We recently connected with Jessica Jackson and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jessica, thanks for joining us today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

I absolutely wish I had started my business sooner. I never thought that entrepreneurship was for me, that I could do it. But almost two years later, here I am, doing it! I let fear cripple me for a long time. Fear of failing, not being able to do something, not having support, and so many other fears. There are so many things that I have learned about myself in this season and during this process that I missed out on discovering sooner. I am, however, grateful that no matter how long it took, I did it and am thinking about my next business venture(s).

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?

Shaded Eyez Online officially launched on May 31, 2021. We were still in Covid times but starting to come out, and I was still 100% working from home as a Business Analyst. The outside world was starting to open back up, travel was increasing, vacations were back, and what better time to launch a sunglass business than now??!

I’ve always worn glasses (I absolutely can not see without them, lol), and it took until March of 2021 to finally put the fears aside and get some contact lenses. Once I mastered that (and yes, it was a challenging task), I started buying sunglasses because I could never wear them before. After all, they would have had to be prescription. But in my search, I could never really find anything I liked- fashionable yet functional. So I started researching, and from there, I developed a plan and executed it. Throughout my time in business, I have expanded my product offerings to include computer blue light-blocking glasses, fashion hats, and other seasonal accessories.

I have adopted the phrase “fashionable and functional” in my business. Many people talk about how expensive frames are through their optometrist, etc., and that they never really find anything they like. Our goal is to provide those people with what they’ve been looking for. Fashionable glasses that can meet their functional needs of being used to provide a frame they can have their prescription lenses placed. We also are advocates for eye health and protecting our eyes against potentially harmful UV rays and blue light. So we offer an entire collection that provides blue light blocking technology, so for those who work daily with computers, we offer a stylish way to protect your eyes from too much blue light exposure.

I am proud that we provide quality products and customer experience. We are always here to answer questions and help with researching answers to those questions if we don’t have them, and we pride ourselves on holding up to our shipping policy. We continuously hear how our customer service is A-1 and how it drives customers to become repeat customers. No customer has to worry about if they will receive their order or the condition of the order once it arrives. We even work with our shipping partners on the customers’ behalf to ensure that the customer will receive their orders.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Word of mouth has been the best source of new customers for us. Yes, we have a social media presence, and we engage with our current and potential customer base through email marketing, but most of our customers shop with us as a result of someone else telling them about us. People tell others about us, whether in response to seeing someone in their fashion frames or hats and asking where they bought them or by someone passing along our business cards.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Before officially launching, we created all of our social media accounts. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat are the platforms we currently engage our audience. As we’re still learning how to manage our social media presence and grow it organically, we encourage others to be authentic in their posts and interactions. Don’t always try to ‘sell’ things. Allow people to see you through your brand. I would also encourage people to understand their target audience, build around their wants and needs, and offer solutions to their problems with your product or service.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shadedeyezonline.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/shadedeyezonline
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/shadedeyezonline
• Other: Email: sales@shadedeyezonline.com Phone: (317) 318-8381

Image Credits
Photos by Hoskins