If you’re considering a second career after retirement, it’s often a good idea to think about your transferable skills. Are you a great communicator? Terrific with people? Have a love for adventure? These soft skills could lead to a new calling you might love. But the path to entrepreneurship isn’t always a straight line.
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For Bernadine Cruz, founder of Conmigo Bags, creator of the ULTI anti-theft travel bag, a career in veterinary medicine led to a decade as a local news show host. That led to her role as an outreach veterinarian and member of the ELITE Team for a pharmaceutical company. Along the way, Cruz discovered her love for travel, even serving as the veterinarian for the huskies and malamutes on the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race across Alaska. What she didn’t love was the luggage options, where her quest for the perfect carry-on bag began.
A Mouse In Her Blouse?
Cruz graduated from the University of California at Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in 1982 and has been practicing companion animal medicine at Laguna Hills Animal Hospital since 1986. But she’s never been what you might call an “ordinary” veterinarian confined to an animal clinic. She’s thrived throughout her life by taking chances and stretching outside her comfort zone.
Let’s rewind to a tale that exemplifies Cruz’s good nature, sense of adventure, and ability to completely wing it under the most unusual circumstances. Early in her career, Cruz hosted PetCare TV, where she offered advice to pet owners and interacted with various animals on live TV. It wasn’t always easy, but Cruz always managed to find the fun in every moment. She shared one experience that didn’t go quite as she expected.
“We did a remote live from the Orange County Fair one time, and I was chatting with a young boy who was part of the American Fancy Rat & Mouse Association,” Cruz recalled.
As they spoke on air, Cruz casually placed a mouse on her shoulder. But the rodent had other ideas, as animals often do. It quickly crawled down her button-up shirt.
“I had to grab this little mouse – on live TV, mind you – and give it back to the guy. Just trying to have grace under pressure,” she related with a laugh.
The pressure of live TV can make wrangling supply chains and running a thriving e-commerce company feel like child’s play. Whatever she’s up against, Cruz tackles every experience with creativity and good humor.
Launching Conmigo
When Cruz was doing media tours and outreach for Pfizer, she realized most carry-on bags didn’t meet the needs of women travelers, in particular. She needed something safe, secure, TSA-friendly, and well-organized. “I kept looking for it and could never find it,” she said.
As she was approaching traditional retirement age, she realized she’d built a career pushing boundaries and teaching other veterinarians to do the same. “I was giving presentations to female veterinarians, in particular, about putting yourself out there, getting outside your comfort zone,” she said. “I decided I was going to start this luggage company and take it from there.”
Conmigo translates to “with me” in Spanish. It can signify having something in your possession or another person accompanying you. It is also used in phrases where English speakers might use the word “myself,” as in “loving myself.” The name is appropriate as the bag not only keeps essentials close at hand but epitomizes Cruz’s personal journey from veterinarian to TV host to entrepreneur.
11 Hours to China
Cruz put roughly five years of research and development into building the ULTI Travel Bag. She created a prototype on her sewing machine at home and tested it on an 11.5-hour flight to China. She came home with ideas for improvements and also began soliciting feedback from family and friends, incorporating their improvements with each iteration.
“It got to the point I could no longer do [make the modifications] on my little Singer sewing machine,” she said. “But I’m a firm believer it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”
Shortly after that, one of her clients visited her veterinary clinic and asked a common question: “What are you up to? What’s new?”
Cruz told her about her new bag company. Her client shared that her daughter knew a local seamstress who could help. When it was time to scale production of the prototypes once again, a colleague introduced Cruz to a luggage manufacturer.
“I sent out designs to friends who were going on the road, and the bag just kept evolving,” Cruz said.
Designing a TSA-Friendly Travel Bag for the 50+ Crowd
Although Cruz has been searching for the ideal travel bag for most of her adult life, the Conmigo ULTI directly addresses the needs of middle-aged and older adult travelers, she said. The removable padded seat cushion, comfy padded shoulder strap, and bright blue liner to easily spot items inside the bag make traveling more convenient for the 50+ crowd.
The ULTI provides plenty of pockets to stow and sort essentials, including a dedicated phone pocket, sleeves for pens and file folders, and a water bottle holder. In all, the bag has five exterior and 11 interior compartments for better organization.
Lessons from Entrepreneurship
The most successful businesses are often created by filling a need in a unique way, which the ULTI does. But even the best idea needs tenacity and specific skillsets to achieve mainstream success. As a veterinarian, Cruz learned resourcefulness, curiosity and resilience, whether she was treating sled dogs on the freezing trails or handling mischievous mice.
Veterinary medicine “shows you how to learn,” she said. “The animals can’t talk to you. So you have to try to interpret what they’re saying, what’s going on. You learn to be creative and you also learn how to ‘MacGyver’ things,” she said. “Experience in being an entrepreneur may be outside of your realm, but we’ve all had life lessons that show us how to be tenacious, how to keep going,” she added.
Never Too Late
For those considering entrepreneurship later in life, Cruz pointed out some of the benefits.
“It keeps your mind active. You don’t need Sudoku because you’re constantly learning new things, software apps, AI, marketing… Networking is [also] wonderful, as it keeps that social aspect of your life going,” she said.
In a blog post about finding balance, Cruz, who recently authored Travel Smart: The ULTI-Mate Guide to Travel Tips and Hacks, encouraged women to take the trip they’ve always dreamed of. While Cruz traveled throughout her veterinary career, she hadn’t taken time until recently to embrace the wonder of every journey or relax in foreign destinations.
“When I finally packed a bag and gave myself permission to step away, I was terrified,” she wrote. “But what I found was that the world isn’t waiting to scare you — it’s waiting to welcome you… Now, when I speak with other women who whisper that it might be ‘too late’ for them, I remind them—if you can still wonder, you can still wander.”
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