Jelyca Villanueva Turns Passion for Color into a Purposeful Business
Stories
May 19, 2025
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Being a female entrepreneur isn’t easy. Jelyca Villanueva is a mother of two, a wife, a certified personal color and image consultant, and the founder of Timeless Tones & Co. While juggling a range of responsibilities, one of her core priorities has always been helping others discover the power of color—not just to enhance their wardrobes, but to express themselves and reflect the unique tones of their lifestyles.
Her studio, Timeless Tones & Co., is more than just a color consulting brand—it offers an experience where clients feel truly seen.
Coming from a professional background in corporate environments, Jelyca brings a unique combination of analytical precision and sensory intuition to her work. She is known for her personalized approach that blends science, aesthetics, and cultural celebration.
Jelyca Villanueva | Founder of Timeless Tones & Co.
From Curiosity to Passion
All passion begins with a simple question, and Jelyca’s interest is no exception. “It really started with curiosity. I’ve always loved the way color can completely transform how someone feels,” she shares.
That curiosity soon unfolded into a world of colors—where she was captivated not only through science, but also the cultural richness embedded in various systems, from Korean and Japanese frameworks to Western methodologies. “Once I learned about the science and cultural depth behind personal color analysis, I was hooked. I wanted to create a space where people could experience that same ‘aha’ moment—where everything just clicks and they feel seen.”
Realizing the transformative power of discovering one’s personal color palette, Jelyca decided to turn her passion into a professional journey. Timeless Tones & Co. came to life as a call for everyone to step into a world where color is more than just aesthetics—it’s a bridge to self-acceptance, cultural pride, and everyday confidence.
A Global, Tailored Approach to Color
As she immersed herself in advanced training—including professional certification under CPLUS3 Academy, where she studied Korean, Japanese, and American color systems—Jelyca developed a deep understanding of global color theories. She also trained under Francesca Cairns in the UK and received professional training in the Cocory colorimeter, a scientific tool widely trusted in Korea.
Currently, she is also expanding her expertise through certification in Colors in Nature: Wedding Colors by Leatrice Eiseman, further deepening her understanding of color harmony and seasonal palettes.
Determined to bring this knowledge home, she became San Diego’s first and only provider offering a multi-system approach—merging the best of Korean, Japanese, UK, and American frameworks to deliver deeply personalized results.
As a mother, her mission became even more personal. She aspired to create a business that embodied cultural pride, creativity, and empowerment. “There’s nothing better than seeing someone light up when they find the shades that make them feel confident and radiant,” she proudly shares.
Timeless Tones & Co.
Building a Business from Scratch
Working a stable office job while minding her own business at the same time was no easy task. “Shifting my mindset from structured systems to building something entirely my own was tough,” Jelyca reflects on this life-changing leap. However, it was this bold move that helped her develop the flexibility and creativity that would become the cornerstone of her entrepreneurial journey.
Adding to the challenge was the fact that personal color analysis was still a novel concept in San Diego. This meant Jelyca had to exercise patience, taking time to educate her clients while staying grounded in her belief in the value of her work. Through persistence and unwavering dedication to her craft, she gradually earned the community’s trust. With each session, her clients not only discovered colors that enhanced their features but also gained newfound confidence and a deeper understanding of themselves—solidifying the mission of Timeless Tones & Co. and highlighting the profound impact of her work.
Jelyca and her clients.
Connect with Jelyca Villanueva – Timeless Tones & Co.
Growing up with stereotypical Asian tiger parents, Angie had always been interested in entrepreneurship but was constantly discouraged.
Angie Kim is the physician and CEO of Glow Up MD Medical Aesthetics and Wellness Practice. Her journey to success was far from easy. Angie grew up with traditional Asian immigrant parents who believed that taking risks in business was foolish.
She did all the stereotypical Asian things such as playing piano, being good at math, and going to a good college. She studied engineering and went on to complete medical school. And like most Asian women are expected to be, Angie was very quiet and had low self confidence.
But after completing her medical training, Angie realized that working for someone else was not what she wanted for her life. She refused to work for people without medical education and decided to take a chance on herself.
Starting her own business was an intimidating prospect for her. She had no background in business and had to navigate legal regulations, insurance requirements, and financial planning on her own. But with determination and persistence, she and her husband were able to set up a successful brick and mortar practice within just a few months.
Angie’s journey serves as a reminder that there is never a perfect time to start a business and that sometimes the best way to learn is by doing.
I DID IT ANYWAY
Even in middle school and high school, starting a business always piqued Angie’s interest. She had even presented a few ideas, such as a t-shirt business, to her parents when she was in middle school. Unfortunately, her parents always shot her ideas down, telling her they were stupid.
Angie’s parents have always been extremely risk averse and were against anything that required any type of investment with uncertain return. They wouldn’t even let her spend money to create a website.
Despite the discouragement, Angie was still very interested in entrepreneurship. She would constantly read articles about people who developed new apps or websites that became very popular. However, she had to put those aspirations on the backburner and focus on her education as her parents placed a high emphasis on education.
Even still, she would come up with ideas every so often and kept a list of these on her computer, hoping to return to them one day to get them started. “One thing that’s been constant since my childhood has been that whenever they told me I wouldn’t be able to accomplish something, I did it anyway,” she said.
BIGGEST CHALLENGES
Initially, one of their biggest challenges was trying to figure out the laws surrounding opening a medical practice. They looked at so many sources but kept finding contradicting or incomplete information.
The actual legalese was difficult to understand and they didn’t trust their interpretation of it. They finally spoke to a lawyer who confirmed what they understood. This allowed them to feel comfortable enough to continue on.
As of right now, the biggest challenge they’re facing is marketing and getting the word out. They are still trying to figure out the best way to do this. It has been mostly through trial and error. They are constantly trying different strategies, such as Facebook ads, in-person events, local SEO, local media and print, and direct mailing.
THE TURNING POINT
While working in the hospital, Angie began noticing little things over time that pointed towards the toxicity of the working environment, such as how little control and autonomy physicians have in taking care of their own patients, the backstabbing from other healthcare workers, and how physicians from other healthcare systems all had similar stories.
“I came to the realization that this would not change if I just changed jobs. The only solution was to start my own practice,” she said.
The most rewarding aspect for Angie is the freedom to practice medicine the way it should be practiced. “I can spend as much time as I need to with patients. I don’t need to spend extra time trying to fight insurance companies. And my patients have been happy with their results,” she said.
She is hoping to grow her practice enough that she can open a second location and eventually franchise it, which would allow her to help even more patients and improve the healthcare system in her own small way.
“If I were to do it all over again, I would document my journey. I thought about it this time, but I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing the whole time.”
ANGIE’S ADVICE FOR OTHERS FACING SIMILAR CHALLENGES FROM THEIR FAMILIES
“People are always going to doubt you when you start, especially those closest to you. You can’t let that get to you. If it’s what you really want and you can’t stop thinking about it, then you should go for it. It’s going to be lonely and somewhat isolating when you start, but it’ll be worth it,” Angie said.
She believes that there’s always a way to solve a problem. If you feel like you’ve hit a roadblock, you can try looking at the problem from a different perspective.
Right now, Angie still hasn’t told her parents about her business and she’s waiting for the right time when she can finally tell them.
Dee Lee’s journey from being a middle school teacher to the founder of an award-winning event production company is a story that inspires us all to pursue our passion.
Despite facing various challenges and setbacks along the way, Dee persevered and learned from her mistakes, which ultimately led to her success. The road has been filled with ups and downs, but she never gave up.
Dee is a first-generation Teo-Chew Cambodian woman born in the United States. Her parents escaped from the Cambodian genocide and she is the oldest of three siblings. As a daughter of immigrants, she loves to use her platform to educate, inspire, and bless it forward to her AAPI community.
Join us as we explore the challenges Dee faced and the valuable lessons she learned on her journey towards success.
FROM MIDDLE SCHOOL EDUCATOR TO EVENT PRODUCTION COMPANY OWNER
Dee was a middle school teacher in the largest school district, Los Angeles Unified, starting full-time teaching at just 23 years old. She had a talent for grant writing for the various schools she worked at. However, Dee’s pivot came when her daughters were born, and she felt unsupported.
“I was doing events and photography as a hobbyist. I quickly learned that I found a new love and pursued it part time. Eventually I retired from teaching and opened my first LLC, got liability insurance, and the rest was history,” Dee said.
She faced a lot of challenges at first, mostly because she didn’t have enough business background to understand how to properly run a business. “Both my Bachelors and Masters were in education. I didn’t have a mentor. I learned a lot through trial and error.”
Eventually she found a network of event professionals that opened more doors for her. She started out in the Quinceañera market, where she made a name for herself as a designer in a Latino market. Although it was challenging, Dee thrived in it.
Along with the challenges she faced, she also encountered people who told her that she couldn’t make it. There was a time that she assisted a celebrity planner she admired, and was told that she was only good enough for small things. This was a devastating blow to Dee’s confidence. But despite these challenges, Dee persisted and emerged victorious. She continued to grow her business and inspire others with her journey.
MISTAKES SHE FACED ALONG THE WAY
Dee made a lot of entrepreneurial mistakes in the beginning of her journey. It was a new learning curve for her. She quickly learned why liability insurance was so important to have as a business owner, and she learned about quarterly taxes. She wanted to buy everything but she knew she shouldn’t.
“I still had a hobbyist attitude about pricing when I jumped into it full time. I didn’t know what market value was on anything and had to do a lot of research,” Dee said.
Networking was also a crucial part of her journey, as she learned the value of connecting with others in her industry and receiving valuable advice from them. Every piece of advice was like a gold nugget for her, and she took it all in. She was realistic with her expectations of growth and knew that success would not come overnight.
WHAT MOTIVATED HER DESPITE ALL HER SETBACKS
The honest truth about why Dee was so motivated and determined to succeed was the fact that she was the oldest daughter of her immigrant parents, and they thought that she was crazy to leave her profession as an educator and her two degrees. Even her cousins thought that she was just wasting her time in event planning.
She considered every mistake and situation as a learning experience, and worked tirelessly to establish herself and her business. Her goal was to become so successful that everyone would know who “Dee Lee” was.
HER CREATIVE PROCESS OF MAKING EACH EVENT UNIQUE AND PERSONAL TO EVERY CLIENT
When it comes to designing unique and personalized events for each client, Dee takes a meticulous approach. She is passionate about her work and loves the design process. She begins by sending her clients a list of discovery questions to help her gather information about their preferences and needs. She then schedules a virtual discovery call with her clients via Google Meet or Zoom, where she listens carefully to their ideas and aspirations.
Dee involves her clients in every step of the process, creating design boards together, and incorporating their personal preferences into the final product. Her approach is to make the process less transactional and more personable by humanizing the whole process.
Dee values building personal relationships with her clients, and they often embark on wedding planning and foodie adventures together. This helps her clients get to know her better, and it also enables Dee to understand her clients’ personalities and preferences. As a result, Dee is able to design events that are unique and tailored to each client’s needs.
ADVICE TO THOSE WHO WANT TO PURSUE THEIR PASSIONS AND THOSE WHO WANT TO ENTER THE EVENTS PLANNING INDUSTRY
Dee advises those who want to pursue their passions but don’t have the courage to do so to align themselves with a mentor to shadow. She emphasizes the importance of learning to do things the right way, which can be achieved by having a mentor who can guide and teach them. Dee also suggests networking and meeting new people, as it can lead to opportunities and connections in the industry. Community is important to growth.
Dee receives a lot of emails from people who want to shadow or become a wedding planner until they see it unfold live. She acknowledges that this kind of job is not for the faint of heart.
“There is a reason it is not made for everyone and it is one of the top ten most stressful jobs. You have to know how to think on your feet, fix things on the fly, in order to survive,” Dee said.
In the bustling world of Hollywood, where dreams are forged and narratives come to life, Korean American screenwriter William Yu has emerged as a rising force.
Hailing from Philadelphia, Hong Kong, Boston, and New York, and now based in Los Angeles, William has taken the leap from having a successful advertising career into the world of screenwriting, fueled by a desire to create ambitious stories with vibrant and nuanced characters and to challenge the boundaries of Asian American representation.
William writes sharp, biting stories about witty underdogs who rise to upend the systems that they’ve been held back by.
Projects like “Good Boy,” a dramedy exploring the clash between personal dreams and familial expectations, and his feature romantic comedy “It Was You,” recognized by the esteemed Black List, showcase William’s talent and ambition. As an alum of the prestigious Sundance Episodic Labs and the NBCU Launch TV Writers Program, his work not only contributes to the larger conversation on Asian American representation in the entertainment industry but also pushes the boundaries of storytelling.
In an interview with Asian Hustle Network, William gives us a front seat on his journey as a screenwriter. Join us as we delve into his inspiring story.
TRANSITIONING FROM HIS ADVERTISING CAREER TO BECOMING A SCREENWRITER
Before becoming a screenwriter, I worked in advertising as a Creative Strategist for some years. Having this professional background not only gave me the structure and discipline that I’ve carried over to writing but also instilled a self-starter mindset that gets excited by creative ideas that go against the grain.
Two things happened. The first: I hit a quarter-life crisis after finding a list of goals I had written down after I graduated college. I realized that I had accomplished most of these milestones, but was finding my mental health was quickly deteriorating to the point where I had to make a change.
The second: I had recently created a project called #StarringJohnCho that sparked a viral, global conversation about Asian representation in media. Seeing so many communities engage in this movement demonstrated to me that a profound cultural shift was happening. I could either sit on the sidelines in advertising and continue to critique Hollywood from the outside, or I could dive into this world, participate in the craft, and write the stories I wish I knew. So, I took the leap.
CHALLENGES OF BEING A SCREENWRITER FROM AN UNDERREPRESENTED BACKGROUND
I entered Hollywood because I wanted to expand the definition and labels that have traditionally been assigned to the Asian American community, to go from “good” and “bad” to “awkward” and “messy” and “joyful” and “gut-wrenching.” But as much as I want to create characters and narratives that are rooted in my experience, I need to write stories that are first and foremost–entertaining.
As a screenwriter from an underrepresented group, there is always a well-intentioned instinct to cast our people in a soft, non-offensive glow. But who wants to watch that film or TV series? Part of the representation that I want to add to is demonstrating that as much as we are brave and tenacious, we are also flawed and dangerous, whether that’s in a small indie project or a massive studio tentpole. I believe that the faster we can jump into that conversation, exciting stories are destined to follow.
ABOUT THE DRAMEDY “GOOD BOY”
The short film is a proof of concept for a TV series I’m developing that’s been workshopped through the Sundance Episodic Labs. It’s a personal story that’s loosely based on my time working at Bodega – the world-famous sneaker shop started in Boston – and various conversations and feelings that I’ve had with exes, best friends, my family, and other people that I love.
Streetwear is a world where the clash of cultures is the point. There is no “right answer” – It’s funny and ugly and inspiring. Isn’t that the case for life as well?
‘Good Boy’ was my way of reflecting on moments in my life when I’ve felt cared for, hurt, joyous, and lost. I tried to not just depict what I was feeling, but also reflect on why I felt those feelings. When I first started writing the original pilot script in the Fall of 2019, I was simultaneously embracing my own agency in my life. My hope is that this story might nudge others to also own their journeys moving forward.
MORE OF WILLIAM’S PROJECTS
I’m extremely proud of ‘It Was You,’ my feature romantic comedy that’s like if Nora Ephron’s ‘You’ve Got Mail’ was set in Manhattan Chinatown. The script was voted to the annual Black List – a compilation of the most well-liked unproduced scripts in Hollywood – and ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ director Jon M. Chu is attached as a producer. I’m such a massive fan of those ‘90s-era rom-coms and this story was such a light to write during the pandemic.
My latest TV project is a political scandal drama called ‘Koreagate’ which is based on the true story set in the 1970s of a charming swindler in Washington D.C. known as “The Asian Gatsby” who was found to be bribing U.S. Congressmen in the name of South Korean interests. It’s a wild, pulpy, fast-paced tale in the vein of The Wolf Of Wall Street and The Post that showcases America at its best and its worst. And it all really happened!
WILLIAM’S CONTRIBUTION TO ASIAN AMERICAN REPRESENTATION IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY
My main goal as a storyteller is to create ambitious stories with vibrant and nuanced characters. If I can hold up my end of the equation, I believe the representation conversation will only expand and grow in complexity.
What’s so exciting is that this is a LARGE conversation, there are so many voices and stories from our community that have yet to come to the forefront. And when we all overlap and intersect and discuss, that’s when the magic happens.
WILLIAM’S ASPIRATIONS LOOKING FORWARD AS A SCREENWRITER
First off, my biggest hope right now is that the WGA strike ends soon and that the studios pay us writers what we deserve.
What excites me is continuing to push my ideas to new heights in terms of scale and wonder. Stories that push the boundaries of the imagination. That wink at you while flipping you off. I’ve been working on a family adventure blockbuster and romance crime drama lately, and have a romantic comedy feature script that takes a surprise turn into a thriller in the works next. Right now, I feel drawn to stories that feel twisted and that showcase characters brushing up against the extremities of who they are.
ADVICE TO THOSE WHO WANT TO START A CAREER IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY
I can only really speak for the screenwriting side of things. This industry may seem like it’s an image-driven business, but it’s actually a product-driven one.
Everyone has an idea for a story, so make sure you’re the one that has a script (or scripts!) ready to go when someone asks. Know that there are lots of stories of those who follow the “rules” or those who are “exceptions”, but know that there is no “right way” of making it in this industry. Lastly: Be kind.
Mai Hlee’s journey is a testament to the power of resilience and hard work.
Mai’s entrepreneurial spirit comes from her mother, who taught her life-long skills. Mai’s resilience is evident in her journey to paying off her student loans, living frugally, and raising a family of 6. She started her first online business documenting her journey on her blog where she shared savings tips to help others save too
Despite experiencing mental health challenges and social anxiety, she found strength in vulnerability and persevered to become a public figure in her community. Her tenacity and resourcefulness show that with hard work and determination, anything is possible.
THE HUSTLE STARTS EARLY
Born in a refugee camp in Thailand after her family fled the aftermath of the Vietnam War, Mai’s parents and older siblings swam across the Mekong River in the middle of the night to escape to Thailand, where they lived in a refugee camp for seven years. Mai was born in 1984 and when she was 3 years old, Mai and her family were accepted into the United States. Mai became the first in her family to receive a full public school education.
Mai learned to hustle at an early age. Her dad was a machine operator and made $6 an hour while her mother found odd jobs and became a seamstress while taking care of her and her other 8 siblings. Mai had to learn how to use a sewing machine at an early age so that she could help her mom. While she was sewing letters on college sweatshirts and hoodies alongside her mom, other kids her age were playing outside. “Now that I look back, I am so grateful for the life-long skills that my mom taught me. My entrepreneurial spirit comes from her,” Mai said.
TURNING ADVERSITY INTO MOTIVATION
When her parents were able to buy their first personal computer that she had to share with her siblings, she took the opportunity to learn how to code in HTML. And at the age of 12, she secured an internship at Ohio.com.
But despite how hard she worked, she still struggled financially in college. There was a time when she had no more than $5 in her pocket and faced the dilemma of using it to either buy gas or get a slice of pizza. You could say that she starved most days.
During her childhood, church people would knock on their door on weekends and bring giant, clear trash bags filled with donuts. Donuts that no one else wanted. It was one of her best memories as a child because she never got to eat sweets. Only to find out that all those years, she has been eating expired donuts. “I came home one night crying my eyeballs out and telling myself that one day I would never ever be poor again or allow my future children to experience what I did.”
FROM FRUGAL LIVING TO INFLUENCER SUCCESS
After graduating from the College for Creative Studies with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2007, she already had a full-time job as a Web Designer lined up for her at an advertising agency. She used the money from her job to publish her own cultural Hmong magazine, with 10,000 in circulation at its peak, and eventually, she went to work for a startup company as a Frontend Developer. She took on side jobs, building websites, designing logos, and doing photography.
When she was pregnant with her first daughter in 2011, she still had over $50,000 in student loan debt, and was paying the bare minimum. She wasn’t taught or prepared to manage her own finances and her parents worked so hard to provide for a family of 11 that even they were stretched thin.
She made a promise to herself to pay off all her loans before her daughter started her own educational path. So she started to live as frugally as possible. She sold anything she had that was worth anything, learned how to extreme coupon. She documented her journey, shared deals and saving tips on a blog and on social media. She amassed a 170,000+ following on Facebook and 50,000 on Instagram.
Before the term Influencer even became popular, she was already working with brands like Nestle, Pampers, Kellogg’s, Walmart, and Sam’s Club. She was able to make multiple six-figures in passive income from Amazon, Google Adsense, and other sources. Eventually, she was able to pay off the full amount of her student loan, and even took her kids to Disney World twice.
Just last year, Mai received two scholarships and a fellowship to attend Harvard University and Michigan State University to further enhance her public speaking and leadership skills. This year, she became an honorary Ambassador and was chosen to travel to Japan to learn about the culture, economy and its people.
FINDING STRENGTH IN VULNERABILITY
Despite her digital and online success, she was diagnosed with PTSD due to a harrowing situation that caused her to have social anxiety and mental health problems, including self-doubt. “Meeting my husband saved me. While others pointed their fingers and laughed at me, he was my protector and my biggest supporter.”
While Mai was in college, she entered a Hmong pageant and became the Miss Lao-Hmong Wisconsin in 2004 without any experience or formal training. The pageant became a platform for Mai to advocate for her community while bringing awareness to the Hmong genocide in Laos. She joined two more pageants after that but shortly after the last pageant and in the summer of 2008, Mai became the victim of a cyber stalker.
Her perpetrator used social media to harass, terrorize and sabotage her life. He had spent weeks gathering images of her, from creating a fake social media account to friending her, lifting and gathering photos of her, and making video collages with explicit messages to taunt her.
Mai couldn’t trust anyone around her because she had no idea who it was. She just knew it had to be someone who had been watching her for a long time. She reached out to the police but they were unable to identify the cyberstalker.
One night, she decided to use her technical background in Web Design to track her cyber stalker, and the perpetrator was eventually found and arraigned. However, Mai faced backlash from her community when they found out her cyber stalker was a Hmong man. Relatives that supported her initially turned against her, and the woman she had interviewed for her magazine’s front cover dropped out. Mai’s parents were pressured by the Hmong elders to drop the case. Traditionally, Hmong girls are taught to be quiet, timid, and domesticated at an early age.
But Mai was their daughter, so they supported her. Mai had to face her stalker in court and be judged, after a year of waiting for her case to be brought to a trial because the cyberstalker did not budge or take a plea.
The case lasted one week, and the jury found the stalker guilty.
THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL
After a decade of healing and overcoming her anxiety and fear of being around people, she was voted by the people to be a public figure in her community. Mai now oversees a more than a billion dollar annual budget, attends conferences, public events and is proud to share her experiences with others.
Overcoming PTSD and her mental health challenges made Mai a more resilient person. After the cyberstalking, becoming an outcast in her community, and facing a grueling trial, she looked back on her life and what she went through and realized that she came out as a stronger person. There was nothing anyone could say or do that would hurt her. She had been at the lowest of the low and now, there was nowhere else to go, but up.
During the trial, Mai met her now husband, Adam. Although he knew what happened to Mai, his kindness and support for her never wavered. While everyone was quick to judge her and cast her away, he protected her.
Mai’s parents didn’t live long enough to see her success, and her husband lost his parents when he was younger, so raising their family has been challenging.
But despite all the hardships she has been through, Mai has overcome adversity and continues to thrive in her personal and professional life through hard work and determination.
“When my darkest clouds lifted, I saw just how beautiful the sunlight really was. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.” -Mai
TIPS ON PASSIVE INCOME
Define your niche. Usually, it’s what you love to do or what you’re very interested in. For me, it was personal finance.
Be consistent. Just like a full-time job, show up on time and schedule your tasks and get them done, consistently
Show up as your true self and you’ll build the right audience –people who are eager to know you and be in your circle
Pitch to brands that you’re passionate about. I would look at things I already have in my house and look up the brand’s story, the founders, and identify what I can bring to the table to make them even better
Automate or outsource anything that you don’t like to do so that you can focus on the things that spark your passion
ADVICE FROM ONE HUSTLER TO ANOTHER
Don’t ever let people tell you that you can’t do it. Don’t let people define your future. Listen to your intuition, that inside voice that is telling you what feels right. When you get rejected by clients or hiring managers, ask them what you can do to be better next time and the kind of person they’re looking for.
Forge a different path: when people are “Zig-ing” –you “Zag.”
