We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jillian Edwards Coburn. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jillian below.
Hi Jillian , thanks for joining us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?
I had a lot of hiccups in the beginning when I founded Mommy Go Bag. I was naive to the process when I was first began and was told that I needed a marketing plan. Looking back, I realize that the marketing plan was unnecessary. I wasted a lot of money and time on formulating this plan when I could have jumped right into production with the bag. I had a lot of delays when people would ask me for product because the person I hired for my marketing plan was more focused on that then the actual product. I feel like that was an interesting story and also a lesson that being educated and doing research can go a long way, especially when working with products.
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?
My name is Jillian Coburn and I am an entrepreneur, inventor, writer, outdoors-woman, and mom of three. I am passionately committed to supporting and elevating women who have nowhere to turn and living under the shadows of domestic violence.
I founded the apparel line, Reel Housewives of the Deep South, in 2014, producing one-of-a-kind American-made designs for Southern women who love the outdoors and choose “cat-fishing over catfighting!”
I am also the Founder of Mommy Go Bag. I am a Mom on the go and saw a gap in the industry and wanted to bridge that gap for Mom’s on the go who needed a very large and roomy bag to store their children’s items. I created it to house everything a Mom would need while out and about hiking, on long trips, or just in general.
I like to spend my time on the lake or at home creating new books. I am a member of Texas Association Against Sexual Abuse, Entrepreneur Think Tank, and Women Warriors Collab.
I started down this particular career path of mine because I was not able to thrive well in a corporate setting. I am a Type A Personality and very independent and I knew the entrepreneurial route was going to be best for me. I am passionate about helping people and everything I work on is dedicated to inspiring people or making their lives easier.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
When we started designing Mommy Go Bag we went with a manufacturing company initially and I did not know that you had to have a CAD drawing in order to produce that product. I had sent one through a company in China and we were all excited to see the bag and we traveled to Colorado to test the bag out. When we were waiting at the airport for the bag to come off of the carousel, we noticed the bag was destroyed. Clearly, the fabric was not going to withhold and withstand the type of on the go, durable product we envisioned. My husband looked over and was like “We cannot sell this”. It was mortifying but a great lesson because I realized that we needed to really get the process down with the CAD drawing and work with a more reputable manufacturer.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
A lot of people believe that women founders are funded by their spouses or someone else. Women can achieve things on their own. There are grants out there and opportunities for women founders that you can research and you can accompolish this on your own without anyone’s help.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jilliancoburn.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gigijillian/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jilliangigiLA
Image Credits
MichelleBehrePhotography and @bella360.co