876)
That's right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (59:46.894)
push on you and ask you some really tough questions. But they are so insightful and you will have so many like aha moments, not just for yourself, but how do you apply those in business? And so yeah, I love that. So mentor, coach, gotta have that. And then what was the second? Somebody teach you how to present. Yeah, because we all need that.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (59:50.046)
Mm-hmm.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (01:00:00.616)
Mm-hmm, that's right, yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (01:00:08.892)
somebody to teach you how to present to them. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:00:16.974)
Because you're gonna, I don't care what role, in every phase of my career, I had to be in front of people speaking. So it is incredible.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (01:00:19.412)
Doesn't matter. Public speaking.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (01:00:26.568)
Yeah. Yeah.
It does. It's it's again. Yeah. Learning how to I mean, podcasting is, as you know, is has been fun and actually is a great practice for some. Right. But it's also informal. Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:00:40.546)
Right. Yes. Right. Right. This is very informal. Like I've been on other podcasts where I felt like I've had to be on stage and yeah, you have to prep a little bit more. I had to, you know, have my notes like on the side because they were like, this isn't just you off the cuff. And I was like, ooh, okay. Let me, let me get my stage presence on. This is clearly not that type of podcast, which is so much better.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (01:01:01.746)
Yeah. I love it.
So much better, so much better. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:01:10.904)
So much better. But yeah, that's.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (01:01:14.196)
And I'll be the first to say that I'm also not, I mean, we have to, and again, it depends on the audience and who you're presenting to, right? And I'm not the best either. I mean, it requires practice and you have to practice. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:01:22.83)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:01:27.468)
Right, but you have to practice because you're, and it's, you probably have to spend 10,000 hours on that. Because it, especially if you're not like Chandler's like, yeah, Chandler's, you know, we've talked about, it's when you're an introvert, it is like some of us, it takes a lot to get us to that point. We're gonna work, we're working on that with.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (01:01:37.384)
yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (01:01:55.956)
As she looks over to the side.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:01:57.422)
He's gonna like run the world here in about five years, because he's got it in him. I love that advice. So one last question for you. Is there like a favorite book or a podcast? Is there like a go-to source for just inspiration or more knowledge?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (01:02:10.249)
Mm-hmm.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:02:24.652)
Or are you one that goes into the library like me? And I'm like, huh, what are the latest business books that I've keep seeing people post and I'm gonna peruse these?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (01:02:33.044)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I have two go-tos. One of them is Marianne Williamson, which is A Course in Miracles. Yeah. It came out like 90s, think, late 90s. But I started reading it probably 10 years ago. So.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:02:45.742)
I have not heard of that one. I'm going to have to put that on my list.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:02:54.446)
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:03:00.354)
Yeah.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (01:03:01.446)
It's one of those pages where dog-eared and outlined and highlighted, low notes on the side. Yes, I go to it quite frequently for just a, it's almost like a meditative spiritual enlightenment book for me if I just need to kind of reset. And the other one is, and it's been around for a while, and it's Make Your Bed.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:03:04.129)
Yeah, I love it.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:03:15.214)
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:03:21.72)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:03:31.234)
What? Chandler's nodding too. Okay, so I've not heard of that book either. So which make your bed.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (01:03:31.816)
Yeah, it's written.
Okay, yeah.
Yes, it's written by a Navy SEAL and yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:03:46.382)
Oh, has he, did he do a, like a, not a TEDx, but was he like a speaker at a college and I've seen it go, is that the one where he talks about that's the discipline of like make your bed, it will set, yeah, okay, set your day. I didn't know it was, I didn't know he wrote a book. I've just seen the video of his speech, which is a powerful speech.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (01:04:02.036)
It sets your
He wrote a book first, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah. that's more of to, again, it's one of those where I go to it. I don't read it all the time, but when I go to it, it's a reset for me. But, know, as, again, as a founder, entrepreneur, you have days where you're just, you know, you just need a little oomph or... Yep, exactly. And those are my go-to. I have a library here at the house and I have others that...
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:04:16.067)
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:04:26.125)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:04:31.064)
That's right. You get the lows and the highs.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (01:04:44.594)
I go to. But those are the two that I tend to pick up whenever I need to.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:04:45.378)
that you just.
I love it. Well, that is, I love it. We're gonna have to list that out for everybody. But I'm amazed at how fast these things go, Cecilia. Thank you so much for coming on. Before we go, where do you want people to connect with you, learn more about InnovaSphere or about you? Where do you wanna send them?
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (01:04:57.702)
I know. Thank you.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (01:05:09.588)
I want to send them to InnovaSphere. InnovaSphereSC.org is our website and you can catch me there, send an email through that and I'll get to you. You'll get to me. Yep. Yes. Yes. You can find me. It's not a hard phase to not remember.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:05:22.542)
Perfect, that's right. And if not, we'll find you. We'll find you there. Yeah, that's right. thank you so much. This was a fantastic show and I love the conversation.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (01:05:38.26)
Thank you.
Cecilia Zapata-Harms (01:05:42.568)
Thank you so much. you for having me. It's been great.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:05:45.772)
You are so welcome. And for everyone listening or watching, thank you for joining us. This podcast will be available always at your favorite podcast platform. So subscribe to Hello Chaos, give us a shout. A five-star review on Apple or Spotify would be great. And share this great content and help us build a more connected entrepreneurial community. Hello Chaos is one of the many resources brought to you by OrangeWIP. That is OrangeWIP, W-I-P for work in progress, because that's what we all are.
OrangeWIP is a multimedia company dedicated to serving founders and entrepreneurs in affiliate cities. We're in three South Carolina markets today looking to expand to other cities because every city needs an OrangeWIP. We've designed hyperlocal media platforms to inform, inspire, and be the independent connective tissue between founders and the local entrepreneurial ecosystem. We've done all the hard work for founders. They all need to go to one trusted source to find the local information they need.
from curated calendars, dynamic roadmaps, the chatter of the juice that's happening in that local market. If you'd to be a guest on our podcast or support us, send us an email to hello at orangewip.com. Thank you for tuning in to Hello Chaos. It is where aha meets shit, and we will see you again next week.