About Jessica Lathrop
Hi! I’m Jessica, co-founder and Creative Director here at OWLLytics.
I have 5 kids and a very slobbery Saint Bernard. We’ve been living abroad for the last 2 years, living in sunny Spain! In addition to this site, I run 3 e-commerce brands and have over a decade of experience as an entrepreneur and small business owner.
It is my passion to help small businesses get started and grow successfully. (And also to travel the world, dragging my family along for the ride.)
Learn more about me below, and follow me on my socials to stay in touch!
Highlights
I guess this is where I brag about myself, right? Well, let’s see here… After launching my 4th brand, I was named UMUC International Entrepreneur of 2019.
Whew…. glad I got that over with. *wink*
Seriously though, business is my jam! And I’m here to help! (Keep scrolling to learn more if you’re not bored of me yet…)
years experience
Publications
education
Certification
Someone is sitting in the shade today, because someone planted a tree a long time ago.
– Warren Buffett
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More About Me & My Life
I grew up in Denver, Colorado. After my incredibly versatile husband enlisted in the US Navy, we were stationed in Jacksonville, Florida for ten years. We loved it! Sunshine, beach, good friends- it was paradise.
I launched my first business in 2009 after getting a little too into making birthday party decorations for my three kids. I started out by selling on eBay and then launched an Etsy shop. I launched my second brand (this time wall decals and graphic tees) in 2012. In 2013, my husband jumped on board as my business partner (see his about page here), and helped my already growing biz explode in new directions! Eventually, we learned how to sell on Amazon (before it was actually a thing) and Shopify. This gave us an interesting amount of experience both good and bad.
In 2015, after several years of infertility and three miscarriages, I gave birth to our rainbow baby. I could tell you stories about how our family came together that would make your arm hairs stand up- but I’ll save that for our YouTube channel. *wink*
Life (and business) was good! But in 2016, when I was 34 weeks pregnant with surprise baby #5, I suffered a heart attack and discovered that I had a rare heart condition, called SCAD (spontaneous coronary artery dissection).
Life is wild, y’all! But I’m an optimist and adventurer at heart and I firmly believe that we should be out there conquering our dreams and giving our best selves to the world, so some major self-discovery and family bonding took place during the whole ordeal.
This prompted us to uproot our family of seven and move to Spain! I’m still trying to learn Spanish, but we’re still totally rocking the business thing. It’s hard not to love life in the sunny Mediterranean Sea! So here we are!
Experience & Background
Started my own business in 2009
Beginning with hand-crafted party supplies and a lot of time to kill while the hubby was on deployment, my first biz started as a hobby that quickly took over my dining room, my spare room, and my social life.
Launched second brand in 2012
In 2012, I had expanded into a brand of wall decals. My husband was coming home from long shifts on the naval base and helping me finish my orders. We made the decision not to renew his military contract and we went into business together, full time. By 2012, our initial e-commerce store generated over six-figure sales annually, and by 2014, our second brand (wall decals) was earning over a quarter of a million dollars annually and sustaining over a 30% growth rate year over year.
Launched third brand in 2018
After discovering I had a rare heart condition, we streamlined our entire operations in 2016. We spent 2017 traveling around Europe and moved our family to Spain (even though none of us knew Spanish, but hey! You only live once). Streamlining meant extra time on our usually busy hands. So, we dived into launching a brand of wine glasses, called Smoochies. They are super cute and one of my all-time favorite projects ever!
Launched OWLLytics in late 2019
After the newness of living in a foreign land wore off, we found ourselves encouraging others to start businesses, helping others make their business better, and wondering why we were so passionate about helping people but hadn’t made it an official thing… so we launched OWLLytics! We used our experience with sites like Amazon, Etsy, Shopify, Ebay and more (plus our experience consulting) to help others clarify their branding, increase their online presence, and boost their profits. We write articles and create workbooks that help people maximize their business with less growing pains! And, so far, we’ve loved every minute of working with OWLLytics!