

People are racking up unbelievable profits selling on Amazon. Elise did just that and then started helping others to do it too. And, this is howβββThis is Unicornβββwas born!
Iβve grown my most recent Amazon brand from Zero to 6-figures in just 6 monthsβββElise
Read this interview to find how Elise built her startup while traveling as a digital nomad!
When I did my first Digital Nomadic stint in Bali in 2016, it opened to me not only the frolics of globetrotting but the potential of setting up a serious business.
I met Elise Jackson in September, 2016 when she was rescuing few kittens in Ubud (Bali). The kittens survived and grew up into healthy cats that have 100K followers on Instagram now. No, letβs scratch that out. Bless the cats but this is not a kitty post (sorry, cats!). What Elise did marvelously well later on was to build her startup, This is Unicorn.
Elise: I help established brands launch and scale on Amazon. My consultancy, This is Unicorn, helps Amazon Vendors & Sellers with everything from PPC & AMS optimization & management, listing optimization, keyword ranking to account management, and more. Iβm also an Amazon seller myselfβββI own brands and sell in the US & EU marketplaces. Iβve grown my most recent Amazon brand from Zero to 6-figures in just 6 months.
Elise: My academic background is in Economics & Social Historyβββgender studies, cultural history, that kind of thing. Iβve always felt entrepreneurial and into marketingβI remember having big ideas for a one-of-a-kind joke book when I was about 9 that was going to be the Next Big Thing (the funny thing is that I canβt actually tell jokes myself so it wouldnβt have been very good)βββbut I always gravitated towards startups.
My most recent role before I made the jump for myself was for an amazing startup in London, βSoPostββββIβd always wanted to work in a small startup and help shape the team from the start.
I had the chance to build up the account management team from scratch to four people, working with clients such as LβOreal, Burberry, Benefit Cosmetics, P&G etc. It was a blast!
At the same time, I was closely watching what was going on in the ecommerce spaceβββnew independent brands were growing up and really challenging these existing, household names, and it was becoming easier with platforms such as Shopify and Amazon. I wanted to be a part of that movement too.
So I left London, moved to Bali, started my own, and here I am now!
Elise: I started my first e-commerce brand in Oct 2015. Iβd read an article on the Shopify blog about how a team challenged themselves to create a brand & start selling within 72 hours. I loved this idea, so 2 friends and myself challenged ourselves to do the same, but in 48 hours!
We started a brand called The Shoreditch Beard, selling amazing blends of Beard Oil. Through this experience, I started to learn more about the Amazon platform, and all the strategies & tactics specific to it. It seemed like a good model, so I decided to launch another brand, solely on Amazon.
Iβve learned so much in the last 2 years and Iβve taken my most recent brand from zero to six figures in just 6 months. My partner Gianluca joined the team a few months ago as wellβββheβs a technical product manager whoβs obsessed about processes and before helping me, he helped VC-backed tech startups in London.
I see very few brands with these resources, especially when theyβre starting out. Weβve built scalable, repeatable processes & a reliable team that have helped my brands grow. Everything from keyword & listing optimisation to PPC management, to customer service templates and VA hiring, and more.
So I thought to myself, how can we help other brands & use the same structure and processes weβve put in place for my own? It seemed logical to share our skills with other brands who are experiencing the same challenges on Amazon we had when we started out. Hence we started βThis is Unicornβ.
Elise: I love seeing a product come to life, whether itβs my own or itβs a clientβsβββfrom researching a market, talking to customers, to executing a design concept and seeing the product arrive in customersβ hands. When I see our clients excited about their business growth and weβve helped them make that a reality, thatβs the cherry on top.
Elise: You know, a lot of problems businesses have can be solved by generating more revenue. And thatβs the main thing we do for our clients.
One of our UK clients has seen a monthly revenue increase of 37% while maintaining the same advertising cost on sales margins.
We did this by working on their AMS (sponsored ads) campaigns and listing optimization. These are effective tools that clients often donβt have the knowledge nor the time to use at their full potential.
Whatβs important though is that weβre focussed on knowing Amazon inside out. Our clients love that they donβt need to learn all the expertise necessary to scale & grow Amazon, instead they can focus on creating new products and growing their ranges.
Elise: I dreamed of the Digital Nomad lifestyle, working and traveling at the same time, 1 month here, 1 month there. My partner and I left London to do exactly that, and ended up in Bali for a year! We realized that we like having somewhere we can call homeβββit gives us some kind of stability.
Now I would say Iβm a location-independent entrepreneurβββI just need my laptop and my brain to work on my business, and Iβm not tied to a desk in any particular city.
Weβve decided to call Barcelona our home for the next couple of years while we build up the agency. We still travel a lot, but now the travel is more relaxing, because we take time off.
Elise: Digital nomadism has influenced my journey & business in a few ways, both good & bad.
Hereβs the good: itβs opened up a new way of working for me, of building a team, being able to learn from & collaborate with amazing, talented people from around the world. Half of the Unicorn team are based remotely, half here in Barcelona, and our internal processes & tools mean that each member of the team can be location-independent. Thatβs super cool!
And the bad: Leaving London meant I left a lot of my support network behind: friends, colleagues, mentors. When youβre traveling a lot, youβre constantly starting friendships, and it can be hard deepen those friendships and build a strong nomadic support network. It takes time to find your feet in a new place and personally, that impacts my productivity.
Elise: I usually work from our office in Barcelona. Either I travel to take a break, get out of the day to day tasks & think more clearlyβββand I try not to take my laptop. Or, if Iβm traveling for work, I prefer to work in a cafe or from a hotel lounge.
Elise: Itβs hard sometimes! Of course, working with a team and clients helps as it keeps me on my toes and accountable to them. Iβve learned that I need routine to enable me to be more consistent and time-effective.
I do 30 mins of yoga every morning when I wake upβββit helps me bring focus to the start of my day. I rely on project management softwareβββweβre currently using Asana in the team. I also have a Mastermind group that I check in with twice a month, and Iβve recently started checking in with an accountability partner regularly for goal setting.
I suggest that everyone should find out what feels right for them specifically. Learn about the way you naturally do thingsβββI really recommend the Kolbe test. For a while I was being very rigid, forcing myself to exactly copy the routines of other people, without realising they actually ran counter to my natural skills. Now I allow myself a more flexibilityβββIβm much more productive & happier this way.
Elise: Best momentβββeveryday I learn something new, and thatβs empowering. lt is a constant challenge to become better at what I do, and I love that feeling.
Worstβββwhen youβre working on your own, it can get lonely. Too much time spent behind a laptop screen isnβt healthy, and certainly not what Iβm built for!
Elise: I remember someone once telling me that a man will apply for a role if he fits 60% of the requirements, but a woman will only apply if she fits 100%βββthat really stuck with me. I often think we have an expectation to be amazing at something before we jump into it.
But how can we already be amazing if weβve never done it before?
Elise: 1. Learn more everydayβββlearning new skills, keeping up with trends, thatβs what will keep our minds young in the long run
2. Stay healthyβββyou can only change the world if youβre alive & kicking
3. Move preciselyβββdonβt try to create a business in a day. This is like the hare & the tortoise: donβt rush, think too short-term & burn out (I have to remind myself of this a lot!).
Elise: The fact that I am responsible for creating my own happiness, every day.
Elise: Aska & Luigi made it all the way to Barcelona with me! A logistical nightmare but all worth it in the endβββthey make me smile so much everyday π»πΎ
Iβve created a list of 15 business books you have not heard of that insanely successful founders swear by (apart from the same old Zero to One and Lean Startups!)
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