Today we’d like to introduce you to Jill Strickland.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I grew up on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and have always loved the ocean. My love for the beautiful coral reefs of the Caribbean and the Florida Keys inspired the coral theme for my glass art. While living in the Florida Keys 25 years ago, I met my husband, Bill. Since then, we married and had two children: Gage (21), who graduated from the College of Coastal Georgia and recently got his real estate license, and Peyton (19) who is attending the University of Georgia to study marketing! As a pre-k paraprofessional, during the pandemic, I had a ton of time on my hands when the country was locked down. With all my spare time, my daughter and I worked hard on expanding my coral creations and growing my small business. What started out as just a hobby and thoughts of possibly doing a local art show or two quickly morphed into a full-time online business. One day Bill and I wish to return to the Keys and open up a glass coral gift shop.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The journey of Coastal Creations GA has been nowhere near a smooth road. Starting a business in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic was not an easy task. With the entire world shut down, we had to get creative in ways to get my products out there. With the help of my brilliant daughter, Peyton who was 16 at the time and is now studying marketing at the University of Georgia, we were able to come up with ways to market my artwork through social media. Since we were only starting out and we did not have the budget to spend a bunch of money on advertising, so we resorted to Facebook beach groups as our main source of advertising. This was not always easy, however, due to all the rules and regulations different groups had. Most did not allow direct links, so we would have to think of other ways to get people to our website. Though we have been in business for over three years now, there are still occasional challenges that we have to overcome, but we have come a long way since February of 2020!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am known for my glass coral sea fans. Each piece is unique and I have not seen any other glass sea fans quite like mine. Fusing glass is a tedious process. It is done using sheets of glass, hand-cut into strips, which are meticulously placed together in a unique pattern. Each creation is fused in a 1400°+ kiln. Once a piece is designed and ready to enter the kiln, it must remain in the kiln for between 24-48 hours due to the cooling time that fused glass requires. In addition to glass coral sea fans, I also create glass coral bowls of various sizes, glass coral nightlights, tree toppers, ornaments and more!
Contact Info:
- Website: coastalcreationsga.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coastalcreations.ga/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coastalcreations.ga
Image Credits
Peyton Strickland
