I’m really excited about this month’s feature!!    When I started doing this I wanted to focus mainly on Hampton Roads.    Well you know I like to break my own rules and I’m really excited to break out of that and feature an Esty Shop!!!    I feel like Etsy is such a huge part of my personal life and my business life that it just made sense.   I LOVE ETSY!!   And this little shop is no exception!

Holly (Just Dandy Events) and I found Tangled Ties when we were shopping for bow ties for our Styled Shoot.   Holly took care of the correspondence, but she told me how wonderful Jenifer, the shop owner, was to work with.    Holly  backed me up that this would make a great feature, and a great way to build up for our styled shoot that we can’t share quite yet because it will be PUBLISHED in Artfully Wed EEEEK!!!

Ok so about Tangled Ties!!

It was a little tricky because I had to get to know Jenifer via email because she is located all the way in California!    But the first thing that I LOVED about her was hearing what she does for her community.   She has participated in Project Linus, which makes blankets for children in need!   She has dreams of starting a program to teach older children to sew because it might just lead to a lifelong hobby, passion, or even business.   I love her passion for helping others!   She had no problem helping Holly and I out, and clearly she has such a good heart for helping others.

Jenifer has always loved sewing, she started at age 12!    She recently retired from her day job and went full-time Tangled Ties…  so many of us working moms, and business owners know how hard it can be to do it all.    I loved hearing Jenifer talk about taking the leap to go full-time and how working her day job helped her invest her monthly earnings back into the business.    Jenifer had her husbands support when she hit the publish button…. but like many of us growth is such a process.    Jenifer put in a lot of hard work researching SEO’s and how to stand out on the internet.    This is not easy!   Even with good product, it is very hard to have a successful online business.

Some of Jenifer’s quotes about being a small business owner really inspired me:

“Every time I am working up in my loft, gazing out the window with a cool breeze coming in, listening to a coyote howl, I’m SO grateful that I have the opportunity to be a small business owner.”

“You have to wear many hats, bookkeeper, designer, photographer, construction worker, marketing manager, advertising guru, writer, etc., and one hat might be more comfortable than the others so you want to wear that hat all the time, but you have to keep wearing the other hats as well.”

“I have never found it difficult to work long hours, so that part is easy, but the best part of being a small business owner is the freedom that comes with it….Now I can fit running into my schedule where I found it difficult before.”

Tangled Ties on Etsy is doing VERY well.    Etsy made it possible for Jenifer to begin this journey, but she did all the hard work.   She has expanded and evolved and now offers a much broader product selection including wedding accessories.

Jenifer stays inspired by the Esty Community and she loves creating new products!

Lastly Jenifers advice to anyone else starting a business:

“Don’t feel like you have to have every last detail in place before you start a business.  Start with the basics….a seller’s permit, state tax I.D., business permits, etc so you don’t have to worry about that as you grow.  Start with a few high quality projects and focus on creating not selling.  Everything will fall into place and you’ll solve the problems as you go along.  Sometimes I look back and really wonder how this happened but that’s because you grow into it over time.  My best advice to you would be to work hard on a great name for your business that can work for your brand also.  Make sure the domain is available and more importantly, make sure the trademark is available.  Study branding before you just choose a name.  Choose a name that you’ll want to see on a label in many different types of shops.  This is so much more difficult than it looks, but so important! “