Ja, Wol's Story

Not that long ago I owned a yarn shop and needle craft school.

I dyed yarns, I developed products for my brand and I collaborated with a lot of artisans and creatives. 


Every day I would come into work and start tackling the things that were right in front of me, while attending to customers and thinking of all the things I should and could be doing once I’d have some time behind a desk. I knew I needed to step up my game to grow my business, but the day-to-day always got in the way. It was an ongoing stream of things to do before I could do the things I needed to do. And that time never seemed to come. 


One day my heart rate went through the roof while I was hanging up some yarn to dry. I had to call myself an ambulance. The congenital heart condition that I was born with decided to present itself at this moment and after another episode, then heart surgery, a revalidation period and spending some time with a therapist, I reluctantly had to admit that I had been working too hard and was burning out. 


Because of that and the pandemic I thought long and hard and came to a conclusion. I needed to change the rhythm of my life in order to keep the rhythm of my heart healthy. I closed the doors to my shop and my needle craft school. 


This opened up time, to reflect on why I loved working in this industry so much and why I loved craftspeople. With my marketing education, more than a decade of experience in running several craft businesses, my inner fire and growing gusto to do something about the fast fashion industry and live a more sustainable life I re-invented Ja, Wol. I workshopped lots of ways to support and help sustain the industry I love. I started to study how to build community and doubled down on all the things I wanted to learn and do to grow my business when I didn’t have the time to do it. 


All the work and reflection resulted in the Ja, Wol Community where I connect makers and sellers and makers that sell so they can support each other and work towards a sustainable and healthy craft and handmade industry.


I’ve now build a program for business owners so they can actually do the things they need to do to make their business stand out, level up and grow. A program that knows that what you need is momentum, accountability and actionable exercises that you can immediately implement in your business. This is the Building Better Businesses Circle. The BBBC is different because it puts YOU at the heart of your business, your values, your needs, then builds up from there into an actionable plan that is done when the program is done. So you never need to worry about time. 


Our time is precious. My time is now for you and I’m loving every second of it. 

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