Handmade With You in Mind - Jules & Jo Co.
Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in jewelry but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Joanna Esselink, co-founder of Jules & Jo Co., located in Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
We are Jules & Jo (J&J): friends, creators, outdoor enthusiasts, and local Manitoban company owners. Jules & Jo designs and curates small-batch polymer clay earrings, select collections of ornaments, and incorporates art prints. To give our brand a little megaphone, we launched a sweater collection with our go-to-phrase, 'You've Got This: the concept behind our brand.
Each product is tagged with the following reminder:
'Whatever life has going for you, know, you've got this. This simple affirmation had pushed us to find strength in ourselves when we thought there was nothing left. We can't wait to see what adventures (big or small) you take these earrings on! You're amazing and beautiful.'
Our goal is to create products that elevate an outfit, add simple elegance, and creatively inspire the wearer and others! We don't know what Jules & Jo has in store for us, but we're up for the adventure. If you like to have a little fun, challenge your spirit to glow, and remind yourself to walk your day with lighter steps...Jules & Jo is the perfect addition to your style.
Tell us about yourself
We met six years ago teaching at the same school and had no clue where the friendship was headed. Four years ago, we created a shared document called "Jules and Jo's must-do list." We have been crossing things off and adding to the list since the day we created it. The list includes everything from places to travel to, new shops to check out, books to read, and rocking red lipstick for a day!
This small business of ours is one thing that we dreamed up and added to our list. We love art and creativity. It's what drew us to a day of making earrings and brainstorming ideas of where this business could go. There were days we would coincidentally walk into school wearing the same outfit, down to the type of scrunchies. As our friendship grew, we started to purchase the same things purposefully. Students used to think that we shared clothes. Towards the end of the year, we jokingly showed up in identical outfits every day for a week; it gave the kids a chuckle.
When we aren't in the classroom, you can find us spending weekends on adventurous morning jaunts in search of new coffee shops, where we talk about everything from education to fashion. Brewing up ways we can incorporate social justice and environment into art assignments. We laugh a lot, and simple conversations take us 3 hours because we can't seem to stay on one subject. Jules & Jo has been a labour of love, three years in the making. It is an outlet for our creative passions and pushes us to grow.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
There are many…and they keep coming! As we grow, so do our accomplishments. Every time we come up with a new way to launch a product, we feel accomplished. Selling out of our first and second sweater collections was an accomplishment. Getting accepted and being successful at large local markets (Scattered Seeds and Third & Bird), we felt accomplished. Buying our web domain, our website launch, dialing-in and investing in our market display, our clip and travel collections...these moments have felt fun, exciting, and have made us feel accomplished.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
As our business is not our main job, dedicating time and energy to Jules & Jo at times has been difficult. We have gone through challenging times in life and work and, at times, have not had a lot of extra energy to pour into Jules & Jo. This has been especially true in the last couple of years, teaching during a pandemic. Being a two-woman team has been such a blessing as one of us can take the lead when the other needs to step back. We are also really great at re-energizing each other, alongside learning to know it's okay to take a step back and take breaks.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- We would encourage anyone that has a passion for going for it! Don't wait. When we first started, we didn't feel ready at all. We could have waited years before we felt ready. By starting our business, we allowed ourselves to pursue our ideas fully. We started in a small way to ensure we were not overwhelmed…but we started. That starting point was the catalyst to our growth and our development of Jules & Jo.
- Love what you make! We laugh every time we are making new things as we "ooh" and "ahh" over them! Ha! Every time we tag a new earring design or try a new earring on, we exclaim how cute it is! It makes us excited and confident to sell our product and get into other people's hands.
- Always be dreaming! …and be okay if that dream takes longer than you think to come about. We are often thinking up new ideas and things to try. Sometimes it takes longer than we think for our ideas to come to full fruition, and that's okay. You need to be okay with being flexible with a business.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Come on over to our website or Instagram and say hello! We love meeting new people. Connecting with our community has been one of the best things to come from starting a business. Remember, today, and every day, you've got this!
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://julesandjo.co/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/julesandjo7/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/julesandjo.co/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.