Speaker 1: 0:03

Well, hello. This is Kimberly Brock, and for over 20 years I've been running my own businesses that have not only been profitable but personally fulfilling to me. So now I'm on a mission to help other new business owners, just like you, make money doing what you love to. Now we're gonna have some fun, so let's get started.

Speaker 2: 0:26

Now we're going to have some fun, so let's get started. Well, hello everyone. This is Kimberly. It's episode 294, and I'm so glad that you are here today because I have a very special guest on the show. Her name is Allie Jones. She's owner of Jamel Jams out of Arkansas. Y'all have to hear this whole episode.

Speaker 2: 0:40

Allie's story is so encouraging. You know why? Because it's proof that you can take something that you know and love, something that really fills your soul, and turn it into a business. Allie's story today talks about how she was making jam as a child with her mom and now has a full-time business with it. Y'all she's doing amazing. She not only sells the jams to consumers, but has been featured in stores and she's looking even to get a co-packer soon so she can expand her business. You'll get to hear all about it. She is so inspirational. She tells it like it is and you are going to learn from her. Let me share, too, that down below in the show notes is all the information about Jamel Jams. So you're going to want to follow her on Instagram and and go to her website, maybe even get on her email list and all that good stuff, because you don't want to miss a beat about how she's built her company, y'all. It's just so amazing.

Speaker 2: 1:37

Allie and I met a few years ago I think it was right after COVID when she was like Maybe I should start this business, and she got in GrowGetters and I was able to work with her, and that's why I had to feature her on the show, because you have to see proof, like Allie, that this can happen for you too. In just a few short years, you can build a thriving business, even out of something that you may not even think could be a full-on business. Her jams are proof that she is well-loved in her community, and what I think is really key about her business is that she's been able to give back and spread joy through her jams. You get to hear all about it. Make sure you listen all the way through, because she really, even at the end, gives us some tips of wisdom that I know will help you along your journey.

Speaker 2: 2:22

If you're new here, welcome. I'm so glad that you found this podcast, because this episode is just an example of what can happen for you If you're in the middle of starting a business. Maybe it's a coaching business, maybe it's a service business, maybe it's even just an online business somehow, or a local business like Allie's? Make sure you scroll down in the show notes now, because I've got all types of resources for you, ok, everything from your idea stage just starting to growing and even how to get your podcast rolling if you want to grow online. So check out everything down below. There's resources for you that you don't want to miss out on, and I'm just so glad you're here today to hear this episode.

Speaker 2: 2:59

Thank you to all my loyal listeners. Y'all are awesome and wonderful, and Allie, thanks for being on the show. I'm so excited that I get to share you with the world. So that's it On to the episode. Well, allie, I am so excited to have you on the show. I have been wanting to share you with everyone for a while now. Your story is amazing, and I'm just so honored that you agreed to be on the show.

Speaker 3: 3:29

Well, thank you for asking. I'm excited to be here.

Speaker 2: 3:32

I'm so excited to hear about your jams and I shared with everyone in the intro about your business and what's going on and why you're here, and I can't wait for you to share your story because I think your story is so relatable to especially women out there and I'm just so excited for you to kick this off. So tell us from the beginning how this all started. And we also have to hear how you got your name, because everyone needs to know how we got Jamble Jams. So I got to hear all the stories, so tell us from the beginning how this all started. Okay.

Speaker 3: 4:04

Well, it did start like a long time ago, almost at the very beginning of my life, because I am 36, and this started when I was six. My mom loved making jams and jellies. She was a nurse and so when she first started learning to make jams and jellies, she was an assistant nurse manager at the VA hospital and her nurse manager wanted to make gifts for their staff one year. And so she's like I've got lots of. I know how to make jam and jelly. Come over to my house and I'll teach you and we can make some together. And so my mom, my older sister and I went to Ms Jan's house and we made, I think, plum jelly and mescadine jelly, and after making it, we were hooked. My mom loved it, I loved it, and so my mom made jam every year. Usually it was strawberry jam, and she would take my sister and I to go pick the strawberries and we would make jam and usually we would freeze it and save it and give it as Christmas gifts. Well, when I got married, I just continued on with it. I loved the kitchen. It was just like my place of relaxation, my place of joy. It's just my place of. I think. How I could. I feel like I could take care of people through food, and so I got married.

Speaker 3: 5:13

Jamel was an active duty infantry officer and we moved around the country. And as we moved around the country I would test different fruits from different areas. So, like, of course, georgia, the peaches, north Carolina grew great strawberries. I love the cherries in Kansas, so I just would try the different fruit and make jam and share it with my friends and then, as Jamel was a platoon leader and then a company commander, I would gift the jams to our volunteers and that's just kind of how it kept going. I mean, I was just giving it out of love and to say thank you to people.

Speaker 3: 5:50

And I remember when we had our daughter her name is Madeline and I thought, wow, I love jam, and our initial spelled jam. How cute is that? Jamel, allie and Madeline. And then, in 2020, we had our son Langston, and I was just playing with, I guess, the GM business idea in my head, because what else was everybody doing in 2020? We were all stuck at home coming up with businesses, and I realized that our name spelled Jamel, which is almost my husband's first name minus the E, and I was like that's a perfect name for our business. Well, it wasn't a business. It. That's a perfect name for our business. Well, it wasn't a business, it was just the perfect name for our gym. I just wanted to brand it as I gifted it to people, and so that's how we became Jamble Jams.

Speaker 2: 6:34

I mean, it's just so crazy. I just love that you had a passion for this and that you were giving it to people from your heart. Like I have a friend that does this, one of my daughter's best friends. Her mom's always baking and doing stuff and I'm like you know what? I'm going to back you whenever you open your bakery. She just puts it out of her heart. But we're getting macaroons and all this stuff. She makes amazing food and I'm just like, oh, my gosh, that's amazing. So so I get that, and how good it must feel to just like I want to create something for other people and the volunteers. I love how you were doing that, so I think it's awesome. And then you went on to like, okay, we need like a little name for this sort of a little brand, even though it wasn't like a business yet. So you said it was 2020, you were home doing all this. How did it then like, like what was that moment or where's? What was it that turned it into?

Speaker 3: 7:25

like oh, maybe I could actually make a business out of this yeah, so at the end of 2020 we moved from Kansas to to Georgia okay my husband his next assignment.

Speaker 3: 7:38

He was just busy, he was gone a lot right, and so I was home a lot right with kids, with kids a lot, and I and also our part of our community, or he was with the Rangers, and so everybody was gone a lot. And so I wanted to do something that would make other people smile, like our, you know, our army community lived on post, and so I was like, hey, I can start making jam. And I also felt like I wanted to do something outside of my mom and wife roles and something that I just felt like I kind of was using my brain in a different way, right, but also blessing other people in the same time. And so I was like, well, what can I do? I didn't have time to learn a new skill. Being home was very, very important to me, and so I thought, well, what do I have in my hand? And jam was what I had in my hand.

Speaker 3: 8:32

I was very comfortable with it. I had a lot of confidence in it. I feel like I had, you know, some authority in it a little bit. You know, I knew enough to make it and tell people the difference between jam and jelly, because that's the question that everybody always asks and tell people the difference between jam and jelly, because that's the question that everybody always asks. So that's just what I chose to do and I was like, okay, I can do this. I joined a small like women's business group and found some encouragement there, and the coach there was like, take $250 and open your business and sell it and get that 250 back. And so I was like, okay, I can do this. And so I started on a Mother's Day weekend selling my jam.

Speaker 2: 9:10

I mean, it's just so crazy, and I love what you said and I have to repeat this for everybody that's maybe in the idea stage. You want to have something all your own, you want a creative outlet, you want to impact people's lives in some way, bring joy or whatever it is. I love what you said what do I have in my hands? And I want people to think about that right now. All of you listening, like if you've been thinking like I could have a business, but do I have time to go back to school or get certified or do whatever? Is there something that I have in my hand? Is there something before me? Is there something that people have already been telling me or asking me about and getting my advice on, or that I'm already good at? That's what you could turn into a business.

Speaker 2: 9:49

So I love that and I want everyone to remember that. What do I have in my hand? Because I think that's super crucial. So you did that. You said what do I have in my hand? Then you joined a business. Was this a local business group or an online business group?

Speaker 3: 10:02

It was. It was online, it was Christy Wright's business boutique group, so I started it and I didn't have a website at all. I was like, okay, I'm just going to do this, as you like to say, kimberly. I wanted to keep it simple, and so I just let my Facebook community know that I was going to start selling my jams, and I gave everyone a week's notice.

Speaker 3: 10:26

And the next week I came back and I had two offerings. I had strawberry jam and dandelion jelly and I sold out and I was very surprised. I couldn't believe it. But what surprised me even more is that I didn't just have local friends purchasing. I had people in different states purchasing and paying the shipping because I didn't have shipping set up.

Speaker 3: 10:50

I was going to the post office using their beautiful boxes to ship with my jams were just in the Walmart jars with, you know, the two-part screw-on lid, but it's not the vibe that my company looks like now, right, but I and I knew kind of what I wanted it to look like, but I just didn't have those resources available at that time and so I was like, well, I'm just going to do with what I can. And people bought it and people paid the shipping and they supported me and then they shared it with their friends and I, just as the seasons continued, the growing seasons, I just kept adding on flavors, and every time I went out on a flavor it would sell out, and it's just continued to be that way.

Speaker 2: 11:37

I bet you were just so shocked, but I love it that you said you didn't have a website. So, for everyone listening, you can get started without a website. You don't have to delay this, you can put it out there. You said that you put it out there on your Facebook community. Did you mean like your Facebook page? Just your personal?

Speaker 3: 11:54

Facebook page, just my friends. Yeah, I probably. I know that I tagged my husband. I'm pretty sure I tagged my sister and my mom and my dad, my sister and my mom and my dad, I love it so much.

Speaker 2: 12:05

I mean just starting in that simple, raw form. Y'all do you see how simple this is? Everyone, are you listening? Like she said she kept it simple. She knows that's one of my little tag phrases there because I believe in that.

Speaker 2: 12:20

Otherwise, if it's complicated or you're trying to perfect it, you would never get going. Like I want everyone to think about too. If she had said I can't sell my jams until I have the most amazing website and I have all the shipping figured out, how much longer would it have been. Like she's doing it so intelligently here, starting out and reaching out to her current community of friends and family, because then she's got revenue coming in and she's got kind of proof of concept here of like oh, people actually do want to buy this and pay exorbitant shipping prices. Like I'm sure you were just mind blown. I'm picturing you sitting there going wait, what People I really was. I mean they can go buy jam at the grocery store. They can Right. Like what do you think it was? What do you think it was at that time that was appealing for people to buy?

Speaker 3: 13:08

Okay, so I've thought about this and part of my answer is that people knew me I mean, I was selling to my friends and my family and so they knew that it was good because they'd had it gifted to them. Yes, that's true.

Speaker 2: 13:24

Right right.

Speaker 3: 13:25

Yeah, and so that I did have good. What would you, what would you call that?

Speaker 2: 13:30

I'm missing the word. The business term would be social proof, but like a reputation, people knew that it was good.

Speaker 3: 13:36

Exactly, I had that. But I I feel like, uh, I really want my jam to bring connection to people, like when they eat it and they're sitting around, and I feel like that's kind of the vibe that I gave off when I did share my jam, Like I was really excited about it and a lot of times we did eat it with people. It just I hope it created in my head, it just created this warm. It wasn't like, yes, you can go get this off of. You know, the shelf at Walmart For one, the ingredients are very different.

Speaker 2: 14:08

Yes.

Speaker 3: 14:09

But I think the story that went along with it, like in those days we were picking the fruit ourselves a lot of times and so it was Jamel helping me when he could make it, or my kids would help me pick they couldn't help me make it but it was just this warm feeling of family and, I think, connection, but definitely the fact that people had tried it before. I mean I'm telling you there were so many soldiers that ate jam and had it gifted and given to the people.

Speaker 2: 14:33

So sweet, I love that so much so they wanted it, yes, and it gives them like a sense of home as well too, like just this warm, fuzzy feeling. I think you get from the jam and that's just so wonderful. So another point from that for people that are starting their business is that you can gift things for free to people for a while to test it out and like either you just start and you can discount it, or you can do like what Ali did, where it kind of stems from this passion, where you're gifting it to people just because your heart and soul is in it, and then you've already got the social proof, so you feel more confident when you're actually selling it. Just like you said, you already knew the smiles that it brought on people's faces and that it was good. So you kind of had this, or you had this confidence that it's good and you know you were excited about it. So everyone listening when you're out there talking about your products or services, you need to be enthusiastic and excited about it, or people aren't going to be as excited.

Speaker 2: 15:35

So I love that as well. I think that's awesome. So you did that. Now Is this about when you and I met? I'm trying to remember how our intersection happened About that time because I think I had been selling jam.

Speaker 3: 15:50

I started in May of 2021. And I think it was around the year mark that I had been selling it. Because we were just, yeah, because we were deciding to get out of active duty and I knew that we were going to be moving. And I wasn't sure and this makes me laugh now because I was just like, how is my little jam business going to survive without my Army community? But we moved and I met you, yes, and you were so encouraging in all of the things that you taught and I was like I've got to join her group. If I want this to keep going and to continue to grow, I need to join her group, and so I did, and and then and it, we moved. We moved home to Arkansas, which was the best thing, honestly, for Jamel Jams anyway, because, as an army family had, we continued to move.

Speaker 3: 16:45

Every state has different laws when it comes to, like, producing food in your home, which is what I started out doing, and Arkansas is a very friendly state to make food out of your kitchen. We used to operate under the cottage law. Now it's the Arkansas Food Freedom Act. Several states are starting to adopt that, and so that gave me some more liberty to be able to sell and make things from my home but also still sell in like other stores, wholesale partners, and I don't know I might be jumping ahead of the story. I'm not in my kitchen anymore at home, but yeah, I think I met you around that time.

Speaker 2: 17:22

Yeah, because I remember in the beginning, like you had your jams, and then you were like I want to get into some kind of like I want to say boutiques, but other specialty stores where I could sell the jams, and you were like, oh my gosh, how do I price this? Like, what am I doing? And we were working through that. But that can be a scary time when you decide, hey, I can sell to consumer, but you know what? There's this opportunity to sell in bulk to stores and that's a great avenue. So what was that like for you? Share that experience of like maybe going into a store? How did you approach the stores? Like, what was your first step to do that, to try to get in there?

Speaker 3: 17:58

Okay, this is my story is unique in that there is not one wholesale business that I have approached. Okay, I guess the first one. It was kind strategic on my end, but we did. We didn't ask to be in. The offer was made to us, so I'll try to make this a very long story short.

Speaker 3: 18:21

So we moved to Arkansas and I realized when we moved that we were down the street from this little small bakery and I was like there's a bakery, it'd be fun to sell jams in the bakery.

Speaker 3: 18:31

Well, so one day I took my son in and we bought some cookies and when we were leaving the store he was so excited he started dancing, and so I got a little video of him dancing and I posted it. I think I'd put it on Jamel Jam's Facebook page, but I tagged the bakery so they liked it and, like, a couple of days later my husband went in on a Saturday morning to buy some cinnamon rolls and my husband can talk to any and everybody and somehow he started talking to the bakery owner and he was like yeah, my son was in here with my wife and he was so excited he was dancing and they were like it's yours. And then my husband started talking about jams and how we make jams and our process of making them, and they were. They had some jams and jellies that they weren't selling at that point but they were using them in their products and that company was using like Kool-Aid and different things like that to get the colorings of their for their product.

Speaker 3: 19:32

And so my husband was like yeah, you don't have to use artificial things to get colorings, and just started chit-chatting and they were like we'd really like to talk more with y'all and that's what opened the door and so we started selling to them. And then we started selling to a boutique next door. It was actually Mars Mercantile. They opened right next door to this bakery and we got connected with them and they invited us in and every business that we are in now there's just been some kind of community connection. I went to a pretzel making class and the lady that was teaching that pretzel making class was gonna be opening a sourdough bakery and we became friends and she was like I would love to sell your jams there. And then, like everything has happened through relationship or through one of my customers saying, hey, you should sell her jams.

Speaker 2: 20:28

So yeah, so crazy. And when you said sourdough too, I'm just reminded of this like massive trend of the sourdough bread and making. I'm like what just happened, like bread was completely demonized a few years ago and completely like do not touch any bread and now sourdough. I even said something to my 16-year-old daughter about sourdough. She goes I was like what is the? What's going on? I mean I love sourdough, but what's happening? She's like mom, it's gut friendly and she was like going through all the things and I was like even the teenagers are in on the sourdough bread.

Speaker 3: 21:04

It's good for you.

Speaker 2: 21:05

Yes, and what a perfect timing, a perfect pairing, to have your jams and I just think that's so cool. So you get in those first stores and I'm sure you're like what just happened? Like I am now selling into stores and then now you sell more in bulk. Is that right? Are you expected to be bringing in a certain amount of jars, or what is the expectations that the stores have with you? Like how does that work?

Speaker 3: 21:34

So right now my stores will just order. So I have two different ways. Actually, I'm going to back up just a little bit, because you were asking how those connections happened and this is a very important one. So in 22 to no 23, I was able to join a course for food-based businesses in Northwest Arkansas. It's called Curate and they help mentor small business owners in beverage and food to help them grow, with the goal of getting them, you know, more exposure to our wholesale partnerships and all that kind of stuff. And so I was able to join that group and learn just so much.

Speaker 3: 22:16

Well, at the end of that I think it was a nine-week course we had a capstone project and that capstone project we collaborated with another business and presented a meal at a food festival. But we also had a pitch that we created a video and a panel of judges scored that, reviewed that, and then at the festival we were all asked questions that we had to answer. Well, I won that pitch. It was awesome and it was so cool. I won $5,000 for Jamel Jams. It was exciting.

Speaker 3: 22:50

But my goal of doing that was not, honestly, to win, I just wanted to go and learn all that I could about what was happening in the food industry in Northwest Arkansas and who I could collaborate with and who I could partner with, and that made a huge difference for me, for my knowledge, but also it connected me to some businesses that I was able to put my jam in, and so I just want to encourage people, even if you feel like your business is so small and so tiny and you feel somewhat intimidated. If there is an opportunity for you to go learn somewhere, go do it, because it gives you even more confidence, but it also gives you credibility in your space within the community and just kind of sets you apart if your goal is to continue to grow, and that doing that program did. I got several wholesale partnerships that way okay so.

Speaker 2: 23:42

I see how this all comes together.

Speaker 2: 23:44

I'm so glad you shared that, because that's an important piece of your story is is winning that getting recognized, getting the clout among your community, the respect and your name's out there, and that's a massive win. So, yes, so people getting connected in your community and within your industry. So I think that's key and super good advice for everyone. Listening, if you've got a local business, I mean even if you're online too, but especially and I know that there's so much regulation that I don't know about that has to do with the food industry and I'm sure you've learned so much, but that's key. That's key for your business understanding that. So now your name is getting out there and then people are reaching out to you. What a relief that you don't have to go knocking on doors and trying to, you know, convince people to buy your jams, that they're reaching out to you because of your exposure in the community. So you start doing that and then, based on what I had asked earlier, just so people know, like, how does it work with? You know, selling wholesale?

Speaker 3: 24:46

Yeah, so through the Curate program that I am, we have a profile, community profile there that businesses can order through, and so they submit. I keep an ongoing like what you have available, and so I have companies that will order through there, like Tyson Foods for their employee kitchen Walmart. Yeah, I know.

Speaker 2: 25:06

What Did they reach out to you?

Speaker 3: 25:07

That's what I said when I first saw it. Walmart is headquarters in Bentonville I don't live far from there and they just opened up their new campus and so I'm selling there in their what.

Speaker 3: 25:20

Yeah, in their employee like food court, and they've used us in some of their like smoothies and different things like that, their shakes, like it's so much fun. So they submit their orders that way Some of my larger wholesale partnerships and then, like my smaller stores, they will just send me an email and say this is what we would like to order.

Speaker 2: 25:39

Okay, okay, so just ask, needed, and then you fulfill that.

Speaker 3: 25:44

Yes, and I I like to set my order requirements like in cases of six. So I have a couple of like little, very small businesses that you know I'll make room for but that I try to do it in in those increments just so it's easier.

Speaker 2: 26:01

Yes, so wait. So how did you get into Tyson and Walmart? How did that happen?

Speaker 3: 26:05

That was all curate because they yeah, they curate as a program, they have relationships, you know, with these larger, with these businesses and these companies, and so that's how they are connecting small, small businesses to these larger companies and helping us grow Wow.

Speaker 2: 26:27

And empower. Yes, oh, my goodness. Okay, so now you get into Walmart and Tyson's. This is crazy. And then what's next after that? Are you still making them out of your home?

Speaker 3: 26:40

No, I am not making them out of my home anymore. There's no way. I think my family was, they were. We were all getting sick of jam in this kitchen. Let me tell you, we closed down our kitchen a whole lot because the mama was making jam. No, everybody gets out. You can have a sandwich or you can have takeout, like that's. It was sad, but I was only able to make six jars at a time, pretty much for nine ounce jars, like every batch would make, like six jars at a time.

Speaker 2: 27:11

Wow, so it was exhausting.

Speaker 3: 27:13

And so, thankfully again, I live in Arkansas and the U of A is here and they have Arkansas Food Innovation Center. It's a commercial kitchen where many small food businesses start their food operations out of, and so it's a commercial kitchen that I can go in and rent the space and instead of making six jars at a time right now I'm up to about 45 jars at a time in the kettle that I'm in. I will, and that's just because that's just that's just where I'm starting Like, this kettle can make, I think, 120 at a time, and then the next kettle will make a couple hundred at a time, and then beyond that there's, like one that I don't even know how many I made, probably like a thousand or something, right, and so, yeah, there's lots of room to grow. I'm in this kitchen and it has given me a little bit of life back. It's very exciting.

Speaker 2: 28:02

I mean, I can't believe it. So you get in the commercial kitchen other businesses. So do you like you rent it at certain times of the day or the week or do you have to schedule it? You have to schedule it, yeah, we schedule it, okay. And then you go and like what are some of the other things that? Have you seen others cooking in there? Yes, yes, there's some good stuff.

Speaker 3: 28:23

So well, man, we have. There's like vegan nuggets, oh yeah, protein bars, cookies, all kinds of different condiments and sauces like I'm doing margarita mixes literally anything that you can think of.

Speaker 2: 28:41

That is so fun, because you're surrounded by these people that are like you, that have the passion for something that they're creating and they put a lot of heart and soul into that. I know, oh my gosh, that's so cool. So you have the commercial kitchen now. So now you can get it out of your house.

Speaker 3: 28:59

You actually feel like your home is your home and it's not a commercial kitchen. Yes, I feel like, because usually I'm there on Mondays, I do need to add another day because business is continuing to pick up, which is great. But I'm like, okay, now I need to add another day to this commercial kitchen, but it is very nice, because now I feel like jam is my joy again, because it was starting to get a little heavy. Yeah, I'm glad you said that People need to know that happens.

Speaker 3: 29:23

Yes, which is good. I mean, it was turning into a business, you know, and I needed to scale and I needed to move up to the next level, or else I wouldn't have been able to sustain what I was doing, or I just would have had to stop right there and I wouldn't have been able to expand anymore, right? And so now it is nice to kind of like go to work and then come back home and I feel like my creative juices are kind of flowing again, because Jam is at the kitchen and at home again. Yes, it's home again.

Speaker 2: 29:52

Yes, it's home again. Yes, you got the separation of the two, and I totally get that, because when I had my online boutiques, I had so much inventory in my house of bags and nap mats and all that where it's like, oh my gosh, we have to get this separated. So I get that feeling very much. So, okay, so now you have your commercial kitchen. Your business is growing, your revenue streams are direct to consumer on your Shopify website, then you have wholesale to the little stores and then also to Walmart and Tyson and places like that. Where do you see it growing from there?

Speaker 3: 30:30

Oh, my goodness, kimberly. I don't know, but I do know that I think my next step is that, for a couple of my flavors at least, I honestly feel like I need a co-packer.

Speaker 3: 30:41

Right and share what a co-packer does for people who don't know, yeah, so that's someone that will make your product for you, like you can give them your recipe and they're able to do it in larger quantities. And I feel like I need to do that because there are a couple of flavors, like our blueberry, champagne and pink pineapple and cinnamon peach that I just cannot. Yeah, it is I can't keep, and so I feel like that feels a little bit scary, yeah, but I have. I think I have a very trusted source. Oh, that's good.

Speaker 2: 31:15

Yeah, because that's what like came to mind right when you said that All I could think about was protecting your recipe. Yeah, and you know, and for all the people that use Copackers, how does that work within that? Just because I don't know anything about that type of industry, how is it protected? Are there like legal documents that basically you do?

Speaker 3: 31:34

sign a non-disclosure agreement. So they'll sign one. So they're not, you know, able to share my recipe. Yeah, and like, because you have I can't remember I think it's called white labeled, like that is a way that, like I had a boutique and I wanted to sell jam, I could go buy this jam and I could put my label on it. Really, it could be the same recipe that other stores?

Speaker 3: 32:00

had, but I don't want my jam to be able to be used Like. I want my jam to only be Jamel jams, and so they will sign a nondisclosure for me. They can't use it for anybody else.

Speaker 2: 32:29

Yeah, I remember seeing something one time about Coca-Cola and the recipe was so protected by their. So protected because people can kind of try to figure out the ingredients, but it's like the proportion and how they I don't know. I don't know anything about that, but I was like whoa, you do have to protect it because other people could use it, but that's amazing. So getting a co-packer could be your next step. You have a trusted source, you have a trusted source, and then that would mean what for you? You would have more produced so that you could sell more to more businesses, or what do you think?

Speaker 3: 33:02

Yeah, more businesses, and it would just free me up from having to be in the kitchen all the time.

Speaker 3: 33:07

Oh, because you're yeah, because I'm making it, and then that would allow me to go to more stores, if I want to, you know, and offer Jamel Gems. You know, make partnerships. Just do the things that only I can do and, again, give me that creative space. Right now I'm doing all the like, you know, sourcing the fruit and making the jam, and remembering to order the jars and sending invoices and shipping and delivering. You know all of those things, and so it's a lot, and I do have help in the kitchen, but it would just give me some more, some more room.

Speaker 2: 33:41

Yes, yes, that's awesome. Well, I know you had mentioned before that you may be starting to teach a jam class. Is that right? Tell us more. Tell us more. We need to know.

Speaker 3: 33:50

So in June and I'm sharing because they shared it already, so in June Mars on Main is a store here in Bentonville, arkansas, and it's owned by HGTV personalities, dave and Jenny Mars, and they have just been amazing partners for Jamel Jams and selling our products and I've been invited to come teach a jam class or to go teach a jam class and so, yeah, so fun. In June we are going to make some blueberry jam and, yeah, see if we can get other people to spread some joy and jam.

Speaker 2: 34:25

Yes, and empower them. It makes me think of Annalisa in Grow Getters as well, where she was making candles. She has her candle line that empowers women and they're really cool. I actually have one of her handles back here somewhere, anyways, and I've seen now she's doing that Like she has a store where she's selling her candles but she's teaching candle making classes fun for events and parties.

Speaker 2: 34:44

So everyone out there who makes something, even though you have something that's proprietary and that's yours, it's really cool to empower others and to teach others. It's such a fun way to get people together. Everyone's so sick of being on social media and doing all these things, and now you can bring community together by hosting these fun classes and giving joy to others, where they can create too. So I think that that is so cool. So you'll be teaching that in June at Mars on Main. So that's awesome. And then tell us, too, what else this business has enabled for you. I know you've been able to donate to nonprofits and stuff, so if you'd share a little bit about that, I think that's cool, yeah.

Speaker 3: 35:24

So one thing we say about Jamble Jam's products is that our jars are giving jars and we want to be able to contribute to community organizations, and so we do that throughout the year, and we don't always like I don't always talk about it, we just give. But every now and then I like to just check in and let people know like hey, we're still giving and gifting. And so one of the most rewarding gifts that we were able to do is sponsor a kitchen in a new home in our area called Cradle of Hope, and it is a home for teenage moms and their babies and they can go and live there while they're finishing school, trying to get back on their feet. And they just opened a couple of months ago. What month we're in May now? I think they opened in April. April was their grand opening and so we were able to give and sponsor their kitchen, so they have all the things that they need there, and that was extremely, extremely, extremely rewarding.

Speaker 2: 36:25

I mean, that is so wonderful.

Speaker 3: 36:27

Yeah, our mission is to spread joy and jam to the world around us. To spread joy to the world around us by creating flavorful edible products with lanyard which means a little something extra so that we ignite a culture of care, leaving people better than we find them. And so that is honestly what we want to do is like I want people to feel good when they eat our jam, when they see it, when they see the beautiful jars, when they share it with their friends and family. Obviously, we want it to taste good, but we also want people to know that when they purchase the jam, it's still giving, like we're sourcing from local farms and gardens, we are selling in our local community and then we're giving to our community. So we just again, we want it to spread joy in every part of the process. Oh, amazing.

Speaker 2: 37:12

I mean that's got to feel so good, like not only being able to create the jams but create opportunities for other people as well and empowering the teenage you know, new moms and just everything that you're able to do with it. It's just so inspiring. And, allie, it's so impressive what you have done. Like I was looking through all of this and you know we had talked a little before the podcast or you had sent me all your stuff and I'm like this is so impressive. I mean, from thinking about where you started just in the beginning and this love for the jam, to where you are now being able to help others and empower others in your in-stores and your commercial kitchen, it sounds like you've done everything right. Like I literally feel that when I look at this, like every little step has just led to the next one and you've been in business now four years. Four years and I think you said was it last year? Was your most profitable year yet? Is that right? Yes, it was.

Speaker 3: 38:07

And that was amazing to sit down and look at at the end of the year and be like, oh my goodness, I can't believe like this goal, because I set a goal at the beginning of the year and I was like, yeah, I'm gonna reach it, yeah, yeah, and we actually surpassed it and so that was super exciting.

Speaker 2: 38:24

I mean, who knew that you could turn? I just don't think people believe it. When they're starting a business over something that they're just really passionate about, they love, maybe they don't think it's. I just don't think people believe that. And what do you think was the source of your belief? Like how, I don't know what was it in you that was just like, okay, I'm going to take the next step. I'm going to take the next step, like, what was that to?

Speaker 3: 38:45

start a business with jam and jelly, I was like it's just jam, it's just jelly, but it was again what I had in my hand to offer to people to try to make a positive impact somehow, and I always wanted to give like. I wanted that to be part of the mission, and so I think that when something is a little bit bigger than yourself, it's easy. It's not easy, but it's easier to keep going. It's easier to maybe see where it can go. The dream is a little bit different, because it's not just about you, it wasn't just about me, it wasn't just like oh, I just need to do this just for fun, I need something else to do. I didn't. My goal wasn't necessarily to like bring income into my household. It really was outward focused, and so that was my goal, that was my dream, and I was like okay, I can do this, I can make this work. I hope that answers the question.

Speaker 2: 39:44

Yes, it is, and it, yeah, and you said it was such ease. But it's very important what you just said, and I think when you approach a business or something like this that you love, it has to be bigger than you Like it's for others. I think a lot of times, new business owners get wrapped up in themselves I don't have this good enough. It's not perfect yet. I need to make it this most amazing thing, and I think when you focus on others instead of yourself, it will slowly evolve. You will start making progress and you can be smart about what you're doing because you're doing it to help them, and I think that looks like it has been the focus of your business and just everything is just, you know, evolved in the right direction, and I just think it's just so inspiring and it's so motivating for everyone who's listening today that you can do this.

Speaker 2: 40:33

Allie is a perfect example, just like she said, like I didn't know, like could you really do this? It's just jam. And I want everyone to never say it's just this. Whatever it is right now that maybe you've already started your business or you're thinking about starting, it's more than just what it is. It's something bigger. You have to see it bigger, because when you do and you will make that progress and then you can actually impact a lot more lives than you ever imagined. So, allie, this has just been amazing. Is there any tips? Anything you want to leave people with? I mean, I think that was great right there, but just anything else you want to share before we go?

Speaker 3: 41:11

Yeah, okay, so I will speak just from who I am. I'm a mom, and I started this business with little kids, like babies were 15 months and three years old, so I did not have a lot of time and I hit on it earlier. But if you have something, if you're wanting to start something, then I feel like what helped me was that I did something that I did know about. I did something that I used, something that I was confident about. I did something that I used, something that I was confident in, that I had some authority. In Most of the time when I was working and making jam, it was after they went to sleep and I just could kind of do it without thinking about it.

Speaker 3: 41:45

I didn't have a lot of margin to learn a new skill. And so start with something that you know, something that you love, something that you're passionate about, because again, that will come out kind of like you already said, kimberly, when you're sharing it with others, you can just naturally talk about it, but then also just start, because the same amount of time is going to pass, like next year is going to be here, and so you might as well go ahead and start this year with whatever it is that you're wanting to do, you know.

Speaker 2: 42:18

Don't be your own roadblock.

Speaker 3: 42:19

Mm yeah, I know a lot of new. Oh yeah, go ahead. No, no, well, and then just one more thing. I think it's so awesome as a mom you never know what your kids are going to pick up and learn from you. Like, my mom was doing this as a hobby. She was a nurse. She had a whole career my sister's actually. She's a physician and she got her love of medicine from my mom. She didn't get any of the love of medicine. Like.

Speaker 3: 42:38

I don't want anything to do with blood, anything like that, but I did pick up her love of being in the kitchen and we sometimes just like mom, can you believe that you learned how to make jam and jelly and now it is like a profitable business for me, like that's getting to bless and reward other people, and so I would. Just that's just another little thing. Like you never know, moms, what your kids are learning from you, and so do the hard work, but also do that thing that you enjoy, like do that thing that brings you rest and that hobby, because you don't know what your kids are going to learn from you and what they're going to pick up and turn into something that will bless them and others.

Speaker 2: 43:16

It's so true, like following your own passion can inspire those around you and especially as a mom, your children. It's something that will you know they could tell it makes you happy, so in turn, it creates good memories for them and you just never know what that could turn into, plus just showing that you can go for something. I you just never know what that could turn into, plus just showing that you can go for something. I think it's cool that your mom had that career but she like pursued, she allowed that time for herself to pursue something cool and teach us something at the same time, when you were little. And now you're passing that on and you're showing your children, wow, if mom can do this, moms can go for it.

Speaker 2: 43:50

It's not just you know, they're not just doing one thing, they're able to have a business and help the community, and I just think it's such a shining example of how we all can be, and I just applaud you, allie. I think this is so wonderful and I'm so honored to know you and I'm so proud of you for all your hard work and I just thank you for sharing your story with everyone. I think it's very inspiring. Thank you, kimberly.

Speaker 3: 44:15

Thank you for encouraging your story with everyone. I think it's very inspiring. Thank you, kimberly. Thank you for encouraging us, because I think there are probably many businesses that just wouldn't have had that push to keep going and, again, do it simple without you so thank you so much. You have impacted Jamel James for sure.

Speaker 2: 44:32

Oh, that's so sweet. Well, thank you for that. Well, thank you for being on here, and we will talk soon.

Speaker 4: 44:39

Now this episode may be over, but our relationship does not have to end here. Head on over to KimberlyBrockcom and, yes, you can get more valuable information for your journey and you know what. You don't need to go through this alone. I would love to help you. Thank you so much and have a great day. Bye.