💎 FIELD GUIDE 65: Create something big

One summer in the early 2000’s I was swimming at our neighborhood pool. We were new to the area and I had no friends yet. I randomly swam up to a girl who was in the deep end diving for those sinking sticks.

She didnt talk much, and was painfully shy at first, but we were best friends before long. We dont talk as much as we used to but I’m still in her corner cheering her on.

Jayme is joining us this week sharing her hobby turned successful small business. Jayclays Handmades is three years old now!

Sometimes all it takes is doing something for yourself to realize that your passion needs to be shared with others. So, this weekend, I hope you’ll treat yourself to something you’ve always loved and share it if it is something that should be shared.

Name

Jayme Koch

Location

Savannah GA

Soundtrack

(Spotify)

What do you want to be when you grow up? The age-old question. A question I never felt I had a good answer too. “I want to own my own business,” was my typical response but never felt good enough. What kind of business…? I had no idea I just knew I wanted to create something to call my own and wanted to be my own boss one day.

My senior year of high school, I was placed into an advanced marketing class, without having any previous marketing or business classes under my belt, I often questioned why I was there. I quickly realized I loved it! For our final class project, we were split into groups and instructed to build a business from scratch, create a product, market it and sell said product to the school. I was hooked!

A business plan was in place and I very much took the reins as project leader for my team. We passed with flying colors and I went on to major in business in college.

Starting my own business didn’t go exactly how I had pictured. After years of holding positions as business managers, It actually just kind of happened out of nowhere when I realized a hobby I started as a creative outlet could be shared with others. I had just relocated to a new city with my boyfriend and was out of work for some time.

Staying home all day was really starting to take a toll on my mental health so I turned to my sister for advice. She’s artistic & creative and inspired me to start searching for a hands-on creative outlet to keep myself busy. That’s when I stumbled upon the art of polymer clay, specifically earrings! I instantly fell in love with the process of how polymer clay earrings are made and realized I could create my own earrings to add to my jewelry collection!

I started out making earrings for myself. Earrings that were bold, colorful & fun that I could match to my outfits.  I finally found something to keep me busy, excited me and eventually inspired me to get back into that “I want to own my own business” headspace.

Before I knew it, Jayclays Handmades was born and I’m so proud to call it my own because it feels like the physical expression of who I am inside.

Growing up I remember always sitting around the kitchen table working on craft projects with my grandma & mom. My house was filled with handmade decor, especially during the holidays! Puffy paint, iron-ons, glitter, ribbon, macramé, sewing, stenciling... You name it, we tried it! It’s only fitting that I’ve found my way back to that little girl I once was.

Starting a business from scratch can be scary and filled with ANXIETY, oh man, the anxiety! I’ve often times doubted myself, been afraid to put myself out there into the world and have even thought about giving up. We put countless hours into our craft just to have an internal fear of judgement from others.

Color mixing, clay conditioning, earring design planning, baking the pieces, sanding, drilling, earring assembly, market display set ups, hauling all of our supplies to multiple markets just to hope that customers love our products as much as we do. Sometimes markets are a flop but the good days completely outweigh the bad!

The best market days are the ones where I have customers truly excited to see my earrings. Watching people react to what I’ve created is so fulfilling and reminds me that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. I’ve met so many amazing people along the way including ridiculously talented makers who love this small business life just as much as I do.

It’s true they say “good things happen when you least expect it,” because never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be here today, 3 years as a business owner of Jayclays Handmades. I did it! I’m here, I’m glad you’re here too.

My hope is that maybe someone reading this will be inspired to take that leap towards that one thing they’ve always wanted to try.

P.s. Next time you’re out for a drive and you see a vendor market, take a detour and go support those local artists! The amount of talent you’ll find is amazing.