Imagine crazy hair (Jess' words, not ours), a childhood where your parents' sea change was running a chocolate factory (pretty much Willy Wonka style), and we are only scratching the surface of Jess James.
The sum of all the parts
CookNCreate was only three months old when the COVID-19 shutdown happened! Given this extreme and sudden shutdown environment, we were expecting to hear about some great ideas which Jess was going to implement.
Instead, we saw a functioning business working like clockwork.
- A website which outlined all her services, a Facebook page, and Instagram page
- A branded car with the ‘CookNCreate - Mobile Cooking School’
- A full ‘kit’ of kids cooking supplies
- A timetable of offerings, and
- A list of past, current and new customers with forward bookings
It is easy for mere mortals to be overwhelmed by her sheer competence!
In her mobile cooking classes for children, Jess brings everything but the kitchen sink and oven. She creates super fun cooking experiences for kids, while their parents supervise and observe (and in some cases - learn). Her passion is to make cooking fun, easy, healthy and an ingrained habit for children from early on.
In hearing more about her history, we can see that this ‘hitting the ground running’ is no accident but a piecing together of her life experiences, education and passion.
There is one other element which makes what Jess has achieved truly remarkable. She has two young children - a 3 and 4 year old. Enough said.
A unique ‘CookNCreate’ recipe
To stand apart, a business needs to be one which cannot be easily replicated.
Who could replicate all of this in a similar offering?
- She has a Bachelor of Science in ‘Food, Nutrition and Consumer Sciences’
- She has a Post Graduate Certificate in Education, was employed as a teacher in the UK and has since transferred this qualification here
- She loves cooking
- She loves working with kids
- She is familiar with family and school environments
- Her parents left successful careers to start a chocolate farm - so food and entrepreneurship run in the family DNA
- Media, being in TV shows is a world she is familiar with and loves
This combination of knowledge, experience and passion has helped Jess create one fully operational business in just three months.
What we learnt from Jess
We looked at some of the things which have helped her do so well, so quickly.
- Aligning with what she knows and loves
Jess has confidence in knowing her craft, her creativity and a certainty in her love of teaching, being with children and cooking. She has combined all of this and created a service offering based around this. - Seeking input, learning and advice
Jess saw and applied for the Business Support Program, and was open to having a review of her business and next steps for growth. This not only provided her with some additional confidence that she was on the right track, but also expert input about critical next steps to capture the momentum of what she has created.
Jess mentioned that she will also to be tapping into her husband’s accounting skills, though she says he does not know this yet!
We also asked Jess about her tips for new business owners like herself.
“Starting a business is hard. I think I was naïve to how quickly I thought I could throw it all together and hit the ground running. That said, the challenge has been AMAZING and I was in the thick of it before I even realised and am pretty sure that’s where I will stay now, which is great – it means we are busy – really busy!
Being young (ish in my case!!) in today's society is HARD in terms of the perfectionist syndrome and the pressures we feel from the snippets of people’s lives and business’ people choose to share on social media. I am VERY guilty of feeling overwhelmed by these pressures, especially when starting something new and putting it out there is SCARY.
My advice would be to ALWAYS stay focused and keep your business’ core values in the forefront of your mind with EVERY post, story, blog, response etc. Don’t compromise yourself or spread yourself too thinly. I have found it’s better to draw back a little, take my time and sick to your guns. I feel a confidence in my creation I was never sure I would because of always striving to achieve everything all of the time. I make a conscious effort to keep focused on my values and this stops me floundering around in the dark”
Jess’ energy jumps straight off the page and a story like Jess’ CookNCreate can help us reconnect with our own reasons for starting a business or provide an opportunity pause and re-align or re-enthuse.
Jess has accessed our Business Support Program to help with her marketing including Facebook Advertising and Email Marketing
Jess has continued to grow in her business and taken opportunities such as #shoplocal to collaborate with local businesses. The hard work and collaboration has paid off. She has just won the Switch Start Scale 2021 Award for Pitch and Presentation.
Join the Charles Sturt Business Community and follow our Facebook Page
Sign up to the Western Business Leaders to access news, events and information (and you'll receive our monthly e-newsletter too). Tell us about your business and areas of interest so we can best assist your business in the future.
Have a story to share? Get in touch with us.
Urszula Richards
Business Marketing Advisor - Urban Projects
E: urichards@charlessturt.sa.gov.au