Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Khia Jackson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Khia , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you take vacations? How do you keep things going – any advice for entrepreneurs who feel like they can’t step away from their business for a short vacation?
Absolutely! I happen to love traveling. And so I travel. Some people love putting together train sets, so they should do that. It’s an interesting dichotomy to me that so many of us ‘work’ in order to fund the the things that make us happy, and then turn around and give more attention to the work than towards our own happiness. I love my work, but the reason that I do this work I love is to have the freedom to do other things. With that, I absolutely believe in taking vacations ( and focusing on anything that I love) whenever possible. Our lives are too short to put the important things on hold.
Khia , 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?
My name is Khia Jackson, I’m a creative director by day and by night I produce and sell The 1998 Deck! The 1998 Deck is a series of playing cards that pay homage to the rap beefs of the 1990s. Card games are a war on your kitchen table, with my cards I have added another element of ‘war’: The tension between some of your favorite rappers. The battles between Biggie and Tupac or between JayZ and Nas are some of the most prolific wars in modern popular culture. I’ve created decks of card where you can play cards with the Gods of Rap!
Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?
I had to take a calculated risk and use my mortgage payment. I needed a few grand in order to place my first order for cards and I was short on the money. Typically I am a big stickler for only spending what you have and doing so carefully, but I had to weigh the cost of following my dreams against a few hits from the credit bureau and I decided that my dreams were way more important. I ended up having to do that at least 2 other times. The mortgage got caught up…eventually. Lol!
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
The initial launch for my cards was an absolute disaster! Barely anybody had showed up. I had rented out this space, spent all kinds of guap on decorations, flyers, promo. Nary a soul came. It was humiliating. I spent the night curled up in a ball crying while my then-boyfriend patted my back and told me ‘it was okay’. It absolutely wasn’t okay! I had to pick my face up the next day and keep it pushing. Which I did. I eventually recouped my money. The loss of funds wasn’t as hard to overcome as my embarrassment, but eventually you put it behind you.
Contact Info:
- Website: The1998Deck.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/the1998deck
- Facebook: Facebook.com/the1998deck
- Twitter: twitter.com/the1998deck
Image Credits
Photo by https://www.instagram.com/everybodylovesbam/