Meet Jessica Smith

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Smith.

Hi Jessica, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Simply Made for You, Inc. is a mother-daughter business. My mom and I have always loved to craft together on days I didn’t have school or weekends. We officially decided to make it a business in 2017, when we opened our Etsy shop.

We specialize in custom goods for a wide array of events. My mom still lives in Chicago so we don’t get to craft a ton together, but when we do see each other we are always making something!!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely had not been an easy road. We started out with only a few orders here and there for the first few years. Most of our stuff was for family and friends at that time.

It wasn’t until about 2019 that we started to really take off. We turned a cookie idea from my wedding into a product and it was a major success! From there we expanded on our line of football apparel and that has been a big success.

We went from 4 sales on Etsy in 2 years to 29 sales this year!!

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am currently in my 13th year of teaching. I am a special education teacher in Metro. I am originally from Chicago, where I taught Middle School for 12 years before moving here. My mom is semi-retired, but she also previously worked with children and adults with disabilities. Now she runs 2 Farmer’s Markets in the Chicago area.

Simply Made for You, Inc. is currently our side business that we would love to continue to grow to maybe one day be our main job. What I am most proud of is that I did this with my mom. Even living states apart now, we still have been able to continue to grow our business and do it together.

All of our items are handmade, which is not a simple task. It takes a lot of time to create a design, complete a tie dye, etc. We take pride in making our items look good and giving customers a great shopping experience.

What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
To be willing to jump. I am not usually a risk taker, but I decided to take a leap of faith and have been able to grow my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.simplymadeforyouinc/
• Instagram: @simplymadeforyouinc