Today we’d like to introduce you to Jackie Osborne.
Hi Jackie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
When my husband and I originally moved to Knoxville in May 2020, I originally expected it to be easy to find a job. I had just graduated from college and had spent the past year working as a graphic designer while being a full-time student. As we all know, the pandemic hit us in early 2020, so what I thought would be an easy job search became extremely difficult.
I applied for well over 100 jobs and heard back from only 2, and they had to reconsider because of the state of the world. After spending 2 months working on house renovations, I was out of different things to do and needed something else to fill my time with. At the beginning of July, I took the leap and launched my Etsy store.
At first, it was mainly my friends and family supporting me, but come Christmas time I started to see a rise in sales.
The following year I focused on finding my niche and growing my business by doing local markets and pop-up shops across the Knoxville area. As time went on, we began to receive more and more orders through Etsy and several wholesale avenues.
I don’t think that I can pinpoint one thing that really made my business grow as quickly as it did, but I am forever grateful for the Lord’s blessings and everyone’s love and support.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
If you consider a road full of potholes smooth, then, yeah, it was. When I started my business, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Between learning how to market my ideas, figuring out the optimal packaging for the products, and fighting the internal self-doubt, it was (and still sometimes is) incredibly overwhelming.
All I knew was that I wanted to do something — anything — other than work the typical 9 to 5 gig. A few months into things, I also tried to emphasize having a physical presence at local markets and craft fairs.
That brought along its own suite of challenges, like learning how to engage people walking to our booth and not giving up on my dream when things didn’t go my way. I’m not sure that I’m fully past all these struggles yet; but, I’m learning to take it all one day at a time.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
At RatherBeeInNC, we specialize in nature-inspired products. This can be anything from plant stakes – one of our best sellers – to wooden ornaments. In every product, we find a way to tie back our roots to nature.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I’ve always been the type of person to want something and just never give up.
I truly had no idea what to expect when I started this business. I have always done things passionately, so when I started RBNC, I poured my heart and soul into and I continue to do that each and every day.
Contact Info:
- Email: ratherbeeinnc@gmail.com
- Website: ratherbeeinnc.etsy.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/ratherbeeinnc
- Facebook: Facebook.com/ratherbeeinnc
- Other: tiktok.com/@ratherbeeinnc
Image Credits
ATLANTA DAHLIA PHOTO
