The views, information, or opinions express during this podcast are solely those of the individuals involved and do not represent those of Intout, QuickBooks or any of its cornerstone brands or employees. This podcast does not constitute financial, legal, or other professional advice or services. No assurance is given that the info is comprehensive, accurate, or free of errors, and
the information presented is for general information purposes only. Into It QuickBooks does not have any responsibility for updating or revising any information presented. Listeners should verify statements before relying on them. QuickBooks Money is a standalone Into It offering banking services provided by Green Dot Bank member FDIC.
Hey everyone, I'm Austin Henkwitz.
And I'm Jennise Torres. Welcome to Mind the Business Small Business Success Stories, a podcast brought to you by Into It QuickBooks and iHeartRadio's Ruby Studio. In each episode, Austin and I chat with small business owners as they share their stories about the ups and downs of owning a small business. Plus, we'll learn from their experience about how you can help fortify and strengthen your own business. Now, Austin, we both have our own small businesses. Of course, but
to every business we patronize, we are the customers. What's something that makes you feel appreciated as a consumer and makes you want to go back to that business again in the future.
Oh my gosh, this is such a good question. You know, being personable definitely helps. But no matter how nice a business is to their customers, people will always remember if their site or store is hard to navigate. That's why
keeping things simple is key. There's a number of user friendly strategies businesses can use, like QuickBooks Money that make it easier to send invoices or request payments with just a link so they can navigate that process as a paying customer very very simply, they can pay online right away or however they feel like paying. Another thing I
do specifically is on time communication. If I get an email, I'm going to try my absolute best to get back to that customer as soon as possible, because I mean, think about it, if I'm reached out to someone with trouble and I need some help, I want to know that they're trying to help me out as well.
Absolutely, I think that feeling like you're more than just a number is the thing that makes me want to continue to come back to a business. It's just feeling acknowledged. When there's an issue it being addressed quickly. And I think I need a reminder too sometimes as a consumer to keep coming back to a business. So if they have like loyalty programs, or I can sign up for some sort of mailing list or a text message and get a discount, I'm definitely coming back.
Hey, I'll tell you what genise. If a business emails me or texts me on my birthday, which should be Happy Birthday, is gam over. I'm a customer for life.
I love that.
So I know what I'm doing to try and keep my customers engaged, right, I'm emailing them back quickly. I'm always trying to be helpful. What sort of practices have you implemented to make sure customer service is always in the forefront.
Yeah, So I think a lot of people would be surprised to know that I still do handle the customer service aspect of my business because for me, I don't want to be so are removed from my customer that I kind of forget that they're a human being. So I am the support at you know whatever dot com when someone has an issue, if it requires giving a refund if it requires kind of just offering something extra.
I like being the one that is responding to people and people are always shocked, like, oh my god, it's you actually answering emails. And I think that goes a long way just for folks to realize, oh wow, I'm being acknowledged by the person who is running this business,
and that means a lot. And so I have to say I have a really good refund rate, like it's just not really a thing for me, just because people feel like they're getting their money's worth and when something does go wrong, I'm right there to resolve it as quickly as possible.
I think something else that you do very well that is very underrated is proper communication. You are so great about descriptions the languages that you use, specifically as it relates to products or services, to make sure that you know if someone isn't going to be a good customer.
Aka I buy something and think, oh, I didn't get my money's worth rate, like they're going to know because of the way that you've done such a good job of creating these descriptions in this languages that you use if this product is right for them.
Or not.
And I think that's a really powerful strategy and tactic that other solopreneurs really need to hone in on, because to your point, I mean, your refund rate seems like it's relatively very very low, and that I'm sure has something to do with the language and description and just making sure people have their expectations set. First and foremost, Thanks Austin, I appreciate that. Bye, You're welcome, Janie. And
on that note, let's meet our guest. Jordan Rose is an Etsy seller who operates her shop Fresh Prince of SF out of her own home in San Francisco. As a designer and illustrator, Jordan creates original designs for apparel, totes, posters, printables, and more. As a neurodivergent individual, Jordan is inspired by her own experiences with inclusion advocacy as well as the latest trends. Jordan, Welcome to the show.
Hi, thank you for having me.
I'm so excited to dive in here. But first and foremost, the name Fresh Prince of SF. What an incredible, awesome, just title of a company gets me so excited. How the heck did you come up with this name?
Honestly, I don't remember.
I think I was just probably browsing at Sea and looking at all the different shops, and I think I wanted to do something that was San Francisco specific, because I'm actually originally from Chicago and moving to the West Coast was the coolest thing I thought that I've ever done, And as someone who has not always lived here, I would really think like, oh, wow, this San Francisco shop, that must be a very cool person and people love puns, and Fresh Prince was where it's at, you.
Know, absolutely, So walk me through the actual company itself. How did you come up with the idea for your Fresh Prince of SF.
Honestly, it was all my sister. I wish she was here with me right now. She got really excited about Etsy and Principles, and she was like, I think we'd both be really good at this. Do you want to sit down and figure out how to open a shop with me? And so we both sat down together and came up with our own shops, and it just sort
of became like a bonding thing. We would like send each other it back and forth, or maybe we'd sit on FaceTime while making designs on our computers during our free time and seeing who could make the most that month or whatever it was. So yeah, we've had a lot of fun with it, and she has taught me so much. Her shop is called Gillian Ray Today, I have to say it, I have to say it like seventy times because it's a fabulous shop.
Absolutely.
Can you tell us about the moment where you realized how good you were making these designs and illustrations and decided to sell them on Etsy.
So I was a librarian for six years previously, and when you're a librarian, people think you just like sit around and read books all day, but it's actually a lot different. And I spent a lot of time creating marketing materials for some of the libraries they worked at, and it was a very large majority of librarians time to be able to sit there and come up with Instagram posts, to come up with flyers, to come up
with whatever that's going to appeal to your audience. So I started practicing very very early in my librarian career, not really thinking I was doing anything special, and having my fellow staff and people around me being like, oh, Jordan, will you do this for us because you're pretty good at it?
And I was like, yeah, you know, it's fun.
I actually really enjoy it, and I never really thought that it was going to be something I would ever pursue, but it's worked out pretty lovely.
So it sounds like you've never formally worked as an illustrator or designer in the past. It was more of a kind of inspiration side thing that just sort of began to blossom.
Yeah, it was definitely a side hustle to start, So I was doing it while I was still a librarian, and then I decided to leave libraries and work as an Etsy shop owner, as an illustrator and as a fitness professional. And I still work in the library a little bit, but now I do illustration as well as a full blown career, which is fulfilling in different ways, all of these different careers, which is why it's like I can't pick one thing because it can't seem to
get one job to fill my entire cup up. I have to do a bunch of little things in order to feel like the human I want to feel like.
I love that, and I want to transition to some of the products you offer on your Etsy store, so you've listed them as being for teachers, fitness lovers, kids, How do you see your audience or your can sumer base, and who do you focus on making these products for.
Well.
At first, I think I had probably started with teachers. The teacher thing felt like a really easy niche for me to step into because I grew up with my mom who was constantly designing her classroom and constantly grading papers and talking about the kids, and my sister was an art teacher for a.
Really long time, my cousins, everybody.
I felt like I could really be in the mind of the education individual and it was an easy niche that I could fill. And I knew that teachers were already on Etsy, so it was kind of a strategic thing. And I know how hard teachers work, and they're willing to pay two bucks to be able to not have to spend an hour and a half on a flyer or a poster for their classroom, and so it's like
I could help them out. I can also create stuff that feels good, and I think ultimately like that's a really big part of the Etsy shop in general, is like being able to create inclusive designs, and at the end of the day, like that's really a really large part of why I do anything.
I love how your experience as a librarian has now it seems like it ties into how customers experience your company, and so let's dive into that customer experience that you've built within your company. First off, can you tell me what does customer service mean to you?
Well, if you would have asked me ten years ago, customer service would have meant doing everything in my power to make sure that person walks out happy. But it's different now because I have a little bit more experience in life and I know that when you behave that way, you burn.
Out really, really, really quickly.
So customer service, I would say, doing what you can in the moment to make someone feel heard, understood, and doing what you can within you know, like the amount of time you have, the amount of money you have to be able to help them get to whatever they need, because at the end of the day, I do want everyone to have a positive experience.
Yeah. Yeah, I think what you're narrowing in on is just you communicate so that people can understand expectations. So you let folks know that you are running this business out of your home. This is something you're very transparent about. So how do you think that plays into the relationship that your customers have with you. Do you think it helps kind of set expectations versus them, you know, working with a big warehouse based company or somebody who's got like a you know, conglomerate.
I think to a degree yes.
I mean for me personally, I've not had a negative at sea experience thus far, and I'm sure that plays into it. Like I really am just someone sitting at home creating designs that I think are cool and if you like them, then fabulous and I'll help you out. But for the most part, people understand. I think that Etsy is not a huge warehouse situation, Like it's not target. You can't just return it, like, it's not that simple.
And I also think it speaks to like I'm selling inclusive things to the disability community, to stuff to the fitness community. Those tend to be pretty like loving kind humans. I would like to imagine that the people that I'm selling to are like happy to receive the stuff.
Absolutely, I think your community reflects kind of that energy that you put out. So yeah, let's talk a little bit more about the communication process that you have, just so that folks do have that you know, expectation of when to expect their items and things like that.
It's the most simple thing in the world, and I think at Sea really does take care of a lot of that for you. Like once you set up your product, it's sort of just like a plug in play, like from ordering, it'll take this amount of time to send something, and then it truly does so they'll get an update with the shipping as soon as the item is sent. But I go based on items, so I use Printify
to print all of my stuff and they coordinate. There's like, you know, software integration between Printify and Etsy that makes that super super simple.
I love that. So obviously mistakes happen. How do you handle that if you were in a situation where a customer was unsatisfied with the product or you know, things got delayed, it got lost in the mail, you know, how do you manage those challenges or issues if they would arise.
It definitely depends on the situation. If it's like something that's lost in the mail, then usually I would reach out to Printify. That would be like the first step. And I think it's only happened one time and they were able to replace it immediately. It was like same day they sent out a new one. So if it's something small like that, then yes. If they're just like this shirt is ugly, I don't want it, I would be like, all right, well that's what it's like when
you buy something, you know, whatever. And then if it was like damaged or something, I would reach out to printify. If they weren't willing to eat the cost, which I think usually that is the case, then it would come out of my pocket and I would be happy to do that, especially with the community that I am serving.
Right And you know, a happy customer is a loyal customer and is usually a repeat customer. So once you do have that happy customer, are you doing anything to kind of nurture them to come back order more stuff?
How does that work?
There's automated emails that you're able to set up through Etsy. It's a whole system where it's like, if someone has favored in something, I'm going to send them a coupon and this message.
If someone has.
Purchased something and then they have something else in their cart, You're going to send them this kind of message. And Etsy sort of has it set up for you already, and if you want them to be different.
It's a different message for everyone, click a different drop down. Wow. They do a good job setting.
All that up.
How do you attract new customers to your at sea store?
It's like a a lot of stuff in the background, so it's getting seen in the algorithm.
Interesting.
That's sort of how I have approached it because I know I'm so bad at social media. I'm like, I knew that social media was never going to be the way I was going to.
Like hook people in.
So I thought, like, Okay, my boyfriend works in tech. That's how I landed in San Francisco, and overhearing all their conversations about how stuff works, I'm able to surmise that SEO matters, and I work on that for my shop, and I think that's really what helped. And I sort of hit it big for my little shop with one poster print and that sort of got me into it. And if you asked me to recreate it, I could not.
But the language I used within the description and the tags I used behind the scenes and how I categorized it seemed to be some kind of secret sauce and it worked. I haven't hit it quite as big with some of my other products, but other products are able to be seen because that first product is seen.
So I'm hearing language tags and categories for the fellow ets sellers out there listening right now. Do you have any piece of advice to help them get seen by the algorithm.
So there's a tool called everb and it's very useful. So it's like a plugin that you add on to your browser and then whenever you look up an Etsy shop, you can see the bones of the Etsy shop. So if I search, like, I made a shirt that says bad bitch on it and it has a set of several walking canes like a mobility aid cane. If I was like, oh, I'm making a shop and I want to make a shirt that looks like that. Does this
shirt sell it all? I would open up my ever be plug in and I would do like a product analysis or a shop analysis, and ever be would give me how many of those sweatshirts or shirts have sold in its lifetime when it was posted, how many shirts sell a month, how many.
People see it like? It'll just give you a ton a ton of data.
So tools like that can be super super valuable and go look at mid range shops. Do not go look at the most successful shop that has two million sales overall, Like, go look at a person who's right in the middle.
My dad used to always say, you never want to be the person at the top, and you never want to be the person at the bottom. Stay right in the middle. Can you tell him from the Midwest?
I love it, Yes, So go look at the middle shop and look at their tags. Because if the person in the middle is popping up in the algorithm, they're popping up with hard work and you're gonna mirror their hard work. The person at the top is probably been there for a long while and the algorithm favors them, so it doesn't matter what they post like once you get to a certain level, like they'll stay at the top. And if you don't know where the tags are, you scroll down to the bottom and you'll.
See related searches. Those are their tags.
Gotcha? Gotcha? And you know, speaking of this T shirt design with the mobility Kane on it, you know you've done a very good job of having inclusion be a major theme with their shop. So what inspired you to create products for people who may have difficulties seeing themselves in the designs of other companies.
People want to be seen.
I think over the last couple of years we see that more and more in every type of media, Like people want their stories to be heard. They want to see themselves reflected back in the media they're consuming, and it's the same thing with clothing. Like Truly, that's why I got into libraries. I wanted to be the person that saw kids after school and was like, you had a bad day, I see you, You're okay, We're okay, It's all.
Going to be fine.
And I come from a family of neurodivergent individuals. I'm a neurodivergent individual. I have two twin nieces that are autistic, and when they were diagnosed with autism, it was a world of learning about autism that I just hadn't experienced before. And with that comes an entire universe that just sort of opens up and you realize there's a lot of people who are not being seen, heard, recognized, or celebrated.
Coming up after the break.
Honestly, I gave up perfectionism not that long ago, and it was so freeing when I did.
We'll be right back with mine the business. Welcome back to mind the business. Small business success stories from iHeartMedia's Room studio and into It quick Books, Jordan, how do you let customer feedback inspire what you create?
Next?
So my sister's chop. She had the cutest little boy and his mom posted a picture of him in the shirt that my sister had designed as a little kid with ear protectors on.
Like noise canceling had phones.
Often people with autism or ADHD you wear them to help cancel out the noise around them because sensory wise it can be too much. And he is featured in this feedback photo wearing the shirt with his ear protectors on, in the coolest sweater I have ever seen in my life.
It's so adorable.
And the mom was talking on the review about how her son absolutely loves wearing the shirt and he's super proud of it, and it's exactly why my sister and I do this, and like why we get joy out of doing this, and why I keep coming back and making designs even if nobody sees the shirt that I spent six hours on, Like I was like, Oh, this one's going to be a good one, and nobody ends up seeing that one, why do I come back and
do another one? Because there's adorable little boy feeling seen and being excited to wear something I made, and that's pretty freaking cool.
Yeah, your story is so inspiring, and you know, I love the fact that you know, as a solopreneur, many of us have to wear many hats, even some that we did not anticipate. So how do you balance the zone of genius that you have with creating these new products and you know, finding opportunities to serve your clients, and then the less fun parts of business like invoicing and taxes and all of that stuff. How do you balance the not so fun stuff with the fun stuff.
I'm really bad at it, to be honest with you, I'm just really bad at it. And I think it's okay to be a flawed human, you know, like we're not going to be perfect at everything. Honestly, I gave up perfectionism not that long ago, and it was so freeing when I did, to be able to be like,
I'm gonna make mistakes, I'm gonna skip some days. I used to live a very rigid life where it was like this deadline needs to be done six days in advance, so that way I never get to the point where I'm running around so stressed out in pure panic and having to work ten million miles a minute. So I used to complete all my projects. I mean this is from the time I was like in first grade. I would complete all my projects at least a week before they were actually due. And that's just not feasible as
a human being. And so being able to say, like, I'm gonna do some boring stuff sometimes great, and on the days where I don't feel like it, it's okay to just like take that day and only do the fun stuff.
Humans have to take selfish time.
So yes, I have to do the boring stuff, but I also give myself a break when I don't always want to do the boring stuff.
You know what, We're all human.
Yeah, So, Jordan, can you walk us through the process of starting an Etsy store if we wanted to do that as a side hustle now in twenty twenty four.
Yeah, I think just open a shop like it will be very very simple.
It's a lot simpler than you think it is.
Etsy walks you through it, and then there are one thousand people on YouTube talking about how they made their shop successfully. There's one person in particular that I often
referred to. Her name is Cassie Johnson and she has very straightforward YouTube videos where she talks about how to build an Etsy shop from the ground up and if you don't know what SEO is at all, she also has videos that explain that and video on how to save time and I felt like she was very clear cut and forward with her information.
Very cool and for you, what has been the most rewarding part of being a solopreneur?
That's a long list. You need like another hour.
There's a lot of rewarding aspects of this give us the top. I think finding my own voice has been one of the most rewarding things because in the space I was in before I had to put on I mean I would even use like.
A different voice. Hi, I'm Jordan.
Let me show you around instead of just talking like myself. And in the neurodivergent community we call that masking, like when you put on a mask and you make other people feel comfortable while you remain very uncomfortable and not
you're not able to be yourself. And it was as simple as like the voice I was using, but it was also like talking about stuff I'm not interested in and now I can be honest about what I like and what I don't like, and I don't have to use a silly voice, and when someone makes me angry or disagrees with something I'm doing, I can say like, no, I'm actually in charge of what I'm doing here, and if you're having a hard time with it, like maybe.
We don't work well together, and that's okay.
And I think that was like a really big piece of it was being confident enough to use the voice I have, and like also knowing what I want to say. I mean, I didn't know what I wanted to say when I was young, so I let other people speak for me. And then it's like it gets even more confusing because you're like, do I believe in this thing I've been pretending to believe in forever?
Is that me? Or is that me? I don't know?
And yeah, I feel like I have a clearer idea of who I am as a human and I was able to build a way to make money around that, which.
Is Yeah, that self discovery process that comes with entrepreneurship. I don't think it's something that most of us understand is a part of it, but it's something that every entrepreneur that I've talked to has talked about how much that personal development aspect impacts them.
Yeah, you're absolutely correct, genius and Jordan, you know, do you really find yourself? You find your voice, you find your passions, you find everything that makes you you. And I think that's one of the most rewarding parts about my solopreneurship journey. It sounds like Jordan is just loving that part of the journey as well, finding her voice, finding what makes her her. But what does the future
look like for the company. What are some big things you're excited about, anything you're working on behind the scenes right now?
So Fresh Princes of USV is doing great. We're Love and where it's at. We're Love and where it's going. But I spend more of the majority of my time when it comes to design on my freelance website, which is Jordan roos art dot com. And that's also where I have my social media for my art and my design stuff, which is Jordan Roe's illustrations with little spaces in between I don't know what they call them underscores, And that's where I do like my drawing stuff and
different storytelling things and different marketing things. Right now I'm actually working with the Peninsula Library System on their Summer Learning Challenge for twenty twenty four. I'm designing all of their materials, So I'll be designing the reading log for them, their posters, their bookmarks, so cool. Yeah, And because I am coming from this space of like inclusivity and that's just part of what I do, and people know that, and so they reached out to me specifically because of that.
So we have some super fun designs for them that I've been working on and I'm really proud of them.
What an incredible breakdown there, Jordan, Thank you so much for joining us on this episode of Mind the Business Small Business Success Stories. Everyone, go check out Fresh Prints of SF on Etsy. You're going to see some incredible designs. You're going to see some awesome T shirts. I am super super excited to get one, am I on. Jordan was an incredible guest. I cannot wait to go buy
some posters some T shirts over at her Etsy shop. Denise, what was your favorite part about our conversation today with Jordan.
I mean, Jordan dropped so many different gems, but I think a couple of them stood out to me first as a blogger. When I heard her mention SEO, I was like, you are speaking my love language. I think search engine optimization is one of those things that everybody hears they should be doing in business, But honestly, it's just a great reminder that you are not beholden to the social media apps of the world in order to
market your business. If you learn the principles of SEO and apply it to whatever system you're using to advertise your business, you're doing a lot more than you realize, especially in protecting the work that you're creating from being subject to the algorithm of a specific app, right because SEO applies to basic everything on the Internet. So I loved that piece of advice of just kind of do the thing that works for you and keep doing that,
and then around the mindset. For me, I love hearing how she gives herself permission to assume whatever role that day is speaking to her. Right when we're in corporate jobs or even in school, a lot of the times were kind of programmed to think a certain way or just operate in one zone of genius, if you will.
And I think, especially as a solopreneur, we have to be okay with the evolution that comes with what we do and assuming all these different roles and being okay at some of them, being great at some of them, and not being so good at some of them, and all of it just encompasses the journey that is entrepreneurship.
How about you, Austin, Yeah, to your point, we talk a lot about self awareness on this podcast, Denis, and I'm right there with you regarding the mindset that Jordan had to give herself permission to be the designer one day and then the to do make her the next. Right, So it's all encompassing as a solopreneur and it's okay to have that. Now. The things that I really took away from this conversation Janie was the first one being leaving perfection in the past, right, Jordan said, I used
to be obsessed with perfection. Now. I don't know about you, but whenever I try to perfect things, I slowed down a lot, right, And I think what Jordan realized is it doesn't have to be perfect. And then second, which I think might be the most important call out here that we've had yet on an episode, just because I know that there's a lot of solopreneurs listening right now that might be intimidated by this is you do not need a full tech stack to be a successful solopreneur.
Jordan uses the normal simple automations that come with Etsy.
Right.
She doesn't have seven different integrations and fourteen different websites, and I'm sure she has a plug in, but she's not doing all of these different things with a massive text stack subscription. You know, she is very lean and she's successful being lean, and I think a lot of solo preneur or is overcomplicate that, right. They get intimidated by the seven different integrations they want to get with their emails and the feedback or this, this, that and
the other. Jordan is proof that you just need to start and stay lean and consistent and you will be successful.
And I think she's also proof that when you are actually your ideal customer, you can provide the thing that your customer wants.
Right.
She leans from her own experience as someone who's neurodivergent, from someone who's had experience interacting with folks from all different realms, and that is what inspires her. And so I think any advice I would give to entrepreneurs that kind of want to figure out What that secret sauce is going to be for you is thinking about the customer that you want to serve because they're probably you.
Absolutely absolutely. She does such a great job of creating products, designs, illustrations that reflect her own experiences.
Absolutely. Well, that's it for today's episode. You can find me on social media at phitto Deinto Podcast.
And you can find me at Austin Hankwitz. You can follow Into It QuickBooks on all social media at QuickBooks. To get the tools you need to start, run and grow your business, head to QuickBooks dot com today.
Don't forget to follow this show wherever you listen to podcasts so you can stay up to date on future episodes.
We also want to hear from you, so be sure to leave us a rating and a review. See you next time. This podcast is a production of iHeartRadio and Into It QuickBooks. Our executive producer is Malay Sosha, Our supervising producer is Nikia Swinton, and our writer is Eric Lijah.
Our head of post production is James Foster. QuickBooks Money is a standalone Into It offering banking services provided by Green dot Bank member FDIC only funds and envelopes earn annual percentag yield apy can change at any time. Money movement services provided by Intoit Payments, Inc. Licensed as a money transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services