We were lucky to catch up with JENNIFER HERKO recently and have shared our conversation below.

JENNIFER, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you take vacations? Why or why not?

Yes, I do take vacations. Here’s why in one word. Letchworth. Letchworth State Park in Western New York is “The Grand Canyon of the East”. It is a breath taking, scenic state park. We go camping in cabins at Letchworth every year.
One week at Letchworth is my time to unplug from this crazy world.
I know what taking a vacation can do for my mental health. It’s the time to reset, tune out nonsense, and tune back in to nature. It’s my time to walk away from the chaos I call modern living.
Don’t get me wrong. I tend to have anxiety weeks before leaving. I still wonder “Should I be doing this? Is it irresponsible now that I’m self-employed? Because I lose my rank in the search engines when I go on vacation.
And the money. Could I be using the money elsewhere more wisely?
Should I be going at all?!”
The answer is always “Yes!” once I’m on vacation. And “Why didn’t I go sooner?!

The Letchworth camping trip is combined with an annual Herko family reunion. It’s a chance for the three generations to catch up on what’s been going on in their lives.
It’s a time to play.
A time to participate in family meals.
A time to sit at the camp fire and tell stories.
A time to have fun playing silly games.
A time to walk, hike, explore, bike ride and go fishing.
It’s FUN.

It’s also a time for the youngest family members to set their phones down and not touch them for a solid week. My daughter was all too happy to go play outdoors with her cousins every day.
She preferred it.

There’s no internet signal down in the valley where the cabins are anyway! The last time I needed to get back in touch with civilization I had to drive out of the park and sit in a corn field to make a call!

The 2021 trip to Letchworth was life changing for me.
2021 we were coming out of quarantine. Politically everything was on fire. I was overly sensitized to
whatever was on television and social media.
Fortunately, I came back not giving a crap about politicians! Or this side, or that side. I was happy to let go.
The television stayed off more.
When I came home I wrote in my journal how I could hear crickets and cicadas outside my window versus cars on the city street.
I was more calm and relaxed. I felt more hopeful.
I also write how I took time to sit outdoors and read a book when I returned. Before leaving it was hustle, hustle, hustle to get household chores and sewing business taken care of.

I found I preferred hanging laundry outside to dry, just like I did in Letchworth. The unexpected benefit of hanging clothes out to dry is that I don’t have to iron anything because the clothes dry crisp quickly.
It’s also therapeutic to get outside into the sunshine.

I relearned how to be bored. There tends to be downtime when it rains at camp. To pass the time I colored in a coloring book. When I returned home I kept up with that activity versus watching t.v.

My daughter wrote a glowing school paper on her first week back to middle school August 2021. The paper was about what the camping trip/family reunion meant to her. Her takeaway was “Any situation can be made better when you aren’t alone.”
I found only going away for 3 or 4 day days wasn’t enough. I was still too busy. There was too much time spent packing up to go, and packing up back up to leave. Way too much to cram into for that short time. The mental reset didn’t occur.
I can highly recommend going on vacation, and I do every chance I get!

Link to Letchworth State Park https://parks.ny.gov/parks/letchworth

JENNIFER, 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 created my line of quilted appliance covers for two main purposes. The first reason is the practical one – for small kitchen appliance storage and organization. The second was more “selfish”. The business gave me work life balance.

Consumer demand led to the design and creation of the zipper toaster covers.
Zipper toaster covers solve a problem that many of my customers have. That annoying problem would be large bugs and rodents, mice and “critters” getting into their toasters. These customers came to me after they had to throw away their perfectly good toasters because a mouse got in there and left droppings. So the new toaster needed a zippered cover ASAP! I’m glad I can help solve this problem for customers.
Summer of 2022 I decided I needed a full time job in order to have more certainty in my life. This site features two of my best sellers, the zipper toaster cover and the pizza wheel cover.
Self-employment solved many of my life events. For example, I became a caregiver to my grandmother in my 40s. I found traditional employers didn’t want to offer me flexibility.
I also had a major health issue and was treated at the Cleveland Clinic. That involved a 6-week recovery. Self-employment got me through that.
Winter of 2023 I was diagnosed with a degenerative disc in my spine. This means I have to make time for exercise as part of my daily routine. I can no longer sit for hours at the sewing machine.
Questions? You can contact me here on Etsy or follow Cozy Kitchen Covers on Facebook to know the latest news.
There’s ways you can support Cozy Kitchen Covers without spending a dime.
You can follow Cozy Kitchen Covers on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all my shop updates and new product launches.

Jennifer

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Copy this link to open your Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/sell

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I’ve found business funding to be a tricky subject. I’ve searched and sought help for decades and got no where with small business incubators and State and Federal grant programs.
They don’t understand me. Quite frankly, It’s just a sewing business. But I keep getting turned down.
A director of a local small business development center told me “You’re asking for too much!”
When I seek help from the state of Ohio for grants the guidelines say I need to little.
My local bank had a small business center. I spoke with a woman who ran it. She patronized me when I asked for assistance.
The marketing guru from a small business development center told me flat out, “I don’t know how to market your products.” They’re toaster covers. Something about toaster covers is blowing people’s minds?
I’ve found I don’t fit into a nice, neat business category being a handmade sewing business.
I sell on Etsy. Etsy’s been around form over a decade. But that doesn’t seem to matter.
To fund my business I started out small and slow and saved profits. I worked 2 part time jobs besides my business. I turned remnants of fabrics from custom orders into profitable stock.
The way I see it, a small business is a long term investment. Being a small business is not a sprint to get rich.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I can share that I have walked away from traditional employment at times in my life. The way I kept growing my small business in or der to live without traditional employment is that I
1. Got out of bed each weekday by 7AM
2. Got dressed
3. Studied anything that had to do with marketing first thing each morning. Whether that was on You Tube or a link I found in Google Search. Facebook groups are also extremely helpful.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/cozykitchencovers
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cozykitchencovers/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cozykitchencovers
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-herko-7a6197231/
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/cozykitchcovers
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8tSJn4753mvt87Mm3s4UtQ

Image Credits
Jennifer Herko