Behind Her Empire #69: How to Turn Your Hobby Into a Successful Business with Kaylin Marcotte, Founder of JIGGY
Kaylin Marcotte is the founder and CEO of JIGGY, a brand that supports emerging female artists by turning their art into exciting jigsaw puzzles that are worth framing.
Kaylin’s fondness for jigsaw puzzles started when she was looking for a way to unwind after a long day at work. She was the first employee at the well-known digital media company, theSkimm, and was managing everything from their brand ambassador program, community building, to grassroots marketing. As one might expect with early-stage start-ups work can be all encompassing and exhausting, and Kaylin discovered that completing jigsaw puzzles helped to reduce her stress and the perfect nightly meditation for her.
After discovering her newfound love of puzzling, Kaylin realized that many of the puzzle designs were outdated and there was an opportunity to make something more beautiful.
Kaylin launched JIGGY in November 2019 and was able to navigate the pandemic challenges that hit her a few months in and grow the business to $1.6 million in sales within the first 9 months. Kaylin was also featured on Shark Tank and secured $500K from billionaire Mark Cuban.
We’ll chat with Kaylin about how she built the confidence to turn her hobby into a real business, how she navigated the pandemic and manufacturing challenges, what thoughtful growth means to her, and the many lessons she’s learned building a company as a one woman show.
In this episode, we’ll talk to Kaylin about:
* The early stages of Kaylin's career, years after college, and getting a job at theSkimm. [02:46]
* Kaylin's inspiring approach to getting in front of the founders of theSkimm [5:02]
* Getting into the startup world; challenges coming from a more corporate space. [8:08]
* Lessons in learning on the job: how Kaylin drew inspiration from the young founders she worked for. [11:43]
* Bringing the idea of Jiggy to life and how Kaylin picked up the hobby of making puzzles. [16:55]
* How Kaylin supported herself through consulting work while getting the business off the ground. [21:29]
* The foundations and relationships that Kaylin built in the early days of Jiggy. [23:11]
* Jiggy's first nine months and Kaylin's approach to the bootstrap philosophy. [29:28]
* The important connection that Kaylin developed with Anthropologie. [33:40]
* Kaylin's experiences appearing on Shark Tank and her thinking going into it. [36:46]
* Nervous feelings and preparation; how Kaylin managed to nail her appearance on the show. [39:20]
* The funding that Kaylin received from Mark Cuban and the fruits of this important relationship so far. [40:56]
* The team structure at Jiggy and why Kaylin has chosen to keep the company relatively small. [43:09]
* The surprising elements of the business that have brought Kaylin the most satisfaction and joy! [45:38]
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Follow Kaylin:
* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaylinmarcotte/
* Jiggy Puzzles Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jiggypuzzles/
* Website: https://jiggypuzzles.com/
Follow Yasmin:
* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/
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