Hidden Gems: Meet Alizae Chacon of JanDe

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alizae Chacon.

Hi Alizae, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I grew up in a small town with my grandparents. My grandpa built their home with his bare hands. Growing up, I watched him and my grandma works together to enhance their home. They’re from the generation where if something is broken, they fix it. They don’t replace it. I watched my grandpa work in the yard, build wood furniture, and watch my grandma sew to mend their clothing. I gained a passion for the art of crafts in my childhood because of what I grew up observing. Using my creativity followed me throughout my childhood into my teen years. As a teenager, I wrote poems and music to release my thoughts.
I remember in high school, one of the 1st projects I learned how to do was etching mirrors. I would draw a design, trace it onto contact paper, cut the design out by hand with an Exacto knife, and etch it. A beautiful design, MY DESIGN, appeared in the mirror when it was said and done. I made so many for Christmas for my family, and they loved them. As an adult, I would sell these mirrors to my co-workers at my 8-5 job, which became a side hustle. With the growth of social media, I learned to do so many different crafts, and I was determined to know them all! I didn’t start with one thing. I had to buy everything right away and learn it all, so eventually, I did. I would craft for fun. I was doing these crafts used to be my outlet. My way to unwind after a long day of work. My 7-year-old daughter, at the time, would join me, and it became a way for us to bond and spend time together. 2020 came, and I found out I was having another child. I was a single mom of my then 7-year-old, found out I was having another baby, and then got laid off due to the pandemic. I had to figure out a way to make money while not putting myself or my baby at risk. Since COVID was so brand new, my Dr. did not want me out working with the public.
My daughter’s school moved to remote learning, and there was just no way for me to get another job when she had to be at home learning for school. I put my passion for crafting to use and decided I would go professional with it. I started selling Easter items on social media. I posted items to my neighborhood page and on the marketplace. I created a business Brand, made a Facebook page and a logo, set prices, and started taking orders. I was very successful and sold more than I anticipated. The following month I started up a website and continued to be consistent with marketing my brand. THUS, JanDe, was born!

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
The first year was a HUGE learning opportunity for me. I was building my brand from scratch without any prior business experience. I’ve had sales and customer service experience but a very little business experience. On top of designing and creating, I had to take pictures, advertise, and market and learn how to do digital design, packaging, & shipping. Making a few items here and there, as I was doing when I was doing it for fun, was completely different than doing it every day to help my business succeed. It took a lot of my time, but I achieved it with one child and this as my only source of income. Once I had the baby, though, it became a struggle. I realized I had to be consistent in advertising and putting my name there. I couldn’t post twice a week and expect people to find me. I had to post to every platform that I could. I had to learn digital design as I learned consumers feel more comfortable purchasing an item when they see a mock-up vs. when they see what the actual product would look like. I had to learn how to do so many different skills if I wanted to stay successful, rather than just doing the craft itself. My daughter has been a huge supporter and a huge help in inspiring me and helping me out with her sister. For 8 years, I was used to it being just the two of us, and I had a good grip on our lives and how to get things done. So when my baby was born, I was not only learning how to live a whole new life with a new person in it, I was in the middle of starting a business from scratch & trying to find time to keep everything afloat. It was long nights, long days, and very little sleep, but I had the fire burning for this passion, so I enjoyed it and kept going.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about JanDe?
I chose the name JanDe’, originally Jan-De, to represent January-December. The reason behind it is to think of a company that will provide gifts, decor, and decor for every holiday, event, or day on the calendar 365 days a year. If you’re celebrating bosses’ day, you can think of JanDe to get a custom gift made for your boss. In addition to the major Holidays we all know and love, IE, Christmas, Birthdays, Halloween, etc., JanDe will cover those and everything in between. Custom gifts, clothing, decor, and accessories. Most designs can be interchangeable as well. I mean this: If you see a design you like on a Pillow but you would like on a shirt or a mug, I can make that happen for you. If you see a shirt at a store that you want but the colors would be different, or the wording is different, I can make that happen. I enjoy taking special requests and custom orders. Let me know what you envision, and I will bring it to life. When a customer brings an idea to me, I discuss it with them and will include them in the design portion to make sure what I’m doing is what they’re picturing. When I present them with the finished product, seeing how impressed and happy they are, it just ignites that fire in me! I feel so accomplished knowing that I could do this for them. Many people can create. Not everyone puts the same amount of love and quality into their work, though. I know this from experience. When you genuinely have a passion for something, you will always do it better than someone who doesn’t. You can’t put a price on experience and quality. Since design has been a part of me since I was a child, at least five years old, I have an experience that has taught me not to take shortcuts, put pride in every detail, and not go cheap on material or tools. It’s worth the extra few cents or dollars to honestly KNOW that your customers are getting the best quality in addition to the years of experience.

We love surprises, fun facts, and incredible stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Most people do not expect that I’m a college graduate with 5 degrees. I am educated in many fields. I have a rough past that has shaped my presence. I overcame many obstacles and chose to do nothing less than persevere and give my children the best life, even with all the knowledge, street smarts, book smarts, etc. I can get a job anywhere, but my passion, what truly makes me happy, is being able to create, design, and bring your thoughts to reality.

Contact Info:

• Email: JandeByAlizae@gmail.com
• Website: www.JandeGifts.com
• Instagram: JandeByAlizae
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/JandeByAlizae