We recently connected with Jean Burke and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jean, thanks for joining us today. How do you think about vacations as a business owner? Do you take them and if so, how? If you don’t, why not?

The thing I like about being self employed is having the flexibility in my life to take time off when something important comes up. For example, in September, a family member was getting married and I was able to be away from my business for a week to be with them and enjoy their celebration. In October, my adult son moved from Colorado to Cincinnati with his partner and I had the freedom to go visit them for 5 days and still tend to my business online while I was away from home. This flexibility to do these things is what I like about being my own boss and making the rules on how the business flows.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am Jean, the owner/creator here at Jean Burke Studio. I have been a yoga teacher for over 20 years. During that time, I worked full time in education as a tech support person. After being ready for a change from that, I stepped away from full time employment to become self employed. In April 2021, I opened an online store where I sell workout clothes, yoga accessories and fun gifts for women. I also continue to teach 2-4 yoga classes per week online and in person.

Starting out as a small business owner and being over 60 years old, I find it fascinating to venture into retail online sales, marketing, order fulfillment, and branding, which were things I had not done before. I have a Masters degree in business but had never used my degree to run a solopreneur business so I had a lot to learn in this new act of my life.

At Jean Burke Studio, we sell products that are fun to wear and workout in (like tee shirts and leggings). We also sell yoga props and gifts that help people who want a mindful, spiritual, meditative and joyful yoga practice. I take care to make sure anyone who orders from me has a positive experience. I pack and ship all my orders by hand and part of my packaging includes a piece of maple candy made from my home state of Vermont. It is the attention to details and sending hand written notes in each of my packages that makes my customers feel seen and gives a sense of purchasing from a friendly business that they would want to come back to again and again.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

I have my own Shopify store www.jeanburkestudio.com and I also sell on Etsy.

Shopify Pros
Easy to manage website
Great customer service
Email addresses are able to be collected
Any useful apps to add to your site available
Many payment options available for customers

Shopify Cons
You have to drive buyers to your site
Monthly Fees

Etsy Pros
Easy Setup
Built in Audience
Trusted Platform

Etsy Cons
Increased competition
Fees
No email collection available

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

I gave myself a year while working full time to investigate starting an E-commerce business. I took an online training course on how to create an eCommerce business and implemented what I learned. This all happened on weekends and evenings when I could fit it in. I came into this with no marketing or sales experience. I was tech savvy and had done purchasing in the past but working with wholesale companies to purchase inventory and learning what products sell has been a steep learning curve. I had my online store in place when I retired from my j-o-b in June of 2022 and now I run my online store and teach yoga part time. Each month I am learning and growing more as a business owner. I can’t wait to see where 2023 will take me!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jeanburkestudio.com
• Instagram: @jeanburkestudio
• Facebook: @jeanburkestudio
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jeanburkestudio
• Other: TikTok @jeanburkestudio