We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jenni Shields a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jenni, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with something countless entrepreneurs have had to figure out on the fly – how have you dealt with the rise of remote work?
Our little business thrives off of working remotely! I have our extra bedroom in our basement set up as Evie Pearl Handmade headquarters. My husband who helps me when he is not at the firehouse also has his own work space down there as well. I love that I am able to do my entire business remotely such as creating, designing my website and packing orders. I have three seamstresses and one virtual assistant who also work for me remotely. Weekly I set up fabric drops/pickups for my seamstresses. It has worked out incredibly well thus far. I feel so fortunate to be able to have the freedom of working from home. This flexible schedule also allows me to tend to my three kiddos needs.
Jenni, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I started my business about four years ago. It was shortly after my daughter was diagnosed with type one diabetes. She was starting school full-time and I was a ball of nerves. I had to find some thing that I could do to take my mind off of worrying about her at all times. So I channeled my creativity to help me cope. Ever since Evie was a newborn I made her bows and it brought me so much joy so I decided to make them to sell this time. My shop is named after her Evie Pearl Handmade. When I first started my business I was so nervous that no one was going to like my product or better yet buy my product. I continued to keep designing and sewing new bows for every holiday. That lead me to starting my own Etsy shop, which lead me to launching my monthly bow subscription and then designing a beautiful new website! This shop has been the biggest blessing for our family and I’m so glad that I took a huge leap of faith almost four years ago when I did.
Here at Evie Pearl Handmade we make handmade hair accessories for all ages: babies, toddlers, girls and adults. We strive for beautiful unique quality of products that our customers will wear for many years to come. We strive to make sure every customer who shops with us truly has a delightful experience. We appreciate every single customer who supports this shop. Our shop grows off of word of mouth which makes us so grateful for everyone who shares our little shop.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Social Media is a full time job in itself. It has been a labor of love for my little shop. I can honestly say it truly has taken a lot of hard work and consistency to grow. I am nearly at 20k follows in four years. My best advice to those starting out is to stay consistent. It’s okay to take breaks from social media but stay consistent! Learn to truly connect with your followers. It has been so much fun to meet and get to know many of my followers. I am so grateful for them.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
My side hustle has turned into a full time job for me and a part time job for my husband. I started off 4 years ago just doing this on the side. Not really sure where it would take it. Within one year in I knew I wanted so much more with this business and to continue to grow. I worked many many late nights on this side hustle, usually when my three littles who go down to bed for the night. After year one I wanted to create a monthly bow subscription which lead me to create my own website. Talk about a beast, trying to make your own website from scratch. However, I did it! Once I started my bow subscription things just took off for my shop for year two. Year three was when I went fulltime with my shop and I needed to hire on more help, my sweet husband! Here we are starting year four of my business continuing to grow more and more each month. It’s been such a blessing to see this business evolve.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.eviepearlhandmade.com
- Instagram: @eviepearlhandmade
- Facebook: Evie Pearl Handmade
Image Credits
Hailey Rose Photography