Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jessica Wilson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Jessica, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I am an avid-traveler and always wanted to have a business related to travel in some shape or form. I’ve tried travel blogging and even a travel group. Although, those things did not stick, what did stick was my obsession with organization when packing my bags. I always tried to be efficient as possible as I was frequently only carrying a personal and carry-on. Two main issues that I always hated was traveling with my laptop and throwing it in a bag with not structure and also hated trying to wrap my purse straps around the suitcase handles as I am dashing through the airport.

With this, came an idea of a travel accessories line. I researched (by research I mean spoke with my travel friends lol), wrote out some details of how I imagined the bag, and started working with a company to get mocks to test out. It was real trial and error but fun because I loved thinking about what could be useful to my potential customers while also being deemed stylish.

Apart of the making of our tote bags, I knew I wanted it to be a statement piece. I also knew I wanted the statement to be as closely related to traveling as possible. From there, I put several travel words into a word bank and fiddled with various sayings. Finally with the help of a friend, S/O to Nette, we came up with “Travel of Therapy”.

Jessica, 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 am Jessica Wilson. I work as marketer in my day job and an entrepreneur as the founder of The JetPack by Jess. The JetPack by Jess is a travel essentials brand that brings both convenience and style to your luggage.

Our products include: tote bags, luggage tags, and passport covers. All with our signature saying, “Travel is Therapy”. We are not stopping there so be on the lookout for more products this fall. The problem we solve for is having a personal item that isn’t a plain old tote that is one big dumpster fire – we bring organization to your bag. On the inside of our totes, you’ll find a laptop sleeve, laptop charger holder, water bottle holder, and two additional pockets. On the back side of the tote, you’ll find a trolley sleeve – an open pocket that slides down your suitcase handles. Our trolley sleeve is also zippable so you can use it as a close pocket to throw your phone or other items when on the go.

What am I most proud of so far is the customers who let us know how convenient our bag is in their travel life. I’ve had women say that use it as a diaper bag or work bag. Those things warm my heart because it speaks to the diversity of the bag. So yes you can take it on vacation, but when you’re traveling to the store or school or wherever, it can be your bag of choice.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

My main source of new clients come of social media – mainly Instagram, and what I tell new business owners is test and learn from your ads and run multiple ads at once with different variations. Maybe one ad is driving to your sales, one is driving to your email list, maybe one is driving to followers. The main goal is here is to bring people to places where they can live and stay.

If you drive to your website, is a pop-up form collecting that potential customer’s information? If you drive to social, are you asking to follow for more information?

Once you have a new person on your email list and/or them as a new follower, you have an unlimited amount of time to target them. That can look like posting sales and new products on your page, but also sending out exclusive announcements to the customer via your email list.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

The podcast: Myleik Teele’s Podcast is one source that I lean on for putting me in an entrepreneur mindset and making decisions as one. Myleik Teele is a successful businesswoman that uses the podcast to give advice on life and business management. It resonates with me because I am still in the early stages of my career but also in the early stages of my business. Her podcast gives advice on balancing both your 9-5 career (if you have one) and your side business, what prioritizing business looks like and how to, she recommends countless of books, and drops gems about work ethic and actually doing the work for results and not just manifesting it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thejetpackbyjess.coom
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejetpackbyjess/

Image Credits
Photography: Diana Rubio IG: @thestrategyhouse