Meet Jona Powell

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jona Powell. 

Hi Jona, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Our business started with the idea that I just wanted to help my mom, a two-time breast cancer survivor make a little extra money. She was crocheting coffee sleeves and selling them at local coffee shops. I thought if I had a way to customize them, she would be able to sell more. So, we bought a cricut maker and started making new designs. As we started making more sleeves I thought, maybe I should make some t-shirts as well. After a few months, we realized we enjoyed making shirts and wanted to look at other processes. We went through several machines until we found the process that best works for us, and provides the quality that we were looking for, DTG printing. It wasn’t long after, I found myself with a successful Etsy shop, we were doing local shows and festivals, and I was still working my job as a hospice nurse. I realized that I was at a crossroads and it was time to make a decision if I was going to continue working as a nurse, or if I was going to really give my business my full attention. I always say that if I didn’t work as a hospice nurse, I don’t think I would have had the courage to just go for it. Working hospice changed my life. It really gave me a front-row view that life is short, it’s meant to be lived, and that everything you do you are just adding to your story. When the opportunity came to buy this building, an old Catholic Church built in 1877, I just had the thought, that I really wanted to add this adventure to our story. I knew that it would make a beautiful shop with the original hardwood flooring and arched windows. It’s probably a good thing that we didn’t realize how much of an adventure that it would be! We love being in Waynesville, it’s the perfect area for our shop. We mix our love for classic country music, the west, and anything rusty and chippy and it just works here. We have grown, and continue to do local and out-of-state shows and festivals, and enjoy making all of our customers feel like family. My husband Adam, our two daughters Ashton and Addie truly help make this a family business. My Mom has traded her coffee sleeve days for helping us create our most popular item our upcycled flannel shirts. Every day we are just adding to our story and enjoying every minute of it. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
There have been a lot of bumps along the road. When we bought the old church building that our shop is in, it came as is. We knew it needed a massive amount of work, but we really didn’t realize how much until we really got into the project. When were able to get the shop open, we were only open for five weeks before having to close due to covid restrictions for almost 3 months. That was not the best timing for a new small business. I started doing Facebook lives, and that really helped, not just our business, but to keep up connections and not feel so isolated. I still do a live every Wednesday morning at 10;30, “Coffee with Jona”, and my viewers are a lot of the friends/customers I made during covid, and we have just kept it going. Another hurdle has been the second building on the property. We are two and a half years in, and just now almost finished with the complete renovation of the 2nd building that will be our house. So, we have been living in our storage rooms for the past 9 months. If that’s not commitment I’m not sure what is. It has been a very humbling experience, but we have really learned what we can live without. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I have never really thought of myself as a creative person until having this shop. It has really allowed me to open up and awaken the creative side of my brain, and I have so much fun doing it. Although, it is my husband that has the hard job. It’s his job to take all these big ideas I have in my head and make them come to life. I sent him all the way to Iowa to pick up a vintage truck that I thought would be perfect in the middle of the shop. It wasn’t until he had it home and outside sitting on the trailer that I really thought that was not a very good idea! I didn’t think we would ever be able to get it inside, And, here it sits, and is the main focal point of our shop. There isn’t any idea that I’ve thrown at him that he hasn’t been able to create, build, or execute even better than I imagined. We are definitely a team. 

Who else deserves credit in your story?
This list could be so incredibly long. We seriously have the best customers that have become our friends/family that have really helped us grow from word of mouth. As a small business owner that is who I have to give the most credit to, our customers. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.buckeyecharm.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/buckeyecharm
• Facebook: facebook.com/buckeyecharms