Meet Kiddist Cowans | CEO Jesse’s Gifts & Décor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kiddist Cowans and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kiddist, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I was home on bed rest from having a difficult pregnancy and severe back pains and decided that I needed a maternity pillow to help to ease the pain. I borrowed a sewing machine from a friend asked my husband to take me to get some sewing supplies and at the end of that day I made some throw pillows. I posted them to social media and persons loved them and started to order and that is where Jesse’s Gifts & Decor was born.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Sometimes we go through life and some of our most difficult circumstances become our biggest blessings and that’s entirely the story of Jesse’s. Out of great pain in a difficult time came a very successful growing business. Even though in the business world we would fall into the Micro/Small business category I like to refer to us as a growing business because having started out at home and move into a commercial location a year ago, we know we are poised for continued growth and success. Jesse’s Gifts and Décor has copped quite a few features and awards over the past four years and we are extremely grateful for the love and support we have been receiving. We recently completed a 13 week coaching programme with the World Renowned ActionCOACH (Jamaica Chapter) an opportunity which came to us as being selected by Scotiabank Jamaica as once of 25 out of 40 entrepreneurs who were shortlisted and pitched. Having gone through that massive learning programme with ActionCOACH we know that we have been poised for more greatness. We have been featured on Prime Time TV in Jamaica a couple of times and even endorsed by Mr. Michael Lee-Chin Entrepreneur and Philanthropist who is the owner of Portland Holdings Limited. We were one of ten finalists in the DIA Lab Pitch Competition and we had the opportunity to meet him and receive an investment in our business during the early stages of start-up.

One of the things persons often neglect to speak of is how difficult running a business is. In our case it is even more difficult because both myself and my husband Jerome who are co-owners of the business are also employed fulltime. We have to be constantly juggling and trying to balance work, family and business. So it does get challenging at times, we have a super support system in the form of family and for them we are grateful especially Jerome’s mom as she takes care of Jesse as we take on the world daily. I am responding to this interview from my Hotel room in Paris as we celebrated our wedding anniversary on August 31, 2022 and we know Jesse is at home safe and sound with grandma. This is how we have been able to overcome the challenges. We take breaks when we need to and allow ourselves to detach from the hustle and bustle so that we can be recharged and renewed. the lessons we have learnt are centered around, faith, consistency, innovation and creativity. We have been able to stay relevant to our clients as we ensure that we listen to them, we are constantly trying to find new ways for doing things which exploring our creative sides and constantly “wowing” our clients.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Jamaica is a beautiful place, everywhere is a spot to check out lol. In Kingston where I am from Emancipation Park is a must see, the World famous Devon House ice-cream cannot be missed and if you’re looking for some great food and a good vibe check out Usain Bolt’s Track and Records.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My very supportive husband who learnt to sew when I was too advanced in my pregnancy and wasnt able to complete the orders which were coming in. I had to teach him how to start sewing from scratch. He wasnt even able to string a sewing machine in the beginning. He also deserves a shoutout because I wasnt thinking of making it into a business and he saw the opportunity and thought we should jump on it and we did!

Website: www.jessesgiftsanddecor.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jesses_gifts_decor/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jesseshomedecor/