Meet Jessica Wilson

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.

Jessica, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

I’ve always had supportive family and friends around me, and they have always been there to champion my ideas, good or bad lol. In turn, that has given me confidence to know that I can bring whatever I put into my mind to life. And when you have people surrounding you rooting for you, that is a huge self-esteem boost. Pair this with me always pouring into myself when it came to business – from listening to podcasts, reading, research, and seeing so many black women succeeding, I knew I could do it and be successful building my business. I’ve also failed in some areas. And when this happens, my family and friends are right there assisting me with figuring out how to turn it around.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am a small business owner of a travel accessories brand which came about from my love for travel and organization. I wanted to make something that had both style and convenience and that’s what I did with our first product, the tote bags. I thought about what I was missing and disliked bags I traveled with. For example, they were slouchy, didn’t have organization, and often slid off my suitcase. I solved this problem with the compartments of the tote bag and brought the style with the premium leather and our stamped statement “Travel is Therapy” – which reigns true to just about anybody. The process was a little stressful because I wanted to make sure everything was right when it came to materials, colors, sizing. However, it came to life perfectly! Coming soon, we are looking to expand to more bags – right now I’m mocking up a backpack and duffle bag.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The three most important skills that were the most impactful to me was consistently speaking to my audience, learning my target audience, and failing fast.

1. The first one is probably one of the most important factors when marketing your business. Know your target audience. I thought I knew who my audience was when first coming to market but I was wrong. It is important to research and test-and-learn when honing out who your audience is. I really started asking questions like: Are they interested? Are they interacting? Are they buying? If not, tweak who you’re speaking to until you get results in those areas.

2. The second one piggybacks off the first one – Be consistent speaking to your audience. Once you know who they are, feed with content, facts, promotions, interactions. We are in a time where people are interacting with brands EVERYDAY through social, email, and other digital marketing channels. I had to learn to bulk shoot content, repurpose content, and be present in the trends and conversations happening within my audience, asking them questions and for feedback – while also being authentic to them by being there and staying true to my brand and them – that is how you build loyalty.

3. Lastly, fail fast! I didn’t have it all figured out when I first started but I started and learned along the way. It is important to understand when you need to pivot. Whether something is costing too much money with no return or it’s trying another vendor or manufacture because of quality or time. Don’t wait on things to eventually work themselves out. Take what you need from that decision that is failing and move on to a better decision with better results.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

I love this question because we do not talk about the feeling of being overwhelmed when it comes to business owners enough. I’ve felt it so much because I’m not just my business, I am a full time employee, mom, friend, etc… there’s so much more going on then trying to run a business and trying to manage that can become chaotic. My advice to anyone in a similar position would be to have an outlet that is there for a mental reset and keep it on the schedule. Take time for yourself to unplug and not be dedicated to anything. It can be simple as a walk, or journaling, working out, bath soaking time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thejetpackbyjess.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejetpackbyjess?igsh=MTYyaHFheXU4cGlhOA==

Image Credits

IG: @thestrategyhouse