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People are racking up unbelievable profits selling on Amazon. Elise did just that and then started helping others to do it too. And, this is howâââThis is Unicornâââwas born!
Iâve grown my most recent Amazon brand from Zero to 6-figures in just 6 monthsâââElise
Read this interview to find how Elise built her startup while traveling as a digital nomad!
Digital Nomadism may appear too casual to the onlookers but do not underestimate what Digital Nomads have been able to achieve.
When I did my first Digital Nomadic stint in Bali in 2016, it opened to me not only the frolics of globetrotting but the potential of setting up a serious business.
I met Elise Jackson in September, 2016 when she was rescuing few kittens in Ubud (Bali). The kittens survived and grew up into healthy cats that have 100K followers on Instagram now. No, letâs scratch that out. Bless the cats but this is not a kitty post (sorry, cats!). What Elise did marvelously well later on was to build her startup, This is Unicorn.
About Elise and the Business
Tell us more about what exactly you do
Elise: I help established brands launch and scale on Amazon. My consultancy, This is Unicorn, helps Amazon Vendors & Sellers with everything from PPC & AMS optimization & management, listing optimization, keyword ranking to account management, and more. Iâm also an Amazon seller myselfâââI own brands and sell in the US & EU marketplaces. Iâve grown my most recent Amazon brand from Zero to 6-figures in just 6Â months.
What is your academic background and how did you get into this field?
Elise: My academic background is in Economics & Social Historyâââgender studies, cultural history, that kind of thing. Iâve always felt entrepreneurial and into marketingâI remember having big ideas for a one-of-a-kind joke book when I was about 9 that was going to be the Next Big Thing (the funny thing is that I canât actually tell jokes myself so it wouldnât have been very good)âââbut I always gravitated towards startups.
My most recent role before I made the jump for myself was for an amazing startup in London, âSoPostââââIâd always wanted to work in a small startup and help shape the team from the start.
I had the chance to build up the account management team from scratch to four people, working with clients such as LâOreal, Burberry, Benefit Cosmetics, P&G etc. It was a blast!
At the same time, I was closely watching what was going on in the ecommerce spaceââânew independent brands were growing up and really challenging these existing, household names, and it was becoming easier with platforms such as Shopify and Amazon. I wanted to be a part of that movement too.
So I left London, moved to Bali, started my own, and here I am now!
How long have you been doing this? What are few ideas you tried before this?
Elise: I started my first e-commerce brand in Oct 2015. Iâd read an article on the Shopify blog about how a team challenged themselves to create a brand & start selling within 72 hours. I loved this idea, so 2 friends and myself challenged ourselves to do the same, but in 48Â hours!
We started a brand called The Shoreditch Beard, selling amazing blends of Beard Oil. Through this experience, I started to learn more about the Amazon platform, and all the strategies & tactics specific to it. It seemed like a good model, so I decided to launch another brand, solely on Amazon.
Iâve learned so much in the last 2 years and Iâve taken my most recent brand from zero to six figures in just 6 months. My partner Gianluca joined the team a few months ago as wellâââheâs a technical product manager whoâs obsessed about processes and before helping me, he helped VC-backed tech startups in London.
I see very few brands with these resources, especially when theyâre starting out. Weâve built scalable, repeatable processes & a reliable team that have helped my brands grow. Everything from keyword & listing optimisation to PPC management, to customer service templates and VA hiring, and more.
So I thought to myself, how can we help other brands & use the same structure and processes weâve put in place for my own? It seemed logical to share our skills with other brands who are experiencing the same challenges on Amazon we had when we started out. Hence we started âThis is Unicornâ.
Why is it interesting? What motivates you to keep doing it?
Elise: I love seeing a product come to life, whether itâs my own or itâs a clientâsâââfrom researching a market, talking to customers, to executing a design concept and seeing the product arrive in customersâ hands. When I see our clients excited about their business growth and weâve helped them make that a reality, thatâs the cherry on top.
Please share some impact you have created on your clientâs life by doing this.
Elise: You know, a lot of problems businesses have can be solved by generating more revenue. And thatâs the main thing we do for our clients.
One of our UK clients has seen a monthly revenue increase of 37% while maintaining the same advertising cost on sales margins.
We did this by working on their AMS (sponsored ads) campaigns and listing optimization. These are effective tools that clients often donât have the knowledge nor the time to use at their full potential.
Whatâs important though is that weâre focussed on knowing Amazon inside out. Our clients love that they donât need to learn all the expertise necessary to scale & grow Amazon, instead they can focus on creating new products and growing their ranges.
The Digital Nomad aspect of it
Tell us about your last one yearâââhow has it been in terms of living, traveling, working etc!
Elise: I dreamed of the Digital Nomad lifestyle, working and traveling at the same time, 1 month here, 1 month there. My partner and I left London to do exactly that, and ended up in Bali for a year! We realized that we like having somewhere we can call homeâââit gives us some kind of stability.
Now I would say Iâm a location-independent entrepreneurâââI just need my laptop and my brain to work on my business, and Iâm not tied to a desk in any particular city.
Weâve decided to call Barcelona our home for the next couple of years while we build up the agency. We still travel a lot, but now the travel is more relaxing, because we take time off.
How has being a digital nomad helped you in your journey?
Elise: Digital nomadism has influenced my journey & business in a few ways, both good &Â bad.
Hereâs the good: itâs opened up a new way of working for me, of building a team, being able to learn from & collaborate with amazing, talented people from around the world. Half of the Unicorn team are based remotely, half here in Barcelona, and our internal processes & tools mean that each member of the team can be location-independent. Thatâs super cool!
And the bad: Leaving London meant I left a lot of my support network behind: friends, colleagues, mentors. When youâre traveling a lot, youâre constantly starting friendships, and it can be hard deepen those friendships and build a strong nomadic support network. It takes time to find your feet in a new place and personally, that impacts my productivity.
Where do you work from when you are traveling?
Elise: I usually work from our office in Barcelona. Either I travel to take a break, get out of the day to day tasks & think more clearlyâââand I try not to take my laptop. Or, if Iâm traveling for work, I prefer to work in a cafe or from a hotel lounge.
How do you maintain the discipline to be your own boss? How do you take care of time management, accountability for example.
Elise: Itâs hard sometimes! Of course, working with a team and clients helps as it keeps me on my toes and accountable to them. Iâve learned that I need routine to enable me to be more consistent and time-effective.
I do 30 mins of yoga every morning when I wake upâââit helps me bring focus to the start of my day. I rely on project management softwareâââweâre currently using Asana in the team. I also have a Mastermind group that I check in with twice a month, and Iâve recently started checking in with an accountability partner regularly for goal setting.
I suggest that everyone should find out what feels right for them specifically. Learn about the way you naturally do thingsâââI really recommend the Kolbe test. For a while I was being very rigid, forcing myself to exactly copy the routines of other people, without realising they actually ran counter to my natural skills. Now I allow myself a more flexibilityâââIâm much more productive & happier this way.
What is your best and worst moment as an entrepreneur?
Elise: Best momentâââeveryday I learn something new, and thatâs empowering. lt is a constant challenge to become better at what I do, and I love that feeling.
Worstâââwhen youâre working on your own, it can get lonely. Too much time spent behind a laptop screen isnât healthy, and certainly not what Iâm built for!
As a woman, what is your experience of being an entrepreneur and digital nomad. What do you think stops women from reaching their true potential?
Elise: I remember someone once telling me that a man will apply for a role if he fits 60% of the requirements, but a woman will only apply if she fits 100%âââthat really stuck with me. I often think we have an expectation to be amazing at something before we jump into it.
But how can we already be amazing if weâve never done it before?What is your advice (can share 2â3 advices) to other entrepreneurs?
Elise: 1. Learn more everydayâââlearning new skills, keeping up with trends, thatâs what will keep our minds young in the long run
2. Stay healthyâââyou can only change the world if youâre alive &Â kicking
3. Move preciselyâââdonât try to create a business in a day. This is like the hare & the tortoise: donât rush, think too short-term & burn out (I have to remind myself of this a lot!).
What drives you every morning?
Elise: The fact that I am responsible for creating my own happiness, every day.
Oh, and what happened to those kittens you rescued? :)
Elise: Aska & Luigi made it all the way to Barcelona with me! A logistical nightmare but all worth it in the endâââthey make me smile so much everyday đ»đŸ
Nistha Tripathi is a Wall Street techie turned author and her third book, No Shortcuts, featuring the interviews of 15 popular Indian founders is releasing this year.
If you like what you read, please đ it below. As a writer, that is the best music to my ears â€
How Elise built a thriving business as a Digital Nomad was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
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