Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jess Baltzor. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jess, we’ve been so fortunate to work with so many incredible folks and one common thread we have seen is that those who have built amazing lives for themselves are also often the folks who are most generous. Where do you think your generosity comes from?
My mom is the most generous person I know. My whole life she has always put my needs and others before her own. She never forgets a coworkers birthday or anniversary and is always the first person to step in when someone needs help. The most important thing I will always remember though is when I was 20 years old my dad was diagnosed with cancer for the second time and I had no idea how to handle his affairs, schedule doctors appointments or coordinate funeral arrangements but even though my parents weren’t together my mom stepped up and took care of everything for both of us. She got him to all his appointments, kept all our family updated and just took a giant weight off my shoulders while I processed everything. Watching her show such generosity in a time of need really had a big impact on me and how I treat others.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am an owner of a dog treat bakery. Just over a year ago we discovered one of our dogs has a severe chicken allergy and upon doing research into dog treats and food we learned so many products have chicken in them. To ensure there were no chicken products in our house I began making him treats at home that I knew were safe. I sold some during our neighborhood garage sale and next thing I knew I was signing up for our first farmers market. Our first market was so much more successful than I expected it to be and soon we were getting invited to other markets. As of today we are booked for every weekend for the next 4 months at a variety of farmers markets and even having to turn down requests.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
One important quality to have is patience. Success does not happen over night and you need to give it time for people to start recognizing you and telling others of your products. You also have to remember that profits do not happen overnight, starting a business can have lots of expenses at first but once you get started you will learn what costs you can cut and how to be more efficient. You also cannot be afraid to network and talk to others for recommendations. We have found most of our markets by talking to other vendors and finding out what markets they have been successful in or challenges at. The most important quality to have however is faith in yourself. Starting you own business is not easy but if you are passionate about what you are doing and believe you can do it it will carry so much further. I was extremely nervous for my first market and wasn’t sure if I wanted to do another but then I realized how happy it made me and that I enjoyed that feeling so I kept with it and kept booking more events.
Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
My husband has been the biggest supporter during this adventure. He helps with all aspects from printing labels, making display shelves to attending all markets with me. He is my biggest hype man when I am feeling discouraged as well as my biggest critic when needed. He reminds me to have patience and helps us with expanding from sharing treats with coworkers to talking to other vendors at markets. He also helps me with coming up with new product and recipe ideas to further develop our business. My business would not be what it is without his support.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thepreciouscanine.square.site/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/thepreciouscaninetx
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/thepreciouscaninetx
