How Did We Start Jab?

A recollection of how Jab came to be.

Our story isn’t a linear one. How can a company based on shits and giggles be anything but a bunch of steps forwards and with a few backwards?

But I will do my best to give it to you straight. *deep breathe*

My name is Darylle and I have always been an entrepreneur. I sold lemonade when I was 9 and filed my first business when I was a teenager. Somebody would think that I’d know what I’m doing by now. But in all honesty, I’m just putting one foot in front of the other, day-by-day, and rolling with the punches. I built an award-winning dance studio almost entirely on harsh lessons.

Covid-19 closed my dance studio. Rather face uncertainty for a possible 2 years, I decided to say my tearful good bye and blow it all up and start fresh.

During this time, Derek and I became motivation buddies. He and I have been distant friends for about a decade. However, we’re the kind that can pick back up with after 365.2 days of radio silence. We are both entrepreneurial; been through a lot; and know how to get whatever sunshine we can get.

One day we were poking fun at Internet Gurus and “Motivation Porn.” Although we each have amassed a large collection of self-help and business materials throughout the years. Life will always be our greatest lessons. We felt the industry could use more self-discovery and play– shits & giggles. The world is serious enough. We wanted to bring people back to an environment where personal epiphanies were joyous and pure — where a simple chuckle can be as impactful as a 90-minute “free seminar”.

So we set out to serve many morsels of mindfulness and wellness in tiny bites.

How did we come up with the name, Jab?

Just to get started, we repurposed a companion app Derek was working on to help people through the daily journey of a mental health product. We started a digital deck of inspirational cards where visitors can shuffle and randomly draw a daily bit of inspiration.

On one of his usual boozy forages through the internet, Derek stumbles across an abandoned domain. He called me up and says, “You’ll never guess what I just found! ____.com.” Yoink!

That’s where the name “Jab” came from. It was the name of our first product which truly encapsulated everything we wanted to be and do.

March 19, 2021