We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer Baptiste a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jennifer thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I think it takes courage, optimism, and a lot of perseverance to be successful.

I dove into entrepreneurship without any formal training and one sketch for my stationery brand. Everything started with an online shop and now I’ve branched into pop up booths at art markets, and store consignment at bookshops.

I currently continue with perseverance to develop ways to improve designs, expand product marketing, increase profits, and lower costs for customers.

Each day brings a new learning curve that makes me a better business woman redefining my version of success as I go.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Jennifer Vierge Baptiste! I design stationery and accessories with line art illustrations inspired by writing, books, and travel.

I love creating images that stimulate “feel good” energy and would love for people to know that each design comes with a unique short story from real experiences in my life.

I got into the industry in 2020 when I was approved for a trademark under the name of WheresMsB while exploring the idea of ways I could become an entrepreneur.

In order to maintain my trademark I had to sell items, but I wasn’t sure what to do. With the help of a relative, I was given the idea to sell stationery designs online and the rest is history.

Most people don’t know that when I first launched my business, I used the sales profits to fund reading incentive prizes for my students while I was working as a school librarian. It gave me great joy to have the resources to fund gifts for the children.

As my business grows, I’d love to be able to contribute donations to reading programs as well Little Free Library stations in my community again in the future.

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

I sell through bookshop consignment, art market pop-up booths, and two website platforms. One is Etsy.com and the other is Redbubble.com. They are both great for artists seeking to showcase and sell merchandise. I originally chose them because they are user-friendly, have drop-shipment print-on-demand options, and free for artists to create online storefronts.

Redbubble.com
Pros – Free, Prints, Ships, Provides Material, Great Product Options.
Cons – Low Profit Margin For The Artist/Creator.

Etsy.com
Pros – Customers Prefer Shopping Here Due To Its Popularity.
Cons – Costs More For The Artist/Creator To Sell Here, Requires Multiple Steps And Additional Platform To Print-On-Demand.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

When I originally started Shop WheresMsB Stationery and Accessories, I didn’t have the supplies, funding, or information on how to manufacture products.

I taught myself how to I illustrate designs via drawing applications and utilize other vendors to print and manufacture the “finished product” like Printful, Vista Print, and Redbubble.

These vendors have been helpful in launching my business, although I hope to eventually have enough funding to purchase my own printing and manufacturing equipment to lower costs, have items ready to sell in person more quickly, and generate more profit by selling independently through my own website.

One lesson I’ve learned from manufacturing through a third-party vendor, is that you have to order products a large amount of time in advance. There have been times where I’ve ordered/printed inventory to sell at an art market and its gotten lost in the mail or didn’t arrive in time which really put me in a pinch.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jenniferbaptiste.com/shop-wheresmsb
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shop_wheresmsb/?hl=en
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-rv-baptiste
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/wheresmsb?lang=en
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdh-9GUq55zdeQU3sdYI1Zw
• Other: https://www.redbubble.com/people/wheresmsb/shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/wheresmsb/?etsrc=sdt

Image Credits
Jennifer R.V. Baptiste