We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jacki Cohen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jacki below.

Jacki, appreciate you joining us today. Do you take vacations? Why or why not?

I chose this question to answer because I think that vacations can be controversial for small business owners. I say this because if you are a small business owner taking a vacation may give the impression that you are not hard working, determined, and serious about your business. I think the opposite is true. Taking a vacation, taking a break, and self-care are all very important to one’s mental health which translates into being a productive and successful small business. When I take a vacation, I come back refreshed, excited, motivated, and frequently creativity inspired by a vacation. These inspirations lead to new collections in my art. One example: The collection called “Crystal”. This collection was inspired by a bucket list trip to the South Pacific. The sounds, colors, and movements of the ocean were serene and inspiring at the same time. What surprised me and later translated into my work were the colors of the water, never have I ever seen waters these hues of blues and green. Never have I ever seen the waters changing colors right before my eyes as I jet skied over ribbons of every shade of blue and green imaginable. I came back to my studio and created Crystal. A collection that showcases the ribbons of oceans waters hanging to my naked eye.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I frequently am asked how did I become a full-time glass artist. This is my story. Short answer is admirer/turned hobbyist/turned professional/turned full time second career. Originally, I started as an admirer of glass art. I would purchase glass art on vacations, at art fairs, and galleries. I have always been fairly artistic and started taking art classes to explore my talent, classes in watercolors, drawing, etc and nothing felt quite right. I discovered a not for credit stained class through a local community college and registered for the class. I learned how to cut the glass, how to use the tools and fell in love with handling the medium. The stained glass end product felt too restrictive for my personal taste. The studio offered a fused glass class. That was a match made in heaven, I knew right then and there my passion has been discovered and ignited. I started as a fused glass hobbyist and took local classes a few times a month. That progressed to classes once a week, then bi-weekly classes for many years. In 2009, I incorporated to be able to start selling my glass professionally. Without my own studio and kiln, I honestly could not call myself a true glass artist and could not be very productive. 2014 my studio was built and as they say, the rest is history. My story is simple, follow your heart.

I am mostly self-taught artistically. I have a business degree from Arizona State University. My background has been useful for the business side of my art. Each year I give myself artistic goals and business goals to elevate my brand. I am a true believer in branding and marketing. When someone purchases or receives a Jacki Cohen Glass Art Designs original, there is an expectation of trust when they open my signature logo bag. That impression is very important to me from the quality of my art to the quality of the promotional materials that accompany my product. Trust creates relationships and relationships create referrals. A large part of my business is based on the value I place on relationships.

I am most proud that I have created a business that I love from the ground up. I do what I love and continue to be inspired and create new art.

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

I find that social media is necessary as a marketing component to my business. The good element is that it is free, the less favorable component is that it does take time. I find mastering one platform and then moving to the next is helpful. Posting consistently is a must. Learning and utilizing the newest feature on that platform will help your views. I have found that my followers want to know about me as a person, see videos of me, what I am doing away from my studio. To put a real person behind the art is vital. Once that follower connects with me a person, they feel they know me and my art becomes part of their world. Often it translates into sales. My followers also like to see the work in progress and behind the scenes of my art. I find videos with facetime are much more popular than without showing my face. One other small tidbit— It is more important to post less perfect content more often than posting perfect content less often. Also a must, answer post comments and private messages/DM’s immediately. I have an app that alerts me when someone has posted, liked, or message me so I can answer back ASAP.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

My reputation has been built on the integrity and quality of my art and the integrity and sincerity of my relationships. I have touched upon relationships throughout this interview but I cannot stress the importance of maintaining your client relationships. I send handwritten thank you notes to my larger commissions clients. I am sincere about my appreciation. I sometimes include small gratis gifts for repeat customers to show my appreciation. My reputation as an artist allows me to create commissions with the client’s trust of my artistic ability due to my only selling top quality pieces. A reputation is something that is earned and one must strive to preserve it. word of mouth and social media are powerful both positively and negatively–always want to be on the positive side of the equation.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.JackiCohenGlassArtDesigns.com
• Instagram: JackiCohenGlassArtDesigns
• Facebook: Jacki Cohen Glass Art Designs
• Linkedin: Jacki Cohen
• Twitter: JackiCohen

Image Credits
photos of me in my studio by Lori Krenzen Photography