The highway to entrepreneurship just isn’t linear. Jillian Levin who is understood on the web as Jilly Hendrix, took on the roles of comic, DJ, viral meme creator, and model advisor earlier than she invested in startups and have become a founder. Oozing with sarcasm, balanced by an unusually wise demeanor, the now co-founder and CEO of low-ABV spirits firm BODY and 8x investor, leveraged a decade of foundational information as a cultural pattern spotter and content material creator.

At 21, Southern California native Hendrix obtained a job at expertise company, CAA, in Los Angeles with the will to get into the leisure enterprise. “I was filing papers in a closet,” says Hendrix, “and soon they realized I was so good at filing papers that I was made a second assistant.” With an company launch pad and visibility into the enterprise of leisure, Hendrix went on to show herself the way to DJ by watching YouTube movies, shortly making a reputation as a celeb DJ in Los Angeles and New York. “Through the agency and then DJing, I learned first-hand about the business side of entertainment,” says Hendrix, “I just really liked that you could create the vibe of the party as a DJ.”

DJing at golf equipment as each an entertainer and promoter, Hendrix was embedded into the early influencer rotation alongside together with her childhood buddies from the Laguna Beach present Lauren “Lo” Bosworth and Broady Jenner. Making connections with rising and established cultural manufacturers as a DJ and influencer, Hendrix was shortly elevated to the function of expertise after which model advisor working with manufacturers like Chandon, Sweetgreen, Bumble, Hinge, Outdoor Voices, and extra. “I’ve been building relationships with tastemakers and brands for my whole life it seems,” says Hendrix.

A seemingly pure development, Hendrix partnered with extra rising direct-to-consumer startups who have been searching for digital methods and distinctive cultural [meme] content material to inform their tales. Learning the ins and outs of the startup ecosystem from a monetary and founder perspective, Hendrix went from receiving $100 model checks to upwards of $25,000 for tasks as a advisor. “Some of the memes I made helped grow startup brands and it was through this work that I became super knowledgeable about early-stage startups and how to target consumers online.”

Getting an inside have a look at the startup ecosystem as a advisor drove Hendrix to begin investing. “I went from being creative to entering the business realm,” says Hendrix. “I’d already been helping grow accounts and wanted to get into the next level – the next level is the piece of the pie.” After constructing her consultancy, Hendrix was in a position to qualify as an accredited investor, the easy but essential step wanted to put money into an organization. Hendrix went on to begin Jilly Ventures, investing in 8 firms so far together with Ghia, the cult-classic non-alcoholic aperitif model, Instagram-aesthetic cookware model Great Jones, and creator platform aggressive with OnlyFans and Patreon, Fanhouse. With checks beginning as little as $10,000, Hendrix’s investments strategically occupied a diversified portfolio encompassing the meals and beverage trade, creator financial system, and girls’s well being and wellness.

In the midst of the pandemic, Hendrix noticed a possibility within the over $100 billion greenback beverage market to create a low-ABV spirits firm and co-founded BODY. “If it wasn’t BODY it was going to be a fund,” says Hendrix with a smile. With rising developments in alcohol-alternatives and low alcohol merchandise hitting the mainstream, BODY launched in late 2021. The premium vodka is 10x distilled and has 25% much less alcohol than the usual 80 proof vodka – a fascinating concoction for the well being acutely aware and decrease alcohol-curious.

Leveraging a decade-strong relationship rolodex and in lower than a yr, Hendrix’s BODY is now stocked in over 50 New York areas, together with the luxurious fifth Avenue Manhattan Aman lodge, Chef Ignacio Matos’ LODI apertivo bar and cafe in Rockefeller Center, together with Pebble Bar, Flower Shop, and the American Bar in Greenwich Village. The firm introduced a primary of its type partnership in the present day with Next Century Spirits, a tech-enabled spirits firm with a distributor community spanning the nation making BODY an official third celebration buyer and a part of Next Century Brand Group’s portfolio.

To date, BODY has raised a six-figure pre-seed spherical led by Curate Capital with participation from Cami Tellez, CEO of Parade, Lauren Bosworth, Founder of Love Wellness, Sarah Levy of Y7 and others and can announce an official seed spherical in early 2023. “I love connecting people and helping brands, and if I could, I would do that with every single brand that exists,” says Hendrix. “Everyone needs to be profitable – there are such a lot of superb merchandise on the market now. There is room for everybody.