WHAT SHE SAID: 5 Minutes with Jyss Leilani of Upper Left Ladies

If you’re looking for a solid example of what it looks like when women support and celebrate other women, look no further than Jyssica Leilani. Not only is she the founder and CEO of Style Opal, a Portland-based social media and communications agency for purpose-driven brands, but she’s also the co-founder of Upper Left Ladies, a dynamic community of soul-led, female entrepreneurs. When she’s not producing marketing campaigns or helping clients boost their social media game, she’s likely to be found reading about astrology, dancing with her cats in the kitchen, or trying to keep her houseplants alive.

As business leaders in our given markets, Jyss and I have connected many times over the years to support one another and talk about the different ways in which we can connect women in business who live in the Pacific Northwest. Most recently, Jyss and I connected in person at the What She Said Women in Fashion event at W Bellevue. Not only did she clear her busy schedule to make the drive up from Portland, but she also brought along several other amazing women in business to help support the event. Jyss is a true gem and I’m so lucky to have her in my corner cheering me on.

I recently sat down with her to talk about how the pandemic has impacted her business, what productivity tools she uses most frequently, and how we can all learn to embrace times of uncertainty.

What is Upper Left Ladies?

Upper Left Ladies is a community of soul-led femme entrepreneurs, business owners, and leaders. We have a virtual membership with two meet-ups a month, an online directory, monthly bonus meetups for locals in Portland, and other fun events sprinkled throughout the year for our community at large! I also run a social media and marketing agency called Style Opal, where we create content that builds and cultivates communities for purpose-driven businesses and entrepreneurs.

How did you get your start?

Upper Left Ladies (ULL) started as a meet-up group in 2016 when two of my close friends and I were starting our careers in Portland, Oregon. It was just prior to the new wave of feminism and the Facebook Group boom - we were a Facebook group with casual in-person meetups long before we became an “official” organization. The networking groups we were finding were stuffy, transactional, and hyper-masculine. Two of us in the group were working in retail at the time and hated hearing women bash themselves all the time. We decided we needed a place for women to lift each other up, share resources, and make connections where they could be their full selves… so ULL was born! We have strong Pacific Northwest roots, but our membership is now filled with entrepreneurs from all over the U.S. and we’re continuing to grow.

As for Style Opal, I originally created it as a sustainable style blog when I was studying fashion at Accademia Italiana in Florence, Italy, and at Oregon State. Social media turned out to be a great way for me to mesh style, community, and writing, all in one place. Today, Style Opal has evolved to become a social-first, online marketing agency that offers a full suite of services including content creation, management, and strategy.

How has the pandemic impacted your business?

Style Opal was already virtual (other than our photo and video shoots) so it was more about supporting our brick-and-mortar clients - wellness studios, for example - and helping them find creative ways to bring their business online. We encouraged them to weave it in for the long haul since there’s no cap on what you can do in the virtual space!

For Upper Left Ladies, we pivoted from focusing on in-person events to asking ourselves, “How can we support our community while we all have to stay inside?”. We started a few virtual event series by partnering with different folks and businesses in the community to help women connect with nature, with their intuitive selves, and with each other in new and creative ways.

What marketing channels do you use the most frequently?

Instagram and email marketing - I love and absolutely recommend FloDesk! Our ULL Members also stay in touch on our private Slack channel for co-working vibes.

How can business owners learn to embrace uncertain times?

The reality is, there is uncertainty and mystery all around us. Most things change and evolve over time and it’s actually beautiful and a more easeful place to be when you can let go of attachments to outcome. I’m not saying it’s always easy, or that planning and strategy aren’t important- you’re talking to a strategist and a woman who lives by her calendar- but it is possible to be certain in who we are, our mission, and our actions.

From a business perspective, I think the most important thing is to trust yourself and to trust those you bring into your business circle to build it with you. I always say your “how” in business may shift over time, but if you stay connected to your “who” and “why” - the impact you want to make and on who - your business and community - can only get stronger.

What (do you wish you knew about being an entrepreneur) that you wish you knew when you started?

Don’t take advice from just anybody. Talk to and learn from people who have built similar things. Once I started doing that, everything changed.

How has your personal approach to business changed over the years?

Boundaries, baby! Can’t live without them in life or work. I’ve also leaned into a more tailored approach, and way out of any one-size-fits-all model.

What is the biggest business-related challenge you've faced and how did you overcome it?

I’ve learned not to put all my eggs in one basket, in terms of clients or marketing platforms. James Nord, the founder of Fohr, says to never allow a single client to make up more than 30% of your revenue. So, in short, we’ve diversified!

What are your favorite productivity tools to use for business?

1. The Pomodoro Method for timed focused work

2. Dubsado for CRM

3. Google Calendar
   
   

Early bird or night owl?

Night owl

What are you reading right now?

Upper Left Ladies does a quarterly book club and right now we’re reading “We Should All We Should All Be Millionaires: A Woman’s Guide To Earning More, Building Wealth, and Gaining Economic Power” by Rachel Rodgers. So powerful. We’re meeting on December 7th at 6 p.m. in-person and virtually. If you’re reading this, you’re invited!

Name a woman in business that you admire:

Chani Nicholas

What's one podcast or website you love for business insight and inspiration?

My friend Ellen Yin’s Cubicle to CEO podcast is killer for tactile business advice and inspiration! Last year, we had a LIVE Upper Left Ladies x Cubicle to CEO podcast event where she interviewed me about how our team 300x’d Upper Left Ladies’ organic social reach. It’s one of my favorite case studies!

If you could share one bit of advice for a new business owner, what would it be?

Shine your light and push past the fear of letting yourself be truly seen, little by little. Someone out there needs to hear what you have to say in a way that only YOU can say it.

What's one thing people would be surprised to know about you?

I grew up in Texas and have also lived in Hawaii. The Texas one usually surprises people!