We recently connected with Shela Adams and have shared our conversation below.
Shela, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
My work ethic is definitely ingrained in who I am. I am a work-aholic in many ways, but only when I am passionate about what I am doing. Cosh doesn’t feel like a job, so you can find me working at all hours, really. I’ve been trying to create healthier work-and-home balances for myself, which has been key to avoiding burnout. Passion has such a huge impact on work ethic. If you aren’t passionate about what you are doing, it can be very difficult to find motivation. I am so grateful every day that I have this wonderful opportunity to own my small business. I enjoy working hard so I can keep pursuing my passion.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
As Cosh grows in year 5 of business, we are excited for what’s to come! Cosh began as a hobby and has grown a lot over the years. We started out making soap, lotion and lip balm for family & friends and that slowly grew into a small business, which my husband and I now run together. We have expanded our line to include over 15 products, many of which are available in 5+ scent options. We are working hard this year to streamline our processes. As we gain more traction, we are finding ways to simplify our processes, without overlooking our mission, of course. We’ve been in a new, larger workspace for about 6 months and that has really helped us expand. We are making small changes there so that we can be more efficient with making and shipping our products. All of our products are still handmade in small batches by myself and my husband, however, we are constantly evolving the way that we are running the business so we can streamline Cosh.
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?
Three qualities that have been most impactful in my small business journey would have to be courage, kindheartedness, and dedication. Courage is not a trait that always comes naturally to me, especially back in 2019 when we began Cosh. I am so grateful to have started on this journey with my close friend, as together we had the bravery to do so. There is so much self-doubt when you start on a new endeavor, especially one that you make public via social media. If I was doing it alone, I don’t think I would have made the jump that helped us take Cosh from a hobby to a small business. If I was talking to myself 4.5 years ago, I would say that you have to believe in yourself, that everything takes time and a great amount of effort, but that you can do it! My dedication to what I am passionate about really helped our business grow. Once we made the leap, I was full-force into making Cosh successful. At the time, I was working a full-time job, along with some part-time work in addition to Cosh. I was willing to give up my nights and weekends to make products, bring them to markets on the weekends, and share the whole process on Instagram. As Cosh grew, I was fortunate enough to make it my full-time job, so my life sees a little more balance these days. The dedication and passion are still there, but I also have some sense of a work-life balance.
One of the most important traits to starting and growing Cosh has been kindheartedness. You meet so many amazing people, like customers and fellow small business owners through social media, in-person markets, wholesale retailing, etc. I am so fortunate to have made so many connections with amazing people. It’s such a wonderful way to share ideas, techniques, and simply share in the highs and lows of the small business world. I am so grateful for these connections and I feel that they are truly one of the core reasons Cosh has been able to grow.
Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?
This is an interesting question. Over the past 10 years since jumping into the “real world” of post-college life, I have had many different jobs, which have each helped me narrow down my strengths and challenges. I started out as a teacher and while I had so much passion for working with children, something wasn’t quite right. As a somewhat introverted person, I hated anything to do public speaking- whether that was to 4 people presenting information in a meeting, to 30 students who were not interested in the course materials, or to an audience of parents during parent-night. I thought this was something I needed to push past and make myself improve on, but it caused so much anxiety with little improvements. After teaching for a few years, I moved on to working in childcare, which I loved. There were no public speaking opportunities, but I didn’t have the time flexibility I craved. As my small business began to grow, I found more of a need for a flexible schedule- to work around craft fairs, making products & mailing out orders. When I finally made the leap to pursue my small business full time, I found the best of both worlds- I had the flexibility I craved, but also could work independently, which is something that I have learned I do well with. I spend the majority of my time working solo or with my business partner and husband, Mike. Working in this atmosphere is perfect for me- I love to chat with customers at markets and maintain wholesale relationships, as well. I love to share my passion for small businesses and eco-friendly, all-natural skincare products through Instagram. Will you find me on Tiktok talking in front of the camera? Probably not.
I have found my strengths, and am still learning about myself along this journey. I believe that some areas don’t feel crucial to investing a ton of time and patience into. I am in an incredibly fortunate position where I can pursue my passion, while using my strengths along the way. There are so many skills and personal traits I am constantly working towards improving, but because of the nature of my work, I have more flexibility to determine which of those I pursue.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.coshfactory.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/coshfactory
- Facebook: facebook.com/coshfactory
