We recently connected with Julie Hernandez and have shared our conversation below.

Julie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

I hope the legacy my small business and I leave behind is that I keep true to myself. Crochet is my escape from the stresses of life into a happy place. I want to always keep this hobby of mine as a stress free, happy place for me and my followers. I want to always be as real and true to myself as I can. I don’t want to change as my business grows or as it shrinks. I just want to make art that brings joy, is inclusive, and is authentic.

Julie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a one woman show running a crochet shop. I tend to make whatever makes me smile, which means I make all sorts of things, I don’t stick to one lane. I crochet plushies, plants, wearables, and accessories. I mainly sell online on my website and my marketing comes from my social media pages. I have done a few in person markets, but I don’t normally have enough inventory to do that more often.

I mainly crochet on a made to order basis, which includes customs and remakes of items I have made in the past. If I don’t have open orders then that is the time I use to create new ideas that I have had stuck in my brain and need to make come to life. I also like to make time to pattern test for crochet pattern writers. Pattern writers will have fellow crochet artists test their pattern before they release it, to help catch any mistakes. I really enjoy testing patterns and meeting other crochet artists.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

The majority of my business has come from posting on different social media platforms. The biggest impact to my growth has by far been TikTok. I posted videos just being myself and showing my art and people really resonated with it. The most common comments I get on viral videos is that people can sense the joy in my eyes and in my voice when I speak about my creations. I have found that being authentically myself and creating something I am truly passionate for has created all of my success.

Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?

There was a time in my business that I almost didn’t make it through. Since I do everything made to order, people have already given me money for work I haven’t completed. A while back, I had multiple open orders during a very stressful point in my life and having these orders open and waiting for me added a lot to my stress. At this time in my life, my mom, who is such a rock in my life, was diagnosed with cancer. Anyone who has had a loved one be diagnosed knows that everything in your world outside of that diagnosis just goes blurry, no matter how hard you try to focus on anything else. I was living on the other side of Texas at this time, working full time, planning my wedding that was a few months away, and trying to crochet orders. It was hard, crochet was supposed to be my escape from stress, but at this time it was adding to it. I was upfront with my clients, they were so supportive and patient. I ended up closing my shop to new orders and just completed the ones I had open. I was shut down for a few months, and unsure if I would ever open back up, I didn’t want crochet to become a stresser in my life. But a few months later, after my mom was on the road to recovery and after my wedding, I did decide to reopen my shop and I am so thankful I was able to come back to it.

Contact Info:

• Website: juliesjewelscorp.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliesjewelscorp?igsh=MWtncDBhNXlxMHEydQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555837382290&mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Other: linktr.ee/juliesjewelscorp

Image Credits
Rachel Hendrickson