ZzzonkOwl

We introduce to you, Dot, the owner of ZzzonkOwl! We love love loveeeee owls and this sweet lady’s shop stood out to us and we just knew we had to get her story! The reason and meaning behind a story is everything to us and we are sure you will love this really neat origin. Without further ado, here is ZzzonkOwl’s story!

Building Bridges: Tell us a little bit about you, your family, and what you like to do for fun!

Dot: My family consists of myself, my husband, and our 9-year-old son. We just bought a house a couple of months ago and are still getting everything together, but we're super excited.
I have a disorder called Narcolepsy, so I don't do much for fun other than sleep! Well, that was until I discovered how much I love making jewelry.

Building Bridges: Why did you choose the name of your business? Is there a special meaning behind it?

Dot: I came up with the title ZzzonkOwl for a couple reasons. The "Zzz" is the sound you make when you're asleep (you know, in comic books and such). Then I blended it into "Zonk" because I zonk out when I sleep. And I added "Owl" at the end because I'm a huge owl lover and wanted to focus on owls for my shop :)

Building Bridges: Did someone encourage you to start a business?

Dot: The main person that encourages me is my husband. I'm so lucky to 

have such a wonderful man by my side. He's always telling me how proud 

he is of me. I don't work outside the home, and he's okay with that! He 

always acts so impressed with what I make, lol. He even says he's jealous 

because I have this strong passion towards my hobby and he's kind of 

lacking one :( But after this summer move, I'm sure that'll change for him.

Building Bridges: When did your shop officially open?

Dot: My shop officially opened last June, but I didn't sell jewelry. I sold some vintage items and some Minecraft-themed items I made. I started selling my jewelry shortly after the new year.

Building Bridges: Do you remember your first product that sold, what was it?

Dot: I remember my first jewelry product that sold. It was a fabric button necklace with gray lace organza. The fabric had a pink cameo image on it.

Building Bridges: Any current shop promo discounts, if so when do they end?

Dot: Right now you can use ZZZONK20 and save 20% off your entire order. Not sure when I'll be turning that off though!

Building Bridges: Do you take custom orders?

Dot: I love custom orders. When I first started selling the jewelry I made, I tried to make the listings express how I could customize it to their liking, but I think it got too confusing. I wish Etsy had more options to provide in their listing descriptions.

Building Bridges: What do you love or hate about selling?

Dot: I love selling because I can make back some of the many dollars I spend on this hobby! lol. I am a little apprehensive about selling because I haven't really learned how to package my items attractively in that special way I often see.

Building Bridges: What is your favorite part about owning your own business?

Dot: My favorite part about running my own business is the fact that I don't have to leave my house. Having narcolepsy makes it really hard to be sociable. It also makes your day very unpredictable, so working from home is ideal.

Building Bridges: Do you have a product that you prefer to design/create over others?

Dot: I definitely love making owl items the best. I looove owl fabrics!

Building Bridges: Do you have any advice for other crafters who would like to start selling their creations?

Dot: My advice to potential craft-sellers would be to stick to it for a while. Don't get discouraged if you don't have a lot of sales. Also that you need to put yourself out there. Don't just expect customers to find you. Join Etsy teams, use social media, and just promote, promote, promote.

Building Bridges: Best advice you received when you went into business for yourself?

Dot: I think the best advice I received was either about pricing or about taking photos for your listings. It's never good to price your items too low, which is something I was doing at first. And the quality of photos for your listing is probably the #1 most important part of selling on Etsy! (Besides the product itself.)

Building Bridges: What is the favorite item you make and why?

Dot: Besides all of my owl items, lol, my favorite item in my shop is the Tribal Indian Southwestern Fabric Button Necklace. I think it's so pretty and simple. And of course because it's a vintage fabric :)

Building Bridges: You can find Dot on a few different platforms! For starters she has an amazing blog: ZzzonkOwl.blogspot.com, be sure to go and follow! Check out her Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, &  Pinterest accounts to stay up to date with all the amazing things she is doing with ZzzonkOwl! But before doing allllll of the above head on over to her Etsy shop to purchase yourself some really fantastic handmade products -  ZzzonkOwl.etsy.com If you need to contact Dot you can best reach her via Etsy convo, her blog {ZzzonkOwl.blogspot.com} or email: dotdonahue@aol.com.

Dot thanks so much for spending some time with us! It has been a pleasure and we truly look forward to keeping up with you (we love your daily fb posts…hehe)!