Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Ellis.
Hi Andrea, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
We got our start by wanting to decorate/accessorize the jeeper to match their jeep. At the time, there really wasn’t much on the market. Within two weeks of opening our business on Etsy, we were invited to a decent-sized Jeep event in Tennessee and to our surprise, we almost sold out of products. This really opened us up to growing our product line and offering more items as time passed. We started our first event in a 10×10 booth and now easily fill a 40×40 booth. We travelled across the country, attending various Jeep events to help get our name out and custom products, offering competitive low rates and colorful accessories now for both the jeeper and Jeep. We have shipped internationally with our fun products.
There was one thing missing throughout our first four years of business. There wasn’t any event in Texas that catered to the jeeper in mind like we attended around the country. My husband and I came together to create Texas’ first Jeep only vendor expo. We held our first event in 2019 in Conroe, TX with 640 jeeps and 1200+ people in attendance. We came together and raised $8500 for Texas Equusearch and Santa Maria Hostel, along with 1650 pounds of food for the Montgomery County food bank. 2020 was postponed due to COVID, but we came back with even higher numbers. March 2021, we brought in big vendors from all over the country along with more local vendors too. We had raised $10,000 for Camp Hope and Guns to Hammers Construction. There were over 700 jeeps and 1800 people in attendance. Jeepers collected 1900 pounds of food donations for the Montgomery County Food Bank. We are looking forward to continue helping our community while doing something we enjoy.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Just like any other start-up business, we’ve experienced some hiccups along the way. We’ve had some events that were really great and others we may have broken even or spent more than we made. We’ve partnered up with other local small businesses and have taken their products on the road with us. We’ve even been able to grow our product line with other great companies we’ve met on the road. It’s helping our fellow jeepers and creative thinking that have helped us grow and continue to improve our product line.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Through Jeep ‘N Jewelry, we manufacture earrings, mirror hangers, signs, custom Jeep tail light covers, custom Jeep third brake light covers. We also customize apparel for the whole family, including pets, hats, decals from small to large for the hood or side of the jeep, and so much more. We design and cut our own products in home, literally. We offer sublimation, full-color white toner printing, cutting, engraving, etching. We offer a warranty on our products. Husband and I are both jeepers too. The items I love the most would have to be our tail light covers for the Wranglers and Gladiators. I love the creativity that comes from them. There are so many different themed Jeeps out there that this item sets everyone apart. I have done business logos to cartoon characters to different animals or beach themed. They are offered in 30 different colors of acrylic, including glitter.
We trust our products so much that I have just about everything on my own jeep. Majority of my shirts and hats that I wear are ones that I have designed.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Originality and Quality. You can go anywhere to buy accessories. Anyone can shop on Amazon and you’re going to mostly get what everyone else has and it’s made in China 9 times out of 10. We cut all of our acrylics ourselves right here in Spring, TX.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected], [email protected]
- Website: www.txacedesigns.com, www.lonestarjeepinvasion.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/jeepnjewelry , www.facebook.com/LSjeepinvasion
