milkslinger

April 4, 2024

Two years ago I started a YouTube Channel. Last month, I registered to be an LLC (official business name: JJ Murch LLC). I opened a business bank account, got a debit card, and attended a local business class. And I finally, finally, FINALLY settled on a brand name. 

a surprise gift from my older daughter

My daughter-in-law helped me set up a spreadsheet for tracking business expenses. My brother is helping me set up a website. I’ve hired someone to turn my videos into written recipes which I plan to sell as PDFs . . . once I get my online store up and running, pant-pant. I got a subscription to Brevo, am learning all about email marketing, and launched Splashed!, a weekly newsletter. Tomorrow I’m setting up a PO box so I can receive correspondence from viewers and readers.

And I’m working on developing a logo.

I was the guinea pig for a graphic design college class (the students were fantastic and the process helped me clarify what I want), have done lots of doodling (a family gathering is a perfect time to bring out the paper and pencils, especially when there’s an artist in the mix), and am now consulting one-on-one with a graphic designer, a gift from my son and daughter-in-law. 

It’s kinda wild, this whole “starting a business” deal. Three years ago I was just beginning to make cheese in earnest and now here I am making mountains of cheese each week, dreaming of a cheese cave, and chatting with cheesemakers, both amateurs and professionals, all over the world (Spain! Mexico! South Africa!). For the longest time, I didn’t talk about my goals for this project, this business, but I’m feeling much more settled now. I know what I’m doing. The expected and hoped-for growth is happening. I can see where I’m headed. 

So what do I do?

Well, yesterday I got up at 4:30 (because I couldn’t sleep, not because I’m noble) and edited videos. I made and filmed a new cheese. I opened, tasted, and filmed a Manchego. I went to kickboxing and showered. I ordered some cheesemaking supplies and scheduled a couple meetings. I played Ultimate and showered (again), ate supper on the rug in front of the fire with my husband, played our NY Times games, and watched some Netflix.

Today, I’ve responded to emails, edited videos, (mostly) finalized the next newsletter, filmed some cheese maintenance, scheduled a community post, made a coffee cake, attempted to nap, munched twizzlers, photographed a random snow squall, mixed up a batch of focaccia, made some business calls, and worked on this post. 

Tomorrow I’m making (and probably filming) another cheese, as well as editing video. (The video editing is endless.) I’ll make sourdough. I’ll go for a run in the morning if it’s not raining (just this afternoon it rained, hailed, snowed, blew, and shone; welcome to Virginia!), and maybe I’ll walk with a girlfriend in the afternoon. 

So! To sum up: there’s a lot of list making and crossings-off, thinking and thumb twiddling, plus there’s goodly amount of plain old Sitting My Butt Down, followed by endless squirming, with a few bursts of productivity sprinkled throughout.

It’s all very mundane and non-glamorous, but also equal parts hectic and blissful. 

This same time, years previous: the quotidian (4.3.23), the quotidian (4.4.22), ground beef chili with chocolate and peanut butter, instead of a walk, kickboxing, caribbean milk cake, a trick for cooking pasta, the quotidian (4.4.16), red raspberry pie.

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13 Comments

  • renee johnson

    September 15, 2024 at 3:46 pm Reply

    I found your you tube when I was searching for information on clabber milk. I love your site an am learning a lot on cheese making. I am self taught cheese maker for two years. The family isn’t so sure if they want to try it but I am starting to eat it and it is good. I watched one of your you tubes and saw that you used clabber milk which I just discoverered. I am wondering if you need to put clabber into the fresh milk then some of that milk for the culture that will go into the cheese.

    • Jennifer Jo

      September 15, 2024 at 6:00 pm Reply

      Yes, refresh the clabber by putting a little bit of clabber in a jar and adding fresh milk. (I did a whole video on starting and maintaining a clabber, if you want to see the process.)

  • Jennifer

    April 5, 2024 at 8:52 pm Reply

    SO EXCITING! I am also just starting a small business (farmstand with eggs and veggies, maybe breads and flowers). I have an LLC, a business account, a lawyer, and an accountant (who is quite up our butts these days with tax season upon us). We have a website but haven’t developed it yet. And an Instagram and fb and YouTube. And Nextdoor. And logo ideas. All waiting for attention. It’s soooo much work. And the SPREADSHEETS. GRRR. Wanna screenshot yours or something? My accountant wants us to get quick books. But it’s *yet another expense* that gives me angst. Can i just grow veggies please and magically make money? And watch your YouTube channel in my downtime?
    So happy that your whirlwind is coming together. It’s a beautiful thing to watch.

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