Side Hustle to Seven Figures: What They Don't Tell You About Making the Leap with Alex Rutkay

What if the most radical thing a founder could do right now is admit she's scared — and keep going anyway?

In this episode, Jazzmyn sits down with Alexandra Rutkay, founder of City Mouse NYC, a brand she scaled to nearly seven figures while working full-time as a makeup artist on a TV show, raising a son, and navigating a cancer diagnosis. Alex is not the founder who went viral for quitting her corporate job at 27. She's the founder who kept showing up — through failed businesses, skeptical family members, and the very real fear that everything she'd built could disappear overnight.

This conversation is a love letter to the women building in the margins of their lives — before the leap, during the plateau, and through every non-linear pivot in between.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why Alex kept her day job and what finally made her decide it was time to leave
• The emotional weight of being the breadwinner while betting on your own business
• What it really looked like to build City Mouse across multiple failed product iterations
• How a cancer diagnosis completely rewired Alex's relationship with time
• The unspoken rule that kept her from pitching Mark Cuban — and what she did instead
• Why "life is long" is the most powerful reframe for women who think they've missed their window
• The identity shift that happens when you stop calling yourself a side hustler and start owning the founder title
• How to stop giving your time away for free (even when you have it)

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If this conversation sparked something for you and you’re ready for deeper support, I work with high-achieving women, creatives, and founders through individual therapy—supporting you in building a life and relationships that feel steady, connected, and aligned.
 And if you’re craving clarity around your brand, message, or how you’re showing up publicly, The Visibility Studio is my 90-minute marketing mentorship session designed to help you cut through the noise and build a strategy that actually feels like you.

You can learn more about my services at https://www.jazzmynproctor.com/