Pulse - November 2021 - 10

SCVMA PROFILE JIM BELL
Dr. Cruz Turns to New Career
as Travel Bag Entrepreneur
D
r. Bernadine Cruz has had an illustrious
career as a veterinarian in Southern
California - adding to her excellence as a
doctor has been a podcast in which she interviews
veterinary experts, appearances on commercial
television and hosting segments of PetCARE TV.
The exclamation point on her medical career came in 2017
when she was honored with the SCVMA's prestigious Don
Mahan Award, given only to those who have served veterinary
medicine in an extraordinary manner.
She is now launching a new venture as an entrepreneur, inspired
by her love of travel. Her new enterprise - designing, manufacturing
and selling a unique travel bag that provides convenient
pockets for various items as well as an attached cushion that can
provide comfort in airports or wherever a traveler needs to sit.
" I had this idea and I don't know anything about business
but I wanted to get out there and give it a try. It's been a fascinating
experience, " she said. She began selling her Ulti Travel
Bag - Ulti as in ultimate - in August.
The road to that first sale took some six years. " It's been a
slow process, " Dr. Cruz said. " It's a process that is ever learning
and ever changing. I wouldn't say I have it all figured out.
I just put it out there and ask friends and family, 'How do I do
this?' And the answers came.
" I'm a firm believer that it's not what you know but who
you know, " she said, and that proved to be true as she started
her entrepreneurial adventure. Dr. Cruz met a woman, who
was a friend of a long-time client, at Laguna Hills Animal
Hospital, where she works.
" I told her I'm trying to design a bag and I'm having
some difficulties finding a designer. 'Oh,' the woman said,
'my daughter has been working with somebody who does
that.' That person " was just the spark I needed at that time. "
On another occasion, she was lamenting in the hospital break
room at lunchtime that she needed a manufacturer. " One of my
nurses was there. 'That's what my family does,' she told me. "
While she wanted to find a U.S. manufacturer for her products,
Dr. Cruz soon discovered that the only practical place to
go for that service is China. " Their expertise is phenomenal,
their capabilities are spectacular and you cannot beat their cost.
" Again, I needed to find somebody. I knew a gentleman
with whom I had done some video work for on an animal
product. I gave him a call and told him what I was doing.
'I have the perfect person for you,' he said, and I was introduced
to a Chinese manufacturing liaison. "
Now I'm working with a group call SCORE [a volunteer
agency of the Small Business Administration intended to help
entrepreneurs]. They're fabulous and it's totally free. Whatever
kind of mentoring you need or for whatever aspect of your
business, they have somebody to help. "
10
Dr. Cruz also uses the Small Business Development Center,
another SBA-run organization. " It's free, it has many mentors
and it's been the organization that has been the most helpful
in getting my project off the ground, " she said.
Her website is called Conmigo Bags. ( " Conmigo " means
" come with me " in Spanish.) That name came from the staff
at Laguna Hills Hospital. " I told my para-professional staff I
needed a name for my website. One of our RVTs came up
with the name, " Dr. Cruz said. The website can be found at
https://conmigobags.com.
The business is a one-person effort. " Currently, it's me,
myself and I with the cats looking on to make sure that quality
control is adhered to, " she said.
" The first iteration was something I made on my little
Singer sewing machine. The whole premise is based on the
fact that I am a person who wants to be comfortable, I want
to be organized and I am a single woman who travels by
myself a lot and I want to be safe. There are many possibilities
[for new products] but I'm not going to commit to anything.
First, I want to see how this goes, " Dr. Cruz said.
The Ulti Bag comes in two colors, black or blue. Other
colors could be added later. " It's been a labor of love for me, "
she said. " I would suggest that if anyone wants to start a business,
veterinary or otherwise, give it a try. It is a lot better that
you at least tried. "
Part of the profit from every Ulti Bag will be given to the
American Veterinary Medical Foundation.
Dr. Cruz has worked 35 years at the Laguna Hills hospital.
This year will be her last. She is now working two days a
week and will cut back soon to one day.
" At the end of the year, I'm going to be a bag lady - a traveling
bag lady, " she said. P
NOVEMBER 2021
PULSE
https://www.conmigobags.com
Pulse - November 2021

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