A bit about me and how this shop is going to allow me to figure skate.

If you're reading this, hey! My name is Joleigh June and I'm so happy our paths have crossed. Whether you're here for my blogs or to shop from my small business I am so glad to have you here. I figured I should have a post to introduce me as a person and my brand, why I'm here and why I hope you'll stay here, so here it is!

As I said my name is Joleigh June. I'm currently, as I write this (2/7/25), an eighteen year old girl living in a college town in Montana. I graduated high school in 2024 and moved out, into my uncle's basement (lol), in August of 2024. I am not in school so this makes this a very real first season of adulting and boy has it been an adventure. But- before I get into that let me tell you a few simple details about me and my life up until this point.

Until I moved out I had lived in the exact same house in the same town my entire life- talk about stability. My favorite color is red (or rainbow!), I can tap dance, I pronounce bagel wrong, my favorite bones are the sternum and clavicle, I'm vegetarian, and I love the rain. For a few years of my life I had read every single day, usually at least 30 minutes a day, but adulting and life stressors have severely limited that for me. I really only have one sister but I'll say I have four. My favorite place in the whole wide world is our family farm in Pennsylvania. It's truly a safe haven for me. I grew up dancing, dabbled in gymnastics, and ended up discovering figure skating was my true passion. The dark still freaks me out a bit and sometimes I sleep with books in my bed. I have a list in my phone titled "Words that demand attention". You guessed it- it's simply a list of words I love. I'd describe myself as a love letter girl in a double tap world (which is why I want to sell cards/postcards and spread that love). 

Now that you know some simple relevant and irrelevant information about me let's talk about where I'm at in life now and why I have this shop.

Originally I opened my Etsy shop January 1st of 2021 with my long distance best friend, Lily. We wanted to use the funds to renovated a van and road trip together. As life goes, things changed and I changed the shop from "JoAndLily" to "JoleighJune". Over the years I on and off gave my shop love, received some lovely reviews and made all sorts of jewelry.

Now I'm here, trying out Shopify. As I said, I'm in my first season of adulting and living in my uncles basement. To put it simply- while the freedom has been so good for me, life has been kicking my ass. I miss my skating family back home. I'm having the hardest time feeling welcome at this rink and having any desire to skate. I'm not in college so making friends has been sooo hard and I've felt so isolated. Truly though, the biggest struggle I've had has been money. The income I make at my job is simply not enough. I could life off of it, sure, but skate off of it? Absolutely not. I've hit the point financially where I'm pretty sure I'm going to be quitting skating simply because I cannot afford it. That's killing me. As hard as skating two hours away from my coach and my skate family has been, I don't want to give up competing. It's been weighing really heavy on my heart and mind and I'm truly at such a loss for what to do.

So, I'm here, giving this a shot. I'm hopeful my small business could finally bloom and bring in enough revenue to allow me to keep skating, keep doing what I love. If it doesn't and I can't skate I'll be okay, but I think I owe it to myself to try one more time. I wouldn't be me if I just gave up on both my skating and my small business.

I promise all my blog posts won't be about my financial stress but this one certainly is. This is my message about the purpose of my shop. It's hope, at it's core. The entire point of this shop is the goal that it will allow me to continue to do my sport. It's me choosing to be hopeful and give it one more shot before I accept defeat.

If you like what I sell, certainly check it out! Your purchase would directly go towards putting me on the ice. Regardless, though, I'm excited to blog and share my thoughts and feelings with the world, and I hope you'll stick around for those.

Life is tough, but so I am. I'm resilient and I'm choosing to fight for myself and my ability to continue doing the activity that is at its core a coping skill for me.

Anyway, I love you. I hope if you're also stressed about money (or anything else) that you get some peace. I hope life shows you love. I hope you're eased. I'm proud of you for persevering.

Stay safe, much love forever and always,

Joleigh June <3