A lover of all things art, Michelle Jordan set out to start a business that encompassed all of her creative passions, while allowing her to work from home and spend precious time with her daughters after school. She is a designer and illustrator living on Auckland’s North Shore and thrives on creating art and art supplies for the young and young at heart. Here she talks about launching her business, Mobijo, and her hopes and dreams for the future.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
Being a working mum with incredibly busy young girls, I really wanted to work from home so I could be around after school and take my girls to their trainings, play dates and watch their games. I have so many passions I didn’t really know where to start. I love all things creative: children’s books, typography, art, craft, textile design, décor, illustration – even my tiny studio looks like a sketch! I also adore travel, the sea, animals, babies, skulls, doll houses, tiny things, the list goes on.
The inspiration came when I was teaching graphic design at a tertiary foundation in Auckland city and found that young students couldn’t afford good art supplies to create the pieces they wanted to create. Art stores are exceptionally expensive and cheaper department stores don’t offer niche products like brush pens or graphic markers. It was then that I decided I was going to do all of it. All of my passions! I was going to create art for kids and baby nurseries, keep freelancing as a graphic designer for some bread and butter, as well as source really good well-priced art supplies so others could create art too. Of course I would be doing all of it from home so I could be around more for my daughters, Jade and Danni, my cat, Cesco, and my two hens, Gladys and Glynnis.
Mobijo was formed, a name based on my initials, MBJ, which encompasses me, and all the things I love. I have honestly loved every minute.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
I started out terrified. I think I was actually shaking on my first day, but I knew it was right because I couldn’t take the smile off my face. The first thing I did was get on social media. School kids have huge followings and being a dance mum, I started supporting dance fundraisers to get Mobijo out there. I created a Facebook page, an Instagram account, two websites and then put my stuff up on print-on-demand sites like Etsy, Spoonflower, Society6, Creative Fabrica and TeePublic. I go to craft markets when I can and am still working on getting onto many other print-on-demand sites.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
My biggest breakthrough really was when I sent samples of my art supplies to my friends with young children. My sister-in-law is a neat-freak and really dreaded it when her 4-year-old wanted to paint. The prep and clean up as a full-time working mum was such hard work for her. She absolutely adores the brush pens. Mess-free painting with no prep, no newspaper, or ever-tipping water jars – just pull out and paint. My niece just loved them too. This was a huge moment for me as I realised not only was my art aimed at kids, but my supplies would be enjoyed by them too.
After buying endless cheap courses on marketing, I simply watched YouTube videos, subscribed to free marketing channels, went to free seminars and joined countless forums, blogs and social media pages. I finally figured out that I needed to figure it out myself. New Zealand/Australia is quite a different market to the rest, with slightly different trends too. I am still learning things every day.
