Meet Llesica (Jane) Gonzalez | Spooky Business Owner
We had the good fortune of connecting with Llesica (Jane) Gonzalez and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Llesica (Jane), what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Jane’s Earful Creations came about my love for Disney. I wanted to create unique and one-of-a-kind headbands to wear at the theme parks. It started only with Disney themes, expanded into superheroes, sports, spooky, cartoons, Christmas and so many more. I wasn’t happy with a few of the themes that they had to offer at the park, they were of course made in huge batches of the repeated item and also, some of them didn’t seem to express ME. And I had a feeling a lot of people felt that way as well.
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ve always felt creativity and it has always run through me. I used to write poetry a lot from middle to high school. I also wrote and sold love letters that my friends would give to their boyfriends and my guy friends would give to their girlfriends. When I started this journey, I didn’t have the experience to create headband and yes, I had a lot of fails. But I finalized the way I wanted these headbands made and they were handmade non sew. I made endless trips to Joann’s, Hobby Lobby, and Michaels. Looking for fabric, pearls, gems, and so much more. I was excited to make so many themes and so many different kinds of headbands, they would stand apart and I was excited people would ask where they would get it from. I went through failed headbands, carboard cutting by hand took a toll on my hands and burning my fingers from the hot glue that I would use to put them all together. While working at the same time. I was excited to get so many yet so many unique headbands out into the world.
My pop-up journey started with the Norwalk Farmer’s Market, thank you to Rick for giving me the opportunity to grow along the community. It opened several doors along the way, thankful to have been part of the Farmer’s Market Community. I am also grateful for the Funko community. I was able to work some pop ups with the Funko community and got to meet so many people along the way. As a small business you never see the behind-the-scenes part of it all, but it is hard work. Specially if you create everything yourself, it takes so much time and dedication, the trips you make, the weather, the gear you carry, the disappointment when you have had no sales, when you have that disappointment feeling that your product might not be good enough. It was never easy. There are times where you have to cry out and recharge yourself. If you don’t have that support from anyone. It is ok to fail, it is ok to cry, but you will pick yourself up and try again. One thing didn’t work, try another. Just don’t give up if you have the passion for it.
The world should know that with all my fails, my cries, my late-night crafting and from Covid -19 hitting right when I had perfected my craft. It is now 2023 and I have retired my headbands and have expanded so much since then. I started with headbands, added custom resin iced drink tumblers, hair pins, eye lash cases, lip scrubs, candles, coffins, coasters, and so much more. I have gone from Farmer’s Markets to Pop Ups to City events, and I have now done events at huge conventions centers that I have only thought about applying.
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Rad Coffee in Long Baach has a pretty chill and punk vibe. I love their spooky themed coffees, they’re unique and taste amazing. Grill Em All in my opinion has the best burgers, they have a kick ass rock/metal music vibe and of course for us rare wrestling fans, they play wrestling on their TVs. For a morning to midafternoon, the perfect location to check out is in Burbank, you can literally hit a gold mine of places in the area. From Halloween Town, which is my favorite spooky store, they also have Blast from the Past which has a lot of vintage toys and memorabilia. And as well as the Mystic Museum store but also their exhibit based on movies and shows. Catch a bite out there as well in the same are at Pinocchio’s Pizza and grab some coffee from The Palm Coffee Bar.
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
This special shout out goes to my husband first of all, Juan Gonzalez, known by many as “Dirty Freaken Joe.” He’s been my rock since day one, he’s supported my insane change of creativity and has been through it all with me from 100-degree weather doing pop ups to windy and rainy days at events hanging on to our canopy from flying off the ground. He’s also kept me calm though many times that I wanted to give up. He’s never given up on me and I love him so much for that. Shout out to my family for all their suggestions and support when I started and till this day. They would show up at my events and show support, the best was seeing my mom stop by knowing well that she couldn’t make them all. Shout out to my continued supportive friends and customers that have become friends in the process. No matter how many products failed along the way, they would purchase and support my little dream.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janesearfulcreations/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janesearfulcreations/
Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@janesearfulcreations
Image Credits
Roger Taylor III
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