Meet Jamie Jackson | Cake Pop Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jamie Jackson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jamie, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I knew that my job of 13 years was about to come to an end, due to the corporate office moving out of state. I worked for someone else for 30 years, so I didn’t want to go right back in to the corporate world. Knowing that I would be getting a severance package, it was now or never to try to start my own business. Months before my last day I started testing out different flavors of cake pops and candy popcorn. I would take them to the people that I worked with and had my friends and family try them. I would come home from work at night and make another flavor for the cake pops and popcorn and then take them back to work, over and over. People that I worked with liked them so much that they started ordering from me. At this point, I had no name picked out, no business cards, no Facebook/Instagram. Nothing except the faith of my friends for trusting me to make something for them that they were paying their hard earned money for. I immediately put everything in to place that I needed, hoping and praying that this wouldn’t be just a few orders and then it would stop. Almost 7 years later, JJ’s Pop Shoppe is still going strong.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I started JJ’s Pop Shoppe because the position I was in, with my company, was coming to an end and I wanted to do something outside of the corporate world. Making cake pops let me be face to face with people, which I love, and also tests my creative side. Being in customer service for over 30 years has definitely helped me learn how to communicate better and I have also found out just how crafty I can be. I even surprise myself sometimes! It hasn’t always been easy, but it has been fun! I’ve definitely learned to not sweat the small stuff. If something goes wrong, it can always be fixed (And then my family is pretty happy that they get to eat cake pops gone awry. 🙂 I am very excited to say that we have been working very hard this year and in the early months of 2024, we will have a new mobile trailer out and about, in the upstate, selling cake pops, candy popcorn and more.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
A Charleston day trip would definitely be in order. Brunch at Page’s Okra Grill. Shopping at the Market and King Street, and you can’t go wrong with any of the downtown restaurants for dinner.

Gather Greenville is a great place to eat, drink, hang out with friends
Downtown Greenville is beautiful, just to walk down the streets.
Catch a Greenville Drive baseball game.
The Peddler is the best steak house in Greenville.

If it is summer, I am definitely going to the Mauldin Amp’d Up Fridays Concert Series. Awesome bands, great food trucks and drinks

In the fall, there are some great festivals around, Squealing on The Square in Laurens, Hogs and Hens in Abbeville, Rhythm on the Rails in Clinton, etc.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband, Chuck, daughter, Taylor and son Chase. I most definitely could not have done this for so many years without the help of each of them!

Website: www.jjspopshoppe.com

Instagram: @jjspopshoppe

Facebook: JJ’s Pop Shoppe